Tag: topgear.com

Frank Stephenson is a car designer with more hits than the Beatles, including the Escort RS Cossie, first BMW Mini, Maser MC12, numerous Ferraris and the McLaren P1. These days he runs his own consultancy – Frank Stephenson Design. Here he shares his views on the BMW iX3. Following its much maligned design direction of…

This season sees one of the biggest overhauls in F1 history. Here’s what changed Engines After 12 long years, it’s goodbye to 1.6-litre V6 hybrids and hello… 1.6-litre V6 hybrids. Now with vastly more e-power. Although, the complex and expensive MGU-H – the bit that generated electricity from the turbo – has been banished to…

Imagine starting a car company from zero. A real car company. One that wants to sell in volume and must adhere to all the rules and regulations that apply to Ford or Toyota. One that satisfies a market that demands reliability, convenience and a level of all round capability that was unheard of just a…

Stealth wealth is a very ‘late stage capitalism’ concept. The idea that conveying one’s success through material inventory is one thing, but doing it by wearing items that actively disguise their monetary value and will be recognised only by like-minded enthusiasts in the upper echelons is the stuff of Karl Marx’s most upsetting cheese dreams. …

Wait, what… another restomod? Any fatigue is extinguished the nanosecond you set eyes on the Encor Series 1. Sounds like a photocopier, but rare indeed is the car that looks this good straight out of the box. Sure, it helps no end that it ‘remasters’ the original Lotus Esprit, a 1970s statement car that united…

It’s exactly as I remember. And that’s the key thing. Nothing to do with my memory, but how memorable the Honda NSX was to drive. Because it drove like nothing else. So, to unpack the obvious here, this is a hero I’ve met before. The NSX was on sale for 15 years from 1990 and…

Introduced in the US in the late 1970s, the original crossover was initially offered in coupe, saloon and estate forms with lifted suspension and AWD. A rare convertible version called the Eagle Sundancer was even offered in 1981 and 1982. And yes, it was rare because nobody bought one. Of course we love the original…

Caterham has not spent a lot of time on roofs or concepts for that matter, peddling the same basic open-air effort in the Seven that Lotus invented in 1957. Which is why the AeroSeven is such a departure, obsessing with advanced aerodynamics in its slippery bodywork to create staggering wing-free downforce. Roofless and ruthless.  Honda’s…

Nothing demonstrates the design chutzpah of the city car world quite so proudly. The Mk1 Ford Ka launched in 1996 and lived a whole 12 years – twice the normal model cycle of a car – before being replaced by a duller Mk2, a muted twin of the reborn Fiat 500. It’s fair to say…

Resident Evil: Requiem is out now, and while we blot the viscera on our upcoming review, you can tide yourself over with this fact: Leon drives a Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT in it. We always imagined that his earnings went primarily on herbs and haircare, but apparently not – after three decades of speculation, Capcom’s revealed…