Jon Bentley

Morgan, Vicars’ Close, Wells

Delightful to stumble across Little Storping in the Swuff, aka Aldbury, location for the 1967 Avengers episode Murdersville, while out driving the new rather reasonably-priced @BYDGlobal Seal 6 DM-i plug-in hybrid saloon. There were more roadworks than 58 years ago.

Splendid to see the Ford Escort, Alan Mann 68 Edition by Boreham Motorworks win Car of the Year at the International Historic Motoring Awards on Friday. This glorious 1924 Hispano-Suiza H6C won Restoration of the Year. Jonathan Wood’s work took 18,000 hours.

Splendid to see this glorious Barton Transport Leyland Titan Duple-bodied double decker at the @ClassicMotorNEC last weekend - impeccably restored by @wythall_museum at a cost of £200k. Craig Muir’s Allegro Vanden Plas convertible was a first sighting for me.

Greatly saddened to hear of the death of Quentin Willson. I worked closely with him on Top Gear, Fifth Gear and The Car’s the Star and was always in awe of his ability put humanity’s love affair with cars into engaging and entertaining language. My thoughts are with his family.

Congratulations to SImon Paczkowski, Concours winner at the 2025 Festival of the Unexceptional with his 1992 Skoda Favorit. Saved from the scrapyard, it’s in gloriously original condition. Runner up was Callum Bailey with his 186,000-mile Mondeo 1.8LX #FOTU #hegarty

The reasonably priced and surprisingly light Dacia Bigster in Cheddar Gorge. Or Mexico, as I believe a 1963 episode of The Saint once briefly used this scene to represent.

A treat to drive the 1.8 TSI 4x4 Skoda Yeti that starred in the original Top Gear road test last week. It’s part of @SKODAUK ‘s heritage collection, has only covered 9000 miles and runs very well indeed. I also enjoyed their 1963 Felicia Super, though more slowly.

In tonight’s @ShopSmartCH5 I’m trying out tower fans at @SalfordUni ‘s remarkable Energy House 2.0 - their latest giant laboratory for testing the energy efficiency of entire houses. I’m joined by researcher Bill George. @channel5_tv 7pm

Worcester Sunday afternoon

Trying out a new #Renault5 E-Tech seemed like the perfect opportunity to dust down a Nikon FE, from the era when the original 5 was on sale, and load it with Harman’s experimental Phoenix colour film to see how it reproduced the car’s Pop Green paintwork.

In this week’s @ShopSmartCH5 I’m testing printers. David Brown of @we_do_graffiti is helping me answer the question of whether a refillable or cartridge model is best. 7pm @channel5_tv

In this week’s @ShopSmartCH5 I’m testing (relatively easy to put up) inflatable tents with outdoor equipment expert @GetGemma 7pm @channel5_tv

In this week’s @ShopSmartCH5 I’m testing video doorbells with security consultant @kulmahay - 7pm @channel5_tv

Golden hour labelscar in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter. Happily, no bins in shot,

In tonight’s @ShopSmartCH5 I’m getting my DIY on, as I believe they say, when I’m joined by @DIYWithEmma to test cordless drills. 7pm @channel5_tv

The @PracticalClass1 Restorer of the Year Bob Meldrum proves a Lotus slant four engine fits very nicely in an HB Viva instead of the normal, similar in some respects, OHC Vauxhall units. His splendid Viva HB Estate is on display at this weekend’s @NECRestoShow

My expert guest on this week’s @ShopSmartCH5 is Sam Saadet, a fitness coach for new mums. We’re testing travel systems designed to help you seamlessly move your young ones between home, buggy and the car. @channel5_tv 7pm.

Tonight’s @ShopSmartCH5 is a motoring special. I’m testing tyres at different price points with precision driver @TheRealSidNorth to find out whether it’s worth paying extra for a premium set. We’re at @llandowcircuit in ST-Line X Ford Pumas. 7pm @channel5_tv

In this week’s @ShopSmartCH5 I’m joined by Summer Gorman of cleaning company Maid and More. We’re making a mess with red wine, makeup and mud and testing how well spot cleaners remove the damage. The cleanup starts tonight at 7pm on @channel5_tv