This week, Cropley has been getting to grips with some new metal in West Sussex, and has a positive dealership experience to share.
Monday
Years ago, after the late Earl’s Court and Birmingham NEC car exhibitions had passed into history, Autocar made a point of recognising Goodwood’s rising role as a car-show substitute, and the Duke of Richmond has continued the tradition ever since.
This year’s fixture was the Goodwood Media Day: hacks were offered drives on both the circuit (a bit too smooth to tell you much about road cars) and on a beautiful and varied road route through the estate.
I arrived early to be confronted by a wide variety of choices (Bentley even brought heritage cars) but decided to concentrate on those I hadn’t driven much‚ prominent among them the Alfa Romeo Giulia and Alfa Romeo Stelvio, Porsche Taycan GTS Sport Turismo, Genesis GV60 and a few others.
I loved both of the pokey, quick-steering Alfa Romeos, which happily match their brand values once again. The Genesis was refined, responsive and much less like a big Hyundai than I had expected. The svelte Porsche estate simply became my favourite EV, replacing a lesser Taycan saloon in my hierarchy. It’s amazing how well Porsche has imbued this very different, very big car with the character of its petrol sports cars.
Tuesday