Recently we had a lengthy debate about the best car in the world and the E34 BMW didn’t get much of a look in.
You’d imagine this car which is one of the natural competitors for the E-class might have had a few boosters. It’s a well-rounded machine, comes in a lot of flavours and is not known for its fragility. Well, here in the Ashtrays department of DTW we don’t Continue reading “Ashtrays: E34 BMW 5-series”
Today we take another look at the world of 1998, or at least one small part of it to do with car reviews. We end up considering the problem of judgements.
I should put my cards on the baize here and say I don’t remember reading this review, from Car magazine 1998 so I am digesting it for the first time tonight (it took two hours to read carefully). Isn’t that odd? This article has sat around for two decades before I noticed it the other night How did I miss it? In the late 90s I would keep a close eye out for Car in the newsagent shop and would devote a good evening to reading it more or less entirely along with a nice cigar or a few bad ones.
After than initial inspection the magazine would float around the kitchen or sitting room to dip into when, say, I had to Continue reading “In Between Dawn and Daybreak”
This week Volvo showed off its new S60 saloon. We liked it. In 1997 Volvo put its S70 into the fray, up against the 528i SE and the Audi 2.8 3.0V.
Car magazine ran a giant test. Let’s take a look back and see what’s the same and what’s different and see if we can Continue reading “Among The Humans The Lichen Stands Tall”
Dark blue really flattens a car’s form. In all but the best light the shapes are concealed. Let us try and look past that colour.
Rather annoyingly I saw the same model in more photogenic metallic light grey yesterday while on the move. I couldn’t get a snap. We will have to make do with this image.
For a car sold in so many countries and in such large volumes, the limited engine choice is a puzzle. You could only get these with a 2.2 litre four or a V6 of 3.0 litres capacity. I’d expect another two engines for this, or even three: a 2.0, a 2.5 and a diesel of some sort.
Continue reading “Despair And Joy Dance Their Pavane”
We continue our run down of the definitive list of the best cars ever.
29. In 1990 General Motors decided the way to take on the imported cars that were eating its lunch was to sell imported cars of their own, but made in the US. With a moderately restyled interior and exterior, the Prizm conquered sales from Toyota’s Corolla upon which the Prizm was based. In 1991 the Prizm’s nameplate went italic on the rear bumper. The standard four-cylinder engine produced 102 hp. At the same time Saturn was also trying to Continue reading “Driven To Write’s Top Fifty Best Cars Ever 29-20”
Driven To Write 