The Fifth McGann

Everyone knows the four famous McGanns.

Paul, Stephen, Mark and Renault.

Paul is being particularly famous this week seeing as how he is the 8th Doctor Who.

But as well as an eighth Doctor, we have a fifth McGann:

Porsche McGann (although the spelling has been changed for artistic reasons to "Macan")

 

Drive.com.au tell us that the new Porsche Macan, as debuted at the LA and Tokyo Motor Shows is going to be the smallest Porshe SUV ever available.  Porsche have got Maria Sharapova to model it for them.

 

I like Maria Sharapova.

 

I don't like tennis but I still like Maria Sharapova although I'm not convinced  by this photo of her. 

Her proportions seem wrong.

And so do the car's.

That photo comes from the Forbes site, specifically the work of Hannah Elliot.  I've already decided I don't like Hannah Elliot - maybe I'm jealous that, to quote Hannah Elliot, "I cover the fun stuff: Fashion, Cars and Culture" although, having said that, I have no interest in fashion or culture.

But back to the Aussie site.  It states that, "The Porsche Macan, measures 4699mm in length, 1923mm in width and 1624mm in height, making it 146mm shorter, 16mm narrower and 82mm lower than the Cayenne" - and here's the Cayenne:

Which is where we get back to proportions.  On a car this size, those size differentials make no difference - 14.6cm shorter! - under 6" in real money! - this will look exactly like a Cayenne - the only real difference is that this car utilises VW's new MQB platform so will be cheaper to engineer.  They should just call it a MkIII Cayenne and be done.

 

More of a Macan't than a Macan.

Going Back to Hippier Times

Car & Driver have improved their site recently. They've turned their news section into a Blog, very much like my favourite site, Autoguide.com. They had this story today which tells Americans something that we've known for ages...

...that you can still buy the old-style VW Camper vans here in Europe.In fact, the hippy in this picture looks remarkably like (because it probably is) Tom Ford - ex-of Fifth Gear, and still of Top Gear Magazine, fame. Fifth Gear did an item on this vehicle a few years back.

These vans are still being built in Brazil by Volkswagen. They call it a Kombi and they look a bit different...But it is still basically the same old van from the '60s.

A company here in the UK ship over the Brazilian models (be careful if you type those two words into Google), customise them and sell them on at a premium price.

Everyone is happy apart now from some Americans who feel they are missing out.

Judging by some comments on the Blog, they blame their Government - do we have Republicans and Hippies sharing common ground?

Anyway, to placate any miffed Americans, here's an expensive version that will be on open sale over there:

New New Beetle

Although they are dropping the "New" tag so now it's just a Beetle. This is being shown at the Shanghai Motor Show and various sites have picked up on it including Car&Driver, Autocar and What Car?

At first glance, the daytime running lights are quite distinctive.

At second glance, I've posted the wrong picture, here's the real one...Similar, isn't it?

At third glance, it looks just like the old one - that is to say the New Beetle as opposed to the old Beetle and the New New Beetle.

At fourth glance, it is a bit wider and lower and does look a bit less girly. The interior is less inferior - they've done away with the stupid flower vase and generally improved the look of the equipment.They have added more body-colour painted surfaces though which I don't like - it always makes me think of low-spec cars from the 1960s and '70s - I always thought the 1990s Fiat Coupe dashboard looked wrong and I don't care for the Nissan Juke for the same reason.

The question is, are these any better than the original, old Beetles?

New VW Jetta

Yesterday, at 4pm, Volkswagen released pictures of the new Jetta to be launched next Spring. Autocar and Auto Express seemed quite excited by this - I'm not too sure why. Even the official UK VW Website doesn't mention it - although, I suppose to be fair, they are still trying to sell the current model so it might put potential buyers off if they know their shiny new purchase has only one year before obsolescence. Judging by this ad from last year, though, Jetta buyers are a pretty gullible lot who are used to paying over the odds for things...

It's an advert that gives out completely the wrong message. A bit like this Nissan Navara one does...

Good music but that ad says that anyone who drives a Navara is a complete wimp who everyone thinks is a Tosser so has to drive a big 4x4 to get any respect.

Or am I just not very good at interpreting adverts?

Anyway, back to the Jetta, which is after all, the point of this post. The new one is priced similarly to the current one. It has the usual BlueMotion features and looks bland - like a Golf with a Boot - which VW are quick to point out it is not. This has been specifically designed as a saloon - presumably for the American market - they like saloons (or "sedans"). To me it looks like a VW Passat/Seat Exeo with a Scirocco front - nowt special but I'm sure those people with plenty of money and little understanding of what cars should be worth will still buy it.