Latest car, EV, sportscar, supercar and motoring news, facts and industry gossip from Smart-Motoring.com.
Some of the best cars ever aren’t even real; that was the crushing realisation when writing this feature. Some of the cars I want to drive most in the world are little more than a few lines on a piece of paper. That’s right, all the best cars are in kids’ TV shows and here […]
Best cars from kids TV Read Post »
When it comes to Porsche, the 911 is probably the most iconic classic car that comes to mind, but if its practicality you’re after, look no further than the Porsche 944. Perhaps the finest GT car that that has ever been produced, this compact but sporty coupe was first introduced in 1981 and during its
What happens when Porsche owners have kids? They can’t really go for a family day-out in a 911, so in their wisdom, Porsche came up with the four-door, four-seat Panamera. The original fastback from 2009 took the performance and design synonymous with the Porsche brand and applied it to a comfortable luxury saloon shape. With
New Porsche Panamera Read Post »
It’d be an understatement to say that BMW has ‘dabbled’ in the rapidly-expanding world of plug-in hybrid vehicles. Their i3 hatchback and i8 supercar were both named UK Car of the Year in 2013 and 2014 respectively with glowing reviews across the board. BMW quickly realised that they’re pretty good at this hybrid lark and
BMW’s plug-in 7 Series Read Post »
Motorsport has evolved beyond recognition since it was originally conceived in 1900 with the Paris-to-Lyon Gordon Bennett Cup. In fact, ‘Gordon Bennett!’ may be the actual words out the mouths of the founders because, as we’re about to show you, automotive racing has cranked itself up to 11 and then some. Anything that involves hurtling
Top five most extreme races Read Post »
Survival in today’s new car market is all about versatility. Porsche – renowned for dishing up sports cars for decades – finally managed to diversify with the Cayenne SUV and subsequently its Macan baby brother. Jaguar has also expanded in a similar direction with the F-Pace SUV after eventually cracking the compact exec market with
Ferrari GTC4 Lusso Read Post »
When Toyota introduced the Prius hybrid back in 1997, it could never have imagined that it would have a monopoly on the electric-petrol hybrid saloon market for the best part of two decades. But that’s pretty much what has happened. Other car makers have tried to steal Toyota’s hybrid crown over the years, with hybrid
Hyundai’s Prius Killer Read Post »
Over the years we have seen the birth and death of many car models, but which ones would we actually want brought back into production? DeLorean DMC-12 Dreams of driving around in a new DeLorean DMC-12 sports car could soon become a reality, thanks to a low-volume manufacturing bill that may lead to 300 being
Cars that should be brought back Read Post »
It is called the Porsche 908/04 Vision GT Concept and it was created by a six-man team of digital designers and modellers in their free time, with the somewhat-futile ambition of it one day appearing in the GranTurismo video game series. We say ‘futile’ because it has had no involvement from Porsche, a brand which
The unofficial Porsche Read Post »
Mercedes’ gigantic G-Class is one of the most out-there production cars you can get right now. Anyone that has been inside of one of these rock-solid road warriors will know just how indestructible they make you feel but German cartuners Mansory seem to think that the G-Class just wasn’t unhinged enough, hence this: the G500
MANSORY’S MODIFIED G-CLASS Read Post »
You may be forgiven for not having heard of Bradley Automotive, the company set up by David Bradley Fuller and Gary Courneya, based out of Plymouth Minnesota in the USA. The company concept was to design and build kit cars for the tried and trusted (and very abundant at the time) Volkswagen Beetle chassis. The
The Bradley Automotive GT Kit Car Read Post »
Widely accepted as the most important American sports car ever, the CSX 2000 is often credited for revolutionising the automotive world with blistering pace that would be impressive for a brand new car hitting showrooms today. Born when Carroll Shelby crammed a lightweight Ford V8 engine into a modified AC Ace chassis, the original Shelby
The First Shelby Cobra Read Post »
2016 marks 90 years of Ducati and to celebrate the milestone anniversary, the Bologna-based bike manufacturer has come up with a new limited-run 1299 Panigale S superbike. Unveiled by Australian rider Casey Stoner during World Ducati Week (1-3 July, a three-day week? Okay…), the 1929 Panigale S Anniversario was devised as a thank you to
90 years of Ducati Read Post »
Let’s take a look at one of Ford’s most loved cars and go back to the late 60’s when the Ford Capri was first introduced. Inspired by the incredible success of Ford of America’s Mustang which was launched back in 1964. The Capri was mechanically based on the Cortina and was manufactured in Europe in
For anyone working in a new car dealership, the year has probably been even more of a blur with 1.42 million new cars sold in the first six months. To provide some context, that’s the best half-year for new car registrations on record. But which cars have Brits been buying the most in 2016? Before
Best Selling Cars – 2016 Read Post »
Vauxhalls, we Brits love ‘em. More than 269,000 new griffin-badged cars were snapped up in the UK last year alone, making Vauxhall the UK’s second best-selling carmaker behind Ford. Performance variants naturally attract a passionate following so when you combine a brand as popular as Vauxhall and ramp up the horsepower, it’s easy to understand
Performance Vauxhall 2016 Read Post »
The amazing Lister Motor Company has announced that it’s launching a very limited edition run of a new Lister Knobbly Jaguar Stirling Moss model. In all, there will be just ten of these cars produced and each is going to feature a handmade magnesium body and lightweight spec in homage to the original racing Knobblys
The Knobbly Jaguar Read Post »
In darkest Essex, the hot hatchback has a not so great reputation, although I must say that I have noticed over the past few years that the trend for painfully lowered hatches cruising the streets on almost solid springs seems to be in the decline. Then an innocent stroll to the local shop on Sunday
Some of our lookbacks to the world of automotive history have taken you to the 50s, 60s and even earlier but this time we are bringing you a short hop, skip and a jump back to 1998 and the first incarceration of the Ford Focus. This compact car grew up in a time when the
Ford Focus – The History Read Post »
Italian automotive manufacturer FIAT and luxury yacht manufacturer Riva have joined forces to create a new car that reflects the values and aesthetics of both brands. The basis of the partnership is the FIAT 500 model from 1957, which is responsible for mobilising Italy in its entirety. It’s credited with giving millions of people the
Cars and Yachts – FIAT Collaboration Read Post »
Howe and Howe are two brothers, Mike and Geoff, who have gained a cult following thanks largely to them hosting their own Discovery Channel series, Black Ops Brothers, where they get to create, design and showcase their wonderful creations. The Howe brothers can also proudly claim the accolade of being the youngest ever individuals to
Ripsaw EV2 Luxury Tank Read Post »
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Lamborghini Miura, and the brand is honouring its most celebrated of models in a particularly special way. “In what way?!” We hear you shouting! Well, it turns out that that good folks at Lamborghini are releasing a limited edition Aventador to shine a light on the Miura.
Lamborghini Miura – 50 Years Read Post »
If you only take away one thing about the Tesla Model X, it should be that it can accelerate faster than a Ferrari… sorry, Enzo. There are a huge amount of features on this car that are going to have you thinking seriously about how rubbish the projections in Back to the Future were. So,
At an event at London’s Roundhouse, Rolls-Royce unveiled its VISION NEXT 100 vehicle, which has been something of an enigma until now. Previously, it was referred to by its codename 103EX and it is the marque’s first ever pure ‘Vision Vehicle’. This VISION NEXT 100 is being positioned by Rolls-Royce as an embodiment of the
Rolls-Royce – VISION NEXT 100 Read Post »
