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Pull up a chair and settle down in the middle of obscurity and the apex of pleasantness. Volkswagen’s Passat has always been an agreeable motor car which few people understood, especially since the favoured four-door Volksie sedan on local shores has long been the Jetta.
I’m quite sure that I’ve mentioned my love for coupés before, so our invitation to the new Volkswagen Scirocco R launch in Durban resulted in a brief rock-paper-scissors competition at the office, won by yours truly. Perhaps I cheated, perhaps I didn’t, but a few days later I was jetted off to KZN.
Om na die Peugeot 3008 te verwys as Franse “flair” by uitnemendheid is miskien om jou kop te ver uit te steek aangesien dit ‘n term is wat heelwat verskillende persepsies kan uitlok. Maar dan moet daar ook in gedagte gehou word dat die term “flair” (wat moeilik in Afrikaans vertaalbaar is) ook heel dikwels gebruik word om na die hoë risiko rugby te verwys wat eie aan die Franse is – en soms heel rampspoedige gevolge kan hệ.
When the cat’s away, the mice will play. No sooner had our senior journalist boarded an Airbus bound for Germany and I took charge of the office. I rearranged all thumbtacks, drank all the coffee, put my feet on the desk and got myself invited to the launch of the new Volkswagen Amarok.
Oor minder as ‘n maand gaan die poppe dans as Volkswagen van Suid-Afrika hulle nuwe Amarok bakkie op die mark plaas. Self nog nie die bakkie gesien en ervaar nie maar van my kollegas het al in Suid-Amerika, waar hy sy oorsprong het, met hom gery en was in die wolke oor sy verrigting – en waar hy orals kan gaan.
Certain cars raise the eyelids and saliva levels of petrol heads and guarantee their owners, even temporary ones, a crowd of inquisitive onlookers. The escalating-pitch one-word “And?” is a favourite question you’ll have to endure when you hold the key to a Chevrolet Lumina SS.
When caught in casual conversation and people discover that you are a motoring journalist, two questions will inevitably pop up. What’s the most impressive car you’ve ever driven and what car should I buy next? The former would be a 1934 Rolls-Royce 20/25 with a Hooper coach and the second answer matters not as they will purchase a Polo or Yaris anyway.
The Volkswagen Golf GTi is often referred to as a legend in the motoring industry, and I got one to visit me for a few days to investigate this claim. The first GTi from the seventies was one of the first “hot hatches” because engineers troubled a city runabout with a performance engine.
Some things will never change, and the Volkswagen Scirocco is surely one of them. I fondly remember the first version of VW’s sleek two-door coupe because a school friend’s Mom used to drive a silver 1980 Scirocco around Windhoek. Probably still does.