Despite looking like a bucket of smashed crabs, the first, 2006 iteration of the Qashqai -billed as the first ‘crossover’ (if you ignore the Matra Rancho. Which is easily done)- quickly came to litter our roads more profusely than boils on a swineherd’s backside. Well I’m sorry, but I just didn’t get it. Then I …

Proof, if proof were needed, that the size of a standard British parking space hasn’t increased one iota since the Austin 7 was the country’s best-selling biffabout comes in no more assertive form than that of Ford’s Ranger Raptor. Though still relatively modest by American pick-up standards, seen out and about amidst Mudfordshire’s burgeoning fleet …

My long-standing bromance with fast Audi estates was kick-started in 1994, when Porsche indulged in some highly advanced fettling with an already rapid 2.2 litre, five-cylinder, 230 bhp Audi 80 Estate S2 and duly hatched the RS2. Armed with 315 bhp and 302 lb ft of torque, this monsterpiece arrived at 62 mph from a …