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Everything you need to know about cars this week: 19 Apr '20
Reviews of two very different SUVs, and some lovely pictures of Koenigseggs
Racing legend Sir Stirling Moss has died aged 90
"Moss retired from public life in January 2018, following a prolonged period of ill-health, having remained an active and hugely revered part of the motorsport world until that point. For many, he was the greatest British racing driver of them all, blessed with superhuman skills behind the wheel and a figure who cut a rakish dash out of the cockpit. His status in the pantheon of the greats is secure, and this despite having never actually won the Formula One world championship. Fangio rated him as the best he ever raced against, and Enzo Ferrari, who was ready to hire him for the Scuderia, agreed."
Advertisement - Page continues belowThis is a Frankenstein Merc 300E with a BMW M5 engine
"Hartge actually built this Frankenstein’s monster of a thing back in 1988 and ambitiously named it the F1. You might already know its story, but essentially the F1 is a W124 generation Mercedes 300E with BMW’s M88 straight-six plumbed in. Yep, that’s the engine which was initially used in the BMW M1 and later found homes in both the M635 CSi and the E28 M5."
Review: Lincoln Navigator
"With so much of the engineering heavy lifting already in place, the Lincoln team has focused its efforts on adding luxury touches to the vehicle. Efforts that have not been wasted as the Navigator is without doubt the best appointed, most comfortable luxury US SUV you can buy today."
Advertisement - Page continues belowGaze upon the Koenigsegg Jesko Absolut on a test track
"We can only presume that, while the motoring world’s a little quiet right now, Koenigsegg is continuing to beaver away at developing its 500kph+ special way up in Angelholm, because it’s wheeled out the prototype for some beauty shots on its own private runway. Drink it in."
This restomod Merc 600 Pullman is all kinds of fantastic
"Check out that interior – yep, it’s a restomod. All of those bits have come from a modern-day Maybach 62. There’s electrically-adjustable heated seats, a fridge and champagne flutes, a full-size TV, Swarovski diamonds in the roof lining, a DVD player, a Dolby surround sound system and of course lashings of leather. It’s an interesting mix of 60s/70s style and mid-2000s tech, but wouldn’t you prefer to be chauffeured in this over an S-Class?"
The Hyundai i30N is (probably) getting a paddleshift auto
"The excessively caps locked statement sits below a video of a Hyundai Veloster N being skidded around some kind of warehouse, its driver flicking steering wheel-mounted paddles and activating something called ‘Grin Shift’. A previous Insta post shows this to have a 20-second countdown attached to it, but contains no further details. A push-to-pass boost feature like you get in Porsches these days? Perhaps…"
Eight alternative Formula 1 histories
"In motorsport, as in life, there are so many what ifs. What if Ayrton Senna didn’t die in 1994, would he have beaten Michael Schumacher? What if Fernando Alonso had stayed with Renault and not gone to Ferrari, would he be the three-time champion his talent justifies? What if Schumacher hadn’t even gone to Ferrari? The list is endless."
Advertisement - Page continues belowEight things you never knew about the Mercedes 190E Cosworth
"Deep air dams, side skirts, wheel arch extensions and a rear wing. Right now, that seems like page one, entry one in the How To Make A Performance Version Of A Family Car playbook."
Cadillac's quickest performance cars will be called ‘Blackwing’
"Fast Cadillacs get the ‘V-Series’ designation, this much you know. Today, we learn that Fast Cadillacs With The V-Series Designation will now come in a range-topping ‘Blackwing’ version, and that’s quite good news because let’s face it, Blackwing sounds fantastic."
Advertisement - Page continues belowThe last 991-era Porsche 911 is being auctioned for charity
"For reasons we’re not entirely sure we understand, the winning bidder must possess US residency. So, Americans, whip out those credit cards and start bidding way over the odds for this most-special of 911 Speedsters. Remember, those dollars are headed somewhere worthwhile."
Here's how the Bugatti Veyron became a thing
"Production of the EB110 had ceased in 1995 and the Italian factory and remaining stock had already been sold-off, so all VW got for its estimated $50million was the trademark, the name. But that was all it needed. Piëch was after a home for the 18-cylinder engine he’d sketched on the back of an envelope a year earlier, while travelling on a Japanese express train, and Bugatti was perfect."
Lexus has updated the LC500
"Lexus has given its LC coupe a refresh. And hurrah! They’ve kept the naturally aspirated V8, samurai styling and zanily laid out interior. Phew."
Check out this Tesla Model 3 with active aero
"Apparently, R-Zentric is the company’s EV division – working on everything from e-Golfs to LaFerraris – and now it has fitted active aero to Elon’s smallest saloon. Yep, both the front splitter and rear diffuser of that body kit have moveable panels that can switch between high downforce and low drag modes, depending on speed and g-force."
Review: Peugeot e-2008
"A crossover with a point: a practical, fun place to be and plenty of electrified zip."
The beginner's guide to Audi
"It’s quite a young company, in the grand scheme of things, having only existed in its current form since the mid-Sixties. But you can trace its history back much further than that, to the beginnings of the four independent companies that eventually merged to become Auto Union AG in 1932."
#TopGearChallenge One: our favourites
"The first of our new series of car-based challenges centred around engineering, and we asked you all to build a car from anything and everything you could found lying around the house. We had hundreds of entries, ranging from crazy cardboard creations to sofa-sized simulators and fully autonomous robot cars – yeah, seriously. We were mightily impressed."
Building LEGO's Technic Ducati Panigale is your new weekend plan
"As with all LEGO Technic stuff it’s properly detailed. There’s a faithful recreation of that WSBK-born 998cc V4 engine (which in real life makes a ridiculous 234bhp at 15,500rpm), and even a working 2-speed gearbox."
Aston Martins were supposed to look like this by 2020
"Its name gives the game away somewhat – the DB7-based ‘Twenty Twenty’ was supposed to show what an Aston Martin might look like 20 years down the line."
How to be a Bugatti Chiron test driver during lockdown
"Bugatti’s factory, like pretty much every other production line in Europe, is currently gathering dust. And yet, behind the scenes at the Molsheim facility, work goes on. Work on chassis testing and performance R&D for some of the world’s fastest and priciest cars. Well, someone’s got to keep those 1,500 horsepower’ed wheels turning…"
Top Gear’s Top 9: the golden age of muscle car names
"Mercury was merely Ford’s upmarket spin-off, but its planetary name somehow captured the spirit of a space-seeking age. Meanwhile, many cars have found fame repurposing the name of a big cat, and ‘cougar’ has rather morphed in meaning since then, but hey, this was a more innocent time."
13 crazy facts about Rolls-Royce you probably didn't know
"As you can imagine, when Rolls-Royce is making eye-wateringly expensive land yachts for the world’s elite, some pretty potty stats, facts and stories come out of this rather unique process"
#TopGearChallenge Two: Photography
"Have you’ve always wanted to be a car photographer? Dreamt of epic photoshoots in crazy locations with even crazier cars? Well, now is your chance to get your images published on TopGear.com, or even printed in Top Gear Magazine."
