Brief encounters: Speed dating with cars at Stanton Manor

As the name suggests, it’s an opportunity to drive cars, and this year no fewer than 44 cars, pick-ups and vans were available to manufacturer representatives and members of the WGMW. It rained, of course, but that didn’t spoil the fun.

I likened it to speed dating with cars, because we were given 15 to 20 minutes with each vehicle before returning to base to grab another set of keys. These were hanging on a wall, rather than sitting in a bowl, because that would have been odd. Especially if Stanton Manor has pampas grass in its grounds.

My approach was simple: rather than wait for the ‘right’ car to become available, I’d grab the keys to whatever was free after each drive. The only exception was the French-registered Renault Twingo EV, which I commandeered the moment the previous driver returned to the car park.

So, in the order I drove them, here are the cars I experienced at the WGMW Driving Day 2026. Just don’t expect in-depth reviews; these are very much first impressions.

Before we begin, here’s a walk-around video of the Renault Twingo E-Tech electric, which features a frog called ‘Pond Jovi’. Because of course it does.

Hyundai Inster 02

I wrote five words using the notes app on my phone: brilliant, chuckable, interesting, fun and different. OK, the second one was ‘chuckanle’ because autocorrect didn’t work, but you get the idea.

It was ‘chuckanling’ it down when I drove the Inster, but the Sienna Orange paintwork – a £650 option – added some much-needed colour to an otherwise gloomy day. Other colours are available, of course, but the Inster deserves a bold hue.

Look at it. Those LED headlights, the LED rear lights, the funky four-spoke alloys that look like medieval spinning blades designed to hurt people. This was the 02 model, so it had plenty of bells and whistles, but the headline figures are a 49kWh battery and up to 229 miles of range, depending on the wheels.

Second date? Oh, absolutely. There’s a lot I want to find out about the Inster.

Renault Twingo E-Tech electric

Of all the cars there, this was the only one I was prepared to go full oil-protester for and chain myself to the exhaust pipe to guarantee a drive. Only it doesn’t have an exhaust pipe, because the fourth-generation Twingo is now an electric-only affair. Put your chains away, oil protesters.

It’s not yet available in the UK, so this was a rare opportunity to drive one, albeit in left-hand-drive form. Still, even that feels authentic from a Mk1 Twingo perspective. And, of course, there are plenty of nods to the original. It’s like a second-generation Twingo from a world in which the actual second and third generations never happened.

Trust me on this: the interior is as delightful as the exterior. If the success of the Renault 5 E-Tech is anything to go by, the Twingo could be another welcome splash of colour and happiness on our dreary streets.

Second date? Of course. A drive to a small patisserie on the Brittany coast would be perfect.

Citroën Ami Buggy

Another left-hand-drive car, but it matters even less in the Ami because, with a top speed of 27.9mph and a zero to, er, 27.9mph time of ten days, you’re not going to be overtaking anyone. It also means you’re further away from the daggers you’ll receive from van drivers who have been waiting impatiently for an opportunity to pass.

I returned to Stanton Manor via smaller country lanes, which is where I discovered the lack of pace isn’t the only problem; hitting a pothole in a Citroën Ami is like doing a few rounds with a boxer. A featherweight boxer, naturally, but one who can land a strong punch.

None of this matters, of course, because the Ami Buggy wasn’t designed for wet weather in Wiltshire. Imagine you’re in Saint-Tropez, where you can admire the door mirrors, which look like something from the 1950s; the hinged metal tubes instead of doors, which look like something you’ll pass through before a theme park ride; and the gold steel wheels, which just look brilliant.

Second date? Maybe, but somewhere hot, where I’m free from angry van drivers in a hurry.

BYD Seal 6 DM-i Touring

“That’s the best car we sell in the UK,” the BYD PR chap told me as we passed in the corridor. This was the first Chinese car I’ve driven since the influx of brands I don’t remember seeing in my Observer’s Book of Automobiles. To be honest, I’ve got little interest in driving many of them.

But the BYD Seal 6 DM-i Touring – catchy name, right? – is different, not least because it’s not an electric SUV. It’s an estate car with a 1.5-litre petrol-electric plug-in hybrid powertrain. And it looks quite smart, like a Honda Civic Tourer that’s been given a makeover at the Sea Life Centre.

It gives good showroom appeal. Prices start from around £35,000, it gets lots of toys as standard, and the interior feels quite upmarket. There’s a light and airy feel to the cabin, while the massive 15.6-inch screen will impress the sort of people who buy Jaecoos. “Ah, I get it now,” is what I actually said out loud when I left the car park in electric mode.

But that was before I was subjected to the pain of the driver assistance systems. “School zone ahead,” it kept telling me as I drove through a village. “Bend ahead,” came another needless alert. Then there were the dashboard messages: ELKA (Emergency Lane Keeping Assist) while driving along a single-track road. “Keep eyes on road,” when I was looking forward.

First impressions were really rather good, but it went downhill from there.

Second date? No thanks, unless it’s possible to switch off the nanny-state alerts.

Honda Civic e:HEV

After the discombobulating BYD Seal, driving the Honda Civic felt like slipping into a pair of comfortable shoes. It’s all so familiar and reassuring, like returning home to a hot chocolate and a real fire after a long walk across the moors. In a world of electrified SUVs, it’s also about as fashionable as a ‘keep calm and carry on’ poster on your kitchen wall.

It’s powered by a 2.0-litre four-pot petrol engine and Honda’s e:HEV hybrid system – the same powertrain you’ll find in the new Honda Prelude, which, incidentally, was the most popular car at the WGMW Driving Day. Personally, I reckon I’d be happier with the Civic.

The engine produces 181bhp, so it’s brisk enough, and it makes a fantastic noise when you plant your right foot. Do that too often and you’ll put a dent in the claimed 56.5mpg, but because it’s a Civic, it’ll keep on working long after the Chinese brands have conquered the UK sales chart.

Second date? No need; I’ll just commit to a long-term relationship.

Toyota C-HR+

This one’s probably a little unfair, because by 12.45pm I was feeling jaded, having starved myself of food and drink since the hotel started serving breakfast at 7.30am. Full disclosure: I did eat one of the three Freddo bars left in the Twingo by a PR person.

Firstly, I didn’t recognise it as a Toyota C-HR. Secondly, I didn’t even know Toyota did an electric version of the C-HR. Toyota gets full marks for being the only brand to leave a spec sheet in the car, so I can tell you that this particular car had a 77kWh battery, a driving range of 377 miles – actually highly impressive – and cost around £37,000.

But it left me cold. I just couldn’t conjure up the energy to get excited about it, so I stopped at a nearby Budgens, bought a Coke and a Milky Way, and drove back to Stanton Manor.

Second date? If the second date involves a rental desk at a foreign airport, then yes.

Alfa Romeo Junior Elettrica Sport Speciale

I wanted to like this. We’re programmed to love Alfa Romeos and forgive their rough edges and flaws. So, having consumed a Milky Way washed down by a can of Coke, swiftly followed by half a homemade Scotch egg, I was in good spirits as I approached the electric Junior.

First impressions were terrible, not helped by the fact that the previous driver had been listening to a commercial radio station at high volume. Could I turn it down? Could I heck. And as I scanned the cabin for the volume controls, it dawned on me that this is just another Stellantis product. That’s not a problem as such – I adore the new Fiat Grande Panda – but cover the many badges and you could be sitting in a Peugeot.

The Sport Speciale trim is one rung down from the Veloce which, based on the conversations I had at Stanton Manor, is the one to have. But I was completely underwhelmed by this, not least because it was missing the soundtrack of a Busso V6. It didn’t even have any pieces of broken trim. Not a proper Alfa, then.

Second date? Not unless it involves swapping it for a 164 Cloverleaf at the end of the journey.

Vauxhall Grandland Electric

By 1.30pm, there was only one car that hadn’t attracted the attention of the journalists and PR people: a Vauxhall Grandland Electric in Ultimate trim. And, as someone who was always the last to be picked when the kids were choosing sides for a playground game of football, I took pity on the family SUV, even if it looked like an unpainted Airfix kit.

This is the kind of car the motoring press gets rather sniffy about, partly because it wears a Vauxhall badge. I haven’t read the reviews, but I’m guessing it gets a 5 or 6 out of 10, or a 3 out of 5. You know the sort of thing.

To be honest, it’s not my cup of tea, but I can totally see why a family would appreciate the Grandland, especially in Ultimate trim. It’s got The Generation Game levels of kit, can cover an official 300 miles on a single charge, and costs less than £38,000. Indeed, the flagship trim costs just £2,000 more than base-spec, so it’s probably worth the extra couple of quid a month.

Second date? No thanks, but I liked this more than I expected to.

Subaru Forester

I drove the Subaru Forester to the delightful villages of Sevington and Leigh Delamere, the latter of which, as the name suggests, is just a stone’s throw from the famous services on the M4. It looked totally at home there, and so much better parked outside a house than a Jaecoo 7. Seriously, residents of Sevington, your village is far too nice to allow a Chinese SUV to ruin the aesthetics.

“Ah, that old-timer,” said the chap as he handed me the keys to the Forester. This car, like most Subaru models, makes sense only to a small minority of people in the UK. Exmoor, Dartmoor, the Peak District, the Scottish Highlands and remote parts of Wales – these are places where a Subaru could be genuinely useful.

The Forester reminded me of my wife’s old Outback, which had an understated presence and assuredness that’s lacking in modern SUVs. It was expensive to run and a bit underwhelming to drive, but it felt peerless and bulletproof when the weather turned British. We miss it.

Second date? Yeah, probably, preferably in inclement weather and over high ground.

DS No8

It sounds more like a line of cosmetics you’ll find in Boots, and I’m not really sure what it’s trying to be. DS calls it a ‘coupé-SUV’, which conjures up images of the Renault Avantime – and we know how well that went.

I actually feel bad for not liking this more. It’s a large French car, so it should be as appealing to me as spending a fortnight in Brittany. But once I’d come to terms with the interior, which is finished in David Dickinson Orange, I started to wonder if anyone would actually care or notice if DS Automobiles stopped selling cars. I suspect the answer is no.

It’s got presence, this thing, and the interior is genuinely eye-catching, for better or worse, but I’m not sure I’d drop upwards of £50k on one. Let’s just wait for depreciation to do its bit.

Second date? Come back to me in a few years when it’s worth four figures.

BYD Dolphin Surf

The final car of the day, and a confession: I drove this because I had ten minutes before the driving day finished and it was the closest car to the entrance. It probably helped that it was painted lime green.

I don’t remember much about it, other than the fact that it makes a lot of odd noises. One of them – and I can’t remember if this was when it was powering up or shutting down – sounded like a blend of gulls and children screaming. More ‘surf’ than ‘dolphin’, but very seaside-y.

Because it’s a BYD, I’m sure it’s cheap and loaded with toys, but when the likes of the Twingo, Inster and Grande Panda exist, I’ll be surfing elsewhere for my small electric car joy.

Second date? Next time I’ll spend those ten minutes with a cup of coffee.

As first dates go, the Twingo, Inster and Civic are the ones I’d happily see again, while the Ami Buggy deserves another chance somewhere with sun, sea and fewer angry van drivers. The BYDs? Let’s just say the Seal 6 showed promise before the electronic chaperone ruined the evening.

With thanks to the Western Group of Motoring Writers for somehow allowing me to be a member.