CAR ADVICE

Due in 2023, the new-generation Mercedes-Benz E-Class will be the last model to be based on a platform built for traditional engines only – and not electric power – according to a German report. The 2023 Mercedes E-Class will reportedly be the final vehicle from the German luxury car giant based on a platform solely designed to accommodate petrol and diesel engines – and not offer the option of electric power. In an interview with industry publication Automobilwoche , Mercedes-Benz development chief Markus Schäfer said the forthcoming E-Class is the last model developed purely for internal-combustion (petrol and diesel) engines – and not electric power. “As things stand today, the E-Class and its derivatives will be the last Mercedes-Benz model to be created on a pure internal combustion engine platform,” Mr Schäfer said in the translated interview. It’s therefore suggested all future models after the new E-Class will sit on platforms designed for electric and petrol, ...

The iconic Toyota FJ Cruiser is still on sale in South Africa and the Philippines – more than five years after it left Australian and US showrooms, and after its 15-year run in the Middle East is just now coming to an end. Still want to buy a brand-new Toyota FJ Cruiser? It’s possible, but you will need to move to South Africa or the Philippines. Proving that even retro-LandCruisers can outlast modern rivals, Toyota has kept the FJ Cruiser in production in Japan more than five years after it left Australian and US showrooms. Now the Toyota FJ Cruiser has reached the end of the line in the Middle East after a 15-year run, with the company commemorating the model with a special ‘Final Edition’ (pictured). The FJ Cruiser went into production for left-hand drive markets in 2006 as a tribute to Toyota’s early FJ-series LandCruiser from the 1970s. Despite the old-school appearance, it shared its chassis and mechanical components with the then-new Toyota LandCruiser Prado . Ri...

To celebrate the ‘Race That Stops a Nation’, here are the stories behind some of our favourite car logos featuring horses. Horses, an ancient symbol of power and independence. A symbol of nobility, endurance, triumph. A totem of strength and of courage. Above all, horses represent freedom, providing the ability to move unfettered. Humans began domesticating horses over 6000 years ago, putting the large mammal to work. We used them to till the soil, we used them in battle and to haul cargo. Most of all, we used horses as transport, the beasts of burden carrying us over vast distances with endurance and stamina. Horses and transportation have been intrinsically linked for millennia. Whether carrying people on their backs or hauling carts and wagons filled with cargo, horses have long done the heavy lifting for humans. The advent of the automobile in the late 19th century changed transportation forever, the humble yet effective horse and cart making way for the motor car which ...

Despite stock shortages, car makers haven’t pumped the brakes on their new car launch plans. Here’s everything confirmed for launch in Australia in 2022 and beyond. Just 18 months ago, the light seemed to be at the end of the tunnel for the Australian new car market, with regular record sales months suggesting the worst of COVID-19’s impacts had now passed. However, 2021 proved otherwise, with a global semiconductor shortage turning the industry on its head – extending wait times on most new cars by months – compounded by a fresh round of lockdowns. Regardless of whether buyers could get behind the wheel, manufacturers still launched a range of brand-new models, with the headline acts spanning everything from the hotly-anticipated Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series, to the new Hyundai Tucson, Kia Sportage, Volkswagen Golf and Mitsubishi Outlander. In 2022, there’s no shortage of new metal on the horizon – led by the new Ford Ranger mid-year, and accompanied by a trio of new Nissa...