Currently reading: Cropley on cars - Fast times at Goodwood, no mourning Chrysler
Goodwood's Member's Meeting is the best yet; Range Rover Sport Hybrid is frugal fun; touring Jag's new Ingenium plant

SATURDAY/SUNDAYFine, fulfilling weekend at the year’s first big motoring event, the 73rd Members’ Meeting at Goodwood.

The idea behind the fixture is to recreate the unique club atmosphere of enthusiast-orientated gatherings in the circuit’s heyday while accompanying it with some hectic racing and amazing, full-noise demonstrations by cars never before seen there.

An awesome roll call of ‘airbox’ F1 cars, including Freddie Hunt in his father James’s Hesketh, circulated at something close to full speed. Later, a collection of 18 Group C Le Mans cars, also driven flat out, grabbed every ear and eye in the place.

In between, there were hectic races for 1950s and 1970s/1980s saloons, plus jockeying clumps of tiny single-seaters and some lovely sports cars – all of it done with breathtaking attention to detail. Goodwood has the knack of persuading you to leave your ordinary life at the gate, and did it again this year, only better.  

TUESDAYAbsorbing trundle into central London in the new Range Rover Sport Hybrid, a jaunt that carried the chance to compare it directly with our ‘normal’ V6 diesel long-termer.

Very impressed to return 36mpg on the trip computer during a congested 11 miles, where the standard car would have done 22-24mpg. However, I was surprised to discover that the price difference between the two models is nearly £15,000.

The main reason why you’d choose a hybrid, as I understand it, is to reduce company car tax, but the difference between the pair is only about £500 a year.

Of course, Land Rover has built the hybrid for bigger reasons. Big cities are moving towards banning all but low-emissions cars from their centres – and the hybrid can go about a mile or two without its engine.

Another plus for the hybrid is that its components are well integrated – better, in my view, than in equivalent Mercs and Porsches. The brake assistance isn’t quite as easy to modulate as in our V6 and the all-electric steering has a shade more stiction, but there isn’t much in it. Full marks to Land Rover’s integration experts, but good luck to their salesmen. 

WEDNESDAYSpent a happy afternoon near Wolverhampton touring Jaguar Land Rover’s fantastic new Ingenium engine plant. My guide was Neil Hume, a fact-perfect senior engineer who was the one of the first employees there.

I’m often impressed by the way well-designed modern industrial buildings welcome you. The light, view, space and organisation all made me wish my own house reached Wolverhampton’s standards, although it could do with nicer soft furnishings…

THURSDAYChrysler croaked in the UK last week, to no one’s regret and without ever producing a market-leading car. The US marque established a European operation here in the late 1950s. It was a misbegotten set-up that swept the assets of Simca and Rootes into a disorganised heap before selling out to Peugeot – which crazily resurrected the Talbot name to ensure a final failure.

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The Alpine (Simca) and Avenger (Hillman) were sort of okay, but the only genuinely new European Chrysler was the slow-selling 180, a weird union of unrelated Rootes and Simca projects.

Chrysler raised its flag here again about 15 years ago to bring us US-made clunkers such as the Neon and PT Cruiser, although at least the 300C and Crossfire were okay and the associated Jeeps deserved the following they acquired. But when FCA boss Sergio Marchionne chose Chrysler as the bonnet badge for a couple of stray right-hand-drive Lancias, the Delta and Ypsilon, the die – in the ‘death’ sense – was cast. I almost always regret the passing of car companies, but not this one.

Steve Cropley

Steve Cropley Autocar
Title: Editor-in-chief

Steve Cropley is the oldest of Autocar’s editorial team, or the most experienced if you want to be polite about it. He joined over 30 years ago, and has driven many cars and interviewed many people in half a century in the business. 

Cropley, who regards himself as the magazine’s “long stop”, has seen many changes since Autocar was a print-only affair, but claims that in such a fast moving environment he has little appetite for looking back. 

He has been surprised and delighted by the generous reception afforded the My Week In Cars podcast he makes with long suffering colleague Matt Prior, and calls it the most enjoyable part of his working week.

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rmcondo 25 March 2015

And the modern day successor

And the modern day successor to the Alpine, Avenger and 180 is the Peugeot 508. Perhaps there's a trend.

Nice to think that the forthcoming Alfa Giulia, the next Giuletta and the current and forthcoming Maseratis and Fiats will be better replacements for deleted Chryslers and Lancias.

sirwiggum 25 March 2015

I too would disagree with

I too would disagree with your Chrysler sentiment.

In this day in age where the new car market is frankly, boring, with dull crossovers and hatchbacks, Chrysler at least offered something different - the 300 was straight out of a Mafia movie, the Delta was a nice C segment alternative, the Voyager was the MPV of choice for executive MPV chauffeurs.

Straff 25 March 2015

End of Chrysler in the UK

I'm not so sure I agree entirely with this one. The Avenger, Sunbeam, Alpine (Car of the Year) and PT Cruiser were good in their day and the 300C was great fun. A number of people on here that were delighted to see Lancia back (albeit with Chrysler badges) seem to have disappeared, too.

Personally, I'm happier to see the end of those hideous Lancia monstrosities than Chrysler per se.

MrJ 26 March 2015

Chrysler's US offerings were

Chrysler's US offerings were really interesting cars, the 300, Crossfire and PT Cruiser being a fascinating trio for stars and stripes lovers - and importantly, completely different from standard Euro or Asian offerings.

The whole thing fell to pieces with the weird Lancia cars, a marketing fail definitely on a par with Peugeot and Talbot.