‘The thought of funding Putin’s terrorism because we couldn’t be bothered to put on a jumper was quite motivational’

Issue 6538 | Volume 314 | No 5

NEWS

Caterham’s MX-5 rival EVplans plusSeven’s future 6 Renault 4 Concept car looks for retroEVdue2025 10 Emissions regs Euro 7 standardsset to bescrapped 12 Jeep Avenger CannewEVreverse slump insales? 14 Battery swap stations Claims they will boostEVuse 16 Lotus revival MDexplainswhyitsfuturelooksbright 18

TESTED

Nissan Z Old-schoolturbo coupé wearsnewclothes 26 Maserati MC20 Cielo Convertible621bhpsupercar 29 RML Short Wheelbase Ferrari 550turned250 SWB 30 Kamm 912c Beautiful four-pot Porsche restomod 32 Citroën C5 Aircross FaceliftedSUV inPHEVguise 33 Genesis G90 Second-generationalternative limo 33 Nissan Ariya 87kWh Evolve ROAD TEST 34

FEATURES

Toyota GR86 Sell-out new coupérated onUKroads 44 Britain’s Best Affordable Driver’s Car All-time best 48 £50k-plus model cars Exquisite bespoke creations 60

OUR CARS

Mazda CX-60 What ournewest PHEVhas to prove 66 Ford Mustang Mach-E True cost of electric driving 67 Volkswagen ID 4 GTX Colder weathershrinks range 68 Cupra Born Why it’s raising smiles in everyday use 69

EVERY WEEK

Jesse Crosse Car panels that are also hi-fi speakers 15 Jim Holder Personalised specs: a thing of the past? 17 Matt Prior Q-registration cars; Richard Parry-Jones 19 Steve Cropley Rolls-Royce Spectre seen in the flesh 21 Subscribe Save money andget exclusive benefits 22 Damien Smith Changes afoot inworld touring cars 24 Your Views Flak for EVs; MX-5 turned into an‘Alfa’ 62 On this day Echoes of today found in 1975’s cuttings 65 Slideshow Misfit carsthat leave you wondering… 82

DEALS

As good as new Fresh-faced Kia Sorento from£35k 70 James Ruppert On the hunt for a bargain BMW Z4 71 Cult hero Lancia Delta HF Integrale, still a star buy 72 New cars A-Z Key car stats, from Abarth to Zenvo 74 Road test index Track down that road test here 81

Autocar (ISSN 1355-8293 USPS 25-185) is published weekly by Haymarket Media Group, Bridge House, 69 London Road, Twickenham TW1 3SP, United Kingdom. The US annual subscription price is $190.00. Airfreight and mailing in the USA by agent named World Container Inc, 150-15, 183rd Street, Jamaica, NY 11413, USA. Periodicals postage paid at Brooklyn, NY 11256. US postmaster: Send address changes to Autocar, Air Business Ltd, c/o World Container Inc, 150-15, 183rd Street, Jamaica, NY 11413, USA. Subscription records are maintained at Haymarket Media Group, Bridge House, 69 London Road, Twickenham TW1 3SP, United Kingdom. Air Business Ltd is acting as our mailing agent. Autocaris published by Haymarket Media Group, Bridge House, 69 London Road, Twickenham, TW1 3SP, United Kingdom, haymarket.com Tel +44 (0)20 8267 5000 Autocar magazine is also published in Estonia, Greece, India, Japan, Latvia, Korea and Thailand.

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THIS WEEK

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SPENDING MONEY DEVELOPING

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ICE FOR A 2028 ENFORCEMENT DOES NOT MAKE SENSE

STELLANTIS CEO CARLOS TAVARES READS THE LAST RITES ON EURO 7 EMISSIONS 12

COMMENT

WANTED: AFFORDABLE NEW DRIVER’S CARS

THE EXCITEMENT of this year’s Best Affordable Driver’s Car showdown is conveyed brilliantly by Richard Lane (p48). It’s a joyous reflection of some of the best cars from the past decade – and our road testers just about agree on a winner (can you guess?) – yet it’s also a damning appraisal of today’s cars, because there were not enough new models worthy of this title to warrant a fresh face-off this year.

Is the modern-day affordable driver’s car dead, then? Perhaps, as we know it. A few, notably Toyota, are clinging on to brilliant combustion-engined enthusiast cars, but these were the first to go as the car industry streamlined and invested billions in electrification.

There’s plenty of criticism over how fun electric cars can be, with lardy batteries and lack of brake feel among them (Your Views, p62), but as car makers begin to make real inroads with EVs, performance versions of everyday cars are once again back on the cards.

There’s every hope that the brilliant engineering talent within the car industry can reinvent good-value driver’s cars for the electric era, but in the meantime, there are some great used examples of the sporting cars we celebrate this week. Grab them while you can.

Rachel Burgess Magazine editor