4 HRS AGO - Mirror Motoring's Colin Goodwin says that in a torrid year for the car industry, MG was the fastest growing car brand - with spectacular sales for good reason Collapse

1 DAY AGO - Down the years, many cars have been notably incongruous inside their makers’ showrooms. We pick out the best second-hand selections To truly understand the appeal of cars like the Nissan Nismo GT-R, Toyota GR Yaris and Alpine A110, as we've just done in our three-way track visit seen elsewhere on this site, you have to consider their standing in their respective showrooms. The GT-R, for example, can be found nestled between Micras and Qashqais; the GR Yaris jostles for forecourt space with the RAV4 and Prius; and to test-drive the A110, you might well have to shunt the odd Renault Mégane or Captur out of the way.  In short, all three cars share little more than a badge with their respective range-mates (or, in the case of the Alpine, not even that), and you have to imagine there were some accountants none too pleased that they ever got signed off. Here are a few other automotive sore thumbs that we’re glad made it past the sensible sorts. Ford RS200 Motorsport homologation is Collapse

1 DAY AGO - Outrageous looks, huge performance, a surreal pricetag – and all sold out The Aventador is hardly a car for shrinking violets, so it’s no surprise that Lamborghini has opted to turn this special based on the same architecture up to 11 – and that’s on a scale that goes to 5. The Sián FKP 37 sits on the same floorpan and is powered by the same glorious naturally aspirated engine, but it gets bespoke bodywork and pioneering technology in the form of a supercapacitor hybrid system. Despite a €2.5 million (£2.2m) pre-tax price tag, the entire 63-car run of coupé has already been sold, as have the 19 roadsters that will follow it. The 48V electric element may win attention, but the 6.5-litre V12 remains the headline act. This is basically the same engine that powers the mighty Aventador SVJ but with a slight boost in output, taking peak power to a claimed 774bhp at 8500rpm – the highest yet for a road-going Lamborghini.The supercapacitor plays only a supporting role to this, but it’s an Collapse

2 DAYS AGO - With technology changing at an unprecedented rate, our man thinks car finance could be the way forward I’m a bit credit averse generally, but the EV’s coming of age has wiped away any lingering doubts about using PCP in my mind. The rate of technical progress is mind-boggling. With charging speeds doubling, game-changing solid state batteries poised to come on the market and no doubt more around the corner we may not know about yet, today’s EV will be well behind the curve in three years, so who can really predict the rate of depreciation? For the uninitiated, personal contract purchase (PCP) is one of the most popular ways of financing a car, usually involving a deposit, maybe with a ‘deposit contribution’ from a manufacturer as a sweetener, a fixed repayment term and agreed mileage. At the end of the term there’s a guaranteed future value which means you can either hand it back, pay a final lump sum to own it outright, or re-finance the balance. The guaranteed future value avoids Collapse

2 DAYS AGO - Ongoing pandemic forces changes to race calendar, with Portugal filling final gap Formula 1 bosses have filled the final remaining gap in the 2021 season schedule with a return to Portugal's Portimão circuit on 2 May. The Portuguese GP will follow two weeks after the Emilia Romagna GP at Imola, also returning to the calendar for a second time in 2021 after featuring in Formula 1's heavily revised 2020 season. Imola is standing in for the Chinese GP.  The Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, which had been due to host the 2021 Formula 1 season-opener in March, has been delayed until later in the year, due to the pandemic. At time of postponement, Australia had very low rates of the coronavirus, but with cases increasing elsewhere, officials asked for the race to be pushed back to later in the year. It will now run from 18-21 November and the F1 race season will start in Bahrain on 28 March. The 2020 Australian GP was cancelled just hours before practice on the Albert Park street Collapse

2 DAYS AGO - If you want a simple estate, look elsewhere, but for those who value executive looks and people-carrier credentials, a Merc R320 should be considered Stretched people-carrier meets executive saloon: that was the Mercedes-Benz R-Class of 2006-13. If you wanted a simple estate, there was the E-Class, but the R-Class put passengers first, with six huge seats as standard (seven from 2010), lots of kit and impressive refinement. Diesel power dominated sales (not surprising, given the 2270kg kerb weight), with the R320 CDi being the most popular version. Standard gear included four-wheel drive, a seven-speed automatic gearbox, braking assistance, climate control and automatic headlights and wipers. Sport added 19in alloys, Alcantara sports seats and aluminium details. It may put passengers first but, like most MPVs, the R-Class has little room for luggage when all seats are occupied. On the upside, with all the rear seats folded down, there’s 2385 litres of load space to play with. The Collapse

2 DAYS AGO - Magnussen scored just one point in 18 races last season Kevin Magnussen is optimistic about his prospects in moving to IMSA and WEC endurance racing He arrived in Formula 1 with McLaren, tipped as a future star, and took a stunning podium in his first race. Sounds like the debut that leads to the all-time wins record, right? Sadly for Kevin Magnussen, the parallels between his F1 career and Sir Lewis Hamilton’s end there. That amazing second wasn’t the first of many podiums for the Dane; it was his only one. Instead, he spent seven years battling in the midfield, his combative race-craft hinting at his untapped potential. The trouble was he wasn’t alone in that respect. All drivers can do is show their skills as best they can with the car they have while waiting for an opportunity. It can be done: take Sergio Pérez, who turned a super season for Racing Point into a Red Bull seat. But for every Pérez, there are many Magnussens. F1 drivers are stubborn, dedicated types, flush with Collapse

2 DAYS AGO - Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo Electric sports car range could expand beyond saloon and Cross Turismo; lower-slung estate also possible Porsche could follow up the new Taycan Cross Turismo with two-door, convertible and low-slung estate versions of its flagship performance EV, according to product boss Stefan Weckbach. Weckbach revealed that Porsche is discussing additional bodystyles of the Taycan to follow the original sports saloon and new rugged estate version. The new variants being considered include a less off-road-oriented estate based on the Cross Turismo but without the 20mm suspension lift, protective bodykit and Gravel Mode. Such a model would be conceived as an electric alternative to the Panamera Sport Turismo, an estate version of Porsche’s ICE sports saloon, and would likely share that model’s moniker. “I can't tell you today if we are really going for something like that,” Weckbach said, but he added that “the platform is perfect for future additional product ideas, Collapse

3 DAYS AGO - Smart brand's largest model yet will be previewed with a concept in September before launching in 2022 Mercedes-Benz and its Chinese partner Geely plan to reveal a concept version of the upcoming Smart electric SUV at the Munich motor show in September. The new five-door model, known under the internal codename HX11, is the first model to be jointly developed by Mercedes and Geely, which each own a 50% stake in the urban EV brand, now based in the Chinese city of Hangzhou. It's planned to go on sale in 2022. Details remain under wraps, but a posting on Linkedin by Daniel Lescow, Smart's vice-president of global sales, confirmed the existence of plans for the SUV, which will be based on Geely’s new SEA electric car architecture. Lescow wrote: "It may come as a surprise to some: Smart will enter the market with a fully electric SUV - spacious yet compact. This will be the first vehicle of the joint venture between Mercedes-Benz and Geely, due out in 2022, built in China." Comparable Collapse