Best luxury supercar reviews
There is a very particular kind of family occasion that sees my wife Emily heading to Cornwall in shorts and a bikini, entirely sensibly, while I sit beside her in a white suit, sweating gently in what turned out to be a genuinely sweltering 35 degrees. The occasion demanded it.
There is a particular kind of English shame that comes from arriving at a country pub in something the size of a small yacht, only to spend ten minutes reversing it into a space clearly designed for a Fiat Panda and a bicycle. I know this shame intimately. I have worn it like a poorly fitted dinner jacket. So when the keys to the Lexus LBX landed on my desk, my first reaction was not excitement about badge prestige or hybrid credentials. It was relief. Here, finally, was a Lexus that might fit into my life rather than requiring me to reorganise the entire village.
There is a particular difficulty in ending a successful story. Do too little and the finale feels like a cynical exercise in badges and scarcity. Do too much and the qualities that made the original so compelling can disappear beneath the additions.
There are few places on earth where a Formula 1 car, a Le Mans-winning prototype, a heavily modified drift machine and a priceless concours classic can appear within minutes of one another without the occasion feeling remotely unusual.
That is the peculiar brilliance of the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
The emergence of the LiveWire brand as a standalone vanguard of electric performance is a shift that demands the attention of any serious rider. For years, the project incubated within the hallowed, petrol-soaked halls of Harley-Davidson, a bold experiment by the Milwaukee giant to capture the future. Yet to truly thrive, it needed to shed its heritage shackles. Now operating as a fiercely independent, publicly traded entity, LiveWire has spent the last few years proving it can build machines with its own distinct soul.
If ever there was a manufacturer that covers all the bases, it’s BMW.
If you want to ride around the world, through the most inhospitable territory imaginable, they have you back with the GS Adventure. If you want one of the fastest bikes on the planet, they have you covered with the M1000RR. Want a continent-crushing, luxurious tourer or heritage-styled factory custom? BMW Motorrad have it all and more.
Arrival: The Audi A5 S Line and the Finest Fifty Yards in Black Tie
For over a century, every single motorcycle bearing the iconic spread-wing eagle logo, known as The Eagle Of Mandello, has been built in the same spot: Mandello del Lario, a postcard-perfect town nestled on the dramatic eastern shores of Lake Como in northern Italy. The factory has been looking out over the shores of Lake Como since 1921.
There are sensible ways to test a compact family SUV. You could take it to the supermarket, fill the boot with shopping and fill the back with kids. Or you could point it north from Hampshire, drive to Aberdeen, divert through the Cairngorms and see whether it still feels like a good idea several hundred miles later.
The latter seemed more like me.
The queue for LeShuttle's Flexiplus lounge told its own story. McLarens, Ferraris, Lamborghinis — you name them, they were there, idling politely in line like schoolboys waiting for the tuck shop to open, their owners doing that studied nonchalance that only a man leaning against half a million pounds of carbon fibre can attempt.
