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he could form his own opinions. So copyingwas very hono urable. I’m supposedto be hono ured if a company turns out aproduct that looks like an old Volvo. It cameto a head again recently with th e RangeRover Evoque copy [the X7 by Landwind].But copying is over in China. Companieshave proper design departments and that’sgiven them confidenc e.’Isn’t the ‘new’ vehicle for London TaxiInternational (a brand also owned byGeely) and unveiled in the capital inOctober as part of the Chinese pres ident’sstate visit to Br itain, a bit derivative toothough? ‘When the job to design the nextLondon taxi came up I thought, “that’s agreat swansong”. And the brief was totallyclear: it had to look like a London taxi. Butit’s not a repeat, it’s a reminder.’To be fair to Horbury and his team, hehasn’t simply updated the latest TX4.Instead he’s ‘gone ba ck to the future’, takingdesign cues from the earlier 1958 FXFairway, including the longer bo nnet,vertical grille and ro und lamps, plus ashoulder line that kicks up over the realwheel. It’s also longer to fit six passengers,has a large glass panoramic ro of so touristscan take in the city skyl ine and returns to aC-pillar-hinged rear door to make it easier toget into the ba ck after chatting to the driver about his willingnessto gosouth of the river.Oh, and the drivet rain is a plug-in petrol/electric hybridpromising 50-plus kilometres in full electric mode and has amodern driver’s cabin with a large float ing centre console andcolour touchscreen plus switchgear similar to the latest XC90’s.Are some in fact the same? ‘I can’t tell you,’ Horbury chuckles.‘You’ll have to make that co nclusion’. Designed in Geely’sBarcelon a studio and built in a new purpose-built factory inCoventry, the idea is to sell the taxi well beyond London and inother spin-off shapes to help its business case. Me anwhile, a newrange of Geelys sharing Volvo platforms are coming to WesternEurope by 2018 to boost global sales from just over 400000 in2014, starting with a Qashqai-sized crossover – what else? – thatwill, says Horbury, match Ford quality. Will he have his feet upon a ro und-the- world cruise by then? He laug hs at the thought.‘I have an eigh t-year-old daug hter and two sons aged 35 and 33,so I won’t be going to play golf. I’m staying young...’``````Geely’s 2009 GE. Confucious say ‘He who knocksoff Rolls shall in herit Peter Horbury’Horbury’s‘S80’ conceptwas one ofthe cars thattransfor medVolvo from it s‘bri ck-like’image. NewTX5 taxi set todo the samefor cabbies?MASERATI’S FUTUREmodel strategyis amoveable feast. The world fell in love with lastyear’sAlfieri concept(pictur ed), and optimistsexpected it in 2016 with a roadster following ayear later. But theLevante SUVis runninglate ,and resource is currently being channelled into anelectric SUV forthe Chinese marketwith anunnamed local partner.So the Alfieri pair have beenpushed back to 2018and 2019. They will run the3.0-litre V6turborated at 305 or 388kW.Today’ sGranTurismo/Cabriomust soldieron wi th a new infotainment system and the odd``````refresher until late 2019 or early 2020. Thenwe geta roomier 2+2- seater based on the Ghibli platform,with a bigger boot and a choice of305kW V6and3.8-litre V8in 395kW Sport and 447kW MCflavours. What about that rumoured MC12-style Birdcage supercar? ‘N ot right now,’ saysboss Harald Wester. ‘No budget, no engineeringcapacity.’Talkin g of budgets,Wolfsburgwhispers suggestVolkswagen’s cost offixingeachEA 189 dieseldefeat device is ar oundR3 000 for software-o nlycases, andR12 000for softwareandhardware.``````However, asTopCarwent to pr ess, the contagionis threatening to spread to Audi and PorscheV6 diesel engines, and potentiallysome petrolengines...TopCarbroke the story that secret talks wereunderway betweenBMWand McLarento co-develop a new BMWsupercar(above), mating a560kW GermanV8 with a British carbonfibre tub.Frank van Meel, head ofBMW’s M Division, haspoured cold water on the story – for the simplereason he naturally wants his team to produceany future supercarin-house. Which avenueBMWwill go downis still up in the air, but rumourssuggestinga supercar partnership with Le xusareunfounded – at least according to on e BMWboardmember who quipped ‘only over my dead body’.Juicy gossip from the grapevineWe hear