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The Country Tourer is the perfect car for
austere, unpredictable, crises-ridden times
a
The Country Tourer’s
usefulness wasn’t
reflected in its sales
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Cabbies versus cars
17 March 1900
TE STE R ’ S N OTE S
Matt Prior
T-Roc Cabriolet: people have demanded it
X
“
S
ESTABLISHED 1895
90 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 2 1 AUGUST 2 019
i r i , g i v e me a n a l le gor y
for the state of British
car buyers.”“Certainly. Vauxhall
has axed the Insignia Country
Tourer, and Volkswagen is
introducing a T-Roc Cabriolet.”
Honestly, I didn’t see that coming.
Every time I open a newspaper,
which is too often for my constitution
these days, I’m told we’re all,
basically, doomed. Goody gumdrops.
Gloom: the ideal conditions in
which to own, frankly, a Toyota
Hilux. Failing that, the ideal
alternative for the modest suburban
dweller with access to a competitive
but somewhat limited company car
scheme would be a Vauxhall Insignia
Country Tourer.
The Country Tourer is ideal for
modern life. It looks like an ordinary
e s t at e c a r. It i s b e y ond a nony mou s.
It is like an airport hotel room shorn
of mirrors. It says nothing about its
keeper, thus making them the target
of nobody’s venom.
Nobody will place a passive-
aggressive anti-urban SUV sticker on
its windscreen, and yet it is taller than
a normal car and rides on soft tyres so
is immune from the potholes that cost
local councils – which means you
nostalgia-fuelled alternative, the
Beetle cabriolet, is this: this dollop,
this aberration, this pram.
Tall, short and heavy, likely with
a small boot and limited rear seat
s pa c e , it i s a n u npr a c t ic a l c a r w it h
a big frontal area. It is a frivolous
proposition from a company whose
recent hits include concealed air
pollution, landmark fines and
imprisoned bosses. Unsurprisingly,
there won’t be a diesel version. But
pass me those anti-urban SUV
stickers anyway. All of them, please.
And yet, sigh, somehow I don’t
actually mind it.
It’s not my thing, but if somebody
likes it, they are at least finding a car
interesting – which is better than
them not doing so. And I suppose it’s
not that badly proportioned. The roof
even comes off, which is nice.
It is a car for more optimistic
times than its badge, or what I hearabout 2019, would suggest. But if we
didn’t want cars like this, for sunnier,
happier times, they wouldn’t have
made it. So here’s to the optimism
that made it possible. And if for no
other reason than that, I’m for it.
EARLY ISSUES OF Autocar contain
numerous reports of cab drivers
having beef with motor vehicles.
Most were mild; Alan Hickman of
Newhaven told in March 1900 of a
“retired army officer type” who’d
taken offence to the horn sounding
and thus blocked the road with a
pony cart “fully for four miles”.
But some were serious, such
as a case taken to court that year
in Hereford. Cabmen “used most
abusive and foul language and
threatened to smash the car”, then
one, John James, “drove his cab
across the road up against the car,
damaging it to the extent of £3”.
He was ordered to pay this sum;the car’s owner stated that he did
not wish to be vindictive but the
cabmen must be “taught a lesson”.
The judge, Harris Lea, observed
that new inventions were usually
abused until they became common
and me – more than £1 billion a year and were then no longer noticed.
in compensation. It is also extremely
spacious, and you should never, but
never, underestimate the advantages
of a large boot with a f lat f loor –
perhaps even a washable insert – in
a looming crisis.
And beyond all of this, it has a
Vauxhall badge on it: because why
the hell would you care what kind of
badge it has at a time like this?
It is the perfect car for
austere, concerned, changeable,
unpredictable, crises-ridden times.
Nat ura l ly, t hen, Vau x ha l l conspired
to sell just 24 of them last year.
S o it h a s b e e n pu l le d f r om s a le.
Compare and contrast, then, with the
new Volkswagen T-Roc Cabriolet. If
we must. And I’m afraid we must.
It w i l l go on s a le ne x t y e a r a ndhas been created partly because of
demand in the UK. Is there a new car
you are less likely to buy, I wonder?
I f y ou d r e w up a l i s t of ‘ t he k i nd s of
car that somebody who really likes
c a r s i s l i k e l y t o w a l k i nt o a de a le r
and place a deposit on’, how high do
you think the phrase ‘a mainstream
compact crossover with a fully
convertible roof ’ should place?
Would it be above last?
Yet here we are. The new take on
that oh-so-stylish old staple, the
Golf Cabriolet, or perhaps that car’s