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In today’s (yes, a day late due to embargo) Ti podcast, Andrew and Dan interview James, Thomas and Francis - the hosts of the rebooted Amazon series The Grand Tour.

Comments on YouTube (usually not very forgiving) have been surprisingly positive so far.

Do you think they can recapture the chemistry that Clarkson, Hammond and May had? Critical to the new series’ success will be James, Francis and Thomas being true to themselves and not aping anything that came before, whilst understanding the heritage of the show. Based on our interview with them, we think they’re going to nail it.

What do you think? Do you think Amazon can do what the BBC couldn’t in replacing the famous trio?

A bit late coming out of winter hibernation, this creature was spotted in the fields of Gosfield today, despite its chameleon like qualities attempting to blend into the long grass.

This week is Le Mans week, so to celebrate it we have a new Heart & Soul video dropping tomorrow on the Jaguar XJR-8, the car that finally ended the dominance of the Porsche 956 and 962, and today Alex Brundle has written a fantastic story of what the Le Mans experience is like from behind the wheel.

What have been your favourite experiences / memories of Le Mans? In which era do you think the racing was at its peak?

A titbit from my story today on The Intercooler’s website and app.

Last week Ti attempted the first ever point to point test featuring the fastest and slowest cars on sale (Porsche 911 Turbo S and Kia Picanto), but also to add a bit of context, the legendary Audi Quattro from 40 years past.

The Quattro is my sister Alex’s car, and she had spent months getting it ready for a day like this. It drove across to Wales fine, but then on the first leg of the test itself delivered a terminally floppy throttle pedal, and thus a total breakdown.

Were we about to spend the day waiting for recovery trucks? And was the whole test kiboshed?

Thankfully not. No local garage had the right nut to hold the throttle assembly on, but a zip tie did effectively the same job.

So it was on with the test. And the Quattro defied its age to perform superbly, even against the 750bhp Porsche (according to Litchfield’s dyno).

For the full story (my first of this type - exciting!) see link in first comment below.

Old cars FTW (and FTB)

Normally I’d resurrect the DeLorean in March or April, but this year life has got in the way, so naturally it falls upon the hottest day of the year to attempt to retrieve the car and drive back into a sweltering London.

Big question though - will it start? 🤔

In Dan Prosser’s story today on The Intercooler website and app (link in first comment), Dave Richards tells the story of how the Prodrive Impreza was actually supposed to have grey wheels:

‘Everyone remembers the gold wheels,’ says David. ‘The wheel manufacturer was Speedline, from Italy, and the wheels were supposed to be charcoal grey. Peter Stevens had designed the car, and he was appalled to hear Speedline had sent the wrong colour.

We looked at the car and said, it’ll have to do. We won the next rally, and I went to the president of Subaru to thank him and apologise for the wheels. I said we would send them back to have them painted grey.

He said, “No, no, we’ve done all the advertising, you’ve got to remain with gold wheels from now on.” And that’s how the gold wheels happened. It wasn’t by design. It was a complete cock up, quite frankly.’

No-one else in the room during the live podcast interview with DR had heard this before - anyone else aware of it?

Today Ti was up in the Welsh hills for a group test you wouldn’t see anywhere else. Today’s fastest point to point supercar, the 750bhp (according to Litchfield’s dyno) Porsche 911 Turbo S takes on Britain’s slowest car, the 67bhp Kia Picanto.

Just how much faster does 11x the power get you from A to B? And just to measure progress - let’s throw in a curveball. The fastest point to point car of 40 years ago: the Audi Quattro RR.

How well does an old car hold up? Will its pace be closer to the Porsche, or the Picanto?

And here’s a quiz: for every hour the Picanto takes across A and B roads - how many minutes will the Turbo S and Quattro each take? All estimates welcome…

In this week’s podcast Andrew Frankel and Dan Prosser discuss 1970s sports and supercars, one of cars in question being a De Tomaso Pantera.

Overlooked by some at the time for having the temerity to use an American V8, it’s arguably now the bargain of the bunch.

Countachs have gone stratospheric, a Ferrari Berlinetta Boxer will cost you double of a Pantera, and even the common as muck Porsche 930 Turbo will cost you £200k if you want a properly sorted example.

So if you want that iconic bedroom wall poster car of the era - is the Pantera the way to go? Early project cars can go for £50k and up, whilst a gorgeous and super rare RHD GT5 with only 6k miles went for £161k (plus fees) at Iconics in February.

If you’re buying a 70s supercar, what are you going for? (And we haven’t even mentioned the Maserati Bora).

After just spotting this Cayman R with a pair of bikes on the roof, it got us thinking at Ti: what are the most entertainingly inappropriate uses of a sports car you’ve attempted? We’re thinking tip runs, Christmas tree collections, load hauling - the works.

Please share, and of course - all pics welcome.

(Thanks to @delorean4267 on IG for the DMC pic)

Andrew Frankel recently went to the south of France to drive the new DB12 S - effectively a remarketed mid-life facelift of the DB12. The embargo lifts today, so we can finally share what he thought of it:

‘When I first drove it in 2023 it was clear to me that the DB12 was both the greatest unlimited production Aston Martin of the modern era and the finest car of its type that there was. And the best thing I can tell you about the DB12 S is that the statement holds as true for this subtly, fluently and effectively revised car as it ever did.’

Is it good enough to turn round Aston Martin’s financial fortunes? Why has the company struggled so much in recent years, despite having the best range of models it’s ever had - Vantage, Vanquish, DB12 (now S) and DBX 707 all at or near the top of their respective classes?

What do you think?

As a kid I always though the difference between the Porsche 956 and 962 was easy to spot - the 956 more upright, with the high wing and short tail, the 962 sleeker with long tail and low wing.

But as Andrew describes in this week’s new Heart & Soul video, I was completely wrong. Porsche had been using short tail and long tail bodies on their sports racing cars since the 1960s - kurzheck and langheck, to use their proper titles. Seen clearly on 917s, and then on both 956s and 962s in the 1980s.

Bellof’s 956 for the insane Nurburgring lap record wore the kurzheck body for maximum downforce (more than a contemporary F1 car some sources suggest) whilst all 956/962s at Le Mans wore the langheck bodies - the later 962s clocking 240mph on the Mulsanne straight (before the chicanes were added in 1990).

The *actual* difference between 956 and 962 is the length of the wheelbase - the 962s being slightly extended to put the drivers feet behind the front axle line, as mandated by regulations. So spotting the difference comes down to the gap between the front edge of the door and the wheel arch. As Andrew says, now you know!

Which would you have, if you were in the market?

The Mercedes costs more, weighs more, and has less power. But it has two things the 911 can’t match: noise, and torque.

Some stats if it helps, for the Carrera GTS vs GT 55 in today’s Ti twin test (link in comment below)

Mercedes-AMG GT 55 Premium Plus

Engine: 3982cc, V8, naturally aspirated

Transmission: 9-speed automatic, 4WD

Power: 471bhp @ 6500rpm

Torque: 516lb ft @ 2250rpm

Weight: 1908kg (DIN)

Power-to-weight: 247bhp/tonne

0-62mph: 3.9sec

Top speed: 183mph

Price: £149,800

Porsche 911 Carrera GTS T-Hybrid

Engine: 3591cc, flat-six, turbo, hybrid

Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch, RWD

Power: 533bhp

Torque: 450lb ft

Weight: 1595kg

Power-to-weight: 334bhp/tonne

0-62mph: 3.0sec

Top speed: 193mph

List price: £137,900

What is it? Well, Halcyon have taken a 1978 RR Corniche and throughly re-engineered it, including replacing the legendary 6 3/4 litre V8 with a 400bhp electric motor (and 77kWh battery)

I can’t talk about the driving experience for a couple of weeks due to embargo, but how do people feel about electric restomods generally?

Which cars might they work for, and which should most definitely be avoided? (You’ll be glad to know that the Halcyon CEO has strong feelings on this question too).

Could an electric experience be superior to a combustion one in a classic drop top RR?