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.
The Suzuki Jimny, the smallest SUV on the market I’m reliably informed, has believe it not, been around since 1998 and it’s simple, upright squared-off, wheel-in-each-corner, spare-wheel-on-the-back, Land-Rover Defender-that’s-been boil-washed stance has never really changed. A thorough freshening up in 2013 that saw the Jimny gain a new front bumper, restyled grille and a new...
A vital emergency service in Wales was given a boost to start 2016 with a £500 donation from Welsh Motoring Writers.
Established on St David’s Day 2001, Wales Air Ambulance has launched almost 23,000 emergency flights and one of its three helicopters can reach any part of Wales in 20 minutes – vitally important in capitalising on the crucial window for treatment and recovery.
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I’m not normally one to get too excited upon the news of the launch of a new MPV. I don’t have children, I don’t manage a sports team or claim membership to a club. I don’t run a small business that requires a van. I’ve never felt the urge to take up a “lifestyle” type hobby either – I don’t even have a drum-kit – and seldom do I need a vehicle that can carry seven adults. Anyway...
Just before my brother arrived in 1969, my dad, in need of a family car, bought a Vauxhall Viva HB estate. Four years later when I came along the Viva was still providing reliable transport, and thanks to dad’s careful ownership, cautious driving style, and near religious standards of home servicing, it did so for quite a few years after that. As time went on though childhood...
Take a browse at Mazda’s website or flick through one of their brochures and it won’t be too long before you stumble upon one of their buzzwords. For quite some time Mazda have been banging on about their KODO – Soul of Motion design philosophy and their award winning SKYACTIV technology. And rightly so. Modern Mazdas are easy on the eye and dare I say it, good to drive, and...
Despite its chunky bodywork and go-anywhere looks it’s probably fair to say that most BMW X5s were bought more for their perceived safety on the school-run than they ever were for their cross-country abilities. You get the feeling that right from the outset BMW knew that was going to be the case too; they cannily called the X5 a Sports Activity Vehicle (rather than Sports Utility Vehicle...
Superb (adjective). Of excellent quality; very great. splendid, grand.
You’ve got to be pretty confident if you’re going put a badge on the boot-lid of one of your cars saying that, even if it is your range-topper, but, that’s what Skoda have done, and it’s not the first time either. In the 1930’s even when Skoda were a renowned luxury...
In world, or maybe at least a High Street, where a many an SUV/Crossover/call-them-what you will, seems to share the same somewhat boxy and upright lines as the next one, Mazda’s new CX3 certainly cuts a well-creased dash. Designed, Mazda say, to set a new dynamic benchmark, the CX-3 has been conceived under their “Jinba Ittai” or driver-and–car-as-one ethos that defines all...
Not so long ago Volkswagen ran an ad campaign that asked “Why buy something like a Golf, when you could buy a Golf”, and to a certain extent you could see their point. Like it or not since its inception Volkswagen’s Golf has become the hatchback benchmark; the one by which all others are judged. It may not be the cheapest, the fastest or even some might argue the best looking but...
A friend of mine, let’s call him John, is an analytical kind of chap. He has an eye for detail. Hand John a pair of designer jeans and he’ll ruthlessly check the seams; he’s the same if you hand him a jacket, a pair shoes, a suitcase, you name it… He’s the kind of guy who can tell a genuine Fred Perry Polo shirt from a Chinese copy at 50 paces - I know because he showed me how. Minutiae it...
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