Range Rover, Mini Coupe, Evoque - OverdriveTV on Expresso

News -- Mini Coupe
BMW are a clever company indeed and have turned the 60s icon into a serious money spinner, and they were never going to stop with just one new model. Joining the line up this year will be this, the Mini Coupe.
The majority of Mini's are bought by women, but is it just me or does this Mini look like the sort of car your mom doesn't want you to bring home. It looks like it might wear a vest to dinner, maybe with a trucker's cap.
The thing about Mini's is they are all excellent to drive, but hardly anyone buys them for that reason. Gavin has actually driven more kilometres in a Mini than anyone not employed by the company itself. [Gavin tells Clarence story]
Ciro: the only thing he came back with was 8 speeding fines and a very tanned forehead.
No prices as yet but look out for them in a showroom soon.
The Range Rover Evoque
BMW funnily enough had a short stint of owning the Land Rover/Range Rover brand. It was a disaster. They tried to build a smaller Rover, called the Freelander, which turned out to be a the worst small 4x4 ever made.
So new owners Tata have had another go at the idea of an "affordable" -- smaller Range Rover, and come up with this, the Evoque. It looks good, but for the interior they drafted in Victoria Beckham to help design the interior, to make it, we assume, look like the inside of an expensive handbag.
Gavin: Now I know Ms Beckman occasionally designs a fragrance and maybe a dress every now and then but this is like asking me to help coach Manchester United, because I play 5-a-side football on a Monday night.
The Evoque comes with smaller petrol and diesel engines. Prices start at just over and they are available right now.
Range Rover (Driven)
No car in the world can claim to straddle both old and new money quite as stridently as the Range Rover. It's as at home on a rambling country estate as it is in Premier League car parks or abandoned at the airport in Dubai.
It's probably this mixture of old world charm and new world bling that polarised me completely when I first drove it.
It's truly the biggest about turn I've ever had with a car. Looks wise it had a tough act to follow with the original Range-Rover being on display at the Louvre for a while, and I would say this is as much an instant design classic.
The problems began when I got inside
As a result the interior of this R1 000 000+ car looks a bit like it was assembled by shoplifters from Ford's parts bin.
There's Land Rover badges everywhere. Now I know technically it's a Land Rover Range Rover, but please. Make me something bespoke.
There's some stupid bits inside like a picture of what looks like a Serengeti sunset when the digital readout switches off. And the rear camera wouldn't work in the day. British accent: "Couldn't get camera to work under daylight conditions, but don't worry I 'ad the lads in graphics department make us a picture what resembles a camera with a line through it like, to show it's not wehrking proper."
But enough about all that. Let's talk about why you buy one of these. For the way it drives. On road it has this effortless massive grace about it. And once I got it off road I started falling in love. Suddenly the more rugged aspects of the interior didn't matter, or the fact that a rear panel had fallen off the rear door. I drove it up the West Coast and the satnav took me on the scenic route which ended in about 100kms of gravel. It feels like you're driving a very well put together hovercraft. It just glides. All the effort on this car has gone into the way it transports you. I think a lot of manufacturers have forgotten that.
It might be a result of budget constraints, but it really is a character this car. It's like a pedigree dog that likes trapsing mud into the house and you just can't get angry with it. Even if it is a bit backward.
In terms of driveability and usability, there is not a luxury 4WD on the market that can touch it. Period.