124
‘The Please Shut Up Award goes to China’
Issue 6596 | Volume 318 | No 13
NEWS
BMW iX3 New EV and its Neue Klasse tech secrets 6 Toyota EVs New urban SUV and luxury fastback 10 Qashqai, Juke EVs Price parity with ICE promised 12 New UK coachbuilder Luxury recreations planned 14
TESTED
Smart #3 Geely-Mercedes brand upsizes its EV 22 Range Rover Evoque Why this isn’t the best facelift 27 Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer Electric Wagon rolls 29 Cupra Formentor VZ5 BAT Has Audi turbo five-pot 29 Pelican of London ROAD TEST 78
FEATURES Testers’ Xmas lunch Unloved motors appreciated 30 Magic moments Best motoring memories of 2023 40 Model behaviour Posh kit cars of the desktop kind 44 Festive bangers Ruppert-rated used cars 46 Road to recovery Breakdown firms’ Xmas rush 52 Talking of which… The story of Autocar’s podcast 54 Play time Motoring toys that inspired our passion 58 Xmas road trip Highland camping in a 911 Dakar 60 Tannistest COTY contenders convene in Denmark 70 John Watson interview Britain’s underrated F1 ace 72 Game on! Ruppert’s brain realised as a board game 76 Pick-up truck racing Thriving UK scene examined 86 Frankel’s car facts Mind-expanding motoring trivia 88 Each to their own The cars we’ve bought and sold 90 Special delivery Santa’s sleigh reimagined 94 Motorsport review A look back at a season on track 96 Inspired to drive Seasonal motoring days out 102 Pic of the action Photographers’ favourite snaps 104 Motoring reads Books that stand the test of time 112 Ford Capri Cropley spends a week with a classic 114 Fantasy Formula 1 Ultimate dream team imagined 120 Xmas quiz Stimulate your grey matter right here 122
OUR CARS Autocar Fleet Awards Our favourite long-termers 124
EVERY WEEK Jesse Crosse Porsche’s quest for self-driving data 13 Secret Source Smash Plexiglass in an emergency 14 Matt Prior Vorsprung durch pursuit of perfection 15 Steve Cropley Cars, people, moments of the year 16 Damien Smith 2023 F1 review and 2024 insights 19 Subscribe Save money and get exclusive benefits 20 Your Views Insurance costs; Ford’s new Capri EV 130 On this day The ghost of Christmas road tests past 136 Slideshow The most controversial Fords in history 146
I M AG ES
G E T T Y
DEALS
Second Chance Vauxhall Corsa E: now from £2500 132 James Ruppert Convertible wanted, £9k available 135 Road test index Track down that road test here 139 New cars A-Z Key car stats, from Abarth to Zenvo 140
4 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 6/13 DECEMBER 2023
ROAD TESTERS’ FORGOTTEN HEROES 30
POD COUPLE: A YEAR OF ‘MY WEEK IN CARS’ 54
XMAS SAIL: PELICAN OF LONDON TALL SHIP RATED 78
IMAGE
WE BUILD SANTA A SLEIGH 94
MR NICE GUY: JOHN WATSON INTERVIEW 72
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WILD WINTER CAMPING IN PORSCHE’S RALLY-RAID 911 94
