In hot water
Andrew Frankel patted himself on
the back when his quick thinking
saved his Mercedes-Benz E300de on
f looded roads (Our Cars, 11 March).
I n my opi n ion , he w a s ut t e rl y
foolish for driving on a f looded
r oa d. He h a d no ide a w h at he w a s
driving into; there could have been
a displaced manhole cover or even
carriageway washed away. He
“couldn’t face turning around”, so he
risked himself, his family and the car.
Was the journey that vital? Does he
carry wellies and a cane to test water
depth, as I always do? Rightly he
condemns the idiot approaching
him causing a huge wave of water.
My nephew lives in Shropshire. His
employers recently got a call from a
lorry driver with a load of hot tar for
them. The driver asked if the f looded
road was passable; he was told
definitely not and given an alternative
route that would take five minutes
longer. He ignored this, carried on
and became stuck in very deep water.
The lorry was recovered some days
later. The trailer would be a write-off
with a load of solid tar, but maybe the
tractor unit was recoverable. I would
be surprised if he kept his job.
Tim Grundey
Inverurie, Aberdeenshire
English, science and road tests
I want to say thank you for inspiring
my 10 -y e a r- old s on , Sa m , w ho i s
a reluctant learner at the best of
times (but fortunately a petrolhead).
Home-schooling was going rather
badly this morning until I dug out
a copy of Autocar and we drew up
a chart for him to populate with all
the key statistics of the cars featured
in the magazine. A good hour of
reading and concentrating was
achieved, so thank you very much.
Jenny Elliot
Bentley Motors
Connoisseur’s choice
So, I was vindicated in buying a
Rover 75 Connoisseur a couple of
months ago – a 2001 car with 66,000
miles and one owner after having
started life as a dealer demonstrator.
LETTER OF THE WEEK
A sad situation
Enjoying a spirited drive in the countryside,
I’ve often ref lected on and felt deeply grateful for
the enormous sacrifices made by our forebearsto secure the freedoms we’ve taken for granted.
I was therefore surprised and a little saddened
to note the horn-blaring hostility displayed by
a small number of motorists during my brief
journey to refuel today. Perhaps the sight of a
topless roadster not being conducted at the pace
of a funeral cortège was understandably hard
t o s t om a c h du r i n g s uc h d r e a d f u l t i me s. Ha d I
been at the wheel of my wife’s SUV, I’m convinced
t h at nob o d y w ou ld h av e pa s s e d c om me nt.
Due to age and infirmity, I’m likely to fall within
a high-risk category, and I’ve banked the memory of empty roads
a nd g lor iou s s pr i n g s u n sh i ne i n c a s e I ’m on my de at hb e d ne x t w e e k.
By the time you read this, we may well have been ‘advised’ not to drive
at all, even alone and without stopping to chat. How much further
restriction is our society prepared to tolerate and accept, I wonder?
Michael Carter
Chichester, West Sussex
You r r e c e nt s u gge s t ion (‘R ov e r ’s
grand master’, 26 February) and all
manner of invoices, including the
or i g i n a l bi l l of s a le e nc lo s e d i n sidea printed Autocar report of the 75
versus the Jaguar S-Type, all point to
a wise choice. You preferred the 75
to the Jag at the time for comfortable
everyday driving.
After returning from 50 years in
the colonies, I wanted to buy British,
s o I b ou g ht a 2 0 02 MG T F – my f i f t h
MG – and a 2005 Rover Streetwise
(which Autocar also quite liked when
it c a me out), i n t h i s c a s e a one -l a d y-
owner example with 35,000 miles
that I really enjoyed driving.
But both had a manual gearbox,
which I could no longer drive when I
swapped my Canadian licence for a
British licence and wound up with an
automatic-only version – despite the
f a c t I a l s o r e c e i v e d a f u l l mot or c yc le
licence that automatically allows mee v e n a 10 0 0 c c s p or t s bi k e or a g r e at
big Harley-Davidson with, you’ve
guessed it, a manual transmission.
So I bought a 75 V6 auto in great
condition, which has proved smooth-
riding and comfortable. And Autocar
has supported my decision twice.
David Filbey-Haywood
Wick, West Sussex
Handling heroics
John Evans’ piece on the Porsche
9 4 4 S2 (Bu y T he m B e for e We D o,
18 Ma r c h) w a s s p ot on i n a l l r e s p e c t s ,
especially the handling. I share one
with a mate for track days and can
confirm it handles beautifully – as
predictably as my Mk1 Mazda MX-5
and a couple of Caterhams I should
never have sold. You can throw it at
any corner and know just what it’s
going to do and when it’s going to do
it. Andrew Frankel would approve.
Dave Adams
Via email
Two steps back
An earlier mid-engined, four-wheel-
drive car than the Panther Solo or
R ov e r T 3 ( You r V ie w s , 11 Ma r c h) w a s
the superb grand prix racer Porsche
designed for Cisitalia in 1947 as its
Ty p e 36 0. W it h it s s up e r c h a r ge df lat 12, it’s one of the greatest might-
have-beens of racing history.
Karl Ludvigsen
Hawkedon, Surrey
Leaving a marque
Mat t P r ior ’s c olu m n on 26 Fe br u a r y
made for sad reading as another
storied marque, Holden, is consigned
to the graveyard, the latest victim
of General Motors. GM does have a
spotty history of brand management,
and the makes that Matt touched
on are just the tip of the iceberg.
GM’s Alfred Sloan wanted to
build a hierarchy of cars for every
purse and purpose and went about
it i n t he l at e 192 0 s b y i nt r o duc i n g
WIN
Letter of the week
wins this ValetPRO
exterior protection
and maintenance kit
worth £48
Maths is better with Autocar involved
Porsche penned 500bhp 4WD Cisitalia
David couldn’t be
happier with his
relaxing Rover
60 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 8 APRIL 2 020
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