Monday, 9 February 2026

Return of the Grand Tour!

Just with three different blokes:

Haven't a clue who they are but they seem far too young.

That will be the reaction of most Grand Tour fans I imagine.

It was certainly my first thought.

Jeremy has done an "amusing" little sketch for The socials where he is choosing them: 

So I suppose I'd better find out who they are.

Thomas Holland appears to be Spiderman.

I may have the wrong person.

There's a racing driver called Thomas Holland - it must be him - I approve of racing drivers becoming TV motoring presenters - like Tiff Needell, Jason Plato and of course, Vicki Butler-Henderson. Only trouble is, Thomas Holland the racing driver doesn't look like any of the blokes in that photo.

OK, a bit more digging.  Thomas and second new presenter James Engelsman are successful motoring Youtubers with a channel called Throttlehouse.

I'd never heard of it but they have 3.36 million subscribers so must be doing something right.  I approve.

Although I'd have probably gone with the Youtube presenters I watch - Ian from Hubnut, Ed from Twincam and Ryan from Yorkshire Car Restorations. I'd love to see how those three would get along.

The third presenter, who I have also never heard of, is "viral train enthusiast Francis Bourgeois."

They nearly had me. 

Wednesday, 4 February 2026

Where is the year going?

I'm noticing that it's actually light when I'm driving home from work.

And according to the contents page of the Top Gear Magazine that came this week - IT'S APRIL!

Hang on a mo'!

Now I know that Top Gear Magazine tends to be ahead of the time in terms of editions - it's so that they can fit a thirteenth "Awards" edition into the calendar year.

But April!?

So I checked on the one that came last month.

It only feels like four weeks between them.  Have they not delivered the March one and I've not noticed?

This month it was Number 405 - we are into Peugeot saloon territory.  So what was the one I got last month?

So a bit of a cock-up in the editorial department. Sack the proof-reader.

And Happy Easter!

Tuesday, 27 January 2026

Toyota Teases a Mysterious New SUV with a Blocky Design.

No, you lost me at SUV. 

That's a Car+Driver story today.

Which I won't read.

Meanwhile there is an Autocar long-term test of the Polestar 3 here.

It's worth reading just for these two paragraphs alone:

The 3 is so called because it's the third model Polestar has launched as a standalone brand. When I've told people I'm getting a 3, they've asked: "Is that the one without the rear window?"

No, that's the 4. The 3 was launched at the same time as the 4. Given that the 4 is smaller than the 3 and the 2 is smaller than the both, it would make more sense if the 3 were called the 4 and the 4 the 3. But Polestar's naming convention for now is sequential, in the order of launch.

Thursday, 22 January 2026

Getting Angrier

There's a lot to be angry about in the world today.

There's Crossover SUVs.

There's the Orange Man-baby and his British sycophant, Nigel.

There's Kygo molesting brilliant songs by deceased black female singers.

And there's missing out on the latest upgrades because my Volvo is FROM 2020.

All post-2020 Volvos will receive new 'conversational' Gemini system in massive over-the-air update

That story is from Autocar - a publication I also referenced yesterday.

I regularly check out their website for the daily car news but I don't usually look at their slideshows because I reckon they only have about 8 and they keep repeating them over and over again.

However, today they had a new one - 20 Very Angry Looking Cars!

Now, to look angry, you need to have eyebrows making a V shape and squint a bit.

Clenched fists help but cars can't do that.

So what do the Autocar Angry Cars look like?

The Mitsubishi Delica Mini does look extremely angry - good job they don't sell them here.
The Suzuki Alto Turbo just looks like it is wearing 1970s spectacles.
The Simca 1000 doesn't look angry at all - just mildly perplexed.
The Chevy Rondine concept looks more determined than angry.
Nope - not a clue why this is in here. Now I'm mildly perplexed. Wonder if I'm currently resembling a Simca 1000.
Also not angry - just very ugly with huge and sore nostrils.

And the Gordon Keeble can maybe be described as more grumpy than angry.

The rest of the 20 vary in angryness from not very to a bit.
 

Meanwhile I'm not angry on missing out on the free Volvo software upgrade - I'm used to how I currently interact with my car.

Even if I do find myself arguing with the 2020 voice command system.

In fact, it sometimes makes me angry.

Wednesday, 21 January 2026

British Bulldog

 No, not the Aston Martin one:

This is the Honda City MkII Turbo.

Or is it a Honda City Turbo MkII?

In either case, it's nickname is the "Bulldog".

Autocar have the story today of a British man who went over to Japan to organise the purchase of one and then ended up buying a second one over here.

Although it looks like a Kei car - it's actually too big and powerful to be one.

But due to it's age, it could be imported into America where the orange man-baby has taken an interest in the genre.

Why can't he stick to getting things wrong on stuff like this rather than being a moron about important stuff?