The original M3, based on BMW’s handsome E30 Three Series, arrived with flair and fanfare at the 1985 Frankfurt Auto Show. Here was a well-revised, well-sorted E30 built as a homologation special to challenge the likes of the Cosworth-engined Mercedes-Benz 190E W201 on the racetracks of Europe. While sharing its main components with the road-going Three Series, as per Group A regulations, the M3 was lighter and stiffer and quicker.
How different are the first 911 Turbo and the last-of-line 930 LE, a UK-only runout model limited to fifty units in 1989? We hit rural Suffolk and sample fantastic examples of both...
It’s hard to see this shape of Jaguar without thinking of anything other than the old establishment yet, when new in 1979, the Series III did set the cat among the pigeons. No, really, it did. For the first time Jaguar contracted an outside firm to pen the lines of one of its saloons. Pininfarina subtly altered the Series II’s glasshouse, roof, grille and rear lights to create a new and elegant silhouette. It was hardly a wild departure from what had come before but the combination of foreign design expertise, plus some modern touches to the inside did set it apart – largely for the better.
Porsche Speedsters have provided a positive twist on the ‘more for less’ concept for almost seven decades, beginning with the 356 in 1954 and taking in various generations of 911, including the Carrera 3.2...
The beginning of the 1990s was an exciting time for sports cars: A time where the established brands were releasing affordable performance cars at a rapid rate.
It’s been more than 25 years since the original Turbo ceased production. Total 911 goes behind the wheel of the last 930 and finds a surprisingly modern classic
Upon reading the term sports saloon, we’d wager a fair few of you conjured up a BMW roundel. After all, the Munich maker has tried to corner this market segment for more than 40 years, earning fame by making fast, class-leading saloons.
Ford heritage: For Jason Cook, going to look at a car that’s lived by the sea for most of its life didn’t fill him with much hope, but with this special edition Cabriolet he was in for a surprise in more ways than one.
Surely it’s not fair to compare the notoriously lambasted Ferrari 348 with its lauded successor, the F355? But could it be that the former is simply misunderstood – and maybe offers something that’s missing from its illustrious successor?
Simple, rational, essential. That’s the Fiat Panda, whose development ideals stemmed from an ideology that now seems long forgotten. In replacing the 126, Fiat wanted a car that had the same utilitarian abilities as the Renault 4 and Citroen 2CV
When Angel Fuentes took custody of this ’1989 Volkswagen Jetta GLI Mk2 the rare Helios Edition must have thought all its Christmas’s had come at once. Here, Ted Dorset discovers exactly why…
