You might associate Buick’s Wildcat nameplate with hot-rodded executive saloons, sizzling sedans if you like, but the nameplate originated on something far more radical, as Richard Heseltine discovers… To label the Buick Wildcat as being obscure is perhaps disingenuous, but it remains underappreciated in concept car lore. While not one of General Motors’ showstopping greats, it wasn’t without influence.
Performance became marketing’s big thing for cars in the Sixties and the Mustang Mach 1 was the cherry on the cake for Ford fans… The Ford Mustang is surely the number one, most evergreen example of the all-American car. From its Lee Iacocca-inspired inception on April 17, 1964, right up to its current nostalgia/retro look, the Mustang has always been with us.
Ford SVT’s original hot rod pick-up from the Nineties still measures up, says Evans… Ford’s big announcement recently was the launch of its all-electric half-ton pick-up. As seems to be practice these days, the Blue Oval is dusting off iconic emblems from the past and applying them to new battery electrics, in the hope that these vehicles will win some street cred. And after the Mustang Mach-E last year, the new electric F-150 is called, wait for it… Lightning.
If you want tune and improve a 1960s Ford with a difference, look no further than the Classic and Capri range. Something quite different to the mainstream classic Ford here — it’s the stylish Consul Classic range. These oft-forgotten cars share a lot in common with the 105E Anglia in terms of visuals — the sweeping back window of the Classic for a start — but you may be surprised to learn that there’s also a very similar front suspension.
Back in the early 2000s, Volkswagen didn’t just dip its toe in the luxury saloon market with its flagship Phaeton, it knocked the ball well and truly out of the park! BIG JOBS THROW BACK For this month’s throwback we revisit the legendary Volkswagen Phaeton; a refined and uncompromising car that marked VW’s intrepid step into the early 2000’s luxury automotive market. But the Phaeton was no mere dipping of the toe into the high-end pool; it was a bold leap that saw no expense spared.
There is no AMG C63 in this test, and hence for the first time in as long as we can recall, a sports saloon shoot-out hasn’t been overlaid with the furious, bassy score of an AMG V8. And, in case you haven’t heard, there will be no more AMG V8s, not in C-class saloons at any rate. The more expensive models will survive. For now.