In A Bit of a Huff - 18 August 2025

Welcome to the Motoring Podcast, your week discussion of motoring news.

This is episode 645 on Monday, the 18th of August, 2025.

Hello, I'm Alan.

Hello, I'm Andrew.

And this week, you'll be shocked to hear that magic bean thinking has not made our roads

safer.

In new, new car news, you'll hear the word simplicity used a lot.

And in points of interest, you get to see how a small one can make a lounge.

But first, we have some follow-up.

And I need to start with, last week's show, the more keen-eared of you will have realized

that there was no lunchtime read or watch.

That is unfortunately because of my error of not spotting that the article I was recommending

was actually littered with AI-generated images.

And one of the things we have promised you and ourselves is we will not knowingly

pass on any articles or videos or anything related to the items we discuss that are generated

by AI.

So apologies for that.

But this week, we do, we are making up for it because you've got quite a lengthy read.

Yes, it's a lot of reading.

You might want to use an AI to create, no, don't do that.

Anyway, first piece of, I'm going to say proper follow-up, the joys of the low-emission vehicle

grant or electric vehicle grant in the UK.

Some vehicles have been announced as part of the list of vehicles that will qualify.

There is a link in the show notes to the Gov.org page, which has a list of what the criteria

were and also which vehicles fit under each of the two different bans.

Band 1 cars, very quick to list because the maximum discount available for cars assessed

as Band 1 is £3,750.

There are no cars eligible for Band 1.

Who said performative?

Exactly.

Band 2, available for vehicles assessed as Band 2 is £1,500, up to £1,500.

And I will very, very quickly read through the list.

You try and spot the odd ones out.

So there's a Citroen EC3 and EC3 Aircross, EC4 and EC4X, the EC5 Aircross and the E-Balinga

as the Coupre-Born.

There are two Nissan's, the Araya and the Micra, the Peugeot E208, E2008 and E-Rifter.

The Renault's 4, 5, Alpine A290, McGann Scenic.

Yeah, McGann and Scenic.

There's the Vauxhall Astra Electric, Combo Life Electric, Corsa Electric, Frontera Electric,

Grandland Electric and Mocha Electric and last but not least there's the Volkswagen ID.3.

Almost feels, Alan, when you've run through that list, that the rules don't seem to apply to some companies.

Well, no.

I mean, you'll notice that pretty much all European built with the exception of the Nissan Araya,

which is built in Japan, which has a very high carbon output, electricity generation,

unlike pretty much everything else on that.

As the government's own judging organization states themselves.

Yeah.

The other thing is, there is a maximum price, which I now can't see listed on the government website of...

£37,000.

They have to be under £37,000.

And the interesting thing is you look at some of those and go,

most of the range doesn't actually fit under £37,000.

So I assume it's only the ones at the lower end of the range that I can buy.

Well, not so, it seems.

It seems that as long as there is one version in the range with a battery drivetrain combo,

that is under £37,000, then any other trim level with that same battery drivetrain combo is also eligible.

Yes.

So I missed that.

I missed that one.

And you know how much I went through that.

I still missed it.

But it's such a weird setup.

So that's what you'll notice with the Nissan Araya.

There is like one more base level model.

As of last Thursday.

As of last Thursday, which just squeaks under and therefore most of the rest of the range is right up to £40,000.

Well, until the £40,000 is eligible for the grant as well.

Which seems a bit...

I don't know.

It just seems a bit off.

Yeah, it's wrong.

And that's my...

It's just flat out wrong.

It's a massive loophole.

And now that Nissan have exploited that by doing that, I fully expect that so many others to do so.

It's ridiculous.

So watch out for there being a very low spec of EVs which miraculously make that threshold

but have a common drivetrain and battery size.

And see how easy it is to actually buy one.

I think that's going to be the ultimate test on this.

Can you actually go out and buy it?

Or is this going to be the Tesla $35,000 Model 3 bait and switch move?

Because I tell you, if I was working for a car manufacturer,

I'd be trying to do the Tesla $35,000 bait and switch move on this one.

Because why the heck not?

It's not just a loophole.

It is a loop tunnel.

Yeah.

It's a loop open cast mine.

It is so big and obvious.

Once again, it's demonstrated that whilst they had all this time to think about this,

to come up with a sensible plan, to perhaps discuss with SMMT and other organizations

an idea of how to make this fair and equitable, they've botched it basically.

And they're going to waste our tax-paid money by giving it to cars that should not be eligible.

Yeah.

And again, it's not even necessarily going to benefit the end owner

because just about anyone, including the manufacturers themselves and the dealers

and everyone can apply to this and fleet buyers the lot.

It's just, there's a word I want to put before poor, which Andrew...

Oh no, it's me this week, which I would have to edit out otherwise.

And I don't want to be doing that.

Because...

It's just dumb.

Yes, it's just awful.

Also, in the show notes, there will be a link to an EV-powered article that talks about this,

but also to a post from Blue Sky by Nick Gibbs who demonstrates also his questioning of how

a Japanese-made car gets through the environmental criteria

and he shows what the IEA's figures say about Japan.

Yes.

Thanks also to others for chiming in and pointing out that some vehicles were being reprised

from a certain date to magically fit under that threshold.

Yeah, absolutely.

So, yeah, I mean it...

Thanks for the help on that.

Right, the final bit of a follow-up then.

And unfortunately, this isn't going to be a new car news because it's so important that it needs to go to follow-up.

But the Citroen stop-drive order that we discussed a few weeks ago regarding airbags has now been extended

to include C4, DS4 and DS5 models.

If you have a C4 and a DS4 that was built between 2010 and 2011, you will now be part of this recall.

DS5 cars that were built between 2010 and 2013, that will be part of the recall.

The expansion is expected to include a pair under 10,000 cars on top of the 120,000 cars

that were already listed as needing to be fixed.

Crikey Citroen.

Yeah, Citroen, Stellantis in general, you really need to sort of get working on those

on your processes for sorting these recalls.

Maybe ask Ford, Ford have a lot of practice at this kind of thing.

96 in America last week, they were up to 96.

Yeah, yeah, I saw.

Wow.

I saw.

Anyway, anyway, we're on to new news.

Yes.

And something was going to hit Andrew before it hits me is that the UK government is poised

to introduce mandatory eye tests for drivers aged above 70 as part of, according to the

Oscar article, the first official road safety strategy in more than a decade.

Well, this is all part of a consultation.

So it's not actually definite yet.

This is a leak as well on top of everything else, which is really annoying about this

is it feels like we're having that we've gone back to the let's govern by leaking

and see who screams loudest and then change whatever it was we're doing.

Yeah, I mean, there's a load of stuff included in this, but the one for over 70s

and an official eye test seems to be seems to be the one that's this catching

people's catching people's eye, I suppose.

Maybe it's because it directly appeals directly impacts an awful lot of voters

could possibly be a reason if I'm being terribly cynical first thing on a Monday morning.

Right at the minute.

If you are older when you're renewing your license, you are allowed to self report

the quality of your eye quality of your eyesight.

Yeah.

Okay.

There we go.

Other bits and pieces include proposals include drivers facing penalty points

if they're caught carrying passengers who are not wearing a seat belt.

Currently, it's only if they're under 18 isn't it that the driver gets the penalty point.

I think so.

Otherwise, it's the passenger themselves.

There is also talking about reducing drink driving limits to the same as permitted in Scotland.

UK, well, English and Welsh drink driving limits are actually amongst the highest in the whole of in the whole of Europe.

And also on top of that, that they are talking about allowing roadside drug swabs as evidence.

Whereas up to now, like with the breathalyzer, if you if you fail whatever they're doing, you then are taken into custody

and there is a proper test done later because the roadside stuff is has up to now not been deemed accurate enough to prove something.

So that's interesting.

I hope there's an improvement in technology.

And this isn't just a stepping over of, well, we believe it's right enough.

Yeah.

And at the minute, they're saying that they're not going to introduce a graduated driving license.

But then in the next breath, they say, we'll keep everything under review because it's part of the consultation.

There's just they that's not part of the what they're harping on about.

It's very annoying.

Do you know what I reckon part of that is about and it's not to do with road safety at all.

Why they're not talking about that or trying not to is because they're having enough trouble testing people as it is for the standard driving test.

We don't have enough testers because they're not treated particularly well, not paid particularly well.

Yeah, it could be.

But the language is very interesting when they talk about the older people needing to have mandatory eye tests, etc.

It's it's along the lines of this is to allow essentially it's along the lines of this is to allow the freedoms of everyone else on the road to be feel safe, etc.

When they talk about the graduated for the younger ones.

Oh, this is to not restrict their freedoms on the road.

You go, well, the safety, safety.

Yeah, there's a line this article says an unnamed government source cited by the BBC and the Guardian said the new strategy is aimed at protecting road users and restoring order to our roads.

What?

Yes, exactly. Exactly.

And then I like that actually the next couple of paragraphs from this article by Charlie Martin are pretty good.

So let's I'm going to quote them verbatim.

And it said the changes no doubt come as a response to the plateau in annual numbers of serious industries, injuries and deaths on the road in recent years.

According to provisional figures recently published by the government, 29,537 people were seriously injured or killed in road collisions in the UK last year.

Little change compared to 2023 fatalities were up by 1% to 1,633.

Compared to figures from 2014 instances of serious injury or death were down 14% while fatalities fell 8%.

But I saw all the magic technology was going to make us instantly so safe that this wouldn't be a problem.

It's almost as though it's not fit for purpose.

If you go out and buy a new electric car that has all the new technology Andrews everybody should be doing then obviously everything will be safe.

The problem here is clearly to do with the rise of unsafe vehicles on UK roads, which is a cause for alarm.

It is as we swiftly move on.

There has been a total of 13,109 people who were given points for driving unsafe vehicles in 2024, which was up from 8,614 in 2023 according to this AutoCart article linked in the show notes.

Now, this is can we add a lies down lies and statistics disclaimer here.

Well, I think we need to be clear that this the RAC first of all the RAC did a freedom of information request.

And this is them releasing this this info that they found.

However, it needs to be said and it is hinted at in or actually mentioned in this article.

The fact that the numbers have gone up does not necessarily mean that there are more unsafe vehicles on the roads.

It could be that the police have targeted stopping vehicles to check for unsafe, particularly in some of the areas where they said the motion have been found to be unsafe.

It could be that they've got targeted specific projects where they're looking at this sort of issue.

Yes, there's no comparison to this this article and I imagine it would.

But I imagine if the numbers were in the figures, it does not state how many stops there were one year compared to the last year.

So it's very difficult to say more people are getting stopped from receiving points because there were more stops targeted at this or if it's because there's more there are more unsafe vehicles.

However, however, it does it does suggest this if you tie in the number of MOT failures and advisories, which has increased, particularly on some of the aspects that were the biggest issues as tires being unsafe was the highest.

Where 8,495 drivers out of the 13,109 part of the reason they were pulled was for unsafe tires.

Faulty brakes is next though. That's not really what I want to hear.

I have to say that tires and faulty brakes.

No, really don't do that.

This has caused obviously the National Tire Distributors Association to say, well, we should do something about the MOTs.

If it's an advisory, there needs to be a follow up to check someone has actually changed them, etc, etc.

Well, that follow up happens the next year, doesn't it?

Yes, it does. If it needs followed up and actually checked, then it's a fail.

Yes.

Sorry, did it kind of already works like that?

Or you change the level at which you are suggesting a tire becomes unsafe.

Or you just make people more aware that tires are a thing and a where part.

Yeah.

Which seems to be a surprise to many.

Yeah. However, this shouldn't really be that much of a surprise to people if we look at the many years we've had the cost of living crisis.

And we know maintenance has levels of maintenance has dropped in the UK fleet.

It's been around so long.

It's no longer a cost of living crisis.

It's a cost of living reality.

Yeah.

I can only stand so much crisis for so long.

I think most of us are the same.

Moving on to something completely different.

Yay.

We talked a little while ago about a new electric sports car built in Britain for Britain called Longbow.

Hang on, let's not tar them with the Ineos brush just yet.

Yeah.

You made that sound that way.

Ineos Geneta TBR, you name it.

Yeah.

It's called Longbow.

It is, I don't know.

They seem to be using their VC startup money to hire to hire many experienced people.

So Mike Fluitt and Michael van der Seid and Dan Obama have joined the firm's new advisory board,

which the co-founder Daniel Davy, a former Tesla and Lucid engineer dubbed the Holy Trinity.

They called that because they were the former bosses of McLaren, Alpine and Lotus respectively.

Longbow was founded in 2023.

I think we talked at the time.

Bespoke our aluminum architecture in not 62 miles, three and a half seconds, two and 75 miles range and 895 kilograms.

Vehicles not actually, well production location hasn't even been announced yet.

That should come later this summer.

First deliveries should come at the end of 2027.

And we were chatting before the show and we're not quite sure if 2027 is just love,

just far enough a way that you could have forgotten about when they promised 2027 or otherwise.

But we're terrible, awful, cynical people.

No, we actually do hope this happens.

We really do because it is, by the way, it is really cool.

Yeah.

And it's all about lightweight, small battery, economy, all of these kind of things, which is the,

in my mind, that's the good way to do EVs.

Yes, absolutely.

So we are hoping they achieve it.

We support their efforts.

But recent history has not been kind to EV startups.

The stuff here, there's quotes here talking about stuff.

Mike Fluitt had said, yeah, here we go.

However, Fluitt emphasised that the car needs to be viable,

which he said was his first bit of advice he gave to a longbow.

So yeah, makes sense.

Good luck to them.

Yep.

What's the difference between a ranger over in a train, Andrew?

Well, if you are JLR lawyers, there is no difference at all

because you consider the public to be so stupid

that they cannot spot the difference between a Range Rover

and someone suggesting that they buy a Ranger and Rover ticket

on a railway site when they wish to take a journey.

No, not making this up, I really wish I was.

JLR lawyers obviously needed a win somewhere

because they haven't done so well when it comes to litigation recently

in the last few years.

They threatened to sue National Rail over the names of the long-established train tickets.

So these train tickets have been used for many, many years.

Long, long time.

And now suddenly JLR have decided that people would get confused

that the Ranger and Rover tickets would imply

that people were buying a Range Rover.

Yes, there are two different ticket types, by the way.

There's a Ranger ticket and a Rover ticket

which have different permissions

and all the complexities of the UK rail ticket purchase.

Yeah, I have nothing really to add to that

If that's JLR's biggest issue at the minute,

it's all done off a lot of stuff.

Well, the original Rail Rover ticket was introduced by British Rail in 1959.

Yeah, yeah.

Before the Range Rover in other words.

Yes.

I wish they'd thought it.

I can see how this is going to go.

I wish they'd thought it because they've changed the website.

The Rail Delivery Group which runs the National Rail website.

They've changed the website so that you cannot see Ranger and Rover

and that's a quote, train tickets.

The only time you see it is it says Ranger tickets and Rover tickets.

That's just protecting themselves from time being.

This is a frivolous lawsuit and should be dismissed as such.

And anyone who sanctioned it should get a good kicking from management.

Because you just look like fools.

Speaking of people sanctioning things that should get a good kicking from management.

Yes.

Shouldn't I?

Do you want to secure your car?

Do you want a security upgrade to stop thieves bypassing your car locks?

Well, you're going to have to pay £49.

So this tells me, okay, we had a problem.

It got flagged.

We've worked out a fix for it.

However, because it was a problem and we've got a fix,

then you're going to have to pay for that fix.

Or you can live with the constant worry that at any moment your car could disappear.

All right, and good luck.

Do you know where the problem with that comes from?

Not the fact that the car is likely to disappear,

but then the fact that the insurance company is going to say

well you didn't pay the £49.

Yeah.

But this is Hyundai's own problem.

Hyundai's own fault and they want their customers to pay extra

to help mitigate the fault they put in the car.

We should point out, by the way,

that like the register we did go to Hyundai,

but didn't get a response.

No.

Still waiting on a response.

But it's subsidised.

It's a subsidised software.

So they're already taking some of the fees.

And they're not charging you.

It's a customer contribution.

Did you not, whoever made these decisions in Hyundai,

did you not see how much JLR had to spend to secure their cars

so people could buy their cars?

The £10 million they spent just so that people could go to an insurance

and say, can you insure my car?

And they would start going yes again.

Come on.

This is just, it's obvious.

Anyway, I don't know.

It really is.

I'm going to start swearing in a minute.

No, don't.

Oh.

Anyway, that brings us to the end of this.

I'm trying to move this along

so I have a minimum amount of editing to do here, Andrew.

We're at the end now of that, so let's take a breath.

In the interest of our own sanity,

we're going to finish that story there,

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Right.

New new car news.

And still it's a bit thin on the ground

although that has improved

at the back end of last week.

Actual new cars being announced.

But there are a couple of more

higher level things that have been

mentioned in the last week.

So we're going to cover those.

First of all, we're going to cover

Ford and their universal

EV platform.

This is a bold new

electric vehicle strategy

that we'll be starting in, oh dear,

2027.

And absolutely.

Ford announced with the

great hullabaloo last week

all of this new universal

EV platform stuff.

We really don't know what the impact

is going to be on

outside of North America.

And given Ford's

product planning, it's very difficult

to tell what it's going to be

or even make a guess at it.

Yep.

Because it all seemed very

North America centric.

Well, that's understandable.

But basically given the

current climate

as in business and societal

climate in the US.

Is it though?

No, it is absolutely.

Because it's trying to defend

that they actually do

they are building in America

even though they are one of the hardest

hits thanks to the

insane tariff farce.

Yes.

Well, they're also, yes, I guess

that's true.

But also the

EV sales are growing

more slowly in North America

than anywhere else in the world.

So it would create sense to try to then

well.

Thanks to the regime.

I don't totally,

but I think that there's so I would

expect them to be one to be showing that

they're going to be exporting more of these

and bringing in more money from outside

and all of these kinds of things.

Well, they does mention in the article

because of the new

way that the tariff deals have been done

with the UK and Europe

as well as elsewhere.

The whole point is to be able to

export US built vehicles

into those markets with a lower tariff

than they've currently got.

Exactly.

And that's why I'm kind of surprised

that it did seem so

North American centric.

But there we go.

Yeah, but it's

not sorry to instruct you again

and I know I'm doing it again.

But isn't Ford's trying to make

the global car again?

Haven't they?

I feel they're falling into that trap again

where they're trying to do this.

Don't they continuously fail at that?

You would think that they would have got the

hang of it.

Everyone fails at this.

It's just not possible to have global cars.

No.

Especially not American ones

because American ones are too big

because they're all derived from the Model T.

So they're all too wide.

They're all meant to be agricultural vehicles.

It's like trying to base a global car

off a landrope

by which I mean an old style defender.

So a series two, series three defender, defender.

And so that's

what American cars are derived from

because it started out from an agrarian society.

The Model T was the universal vehicle.

It was as much tractor as it was car.

And because in other

in other countries they started off

from being a luxury good

or for being a way of carrying things up

small car tracks as opposed to across

wide prairies which had been

being covered by as I say horses and cars.

Wide horses and cars.

Then American cars are too big.

They don't fit into smaller spaces

whereas European cars are smaller.

So you can use them in big, big spaces.

And that is the fundamental issue

why American cars don't work

outside North America.

It's been the same year for year after year after year.

And then if you try and sell the European cars into

American cars it's all far too small.

We can't possibly have that out here in

out here in Iowa with our great

wide straight roads.

Why do we need one of these tiny little economy cars?

It doesn't work. It doesn't work.

So it's either American

or it's rest of world.

But maybe they can use elements of the platform

which add to underpin...

It is a scalable platform.

Like everybody else is doing.

And has been doing, yes.

So this is where we go to

what have you been doing to just come out

with this grand announcement now?

There's a new production process

which is basically a normal production process

but everything ends up coming together.

I was talking about using...

Forgive me for using the marketing

to have giga casting.

So doing large castings

which, yeah, that's great.

It goes together really well in an assembly line.

It is an absolute sword

if anything damages it in any way,

but to detect the damage and then to repair it.

This is designed for manufacturing,

not designed for repair.

And I don't know if manufacturers have noticed this

but actually cars hang around for a little while

and generally need repair.

But what is interesting is

that Jim Farley who is the CEO of Ford

when making this announcement did say

and I'm quoting it from the AutoCart article

said, there are no guarantees with this project.

It's a bet. There is risk.

I cannot 100% say this will work.

There is an automotive graveyard

full of projects that have not worked.

I find that very interesting

to come out with that statement.

Well, I mean the Volkswagen ID platform

is the closest one really.

To that it hasn't necessarily worked

because it was hurried.

Yeah.

Well, everything on that was worried.

Yes, hurried, yes.

Yeah.

Anyway, do you want to take us

on to Kia in the UK

and how they've simplified things?

But they're simplifying things

by getting rid of engines and cutting down model lines.

So the Kia Pcanto will only be available

with one engine.

The 67 horsepower variant

of the 1.0-litre petrol triple.

The 62 horsepower

and the 76 horsepower 1.0...

Sorry, 62 horsepower 1.0-litre

and the 76 horsepower 1.2-litre

have been axed.

The Kia Ceed and Ceed station wagon

I saw one those the other day.

I'm surprised they were still on sale

had also gone.

However, the X-Seed has gained

a 1.6-litre petrol four-cylinder engine

in its top-run guise.

And there's some other swapping around as well.

So a little bit of stuff to disappear,

stuff to appear.

Obviously they've got the new K4

which will fill the gap

of the Ceed, the Ceed SW

and the Pro-Ceed

at some point later this year.

So there's a certain amount,

I'm sure a simplified production

around the world to make room for that.

Okay, to round out new car news

there is another urgent recall

this time from Stellantis

and it covers 24 car models

over the potential of an engine fire risk.

So do listen to this one.

If you had a Stellantis car

that was built between

2023 and 2025

that has the 1.2-litre petrol engine

you need to pay attention.

Or if you know friends or family that have them

point this article that is linked in the show notes

from car dealer to them.

It covers Peugeot, Citroens, DS,

Vauxhall, Alfa Romeo, Jeep, Fiat.

There's an awful lot of models involved here.

Anything that had that 1.2-litre petrol engine

which is their ubiquitous petrol engine

to be fair

then you need to get in touch with

your local dealer.

Stellantis say that they're in the process

of trying to contact all owners

looking at the Citroen models.

Particularly for the second or third owner, yeah.

Citroen models.

My sympathy is with you Citroen dealers

you are getting a right-hold kicking

at the moment.

Yeah, especially if you're the second or third owner

you've bought it

at least or whatever or from a supermarket

or any of these or privately

do make sure

people are least likely to be updated

in the database so do please

check in.

Yep.

Designers move on.

Xiaomi has recruited a former BMW designer

Kai Lange, former head of design

at BMW i.

He worked for BMW for over 20 years

but he joined Xiaomi

on the 1st of August.

I don't know whether this is a good thing

or a bad thing.

I think we have to reserve judgment

until a design is released.

Yes, but

I guess one way or another it should stop

Xiaomi's been quite so generic.

Yes, details are very scant

on exactly what he's doing

how involved he is.

It's all based off

his own LinkedIn post

not even the Chinese media knew about this

really.

It's a big quote we use often

on this show but we will have to wait

and see.

Points of interest then.

Andrew, you found

a very interesting article

from

the Journal of Historical Criminology.

One that we often refer to.

Yes.

This is a chunky article

with many, many references and stuff.

Andrew's going to explain it

but you've really got to read this

because this is very relevant

not just to motoring but to

stuff in general.

It is titled

crime driven technology and

the motor bandit.

The motor bandit bit is what

grabbed my attention initially I have to say

because I'd never heard that term before

but apparently in the interwar years

there was this

it's almost like a phenomenon

and this

almost or if not

actual panic

about criminals using

cars to

facilitate the naughty

things that they did

and they were dubbed motor bandits by

the press.

But this really long article

does explain how

the actual

fears

or the fears

far outweigh the actual reality

of how much

the criminals were using motor cars

and how much crime was being committed.

Not that we have

any examples

of such hysteria whipped up

by media and such like

at the moment at all is Alan.

I mean you know

who mentioned a small boat?

Exactly.

It is very as Alan said is very pertinent

to today but it also goes on to explain

how the Metropolitan Police

developed techniques

in which to counter some of

the aspects of criminals

using the motor car

and then also ultimately on how

that changed urban design

to some degree

in the early part of the 21st century.

So do read this it's

fascinating thing I mean I was

and whilst it's chunky it was

really interesting to

run through all this

but yeah Carl

imagine being called a motor bandit.

It is such a cool term.

First of all it's a cool term but a really

interesting article

it's a good 10 to 15 minutes of your time

to read that at least.

They're a little longer to consume

at all as well.

List of the week this week

Matthew McCormill

in the auto car

the best dashboards of the 70s

and 80s

I'm in a slight huff

with this because

you're in huff with every list

at the moment.

Last week you were as well.

It doesn't have the one I would choose

but there are some great

there are some final alternatives

so Andrew which one would you choose

in here.

Okay if ladies and gentlemen would like

to open

slide decks

and there are an awful lot of good choices

in here and if anyone was

thinking that

it's only a modern

or a recent phenomenon of

car makers working very hard

to make a

interior over complicated

or too simplified

no no no no no

there are many fine examples here

for those who

decry the lack of buttons

who are well served in some of these

and I'm going to take you to

slide 12 please ladies and gentlemen

Oh that's different from the one I've chosen

That's good and the Renault 25

from 1983

apart from the steering wheel

I just

that's almost with the

leather armchair up front

that's almost the setup I want for

editing podcasts.

Yeah they are super comfortable if you've ever been in one

and you know great for crossing

France on the auto

and I love the high level air vent

Yeah the whole

thing is brilliant

keeping you cool as you drive to the south of France

without necessarily having air condition

Just awesome

Go on then because there's 20

so you obviously get a pick

I was going to choose the

Aston Martin Lagonda series 2

Ultimate early attempts

to get rid of buttons and replace them with

touch bits which didn't necessarily work

and screens which didn't necessarily

work and all sorts of stuff that didn't necessarily work

but it looks amazing

So yeah

Do you have a feeling

I do like it an awful lot

so it's very cool the one that I feel

is missing by the way the E30

BMW 3 series just the mast

the completely opposite of the Lagonda

but it is beautifully

clear to read both the instrument binnacle

and navigating the way through

the various switches from various options

things. The other bit was a real

photo with the little trip computer

We're almost going to have to include that

on the drinking game

Alan's drinking game for a thing soon

No I absolutely love the E30 dashboard

it's just the best

It's very nice to be fair

Okay let's finish the show with an

and finally and it's from Carscoops

and it is titled

Toyota's new minivan

to create a lounge, office or bedroom inside

Now this is

what we would call an MVP

MPV even

We would call an MPV

and

it has three rows of

seats which

you wouldn't necessarily be driving all the time

However

the really really cool thing about this

is that it has the ability

to add modular

furniture so you can change

the use of the back of the car

into

as it said in the title, office

lounge or a bedroom

and the cleverness

of the

design of the furniture

really really

stands out. There's a video

that's in this article which you do have to

press and watch

just gives you a sort of

brief outline of what you can do

inside and I just

love how clever it is

You don't get the last row of

seats if you have the junior trim but you do get

either one of

four different standard packages

or you can just buy the bits and pieces

independently

it is really smart

It's worth mentioning that as with the standard

the interior features a

deodorizing water and oil repellent

fabric upholstery

which is available in black

fromage or car key shades

so that's convenient I suppose

but it's very cool and watch the video as well

if you do follow the link

through to the Class Scoop site

watch the marketing video because

it is

really Japanese isn't it?

It's cool

Well that was a great find, well done Andrew

I like that one a lot

Thanks, yeah very much

in favour of that one

and I think that's us for this week

It is us for this week

yes, no particular parish

notes

We'll be back to the normal day next week

I was going to say normal schedule next week

was the only thing I was going to say as well

but until then

don't forget between now and next week

you can give us any feedback and share your thoughts for the show

at motoringpodcast.com on Blue Sky

at Motoring Podcast on Instagram and Facebook

www.motoringpodcast.com

we help with all our activities

remember you can support us financially via Patreon

and please leave a review and rating on Apple Podcast

YouTube or every other podcast that lets you do such a thing

Andrew

in the meantime what's the best way to get in touch with you

Yes

sometimes

best way to get in touch with me is via Blue Sky

if you search for crack windscreen or failing that

if you prefer LinkedIn I am on there

and thank you to the recent influx

of people who have sought to connect

and Alan if people would like to get in touch with you personally

what's the best way for them to do that

Best way to do that

is on Blue Sky where I am

at AJP Bradley

that's B-I-D-L-E-Y

dot B Sky dot social

we'll be back very soon

until then I say I've been Alan Bradley

I've been Andrew Clues

and Safe Motoring

In A Bit of a Huff - 18 August 2025

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