The Audi E-tron is an all-electric SUV that marks the beginning of Audi’s electric car push. It is the first of 12 all-electric Audis to be launched between now and 2025. It arrives in European dealers later this year.

The five-seat mid-size e-tron SUV will quickly be joined by an E-tron Sportback in 2019, and Audi’s also planning to show an E-tron GT coupe concept car at the 2018 LA Auto Show in November. It’s co-developing this car with Porsche.

By 2025, 1 in 3 new Audis will be fully electric. That’s why Peter Mertens, Audi’s technical director, says it is “definitely a highlight in the history of our company”.

The new electric Audi E-tron is the latest premium EV SUV to launch, following the Tesla Model X, Jaguar I-Pace and recently-revealed Mercedes-Benz EQC. Surprisingly, BMW has yet to respond with a production-ready electric SUV.

First, the top-line stats for the new Audi E-tron. It has a 95kWh battery (only the 100kW Tesla Model X has a bigger battery), and Audi’s quoting a 249-mile range (matching the Mercedes-Benz EQC – but this could go up when final production figures are revealed) and 0-60mph in 6.4 seconds. It has two electric motors, one in the front and one in the rear. The brand’s trademark quattro all-wheel drive is thus maintained.

The front produces 135kW (180hp), and the rear produces 140kW (188hp), which boosts to 165kW (221hp) for six-second bursts. This cuts the 0-60mph time to 5.5 seconds.

In the United States, the Audi E-tron costs $74,800, and in Germany, €79,900. In the UK, a price tag of around £70,000 is expected – which will reduce by £4,500 once the government Plug-in Car Grant is subtracted.

Audi E-tron: in detail

Distinguishing the Audi E-tron at the front is a platinum grey singleframe grille. Fully closed, this will become a defining feature of Audi’s full EVs. There are also four horizontal LED slats within the headlights, which will be another E-tron signature.

At the side, it’s contoured and equipped with muscular arches like other Audi SUVs, while the black inserts on the lower doors mark out the location of the battery “and thus the energy centre of the Audi E-tron”.

The batteries are mounted low and centrally within the platform, aiding both handling and packaging.

At the rear, the broad LED light strip mimics the high-end look of the Audi A7, A8 and Q8. Audi says the LED strips in the outermost edges “are [a] graphical representation of full battery charge”. It also highlights the lack of tail pipes with cross-slats in the rear diffuser.

Audi says the E-tron uses world-first electrohydraulic brake control. This sees energy recovered by the electric motors in more than 90 percent of decelerations – topping up the battery as the E-tron slows down.

20-inch alloys are standard, and the 255/50-second tyres have been aero-tuned. Fully adaptive air suspension is standard; it drops down at speed to reduce drag. The full range of height-adjust is 76mm – that’s three inches – which also improves the E-tron’s off-road ability.

It also has world-first virtual door mirrors as an option. These reduce drag from the bodywork and further help boost the range. Their colour displays are neatly integrated into the door panels (see above).

The Audi E-tron is ready to accept 150kW DC fast charging. This will give it an 80 percent charge in 30 minutes. The standard charger is an 11kW AC unit, which tops up in around eight and a half hours (a 22kW fast-charger, which halves this time, is optional); Audi’s also teamed up with Amazon to offer ‘Audi Home Charging powered by Amazon Home Services’ for full app-controlled home charging.

The E-tron has a typically Audi-grade interior, with a high-end look and neatly-integrated technology. There’s a slimline Audi virtual cockpit display and two further MMI touchscreen displays. The interior, which is roomy for five, delivers “a new level” of quietness. “The only sounds are from its tyres and the gentle hum of the electric motors.”

Audi says the E-tron uses world-first electrohydraulic brake control. This sees energy recovered by the electric motors in more than 90 percent of decelerations – topping up the battery as the E-tron slows down. It can contribute as much as 30 percent to the range, depending on how it’s driven.

The heater for the cabin and booster for the air conditioning is powered by waste heat from electrician components. This can boost the range by up to 10 percent, depending on the weather.

The new Audi E-tron is built in Belgium, and production has already started. Boosting the car’s credentials is the fact Audi’s made the car factory entirely CO2-neutral.

In a move mimicing Tesla’s Model 3 preorders, Audi is already accepting orders for the new E-tron in the UK. Buyers are asked to put down a £1,000 deposit.

Motorists have voted tailgating their most-hated irritation in other road users – but Highways England has revealed new figures that show it’s more than just irritating, it’s actually injuring and even killing people.

Tailgating – driving too close to the vehicle in front – is responsible for one in eight casualties on the road. This equates to more than 100 people who are killed or seriously injured as a result each year.

What’s even more frustrating to safety campaigners is that it’s often not intentional. Only rarely is tailgating deliberate – often, drivers are doing it without even realising.

The tailgating driver thus has no idea they’re inciting surprise, anger, contempt and a raised heart rate for the driver in front. But that’s what in-car research using a brace of driver monitors recently revealed.

To help people understand how dangerous and anti-social tailgating is, Highways England is running a new safety campaign, based around a memorable hook: Space Invaders.

Yes, just like the retro video game. Watch the video below for a blast from the past as well as an important safety lesson.

The campaign is focused on helping the nine in 10 drivers have been tailgated – and stopping the one in four motorists who actually admit to it…

Nigel Mansell: ‘utterly deplore’

The 1992 Formula One World Champion, Nigel Mansell, is helping the campaign. “Tailgating is a driving habit I utterly deplore,” he said. “Not only is it aggressive and intimidating, but it can lead to a crash with a tragic outcome.

“There is absolutely no upside to it – you will not get to your destination faster, you are not a skilled driver for doing it, and you are putting so many innocent people at risk.”

The risks of tailgating are clear, said Highways England head of road safety, Richard Leonard. “If you get too close to the car in front, you won’t be able to react and stop in time if they suddenly brake.

“Tailgating makes the driver in front feel targeted and victimised, distracting their attention from the road ahead and making them more likely to make a mistake.”

Are you a tailgater?

How can you tell if you’re doing it? Look to the Highway Code: remember the two-second rule – and this gap to the car in front should be doubled on wet roads.

And if you’re being tailgated? Don’t speed up, slow down or stare in the rear-view mirror, says Highways England. Simply try to drive normally, signal in plenty of time – and, if they’re really aggressive and keen to get past, let them overtake as quickly as possible.

Stopping people tailgating may even help improve traffic, adds Thatcham Research, another backer of the campaign.

Not only is it a leading cause of accidents, said director of research Matthew Avery, but it intimidates others and creates ‘phantom’ traffic jams via the ripple effect of sharp braking.

“It is one of the most dangerous driver behaviours seen on UK roads.”

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This isn’t a typical workshop. There’s no oil on the floor, no tea-stained mugs on the shelves. Not even a politically incorrect calendar on the wall. Everything is clean, bright and brilliant white.

The soundtrack, however, is somewhat less sedate. One minute there’s the yelp of a Ferrari V8, the next the thunderous bellow of a Lamborghini V12. Evidently, the cars here are far from typical, too.

H.R. Owen is the UK’s largest independent dealer for all things posh and powerful, with showrooms for Lamborghini, Bugatti, Ferrari, Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Aston Martin, Maserati, Lotus and BAC. There’s also a large servicing side to the business, which customers rarely see.

Join us for a trip behind the scenes – and watch our exclusive video – as we get a first-hand view of supercar servicing.

Video: inside the service centre for supercars

Raging bulls: Lamborghini

We start our tour with Lamborghini, where the first car spotted is a Urus. Launched earlier this year, the five-seat SUV is an altogether different type of Lambo – one expected to double sales.

“It’s proving very popular,” says Paul Staple, team leader for Lamborghini. “We’ve already taken lots of orders through our London showroom, with many of due for delivery before Christmas. Customers are migrating from Range Rovers and Porsche Cayennes.”

Other cars dotted around include a Gallardo, three Huracans, a new Aventador S and two Murcielago SVs. The latter starred in memorable episode of Top Gear, driven by Richard Hammond across the Dubai desert.

H.R. Owen’s workshop sees more Lamborghinis each year than the Sant’Agata factory itself, including “a handful of Countachs, but rarely anything older than that.” A full-carbon, £1.7m Centenario coupe – one of 20 made – is the most exotic car serviced to-date.

Working on Lamborghinis isn’t always straightforward, though, as Paul explains: “The mid-engined layout complicates things. Any issue with the gearbox means removing the engine first”. Servicing an Aventador takes a full day, versus a couple of hours for a typical car.

It’s important to remember, too, that these cars are high-performance machines, designed to be driven hard. Meticulous maintenance is vital.

All hail the hypercar: Bugatti

Even in a workshop full of Lamborghinis – with Rolls-Royce, Bentley and Maserati next door – the fenced-off enclave dedicated to Bugatti feels special.

Several Veyrons are concealed under covers, while technician Lui Cimino is hard at work beneath a new Chiron – the 1,500hp, 261mph hypercar that makes even an Aventador look anaemic.

Indeed, the Chiron is all about big numbers, whether it relates to performance or parts prices. Lui can’t divulge costs, but some rudimentary Googling suggests you’ll pay thousands of pounds for a single brake disc.

Having done his training at the Molsheim factory, Lui is acutely aware of the need for kid gloves. “You need to be so careful with the cars,” he explains. “Everything is very expensive, but that’s how you ensure it’s of the highest quality.”

Seven Chirons have already passed through Lui’s hands, with all work covered under Bugatti’s four-year all-inclusive deal. He recently worked on the final Veyron Supersport, too.

The highlight of Lui’s career, though, was servicing the classic EB110 LM and the EB110 SC GTS-1 racing cars, developed for Le Mans and the IMSA GT championship respectively.

Into the red: Ferrari

Our final stop is Ferrari. H.R. Owen has 22 servicing bays dedicated to Italy’s most famous export and, today, nearly all are full. Within minutes, we’ve spotted an F12 TDF, F50, 330 GT, Dino and two LaFerraris. There’s also a bespoke one-off built for a celebrity, about which we were sworn to secrecy.

Aftersales manager Tony Vaccaro is a lifelong Tifosi and visibly proud of his workshop and team. “My parents are from Italy, so I guess Ferrari is in the blood,” he says. “There’s just something about them.”

The 512BBi aloft on a ramp, he explains, is here for Classiche certification. This in-depth, factory-endorsed investigation of authenticity – from chassis numbers to the composition of body panels – has become a must-have for older Ferraris. “It can considerably enhance a car’s provenance, particularly with the market so focused on originality,” reckons Tony.

Working here requires a “pretty broad set of skills”, as mechanics may be working on a carburettor-fed classic one day, then a hybrid LaFerrari the next. Most staff have completed an apprenticeship with Ferrari North Europe – “the opportunity of a lifetime for a trainee mechanic”.

Many important Ferraris have passed through this workshop, but memorable cars include the 250 GT SWB raced by Stirling Moss and a very early 166.

Tony’s personal highlight was driving a GTC4Lusso to Maranello for Ferrari’s 70th birthday event. “I won’t forget that,” he says, “but every day working with Ferraris is special”.

Read more:

• Rare Lamborghinis gather at Supercar Sunday
• Ferrari 488 Pista Spider revealed at Pebble Beach
• Bugatti launches sunroof option for Chiron hypercar

To highlight the range of the new Jaguar I-Pace electric SUV, a crew has driven it non-stop from London to Paris – and it was literally a non-stop run, because Jaguar even drove it through the Channel Tunnel.

Rather than boarding a train and taking an unsatisfying 31-mile break in the drive, the firm arranged to use the service tunnel that runs between the two main undersea rail lines.

Not only did this make for great video, it helped Jaguar demonstrate the I-Pace’s real world range in attention-grabbing style.

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It wasn’t even completely flat when it arrived in Brussels, either. There was 8 percent battery charge in reserve, despite the total length of the trip being 229 miles.

A Jaguar engineer, Stephen Boulter, did the driving, starting off from London’s South Bank with a fully-charged 90kWh battery. The official WLTP range of this is 292 miles and Jaguar hopes its real-world drive – with both traffic and the summer heatwave to deal with – will give customers confidence.

If you can find a 100kW DC ultra-fast charger, owners can top up a battery from zero to 80 percent in 40 minutes; if they only have an 7kW AC Wallbox at home, it will reach 80 percent in 10 hours – “ideal for overnight charging,” suggests Jaguar.

The firm has an intriguing extra stat, too: the energy consumed by the I-Pace over the 229-mile trip is equivalent to 41 full turns of a wind turbine. Generating it would take, on an average UK day, less than two minutes.

20-year-old tennis star Naomi Osaka beat Serena Williams in an eventful match to win her first Grand Slam on Sunday. Four days later, she’s won again – securing a deal to become a Nissan brand ambassador.

Osaka travelled to the firm’s global HQ in Yokohama to announce the deal, during appearances and interviews in Japan, where she was born.

The newest Grand Slam champion’s mother is Japanese and her father is a Haitian-American. She moved to the United States when she was three, although she still competes for Japan.

She is the first Japanese player to win a women’s singles Grand Slam title.

The deal with Nissan will see Osaka appear in advertising and promotions for Nissan – and the firm will also provide cars for Osaka and her team at tour destinations. She’ll undoubtedly get her own Nissan (or two) to use at home, too.

“This week has been a dream come to life, and I’m so honoured to represent Japan and Nissan on the world stage,” said Osaka.

“I was drawn to partner with Nissan because of its strong Japanese DNA and global competitive spirit. I look forward to bringing its vision for driving excitement to new audiences around the world.”

• Game, set and match: tennis stars and supercars

“With a combination of grit and grace, Naomi Osaka is not afraid to take on the best tennis players of our time, and win,” said Nissan senior vice president Asako Hoshino.

“This is the same spirit of performance that Nissan has embodied throughout our history – exemplified most recently by the Nissan Leaf, which defied the odds to become the best-selling electric vehicle in the world.

“And just like Naomi, Nissan is just getting started.”

Many of us grew up wanting to be rally drivers, and, thanks to homologation rules, our parents were given the opportunity to drive the cars of our dreams. Anyone could pretend to be Walter Röhrl, Juha Kankkunen or Timo Salonen on the way to the office. Some could even pretend to be The Stig (Blomqvist).

The fact is, the world of rallying has delivered some epic road cars, as we’re about to demonstrate with these 10 homologation heroes. Limiting ourselves to just 10 was a bit of a challenge…

Lancia Stratos HF

When two design houses declare the war, the results are guaranteed to be spectacular. So, in the late 60s and early 70s, when Pininfarina sized up to Bertone, the world was treated to a show of flamboyance and exuberance that delivered some of the most radical concepts of all time. The Alfa Romeo Carabo, the Ferrari Modulo and the Ferrari 512S Berlinetta, to name but three. But the one the matters is the Lancia Stratos HF Zero.

This was Bertone going full peacock on Pininfarina. The Stratos HF Zero was impossibly low, wonderfully wedge-like and every inch the Turin showstopper it was designed to be. But this was no static display – the HF Zero was a fully-functioning prototype with the innards of the Fulvia HF. For Lancia rally chief Cesare Fioro, it was a chance to reboot his team’s flagging fortunes. For his father, Sandro, Lancia’s PR director, it was an opportunity to put Lancia back on the map.

The Lancia Fulvia Rallye HF had been a successful rally car, but its days were numbered. Lancia was in desperate need of a new machine to fend off the likes of the Porsche 911 and Alpine A110. Cutting a long story short, and with Marcello Gandini honing the concept to absolute perfection, the prototype of the Lancia Stratos HF was unveiled at the 1971 Turin Motor Show.

It was a phenomenally successful rally car, winning the WRC in 1974, 1975 and 1976. Production of the roadgoing Stradale began in 1973, with the car homologated in 1974. Commercially, it was no moneyspinner for Lancia, but as a rally car, it is up there with the greatest. The Stratos is, if you like, how we like to remember Lancia.

Audi Sport Quattro

Audi may have changed the face of rallying with the Ur-Quattro, but by the mid-80s, it faced a new challenge in the form of lighter and more nimble rally cars. Its arch-nemesis – the Peugeot 205 T16, first driven by Timo Salonen, and then by Juha Kankkunen. The solution was rather cutting: Audi took a knife to the Quattro to create the Sport Quattro.

By chopping 320mm from the wheelbase, Audi created a rather comical looking Quattro, but one that could keep up with the young upstart from France. The Sport Quattro was quicker and more adept at handling the rally circuits of the world.

Even by today’s standards, the performance figures are impressive. The howling 2.1-litre five-cylinder 20-valve turbocharged engine developed 306bhp, which, even in a car weighing just shy of 1,300kg, delivered a 0-60mph time of 5.1 seconds and a top speed of 156mph. Not even a Lamborghini Countach could keep up with a Sport Quattro.

It wasn’t cheap – Audi demanded 200,000 Deutschmarks for its homologation hero, or £50,000 in the UK. Hardly surprising, then, that only 214 were ever made, with 164 falling into private hands. Today, you’ll pay up to £500,000 for a first-rate example.

Lancia Delta Integrale

To some, the Lancia Delta is the greatest car of the 1980s. The archetypal rally hero. The box-arched hot hatch champion for an entire generation. In fact, the Delta was so successful, it’s easy to forget that it started life as a pretty but unassuming Giugiaro-designed family hatchback. It doesn’t help matters when the majority of standard Deltas have rusted to oblivion.

But the Delta Integrale, first in 8-valve form in 1988, then in 16-valve guise in 1989, then Evoluzione in 1991 and Evo 2 in 1993, was the one that mattered. Six successive WRC Constructors’ titles delivered the kind of showroom shine no amount of Autoglym will ever provide. It should have catapulted Lancia to continued greatness, but as history will recall, the brand was left to die a slow and painful death.

In 1992, a Lancia Delta Integrale Evolution would have set you back just £23,145 – a bargain price for a rally-bred hero with box arches, a 2.0-litre 16-valve Garrett turbocharged motor, intercooler, delightful Momo leather steering wheel and four-wheel drive. For context, a Porsche Carrera 4 cost £57,561.

Today, the Delta Integrale’s stock couldn’t be higher, so much so that Amos Automobili is creating a three-door ‘restomod’ of the original and asking €300,000 for the privilege. We’d stick with the classic and authentic five-door, thank you.

Peugeot 205 T16

You can thank Audi for the birth of the Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 (or T16). Peugeot-Talbot was planning a mid-engined/rear-wheel-drive version of the Chrysler Horizon, but the Audi Quattro showed that four-wheel-drive was the future of rallying.

With Jean Todt heading up the newly-formed Peugeot Talbot Sport team, the Peugeot board threw its formidable might behind the project, effectively giving the Frenchman a blank cheque. Todt, not known for being a man to make idle claims, promised to deliver a championship-winning car by 1985.

The requirement to build 200 road cars for homologation purposes was considered from the outset, and Peugeot’s marketing department knew what an all-conquering rally car could do for sales of its more mundane models. The standard 205 was still two years away from reaching Peugeot showrooms.

It meant that the 205 T16 had to look like the regular 205, albeit with a longer wheelbase, wild haunches and a 1775cc turbocharged engine mounted in the rear. The 205 T16 was homologated in 1984, and by August it had secured its first big rally win. Success on the San Remo and Lombard RAC rallies followed before Peugeot secured the WRC title in 1985 and again in 1986.

Ferrari GTO

The Ferrari GTO – commonly known as the 288 GTO – was built for Group B purposes, but when the FIA pulled the plug on rallying’s most bonkers years, the car was left without a race series. A rebel without a cause, if you like. Not that this dampened enthusiasm for the 400hp, twin-turbocharged V8 supercar.

Just 200 were required for homologation purposes – hence the ‘O’ for Omologata – but the demand was so high, Ferrari built 272 examples. In fact, some customers were prepared to sell their contracts before they had received the car.

This was Ferrari’s first mid-engined V8 production car with a longitudinal engine, but the GTO was as notable for its aesthetics as it was for its powertrain. It had quad driving lights, a deep front spoiler, a plethora of cooling slots and a visible transmission casing at the rear.

The GTO could hit a top speed of 190mph, completing the 0-62mph sprint in just 4.9 seconds. All cars were left-hand drive, and each one was sold long before production ended in 1985.

Renault 5 Turbo

The Renault 5 Turbo – so bonkers, it must have stemmed from the madness of Group B. And yet, the 5 Turbo was conceived in 1976, before making its motor show debut in Paris in 1978, long before the Group B years. Unlike the Stratos and GTO, the 5 Turbo was no purpose-built weapon – it had to retain the look of the standard Renault 5.

And it did – up to a point. It’s unquestionably a Renault 5, but having a turbocharged engine in place of the rear seats does stretch the family resemblance to the limit. Demand was high, so Renault had little trouble shifting the 400 units required for homologation purposes, but the 5 Turbo – later known as the Turbo 1 – was an expensive and complicated build.

With so many bespoke parts, it wasn’t commercially viable to put the Turbo 1 into volume production, even on a small scale. The result was the 5 Turbo 2, which shared many parts with the Renault 5 Gordini Turbo, making it cheaper to build and less expensive to buy.

Lancia 037 Stradale

So often overlooked and overshadowed by the Stratos and Delta Integrale, the Lancia 037 was a real star of road and track. Powered by a 2.0-litre four-cylinder Lampredi engine, the 037 featured an Abarth supercharger to deliver 265hp, although some cars developed as much as 325hp.

In a ‘questions and answers’ feature in Motorsport magazine, Walter Röhrl named it as his favourite rally car, saying: “From the pure driving view it was the Lancia 037. It was a car made for my style of driving – I don’t like to steer. I believe the only secret in driving is to steer as little as possible.”

Like the Stratos before it, the 037 was conceived for the purposes of racing, featuring a Kevlar body reinforced with fibreglass panels, a steel subframe visible when the large even cover was lifted, along with a ‘double bubble’ roofline designed with helmets in mind.

It won the Constructors’ title in 1983, with Walter Röhrl and Markku Alén famously completing a one-two on the opening Monte Carlo rally, much to the dismay of Audi. Hannu Mikkola might have won the Drivers’ championship, but Lancia beat Audi by two points.

Ford Escort RS Cosworth

The Ford Escort RS Cosworth isn’t really a Ford Escort at all. It’s a Ford Sierra RS Cosworth squeezed into a showroom-friendly Escort body, with the aim of selling more cars, not to mention an assault on the WRC title.

It never actually won a Constructors’ or Drivers’ title, but in just about every other respect, the Escort ‘Cossie’ was a roaring success. It laid the foundations for the all-conquering Focus WRC and became the must-have performance car of the 1990s.

Those who could afford one bought one – Jeremy Clarkson included – while those who were too young to drive stuck a poster of one on their bedroom wall. Less scrupulous members of society simply half-inched one in the middle of the night.

Subaru Impreza WRX STI 22B

There’s no shortage of rally-bred heroes to choose from when trawling through Subaru’s back-catalogue, but one name stands above all else: the Impreza WRX STI 22B.

It was built to celebrate Subaru’s three successive WRC Constructors’ tiles and the 40th anniversary of the company, and production was limited to just 424, the majority of which stayed in Japan.

Highlights included a wider body, gold BBS alloy wheels and a larger 2.2-litre turbocharged flat-four engine producing 280hp. Officially, the 0-60mph time was 4.5 seconds, but in reality, it was probably even quicker.

Mitsubishi Evo VI Tommi Makinen

We couldn’t include a Scooby and not a Mitsubishi Evo and, once again, we’re spoilt for choice. Like the 22B, the Mitsubishi Evo VI Tommi Makinen was conceived to celebrate rallying success, in this case, the four WRC Drivers’ titles won by the Finnish driver.

Launched in Japan, and never officially sold in the UK, the Tommi Makinen was notable for its white Enkei alloy wheels, ‘T. Makinen Edition’ Recaro seats and optional go-faster stripes. Naturally, the Makinen company car-inspired red with white stripes combo was a popular option.

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Production of the Volkswagen Beetle will end in 2019, two decades after the model was revived by the German carmaking giant. VW will send it off in America with two runout specials, the Final Edition SE and Final Edition SEL.

Volkswagen says it’s canning the Beetle to focus on electrifying its car range, broadening it into a full range of family-focused models. There’s no room for a niche retro pastiche, says its North American president and CEO, Hinrich J. Woebcken.

“But as we have seen with the I.D. Buzz – which is the modern and practical interpretation of the legendary Bus – I would also say, ‘never say never’.”

• How Volkswagen Tried And Failed To Replace The Beetle

Volkswagen is also determined to give the Beetle a proper send-off this time, after letting the original wither away slowly.

“We’re excited to kick off a year of celebrating one of the true icons of the automotive world, with a series of events that will culminate in the end of production in Puebla in July 2019.”Beetle Final Editions

Volkswagen will paint the Final Edition Beetles in two special colours. Safari Uni is a homage to the 1998 New Beetle’s Harvest Moon Beige; Stonewashed Blue references the 1970s Jeans Bug Beetle.

For those not bothered about historical significance, they will also be offered in white, black and grey. Both models have a special ‘Beetle’ badge on the bootlid; to date, Volkswagen has preferred to fit a stylished ‘Turbo’ logo there.

The cars are well equipped, with a range of driver assist systems, climate control and unique seat trim. They also have a 174hp 2.0-litre TSI turbo engine – a petrol, of course, rather than a diesel, because we can’t mention diesegate.

Ordering for the final year Beetles is open now in the United States, with prices starting from $23,045.

So much has moved on in the world, in culture, over the past 20 years. We’ve witnessed change at a pace that makes cars seem out of touch – the proliferation of EVs and autonomous drive notwithstanding. Today, culture is seemingly all about social media, resulting in the hyper-acceleration of trends as they emerge, are digested and then abandoned. In the space of eight years, the world of fashion, for example, has exhumed, worn out and tossed aside influences from most of the latter half of the 20th century.

Where cars and culture do still to collide, however, is modification. The way we modify our cars says a lot about us as people. And people historically enjoy saying a lot about themselves.

It’s an expression of personal vision. The owner curates his or her own mood board – a four-wheeled fibreglass-clad (Max Power era) air-bagged (modern stance era) or track-prepared motoring mural. For all the changes society has gone through, a modified car remains a statement of self, whether you’re in a £500k Brabus G-Class or a Corsa with retro-fit LED bulbs and a pop-and-bang exhaust.

Social media has supercharged car culture

If anything, social media has simply provided a bigger platform to sell yourself and your vision on wheels. All kinds of subcultures have emerged in car modification as the true potential of a connected hive mind is realised. Some so-called influencers even make full-blown careers out of the image they’ve crafted for themselves.

Driving enthusiasts band together via the internet to get the best they can out of their cars. The pool of knowledge at our disposal has resulted in a volume and quality of upgraded performance machines never seen before. Yes, style over substance still dominates, and ‘stanced’ Volkswagens and videos of 90s Japanese sedans going ludicrously sideways still clog our timelines, but we’re better than ever at making our own cars go fast and drive well.

Cars themselves are also more digital, of course, and more easily tuned than ever. Gone are the hardware-only days – you can get mega power from a fast Audi with little more than an engine remap. The expense hasn’t changed, mind.

Online communities dedicated to specific marques, individual models and styles of modification have blossomed – for better or worse. A detailed guide on preparing a Renaultsport Clio for track days plays how to get the most ‘lows’ and extreme camber (resulting in cracked leaking sumps and rust) on a classic Mercedes-Benz estate. The phrase ‘each to their own’ is never used more than in the comments section on a car forum these days. That’s a good thing.

Modded from factory

It’s got to the point where buying a new car has become an exercise in modification all its own. It doesn’t matter whether you’re speccing up your new Fiat 500 or Ferrari 812 Superfast. The options lists of both offer customisation you simply wouldn’t have seen 20 years ago. Whether that means stick-on stripes for the 500, or carbon trimmings on the Ferrari worth more than the Fiat itself. The more expensive the car, generally, the more extensive the customisation on offer.

Companies that began by modifying certain types of car have entered the mainstream. AMG was originally a separate entity to Mercedes-Benz but is now a fully integrated sub-brand. Alpina supplied engine hardware for BMWs, now its cars are warrantied. The same applies to Ford and Mountune; previously the preserve of ST owners with a hunger for more poke. Now you can drive out of a Ford dealer with that distinctive yellow badge and a few more warrantied ponies for your money.

Never mind societal change. Never mind our new-found obsession with ‘likes’ and compulsion to post pictures of our lunches. Car culture and modding has flourished in the social media age. Worry about whether our kids will have to plug in their first cars all you want; they’ll still wonder if they can fit a bigger electric motor, better speakers, maybe drop the suspension. Cars will continue to define us, and our culture.

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