It's OK. Full of boring businessmen with laptops though. :-)

Wait! Look at the truck with a white cab behind the interviewee. Is that a bonneted truck based on a Club Of Four cab? That really is unusual. #trucklopnik

It's trying too hard. It's just a design study, although it does a great job of anticipating the current fashion for oversized wheels (like horse-drawn carts), and it anticipates the pressure to raise beltlines in order to meet safety standards. The tail looks like an Audi A7 - not very pretty, but it's aerodynamic.

It looks pretty. It would be nice, if true. But Autoexpress say "Our exclusive image..." which basically means that the intern at Autoexpress got bored and spent a day playing with Photoshop instead of doing SEO for the latest Audi A4 review like they were supposed to.

Alfa now sells small Fiat hatchbacks with slightly…

"Hidden from top Audi bosses"? I'm sure that makes a good yarn, so there are probably sources which say it, but I doubt it's entirely true. A new car is a big investment; an entirely new car with radically different technology, hand in hand with a plan to compete in a completely new racing series, is very expensive…

YES. Unimog 404 vs Pinzgauer/Haflinger vs Volvo C303 group test? Maybe throw in a SUMB if you want something even uglier (and French).

It's hard to be sure, but I think they swerved left before that big swerve right towards the truck. I think the car driver simply lost control on a wet road, and it's coincidental that there was a truck alongside.

Could be worse...

Hoping and praying are not very effective; but Russian emergency services are even less effective.

But here's the kicker, after all that. I still can't figure out why Mercedes would want to buy Aston. What does Aston Martin offer, that Mercedes can't do itself? Why buy the company that makes the Vantage when you already sell the AMG GT? Why buy the company that makes the DB9 when you already sell the CL600? Why buy…

Impala! We need more carmakers to adopt zulu nouns.

For any of you Jalops wanting a performance bargain in the UK, I'm selling a CL500 at BCA next week. It's the coupe version of the W220 above; it has a 5 litre V8 wrapped in walnut and leather and double-glazing. I expect it will sell for about £2000. I set a zero reserve - go on, try your luck. :-)

The upfront cost of an airplane is only part of the overall cost of aviation. And a remanufactured-old aircraft will still cost more than an old-old aircraft. If you remanufacture an old aircraft to include shiny new engines and avionics, will it really cost far less per hour to operate? Even after you've allowed for…

Dysentery beige. It used to be so common about 30-40 years ago, but now it's almost extinct. Bright "look at me" colours are all very well, but if you're confident you don't need to shout. Something more subtle speaks volumes.

I paid €200 extra for a voice-activated bluetooth phone system which can be programmed to phones my wife when I say the word "cunt" whilst I'm cruising at 90mph. I paid extra for fans in the seats. Of course I'd pay extra for a sink. It's a diverse market. :-)

Cars in that era were less reliable than today, and life was less sterile, and there was a much greater chance that you'd get your hands dirty in some other way whilst en route from A to B. And maybe you'd want to freshen up when you arrive at your destination but before you say hello and shake hands with…

Now that we have that out of the way, it's time to get a little background on the C-Elysee. Unfortunately, I have absolutely no idea what that background is. Wikipedia says this car was designed in China and built in Spain, though my particular rental carried a French VIN number. The whole thing is very confusing,…

A Yugo isn't Russian. It's copy of a Fiat, and the stereotypical Yugo was built in Yugoslavia, which was trying very hard to be non-aligned and separate from the Soviets. It's half a continent away from Moscow.

There's no shortage of other license-built Fiats in Russia itself.

</pedant>

VW's response is the interesting one here. They probably never had any plans to take over Fiat as a whole, but perhaps there are brands within Fiat that VW would like a slice of. Maybe something that is underperforming on the sales front but has a brand image that VW would like to add to its portfolio. Something…

In the UK, retirees must buy new cars - never used. It's mandatory.

This is because any retiree must have bought their first car during the British Leyland era, and must therefore have bitter experiences of any car more than 12 months old. Twelve months is the time needed for rust to eat all the way through the sills…