This week Steve Cropley has been remembering what it was like to drive early Lamborghinis, wonders why he's become the agony aunt for people not ready to make the switch to electrification, and is relieved the motorway network is constantly improving. But first, some time in a sizeable Toyota pick-up.

Monday

Spent the week indulging my love of double-cab pick-ups with the daddy of the lot, the legendary Toyota Hilux, which has proved its toughness so often it’s almost boring. Chief fascination is its endearing combination of refinement and crudity. On one hand, you’ve got a comfortable, elevated driving position, a well-finished cabin full of robust equipment, mountains of torque from one of the mightiest (2.7-litre) four-pot diesels going, and a creamy six-speed auto. Tyre and bump noise are amazingly low courtesy of the Hilux’s old-tech body-on-frame construction, which insulates you almost completely from the road, and wind noise is also well contained. 

Downsides include the sometimes unwieldy 5.3m length, ordinary steering and a jolting ride that results from the one-tonne carrying capacity that most owners never use. Even so, when there’s one of these in the car park, it tends to be the vehicle of choice. Spent long, entertaining periods in my Hilux eyeballing other pick-up owners, many of whom see these as lifestyle vehicles. Amazing how many seemed to come with a couple of rabid-looking mastiffs in the back as standard equipment. Made me yearn for a couple of the inflatable Alsatians allegedly popular for a while in Australia.

Tuesday

98 Steve

Hard to believe the Lamborghini Jalpa is 40 years old this month. I still remember my regrets at its transition from the much more petite Urraco, even if it was quicker and better engineered. I had a scary experience with a Jalpa early in its life, while bringing the first right-hander 900 miles back to the UK from the company’s Sant’Agata Bolognese HQ in northern Italy. In a Jalpa, the rear window glass between you and the engine bay is so angled that it picks up the headlights of oncoming cars and projects them straight back into the rear-view mirror. That creates the illusion that you’re about to be rear-ended by following traffic at 100mph – all the time. Discovering this for the first time on the Paris Périphérique was very bad for the old strawberry tart.