Tested
Tested : Kadett vs Allegro vs Lancer
We’re moving towards the 1980s, and the hottest new ticket in town is GM’s exciting new front-wheel drive Opel Kadett/Vauxhall Astra. To see how good it was, What Car? magazine pitched a saloon version against the Austin Allegro and Colt Lancer. The result was pretty clear then – but would it be the case now? [...]
November 4, 2012
· 
Keith Adams · 
28 Comments
Tested : TR7 vs Beta vs X1/9 vs Alfasud Sprint
Seven of the best The Triumph TR7 was misunderstood when new and lacked a certain something, but has since emerged as one of the classic car industry’s most enduring starter cars. But Keith Adams wonders if cheap parts and simple mechanics are enough to make the TR7 a better bet than the vivacious Italian opposition… [...]
October 20, 2012
· Keith Adams · 36 Comments
Tested : MG Metro Turbo vs 205GTI vs XR2
Warm hatch wonders With fewer than 50 MG Metro Turbos left on the road in the UK, it’s time to celebrate one of the most fun sporting hatchbacks the 1980s – by comparing it with the big selling Ford Fiesta XR2 and cultish Peugeot 205GTI. And as Keith Adams reckons, what was best then, might [...]
October 12, 2012
· Keith Adams · 52 Comments
Tested : Princess vs Granada vs Renault 20
After the Princess received its O-Series engine in 1978, it was finally capable of battling with the rest of the best of the full-sized European opposition. The main target was the base model Ford Granada, but the Europeans were strong in this sector, too. Keith Adams compares the Renault 20 and Ford Granada against the [...]
October 7, 2012
· Keith Adams · 63 Comments
Tested : Cortina vs Solara vs Cavalier
Rep race Back in 1980, if you wanted the ultimate business tool on wheels, you (or your company’s fleet manager) bought a Ford Cortina. Vauxhall and Talbot didn’t necessarily agree, offering the Cavalier and Solara as very capable rivals. But which was best then and now, the Ford Cortina 1.6L, Vauxhall Cavalier 1600GL or Talbot [...]
October 4, 2012
· Keith Adams · 60 Comments
Tested : Optare Solo Eco-Drive
Mike Humble goes On The Buses, dons his drivers cap and brushes up on his Phwoars and Cor Blimey’s whilst getting behind the wheel of the latest bus built in the plant which was at one time part of the British Leyland empire – the Optare Solo Eco Drive, and finds it rather good fun! Over the years, many once [...]
September 24, 2011
· Mike Humble · 13 Comments
Feature : Retro Rover vs Retro Jaguar
The NEC Motorshow in 1998 was a vitally important event for Rover and Jaguar. Both companies launched brand new cars – and in both cases, they were devised the way they were to re-establish traditional marque values. Both cars were styled to evoke memories of 1950s and ’60s products, but the question remains: which did [...]
August 30, 2011
· Keith Adams · 38 Comments
Tested: Rover Streetwise
Streetwise was conceived to entice younger buyers back behind the wheel of Rover products, and cash in on the boom in leisure-orientated vehicles. Over the last couple of decades, customers had been increasingly looking for cars that not only looked good, but also proved practical and tough in the city. This new breed of car, [...]
July 28, 2011
· Matthew Hayward · One Comment
Tested: Rover 25 1.4iXL
Rover 200 was launched in 1995 to great acclaim; in 1999 it received a comprehensive makeover to become the 25. How did it stand up in 2004′s competitive market? Roger Blaxall finds out… Remember the Fiat 128? A former Car of the Year, the European motoring icon was a fabulous small saloon, typifying Fiat’s approach [...]
July 28, 2011
· Matthew Hayward · 2 Comments
Tested: Rover Commerce
Rover goes niche finding again. My on-off love affair with the Rover 25 is on again. And surprisingly, my admiration for the model’s been re kindled after driving the ‘Uriah Heep’ of the current range, the Commerce van. Once, Austin and Morris car derived vans were the bread and butter of many a fleet – [...]
July 28, 2011
· Matthew Hayward · One Comment
Tested: MG Express
The idea of a “boy racer” van has been down before, but not by MG Rover or any of its antecedents. The result is the MG Express, and for the moment, it is touted as being the fastest delivery van in the country – and with 160bhp, one can see why! Roger Blaxall tests the [...]
July 28, 2011
· Matthew Hayward · 2 Comments
Tested : Maxi, Marina and rivals
Taken from the first-ever issue of What Car? magazine This 1973 test makes fascinating reading, and is a great insight into how road tests used to be. The repmobiles compared Comparison between the Maxi, Marina and rivals Ten years ago the average man in the street would have been happy with a Mini, Imp or [...]
July 26, 2011
· Keith Adams · 4 Comments
Tested : Rover 800 Coupé
THE Rover 800 Coupé proved once and for all that the talented styling team at Gaydon really could turn a sow’s ear into a silk purse – compare the gawky R17 saloon to any Coupé and you’ll see what we mean. JONATHAN SELLARS tests the rarest 800 Coupé of them all, the two-litre Sterling. Does [...]
July 25, 2011
· Keith Adams · No Comments
Tested : Austin Maxi vs Renault 16
Two family cars which changed the face of motoring… forever. First published in Classic Car Weekly in September 2005, KEITH ADAMS pitted the Austin Maxi against the car that arguably sparked off the family hatchback revolution, the Renault 16… Family feud… Introduction WHAT decade gave us the best cars? It’s a long-running debate in the [...]
July 25, 2011
· Keith Adams · 11 Comments
Tested : Austin 1300 vs Triumph 1300
There’s a lot of talk about premium small cars these days – here are two that were playing the game 35 years ago… First published in Classic Car Weekly in November 2005, RICHARD GUNN pitted the Austin 1300GT against its upmarket in-house rival, the Triumph 1300TC… Brotherly rivals Introduction Ah, ‘GT’ and ‘TC’, two magical [...]
July 25, 2011
· Keith Adams · 3 Comments
Tested : MGC vs Triumph TR6
IF you were asked to describe the archetypal classic British car, it would have to be a convertible, have two seats and a lumping great engine upfront. First published in Classic Car Weekly in March 2006, RICHARD GUNN pitted two of the UK’s most famous sporting convertibles to fit straight into that mould, and came [...]
July 25, 2011
· Keith Adams · No Comments
Tested : Battle of the Scouts // Škoda v Metro
Tough, small multi-activity hatchbacks such as the Skoda Roomster Scout are all the rage now, but Rover could have got in on the act 15 years ago… and been at the head of the queue… Keith Adams compares and contrasts two remarkably similar packages, separated by a mere 15-years… Scout trip WITH its uber-trendy multi-function [...]
July 25, 2011
· Keith Adams · One Comment
Tested : MINI Clubman Cooper D
Do the MINI Clubman’s extra rear seat leg- and headroom and those natty back doors justify the premium over the standard Cooper D? Like Marmite, you decide… THEY say that familiarity breeds contempt and that should play into the MINI Clubman’s hands. The low rate of sales to date has meant that the quirky addition [...]
July 25, 2011
· Keith Adams · No Comments
Tested : MG RV8 vs TVR Griffith
The Rover V8 engine is a magnificent creation – and one that’s found its way under all manner of sports cars. Here, we’re pitting two similarly powered sporting roadsters, the new-boy from Blackpool with sexy curves to die for, and the Abingdon bruiser that puts tradition above progression… Words: Keith Adams Pictures: Alisdair Cusick Same [...]
July 25, 2011
· Keith Adams · 10 Comments
Tested : Leyland P76
In Australia, the P76 was billed as ‘Anything but average.’ Unfortunately (and unjustifiably so) it also turned out to be anything but successful. Classic Car Weekly’s Richard Gunn samples Leyland’s legendary leviathan from down under… Words and pictures: Richard Gunn P76 delivered a premature P45 TYPICAL. You wait for a Leyland P76 for decades, and [...]
July 25, 2011
· Keith Adams · 11 Comments
