Fantastic car, awful weather

IT’S not often I get an entire afternoon to reacquaint myself with an old car. Even when the afternoon’s as wet and unwelcoming as this one’s been.

The old car in question is one you’ll be familiar with if you read these pages regularly; my 1972 MGB GT , which despite being one of my most treasured possessions hasn’t done any meaningful driving since itsappearance at the Ormskirk MotorFest back in August. With the weather turning increasingly cold and miserable, the tougher driving tasks have been assigned to the MX-5.

Until now.

I would’ve loved to point the MG’s nose onto the motorway and go hunting for the hills of the Lakes or North Wales but with just a few hours of meaningful daylight I play with I went to a place surprisingly few motorists outside the Sefton/West Lancashire area know about. The shots you see here are taken on Cleaves Hill, which is a stone’s throw from Aughton. Normally, it affords some great views across to Liverpool and even to the Welsh coast, but today just about the most it could do were these moody countryside shots of the MG.

The weather was cold and miserable, the amount of water involved was playing havoc with the GT’s indicator relay and the light was fading fast, but I absolutely loved my afternoon with it. It’s a proper sports car in the old fashioned sense; heavy, noisy and not especially easy to drive, but tinged with a romance and a nostalgia which make its sound, handling and style ever more enjoyable.

I just can’t wait for it to be summer again, so I can enjoy it properly.

the movie Thunderbolt - Jackie Chan 1999, stunt direcotr Sammo Hung. Good movie, kung fu and sports car fusion, with racing scenes in a Herbie the love bug style

Great garage couch, a 70's Ford LTD or Lincoln Town Car maybe, cut at the dutchman panel, with the rear seat in the truck, trunk lid attached and raised... very impressive! The main character's family business is a junkyard in Hong Kong. The coffee table is a couple of racing tires with a glass top, corners are safety protected with cut tennis balls.

Wouldn't it be great if your team sponsor showed up with a trailer FULL of tires? on the left is the race car transporter, sides and top are gull winged out of the way to provide shade and rain shelter, the cars are on a 4 corner full hoist for working on or under, and allows for 4 cars in the trailer. Superb

Here's examples of the Herbie the love bug style racing cinematography. Not bad, just derivitive.

Or maybe Mad Mad Mad Mad World. Don't be concerned, the movie is well paced, decently acted, fun and a great mix of Jackie Chan martial arts/gymnastics and sports car racing

Video: Morgan factory

SUPPOSE you were in the lucky position to have Morgan's mad Threewheeler on order.

That's the position a friend of Life On Cars is in, and on a trip to see how his Threewheeler was taking shape he recorded this video of life at the company's Malvern factory.

It gives a fascinating insight not only into how the Threewheeler - one of the best cars I've driven all year - takes shape, but also into how its more conventional four-wheeled siblings are crafted and at why Morgan is still quite unlike any other car maker in the country. Having also toured the old TVR factory in Blackpool before it closed and the Lotus plant in Norfolk earlier this year, it almost tempts me to take a trip down to Worcestershire and see it for myself.

If you're a fan of the Threewheeler but can't afford the £30,000 pricetag then you'll probably like this one...

Renault and Caterham join forces to build sports cars

 

THE problem with Renault's Wind was that it wasn't hardcore enough.

It was my kinda car; small, light, blessed with a clever roof which didn't ruin the shape, and underpinned with the same basic mechanicals you'll find in the Renaultsport Twingo 133. Yet the little roadster always lacked the bite of its hatchback sister, which I suspect is part of the reason why Renault quietly dropped the wind from its range last year.

Luckily, Renault's found an innovative solution to making its sports cars a touch more manic. It's brought its F1 partnership with Caterham onto the road, so the French automotive giant will join forces with the plucky Brit firm to design and build cars together, with the inevitable results getting the famed Alpine badge.

Renault chief Carlos Tavares said yesterday as the tie-up was announced: "Our ambitions of reviving Alpine depended on our ability to find a partner in order to ensure the economic profitability of such an adventure. Right from the start, we wanted to place the Dieppe plant at the heart of the project.

"Today, through our partnership with Caterham Group, we can enter a new phase:  the design of a vehicle that will embody the very essence of Alpine, a vehicle that will rekindle sporting passion once more. It could become a reality within the next three or four years."

It's the second sports car tie-up announced in the space of a year, after Fiat and Mazda teamed up to build an Alfa Spider with MX-5 mechanicals. However, if Renault matches the pedigree of its last proper sports car - the spectacular, race-bred Spyder - with Caterham's best known offering - the bonkers Seven R500 - then the Anglo-French efforts look set to interest the more hardcore end of the market.

Either way, it's encouraging to see that even in these tricky times, car makers still want to give us something to get excited about.

unusual '56 Aston Martin DB35

One you've likely never heard of, a Brazilian VW SP2

Images from http://www.thepetrolstop.com/2010/02/volkswagen-sp2.html

In the 1970's Brazil wasn't allowing imported sports cars, and VW brazil had some autonomy from VW of Germany, and built these. 

Is stretching an E-Type altering an icon?

A CLASSIC car specialist in Shropshire is about to do what some enthusiasts would call the unthinkable by stretching a Jaguar E-Type.

Classic Motor Cars Limited, based in Bridgnorth, said it is about to start work on a project which effectively involves making a 1968 4.2 litre Series 1 Roadster, but while it involves altering one of the best known sports car shapes of all time the company say they are keen to keep the preserve the E-Type's essence while making it roomier and easier to live with.

Nick Goldthorp, the company's managing director, said: "This is something that we have never been done before. Our client wanted the interior leg room of a Series 3 V12 E-Type but the aesthetics of a Series 1 car.

"We are going to add four and a half inches to the floor pan, which will give the leg room of the V12 plus an additional one inch if required. The V12 was actually nine inches longer than a Series I but a lot of the additional room was behind the seats as storage and is not required on our project. By adding four and a half inches to the length of the car we will be able to retain the overall look of the Series 1 and also turn this E-Type into a unique car."

The project involves not only stretching the left-hand-drive car by four and a half inches, but also fitting the Sixties sports car with modern technology, including air conditioning, power steering, upgraded brakes, a new five speed gearbox, better suspension and handling upgrades among other additions.

Paul Branstad, the American client who owns the car, said: "The stretched E-Type I have conceived sits between the Series 1 and the subsequent vehicles produced after the merger and formation of British Leyland, when the design of the cars underwent several transformations as a consequence of cuts in production costs and the need for more space that resulted in the Series II 2+2 and Series III V12."

While classic car purists would argue against altering aerodynamicist Malcolm Sayer's original vision for the E-Type's shape, the sketch included here, Life On Cars reckons, is sympathetic to the Jag's original styling, and could actually provide the tempting prospect of the earlier E-Types's looks with the creature comforts of the later V12 cars.

The stretched E-Type is expected to be completed in September next year.

Fire up the... Jaguar XKR-S Convertible

BILL Lyons would have liked this car. Jaguar's late, great founder would, I reckon, have got out of the XKR-S, taken in its lines and given it the thumbs up.

Why? Because Jaguar's sports cars, right from the original XK120, through the Le Mans winning C and D Types and through to the iconic E-Type were all about being as fast and beautiful as anything Aston or Ferrari could knock out, and for a fraction of the price. This roadgoing missile and the old E have a mission statement in common.

The XKR-S, to get it out of the way, is almost unspeakably fast. Thanks to a supercharged five litre V8 and a uprated exhaust system at its disposal it has no less than 542bhp at its disposal, meaning that in terms of big cats only the old XJ220 supercar can outsprint it. More importantly, it offers more grunt than the Ferrari California and the Aston Martin DBS for a lower price. Which is a very Jag thing to do.

It also pulls off that other crucial Jaguar accomplishment - it looks good, although I'd argue not quite as svelte as the cheaper and less powerful XKR the S is based on. The XKR-S, in its bid to look bolder and more aggressive, loses a little of the elegance of its slower siblings. Different strokes and all that, though.

In fact, the biggest bugbear about the absolute gem of an engine that Jaguar's created for the hottest XK ever is a surprisingly simple one; that the company, quite simply, has fitted it to the wrong car.

The XKR-S is a wonderful showcase for what the company, finally freed from the limits of ex-owner Ford's finances and the needs to play second fiddle to Aston Martin, can do, but with two doors, tiny back seats and a £103,000 pricetag it's left looking a little indulgent. Especially next to the likes of the BMW M5, a car that'll offer even more grunt and a similar prestige in a more practical package. This engine belongs under the bonnet of the XJ saloon, and when and if the company get around to it (please, pretty please) they'll create a performance car package to die for. Until then, however, the XK will do just fine.

Don't worry, however, if you reckon a 542bhp Jaguar costing upwards of £100,000 is bordering on irrelevant in today's recession-ridden times, because the company does the real world just as well as the surreal one. Tune in next time to find out why...

Alfa Romeo and Mazda announce sports car tie-up

THE successor to Alfa Romeo's achingly beautiful Spider could be one of the most mouthwatering sports cars ever created.

Fiat, the Italian automotive giant which owns the Milanese motor makers, has announced that not only is it working on a new two-seater roadster, but that it's joined forces with Mazda, the makers of the best-selling sports car of all time, to create it. In three years' time, if the two companies play to their strengths, you'll be able to buy a car with classic Italian styling and the fun-to-drive factor of the MX-5.

I saw a mid-nineties Spider being driven along Southport's seafront on a sunny summer afternoon the other day and really, really wanted to be the chap behind the wheel. It never really took off with Brit buyers in the same way the Mazda did, because while the MX-5 had a rear-wheel-drive set up singlehandedly designed for being sporty, all Spider's since the model's '94 reinvention have relied on front-wheel-drive bits from the Fiat Group parts bin. Not that any of that mattered with the savvy souls who did take the plunge, because the reason why you bought any Spider was because of the way they looked. They were and still are, a delight to behold.

So the news that Fiat and Mazda are planning to join forces is brilliant news if you care about simple, small, two-seater sports cars (and, let's face it, chances are if you read Life On Cars you almost certainly do).

Mazda president Takashi Yamanouchi, knows this full well, and said this week: "Establishing technology and product development alliances is one of Mazda's corporate objectives and this announcement with Fiat is an important first step in that direction.

"It is especially exciting to be collaborating with such a prestigious marque as Alfa Romeo on a new roadster based on the next-generation MX-5, which is such an iconic vehicle for Mazda and recognized as the best-selling roadster of all time."

 

The two companies plan to develop two different, distinctly styled, iconic and brand-specific light weight, rear-wheel-drive roadsters. The Mazda and Alfa Romeo variants will each be powered by specific proprietary engines unique to each brand, although both are expected to be built at Mazda's factory in Hiroshima, where it's made the MX-5 in its various iterations for more than 20 years.

The deal, which is expected to be finalised later this year, also includes the scope for further tie-ups between Mazda and Fiat. Does that mean we can have finally have a follow up to one of the best-looking sports cars of all time, the Fiat Barchetta?

Audi fans tempted by fastest TT ever

HOW much horsepower should Audi's TT coupe be allowed to handle?

The answer, Audi, reckons, is a thumping 360bhp - more than a Lotus Evora or a Porsche 911 Carrera - which British buyers will be able to check out for themselves when the latest model, the TT RS Plus arrives later this summer.

A spokesman for the German company said: "The resulting 360bhp and 465 newton metres of torque can be channelled to the quattro all-wheel-drive system through either a six-speed manual gearbox or the seven-speed S tronic twin-clutch transmission.

"With the latter installed, the TT RS Plus Coupe catapults from rest to 62mph in just 4.1 seconds to the tune of an addictively full-bodied five-cylinder growl, closely followed by the Roadster, which needs 4.2 seconds. The top speed is limited to 174mph."

However, it's also the most expensive TT to date, and you'll need a cool £48,945 to get your hands - that's nearly £4,000 more than the standard, less powerful TT RS. The RS Plus version is available to order from Audi's showrooms now.

Lakeland Motor Museum gears up for TVR celebration

IF YOU like your motors noisy and nostalgic then a Bank Holiday motoring celebration in Cumbria could be just your thing.

The TVR Car Club is marking the anniversary of two of Blackpool's best known sports cars - the TVR M Series of the 1970s, and the wedge-shaped 350i of the Eighties - by holding a special event at the Lakeland Motor Museum on May 6, where they're encouraging petrolheads to check out dozens of TVRs from across the north of England.

Event organiser and TVR Car Club member John Bailie said: "This is a unique opportunity for visitors to the museum to see these magnificent motor cars in a fantastic setting on the edge of the Lake District and to meet some interesting personalities who made the Blackpool company such a success during the 1970s, one of the most significant periods in the firm's history".

A line-up of dozens of these models, from the Cumbria, Lancashire, Yorkshire and Cheshire TVR Car Club regions will be on display all day in a dedicated area alongside the museum, which is home to the oldest surviving TVR.

In addition to M-series and 350i, star cars on display will include a full race TVR Tuscan in Gulf Racing colours, a TVR Tasmin with 750bhp NASCAR spec engine and TVR Sagaris, one of the most recent models produced by the Blackpool factory before it closed a few years ago.

The event will take place at the museum's base in Newby Bridge, near Windermere, on Sunday, May 6. For more information, visit the TVR Car Club website.

MGB vs MX-5 - which would you rather have?

A COUPLE of MX-5 enthusiasts I got chatting to a couple of weeks ago gave me a slightly bewildered impression when I told them I drove an MGB as well. Why, if you own an example of the world's best-selling sports car, would you spend your money on an antique built badly by British Leyland?

Let's face it. The MX-5 is faster, stronger, better built, kinder to the environment and a better handler than the thirsty old MG ever was. I should know, because - and I'm not bragging - I own both.

But choosing between them, on an Easter weekend where the sun shines even occasionally, is like choosing between your left leg and your right. On the face of it, both of these cars do the same things for the same reason, but in reality they do them completely differently. I love them both.

Driving the Mazda's a little like ordering a Bacardi Breezer on a night out; it is, depending on who you're with, a little bit girly, but it's cheap and fun in a giggly, youthful sort of way. It's a 22-year-old and behaves like one, with its modern mechanicals, cheap and simple soft top and its sprightly but not scary handling meaning the joys of driving one is accessible to just about everyone.

The MK1 version is usefully more delicated than the ones that followed and yet tougher than the sports cars of the MGB's generation, which is why it's not surprising that it's the best selling sports car of all time. As a sports car recipe, I don't think it's ever been bettered.

But... but... it's the MGB that gives me the bigger buzz. Driving it - in fact, doing anything with it - is like ordering a pint of Adnams Tally Ho on a night out, which might mark you out as a bearded real ale enthusiast to the casual observer but has an ineffable depth of character the alcopop just doesn't. It is a car you describe not with figures and statistics, but with the carefully-chosen phrases best known to Observer wine critics.

The Mazda is, I think, tomorrow's must-have classic because it's more fun more of the time than the MG, firing faithfully into life day after day before dancing deftfully from corner to corner wherever you go. The MGB, with its carburettors which constantly demand your attention and its heavy steering and ocean liner handling, is rubbish by comparision.

But it looks and sounds like a proper sports car of the old school where the MX-5 doesn't, and paradoxically I prefer it because it's slightly worse.

I'll take both.

Jaguar F-Type - the sports car the world has waited 40 years for

I DON'T think it's an exaggeration to say this one of the most eagerly awaited sports cars of all time. In fact, we've been waiting for this for nearly 40 years.

Today Jaguar has announced it will make a new sports car called the F-Type, meaning motoring fans will finally get a successor to the beautiful E-Type, which went out of production in 1975. It will almost certainly be related to the CX-16 concept car we saw last year and - if it's anywhere near as good as the XF, XK and XJ - it looks likely the company could have another sports car hit on its hands.

Ever since the E-Type was replaced by the XJ-S keen drivers have been calling for a true F-Type successor and it's fair to say the company's had a few false starts with the project, with the canned XJ41 coupe project eventually helping to create the Aston-Martin DB7. Then, in 2000, it wowed the motoring press with the stunning F-Type concept car, but again nothing came of it.


But this latest F-Type, Jaguar Land Rover says, will make production.

Ian Callum, the company's design director, said: "A true sports car needs to be pure in both its purpose and its form; to have the opportunity to produce such a car for Jaguar has been a privilege both for myself and for my team.

"The C-type, D-type and E-type Jaguars were all sports cars that held true to this principle in their era, and the F-Type will hold true to that same principle in its time, a time that is soon to arrive."

The F-Type will go on sale in the middle of next year. I'll start saving...

Fire up the... Morgan Threewheeler

IT'S A new model for the Worcestershire-based sports car builders but not in the conventional sense.

By ditching a rear wheel Morgan are revisiting territory they first trod a century ago, when the company appealed to the newfangled worlds of motoring and biking by fitting tiny little two-seaters with V-twin engines and minimal bodywork. Think of the new Threewheeler, then, as a remake of one of Britain’s oldest automotive adventures.

You’d think that’d make the Threewheeler a frantic bit of fun and it is - but only when you’re happy for it come out to play. Admittedly, it’s not a car you’d ever want to take to Waitrose and if it rains you WILL get wet but for such an outlandish and overt bit of automotive engineering it’s remarkably civil, and it’ll dawdle along as long as you like.

But plant your foot to the floor in just about any gear and the so-bonkers-it’s-brilliant Threewheeler unleashes its considerable firepower in an explosion of noise and speed, which you’re all the more aware of because the wind’s hitting you straight in the face and because absolutely everyone for miles around is looking at you. If they aren’t, they’ll definitely hear you coming.


Despite being friendlier and more manageable than I could’ve have hoped for - at first you’ll wonder where those beautiful wire wheels at the front are, but you get used to it - it is completely unlike anything I’ve driven before. It is a sort of cross between the open-air buzz of a microlight and the vintage style of a Sopwith Camel fighter plane with the deep-throated roar of an old TVR and the sheer punch of a motorbike thrown in.

So it’s my kind of car and - at £30,000 - actually cheaper than the more conventional four-wheelers Morgan fans already know and love.

A full feature on the Threewheeler will appear in the Spring edition of Gr8Life Magazine.

The Morgan Threewheeler is just a little bit mad. That's why I love it

IT'S a little bit like walking through Liverpool One on a busy Christmas Eve naked. Or at least, that's what I imagine it's like.

That's the thing with the Morgan Threewheeler, because you're cold, you're exposed and - although you wouldn't want to admit it - just a little bit liberated. Oh, and absolutely everybody, for miles around, will be looking at you. Jaws drop to the floor. Morgan's latest motor is marvellous for all sorts of reasons, but it's emphatically not a car for anyone who's a bit self-conscious.

The photoshoot Champion photographer Martyn Snape and I did with the Moggy last week for our sister magazine GR8Life was a nightmare, because the Threewheeler's got the same crowd-pulling punch as anything Ferrari or Lamborghini make. In fact I'd argue it's got more, because a Ferrari is at least vaguely familiar whereas a three-wheeled vintage sports car with no roof, no doors and no windscreen isn't. Every time we got the shot set up, someone would wander over with a smartphone and start snapping away themselves.

A leather-clad biker in his middle ages asked us how many numbers on that week's Euromillions he'd need to afford one. Two rotund ladies jokingly offered to pose on the bonnets, Page Three style. A talkative toddler demanded that his equally curious dad found out what this strangely styled car was.

All this from a small sports car that hadn't even been started up.

When you do you realise it makes a bizarrely brilliant contribution to road safety - the S&S motorbike engine, mounted right at the front, is so loud that no pedestrian anywhere could possiby argue “Oh, I never heard it coming”. It is so intoxicatingly and defiantly loud that I have no idea how it got passed by the EU noise boffins in Brussels, but I'm glad it did.

It's not really a car in any conventional sense but a sort of automotive adventure in which you're always the lead actor, playing the role of a plucky British action hero who spends his days bumbling noisily down the country lanes to solve crimes committed at quaint country pubs. Naturally, said hero can't help being a bit of a showoff.

What's it like to drive a £30,000 three-wheeled sports car which looks a bit like a cross between a Blower Bentley and First World War fighter plane? Tune in next week when it gets the full Life On Cars road test treatment...

The Life On Cars Valentine's Day Spectacular

I HOPE my girlfriend isn't reading. With it being Valentine's Day it's probably appropriate to get it over with. I love my cars.

Or rather, I love a lot things about cars, and motoring, and the people and the culture and the good times I associate with them.

For instance, I love the feeling of the wind in my hair when I'm bumbling along in a small, properly sorted sports car. I love the rumble my MG makes when it first starts up on a cold morning. I love the timeless lines of the Jaguar E-Type, and the perfect proportions of the Austin Healey 100. I love the the ripples in the Peugeot RCZ's roof and the Tardis-like packaging of the Toyota IQ.

I love the fact that Britain's luxury car companies are coming up with their best offerings in years and that - thanks largely to the Chinese market - they can't build them fast enough. I love the feeling of being awestruck and apprehensive in equal measure whenever I'm tackling the Buttertubs Pass in North Yorkshire. I love knowing why Suzuki's Swift Sport is one of the best hot hatches created in the last decade. I love the sublimely quick and precise steering you only seem to get in an original Mini. I also love - for reasons I completely failed to get across in a Champion column last week - old, rugged, off-roaders.

I love, for reasons I've never been entirely sure of, the Triumph Stag. I love the feeling of having a day to yourself and a wonderful set of wheels to drive. I love the winding B-roads of North Wales and the Lake District. I love the way the Saab 9-5 is perfect for the motorway, and I love the way the Lotus Elise emphatically isn't.

I love taking classic cars I probably can't afford to pubs in the West Lancashire countryside, to have rambling conversations with other people who also own classic cars they can't afford. I love going to shows across the north west and telling interested passers-by why I've brought what I've brought. I love telling anally pedantic, wannabe concours judges who come over to point out a bit of bodywork I've missed polishing exactly where to go. I love looking at old cars, finding out about their place in history, and learning more about them.

Most of all, I love writing about them and I love sharing your stories from the world of motoring. Glad to be of service...

Why I love mild winters

THIS TIME last year the last place you'll have found me was behind the wheel of a classic car.

Winter is cold, wet, slippy and salty, which is exactly why you wouldn't want to venture out in a forty-year-old sports car crafted by the hands of British Leyland. But where last year there was gritting there's now grey skies and drizzle, so tonight I roused the MGB from hibernation and took it to the pub.

It is the polar opposite of the MX-5 which competes for my love and attention. It isn't a masterclass through the corners and nor is it especially fast, but it makes a wonderful noise as it burbles down the back roads.

But to understand why I love it you just have to look at this night shot I took earlier; it is, for want of a better word gorgeous. With perfect proportions, lashings of chrome and the right stance, it's a British sports car to be proud of.

I just hope there isn't a cold snap on the way.

The new Porsche Boxster

IT MIGHT still feel like the dead of winter outside but that hasn't stopped Porsche announcing a new version of an open-top sports car favourite.

The Stuttgart supercar makers said the third generation of the Boxster will go on sale this spring with an all-new body, a completely revised chassis and a range of new flat six engines, and as with its two predecessors is hoping to be the keen driver's choice of convertible.

A Porsche spokesman said: "The styling of the new Boxster clearly signals the unique driving experience on offer; with shorter front and rear overhangs, significantly forward-shifted windscreen, a flatter silhouette and expressive edges. Inside, the passengers are enclosed by a new fully electric hood, which now dispenses with a compartment lid for the convertible top when stowed.

"The interior design offers the driver and passenger more space and reflects the new Porsche outline, while the distinctive centre console – originating in the Carrera GT – further improves ergonomics."

The Boxster goes on sale on April 28, with the basic version starting at £37,589 and the Boxster S starting from £45,384.

How to spend £100 to stay alive

A GIRL I USED to go out with a long time ago had a very particular aversion to chocolate.

She was - for someone not even remotely interested in cars - a lovely lass, but presented with even the smallest, crumliest smidgen of Cadbury's Flake she'd always retort the same mantra, which I've heard countless women retort since. A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips.

I reckon anyone into cars should adopt a similar chant when it comes to cornering; a moment on the bend, a lifetime on the mend. In other words, skimping on the right tyres can be the difference between being a master of the mountain roads and being the sorry soul who ends up in a field. As I've just discovered with probably the wisest £100 I've ever spent.

Until yesterday I had a set of Camacs - possibly the worst tyres ever made, despite being completly road legal, officer - performing the not-at-all daunting task of getting the power from my Mazda MX-5's rear wheels onto the road, and they were at best hilariously hopeless and at worst life-threateningly dangerous. For barely controllable oversteer at 15mph, just add water.

You might think tyres are just boring rings of rubber that you reluctantly slap on every 15,000 miles or so but the difference between my old ditch-finders and the brand new Toyos I've replaced them with is profound. It is, in non car speak, the difference between venturing up Snowdon in trainers and doing the job properly in a set of walking boots.

Despite being the same size, shape and material, the Toyos find grip where the Camacs wouldn’t, particularly in the greasy, wet, muddy conditions you’re likely to encounter in most corners at this time of the year. You can, courtesy of your right foot and a healthy dose of foolhardiness, still get the MX-5 seriously sideways if you want to, but no longer does it threaten to kill you every time you approach a damp roundabout.

Nor, by the way, are the benefits of pukka tyres restricted to the world of powerful rear-wheel-drivers; last year I swapped the ancient Dunlops on my old Mini for a set of sticky new Yokohamas, and in an instant it pulled away, handled and stopped better. I reckon if all blokes took tyres as seriously as a certain other type of rubber, there'd be far fewer instances of cars spinning off into lamposts and ploughing into ditches.

If there's one thing in motoring that's emphatically not worth skimping on, it's tyres. A moment on the bend, remember, is a lifetime on the mend.

It's back! Part Two

WAY back in 2011 my Mazda MX-5 returned to the road, after being treated to a series of fixes and upgrades.

Unfortunately, the only problem was that the closing days of last December were too dark, too wet and too cold to get any decent pictures, but with it being 2012 I've managed to take a few snaps of my newly-improved Mazzer.

Admittedly most of the bits you can't see, but I'm particularly proud of the traditionalist wooden trim I've had fitted...