Car Reviews

Car Review: Ford Kuga

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 12:52:25 +0100

Ford Kuga, Grrrrrrr! When I heard a “Kuga” would be delivered to me, I didn’t quite know what to expect. So I looked up ‘Cougar’ (the obvious way it should be spelt) on the Net and the first definition I came across was that of a large American wild cat. But, there was another definition that caught my eye: Cougar (noun) - a woman, aged 40 years or older, who preys on younger men. Suddenly Demi Moore in a leopard print number sprang to mind. When the Ford Kuga finally arrived, I realis...

Defending The Land Rover

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 11:28:50 +0100

Brad McCreedy explores the hardest of hard core Land Rovers — the Defender 130 — and in doing so is inspired to take up game ranging, or at the very least farming. Some things have been around forever, like the sea, mountains, Hugh Hefner and the Land Rover – especially the original series one that morphed into the Defender over the decades. It has become an institution since its debut in 1948. As I’ve always been a Land Rover fan, have owned many, I was sad to learn that the current...

Anyone Want To Buy My Wife?

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 09:36:41 +0100

A very wise man once said that if you want a reliable man servant, buy a Porsche. But if you want a fiery redhead mistress, get a Ferrari. This was what passed through Brad McCreedy’s mind as he stood before the mistress of his dreams.Before sliding behind the wheel of the Ferrari 430 Scuderia, I considered how the Ferrari mid-engine V8 has evolved over the years. The 308 GTS Quattrovalvole, the one Magnum PI made famous, was really the first V8 mid-engine Ferrari since the V6 of the Dino 206/2...

The Sporting Age

Thu, 14 Jul 2011 13:51:21 +0100

It’s long. Really, really long! In fact, it’s as long as a man’s arm, and his leg put together — which is exceptionally long for a waiting list. There is approximately a six month wait for the new Kia Sportage and even getting one to test was a tad tricky. Not even Kia’s Head Office was able to help me with a road test vehicle or a demo car, purely due to the demand. I suppose that’s testament to the Sportage’s popularity and how KIA in general has turned itself around over the past...

Fortuner Favours The Brave

Tue, 24 May 2011 09:58:09 +0100

Motoring speak is often like a foreign language—what with all the acronyms! So it was with great interest that I accepted an invitation to drive a “B-SUV”. Now, we all know and understand the term Sports Utility Vehicle and we’ve come to accept the Americanism (SUV) to describe these station wagon 4x4’s that mostly populate the car parks in the northern suburbs of Johannesburg. But a B-SUV? I thought back to my early days as an employee of Nissan, when we cut the rear cab off a “bakki...

DREAM Beamer! (BMW X1)

Tue, 24 May 2011 09:55:19 +0100

It was with some trepidation that I approached the BMW head office in Midrand to collect the X1 allocated to me to test for three days — after all, I drive low range 4x4s in mud and dirt. How was I to cope with this high level of sophistication? Badly, it would seem. I sat in the car park for a full five minutes trying to work out how to start the car. It was only after being assisted (embarrassingly) by a passerby that I finally hit the highway back to Johannesburg. The mass of gauges and tech...

An American Icon!

Tue, 24 May 2011 09:49:41 +0100

It’s undisputedly rough and ready and the complete antithesis of all things opulent and yet it is commonly found in some of the most affluent parks in South Africa. At this beautiful time of the year, I spend much of my time in the parks and of late have noticed this impressive beast gathering in droves around the waterholes at sunset. Oh, by the way I am talking about the well-known “parks” of Northern Johannesburg: Parkhurst; Parkview; Parkwood and of course, Parktown. And the beast in qu...

Mini Maximus

Thu, 19 May 2011 20:33:35 +0100

Is it a car? Is it a 4x4? No, it’s the Mini Countryman. This is a crossover vehicle with more height, a chunkier body and drool-worthy anthracite rims that got Glyn Demmer’s pulse racing.I was offered the Mini Countryman to test drive for a week. I thought I’d be done in two days so offered to return it quicker. I then took it through its paces on a stretch of road up to Hartbeespoort Dam. The trip up was good, but it was the return trip in the dark that was even better. I was blown away by...