Porsche has revealed a new 911 Carrera T model, a ‘back to basics’ variant where the ‘T’ stands for ‘Touring’ and the emphasis is on simplicity and light weight. It costs from £85,576 and ordering is open now.

Reviving the name of the original 1968 911 T, the new 2018 Carrera T has a focused mechanical specification. It is rear-wheel drive, comes with a manual gearbox and has a sporty rear differential lock as standard. It is also fitted with rear-axle steering, something unavailable on the standard 911 Carrera.

Porsche also fits PASM adaptive suspension as standard, which is lowered by 20mm compared to the regular Carrara, as well as the Sport Chrono Package. This is why the new 911 Carrara T costs £7,685 more than the base 911.

Despite the extra features, it’s 20kg lighter than the 911 Carrera, courtesy of some neat weight-saving features. Porsche has fitted lightweight glass for the rear windows, and replaced the regular doorhandles with fabric opening loops. There are no rear seats and even the PCM infotainment system has been removed.

Both rear seats and infotainment can, however, be added back on – at no extra cost. A genuine ‘base spec’ 911 Carrera T is thus expected to be something of a rarity…

Porsche uses smart Sport-Tex fabric for the seats, in place of the default leather, and fits a shortened gearlever with the seven-speed shift pattern marked out in red. Full bucket seats are offered as an option for the first time in a 911 Carrera, and standard black dash trim can be enhanced by a ‘T’ interior package, bringing either Racing yellow, Guards red or GT silver seatbelts and seat stitching. Those new door opening loops are also colour-keyed.

Exterior colour choice is Black, Lava orange, Guards red, Racing yellow, White or Miami blue, plus metallic Carrera white, Jet black or GT silver. All 911 Carrera T have Agate grey metallic door mirrors, Titan grey 20-inch alloys from the Carrera S and ‘911 Carrara T’ decals on the lower body sides. At the rear, the model designation decals on the engine cover are also finished in Agate grey.

A sports exhaust system is standard, but the 3.0-litre flat-six twin-turbo engine has, at 370hp, no more power than the regular 911 Carrera. Porsche has fitted shortened gear ratios though, which helps it accelerate from 0-62mph in 4.5 seconds, 0.1 seconds faster than the normal model.

The firm will also fit the PDK automatic gearbox for those less fussed by the back-to-basics approach; this cuts the 0-62mph time to 4.2 seconds.

Porsche expects first deliveries for the new 911 Carrera T from January 2018.

Original cars driven by female characters starring alongside 007 have gone on show at London’s Bond in Motion exhibition. Also on display are previously unseen costumes, props and storyboards. Bond in Motion is the largest official collection of James Bond vehicles in the world.

Do you expect us to talk? No, we’ll just show you the pictures.

Land Rover Defender (Skyfall)

The Land Rover Defender Double Cab driven by Eve Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) in Skyfall is one of the star exhibits. Here we see the Defender pictured after Miss Moneypenny decided she didn’t require the use of the door mirrors.

Without wishing to go all QVC on you, Naomie Harris wore a Belstaff jacket, H&M silk vest, and J Brand leather trousers. The Defender wore some Audi black paint, market stall fruit and vegetables, and a few dents, courtesy of a drive through an Istanbul market.

Range Rover Evoque Convertible

Naomie Harris must have enjoyed her drive in the Defender, because here she is pictured with a Range Rover Evoque Convertible. Notice that the door mirror is still in place. Neither Naomie or the Evoque will be appearing at the exhibition.

Camille and her Ka

Quantum of Solace won’t be remembered as Daniel Craig’s greatest Bond adventure, but the 2008 film was a masterclass in product placement. The metallic gold Ka looked a little out of place in Haiti, but at the time, Ford had a strong relationship with the film franchise.

The role of Camille was played by Ukrainian-born actress, Olga Kurylenko, who went on to star in Oblivion and The Water Diviner.

The Ford Ka went on to become overweight and a shadow of its former effervescent self, before being replaced by the Ka+. It has since handed back its Equity card.

Conran, Jasper Conran

On the left you can see Camille’s Jasper Conran-designed costume from Quantum of Solace, along with the ‘Greene Planet’ Ford Ka. The yellow Citroen 2CV is from For Your Eyes Only, while the Ford Thunderbird was the ‘choice’ of Jinx in Die Another Day.

Halle Berry

Here’s Jinx, played by Halle Berry, at the Ice Palace in the 2002 movie. Ford built 700 limited edition 007 Thunderbirds to commemorate the car’s role in the movie.

Ford claimed this was the first time a Thunderbird had appeared in a Bond film, but 007 aficionados were quick to point to the brief appearance in Goldfinger, when the iconic car was driven by CIA agent, Felix Leiter.

Clapperboard

This is cool. It’s a clapperboard from Skyfall, signed by Sam Mendes, Daniel Craig, Naomie Harris, Berenice Marlohe and Javier Bardem. What, no Judi Dench? We suspect she was still coming to terms with her ‘death’ in a Scottish chapel.

Driving lessons for Tilly

Tilly Masterson, played by Tania Mallet, was the very first Bond actress to drive a car in the film Goldfinger. She drove a pre-production Ford Mustang, acquired for the movie. Here we see a letter from the production department, requesting driving lessons for the actress.

Aston Martin DB5

Goldfinger featured what is arguably the most famous and iconic Bond car of all-time: the Aston Martin DB5.

However, the DB5 on display at the Bond in Motion was used in the 1995 film Goldeneye. Note the registration mark BMT 214A, and not BMT 216A.

The Living Daylights

There’s no sign of Kara Milovy, played by Maryam d’Abo, but you can spot her cello case, which doubled up as a makeshift snowboard in the 1987 film, The Living Daylights,

Die Another Day

More vehicles from Die Another Day, with the Aston Martin Vanquish and Bombardier MX Z-Rev snowmobile. The female lead roles in the 2002 film were Halle Berry (Jinx Johnson), Rosamund Pike (Miranda Frost) and, of course, Judi Dench (M).

‘Wet Nellie’

The Lotus Esprit S1, aka ‘Wet Nellie’, is probably the most famous non-Aston to appear in a Bond film. Barbara Bach starred opposite Roger Moore in the 1977 film, The Spy Who Loved Me.

Bond on two wheels

Motorcycles have played a big part in Bond movies. In 2015, Visor Down named its top 10 James Bond bikes, with the Honda CRF205R, Montesa Cota and BMW R1200C appearing in the top three.

Bond in Motion

The Bond in Motion exhibition has more than 100 individual items on display at the London Film Museum, Covent Garden.

To celebrate the new exhibits, Bond in Motion is offering 2-for-1 tickets until the end of 2017, using the code GP001.

‘Little Nellie’

You’ll be able to see ‘Little Nellie’ from You Only Live Twice…

WetBike

And the WetBike, which made its first appearance in The Spy Who Loved Me.

NEXT> New Jaguar E-Pace in world record James Bond stunt

Bentley Motors has announced the appointment of a new CEO – and this time, he’s a Brit. Highly regarded Jaguar Land Rover exec Adrian Hallmark has succeeded the influential German Wolfgang Dürheimer and will start his new role on 1 February 2018.

55-year-old Hallmark has, since 2013, been group strategy director for Jaguar Land Rover, after previously spending three years redefining the strategy for Jaguar as global director of the British sports car brand.

Prior to that, he held senior roles at Saab and Volkswagen both in Germany and North America: Hallmark was also managing director of Porsche Cars GB in the late 1990s.

It’s not his first time at Crewe, either: he was board member for sales and marketing at Bentley Motors between 1999 and 2005

Volkswagen Group CEO Matthias Müller said he was “delighted to welcome Adrian Hallmark back to the Volkswagen Group, and back to Bentley Motors.

“He has a wealth of international automotive experience couples with a deep understanding of the Bentley Brand and I am confident he will lead this extraordinary British company to even greater success.”

Bentley executive shake-up

There have been other moves at the top table within Bentley Motors – with another Brit, Chris Craft, joining Hallmark as sales and marketing director.

58-year-old Craft is another former Porsche GB managing director, and has also led both Volkswagen and Skoda in the UK. He has worked for the Volkswagen Group for 24 years.

Engineering board member Rolf Frech is also to be succeeded by Dr. Werner Tietz, who joins from Porsche after having “played a leading role in the current Panamera and the 911 models”. And Dr. Astrid Fontaine is to succeed Marlies Rogait as board member for people, digitisation and IT.

Dürheimer’s unexpected retirement also sees him vacate his role as head of Bugatti – and in another surprise move, Audi Sport GmbH Stephan Winkelmann has been announced as his successor. Dürheimer’s retirement was at his own request, said Bentley Motors in a statement, but he “will continue to take a key role advising Volkswagen Group motorsport”.

Müller has left us in little doubt as to how significant Dürheimer’s contribution to Bentley Motors and the Volkswagen Group has been. “He has had an outstanding career and has launched some of the most important cars the Group has ever created, including two generations of the Porsche 911, the Porsche Carrera GT, Porsche Panamera, Porsche Cayenne, Bugatti Chiron, the Bentley Bentayga as well as the all-new Bentley Continental GT.

“I am pleased that we will continue to benefit from his extensive motorsport experience as he maintains an advisory role on motorsport to the Volkswagen Group.”

The government has announced a new bill that will require all large filling stations and motorway services to install electric car chargepoints, as part of an effort to step up the development of the UK’s EV sector.

The new Automated and Electric Vehicles Bill, which had its first reading in parliament this week, will make it mandatory for Britain’s network of just over 90 motorway service areas to offer electric car charging facilities – a move aimed at encouraging the use of electric cars for longer journeys.

Large filling stations will also have to install them – and the bill also “gives the government powers to make it compulsory for chargepoints to be installed across the country”.

The aim, said Transport Minister John Hayes, is for “the UK to be the best place in the world to do business and a leading hub for modern transport technology, which is why we are introducing the Automated and Electric Vehicles Bill in Parliament and investing more than £1.2 billion in the industry.”

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The bill, added Hayes, also insists all chargepoints must be ‘smart’, so “they can interact with the grid in order to manage demand for electricity across the country.

“Drivers of electric vehicles will be able to easily locate and charge at any chargepoints, using information from sat navs or mobile apps, regardless of the vehicle make or model – making running an electric vehicle even easier.”

There’s going to be more money available to develop suburban electric car recharging networks too. Roads Minister Jesse Norman has announced more funding for local authorities to install chargepoints in residential areas, so cars parked on the street have access to recharge facilities.

“We have already supported the purchase of 115,000 ultra-low emission cars and there are already more than 11,500 publicly available chargepoints,” he said, “but the demand continues to grow as more people purchase electric vehicles to cut fuel costs and boost the environment.”

The Automated and Electric Vehicles Bill will also guarantee drivers of automated cars will be insured on UK roads, part of the government’s support for an industry it believes could be worth £50 billion to the UK economy by 2035.

By making insurance a requirement, any victims of collisions with an automated vehicle “will have quick and easy access to compensation, in line with existing insurance practices”.

NEXT> Smart is to become an electric car company

Porsche has broadened the range of 718 Boxster and 718 Cayman models with the launch of a new range-topping 718 GTS edition, sitting above the existing S variants. With 365hp, they’re the most potent 718 models yet.

The 718 GTS variants use the same 2.5-litre flat-four boxer turbo engine as the regular 718 S but, with a new intake system and tweaked turbo, offer a 15hp boost over the S – and a 35hp improvement over the previous six-cylinder GTS model.

Mindful of the cars’ purist and driver-focused nature, Porsche fits a six-speed manual gearbox as standard; those seeking ultimate acceleration times should choose the PDK double-clutch auto.

When equipped with PDK, engaging the standard Sport Chrono’s Launch Control will summon 0-62mph acceleration in 4.1 seconds – that’s faster than an £80,377 Porsche 911 Carrera with PDK and Launch Control. Both GTS will do 180mph all-out.

Porsche fits its Porsche Torque Vectoring (PTV) system as standard to all 718 GTS, along with Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) and a mechanical limited slip differential. PASM means the body sits 10mm lower than the standard 718 S.

Visually, the 718 GTS also get a Sport Design front bumper, black-tinted lights front and rear, a black rear apron and black tailpipes – a sports exhaust is standard. There are also black rear badges and GTS logos on the doors plus, of course, black 20-inch alloys.

Inside, it’s again moody; plenty of dark-finish Alcantara is brightened up by red GTS logos – the seats themselves are standard sports seats ‘Plus’, and Porsche also chucks in the Porsche Track Precision App: keen track-day users can record driving data to their smartphone for detailed analysis (and showing off to their wife/kids/mates) later.

Ordering is open now and Porsche expects deliveries of the first 718 GTS models just before Christmas. Prices? The 718 Cayman GTS is £59,866, the 718 Boxster GTS is £61,727.

NEXT> Porsche 718 Boxster first drive

This amazing unused 1997 McLaren F1 has been uncovered by specialist British car dealer Tom Hartley Jnr – and it’s now up for sale. The price? Strictly on application only.

The Dandelion yellow car is a Japanese-spec model that’s not only never been driven, it’s also never been registered – and has also never had the factory protective wrapping removed. It’s genuinely the most box-fresh McLaren F1 in the world.

Needless to say, it’s a one-owner car, whose details appear in the hand-written leather-cased owner’s handbook, signed by McLaren F1 designer Gordon Murray. His hand-painted signature also appears on the rear right quarter of the car.

Showing just 239 kilometres on the odometer – that’s 148 miles – the McLaren is chassis number 060, and carries factory-fit options including an LM-style spare exhaust, spare GTR-style steering wheel, passenger mats and a windscreen strip. Naturally, none of the options have actually been opened.

The removable suede steering wheel is as perfect as can be, the carbon driver’s seat is pristine and even the special TAG Heuer watch, which carries the car’s chassis number, has never been worn.

Also included are the Facom tool chest that every McLaren F1 owner was given, the gold-plated titanium tool roll and the factory-fit luggage set – again, still in the protective wrapping, including period ‘McLaren Cars’ tape.

Tom Hartley Jnr is in no doubt as to the sheer significance of this discovery. “Without doubt, this is one of the most important road cars ever to be offered for sale and, if preserved, is highly likely to be the most valuable road car in the world in years to come.”

You’ll be paying big bucks for the privilege, but what an investment it would be. If you’re rich and eager enough to join the queue, then give the supercar dealer a call.

Buy the world’s lowest-mileage McLaren F1 at Tom Hartley Jr

Parking provider Q-Park is now offering electric car owners who are members of the Polar plus charging network a 20 percent discount across all its 75 UK and Ireland car parks. All they need to do is pre-book online.

The firm has already installed Chargemaster’s Polar EV charge stations at 14 city centre car parks; Q-Park head of sales and marketing John Denton said the new EV discount was part of its commitment to a green agenda that it’s been running for several years now.

Chargemaster chief executive David Martell added that it “makes driving an electric vehicle an even more attractive proposition for more people”.

How does the Q-Park electric car discount work?

To take up the Q-Park 20 percent EV discount, Polar plus members should visit www.q-park.co.uk/pre-book and enter a special code provided to them as part of their membership.

Pre-booked prices are often already discounted, but this will take another 20 percent off the checkout price.

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It’s not the only EV-specific offer Q-Park is running, either. A 50 percent discount on season tickets for electric cars can, says the firm, “reduce the cost of unlimited annual car park season tickets in London by £2,400”.

If they want to charge up at the same time, electric charge points are located at the following Q-Park facilities:

• London Burlington
• London Chinatown
• London Harley Street
• Knightsbridge
• Leicester Square
• Marble Arch
• Oxford Street
• Park Lane
• Pimlico
• Queensway
• Trafalgar Square
• London Soho
• Westminster
• Birmingham Brindleyplace

And how much does Polar plus membership cost? £7.85 a month, which gives unlimited access to over 5,000 charging points. 80 of them are free to use, adds Chargemaster.