Mason Gibbons

Can this old-school 4x4 deal with some heavy-duty abuse? We’re about to find out Why we’re running it: To find out whether a big, separate-chassis, part-time all-wheel-drive SUV still has a place in the world Month 2 -  Month 1  -  Specs Life with a Ssangyong Rexton: Month 2 Being unique on the roads - 9th May 2018 This is not a characteristic that the makers of the Rexton will likely enjoy, but there’s slightly foolish pleasure to be had from driving a vehicle an example of which you’re unlikely to see coming the other way. That’s partly because this Ssangyong is a new model, of course, but also because it’s a niche vehicle. For now, it’s a pleasingly rare beast. Mileage: 2159 Back to the top Life with a Ssangyong Rexton: Month 1 After an off-road experience to forget, is the SUV really as tough as it looks? - 25th April 2018 The mud-covered lanes where I live have rapidly given the Rexton a coat of filth not inappropriate to its rugged constitution . I ...

Company drops pure six-cylinder E43 variant for electrified E53 version; E400d 4Matic replaces E350d Mercedes-AMG has replaced its E43 sports saloon with the new E53 mild hybrid as part of a list of updates applied to the  E-Class range. It's on sale now, priced from £63,790 for the saloon. This is an increase of over £15,000 over the E43 that comes largely thanks to the new car's more complex powertrain. The new E53 estate makes the same jump to start at £65,790. The coupé splits the difference at £64,790, while the cabriolet is the most expensive at £69,285. The 53-badged models are the punchiest and most expensive to be offered on the two-door E-Class variants, as Mercedes does not offer the full-fat AMG 63 variant beyond the saloon and estate. In addition to the newly announced prices, Mercedes has also replaced the E350d with a new E400d 4Matic, which starts at £52,685 in saloon form. The estate carries a £2000 premium over this. The E...

General Motors' self-driving car business (GM Cruise) has been given a huge vote of confidence by SoftBank Vision Fund. The fund, which controls more than $100 billion in assets and is considered the world's biggest tech invester, on Thursday announced it will inject $2.25 billion in GM Cruise in return for a 19.6 percent stake. An initial payment...

Mercedes-Benz in February unveiled a new A-Class hatchback and followed it up with an A-Class sedan April. They're the first of eight members planned for the automaker's new generation of compact cars. Some of those eight members will have high-performance variants developed by Mercedes-AMG. And this time around there will be direct replacements...

Ferrari has Fiorano, McLaren has Dunsfold, and now Brabham also has a home base for developing its supercars. Brabham on Tuesday named The Bend Motorsport Park in Tailem Bend, Australia as its “home circuit.” The site, about 60 miles from Brabham's Adelaide headquarters and production facility, is recognized by the FIA and comprises a...

Haas is bringing a "significant" set of new parts to the Canadian Grand Prix after purposefully delaying the first major upgrade for its 2018 Formula 1 car

Exclusive electric blue paint marks special edition out from ordinary GT86s Toyota has revealed the GT86 Club Series Blue Edition as the latest in a line of special versions  of its  Mazda MX-5 -rivalling sports car.  The GT86 Club Series Blue Edition is identifiable from its exclusive electric blue paintwork with black trim, as well as new design of 17in, black-painted alloy wheels. Inside, the upholstery is fully black leather and Alcantara.  It’s based on the GT86 Pro, meaning cruise control, automatic headlights, LED headlights and tail-lights and heated front seats all come as standard.  Under the bonnet, it’s unchanged over the standard car, although a Performance Pack is available, adding Sachs-tuned suspension and larger Brembo brakes. This adds £355 to the price of the manual car and £340 to the automatic.  Starting at £29,980, the Club Series Blue Edition is £1945 more than the standard GT86, or £1400 more than a GT86 finished with m...

Leaving “Wheeler Dealers” last year over creative differences may end up being the best thing to happen to our favorite car restorer Edd China. That's because he's now working on not one, but two new car shows. Only last month we saw a pilot episode for “Edd China's Garage Revival,” a show where China travels abroard to...

Japanese brand continues to remove oil-burning models from line-up The diesel version of the  Toyota RAV4  has become the latest victim of the brand’s commitment to remove oil-burning models from its line-up. As part of its pledge to focus on petrol and electrified powertrains, Toyota has taken the sole 2.0-litre diesel variant of the RAV4 out of production. A brand spokesman told Autocar that "there will still be cars in stock or in allocation from production" based on predicted demand, but that "no new specific orders can be placed". The only remaining RAV4 variants in production use 2.0-litre petrol and 2.5-litre hybrid power. Prices for the revised range start at £29,010. The diesel RAV4’s departure occurs as the current-generation SUV enters its "run-out phase", according to the spokesman. It will be replaced by a  new, more rugged successor in 2019 . That car was revealed at the most recent New York motor show. The next-gen model will  ...

Vijay Mallya has resigned as a director of Force India and is expected to handed the board role to his son Siddarth, while he remains the team principal of the Silverstone outfit

It was easily the most anticipated car of 2018 but Dodge's Challenger SRT Demon, like all good things, must come to an end. That end actually took place on Wednesday where the very last Demon, example 3,300, rolled off the line at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' plant in Brampton, Canada. The car doesn't have an owner yet. And no, FCA isn't planning to...

Cars imported to the US could be slapped with raised import tariffs Reports suggest overseas car makers could be charged as much as 25% import tax; European premium brands could be hit US President Donald Trump has revealed to French President Emmanuel Macron that he wishes to raise levies on imported cars to 25% and obliterate European luxury car sales in the US.  Wirtschaftswoche reports that the comments, made to Macron and reported to the media via several EU and US diplomats, could spark a trade war between the US and the EU, with Germany’s car industry being a heavy source of income to the union. Trump has been outspoken in his tirades against the car industry, first taking aim at domestic brands that import into the US from Mexico, then at European countries’ appetite for domestic car brands  over US ones.  He has previously expressed his distain at German luxury brands, particularly Mercedes-Benz , and its prominence in New York’s Fifth Aven...

Formula 1's overhaul for 2021 should take inspiration from its ground-effect era, according to 2016 world champion Nico Rosberg

Welcome to Autocar's run-down of all the new cars heading this way in 2018 Autocar's new cars list gives you all the information on 2018's new arrivals, rounding up all the new models going on sale in the UK We're not even halfway through yet 2018 has already proved to be another exciting year for cars. We're welcomed new entrants into every major segment, and that ever-growing flock of SUVs continues to surge. Here is your one-stop shop for keeping up-to-date with what's coming when in the car industry.  May 2018 Summer 2018 Autumn 2018 Winter 2018 New Cars Coming in 2018: May Alpine A110 Renault is gunning for the Porsche Cayman with the Alpine A110. It's mid-engined, lightweight and promises handling verve by the bucketload. Aston Martin DB11 Volante Drop-top DB11 will be V8 only, to make it as keen-handling as possible.  BMW 2 Series Active Tourer facelift BMW's first ever MPV reaches midway through its first generation, in a segment ...

New McLaren Senna and MP4/5 F1 car in McLaren Composites Technology Centre British brand to build carbonfibre tubs for road cars at new facility in South Yorkshire McLaren ’s new £50 million carbonfibre manufacturing centre in South Yorkshire moved a significant step closer to operation today when executive director Ruth Nic Aoidh was handed the keys to the facility. Aoidh said that, over the coming months, the McLaren Composites Technology Centre (MCTC)  "will be fitted out with the production equipment we need to become fully operational next year and support hundreds of skilled jobs". The site, McLaren's first outside its Woking home, is located in the Advanced Manufacturing Park in Catcliffe, between Sheffield and Rotherham. Although it's not yet operational, an earlier event to celebrate the facility's birth has already seen a Senna hypercar perform doughnuts to ‘christen’ the newly laid factory floor, which spans  75,000sq ft. ...

Renault's upgraded Formula 1 engine is ready for the Canadian Grand Prix but the French manufacturer is not convinced it is best for every team, "in particular Red Bull", to use it in Montreal

The S-Class is as luxurious, refined and long-striding as any grand tourer in coupé form, with a chassis and an engine of particular talent The new Mercedes-Benz S560 Coupé is where the richer end of what could be considered the modern S-Class sub-brand opens for business.Because, these days, if you like the idea of owning and driving an S-Class but don’t like the idea of driving around in a stretched four-door limousine that looks as if it is on a permanent shuttle run between the airport and the nearest five-star hotel, you can have an S-Class Coupé or Cabriolet instead.In previous years, Mercedes gave these high-end two-doors their own model nomenclature (remember the CL and the SEC before it?), but now it thinks the S-Class family "wants to be together".And having just updated the S-Class Coupé range, Mercedes has neatly plonked this 560 model at its base. A direct replacement for the S500 turbo V8, the S560 produces marginally more power than its ante...

After several years of impressive growth, a recent sales downturn shows the hurdles facing JLR The decision last month to lay off 1000 contract staff out of a total 40,000 workforce may be a disaster for those affected but, on the face of it, it does not signal serious structural issues for Jaguar Land Rover ’s business. That said, although JLR has expanded at pace since its near-death experience after the credit crunch a decade ago, it is now facing a downturn in its fortunes. In the year to September 2012, JLR sold 269,000 cars worldwide. In the year to March 2018, it sold 614,300. That’s impressive growth and backed by an expanded model line-up including strong sellers such as the  Range Rover Velar  and the  F-Pace , Jaguar’s first SUV. The top-line results for the fiscal year to March 2018 don’t look too bad, and in fact represent growth of 1.7%. However, the problem for the company lies in a marked fall-off in sales over the past six months of some of its mo...