The battery is like the car’s fuel tank, but it stores electricity instead of gasoline. A 75 kWh battery can drive a lot farther before needing to recharge.
Electric buses run on electricity instead of diesel. They have batteries that power electric motors, making them cleaner and quieter for city transport.
It means taking old electric buses and giving them newer parts so they work better and last longer. Think of it as a major upgrade for the whole fleet.
Car
MGS6 EV
MG’s MGS6 EV is a small electric car made by the UK company MG. It looks similar to its sibling, the MGS5 EV, but it’s a bit bigger and longer.
Car
MGS5 EV
MG’s MGS5 EV is a smaller electric car that came before the MGS6. It has a similar look and parts but is slightly smaller.
Car
Scoda Enyaq
The Scoda Enyaq is a small electric car that looks like a SUV. It’s made by Škoda, a company from the Czech Republic that also makes cars like the Volkswagen Golf.
Jeep Recon is a new electric SUV that Jeep plans to sell in Europe and the UK. It’s meant to be like the Wrangler but powered by a battery instead of gasoline.
The Jeep Wrangler is a tough, off‑road car that people can take apart and put back together. It’s famous for its removable doors and roof, so it looks like a box on the road.
These are electronic devices that can lock the wheels together so they all turn at the same speed, which helps when driving on rough or slippery ground.
ERA is a racing competition in Europe where drivers race on public roads that are closed off for the event. They try to finish as fast as possible.
Car
Austin Seven
The Austin Seven is an old, tiny British car from the 1920s and ’30s. It was cheap to buy and run, making it popular for early car enthusiasts.
LIVE
Welcome to the motoring podcast, weekly discussion of motoring news. This is episode 659 on Tuesday, 25 December, 2025. Hello, I'm Alan. And yeah, it's another week of no Andrew. I feel I should say he is just fine. I mean, somebody said to me last week that I sounded like I was trying to cover up his death or something, or he was something serious. Um, he's just fine. He's just really busy with stuff somewhere that doesn't have good internet connection.
And he doesn't have his gear with him. He will be back next Tuesday. Thank goodness for all of us, because I miss him when I'm doing this. And I feel like it's never as good a show when I'm doing it on my own. It's, it's far better have someone to mindly squabble with and take a short break between talking to be perfectly honest. But anyway, let's not add too much more of my waffle. One of the things he has done this week is he has provided me with a menu. So this week you're going to hear about a change in the
definition of affordability. Uh, in you new car news, uh, join us asking if the industry has jumped a shark when it comes to EV horse power. And
points of interest, you'll learn about uniqueness. You know, half the time I have no idea what these mean either. So I just sort of nods, smile and move along. So let's get on with some
follow-up. So follow up this week. First up is the ongoing story about the Dutch government and the Chinese government
over the chip manufacturer next period. It was bought by next period. It was a Dutch company. It was bought by the Chinese
and, um, Dutch government decided that they were going to seize control of next period using a sort of
cold war era law that they have to try to stop next period from sort of taking all the kit and
shifting it all overseas to China and then sort of basic closing the factories in the Netherlands.
Um, they've dropped that particular order. I'm sure that they were being threatened with some sort
of trade war. Uh, that is speculation on my part by the way. Um, but the Dutch government nonetheless accused
of Chinese companies owners of serious governance shortcomings, uh, that threaten the supply of critical microchips to Europe. Uh, let's see what
happens with this wing tech is the name of the owner. Um, uh, let's see what happens with this. I'm sure this won't be the last
follow-up on this one, um, because this supply of, of chips of computer chips, um, that are necessary for
vehicles is, is very important. It's as important as being able to source the steel, um, for the body to,
or aluminum for the body, and, you know, rubber for tires and all of that kind of thing, um, you need these
for modern cars, uh, to just work, uh, basically.
Second story tonight is from, um, oh, by the way, that first story is from Yahoo Finance, as always,
links to every single source story that will be in the show notes.
The second story tonight is, uh, from MotorTrader.com, and it's about the Nissan Leaf. So the
Nissan Leaf price has been announced. I know we normally put this into new car news, but it doesn't
really fit there and it's kind of follow up because we kind of discussed it before because we
didn't know what the price is worth. So the second generation Nissan Leaf with the 75 kilowatt-hour
battery will be priced from 32,000 to 249 pounds, uh, with the electric car ground, uh, here in
the UK. Kind of important that this one, that the leaf, uh, qualifies for the electric car ground,
because it is just about the most British EV that there is out there. So yes, obviously,
built in Sunderland, batteries built locally as well, um, engineered, designed, etc, um,
from across the UK as probably as I see. This side of the cash guy, it's probably about the most,
the most British car that you could actually go out and buy despite the Japanese badge. So,
I mean, that's good news. Obviously, everything with the 75 kilowatt-hour battery pack will
then qualify for the electric car ground. So we'll just, uh, we'll see what happens there.
One day it would be nice to see it in the top registrations list. New news, uh,
start off talking about Gordon Murray Group. So Gordon Murray Group, which includes, uh, Gordon
Murray Technology, um, and Gordon Murray Automotive, which could build the T50, um, was headed up by,
uh, CEO Phil Lee. He'd been CEO for three years. He'd been at Gordon Murray Group for five years,
starting off as the finance director. Um, not a lot of comment on this, really, um, very little is,
is sort of known, other than the fact that, uh, that yeah, he resigned his directorship responsibilities
from the fifth of November, uh, 2025. The story that's linked in EVO, uh, says at the end that
Gordon Murray Group was contacted for comment, but it was unable to provide one at the time of rating.
So no real knowledge, quite what's happening there, uh, worth mentioning that a 90% stake of
Gordon Murray Technology was sold to CYVN Holdings. Um, that's the investment arm between
for seven of McLaren in 2023, um, that cost, uh, CYVN 60 million pounds, uh, and meant that they had
the rights to ice cream that I just mentioned a few minutes ago. Uh, there's some other, uh,
there's been some other agreements recently, but yeah, don't know quite what's, what's brought
this one on, hopefully it's not anything bad. To Wolfsburg next, where Volkswagen is apparently about
to lose its chief strategist, yes, Volkswagen had a chief strategist believe it or not.
Now his name was Stefan, uh, Vickbach, uh, and, uh, supposedly is set to move to a competitor,
um, that's causing some discomfort in Wolfsburg, as you can imagine, particularly in the office of
the CEO, uh, Oliver Bloom, uh, brought him in as successor to Ger not Adorno, uh, who is now
head of Audi. Um, Vickbach was head of corporate strategy, uh, corporate product strategy,
and also the, uh, executive, uh, executive secretary to Oliver Bloom. Um, yes, that's,
it's going to be tricky. Um, it's going to be tricky if the rumors are to believe then he's off
to, to a competitor, uh, at the very best, and he's going to have a quite a long, um, quite a long
period of gardening leave, uh, I would think. So, uh, let's just see, I'm sure this isn't the last
wheel here of this story, let's see where he crops up next. Staying in Germany, um, but this time
going to Rousseau, Rousseau's home and Maine, um, and where, uh, Hyundai Motor Group has opened a
new campus. It's called the Square Campus. Uh, it's a 150 million euro research and development
facility at the Hyundai Motor Europe Technical Center, HMETC, which just doesn't really roll off
the tongue, particularly easily. Um, this Square Campus is the largest investment in R&D facilities, uh,
the, uh, uh, the Technical Center, uh, since, uh, the, since the Round Campus was opened in 2003.
I imagine that if they put a campus in between the Square Campus and the Round Campus,
and it's going to be the Squircle Campus, uh, which sounds significantly more interesting than,
than neither of the others. Anyway, back on, back on topic, uh, Square Campus, um, will be used for
real-world prototype testing. Um, it will also, um, you know, uh, also sort of noise vibration,
harshness testing, all of these kind of things, just lots and lots of vehicle testing.
Interesting that Hyundai's doing that, uh, whether it means that they'll be able to have, you know,
more vehicles developed in Europe for Europe or taking global, global vehicles and, um, making them
more suitable for European roads. I just don't, uh, the Technical Center now employs more than
500 people as well worth, worth mentioning that. So it is a pretty serious, um, it is a pretty
serious setup to America and to Detroit. Um, it's reported in the Detroit Free Press, which
isn't one of our normal sources, uh, that Bollinger Motors, uh, has told employees that November,
the 25th was the last day in business for the company. They've not been able to, basically,
they have no money. They've not been able to make payroll for the last two payroll runs,
which is kind of bad. Uh, and the parent company, uh, Bollinger Innovations, uh,
delisted itself from the NASDAQ composite stock market index in October.
Yeah, um, 59 claims of unpaid wages, depending with the Michigan Department of Labor and
Economic Opportunity, um, and yeah, it's, it's, it's shuttering and it, it's closing. Uh, the,
supposedly the payroll checks will be made good, uh, by the, by the CEO of Bollinger Innovations,
uh, David at Misery. Um, it's been a little bit drawn out to this point, uh, and it's, it's been, uh,
yeah, it's just been a bit nasty. There's been a bit of falling out between the original
founder at Robert Bollinger who's suing them over $10 million loan that he gave them
and hasn't been paid back. Uh, there've been internet receivership. As a result of that kind of
stuff, there's suppliers taking legal action to settle, you know, five million dollars in unpaid
bills, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. It's, it's not great. So I would imagine that they're not
going to be around, uh, for very much longer, possibly someone will buy up the factory and buy up
the IP and we'll see very, very square, um, off roaders from others, but, uh, yeah, I don't, I don't
really see too much of that happening. Again, one more keep an eye on, could well crop up and
follow up in a few weeks time, but the minute, um, dead is the door, Neil, I'm afraid.
Coming to the, isn't as dead as the door, Neil, uh, is rate bus is Northern Ireland,
Northern Irish coach and bus builder. Uh, we talked about them not so long ago and that they
had introduced a, basically a new service and your product line called new power, um, to, to, uh,
to convert diesel buses into electric buses. Well, the thing is that the, they've actually
expanded, uh, what they offer because they've had a contract to upgrade an existing fleet of
28, uh, right bus metrodeca buses that are that were delivered as electric. So this is their first
EV to EV repowering contract and if you think about it, the pace of EV change and progress over
the last three to five years has been really quite impressive. So these were some of the earliest
electric buses that they put into service. Um, the technologies moved on a lot, uh, different
batteries, different control systems, all of that kind of thing. Uh, so what they're going to be
doing is taking them from like three to five year old spec and upgrading them to, to the current
spec. Uh, in theory, this should deliver them up to 50% more power, um, better HVAC and
heat pump based heating systems, um, and new upgraded electric drives will also be installed.
So that's pretty cool. Um, I think that's interesting. This is something that is going to happen
because, you know, it's always been possible to do this with diesel engines and automatic gearboxes
and all that kind of thing, that they could bus providers have been swapping them in and out for
years. Um, being able to do the same thing with the EV technology, um, should in theory be easier, far
fewer hoses, for example, uh, although to be honest, uh, I'll date in the HVAC will probably involve
quite a few hoses. Um, but no, latest generations of batteries, axles, drive lines, power trains,
and, and as I said, HVAC systems, uh, going into these into these buses, great, great, you know,
reuse, recycle, renew, and it's all being being put into, into this, um, conversion work,
logic plays at the new power facility in Oxfordshire. Um, and that means 64 orders to new power
in 2026. That's up from over 50 that have been delivered in 2025 and it's not even 2026 yet.
So, uh, good news. And, uh, yeah, it's cool to be able to do this kind of upgrade.
That actually, surprisingly, takes us to a guilt minute. That's the quick break in the show,
where we ask for a tada financial support to keep the lights on and the hosting and running.
If you feel the motoring podcasts with a small consideration every month, then you can become
a patron. Different levels of patron include different levels of Coombe from us to you,
including being able to watch the show recorded live. We also have a small range of merchandise
in our spring store, stickers to mugs and t-shirts. If you don't have any spare cash,
you can do completely understand then you can run help us by following 4-3 from a podcast player
to receive every show as they're released and by lightning rating show, whatever way your podcasts
supplier lets you. I'm going to say it again and more and more of you're doing this. It's brilliant
and the number of subscriptions is, um, it seems the first 500 of the hardest. Uh, uh,
our increase your time. Uh, YouTube is a great way to, to do that. Um, the more time you listen
to us on YouTube, the more that counts towards our, our little march towards monetization,
uh, on there. So, um, YouTube, it would be a great way, uh, to, to listen to what we do. Obviously,
that doesn't work for everyone. Podcast players are fantastic. Um, yay. Thank you. Uh, well, if you
listen, thank you. Um, thanks also to people on Patreon. I see there've been a little bit of revision
of, of amounts, uh, from, from folks. Thank you very much. Um, it is appreciated. So,
new new car news next. And we're going to start off with the MGS6 EV. Um, it's very similar to
the MGS5 EV. Um, it is a little bit bigger, uh, but otherwise, you know, a little bit longer, uh,
but otherwise that's pretty much it. Um, it's a SCODA ENYAC rival and it offers about 329 miles of
range, which is pretty impressive as far as I'm concerned, uh, for about 38,000 pounds. Uh,
the idea is that obviously the pricing is going to undercut, um, many of the European, uh, brands.
There's a couple of drive trains available in the UK. There's the rear drive long range, which says
241 horsepower, 258 pounds feet of torque and that 329 mile range. And there's also a four-wheel
drive dual motor with 356 horsepower, 398 pound feet of torque and 300 and one miles of
range. Uh, dual motor mostly is rear-wheel drive, uh, only engaging the front motor when there's
limited traction or when you need all the powers. Uh, 77 kilowatt hour nickel-mine in these
cool-wilt batteries. Uh, it can be recharged up to 144 kilowatt hours, giving 10 to 80 percent
and a refill time of 38 minutes. Uh, you get a touchscreen, uh, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, um,
if you get the trophy trim, which is a top of the line, you get head-up display, uh,
boot capacity 674 liters of the seats up and 1,910 with them down and there's
124 liters of cargo box in the front, so good place to show it, store your cables and stuff,
you don't get too very often or need very often. Um, yeah, prices start from 37,995 pounds,
which is about a thousand pounds cheaper than the entry level N-YAC.
Long range trophy is 40,995 pounds and the range-stopping dual motor trophy is 43,995 pounds.
Uh, I spoke with someone actually whilst they were on the S6 EV launch, uh, last week.
It's just fine, it's great, it's fine, it, it drives, it stops, it goes around corners,
none of it's particularly interesting, but then it's a, you know, it's a Chinese EV SUV,
which is perfectly adequate looking and it's people who are buying them, we'll look at the monthly,
look at the lack of tax on stuff and go, that's what we want. Okay, I'll have one of them, please,
and that's, it's really everything it needs to be. That's it, it's not the most interesting thing in
the world, it's a perfectly decent car. Um, and I think MJ had been showing that
year after year after year by this point, and I think you need us telling you that anymore.
Something slightly different than another, another electric SUV and it's the Jeep Recon.
Um, it's going to be launched in the UK, mainland Europe, late next year,
supposedly as the unofficial electric equivalent of the Wrangler. Yes, so it's the first electric
bit of Jeep which they're showing off as built primarily for off-road use. And I think the first
thing we need to talk about are the doors and the roof, uh, because the roof has a very big sunroof,
which I was right up, and the doors are removable. Um, but it's not convertible, you can't take
the whole roof off, it just has a big sunroof, but you can take the windows out, you can take the doors
off, which all seem, I mean, they seem to confuse some people, um, on Tinterweb, but to me,
it looks like what Jeep are actually looking for, what designs are referencing with all of this,
isn't necessarily the Wrangler, if you want a Wrangler, you buy Wrangler. That's that you can shove
ducts all over it and do whatever you want with your Wrangler. Um, but this seems to be referencing
much more the current fashion, because Wranglers are expensive. Whatever age Wrangler you want is
it's quite expensive unless it's completely and totally trashed. Where the cheaper and the more
accessible vehicles are this at the moment, is actually the JK, the original, the Mark 1 Cherokee.
Um, so you know, the very square one, and what I certainly, I saw in the US, um, was people
buying them and taking the doors off them during the summer, then the button back on for the winter
and whatever else, but in the summer they take the doors off, you know, um, I've opened up the roof
and do that, and that's kind of what happens with this. Um, it's not a body on frame, it's, um,
it is a monocork, so you can't treat it the same way, so you take the doors off and you do all that
kind of thing. It's all good fun. Uh, Jeep claims that it's the only fully off-road capable EV,
although some people are considering that the G580EQ from Mercedes-Benz. What are the rest of the
specs? Well, CEO has claimed that there's, uh, that the recon has a 670 horsepower and a 620
pound-foot dual-motor power trade, uh, say that it is absolutely perfect for off-road talk,
control, all that kind of stuff. It's got decent approach and departure angles.
Underneath, by the way, stuff like the battery pack, exactly the same as you would find in, um,
in Persia E3808 and E5808 as well. It's just a bit more protected. It's 100 kilowatt hours,
by the way, for reference. It's got electric locking differentials, selectoring traction systems,
rock modes, all sorts of stuff like that. Asthetically, it has plenty of shackles on the outside
for road work. It has, um, it can be had with lots of, lots of chunky rubber. Um, it comes with leather.
So, you know, it's really quite well, quite well-named. It looks like a Jeep, okay? It's, as I say,
it's got toe points, it's got shackles, it's got all these kind of things. It's got seven vertical bars
in the grille. It's, it's a Jeep and you're not really going to, to, to get it mixed up with,
with any of its Stellantis siblings. Um, it's going to start being sold, sold in the US in the coming
months. Full specs for UK and European cars will be revealed in 2026 and the starting price is
expected to be around 75,000 pounds. So, if you have a fetish for that kind of off-roader,
then the recon is probably the place for you to enjoy that. Let's move swiftly on. Uh, Jeep,
not Jeep, not Jeep at all. We're SUV-ing again and we are electric SUV again, but we're back to
the other extreme. Uh, the Porsche Cayenne electric. It's about to go on, uh, it's about to go
on sale or it's certainly been unveiled. Um, as the most powerful Porsche road, road model ever,
with a mere 1,140 brake horsepower and a price tag about 130,000 pounds.
So, this is essentially the fourth generation Cayenne. Um, it is the first iteration,
since the Cayenne was introduced in 2002. Yes, that's over 20 years ago, but goodness is much
better than those original ones. Much better looking, pardon me, than those original ones. Um,
that might be seen as a challenge, if it wasn't for the fact that Porsche are going to continue
to manufacture the Mark III Cayenne, albeit with a pretty hefty facelift, supposedly meant to come
in 2026. Um, that is, that is because the whole platform for this new Cayenne is EV only.
Um, that was the decision that was made. Porsche were trying to hit 80% of its lineup to be electric
by 2030. Obviously, there have been changes in the world. Um, uh, both the acceptance and the
onboarding of, of, uh, European luxury high-end EVs in China and also the fact that,
that basically the, the current US administration thinks that EVs are communist or something.
I don't, I don't know when they probably don't know either, but whoever's giving the money has
decided that that's very much the case. So that means that the Cayenne, uh, well into the 2030s
are going to be offered with petrol hybrid and electric, obviously petrol and hybrid are going
to be significant updates of third generation. Um, and the electric will be, will be the electric.
Uh, not all of them are going to, going to have the 1130 horsepower. Uh, there'll be two different,
two different models to start with. Um, the, the basic Cayenne electric will be 83,000 to 200 pounds
ish. Um, before we've added any extras because Porsche, uh, and the top-around turbo,
which we've been talking about, coming at 130,900 pounds. Um, you're looking at 0 to 62 in 2.5 seconds,
not to 124, because probably not. Time of 100, of, of Padme, not to 124 time of 7.4 seconds.
Um, topping out at 162 miles an hour. I don't know really. I don't know. Uh, by the way,
you only really get that whenever you press the, um, push the pass button on the steering wheel.
I know I never get all of that power for 10 seconds at a time. Otherwise, you have to put up
with a mere 845 horsepower. The entry level still has a dual motor drive train,
um, but, uh, a mere 402 brake horsepower, which is the same as the McCann for electric.
That means that a 0 to 62 will take a yearning eight, uh, 4.8 seconds and the top speed is
merely 143 miles an hour. Both models can tow up to three and a half tons.
I'd love to, uh, somebody's going to try it, aren't they? How, how short a time will we need to wait
with our someone decides to tow three and a half tons off the line with the KN electric
turbo, uh, using all the powers? Uh, yeah. Let's, let's just see lots and lots of stuff.
There, uh, one of the things, uh, one of the unique things as well, um, supposedly the KN electric
is when the first, we'll be on the first cars in the market to be offered with wireless charging,
so that it can, um, it can top up at up to 11 kilowatts. Uh, to do that is,
it's going to be about two thousand pounds. Uh, so you need a water-cooled charge receptor,
which weighs 15 kilos and is bolted behind the protective underbody declining on the car,
and another 3,000 pounds for the charging pad itself. Um, all the UK spec KNVs will be prepared with
the necessary wiring and hoses to accept the receptor. I don't know one person who might be interested
in doing that, and I don't even know that he would pay 5,000 pounds for it, but, um, curious to,
curious to know. Anyway, uh, lots more, there's loads, loads, details, um, uh, in this sort of car
story, again, as ever, link in the show notes. Uh, it's been put together by Will Rimmel, um, who has,
it's, it's, it's one of the longer stories that we've had on you, you can't use for, for a while.
Into points of interest. Uh, first one, lunchtime reader, is only, it's only a relatively short one
this week. It's called, uh, Spark Moments, uh, and it's part one. It's by Charlotte Vowden,
it's on haggity, and it was published just last week. Um, and it's,
basically Charlotte has been interviewing members of the automotive community, uh, and asking them to,
to talk about inspiring the next generation of drivers and what it is and car folk. Um,
um, and it's quite interesting. There's interviews here with the head of collections and engagement
at the British Motor Museum. Um, um, Durham, Andrew, starter motor, commas director of Hero,
ERA, who do, um, who do, uh, timed rally trials, all sorts of stuff. And they're talking about
things, things that got them interested, things that they're trying to do to get, uh, to, to, to,
to get kids interested in cars and automotive stuff and engineering and all of these kind of good
things. Um, it's really interesting. There's some lovely stories in there. Um, have a read,
it's well worth those five minutes of your time and I'm looking forward to part two, uh, as well.
Um,
list of the week this week comes from classic and sports.com.com. Um, and it is 20 affordable coach
built classic cars. Um, and there's some, there's some great cars in here from,
stuff based on Austin sevens, right the way through to stuff from the later, the late 1970s,
early 1980s. Uh, the one I'm going to chair, I am going to choose this week is the only one I've
ever sat in of the list. And that is, well, it's here as the Lombardi Grompry, uh, the version I sat
in was an Otas Grompry or an Otas 820. In fact, if you, if you go to the Lombardi Grompry Wikipedia
then the one I've sat in is the one, is the green one, uh, that's in the sort of first pair of,
pair of photos, uh, there, the green 1971 Otas 820 with the, with the Vermont license plates.
Um, so, so yeah, it's, it's a tiny little fear 850 based sports car and it's, you know,
it's been stripped down and completely re-bodied and all of these things and it is, it is tiny,
it is very small when you're sitting in it, you're taking up more than half the length of the car,
easily more than half the length of the car. It's, it's super cool. It's, I would love to have
driven it off because that wasn't possible because it was wintertime and there was snow and salt
and all sorts of horrible things outside on the roads, um, you know, including Vermont drivers.
Um, but yeah, it, it was really cool, really excellent since something as, as rare unusual and,
and just, just tiny as that. It was funny because it was sitting in a garage, uh, right beside the
Buick Roadmaster. So if you really wanted to or can cheese, um, yeah, the, the Otas and the,
and the Buick were really that, uh, were really that, that comparison. Um, loads of other good stuff
in here. Um, stuff based on MGs, pojos, renos. I could sit here and click through these pretty
much, pretty much non-stop Ford Cortinos, all of these kind of things and beetles and everything.
So, uh, how a little bit of a look through it, you will discover new stuff until I saw it,
I didn't really know what the Otas was either and even now I'm, I'm still not an expert. But, um,
but yeah, it's, um, a really interesting list this one, really, really left field and a really
good chance to, to learn something new about some really unusual stuff. And finally this week,
we go to design news, uh, design news, purely because they've got what looks like some of the best
coverage of the Hot Wheels legends. Uh, so every year we seem to follow the Hot Wheels legends.
And this year the finale, uh, took place in, um, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, where did it take place?
Of course it took place. It took place in America, okay? I know it took place in America.
Uh, there were the final ones that were the winners from 16 different countries, plus 11
US regions and they were competing, uh, to have their car immortalized as a Hot Wheels toy.
Judging was by, uh, this year's panel of expert desires and enthusiasts. They included Jay Leno,
um, hope needs no more introduction, I don't think, uh, Michael Semino, actor and car culture
enthusiasts, Tejez Lalu, uh, who's a race car driver, new Tran, uh, uh, content creator, hurt
life, also a content creator, and Yuka who only has one name and is also a content creator.
Brian Benedict, Hot Wheels, key principal designer and Craig Callum, Hot Wheels senior designer,
round off the, the, the list of eight, um, eight judges.
There's a really good slideshow here, um, it's the first bit where it says start the slideshow.
If you click on that it then goes through and it, I'm just like a different page, which is kind of cool.
I was really pleased to see the very first one on the slideshow, um,
uh, Jerry Pink, uh, YouTuber, um, engineering, um, canarchy type person, uh, who has his own
channel, a questionable garage, uh, if you enjoy kind of sensible people showing you stuff,
um, then, then I, I, well, I enjoy it. I like it and I like, uh, Jerry just seems like a generally
nice person, um, uh, who takes his time and tries to do stuff properly, very rarely see sort of,
click the fingers type stuff with, but with Jared. So, uh, really cool to see him there
as one of the regional, original winners here, him, he being the one from the, uh, from the,
the sort of Georgia and the South, um, loads of other good stuff. Uh, what else was there from
France? There was a fantastic Honda S2000. Yeah, uh, Sebastian Hobbier, um, his, uh, S2000,
full body kit, front rear arrow, upgraded wheels. It, it looks pretty evil and, and, and the business,
loads of stuff. Obviously, you, you forget how, uh, international this, uh, this is, um, Damian,
old, James's, uh, 1928 Ford Rat, Ratrod is another fine one from Peru. That's quite something.
Uh, from the UK, Paul, uh, Paul Foster, son of a 14 years, built a 1982 BMW 3 series.
It's built to resemble a group to rally car, uh, fantastic, um, BMW motor sport, uh,
livery on it, uh, amazing group five, original group five rear spoiler, uh, just the arches,
the wheels, everything, uh, it's not actually BMW powered as a 420 horsepower 5 liter Rover V8,
with a side exit exhaust and a DTM gearbox. So it must be quite a thing to drive, but super cool,
really cool, uh, there. If you keep going through to the end, you will eventually, the very last one,
slide 26 is the winner. When I tell you that the winner is from Poland,
and it's very small, then you can probably guess what it is, but I'll bet you can't guess
what it looks like and what it's, uh, pastiche of copied from. I don't know. I just think it's hilarious,
absolutely genius. Um, do please, if you don't follow any other link, follow this last one,
um, and have a look at this design use, uh, coverage or, or, or, or look this up, I'm preferably design
use, um, really, really cool. Um, I love it. I love it. I'm so pleased it exists. I don't care if
it turns into hot wheels or not, it's, it's super awesome. Um, yeah, just, just great. That,
that gave me a good chuckle when I got to that, because I hadn't read through what it, but I,
fact in the article, doesn't actually say what it is, this one. So you do have to go to the end
of the slideshow and find out and, and yeah, genius. Anyway, I think that's it for this week.
Obviously parish, the only parish note I really have is that his lordship will return next week.
I feel like it's that bit at the end of the credits where it says James Bond will return.
Um, so yes, Andrew clues will return, uh, at, at some point. Um, other than that,
all I have to do is find the right, but where's it gone? How many times, hundreds of times have I
clicked on this card in the trello, uh, to remind you that between now and next week, you can give us
any feedback, share your thoughts with the show at motoringpodcast.com on blue sky at motoring podcast
on Instagram and Facebook and the contact page of www.motoringpodcast.com the hub of all our
activities. Remember, as I say, you can support us financially via Patreon and please leave a
review and rating on Apple Podcasts, YouTube or whatever your podcast app lets you do such a thing.
Best way to get in touch with Andrew is to search for credit, windscreen on blue sky or
indeed, uh, under his real name, uh, on LinkedIn. Get in touch with me, it's Bessie's blue sky where
I'm at AJP Bradley, that's B-R-A-D-L-E-Y, um, at bsky.social. As I said, we'll be back next week
until then, I'll be now in Bradley and save motoring.
About this episode
A solo Alan discusses the latest in automotive news, including the evolving definition of affordability in the market and the rise of EV horsepower. Key stories include the Dutch government's chip supply issues, the pricing of the new Nissan Leaf, and the resignation of Gordon Murray Group's CEO. The episode also covers the launch of the Jeep Recon, an electric off-roader, and the powerful new Porsche Cayenne electric. Unique segments highlight inspiring automotive stories and affordable classic cars, making for an engaging mix of industry insights.
One last solo show from Alan before Andrew returns and regular service resumes.
This week, we have a follow-up on the Dutch/Chinese Chip Wars and the prices of the new Nissan Leaf.
New news includes management changes at Gordon Murray Group, VW’s Chief Strategist making an exit, Hyundai opening a new testing centre in Germany, Bollinger Motors shutting up shop, and Wrightbus covering EV buses into, err, EV buses.
New Car News includes the MG S6 EV, the Jeep Recon, and the crazy-powerful Porsche Cayenne Electric.
In Points of Interest we look at the moments people become interested in “automotive stuff”, we have a list of 20 affordable coachbuilt cars, and we round off with a look at the Hot Wheels Legands finalists.
