I’ve got a couple of Playforever models. Not quite replicas; they’re more like an homage to the originals. Their CNC series is the kind of thing that only heads of large multinations could justify to themselves. Mine are just the plastic versions, but they’re still beautiful to behold, and very tactile.

Is Skoda even a thing in the US? I loved my Roomster. Weird, reliable, lots of shared parts...

Clapton can’t use that excuse. He was always racist.

The truth, and nothing but (as told by computers...)

Finally, the right answer! Also, just look at those wheels. Why don’t manufacturers make them the right size any more?

Remove the traction, and pretty much any car can be fun, but for me, the smaller the better. One of my most memorable drives ever was a late night run in a Smart Brabus Roadster, returning from a first date.

100% agree. I’d go even further though, and say it doesn’t have to be a Cooper. Even the standard car is something very, very special.

I’m not a gamer. I have young kids. I haven’t owned a console since my PS3.

Everything about the Mini Countryman is too small for it’s physical size, so I can’t imagine how much worse the Paceman is. Same thing applies to any SUV with coupe styling, I expect. Just why?

That’s the other side of the coin, I suppose. But in the UK specifically, lifestyle pickups are pretty common as personal transport. I see enough wealthy parents driving them on the school run to confidently say they don’t have that much of an image problem here.

Interesting. It never crossed my mind that they weren’t sold in the same showroom as the car. The press releases at the time implied the new model would be listed alongside the rest of the range in brochures, etc, so I assumed the whole thing would be seamless. Clearly, that doesn't appear to have been the case...

They didn't, but I like your thinking!

The X Class is an interesting comparison. Mercedes had a huge amount of experience in making commercial vehicles, but they couldn’t make it work. I wonder if that previous experience with ‘real’ heavy duty stuff was actually their downfall though.

Jason, you just made me wonder about something I’d never wondered about before.

I’d say so, absolutely. I literally don’t know anyone who has an auto only licence.

The concept of passing your test in an auto, then being allowed to immediately jump into a manual would seem utterly bizarre to anyone here in the UK.

There was a BBC series about Europe called Jeremy Clarkson Meets The Neighbours where he does it for real.

I was only a kid at the time of Prost and Senna, so I can’t comment on specifics, but I can well believe it. It would be nice to think that times had changed since then, but it seems that if anything, it might become even more likely to happen as the amount of money in the sport increases.

Maybe so, but it’s also the kind of thing that could alienate a lot of people. Why go to the bother of supporting any given team or driver with the knowledge that the FIA are capable of fundamentally changing the narrative?

I brought it up again because you asked me about it. Sheesh...