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 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...
Let’s see now… First is over and down, and Second is up, across, and up. Third, that’s opposite Second. Fourth is up, across, and up again, and opposite Fourth is Fifth. Sixth is up, across, and up once more. Then there’s Seventh, that’s next to me, straight down, opposite Sixth. When required, Reverse is all the way over to the left and up, directly opposite First. This is going to...
You probably don’t need me to tell you that life is chock-full of compromises, and especially-so when it comes to buying the family car. As the driver you’ll no-doubt want something that does at least possess some potential to entertain; an element of involvement, after all, goes a long way. Running costs too need careful consideration; monthly payments, residual values, miles per gallon...
I can’t find my notes from when I drove the previous generation Nissan Juke, neither can I find a copy of the my review of it anywhere - presumably it was printed in what is now a long-defunct title. I do seem to remember though, that in 1.5 petrol form I thought the Juke was quite thirsty. I wasn’t particularly convinced about its styling either; a centre console designed to look a...
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