The story of the best cars from the past 50 years.
I was fortunate enough to sit down and chat with Alois Ruf - owner of Ruf Automobile who create very special versions of Porsche cars. Here's the full interview.
The history of the Pontiac Aztek, from conception through to its legacy. Why did GM green-light this car when focus groups said they hated it, and why did it come with a tent?
In part one we looked at electric vehicles and hybrids from the 1960s and 70s. We now move onto the 1980s where individuals all around the world didn’t want to give up on finding an alternative to the internal combustion engine. These were the days before our knowledge of global warming, and the motivation was around reducing city pollution and freedom from the reliance on foreign oil.
You might not think it, but the 60s and 70s were a hot bed of innovation in electric car design. Environmental and political events collided that got people questioning our reliance on the internal combustion engine and thinking about alternatives. So why was so much effort put into electric cars when so few people bought them, and how close did we come to perfecting hybrid and EV technology?
After decades of progress, and at a time Nissan were going to make their next step forward with the luxury Infiniti brand, Nissan’s Figaro was in a sense a next evolution in car design, in progress, but at the same time it was an exercise in looking back, of taking stock of just how far Nissan had come. It was also a conscious effort by its designers to push against progress with something more gentle and organic. But the Figaro di...
At the dawn of a new millennium car buyers were spoilt for choice when it came to really clever and innovative cars. There was the Renault Scénic, the original MPV that showed you can pack a large family into not a lot of car. Then there was the Mercedes A class, a masterclass in space management, with a cleverly packaged engine that allowed for the maximum interior space. And don’t forget the hideous but highly innovative Fiat Mul...
When Europe produced hot hatches in the 80s it was cars like the Renault 5 Turbo and the Ford Fiesta XR2 – great cars that took the regular hatchback and added more power and better brakes. Over in Japan Honda took a different tack. They crafted a new, very low drag shape for the existing Civic. They also removed a lot of weight. Together with a range of powerful yet efficient range of engines they created a car with great handling...
What’s going on with Alpine? They’ve had one car on sale since 2018, the A110, with only a second model appearing a couple of months ago, and that’s a rebadged Renault 5. In 6 years they’ve only sold 19,000 cars. And it’s not they’re selling $1M exotic Bugatti’s, The A110 is sold as a relatively affordable sports car. Alpine’s parent Renault have poured a LOT of cash into the brand, and even more into sponsoring a Formula 1 team, a...
Ford’s styling department in the 1980s and 1990s could be relied upon to produce hit after hit. We liked the third generation Fiesta, we loved the Mondeo and the Ka, and we positively adored the Ford Focus. But in that period there was one car that stuck out like a sore thumb, the 1994 Ford Scorpio.
Buy the Secret Fords book here! Use promo code BIGCAR30 for a total of 30% off the final copies: https://www.stevesaxty.com/secretford...
There’s a lot of focus on the rivalry between the German big three – Volkswagen, BMW & Mercedes, but in Sweden of course there was a rivalry between the “big two” – Volvo and Saab. So, as Volvo’s cars got larger and went upmarket in the 1970s, Saab must have surely taken note and decided that they had to respond. The result was the Saab 9000, produced even though Saab didn’t have the money to develop it. Just how did they find ...
A few months ago I made a video about EVs that touched on robotaxis, and with Tesla’s recent Robotaxi event I thought I’d make a quick follow-up video talking about what was announced.
Early version of this audio with lots of echo. It needs to be re-recorded, but throwing it out now as it's all that I can do right now.
Citroën in many ways were like the Tesla of the 1950’s and 60’s. Where other car manufacturers were making normal, everyday cars, Citroën were ripping up the rulebooks and reinventing just what a car could be in their own mad, Gallic way. Their approach to almost every aspect of the car was unique, new, and, well, Citroën-esque. And it’s not like different meant “wrong”. The Citroën SM introduced innovative features such as self-ce...
Mercedes is the purveyor of high-class limousines, so it might be odd to think of them selling a go-anywhere pickup that’s more used to lugging a few bags of cement back from the DIY shop. But it’s not that strange an idea, after all, they’ve been producing vans, trucks and buses for almost a century. But the Mercedes X-Class wasn’t going to be sold alongside their commercial vehicles, this was for the type of customer who bought t...
The Maestro was the car that killed Austin Rover. Poised on a knife-edge in the early 80’s between survival and disaster, this car, and its booted Montego sister, caused its death. Not right away – plenty of Government subsidies and deals with Honda and BMW gave the company another 20 years, but this was the critical moment when it all went wrong. When the company lost its ability to chart its own destiny. So why were these cars su...
You probably know Vauxhall and their German cousin Opel as the makers of reasonably prices cars that maybe aren’t that exciting. But in the 60s and 70s Vauxhall produced several amazing sports car and supercar concepts that rivalled the best Lamborghini had to offer. And Vauxhall didn’t just make concepts, there was the VX220 – a car that was a lot of fun with great handling. But why didn’t these 60s cars or the last concept ever m...
This is a video charting the history of the Ford Capri. It includes the Mercury Capri (both 1970s, 1980s and 1990s).
Renault is rebooting the classic 5 and it’s available for pre-order right now if you’re in France with deliveries starting later this year! So, what’s it like, what’s good, what’s bad, and what do I think about it?
The Rover 200 more than ever encapsulates British Leyland as it went from Government ownership, through its Honda collaboration, to the disastrous BMW marriage, and finally its last gasp for survival as an independent company. And it was one of Rover’s few big successes, having an amazing 29-year lifespan over its many and varied history. The Rover 200 had many guises, from the blue-rinse Triumph Acclaim to the hot hatch MG ZR, and...
Otto von Bismarck, the man who oversaw the unification of Germany in the late 19th century called politics “the art of the possible”. He’s saying that you might have grand lofty dreams, but you have to go with what’s actually possible to achieve. I’d argue that applies to many things in life, including car design. There’s always a compromise with a limited budget and limited time. That was never more true than with the Citroën Visa...
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My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.