Alex Unleashed on Cars

Back in 1988, Jaguar unveiled a new concept supercar, it had a 6.2 litre V12, 4-wheel drive and scissor doors. Needless to say, punters at the 1988 NEC Motorshow were very interested, so Jaguar ran a feasibility study and decided to go ahead and make the concept a reality with a new company fittingly called XJ220 Ltd making the cars at Bloxham near Banbury.  Sadly, things did not go to plan. The V12 engine in the concepts origins were in the DOHC 48v V12 that was was supposed to be used in the Jaguar XJ13 LeMans car from the 60s, but it only made 450 BHP, which despite the cars advanced aerodynamics wouldn't get it to the desired 220 MPH top speed, it also wouldn't meet emission regulations, so Jaguar then trialled a detuned V12 from the XJR-11 Group C car but eventually settled on  a 3.5 litre V6 twin turbo which, contrary to popular belief is not a Metro 6R4 unit but actually has more in common with the XJR-10 IMSA GTP car.  The 4-wheel drive system was found to be too ...

With it being the festive period, chances are, even if your not a car fan, you'll probably see that the various Top Gear specials are on the TV again. The specials evolved from the standard cheap car challenge previously featured in series 4-7. Taking 3 ill-suited cars off to far off and treacherous parts of the globe, all to prove just what these machines can do (with some modifications). Anyways, this ranking will list all 12 specials from the Winter Olympics in 2006 to Nepal in 2019, please note Series 16 ep 1 sometimes known as 'The East Coast Special' will not be featured as that was a normal episode that ran over a few minutes, a special here is an episode or two parter consisting of 1 film. Anyways, please enjoy. 12. Nepal Special (2019)- Sorry to all the newer Top Gear fans, but the Nepal special is bottom of the list, not that it's bad as it certainly outranks some of The Grand Tour specials but it faces stiff competition from the other specials. The premise is...

Lamborghini started as a tractor manufacture (and still is) but over time has gone from an upstart of the supercar world to one of the pillars of the type that all others are compared to. But Lamborghini has led a long life from failing to be taken seriously to American and Singaporean ownership, F1 engine supplier and now one of the VW groups luxury brands alongside Bentley. Here's what you need to know. Year Founded: 1963 Founder: Ferruccio Lamborghini Important People: Ferruccio Lamborghini- The man who started it all. Having expanded Lamborghini from just tractors to air conditioning units as well. He used his wealth to buy a Ferrari which proved to be unreliable and it was then he decided to start making cars to rival Enzo's own. He later retreated to his vineyard in later life after selling his stakes in the company Bob Wallace- A New Zealand racer and mechanic who worked on Maserati's and Ferrari's before acting as Lamborghini's "trouble shoote...

  The Lotus Elise is a legendary sports car, it saved Lotus from arguably it's lowest ever point and is seen as one of the best sports cars ever made.  But what about it's hardcore hardtop sibling, the Exige? The original Exige started out as believe it or not an even more track-focussed version of the Elise, it used the VHPD version of the Rover K-Series also seen in the Caterham 7 & Westfield FW400, the styling actually bears a remarkable similarity to the Elise Motorsport one make series cars, whether the Exige was designed as a road going version of that car is unknown. But the car most certainly looks like a race car with number plates. The roof is just about the only civilised part of the original Exige, apart from that it's just as bare bones as the Elise, it's also incredibly noisy inside. But it's much faster, the extra power despite the weight gain means the Exige can hit 60 in 5.5 seconds and 138 MPH.  The second Exige, the S2 had the 1.8 Toyota VVT e...

Issue 1- The very first one and it’s a great way to start, the cover and the story about trying to get every new car in Britain on the front is an impressive feat in of itself, even if Ferrari refused to lend any of their cars. But that aside, the first car to be road tested is the new Fiat Punto, we get a group test of some superminis, a look at cheap used cars but most importantly a test between the TVR Griffith 500, Ferrari 348, 911 Turbo, Corvette & Toyota Supra. What a way to start things. Issue 5- It’s all about weird cars in this issue, a Mazda RX-7, Subaru SVX & Renault Alpine A610 go sideways on Pendine Sands, Quentin tells you how to buy an oddball car, we get a look at Dubai car culture and the mega fast Dauer 962 LM, not to forget a test between the Escort Cosworth and Delta Integrale, there’s also a turbocharged Jaguar XJ-S and the Renault Clio Williams. Issue 21- The big test is the Ferrari F355 vs Porsche 911 Turbo that takes us across Thruxton and Brunting...