Richard Webber

An atmospheric classified ad resulted in a trip to Italy, a Fulvia on the drive and a serial Lancia owner’s latest love

Business owners can make hefty tax savings by running an EV through their company. Richard Webber tries it

“While some will enjoy the challenge and beauty of camping in winter, for others it may be a case of physical and mental endurance.” So reads the advice of Mountaineering Scotland, the arbiter of such things north of the border. Conversely, my own camping expertise starts and ends with watching Bravo Two Zero on VHS circa 1999. But at least photographer Max Edleston and I won’t be wanting for kit on our wander into the wilds, starting our journey as we do at the Decathlon outdoor store on the…

We take the Swedish brand’s all-electric saloon to Shetland exploring wild nature... and ferry crossings

We’re staring at the fire escape of a Mexican restaurant, wondering how the bulging hips of a 930-generation Porsche 911 Turbo could squeeze through it. It’s May 2022 and we’re on George Street, central Edinburgh’s smartest strip, but our minds are 40 years behind, when this site was the Glen Henderson Porsche showroom. Before being uprooted miles out of town, prestige car dealers like Glen Henderson were dotted all around the heart of the city, peacocking on grand streets and tucked away in h…

We travelled to Naples to buy a pale blue classic Italian coupé; now it's at home in Edinburgh, enjoying the unseasonable summer weather on new rubber

Corks are popping in Turin. Prosecco is being skilfully spilled down throats in celebration of the Fiat 500’s 60th birthday. And with good reason: the Nuova 500s that left the city’s Mirafiori plant on 4 July 1957 became the first of four million, and two million more have been shifted since the 500 badge was revived a decade ago. This article was originally published on 5 August 2017. We’re revisiting some of Autocar’s most popular features to provide engaging content in these challenging time…

A local Volvo dealer sponsors lollipop ladies round my way. The brand values match up: safe, dependable and family friendly. But there’s much more to Volvo these days. By rights, said wander wardens should be wearing Donna Karan and holding high-definition displays on boron steel poles, because Volvo is now among the most stylish and tech-intensive car makers out there. It charges for the privilege, too. Volvo’s standard-bearer, the Volvo XC90, starts at £46,850 new. Which is almost exactly the…

Is the world’s smallest car also the continuation market’s biggest bargain? We squeeze into the ‘new’ Peel P50 microcar to find out

Suzuki boss Kenichi Ayukawa has lifted the lid on the new S-cross compact crossover at the first press conference of the 2012 Paris motor show. He said the production model could be expected late next year, and would offer “one of the largest luggage areas in its class,” combined with “four-wheel drive performance and [a] sporty format.” It is yet to be confirmed whether or not the ‘S-cross’ name will be used, however. The show car’s exterior design is said to be very close to production spec,…

Ford, BMW, Mini. The top styling jobs at Maserati, Ferrari, Fiat, Lancia and Alfa Romeo, then leading McLaren’s design journey from a standing start to the dawn of an entirely new product cycle. Frank Stephenson has some CV. Unfettered by the birth of Frank Stephenson Design in 2018, the 62-year-old American’s current projects are intriguingly diverse, extending well beyond the automotive world. So we wanted to know what views this unique perspective would lend to the armchair designer topics…

Within the likes of a Bentley, nature’s proceeds of timber, wool, hide and more are crafted from raw material into sophisticated and elegant yet functional finishes. They come together to create a cabin of atmosphere and comfort where synthetic materials might otherwise leave you cold. Yet the origins of these finishes are easily taken for granted. So we’re going on a road trip to discover the what, where, how and who of Bentley’s luxury interiors. We’ll visit four manufacturers that supply Ben…

Dutch design house Niels van Roij Design has unveiled a one-off reimagining of the legendary Ferrari 250 GT SWB ‘Breadvan’ racer. Called the ‘Breadvan Hommage’, it is based on a Ferrari 550 Maranello and was two and a half years in the making. The original 1962 3.0-litre V12 Breadvan was commissioned by Scuderia Serenissima to take on the then new Ferrari 250 GTOs at Le Mans. The development of both cars was overseen by engineer Giotto Bizzarrini, who left Ferrari shortly before starting work o…

This whole Christmas caper really is still a novelty north of the border. It is, after all, only 49 years since it became a public holiday in Scotland. For centuries after the Reformation of 1560 cast Catholicism aside, the marking of Yule was frowned upon at best and illegal at worst as the austere Church of Scotland sought to stamp out ‘popish superstition’, ‘filthy carols’ and ‘extraordinary drinking’. It’s no small irony, then, that the Kirk turned a blind eye to Hogmanay, with its pagan tr…

Jaguar Land Rover’s new advanced product creation centre in Gaydon employs about 13,000 engineers and designers. But back in 1966 it was just three souls – working out of hours, no less – that drew up the initial design of what would become an all-new model for the Rover Company. Then three engineers took the vehicle to production-ready status in only two years. It was a remarkable achievement. In turn, the project was variously known as ‘Alternative Station Wagon’, ‘100-inch Station Wagon’ and…

There’s an archetypal personality in the Scottish Borders, the verdant wedge of rolling lowland abutting England’s northernmost reaches. Innocent of motorways and barely skirted by rail, the region preserves an identity shaped not only by agriculture but also centuries of cross-border conflict. It’s an archetype that’s modest but steely, cautious of strangers and reluctant with an audience but boisterous among friends. I grew up surrounded by it. You’ll find it from Burnmouth to Buccleuch. Noth…

In the words of Rolls-Royce’s CEO, the Rolls-Royce Dawn ragtop is “the most social of super-luxury drophead motor cars for those who wish to bathe in the sunlight of the world’s most exclusive social hotspots”. It’s an evocative notion that I’m struggling to channel from our lonely, weather-beaten, peninsular midnight perch on Orkney as the Atlantic swills either side of us. A boulevardier meant for La Croisette, not Kirkwall, this car is alien to these latitudes. But we’ve brought it here with…

Less than 12 months after breaking ground, the £1.65 million Jim Clark Motorsport Museum in the Scottish Borders town of Duns is finished, and we’ve been treated to an advance look ahead of tomorrow’s public opening. Located just a few miles from Clark’s home at Edington Mains Farm, the museum illustrates the life of the 1963 and 1965 Formula 1 world champion, 1965 Indianapolis 500 winner and 1964 British Saloon Car Championship victor. It replaces the diminutive Jim Clark Room – essentially a…

Former world champion Jim Clark says it’s the most exciting sport he’s ever tackled. We’ll take his word for it. But if you have any doubts, he recommends “a Cortina, lots of nerve, and plane tickets to Italy for you – and your doctor.” So concludes the astonishing minute-long newsreel about the ‘Salute to Cortina Champions’ of December 1964, when road-going Ford Cortinas were driven down an Olympic bobsleigh track. You can read about this audacious (read foolhardy) event at the bottom of this…

There are barely more doors on last year’s discarded advent calendar than there are days left until Brexit – and we still don’t know exactly what the plan is. For car lovers, this could be the last chance to snap up a second-hand automotive gem from the Continent while the benefits of EU membership last. As things stand, you can import used cars from within the EU without paying either duty or VAT. As long as you inform HMRC promptly, it will leave your lucre alone. But should we leave withou…