Tag: topgear.com

You’re looking at a new-slash-old kind of Ferrari – the 12Cilindri Manuale. As the name suggests, a naturally-aspirated V12 with rear-wheel drive and an iconic, open-gated six-speed manual. A rosy glimmer of simpler times. What they used to call ‘the good old days’. Except it isn’t, because this car also has the use of a…

Now that’s a racy-looking van. Sure is. It’s the Ford Transit Custom MS-RT, the motorsport-flavoured version of Britain’s favourite tool carrier. Or a baby Supervan, depending on your disposition. MS-RT stands for M-Sport Road Technology, the road-going offshoot connected to M-Sport – the people who know a thing or two about making Fords look angry,…

The new Popemobile will be a Fiat. Well, sort of. The most Italian manufacturer of cars that cost less than your soul (we’re looking at you, Italian supercars) has done a deal with the Governorate of the Vatican City State to supply it with thirty vehicles – consisting of the aggressively cute, all-electric Topolino and…

This self-proclaimed ‘custodian of Scandinavian style’ makes the Arc II in a number of dial variations (this one is the ‘Klint’), all surrounded by luminous material for a powerful glow when the lights dim.  Automatic movement with a 42-hour power reserve. The 40.5mm microblasted steel case is water resistant to 100m.  £3,166 Pronounced something like…

With animal-based names in fashion at the end of the 1960s, Opel had already decided on Manta for its new two-door coupe, but it still needed a logo. Designer George Gallion met with marine researcher Jacques Cousteau for inspiration, and landed on a shot of the giant stingray from below. A teeny little commercial vehicle…

Why choose between a V8, a V6 or a four cylinder… when you could have all three? Meet Cadillac’s 1981 V8-6-4, a truly novel innovation that proved truly catastrophic. In the wake of the ’79 oil crisis, US gas prices were through the roof. Cadillac engineers came up with the nifty fuel saving idea of…

The average British family spends £5,000 on its summer holiday. Which is a big ol’ pile of cash if it all descends into an angst-filled week of attempting to apply sun cream to a screaming toddler by a bustling hotel pool. So allow us to guide you gently from the three-star resort and into some…

What is it? A driving lesson from double F1 world champion Emerson Fittipaldi – so long as you chuck him a couple of million for a track-only V8 supercar bearing his name. Originally conceived as a virtual-only racer for the Gran Turismo universe, a real life static model was shown at the 2017 Geneva Motor…

You could call the AMC Eagle ahead of its time – many have. After all, jacked-up versions of regular family cars are all the rage nowadays. Unlike our modern generi-blob crossovers, though, you could get the Eagle in all manner of shapes – a hatch, a saloon, a station wagon, a coupe and even a…

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 Ferrari 849 Testarossa Reviving an icon in the car…