How Vauxhall transformed the Astra overnight

Vauxhall

How Vauxhall transformed the Astra overnight

  12:02:00

A FEW subtle changes can add up to make a big difference. Just ask McDonalds.

It’s not often I venture through the golden arches of temptation but a quick stop at one at one the other day verged on blowing my mind. What I’ve grown up expecting is a slew of bored teenagers queuing up in a haze of salty smells to get a quick fix before shuffling past the paintings of Ronald and his crew to sit down on cheap plastic chairs before diving face first into a fistful of fries. Yet out of nowhere the clown’s been given his P45 and replaced with the sort of service you’d expect in a first class departure lounge.

Ordering was a case of pressing a few buttons on a giant touchscreen. A few minutes later, someone would bring your fifteen minutes of calorific shame straight to your table, where you’re able to plug your phone into one of the chargers provided or check the news on an iPad-esque tablet attached to the table. It’s the sort of overnight image overhaul Madonna would be proud of.

Vauxhall hasn’t managed quite the same shock factor with its latest Astra, largely because people – quite rightly – liked the look of the old one and at a casual glance the current one looks barely any different. Peer a bit more closely and there’s a big silver strip running across the radiator grille and an angular new treatment of the glass behind the rear doors, but basically it’s business as usual. No bad thing; the old one was one of the snazziest looking contenders for your family car cash.

In fact, the reason why it’s just won the European Car of the Year gong is because of all the little tweaks to iron out all the old one’s vaguely rubbish qualities. Knocking the Astra in this corner of the country is a tricky task because it’s built here in the North West - but I’m sure even the people whose jobs depend on it will happily admit its dashboard was far too fussy and the windscreen pillars were so huge it made it feel like you were driving a four-wheeled bird hide. Most frustratingly, it handled competently but never threw any fun into the equation – it’d do everything well but never in a way that’d make you actively enjoy it.

Vauxhall’s listened. The new car has slimmer A-pillars that make the interior airier, and now there are fewer buttons and a touchscreen to make the dashboard feel less hectic. It’s also – and I’ve just spent a few days driving various versions of the new Sport Tourer estate version around the French Alps – noticeably nicer to drive than the outgoing car. The Astra’s gone from being something I dread in games of Hire Car Lottery to a car I look forward to.

In fact, it’s pulled off something I wasn’t expecting. For the first time in nearly a decade the Astra’s a better buy than the Focus. Well done Vauxhall – have some fries on me!

Southport finally pays tribute to Sir Henry Segrave

Southport

Southport finally pays tribute to Sir Henry Segrave

  10:08:00

MARCH 16, 1926 was a good day for speed.

For starters a physicist called Robert H.Goddard launched the world’s first liquid-fuelled rocket from a farm in Massachusetts – the very technology that made everything from putting a chap on the Moon to watching episodes of The Simpsons beamed in from satellites possible. It’s also why you no longer need an angry partner and a crumpled road atlas to get anywhere – sat nav isn’t perfect, but it’s still wonderful.

The same day, 3,153 miles away on the other side of the Atlantic, an Eton-educated racing driver decided to go out for a drive – along Southport’s beach at 152mph, setting a world land speed record in the process. Sir Henry Segrave’s stint as the fastest man on four wheels may have lasted barely a month but it’s still an epic bit of driving, because it involved having to get a supercharged V12 monster with skinny tyres and no traction control to behave itself while doing more than twice the national speed limit. On sand.

I’ve long bemoaned the lack of any sort of proper tribute to Sir Henry’s achievement – other than the name of the town’s branch of JD Wetherspoon – but the other day the car’s current owner kindly brought it back for another run. Exactly nine decades on the 1925 Sunbeam Tiger was back in Southport!

To get the actual car – which usually resides in Utah - back on the beach was an incredible achievement, but nothing quite like actually hearing that 4.0-litre supercharged engine at full chat. In an age of instant gratification where you download today’s entire Champion to your smartphone in about three seconds I listened to several people grumbling because it took two hours to get the methanol-fuelled beast up and running; in fact a few actually got bored and went home!

Yet two hours is worth the wait when you consider it’s been 90 years since the mighty Tiger last roared in anger here – and the spectacle of actually seeing the thing being given the beans and the driver fighting a twitchy rear end on the sands was definitely worth it. It was the sort of unforgettable moment I’m sure I’ll one day bore my grandchildren with – and doubtless plenty of you will too, given the size of the crowds that turned out to see it.

Good news, by the way. I’ve spoken to the driver and he tells me the Tiger’s owner is more than up for a centenary re-run in 2026 – maybe we could honour Robert H Goddard too and have a simultaneous rocket launch. Go on Sefton Council, you know you want to…