tunnelvision

At the turn of the century, BMW had an all new car, in a segment it never had been before: the BMW X5 SUV. So, long before the performance SUV became a thing, some boffins at BMW thought it would be nice to cram the biggest, most powerful engine they had at the time in the X5’s engine bay. A V12 seemed like a no-brainer… Maybe the wonderful M73 that powered the top-dog E38 750i and the Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph could do the trick. But hang on, they had something even madder on stock… the V12 from the BMW V12 LMR, fresh from winning the 1999 LeMans race.

The old hot hatch. Quick pace wrapped in a mundane, everyday and practical package, inexpensive to buy and run (well, most of the times…) Maybe with some kit attached to it. Many of us are very fond of these cars, mainly because of these reasons. Many hot hatchbacks became legendary, like some of those in the main picture. Who never heard of the Golf GTI, Peugeot 205, Civic Type R, Focus RS or Delta Integrale (one of my all-time favourites)? Exactly.

We’ve all been there. After hours of playing, waiting for that one car you’ve been wanting to unlock/buy, you finally go and pick it up… and it turns out to be not that great. Yeah, heartbreaking … I know the struggle. To start the topic I recall two experiences, from the top of my head: