Mercedes-Benz has whipped the covers off its second-generation GLB compact SUV, with the highlights being greater interior space, fresh new visuals, a cutting-edge Superscreen user interface and impressive consumption and range stats for petrol and EV models respectively.
Lamborghini recently staged a mega 20th birthday celebration for its Centro Stile design department at its Sant’Agata Bolognese headquarters, and the event was graced by a host of car design luminaries, including Fabrizio Giugiaro and Laurens van den Acker, to name just two. A stunning backdrop was provided by a parade of Lamborghini’s “few-off” cars, such as the Sesto Elemento, Reventon, Veneno, Sian and modern-day Countach LPI 800-4.
Topping 300kph at the twisty, undulating Circuito Estoril is something I’d never imagined would be possible in a road car.
The last time I was at this track was for the launch of the ultra-rapid McLaren 750S, and the Woking missile briefly squeaked past “only” 280kph down the main straight before having to stamp on the anchors hard for the tight second-gear Turn 1.
Yet here we are in the all-new Lamborghini Temerario, comfortably exceeding the triple-ton for lap after lap. It’s a mind-boggling feat, and so is the car’s ability to rev past 10,000rpm, especially given that it’s a twin-turbo V8 that runs up to 2.5 bar of boost pressure.
Hyundai revealed the eye-catching Initium concept at its Goyang Motorstudio in Seoul today, giving the first glimpse of its next-gen hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle.
The first generation BMW 1-Series hatchback debuted back in 2004, providing a new – less expensive – entry point for would-be BeeEm owners who fancied having a car with the blue-and-white roundel on the bonnet, but couldn’t quite stretch to a 3-Series.
The first two generations of BMW 1-Series were unique in the compact hatchback arena as they were the only offerings with a driver-focused rear-wheel-drive layout. Every other competitor – Audi A3, Mercedes A-Class, Volkswagen Golf etc – featured the usual front-wheel-drive architecture.
Ferrari on Friday inaugurated its brand-new ‘e-building’, a state-of-the-art facility that will – from the start of 2026 – roll out the prancing horse’s first full-electric vehicle.
If you chalk up a couple of decades as a motoring journalist, occasional opportunities present themselves to drive classic – and often precious – models, sourced from the museums and collections of hallowed carmakers.
However, what doesn’t happen very often is for a storied marque to throw the toybox open and say: “Here they are. Cane them as hard as you like on our private test track.”
I might be paraphrasing a little, but this is essentially what occurred when Ferrari recently extended an invitation to the Corso Pilota Classiche program, which is open for its customers to participate in – at a not-insubstantial price,
| The Good: – Comfort and cabin ambience – Faster, more agile than expected – Offbeat looks uplift brand image |
The Bad: – Fiddly gear selector – Price competes with luxury brands – Sporty roofline limits headroom |
BMW is going electric. Well, it hasn’t ditched combustion power just yet – and may not do so for at least the foreseeable future – but the Bavarian marque’s agenda is to electrify a substantial chunk of its lineup by the end of the decade. In a telling sign of what’s to come, the all-new G60 5 Series (due on sale locally by the end of the year) has been split into two distinct offerings. As before, there will be the petrol-powered 520i, 530i, 540i and (eventually) M5, but, for the first time, there are also battery-powered BMW i5 models.
Bold new car-making startup Ineos Automotive raised eyebrows earlier this year with the launch of its old-school Land Rover Defender-inspired Grenadier wagon, which we sampled in January in Scotland. Not content to sit on its hands, the British conglomerate, founded by eccentric billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe, is using this weekend’s Goodwood Festival of Speed to showcase a dual-cab pick-up version of the INEOS Grenadier that provides superior load-lugging capability to that offered by its wagon sibling.
Dubbed the Grenadier Quartermaster, the pickup is claimed to offer “world-class off-road ability” thanks to 264 mm of ground clearance,