Everything you need to know about cars this week

"It is the boldest of bold moves from Jaguar: an all-electric SUV, the first credible rival to Tesla’s premium EV dominance, a car that beats its German rivals to market and a radical piece of design. The I-Pace signals the start of something big, that mainstream manufacturers, not just Silicon Valley start-ups or BMW, are prepared to invest properly in building new-from-the-ground-up electric cars you actually want to own, and might be able to afford..."

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"Driving a motorsport event pace car is like being a football referee, or a special ops secret agent. Because it’s one of those jobs that’s very important, and yet no-one ever tends to notice when you’re doing it well. All that changes when you cock it up. Then, it’s a big deal..."

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"A 1963 example has been sold to an American collector for a rumoured $70 million. That’s £52 million, Brits, and breaks the record for a fee paid for a classic car. Previously, the top figure was the estimated £31 million paid for a different 250 GTO (naturally) several years ago. The buyer is believed to be WeatherTech CEO David MacNeil, who made his fortune selling car accessories like waterproof floor mats..."

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"While it’s not a total rip-off of a Lamborghini Urus, it’s fair to say there’s more than a passing resemblance, particularly around the front. The headlights and intake shapes are all eerily familiar, though with only a little 2.0-litre turbo engine to keep cool (rather than the Lambo’s 641bhp V8), some of the grille has been turned into daytime running lights..."

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"Still, what perhaps matters is that the plan largely ensures an Alfa will always be an Alfa. Sporty, great-looking and charismatic. Are we upset that Alfa is not planning on building a rival to the Mercedes B-Class or the BMW 2 Series Gran Tourer? We are not. In fact we’re delighted.."

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"It was only a matter of time before Audi decided it wanted a piece of the fantastically pointless coupe-slash-SUV pie and, like BMW and Mercedes-Benz before it, resolved to give us a car that would combine the best (or worst) bits of coupe and SUV..."

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"Just look at it. Whether you’re a fan or not, you can’t deny the 508 SW is a punchy piece of design, and yet another bold Peugeot worth celebrating..."

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"The Porsche Mission E Cross Turismo is basically the beginnings of Porsche ‘doing a Tesla’. The company’s rate of electric vehicle development has been somewhat glacial, but with the Mission E project, it’s now well on its way to releasing a desirable, sporty, battery-powered vehicle along with the charging infrastructure to support it.."

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"This is the new BMW X5, and it is big. Really big. Longer, wider and taller than it’s predecessor, and much longer, wider and taller than the very first generation of the ground-breaking ‘Sports Activity Vehicle’ BMW launched back at the turn of the century..."

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"Well now. A frustratingly cropped jpeg appears on our digital doormat, sent from McLaren HQ. It bears the caption: 'A new McLaren is coming. But have we forgotten something?'. Oh-oh-ho how we love a riddle..."

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"My first ever car was a Peugeot 205 GTI, back in 1997. I crashed it twice! Lethal aren’t they? It’s the same old thing, though. If you knew when you were 17 what you know now, you probably wouldn’t crash it. As soon as you roll off the throttle mid corner, that back end comes round..."

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"By driving over the pad using parking-camera lines, the GroundPad “generates a magnetic field, while in the CarPad an electric current is induced, which then charges the high-voltage battery.” It’s currently being released on the BMW 530e iPerformance, which can be fully charged in around three and a half hours with a power of 3.2 kW..."

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"The International Engine of the Year Awards celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, and to celebrate, the people behind them have created a very special award, dubbed ‘Best of the Best’. Which means it’s an award that recognises all the overall winners over the awards’ 20-year history..."

Commence the arguments here

"The phrase ‘last of the normally aspirated’ is being used to justify big premiums for cars that are just that - unsullied by forced induction and apparently purer as a result. But this Pista, and the Porsche 911 GT2 RS, are doing a fine job of exploding that mantra. This is dynamically the best car Ferrari has ever made, and its powertrain sits at the heart of the success..."

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"Wrap your head around this. Formula E, together with Virtually Live, has launched a new racing game that gives you the opportunity to race against Formula E’s drivers as they race IN REAL TIME. It uses substantial computing power and strands of wizardry best left unexplained to allow you, the plucky Racing Fan, to pilot a ‘ghost’ Formula E car on your mobile, tablet or PC alongside CGI renditions of the real racers on track. Live..."

Warp your brain here

"This car here marks the very first chapter in Nissan’s storied journey through such a sports coupe philosophy: the rather delectable Nissan 240Z. Specifically, a Nissan 240ZG, where the ‘G’ stands for ‘Grand’. That refers to this car’s Group 4 homologation status. It was only built for Japan and badged a Fairlady, a version of which won the Fuji Grand Champion Series in 1972..."

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"It’s a Rolls-Royce Wraith (called George, naturally) modified by Absolute Motors. That means a dyno-verified 810bhp from the 6.6-litre, twin-turbo V12 (up from 624bhp) and a bespoke Quicksilver exhaust, making this possibly the loudest Rolls-Royce in history..."

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"It’s what happens when the economies of scale of China butts heads with the artistic grease monkeys of Digbeth, Birmingham. After years of building expensive custom bikes, Mutt’s founders wanted to create affordable, honest, old-school motorbikes with the reliability and Euro4 compliance of something thoroughly modern. The RS-13 is just that..."

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"Is £47,145 a lot of money? Because that’s how much Ford’s charging for the Mustang Bullitt, which has just gone on sale in Britain. And traditionally Mustangs are Not a Lot of Money…"

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"Track days. You know the form: several Caterhams, a ratty but suspiciously fast Corsa, an over-boosted Lancer Evo, a scattering of Atoms, an M3 and maybe, just maybe, a Porsche 911 GT3. This one wasn’t like that. There were two 911 shaped objects, but one was a Singer, the other a new GT2 RS. Then there was the McLaren P1, an AMG GT4 racer, a pair of Le Mans homologation specials (a CLK GTR and 911 GT1), plus a couple of motors from the outer reaches of the hypersphere: the wacky-winged Zenvo TSR-S and mad-as-a-badger Apollo Intensa Emozione..."

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