COMMENT
24 APRIL 2 019 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 23
WEDNESDAY
An enormous surprise to start the day. Following
a call from London’s Victoria and Albert Museum
curators to hear details of a November exhibition
called ‘Cars: Accelerating the Modern World’,
I crossed London to their chosen venue, the
magnifi c e nt M ic he l i n bu i ld i n g on F u l h a m
Road. My somewhat lowbrow theory was that
this might create some handy column-fodder in
defence of the modern car, a nice change from the
opprobrium that normally confronts it nowadays.
But this event turned out to be far, far more
important than that. A riveting half-hour address
by curator Brendan Cormier soon showed
that this wasn’t a narrow-minded defence of
anything: it was expansive, optimistic, admirably
non-political proof that the rise of the car (and
its manufacturing industry) has been the main
driver of civilisation’s astonishing progress in
design and technology across the 20th century,
and so it continues. At one point, Cormier even
showed how car streamlining had affected
designs for women’s hats!
I was mesmerised by the effortless brilliance
of this presentation in a way (as veteran of
1000 press launches) I rarely am. At one stage,
the prospect of seeing the exhibition’s 15
painstakingly sourced cars and concepts, and
over 250 supporting artefacts, images, photos,
fi lms and posters, was literally making my pulse
race. ‘Cars’, which looks forward as keenly as
it looks back, is going to be an awesome event,
s t a r t i n g on 2 4 No v e mb e r.
THURSDAY
Can’t quite get over my uncertainty about the
soon-to-launch mid-engined Chevy Corvette,
which I understand is coming this summer.
`
This is far more important
than a defence of the car
a
MY WEEK IN CARS
Fo r d’s n ew US t a s k – to co m e u p w i th a n af fo r d a b l e
‘nameplate’ now they’ve killed Fiesta, Focus et al –
surely leaves room for our recently created, Autocar-
Envisage high-riding
electric Capri
concept. Why not?
It’s evident saloons
don’t work. Call it
Cougar if you like, Mr
Ford. We’ll expect an
exclusive first drive...
AND ANOTHER THING...
large acreage of what you’ve paid for, rather than
having a muscle car that effectively ends at the
base of the windscreen frame.
FRIDAY
The driving season started late for me, but
Easter warmth and surprisingly uncrowded
Cotswolds roads have allowed for uncomplicated,
exhilarating miles in our family’s 15-plate,
20,000-mile, ex-Tisshaw Mazda MX-5, which
hasn’t been doing much lately. So easy to sum up
this car’s key appeal: when you’re in it, you don’t
want to be behind the wheel of anything else.
SATURDAY/SUNDAY
Still enjoying Mr Holder’s electric Kia Niro (he’s
got my Jag XE) and as the weather has warmed,
the range has expanded. Seems to me this car,
with an offi cial range of 282 miles, will now go a
lot further. Get the feeling that if you really had
to, you could squeeze 320-330 out of it – a terrifi c
achievement for a 64kWh, 4.4-metre, 1700kg car
with a roomy crossover body. Amazing how the
Niro and its 20cm-shorter Hyundai sibling, Kona,
have moved electric things along. Our long-term
BMW i3S looks lovely and drives beautifully, but
it’s not nearly as practical.
1953 Firebird 1 will be
among the V&A’s cars
exhibition later in 2019
GET IN TOUCH
[email protected]^ @StvCr
Steve Cropley
Company insiders are evidently viewing the car
as the chance to create a new image – evidence
that GM can build sports cars on a Ferrari level –
reckoning that even if it doesn’t earn profi ts, it’ll
provide a much-needed ‘halo’ for the rest of the
group’s (rather good) products, whose sales have
been in undeserved decline.
I’ve always rated Corvettes (ran a big, wide
5.7-litre left-hander for three months, years ago)
and I would never wish ill on this one. But I can’t
help thinking they’re chucking away vital aspects
that make Vettes special – the long bonnet/short
boot thing, for one, and big doors/easy access,
for another. But most important of all during my
own Vette days was viewing the horizon over
that long, lumpy engine cover. It’s better to see a
Italdesign’s flying
car concept will
also feature
V&AMUSEUM