Guy Burden

@Timoldland This is all too delicious now. Can someone please get to the bottom of it (stop it) and let us know?

Geraldine playing the hokey-cokey. In, out, in, out, shake it all about....

@adrianfclarke @LUDENClassics The SoB had a Lotus Carlton???? Hmmm...was it also a 'barn find'? Ooh, I am being cynical today.

@LUDENClassics Ex Sultan of Brunei so should be up to His Lordship Frank's standards.

Right who's taking this on then. Looking at you @LUDENClassics

@Timoldland @CrazyWeeMonkey The new smooth i3 is surely a vast improvement over the current sculpted/hacked/Max Power look…

@CrazyWeeMonkey People: Urgh we hate the BMW beaver grilles, the kidneys are too big! Make it sleeker!! <BMW releases the i3> Also people: No, not like that!!!

nobody hates new BMWs more than BMW fans

@nealteamgibson 🤣🤣🤣

Possibly the wrong film

@adrianfclarke In my time there we were happy when we hit 50,000 in around 1988!

I don’t know Ian Callum. I was way below his pay grade and anyway at the time the Jaguar and Land Rover studios were still separate. However it’s clear on the run up to launch of the Type 00 he’s doing the media rounds bemoaning ‘what could have been’ - i.e. his next round of cars that were cancelled, and doing a bit of history rewriting. I saw all those proposals and it was all more of the same - there was nothing new (if you Google you can find images of the cancelled EV XJ). There was only one ‘new’ model proposal that was truly, truly stunning - and that never stood a chance. Say what you will about the Callum Jaguars (personally I think the X351 XJ of 2010 was incredible) but the bottom line is those cars were not selling. In their best of sales, 2018 Jaguar sold about 180k cars. That year BMW sold over 2 million.

@LobAllan @PluginHyBrad There are indeed, but they are a very small % of people who travel to those destinations. Nowadays it's all by jet, believe me 😊 EV should be a no-brainer for a R-R, but buyers want authenticity and there is still a feeling that an EV R-R is not authentic. But in time...

@PluginHyBrad Not always. Seen my fair share of UK-plated Rollers in the South of France/Alps at ski season over the years.

I feel like I’m going insane. Electric makes THE MOST sense in a Rolls. They’ve worked for decades to make that V12 as smooth and quiet as possible, but electric is better in every metric. How the hell is ostentatious quiet luxury losing a fake culture war???

@LUDENClassics And pink mutant pig as a reward!

Got my copilot back from the vets. All fine, not entirely sure what the lump was until tests come back but it was fluid based and on his tear duct so possible chance of reoccurrence. He's happy enough, certainly happier than when I dropped him off this morning, most likely because he's had all of the vets and nurses cooing over him all day. One of them was convinced to take him out in the sun multiple times. Very happy to have him back

@nealteamgibson @adrianfclarke You guys are SO clever. Great thread, thank you.

@adrianfclarke Yes, We revealed some of it at the winter test, including my favourite bit:

Alright, let's do this thing. My thoughts on the Neue Klasse i3. A 🧵(because I want to post more than 4 images). First of all, let's understand what we are looking at. This is the i3, which sits on the same platform as the recently released iX3 - pure EVs with their cells in the floor. This is NOT the next 3 series - not exactly. The ACTUAL next 3 series will continue to built on its current CLAR platform - but it will be extensively reskinned inside and out to resemble this car - so the i3 and the 320i will look the same but be substantially different under the skin. 1/n

@nealteamgibson @JagmansM Stop teasing!

@JagmansM Imagine if we did that again

Not what they expected. When the XJS arrived, the world noticed. Redefining not only the grand tourer but what a Jaguar could be, it delivered a new face for aerodynamic stability and refinement. A classic in its own time, in production for over 20 years.

@AutoPap Gosh. And I thought we had scuttle shake on the XJS convertible... 🙂‍↔️

On paper that’s amazing. In reality, what a disaster.

@jumpjim She's a funny looking girl, like a manatee, but rather alluring...

#avgeek #avgeeks #aviation

@Timoldland Oh, that Touring is rather lovely. I'm not mad about the kicked up waistline at the rear, which is a bit Saab, but otherwise rather good.

Some lovely renders of the i3 Touring and i4…

@SimonCarGuy @honking_a @ListerLawrence It's expensive enough keeping a good one going, believe me!

@honking_a @ListerLawrence I’m not sure I could be bothered with the heartache involved in restoring it when good ones are still (relatively) accessible money. Bound to be eye watering spend, would need a committed lunatic to do it 😆

Seems too good to go to the scrapyard. A very “brave” restoration project for someone, perhaps? @ListerLawrence @SimonCarGuy , I’ll need to know today.

What's really interesting is why so many sports/premium OEMs plunged headlong into EV rather than hybrids. Any ideas @Timoldland? @tom550993 @ludenclassics @danpitt33 @gj_moss @LobAllan @OctaneMark @AdrianFClarke @TimOldland @SimonCarGuy @markchristie @ListerLawrence @GPOnyx

@Timoldland Hmmm, it’s rather pleasing externally. Not sure about the interior yet…

Proper press pics. I know many don't, but I love the looks. Can't wait to see the Touring and I will almost certainly have one. Launch spec has a 559 mile WLTP range. That is Fucking Impressive. Will apparently start at sub-£50k.

@adrianfclarke Don't forget to also let them know about the upgraded avionics, updated cabin, better cabin pressure control and longer range: 6,400 km vs 5,700–6,200 km for the non-Neo. Gosh, aren't I fascinating?

@GuyInFlight @lufthansa I shall file that away and use in future to bore people at parties.

I attended the Car Design Event in Munich recently. Will post a few bits and pieces later but now it’s a case of diminishing returns after a brilliant start a few years ago. Was well chuffed to fly out on a centenary liveried @lufthansa A320neo (I think) though:

@autocar We already have the petrol-powered cars here in Europe.

The Fiat Grande Panda will spawn a hot Abarth spin-off – and it could see the brand return to petrol power 👀 buff.ly/D4jRrTW

@tom550993 Despite other evolutions in aviation, I must agree. However, my friend @bscholl @boomsupersonic can help in a few years...

It was only downhill from there, though.

@adrianfclarke @lufthansa Good guess, but some of the older, non-Neo fleet have those 'Sharklets'. It's the larger engines...but that's not easy to judge unless there's an older one alongside.

@GuyInFlight @lufthansa My airliner spotting skills are like my understanding of quantum physics - non existent. Is it the winglets that give it away?

@bscholl Gosh...those engines are big!

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a supersonic airliner in a wind tunnel test!