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.
It’s hard to believe that twelve years have passed since I tentatively approached Volkswagen’s press office to see if they’d consider lending me a car. Whatever it was I wrote in my email must’ve worked: a few weeks later I found myself the custodian of what was then a brand-new 1.2 litre, Polo Moda; all £13,250 of it. With a whopping 69bhp, the capability to go from 0-62mph in 14.2...
How many times have you heard someone tell you that when they next buy a car “It’ll definitely be either Japanese or German”? I’ve even said it myself. Both countries are considered by those in-the-know (or those supposedly in the know, perhaps) to be the masters of motor manufacturing; their near-legendary reputations for engineering excellence and uncompromising quality come well-...
I have it on very good authority – from an inside man, one might say – that Suzuki plan to introduce an all-electric vehicle in 2025. Quite what that vehicle will be however he wouldn’t, or couldn’t, say.
That’s not to say, that Suzuki aren’t currently doing their bit to help reduce fuel costs and CO2 emissions. All of Suzuki’s current passenger car range (note: The...
Legend has it it was Enzo Ferrari, that on upon seeing one for the first time, declared the Jaguar E-type “The most beautiful car in the world”. Praise indeed, and especially so when you consider Ferrari’s own back catalogue wasn’t exactly short of seriously attractive looking machinery; you could hardly call a 250 GT California or a 250 Berlinetta ugly. However, did the E-type’s...
My cousin Jayne called: “I’m getting married. The invitation is in the post”.
Great news! And I mean it when say it genuinely couldn’t happen to a nicer couple. But while she and soon-to-be husband Stuart busied themselves with the minor details: venue, rings, dress, cake etc, I was left pondering how I was going to get six people, and no doubt copious amounts of their...
It’s not often that you get the chance the really test a vehicle. A McLaren 720S for instance: I know it’ll do 0-62mph in little more than the blink of an eye, and on occasion I’ve been able to reaffirm such things. However the 720S’s claimed 212mph top speed is something I’ll probably never have either the space – in the correct facility of course - or perhaps the nerve, to prove....
I know, I’ve said it before: If only every car manufacturer made seats like Volvo does. After what quickly became a 12-hour day after a poor night’s sleep, spent at The Goodwood 78th Member’s Meeting, the soft leather front seats of Volvo’s latest version of their XC60 were a very welcome site indeed - and especially-so with the seat heaters set to their maximum. By the time, we’d...
There’s a list on my desk, of cars I’m trying book from various manufacturer’s press fleets, for review purposes over the coming months. My scribblings run to nine cars currently -no doubt I’ll add more - and with the exception of one electric city car and one slinky supercar (I’m a sucker for both), everything else I’ve written down, from Bentaygas to Qashqais, is SUV shaped.
...
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...
Follow us:
