Have you come here from 1973?

I'm not sure I understand the question.

The BMW 228i is the company's smallest two-door, and theoretically its least highway-friendly car. So what's it like running one from Detroit to the wrong side of NYC in ten hours?

I'd not go as far as saying I like the rubber-bumper MGBs, but I don't dislike them either.

The CR-Z should have been great: we expected a small, efficient, fun hatchback in the spirit of the legendary CRX, but all we got was a huge disappointment.

It's only a conspiracy if those at the top try to hide it. And people really, really don't try and hide it.

Forbidden fruit perfection. Silly car with an even sillier option, in the perfect 90s colour.

Thanks for the info. Wasn't there a shooting brake version too?

It makes me sad that while we got most of those cars in one form or another as Suzukis in Europe, we never got the Geo Storm. I don't even know if it's a good car or not but the world needs more tiny coupes.

It's quite refreshing to hear how easy the Kangoo is to work on - I love French cars, but any time I've ever talked to any mechanic they usually complain how difficult French cars are to fix.

Dammit. You mean I missed scrounging the best bit?

I missed the 4C conference. Someone had left a press kit sitting on the seat, which looked quite nice, but further investigation revealed they'd nicked the centrepiece (USB stick, I assume?) and left the rest behind. I figured if I'm going to scrounge I might as well scrounge for something complete...

So what you're saying is the problem isn't really the old British sports cars, but the way in which they'd be used? An old American land-yacht would be atrocious for driving around most European cities, but that doesn't necessarily make it a shitty car. Certain vehicles are just inappropriate for certain tasks.

The…

Depends how you define 'torture' to drive on a regular basis. I expect the economy isn't up to much by modern standards, and they'd be generally a bit noisy, and you'd have to keep on top of maintenance, but I've driven an MGB before and in most ways it's actually a pretty nice road car - the ride is relatively good,…

I took home absolutely zip from Detroit. Admittedly the Acura kit would have been nice, but my hatred for hauling around lots of stuff with me while I do my job at the show, and then somehow squeezing it into my almost-bursting carry-on luggage, far outweighs my desire for nice gifts.

Yes, I am, "p00pman"...

My Honda Insight is pretty good. There's not a lot to play with, but it's comfortable, has an interesting gauge cluster and most important of all, when I'm sitting in traffic the engine isn't running wasting all my fuel.

If it's anything like old VW Beetles (and it probably is), heat exchangers. Housings sit around the exhaust, heat from which is transfered to the air in the housings, which is pushed forward into the cabin by the same fan that is used to cool the engine. It's not quite as effective as that on water cooled cars (some…

A black Countryman on simple steel wheels is about as good as I've seen that car looking.

And here's four reasons to go for the base model:

1) It's constructed to exactly the same standards, and from largely the same materials, as the one someone might be paying $10k-$20k more for.

2) It's lighter.

3) There's less stuff to go wrong.

4) Because there's more to life than worrying about a blanked-off switch you…