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Almost exactly 24 years ago, my parents had just taken delivery of a new 4×4 when my best friend from school coaxed his Dad into taking us for a spin in his latest acquisition – a Dakar Yellow E36 BMW M3 Coupé. That spirited June drive through Windhoek left quite an impression and a secret yearning to own an M3.
What you need to know: Alfa Romeo used to build lithe little runabouts which – with a bit of tinkering – would perform like sports cars. If you need any proof of this claim, just hurl names like Spider, Giulia (say: Julia), Sud or GTV at the nearest elderly gentlemen and get ready for wide-eyed tales of automotive antics.
Going electric has always been a very vague concept, yet it’s been in the automotive industry for as long as the latter existed. How can you convince a petrolhead that driving on battery power might actually be fun?
Volvo isn’t really known for red-hot performance cars although brand aficionados and the odd GTi pilot will attest to the rapidity of older Swedish metal sporting “T5” or “T6” badges. In more recent times, there’s been a new sticker adorning sporty Volvos – a cyan blue square with the word “Polestar”.
Oh good. Another rubber-burning automotive action movie is about to hit the cinemas. Yes, that “oh good” was sarcastic, not only because I despise going to the movies.
I’ll let you into a little secret. There’s a get-out-of-jail-free card which I will allow any car to pull no matter how terrible it may be. It’s not red paint, it’s not Xenon lights, nor is it a gigantic sound system or two-tone sports seats. Those do count for something but they can’t compete with high revs.
Last year on a drizzling May morning I was silently praying and denting the passenger foot-well of Nissan’s 370Z Roadster as a seasoned motoring journalist took us through a damp Du Toits Kloof Pass, often sideways and one-handed while merrily chatting about modern advertising standards.
Recently I was accused of being biased towards certain genres and brands of cars but easily defended my preferences with the fact that a car must ultimately serve its purpose. Some brands do it better than others and my love for two-door coupés is simply because they should be beautiful and sophisticated.