E-Manual

No, it says E-Manual, not Emannuelle - but I'll leave the picture because more people are likely to click on the story than if I went with this one:

I bought my car because I liked it and I wanted it.

But I'd have liked it and wanted it even more if it had a manual transmission.

Unfortunately, they don't do Volvos in that flavour any more.  In fact, they don't do saloons or estates any more either here in the UK.

Which is very irritating.

I had sort of resigned myself to the prospect of no more manuals given the rise of the electric vehicle but wasn't expecting to have to suffer all cars being SUVs too.

Good job first MG and now VW have come to the rescue with the all-electric ID7 estate:

Even if it does look a bit Toyota-ish.

But then Toyota have come to the rescue over the manual transmission problem - Autocar have the story here of a Lexus UX300e (yes, an SUV but this will be offered on the entire electric Lexus & Toyota ranges) which has a fake manual transmission fitted. You can set it up just how you want it and even "stall" it if you've forgotten how to drive a stick - a niggling fear I have now since I've not had a go in one in over 12 months.  I was particularly heartened to read this paragraph...

All the usual manual features are there: engine braking, coasting and, most amusingly, no torque when you suddenly try and accelerate in top gear, which then brings with it the synthetic sound of parts of the cabin trim rattling. It sounds like a gimmick but it’s actually all rather believable.

We are almost in fantasy territory here.

Carry on, E-Manual.

Last Chance Saloon

If your Audi starts with a Q or your Volvo starts with an X then I'm not interested in it.

Today's Hagerty story has been on the cards for a while now - I reported precursors in March 2021 and again that September.

Volvo have stopped selling saloons and estates in the UK.

Maybe that will make my S60 a bit more valuable because if you want a new one now you will have to either...

a) Find a country they are still selling them to - or

b) Join the Police.

They will still sell them to law-enforcement officers - presumably because everyone knows that proper cars handle a damn sight better than bloody SUVs.

When mine was in for its first MOT, there was a Cheshire Police one in there:

Jolly nice.  I wonder if the mechanics get to test drive them.

I've just checked out the Volvo website and nobody's told them about not selling saloons and estates.

Yet - this could be your last chance to get one.

Wag-gone

I missed this Autocar piece last week.

But Car+Driver didn't - they did this piece on it today.

It is the rather depressing news that Mercedes-Benz’s chief operating officer, Markus Schäfer is predicting the end of the estate car.

And the main reason is the rise of the cross-over SUV:

Ugh.

I've owned two estates - one was even a Mercedes - I loved them both.

He also reckons cabrios could be on the way out.

The reason for this is two-fold:

• the Chinese aren't into them.
• electric ones would look naff because of battery location

Although he does say that vegan interiors won't completely replace leather.

Car+Driver point out for their American readership that by "estates" - we are talking about "wagons" - let's not bring "shooting-brakes" into this.

They also got Mercedes-Benz USA to give their take on the news:

"Station wagons, although occupying a specific niche, remain an important offering to one of our most loyal customer segments"

Their readership see it the same way as me and Mercedes-Benz USA:

Although one of those votes cast was me.

It's a shame that the vast majority of the World's car buyers aren't car fans.

#SaveTheWagons

Rifle Charge

Here is a representation of a Kalashnikov AK-47:

Here is a representation of a Kalashnikov CV-1:

I like it.

 

I think I like it because it reminds me of a slammed Escort Mk II Estate: 

Although, while looking for a decent picture of a light blue Escort Mk II Estate, I realised that I liked it because it reminded me of a slammed Cortina Mk II Estate: 

However, according to this Autocar story, it is actually designed to look like one of these:

Which, of course, is an Izh 2125 Combi.

 

No?

 

Me neither.

 

Although, if you know your Russian cars, you can see that it, in turn, was based on a Moskvitch.

 

The CV-1 is an electric car that Kalashnikov hope will be a credible Tesla rival.  Can't see it myself but I'd like to see them get some sales in this country where, being a Kalashnikov with that body-shape, I hope they call it a Shooting-Brake.