In defence of Shatchbacks
Antony Ingram is clearly growing quite attached to Chez PetrolBlog. Only last week he was waxing lyrical about his Fiat Panda 100HP, which he just happens to be selling. A week later and he’s back, but this time he’s not writing about talented Italian pocket rockets. Oh no. Mr Ingram is here to do the unthinkable – defend the Shatchback. He’s been threatening it for a while now and, much as it pains me to admit it, he does make some valid points. Heck, I even find some of the cars he mentions quite desirable. I think I need to go for a lie down, so I’ll hand you over to Mr Ingram.
I have a terrible, terrible confession to make.
I’m no murderer. Nor do I secretly like Justin Bieber. And I’ve not been cheating on anyone.
No, my confession is that – much as it pains me to say it – I quite like Shatchbacks. Read more 
So you want to drive in the snow?
In a welcome change for PetrolBlog, resident guest blogger, Rob Griggs-Taylor has provided some genuinely useful content. Here he draws on his time in the north of Scotland to offer some sensible advice for driving in snow. It’s good stuff. But if you miss the inane waffle and bunk, don’t worry, normal service will be resumed soon.
It snowed today and so lots of you are going to try and drive through the snow to accomplish journeys like you do every day. This is not always a great idea so I thought it was time to pass on some advice gleaned from years of driving in the north of Scotland.
Charlie Johnson’s Real World Dream Barn
Another Real World Dream Barn and I’m delighted to say that it’s the turn of none other than Charlie Johnson of Retro & Classic Cars fame. If you’re into old cars, I suggest you take a look at his site, but not before you’ve checked out the ten cars that will be fighting for space in his barn. It’s a rather eclectic mix. Nice one, Charlie.
It’s taken me a long time to gather these thoughts. And thoughts, even when published, may leave a certain amount of uncertainly in one’s mind once they’re live on PetrolBlog. The Real World Dream Barn involves a lot of thought, or so it would seem to me. Followers of my twitter feed will know that I have a habit of going through a number of cars throughout a day. Why? Well, once I’m distracted by something else that appeals, the first car mentioned is shoved to the back. Read more
Nissan Micra: Have you driven one?
It was Craig that came up with the idea for the Real World Reviews, so it’s good to see some more words from him arriving in the PetrolBlog inbox. Here he presents a rather solid defence of the Nissan Micra. Good stuff, Craig.
Have you driven one?
This should, in my opinion, be the first question levelled at a critic of a car’s performance in order to work out if what follows has any substance. Anyone is entitled to comment on the aesthetics and those who’ve sat inside and twiddled all the knobs are justified in critiquing the ergonomics; however, those who would calmly place their pint on the table and state ‘of course, the 458 is a far better drive than the LP670-4′ had better have some miles under their belt in each. Read more
Real World Review: Fiat Panda 100HP
The Fiat 100HP is a car I’ve coveted for some time. I’ve even come close to buying one. Twice. Reading Antony Ingram’s review has done little to dampen my enthusiasm for this brilliant little pocket rocket. Antony’s is in the right colour too. If you’re thinking of buying one, buy his. Go ahead, do it. Do it.
I bought the 100HP somewhat on a whim.
By that I don’t mean that I had a big pile of cash lying about and dropped it all on a Fiat – more that I wasn’t really expecting to see it when I went car shopping back in late 2010, to replace my old Mazda MX5, that had met its maker thanks to the attentions of Mr Sneaky Thieving Bastard. Read more
Tom’s Real World Dream Barn
I’m delighted to say we’ve received another Real World Dream Barn. This time it’s the turn of Tom Cornish, aka @DrRectalExam on twitter. Don’t let his twitter name put you off, as is demonstrated by his dream list, he clearly knows a thing or two about cars and is well worth a follow. Over to Tom…
The Real World Dream barn is quite a challenge, but not one you’d moan about having. The £30k budget forces you neglect newer exotics, but the big upside is you won’t be hemorrhaging your money to depreciation. In fact it’s more than likely that you’ll find yourself making money on the cars here, not that you’d want to sell them. I’ve tried to approach this with logic, having cars I’d actually see myself using regularly. Read more
Alan’s not converted
Recently, Mr Alan Liddell gave us the lowdown on his Real World Dream Barn. Clearly inspired by the positivity surrounding his top ten list, he’s now written some words on one of his motoring pet hates. I’ll leave the waffling to Alan now, but will say that you can follow him on twitter @aldoliddell.
I have loved following the Shatchback story here on PetrolBlog. It has struck a chord with many petrolheads and has inspired me to write about a type of car that I have a problem with, and that is a car with no roof…
Now, I don’t really mean cars that have been designed to be a roadster/convertible, although i don’t like too many of them either. No, the ones that get me are the everyday family cars that have had a tin opener taken to them. Read more
Ton Dumans writes: Petrolheads, Porsche and Police
Ton Dumans is back, so that can only mean two things. First of all, this post is going to be about Porsches. Second of all, despite the previous claim, this post won’t be very much about cars at all. Remember, you can follow Ton on twitter @Tonsty.
Everyone who knows me even just a little bit, knows that I am into Porsches and that I have been for as long as they can remember. Most people accept this as a fact (hey, we all have our limitations, right?), whilst others tend to wonder why. Of all the cars in the world, why Porsche, and how come I already loved them when I was barely out of nappies? Read more
FailCar is driving home for Christmas
It wouldn’t be Christmas without a message from FailCar. So without further ado…
I was just going to regurgitate last year’s Christmas message and then send round a lovely e-card with pictures of snow, fairies and loveliness. But seeing as I didn’t want to let you down I figured I would send a lovely cheery Christmas message out. Read more
FailCar on Winter Tyres
Looks like the arrival of winter has come at just the right time for @FailCar. Here are his early thoughts on winter tyres.
Like many other motoring journalists I have been to many a track testing set up to find out the difference first hand between summer and winter tyres. This usually results with plenty of articles from us lot moaning at Joe Public to go out and buy winter tyres OR DIE.
Thing is though, I have a confession. I have never previously bothered to take heed of all the advice. The major factors being that in my locality, I really don’t experience terrible weather, the main roads are mostly gritted and I’m just one of those people that ‘blags’ it and carries on with a bit of wheel spin and minor use of foul language. Read more
Rob’s Vauxhall Insignia: Long term update
Resident PetrolBlogger, Rob Griggs-Taylor is back with an update on his Vauxhall Insignia 2.0 EcoFlex Elite. For the earlier review, have a look here, or to follow Rob on twitter, click here.
In 1973 BMW launched the 2002 Turbo onto an unsuspecting market. It was their first turbocharged car, producing around 170BHP which gave it the ability to accelerate from 0-60mph in a whisker under seven seconds. It became a legend, partly because of the bright reversed ’2002 Turbo’ badging on the front spoiler, the fact that only 1,672 were produced in a two-year production run and because the turbo lag was epic. The power delivery was reputedly all or nothing, leading to some exciting rear-first exits to corners. Read more
FailCar visits the NEC Classic Motor Show
Last weekend, FailCar took a trip to the Classic Motor Show at the NEC. Here he does his best for marital harmony by putting together a list of cars that should be part of our eBay watch lists. I’m sure I once read that divorce rates went up in the winter and that Christmas is a big contributor to this fact. Personally, I think the Classic Motor Show is to blame. But whatever, here’s FailCar…
I do love the classic car show, but for me it’s always a dangerous time of year. The nights draw in and all of a sudden the idea of having another winter project starts to pop into my head. I never really get that excited by the ‘exotic’ stuff on display, but what does get me excited is all the stuff that’s within reach. You know the sort of classics that can be had for a couple of grand, tops.
And it hardly seems fair that I have to go through the punishing temptation, so I figured this time round I would focus on all the stuff that’s ‘attainable’. Read more
Ralph Hosier’s Rover 75
Evo magazine’s tame engineer is back on PetrolBlog with some words on his Rover 75. For more of Ralph, follow him on twitter at @RalphHosier or check out his brilliant TechnoBlog.
What do you think of when you see a Rover 75? Flat cap, maybe? Or perhaps you see slow progress on roads near old people’s homes? Rover spent millions developing that image, unintentionally of course, but is it deserved?
Like many car enthusiasts I had dismissed the slightly bulbous retro styled granny wagon as being too dull and unreliable, but after a fellow writer waxed lyrical about the 75′s virtues I started looking into it in a bit more detail and found that there was a lot more going for it than I had realised. Read more
Ton’s view on the 2011 MINI Clubman
Ton Dumans, PetrolBlog’s Dutch correspondent, is back with some thoughts on his MINI Clubman. Over to you, Ton.
As luck would have it, I found myself sooner than expected in the position to replace my Honda Civic Hybrid as a daily driver. After having driven a sensible, cheap car for nearly three years, I wanted something a little less dull. A bit more me, rather than another dime-a-dozen chickenbox. Where do you start with this in mind? Honestly, I had no clue. Until a year ago, I had never considered a MINI. It simply had not occurred to me. This was until I had the opportunity to drive a colleague’s MINI Cooper that was being used on loan from a BMW dealer when his 116i was in repair. I was pleasantly surprised by a car that, until then, I had only seen as a nice shopping trolley. The car felt like a go-kart, and perhaps even more importantly, it put a smile on my face. Read more
FailCar rants: Flag-based road safety
It’s been too long since @FailCar has had a rant. Well actually, that’s not strictly true as he tends to rant quite a bit on twitter. But it’s all good stuff, as this piece of inspired thinking highlights.
Eighty-Miles-Per-Hour. That was the hot topic of discussion when the government announced that it was thinking about increasing the motorway speed limit. Now I don’t know where you stand on this and to be honest, I’m not sure I know which side of the fence I’m on either, but one thing I certainly don’t agree with is:
“We will get to places faster, it will be more economical and will help boost Britain’s economy”
What? That’s utter twaddle and I’m sure I don’t need to explain to anyone with a brain reading this that it’s simply not true. Read more
Ton’s Real World Dream Barn
PetrolBlog’s Dutch correspondent flies over with details of his Real World Dream Barn. He’s clearly not afraid to bend the rules a little!
As you may or may not have not have read in my bio, for as long as I can remember, I’m not really much of petrol head, but all the more a Porsche head. So when thinking about a Real World Dream Barn, I could easily fill the whole list with ten Porsches and be perfectly happy. Or just buy a 959 and be done. Read more
Duncan McVitie’s position on the Lotus Elan M100
Duncan McVitie takes a break from French Fancies to write some words on the Lotus Elan. No, not that one, the M100…
Winter. The most logical time of year for me to write a blog about a convertible – since I refuse to use mine in the rain or snow, I may as well write about it.
So, continuing with the theme of glorious failures from my Avantime blog, may I present to you the Lotus Elan M100 – a car touched by genius, but unjustly overlooked. Read more
The Rancho’s back – courtesy of Duncan McVitie
One of the first cars to feature on PetrolBlog was the delightful Talbot Matra Rancho. You can see the update from March 2010 here.
But now, perennial French car fan, Duncan McVitie has put together this short video to show the Rancho in all its glory. Look out for a daring motorway exit, some aerial acrobatics and a trip through the jungle. Sadly, there’s no appearance this time from Rancho fan, Johnny Mathis. Read more
On safety
Tom Richards on the subject of safety in motor sport, which is all too topical following this weekend’s traffic events.
I’m currently reading a book called ‘The Limit’ by Michael Cannell and, given Dan Wheldon’s tragic death during the Las Vegas Indy 300, it seems particularly relevant right now. Read more
Richard’s VW Polo GTI: Good Times Imminent?
Another guest blogger on PetrolBlog? This is becoming quite a habit. A good habit of course and at least it stops me flooding the interweb with yet more waffle. This time I’m delighted to welcome Mr Richard Gooding of the rather excellent PoloDriver.com. A Volkswagen fan of many years, Rich Gooding has just taken the first step on the GTI ownership ladder, buying a 2001 Polo GTI. Why did he choose the hot shot Polo and what does an early example of VW’s smaller iconic-badged hatchback offer? Read more
