I'm Liam Bird, a freelance Motoring Writer based in the South Shropshire Marches. I currently write car reviews and road tests for a number of regional lifestyle magazines and newspapers which are distributed throughout Cheshire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Worcestershire, most of Wales and beyond.
As a member of the Welsh Group of Motoring Writers I'm as happy behind the wheel of a super-mini as I am in the latest super-car. I have press accreditation with most of the major motor manufacturers, meaning that as well as always being on the look out for further commissions, I always have a number of cars arriving each month ready to review.
A quick Google search this evening seems to cast a doubt over whether the letters CR-V, as in Honda CR-V, stand for Compact Recreation Vehicle, or Comfortable Runabout Vehicle. Apparently, according to wikpedia (so perhaps we’ll never know for sure), Honda say it’s the latter: Comfortable Runabout Vehicle. Whereas the term Compact Recreation Vehicle was first used in a British car review...
I’ve been driving Land Rovers since way before it was actually legal for me to do so. I’ve towed trailers all over the North West with them, I’ve driven to parties in them, I’ve driven to work and then worked out of them back of them, I’ve done the weekly shop in them. And long before I could even reach the pedals in them, I’ve spent what must account for months of my life sat in the...
Funny, isn’t it, how certain cars begin to grow on you? When Citroen’s new C4 first arrived here I’m ashamed to admit that my inner car snob dismissed it as just another hatchback; it was nothing to get excited about. The promise of just 3-cylinders, between them displacing a meagre 1,199cc and producing a modest 129bhp was hardly something to set the pulse racing. And as someone...
It’s sounds almost rude, I know, but I turned downed my first opportunity to drive the new Rolls-Royce Ghost. I postponed my second opportunity too. It was very much a conscious thing on my part, and fortunately, Emma, Roll-Royce’s very nice PR fully understood my quandary. You see, Rolls-Royce offered me not one, but two long weekends in their new Ghost right in the middle of a...
Not so long ago we used to consider Kia as very much a budget brand, their cars the kind of things you would buy simply because you needed (rather than wanted) a cheap run-around – albeit always a cheerful and reliable one. Kia though had other ideas. They headhunted their now chief designer from Audi, and moved their design centre from their home in Korea to central Europe, so as...
Fiesta, Corsa, Polo, Swift, Fabia, Ibiza, Yaris, Clio… The list of hatchbacks with funky sounding names continues to grow, and all are very good too. Surely though, the hatchback with funkiest sounding name is the Jazz? The reality on the other hand…
Like the music it takes its name from, Honda’s Jazz has, shall we say, a particular, a discerning, a mature, fan base -...
If you passed your driving test in the late ‘80s / early ‘90s, I’m willing to bet that you did-so a Fiesta. On the other hand, was it a Micra, a Corsa, or a Clio? I used to teach people to drive in a Corsa: BSM pyramid, phone number on the side… Anyway as I was saying, back then Lancia Deltas, and Toyota Corollas fought over World Rally Championships, the Sierra Cosworth dominated...
By the time 2030 arrives, you won’t be able to buy a brand new car that’s powered solely by either petrol or diesel. Although in what Mr Johnson calls his "green industrial revolution", certain hybrids will still be allowed. It’s no wonder then, that my inbox is being constantly bombarded by press releases extoling the virtues of the soon to be released plug-in this, and the all-new all-...
If I were to ask you what you thought the best-selling French car of all time was, what would your answer be? The Citroen 2CV perhaps, the Peugeot 205? And what about the Renault 4, or the Renault 5 for that matter? All surely are contenders.
The correct answer? The best-selling French car of all time is actually the Renault Clio. In fact, since its launch, the Clio has...
How would you cope if you had a really, genuinely famous relative? I’m talking proper A-lister; instantly recognisable, known the world over, and popular with nearly everyone, regardless of their age or class.
That (albeit perhaps a tad tenuously) is the situation that SEAT’s Leon has always found itself in: The Leon’s famous relative you see, just happens to be the...
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