When I became a motoring journalist, a whole new world opened up to me. I’ve travelled the world first-class, eaten in the finest restaurants, and slept in some of the best hotels in the world. I’ve driven hundreds of cars over thousands of miles, met a lot of fascinating people, and seen things that I can never, ever write about. (If for no other reason than you would never believe them.)…

Last year comprised a series of exclamation marks that punctured an otherwise uneventful twelve months. In times of recession industry hunkers down to protect what it has, and in a double-dip recession the temptation becomes even stronger; financial meltdown is an ever-present threat for the meek and bold alike with mass-market manufacturers feeling the pinch especially keenly; the squeezed middle is a very unhealthy place to be at the moment and…

The McLaren P1 is, without doubt, the star of the Mondial de l’Automobile 2012. Unveiled by Ron Dennis, executive chairman of the McLaren Group, Antony Sheriff, managing director of McLaren Automobiles, and Formula 1 pundit Lee McKenzie, it was greeted with cheers, whistles, and loud, enthusiastic clapping by a stunned crowd. Pre-Paris, I’d seen the incredible teaser video (which literally made my heart beat faster) and drooled over the pre-release…

Show someone, anyone, an early Ford Granada and it’s an odds-on certainty they’ll mention ‘The Sweeney’. Ignoring the fact that the most famous Sweeney car was actually a Consul, few cars are so indelibly linked in the public’s collective memory thanks to Ford’s canny PR department. Watch an episode today and you’ll be stunned by the sheer volume of Dagenham cars they used – all of which were restricted to…

When Tom, my seven-year-old son, heard the audio recording of my two fast laps in a Metro 6R4 Group B rally car his face creased into a wide grin: “cool”, he said, “can you put it on a CD for me?” It is, I have to admit, an impressive noise. But then everything about Group B rally cars is impressive; in the 1980s greed was good and bigger was better…

Thirty years ago FISA, rallying’s governing body, relaxed the regulations that governed the development of rally cars – and the world exploded in an orgy of madness, death and unburnt hydrocarbons. It started with a single, noble aim; to encourage a greater variety of car manufacturers to enter rallying. To do so the technical restrictions on what was allowed were relaxed; if just 200 road-going examples of a model were…

The Lancia Beta Volumex was a rusty son-of-a-bitch. It wasn’t unusual for owners to have to scrap them when they went for their first MOT at three years old, generally because the engine mounting subframe was rotten. Despite that we love ‘em here at Motoring Journo – we just never see them on the street. The Beta was well-received by the motoring press who appreciated its fine handling and decent…

The Subaru Legacy 3.0 Spec B defies the convention that a cool car can be communicated in just one word. Think of words like: ‘Evo’, ’911′, ‘WRX’, ‘MX5′. None need further explanation. You don’t need to specify the precise model to avoid ridicule. They speak for themselves. Others might disagree with your choice of car but they understand why you bought it. The Spec B (I can’t keep writing ‘Subaru…