Citroën has a long history of large flagship luxury cars, from the Traction Avant in the 1930s, through the futuristic DS in the 1950s and the technological showpiece that was the SM in the 1970s. The C6 was the last in a long line of these cars. It focused less on new technology, although it had its fair share of that, but like all those other cars it had an avant-garde style all of its own, something to set it apart from the BMW wannabes of the mid-2000s. But given it was the last large luxury Citroën you can probably deduce it didn’t sell that well. Just why was that, and what relationship does it have with the second generation car that launched in China?

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It’s 1975 and British Leyland faces an enormous challenge: petrol prices are skyrocketing. BLs own Mini which created this category way back in 1959, is showing its age. It’s too small and is much less practical. Britain had just entered the Common Market, a forerunner to the European Union, and what British Leyland needs is a class-leading “supermini” of its own to take on the rest of Europe. What it doesn’t have is the money to develop it.

You might have seen that rental company Hertz is making a big push to rent EVs. It recently made the news that it’s scaling back, selling off a lot of those cars it bought a couple of years back and losing a lot of money in the process. As I had to rent a car recently, I thought I’d try a Hertz electric vehicle to understand the experience. Is it as easy as hiring a regular internal combustion engine car? Are there any benefits? What are the problems? And why did my experience end with me crawling down the motorway with no heating in the height of winter?

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The Audi TT is in my opinion one of the best styled cars in the past 30 years. And I’ve put my money where my mouth is – I owned one for 9 years. I loved every minute, even taking it around the track. But I’m waiting for the next car with a style so unique that I’ve just got to own it. It’s a car that’s spanned four decades through three different guises and ended production in November 2023. So, just where did the inspiration for the TT come from, what disaster struck just after it launched and did the second and third generation improve on the TT formula?

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I put out a poll to the community to ask what was the best value sports car, if you excluded the Mazda MX-5, which to be honest would be my go-to choice. You came up with some really good suggestions, so I thought I’d go through each one, giving you their performance stats versus the price. So, imagine you’re given £40,000 ($50,000 USD, €45,000, $73,000 AUD) to get a three year lease on the sports car of your dreams, and anything left over you could blow on what you’d like – a holiday, or another sports car! Which of the following would you get?

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The Alfa Romeo logo seems a bit random. What’s an English flag and royal snake spitting venom got to do with stylish Italian motoring? Well, it was borne out of the rebirth of the car company that became known as Alfa Romeo.

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I thought I covered all the executive cars from the 1970s in my last video, but as always you’re very knowledgeable, and you spotted a few cars that I missed! If you haven’t seen that video, I’d recommend you watch that first, and there’s a link above. I also said I wasn’t going to talk about Jaguar because it was a little too premium in my opinion, but hey, while we’re talking about other cars why not throw that into the mix as well?

Thanks to Carl Statham for letting me know about the Chrysler Valiant.

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In 1970 there was a battle for the British executive car market, with 16 different models available across Europe. It’s a fight that was even more intense by the end of the decade, and it’s something I remember well. This is the sort of car my father was purchasing, and I often went along with him to “kick the tyres” so to speak. I’m not going to talk about ultra luxury cars like Rolls Royce, Bentley, Aston Martin or Jaguar, although Mercedes has snuck in there, mainly because they were used for more regular transportation in Germany. I’m thinking more the premium mass market that was occupied by Rover in the UK and BMW in Germany, and I’m going to stick with large 4 door mostly saloons, no 2-door mid-life crisis cars!

Links to videos on some of the cars I talk about here:

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There are few cars that create such an emotional response as the Mini. In 1959 it was a modern, cutting-edge design, but today is a cute, old-fashioned car. It’s gone from being the height of practicality to completely impractical, certainly compared to modern cars. But that emotional response was understood by those who sought to recreate it at the turn of the Millenium, creating a practical car that nevertheless cherishes its British Mini roots. So, just why did the British Motor Corporation decide to build this tiny car? And why was the Mini on sale, almost unchanged, for over 40 years?

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Aston Martin is known for its loud, brash sports cars. It’s what James Bond jumps into to get out of trouble, so it’s understandable that there was quite a bit of head scratching in the Aston community when the company announced they were going to release the Cygnet – a small city car that wasn’t even tuned for performance. Why did Aston release this car that was so clearly not an Aston? How could they justify selling it for three times the price of the car it was based on, and can you get one today for a bargain price?

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