Out of the confusing jumble of manufacturers and brand names that is Fiat, Chrysler and Lancia, a rather unique and eye-catching little super-mini has emerged on the UK market: the Ypsilon.

Chrysler Ypsilon Review

Just to be clear (or as clear as can be!), Lancia are effectively returning to the UK market, after scurrying away with their tail between their legs some years ago. But this time their range is being presented under the banner of ‘Chrysler’. Since Fiat own Lancia, one or two of the latest Chrysler UK range bear more than a passing resemblance to vehicles we have seen under the Fiat brand for some time.  That’s certainly true of the Ypsilon. Although, it clearly seeks to offer something currently very rare indeed (in-keeping with other vehicles in the range), namely: luxury at a lower price point. Let’s take a look at how successful it is:

First Impressions: The Exterior

The first time I saw the Chrysler Ypsilon it struck me as having something refreshingly original about it. I get a bit tired of seeing the same kinds of designs for cars in this class, but the Ypsilon breaks the mould. There’s a whopping Chrysler badge at the front, and very large grille. It’s almost like a miniature version of a much bigger car. I quite like the boldness and self-confidence that this design projects. Around the back the rear lights are beautifully shaped into narrow curving strips. The rounded, bubble-like shape is reminiscent of the Fiat 500. Indeed, the whole chassis is effectively based around Fiat’s Panda and 500.

Getting Comfortable: Interior/Practicality

The Chrysler Ypsilon is put together like a neat little 3 door coupe, but has the advantages of 5 doors. I’ve sat in the back to see what the space is like, and was pleasantly surprised. I’m over 6 foot and the headroom was pretty decent for me. I’m not sure my knees would be in great shape after a long-ish journey though! As for boot space, there’s 245 litres with the rear seats in use. This is pretty respectable, but, because the back seats don’t fold fully flat, the Ypsilon does lack a bit of flexibility.

How about the driving area? A bit like the exterior, my first impression of the interior was of a larger, premium vehicle shrunk down. The finishings are smooth and tactile, especially the piano black centre console. The optional leather seats help enhance the premium feel. The bi-colour design options can look really cool, although I’m not a massive fan of the garish black and red combo that Chrysler have been flaunting!

You can start to feel that you’re actually sitting in a much bigger, up-market vehicle! But the bubble is slightly burst after a bit of close inspection of a few areas, which reveals some fairly flimsy plastic surfaces. The infotainment system is top notch. It handles iPods or MP3’s, Bluetooth, texts and more. Audio controls can be found on the steering wheel, and the optional 360-degree speaker system produces an immense all-round effect.

Driving the Chrysler Ypsilon

I was in the middle of town when I first took the Ypsilon for a spin, and that’s undoubtedly where its strengths are. It nips around tight corners with very agile handling, and a ‘City’ mode makes the steering even lighter.

I couldn’t wait to test out the so-called ‘Magic Parking’ feature, which is available with both automatic and manual models. It claims to let you sit back and allow the Ypsilon to maneuver itself into any tight spot. I went for a bay-park between 2 cars that were very well separated at first! No problem there. So I found a parallel parking opportunity that I would only attempt myself if there really were no other slots available. I engaged reverse gear – on the instruction of the car – and started preparing what to put on my apologetic note to the driver of whichever car I hit first! As it happened, the wheel began turning furiously, left then right, and deftly backed me into this tightest of little spots. It was genuinely really impressive!

So having been persuaded of the Ypsilon’s prowess for negotiating urban environments, I headed out to some faster roads. It’s fair to say that the light steering was not quite so confidence inspiring when stepping on the gas down English country roads. But it was surprisingly fun to drive at higher speeds, and body-roll when cornering seemed very well controlled.

There are 3 engine choices with the Ypsilon, including 2 petrol and 1 diesel. The TwinAir 2 cylinder petrol option has gone down well with customers. It’s been used to great acclaim by Fiat before, and is a good choice for the Ypsilon.

Summary

The Ypsilon brings something fresh and different to the UK supermini market. I think it’s one of the best city cars that I’ve driven in a while, with exceptionally responsive steering and brilliant Magic Parking feature. A combined fuel efficiency of 74mpg also makes it the most efficient Chrysler around, and fully exempt from the congestion charge. Not a bad re-introduction to the UK from Lancia/Chrysler, even if they are really Fiat!

Author

Josh Austin works at a Chrysler dealership providing new and used cars for sale in Essex

Do you love the retro chic appeal of the Fiat 500, but have been lumbered with the burden of children so can’t have one? Well good news, Fiat has created the solution to that very dilemma with the new 500L and I’ve been to Italy, Turin to be precise, for a look inside it and learned a fair amount about the design of the car in the process.

Review of the Fiat 500L

Despite its official reveal at Geneva in March 2012 the Fiat 500L’s interior has been kept top secret (unless of course you are the Serbian Prime Minster who nagged so much he got to open the door). Thankfully the interior was not kept secret because all it consisted off was a couple of deck chairs and a paper plate, no quite the opposite actually; it was kept secret because it needed a special reveal all to itself.

A lot was riding on the 500L, Roberto Giolito (head of design at Fiat) was keen to explain. The car follows in a long line of ingeniously inventive cars which not only had personality but the ability to get Italians and other nationalities for that matter to where they wanted to go effortlessly. He explained how the original 600 Multipla and 500 mobilised Italy after WW2, how they then evolved into the 127, Uno and lastly new Multipla in 2000. Fiat needed another inventive car like those that had gone before and what better car to base it on than the sales phenomenon that is the Fiat 500.

Initially, the 500L looked to me like a 500 which had had backstreet botox, all swollen and dare I say ugly. However, having seen it in the flesh and seeing the process that went into designing it I can safely say that is no longer the case, more on the outside later though. Fiats head of interior design Virgilio Fernandez explained that the car was “designed from the inside to the outside”. A key element of the car is its floating roof, which thanks to some supper skinny A, B and C pillars sits high above the bodywork of the car. This creates an airy, bright and to quote “loft” feel inside the car, (think designer loft apartment not dingy asbestos filled loft). The expanse of glass really does create a panoramic 360 degree view.

Once inside the Fiat 500L, you sit high up in the car, the tall sides meaning you really do just step into it instead of duck down. There is no denying the car feels bigger than its footprint would suggest 414cm long and 178cm wide, just a bit bigger than a Punto. In the back there is enough leg and headroom to happily accommodate three lanky individuals. And with the panoramic sunroof ticked on the options list, like the test car did, the feeling of space and light is unquestionable. In the front the dashboard is made up of boxes all joined together. With the middle one housing Fiats excellent new touch screen multimedia system. Within seconds I had mastered the interface, clear buttons with a reassuring feel allow the user to choose between audio, media, phone and more, it’s then simply a matter of touching the screen to expand the selected menu, simple. The all-encompassing system also means the dash is refreshingly free of buttons, looking clean and simplistic.

Another benefit of the box layout is cubbyholes, the cabins full of them. There are for instance two glove boxes, however on the car I tried the upper boxes lid had a habit of falling shut on your hand, while the lower one dropped bashing your knees. This was put down to the car being a rather well used, not quite as refined press demonstrator. So hopefully the production car will get better hinges. Other features of the interior are a AUX and USB port, steering wheel mounted audio/phone controls and a massive gear stick which felt smooth to use. Needless to say that with all the space inside, once the seats are folded flat there’s enough load capacity to rival a small van.

Exterior wise, Andreas Wuppinger head of exterior design explained the rather complicated brief that the car had to meet. DNA from previous Fiat models had to be fused together in a micro SUV package. No easy task then, but one that was achieved thanks to a very clever design. Firstly, is the use of the Fiat 500’s nose, it gives the car that cutesy face which has contributed to the huge success of the 500, DNA successfully fused then. Secondly, the car achieves its SUV’ness through the use of flared arches and rubber inserts in the bumpers and along the doors. They help beef the car up and continue with the illusion that it is bigger than what it actually is, another benefit of the rubber is that the car can shrug off bumps and knocks more, vital if it’s to be used in European cities.

Finally, I feel I must give some detail about the huge scope for personalisation with the Fiat 500L. It will be available in three trim levels, entry level Pop, mid-range Easy and posh Lounge specification. Each available with their own unique choice of interior materials, ranging from body coloured plastic to suede’s and leathers. On the outside the floating roof effect means that colour change between body and roof is almost welcomed, a whole palette of colours are available from retro reinvented pastel greens and mustard yellows to contemporary bright colours with contrasting roofs. There really is a lot of choice when it comes to how you want your 500L to look. Giolito also hinted that the 500L is likely to spawn a few other variants, most notably a 7 seater and actual SUV like 4×4. The Fiat 500L has plenty of mileage as a model so there could be high demand for private registration plates containing 500l…speak to a company like www.carreg.co.uk to find out.

Fiats new 500L will go on sale towards the end of this year with prices starting at around £13000. And despite initial reservations over how it looked on paper I can safely say its appearance has grown on me and is likely to strike an appealing cord with buyers too. Especially if said buyers have longed for a normal 500 but needed more space, something which this car delivers in bucket loads, or should that be micro SUV box loads…

Audi are turning into Porsche and what I mean by that is not that they are fitting their engines behind the rear axle and suddenly thinking air cooling is a good idea but are instead using tracing paper to design their new cars. I am of course speaking about the all new Audi A3, which despite the model now being 15 years old is only now coming into its 3^rd incarnation. In comparison the A3’s cousin the Golf seems to have changed hundreds of times and spawned numerous spin offs in the same time period.

2012 Audi A3 Review

Anyway back to my original point, tracing paper. There is an all new A3 and it looks not all dissimilar to Audi’s baby A1. In fact if you were to take an A1, photocopy it and press enlarge you’d pretty much have the new A3. None of this photocopying is a bad thing though, the new A3 looks clean, sharp and purposeful, the new Audi family nose and headlights making the car look wonderfully aggressive, I can’t wait to see what an actually aggressive S3 will look like. Another reason the new car looks so good is the simple fact it’s bulked up. The A3 has grown 12mm wider and 23mm longer in the wheelbase over the old model. So it goes without saying that as well as being slightly sharper in the bends, the occupants will have a bit more room to stretch out in too, oh and the boots grown a little too. However the best thing Audi has managed to do and something which image conscious males the world over can only dream of doing is bulk up and lose weight at the same time. 80 kg has been lost over the old model thanks to aluminium wings, bumpers and some very anal attention to detail.

When it comes to interior fit and finish Audi’s have always been a cut above the rest (I’m writing this inside a 12 year old A3 right now and it hasn’t aged at all). Clear, understandable controls made from quality materials combined with that reassuring Audi door clunk is sure to make this new A3 seem just as fresh 12 years from now. Gadgetry wise Audi has raided the parts bin usually reserved for its bigger models. A3’s will come with a 7 inch sat nav screen and Audi’s MMI on board computer interface and touch pad to control the many functions. And in typical Audi fashion there will be plenty of expensive options. How does a 705w Bang and Olufsen stereo sound? Or internet access with the ability to connect up to 8 other devises? Meaning you’ll never need to park in a McDonalds car park for free Wi-Fi ever again! There’s also a whole bunch of collision avoidance tech and adaptive cruise control.

So what engines will be available to power this mobile internet café around? From launch in September 2012 there will be 3 engines to choose from. Two TFSI petrol’s, a 1.4 with 121bhp and a 1.8 with 178bhp and one 2.0 turbo diesel with 141bhp. Gearbox wise all cars will come with a 6 speed manual, with the 1.8 being offered with a 7 speed S-tronic twin clutch thingy. As always with any new car there are big claims about fuel economy, with Audi saying that fuel consumption has reduced by 12 per cent across the A3 range.

Finally, what other A3 versions are we likely to get? Well there’s already been a supper efficient 1.6 TDI announced which claims to offer 73mpg and sub 100g/km of C02. As for the other end of the spectrum no S3 has been announced as yet, but expect one of them and no doubt an even quicker RS3, both, naturally, with Quattro. To finish off with there will most certainly be a convertible and the slightly longer sportback versions for the posers and families alike.

Come September Audi’s new A3 will hit showrooms with prices starting at £19,000. Slightly more expensive than rivals it may be, but what you’d expect from Audi, they don’t do budget motoring. I suspect they will sell quite a few regardless of price and kudos to them for doing so, the new A3 shapes up to be a pretty well accomplished hatchback, definitely not a photocopied and enlarged A1.

Featuring iconic cars owned by characters such as Batman, Del Boy Trotter, Inspector Morse and Starsky and Hutch 

The General Lee - Dukes of Hazard

1. The General Lee from the The Dukes of Hazzard

Despite having car doors which didn’t open properly – you had to slide through the window to gain access – this 1969 Dodge Charger became one of the most iconic TV cars of the late 20^th century. Even a quarter of a century after the series ended it’s hard not to think of the Dukes of Hazzard, and the General Lee, when you hear a car horn playing the opening bars of the song Dixie.

KITT from Knight Rider

2. Knight Rider

Knight Rider followed hot on the heels of the Dukes of Hazzard (it made its debut in 1982) but soon overtook its rival in the ratings war thanks to the popularity of its main star. I’m talking, of course, about KITT rather than David Hasselhoff; KITT being the name of the car whose artificial intelligence thwarted many a criminal’s dreams.

Hasselhoff featured as Michael Knight in the series and a Pontiac Trans Am featured as KITT.

3. Doc Brown’s DeLorean

When the DeLorean car first rolled off the Belfast production line in the early 1980s its futuristic design and gull-wing-style passenger doors were arguably too ahead-of-its-time for it to succeed. DeLorean went bankrupt in 1982 but the year 1985 brought better luck for the car when the film Back to the Future was released. The movie converted the car into a cult classic by having it transport the main character back to 1955.

4. The Gran Torino from Gran Torino

The 1972 Gran Torino featured in the 2008 film of the same name is a bit like the movie’s main character Walt Kowalski, a part played by Clint Eastwood. Both car and character have seen better days but still retain an admirable growl and power – a recipe for a vintage film.

5. Starsky’s ‘detested’ Gran Torino

The Gran Torino has also proved to be a hit on the small screen.

In the 1970s detective series Starksy and Hutch, Starsky (played by Paul Michael Glaser) loves his red Gran Torino car and Hutch (David Soul) detests it.

In fact, in real life, it was the other way round. Apparently, Glaser took an instant dislike to the car, dubbing it ‘the striped tomato’ – a nickname that the series’ writers used in the script. Glaser thought that the idea of two under-cover cops using such a big, loud car was ridiculous and thought the car was ugly and childish-looking.

Starsky and Hutch fans disagreed with their hero’s assessment and the Gran Torino’s popularity rocketed.

6. James Bond’s Aston Martin

Accounts vary as to how 007 acquired his Aston Martin. In the book GoldenEye, author Ian Fleming reveals that Bond bought the DB5 himself for his own personal use. However, the film Casino Royale shows Britain’s most famous secret service agent winning the car in a game of poker. Whatever the real reason is, the car has served him (and Great Britain) well over the years.

7. Del Boy’s unreliable Reliant Regal

The dirty yellow Reliant Regal van used in Only Fools and Horses symbolised the unchanging fortunes of its owner Del Boy.

There were three of these vehicles used during the series’ ten-year run and all were emblazoned with the legend ‘Trotters Independent Trading Company’.

Boxer Ricky Hatton bought one of the original vehicles in 2004 and a 1972 model used from series six onwards fetched £44,227 when it was auctioned in 2007. “Lovely jubbly” as Del Boy would say. Why he didn’t buy a better motor from used car salesman Boycie is a mystery.

8. The Batmobile

One famous episode of Only Fools and Horses had Del Boy and Rodney leaping from their car dressed as Batman and Robin. The hapless duo did look a little like the Caped Crusaders but their Reliant Regal looked nothing like the Batmobile. But then what car did?

The 1966-1968 Batman TV series featured a heavily-modified Lincoln Futura concept car which had been languishing unloved and unused in a garage until three weeks before filming began.

9. Inspector Morse’s Jaguar

Whether it’s Gotham City or sleepy Oxfordshire, all good crime fighters need a good car and Inspector Morse was no exception. Morse’s burgundy Mark II Jaguar played a vital role in ferrying him to the country pubs where he conducted some of his finest work over a pint or two of real ale.

I’d like to say that the 1960 car was passed to Morse’s faithful sidekick Lewis when the great detective passed away. But it didn’t – instead being snapped up by a businessman for £100,000 in 2005.

10. Basil Fawlty’s Austin 1100 Countryman Estate

This is the car which Basil thrashes with a tree branch after it breaks down in the Fawlty Towers’ episode Gourmet Night. Internet blog posts from fans of the series suggest that Corgi Toys brought out a toy model of the car which came with a Basil action figure and a miniature tree branch accessory.

Basil’s motor might not be as sleek or as powerful as some of the other cars mentioned here but it still deserves its cult status!

James Christie writes for UK business directory Thomson Local – a great resource if you are looking for a list of motoring services or car dealers.

Since its foundation in 1922, Jaguar has come a long way from specialising in sidecars and something that the Two Fat Ladies probably drove around in. When one hears the words ‘comfort’, ‘style’ and ‘sophistication’ coupled with the word ‘car’, the mind often drifts to the prowess of the Jaguar.

Since its launch in 1968, the Jaguar XJ series has been no exception. Often found on photographs advertising other products such as fancy hotels and risqué holidays in the Middle East, the XJ has become the staple of luxury not only in the United Kingdom, but all across the world. After being unveiled, the striking design of the slender body and broadened front grill soon became the poster-boy for all Jaguar products. This design has remained throughout the decades and is something that any six-year-old boy since 1968 would be able to point out.

New Jaguar XJ Review

However, in 2009 Jaguar did something different, they brought to the worlds attention, a different kind of monster entirely. To say that there was a certain level of risk involved in the new design is a considerable understatement. Gone are the straightened grills that so many drivers have admired through their rear-view mirrors, and lost too is the Olympian bonnet that so many wedding photographers have struggled to get into shot.

The new XJ has a rounded, more Audi-ish grill, and a bonnet that looks suspiciously similar to the Mercedes-Benz S-Class. The question that everyone has been asking since 2009, is ‘have they pulled it off?’

Remarkably, they have. If you were to take a deeper look into the shape and style of the car, you can just see the old XJ shape, petering through the design. Yet for such a large car, it is a joy to drive. The new XJ has been well documented for its smooth ride and agile handling of the road, gliding around the trickiest corner like –well, like a glider. The performance of the car is also a highly valued topic among Jaguar enthusiasts, with a choice of engines from the V3.0 Diesel to the V5.0 Supersport if you enjoy driving on the autobahn. The five-litre V8 can reach 60mph in 5.7 seconds, which is a massive achievement for a car that weighs just less than two tonnes.

But what of the interior and the cockpit? The new XJ is made for those long journeys where company directors have to travel the lengths of the British Isles from one important golf course to the next, making comfort number one priority for the XJ. Although a tiny amount of space has been sacrificed in the sportier version, it is still the champion of its class and outranks the majority, if not all of its competitors. The interior also comes with all the toys that one would expect of any modern car, with touch screen dashboards, luxurious seat massages and even an optional television if you find yourself travelling with rowdy passengers. Of course, if you are travelling alone and wish for a relaxing journey home and wish to relax to the Für Elise, the twenty-speaker surround sound system designed by Bowers & Wilkins is a welcome addition to any car.

Overall, the new Jaguar XJ is a much-rounded version of its predecessors, offering a new, much more modern and luxurious approach to car design. The great news is that if you can’t afford to shell out £90,000 for a new car, the XJ is already appearing on the second hand market and can be found at a much more welcome price for the vast luxury it provides.

Planning on taking a drive in Derbyshire, Yorkshire or Lancashire? Then take care: these counties offer some of Britain’s most beautiful scenery but are also home to many of Britain’s most dangerous roads.

'Cat and fiddle' stretch of dangerous road near Macclesfield

A 2010 survey compiled by the Road Safety Foundation used figures from 2006 to 2008 and divided Britain’s road network into “significant sections” of various lengths.

The study then divided the number of fatalities and serious collisions on a given section by the number of kilometres driven on it. The result of this calculation was used to identify the most dangerous roads, you won’t find any speed bumps on these roads.

Below is some information about the five most dangerous roads; including the pros and cons of driving on them.

1. 1.     The A537 Macclesfield to Buxton – Cheshire to Derbyshire

Reasons to use: The highest point of this route is often referred to as the ‘Cat and Fiddle’ in honour of the pub of the same name which is found at the summit and which can proudly claim to be Britain’s second-highest drinking establishment. The A537’s elevated route offers spectacular varied views of the Greater Manchester urban sprawl, the Peak District National Park and the Cheshire Plains.

Reasons to take care: The Cat and Fiddle part of the route is popular with tourists, goods vehicles, motorcyclists and even the odd bit of livestock which strays on to the road. This mixed traffic usage, together with the sharp, blind bends, wild winter weather and rocky walls which line it can make driving there very dangerous.

There were 27 fatal and serious collisions on the A537 during the period 2005 to 2007, compared to 19 between 2002-2004.

1. 2.   The A5012 Pikehall to Matlock – South Derbyshire

Reasons to use: The small Derbyshire Dales village of Pikehall hosts the annual Y Not Festival; a shindig which was first held in a quarry and now attracts some of the country’s most fashionable young bands. Matlock is a destination favoured by television and film crews; it has featured in TV show ‘Peak Practice’, in the Ken Russell film ‘Women In Love’ and also provided the setting for Shane Meadows’ dark thriller ‘Dead Man’s Shoes’.

Reasons to take care: The A5012 had 14 fatal and serious collisions in 2002-2004 and the same number in 2005-2007. Of these, 21 per cent involved head-on collisions and 14 per cent involved cyclists or pedestrians.

1. 3.   A621 Baslow to Totley – Derbyshire/South Yorkshire

Reason to use: Baslow is a Derbyshire village which is stated just north of stately Chatsworth House.

Reason to take care: There were 12 fatal and serious collisions on this 9km stretch of road during the years 2005, 2006 and 2007.

1. 4.   A625 Calver to Sheffield – South Yorkshire

Reasons to use: Journey on the A625 in the Peak District and you will be greeted by the icy beauty of Mam Tor, aka ‘The Shivering Mountain’.

Reason to take care: It’s a chilling thought to think that large landslides in 1974 and 1977 damaged sections of the old route of the A625. The route has now been changed but the A625 still made the Road Safety Foundation’s top ten.

1. 5.    A54 Congleton to Buxton

Reasons to use: Congleton is home to ‘The Clouds’: a dramatic outcrop of rocks which overlook the Cheshire Plain. Buxton is the source of the water you find in bottles of Buxton Spring Water.

Reasons to take care: There were 20 fatal and serious injury accidents on this 24km-stretch of motorway between 2005 to 2007, 26 per cent of which were accidents at junctions.

Road users using the roads mentioned on this list can all take heart from the example set by road safety measures introduced on the A40 between Llandovery and Carmarthen. This road was named as the most improved road in the 2010 poll with a dramatic reduction in the accident rate coinciding with initiatives such as improved junctions, clearing markings and resurfacing.

Let’s hope that transport officials will find room in their budgets to invest in safety measures so that the outlook for driving on the northern roads mentioned in this article becomes as beautiful as the scenery to be found there.

James Christie writes for breakdown cover company – GEM Motoring Assist

Although many of you will frown upon the title of this article, it is actually true. A car is often considered a very expensive purchase; the old marketing cliché goes that the car is the 2nd most expensive buy after a house. It will be true for the most of us, however, in all honesty it depends on how much does the car cost. Today you can find plenty of cars that are more expensive than houses. This story is about cheap cars, so let’s not deviate from our main goal. What has really happened to car prices during the last 100 years?

Relative Price of New Cars Falling

The best way to compare cars for sale then and now is to look at the vehicle prices in comparison with the average salary. One of the most appropriate examples is the 1922 Austin 7. It was built and sold as an affordable car for a price tag of £152. With the adjustment towards the inflation it equals around £6,000 in today’s money. Sounds very cheap for a British-made car! But was it cheap?

If you compare it with the average wage of a factory worker, the imaginary sense of affordability instantly disappears. With a weekly wage of around £2.80, an unskilled worker had to save 54 weeks’ worth of salary to buy a car. Of course, it never happened because they hardly managed to get by and pay their bills. That’s why at the dawn of motoring, the car was a luxury item.

That explains why in 1910 there were only around 8,000 cars on the streets of Britain; the number has now increased to over 21 million.

The situation was slightly better in the USA – a Ford Model T cost $825 in 1910. With a salary of $19.25 per week our unskilled worker had to work for 43 weeks to buy a car. Again – only a statistical number. The reality was that a factory worker couldn’t possibly afford a car.

Today, a small, cheap car – something like Ford Fiesta – costs £9,500. A factory worker would earn something in the region of £18,000 p.a. which means that he’d only have to work 27 weeks to buy a car. And for today’s situation, a worker being able to afford a vehicle is not at all impossible. With various car finance and leasing options available, no wonder that the number of vehicles on our roads is steadily increasing.

This short detour in motoring history was prepared by Creditplus car finance provider.

If you have been doing research on insurance for your car in the UK, you have likely come across some information regarding the insurance groups, and the revised 1-50 rating scale. However, a more direct approach to car insurance, such as simply going straight to Aviva.co.uk, may not yield any specific information regarding this rating scale, which essentially tells you how expensive your insurance will be based on what make and model your vehicle is. It’s a fairly simple system – essentially, cars at the lower end of the scale, toward group 1, will have the most affordable insurance policies, whereas higher-end vehicles, toward group 50, will require far more expensive insurance.

Car models in the lowest Insurance Group

It’s fairly interesting, actually, to do some looking around in this scale to see where different sorts of cars you may be interested in are grouped. For example, many cheaper, more basic cars that you see frequently out and about on the road can be found in the early groupings – typically, Volkswagens, Vauxhalls, Toyotas, and other cars that fall within similar categories. Meanwhile, the middle of the list is made up of slightly more expensive and luxurious vehicles – for example, in Group 22 you will notice a few MINI Coopers, and in Group 25 you will find some cheaper luxury vehicles, such as the Audi A3 Sportback. And finally, at the top groupings you will find some of the newest and most expensive cars on the market, such as various Porches and Maseratis.

Fortunately, if you take a closer look at these groupings, you will find that the numbers are not based solely on car expense. Of course, the overall trend is that newer, nicer, and more expensive cars tend to be grouped higher, and will thus have more expensive insurance prices. The same is true in reverse, for the most part. However, you can find powerful, high-performance and highly desirable cars in lower groupings here and there. For example, you will find the BMW 1 Series, currently available new in the UK at roughly £20,000, as low as Group 17. Or if you wish to go even lower, you may notice that in Group 10, you can find cars as nice as the Audi A1, available at £16,610.

Ultimately, as mentioned, these insurance groups can be interesting to look through, and they do indeed show an overall trend of nicer cars having costlier insurance policies. However, that is no reason to limit your search for a new car to just the lower groups. As demonstrated above, it is perfectly possible to find good insurance policies in relatively low groups for powerful, high performance, luxury vehicles. All you need to do is comb through this group listings a bit, and you will find a number of surprisingly well-placed nice cars.

First things first, this is not a new E-type Jaguar, it is according to Jaguar, a “sustainable sports car of the future”, that just happens to take more than a few visual cues from the 1960’s icon. The car itself is Jaguars C-X16 concept, a lightly disguised production ready road car, that Jaguar hopes, will take on the might of the Porsche 911 in the coming few years.

The second thing to point out is that the C-X16 is not a replacement for the XK, it is a whole new car that will slot into Jag’s line up. Whereas the XK is unashamedly a Grand Tourer designed for eloping across Europe, the new car is designed to be an out and out sports car ready to scare the bejesus out of you.

Jaguar C-X16 Review

Jaguar over recent years have become quite handy when it comes to wielding a design pencil, the XF, XJ and XK have all replaced their rather dated looking predecessors, rescuing the brand from the brink of financial meltdown. The C-X16 looks fit to continue this rebranding and I feel a closer look at it is required to understand its beauty and uncanny resemblance to the aforementioned E-Type. From side on the car has that typical long nose, short rear profile of the iconic coupe. It also features a gently sloping glass hatch that’s not all too dissimilar from the coupe E-type. That glass hatch leads down to the thin horizontal rear lights, which wrap around both sides of the car, stopping just before and above the rear wheels. At the bottom of the sculpted rear bumper sits a rather purposeful looking rear diffuser housing quad upswept exhausts at either side. From the front the C-X16 look’s equally as good. Its swept back headlights and wide open grill make it look ever so slightly like the animal after which the company takes its name. From every angle the car looks fast, its bonnet bulges, with little air scoops on either side give it a 70’s muscle car feel, and hint at the supercharged engine beneath, which funnily enough is the next part of the car that I feel needs exploring.

Engine wise, the C-X16 features a not too shabby, all new supercharged 3 litre V6. However, the C-X16 is an experimental hybrid, which means it’s got an electric motor too! Total power equates to 380bhp from the engine and 95bhp from the electric motor. It uses the electric motor in the same way as the KERS system in an F1 car, meaning that you can press a big shiny button to release a boost of power to get past any particularly slow moving traffic. Thanks to this instant torque of the electric motor, coupled to the V6, 0-62mph is dealt with in 4.4 seconds and top speed is limited to an adequately illegal 186mph. Despite the turn of speed, the icing on the cake for all this hybrid’ness is a city car rivalling mpg of 41 and low C02 emissions for a car of this class at 165g/km. Finally, what this also means is that the car can run on pure electric power at, according to Jaguar, up to 50mph. Pretty clever stuff I’m sure you’ll agree, but it doesn’t stop there. The car also features the obligatory stop/start system and electric regeneration to recharge itself. All the power and techy bits are hooked up to the rear wheels through Jaguars new 8 speed auto box with manual override, which has just debuted in the 2.2 diesel XF.

Inside the C-X16’s very red interior there is an abundance of clever gadgetry, which hints at what sort of things Jags of the future will offer. There is a plug which can be used for connecting numerous types of smartphone, the touchscreen display in the centre consul then changes to reflect the specific phones layout. It then allows you to use the phones functions through the cars screen. Very clever stuff although totally useless if you still use a Nokia 3310. Having a touchscreen in the centre means that the need for masses of buttons is no longer, this gives the cabin a simple uncluttered and elegant appearance. The only major controls left, are the beautifully crafted aluminium heater knobs, gear selector and steering wheel of course.

Although this car is still officially a concept, the amount of real world technology, viable engine and performance figures, suggest it will become a production ready car before 2012 is done. It is likely to make a welcome addition to Jaguars line up and put more than just a worried thought into Porsche and Aston’s bosses’ heads, as this car will be major competition for the new 911 and now dated V8 Vantage. Although Jaguar insists it is not a new E-Type there are definitely some visual cues to the classic, which is in no means a bad thing. However Jag doesn’t need to worry, the C-X16 is definitely a unique, modern, sports car of the future.

Do you want a complete and comprehensive guide to almost every single car release of the 21^st century? If you answered yes, then the A to Z of 21^st Century Cars by Tony Lewin is the book for you. Actually come to think of it, even if you answered no to that question this book could still be for you, as it provides even the smallest of petrol heads with a bewildering array of easy to access, show off to your mates at the pub, facts.

A to Z of 21st Century Cars Book Review

Let’s be clear though, this isn’t just another book about some cars from the new millennia written about in a forgettable manner. No, what it is in fact, is a comprehensive encyclopaedia of pretty much every manufacturer known to mankind with a page or more dedicated to 300 of their most important models. Each car featured, be it the Skoda Yeti or Lamborghini Gallardo is explored in amazing detail, with information ranging from how it progressed from concept to reality, to controversies and trivia surrounding its release. The book even makes note of the impact some cars made to the automotive industry as a whole upon their release.

As well as the brief synopsis given about a particular car there is also a handy box which lists all the important need to know facts about a specific engine and trim, for example everything from the 2010 Focus 1.6 TDCI to the Ferrari 458 is listed. The car’s specific dimensions, layout, engine, power, speed and C02 emissions are all printed in a clear easy to read box, usually next to a superb quality picture of the car in question, of which the book has 1500.

A to Z of 21^st century cars does not just focus solely on the centuries automobiles, but also looks at some of the most influential car designers and design houses who first scribbled their forms on paper. Everybody and every house from the walking controversy that is Chris Bangle to the sublime beauty created by Pininfarina is meticulously explored. A dated timeline is provided detailing some of the designers and the companies most important designs accompanied of course by some of those aforementioned 1500 pictures.

By far and away the best part of the book for me was the relatively small section named “Who owns whom” found on pages 532 – 533. The section lists the majority of the planets car manufacturers and as the title suggests who owns them as of when the book went to press in May 2011. Speaking as a bonafide car anorak I cannot stress enough what a useful source of pub trivia this section is. For example have you ever wondered who owns the rights to some of Britain’s best loved defunct manufacturers like Triumph, Hillman and Sunbeam? This book tells you, and some answers might come as quite a surprise.

As the title suggests the A to Z of 21^st Century Cars is arranged in an easy to navigate alphabetical and colour coded order. Making it really easy to lose hours immersed in all the facts you never thought you needed to know but would feel lost without, had you not read them. It makes perfect reading for any self-confessed car geek or motoring novice alike. However I’d imagine that by the time most novices reach the letter Z they’ll be experts too. This book is definitely a must buy as it makes even the dullest of cars seem interesting.