Cars

From left: Porsche 928, Ferrari 355, Aston Martin DBS, Alfa Romeo Giulia Super Berlina and Bentley 4½ Litre Tourer. The Hot 30 Five influential market experts pick the cars – covering six price points – they suggest we would do well to buy in 2016. They include the Porsche 928, Alfa Romeo Giulia Super Berlina, Ferrari F355, Aston Martin DBS and Bentley 4 ½ -Litre Tourer. ‘Each car will coax you to the garage for one last look at night’  Aston Martin DBS is one of the select cars to feature in our invited experts’ hot 30 classics to buy now.

What’s in your Garage? A fantastic collection of E9 CS Coupés this month, all the way from South Africa.  We meet up with Frank Puncec, a true custodian of the E9 Coupé. He owns four of them including the only factory-original Batmobile in South Africa and an E3 Saloon with M535i underpinnings, for good measure… Words: Johann Venter. Photography: Oliver Hirtenfelder.

Thirst for limo D+ class? Comparative Test. So close to heaven. All new 2015 Jaguar XE S against 2015  Mercedes-Benz C450 AMG W205, 2015 BMW 340i F30/2 and 2015 Audi S5 Sportback. Is there in the middle class sporty life beneath the costly top models from AMG and Co.? But yes, a step underneath cavort magnificent supercharged six-cylinder, which are hardly slower but much cheaper.

Its arrival has been imminent for some time, but BMW has finally pulled the wraps off its new BMW 7 Series and it’s clear that it’s really pushed the boat out with its new flagship. The styling might be a little on the safe side but the new car is brimming with the latest technology and this extends all the way from the car’s high-tech construction to the latest range of interior gadgets and driving assistance systems.

A couple of years ago, I was driving an old - but well- maintained - classic car along a dark, unlit country lane when I needed to dip my headlamps. I pressed the foot-operated dipswitch and the headlamps promptly went completely out. This left me in pitch darkness, but, fortunately, the road was straight so I was able to stop without incident. Had there been a sharp bend or another reason to make a quick change of direction, it could have been very unpleasant indeed.

It seems incredible that Karen and I have been married 20 years this coming December. I tell you this not to get a flood of fluffy cards wishing us well, but to consider the whole question of anniversaries. This year, there seems to be a surfeit of dates that we should wave a flag at, some good but, sadly, others not so.

I was standing underneath it, getting a good view of an encouragingly corrosion-free underside, when I saw the forklift's prongs nosing towards me. I got out from under, to see a tidy-looking 1989 Jaguar I XJ 3.6 before me, surrounded by scrap cars.

Francis Stanislaus. It’s been a while since I thought of the guy. He was — is — a childhood friend, some years older than me. There are people you always remember from your early days. Many years later, if you’re lucky, you realise that your paths were meant to cross. Without them to nudge you in the right direction at a given crossroads in time, who knows how it all might have unfolded? Now, that can be a good thing or a bad one. And, growing up, there were more than enough people who believed the latter when it came to Francis.

What’s in your Garage? We meet a man with a mix of old and new BMWs. We meet one man who has had plenty of modern BMWs over the years, but has lately turned his attentions to some modern classics, along with an X5 for his wife… Words: Simon Holmes Photography: Steve Hall.

Unable to be in London, I watched the XE reveal in September using the live feed that Jaguar had arranged. It was a highly professional public launch quite unlike anything that has happened before – the appearance of the new car being preceded by a stage play featuring a young man from the Thirties who dreams of designing a new car.

Bitten by the bug. After reading about Affalterbach‘s fastest Mercedes-Benz as a child, this AMG super fan soon found himself behind the wheel of a C36 saloon - and two more stars have followed.

Porsche 911S 2.2 epic restoration. I wanted the look perfectly preserved, not restored. On the way to buy a Carrera RS replica, Neil Plumpton heard about a 911S 2.2 in need of love - he couldn’t resist. Words: Ben Field. Photography: Richard Pardon.