Departments · Drive it, do not display it
Motoring
We are not interested in lap times or in cars that live under covers. We are interested in the drive to the coast on a Friday afternoon, the car you would take on it and the one you would still want in ten years. Manual gearboxes are mentioned more than is fashionable.
The car is the last big object a man buys with his heart and justifies with his head. We help with the head part: running costs, residuals, the difference between a car that is exciting for a weekend and one that is a companion for a decade.
Drive Match gives you a shortlist for your budget and your kind of driving. The stories cover the cars we would buy, the roads we would drive and the classics that will not bankrupt you.
In this department
The latest in Motoring
Motoring · Driving
The Last Analogue Cars
Manual gearbox, hydraulic steering where you can still find it, an engine that breathes on its own. Six cars you can buy new in 2026 that still ask something of the driver.
Motoring · Routes
Three Drives Worth the Fuel
The Grossglockner before breakfast, the Route Napoléon in October, the Stelvio when the coaches have gone. How to drive Europe’s best roads properly.
Motoring · Classics
Buying a Modern Classic Without Regret
A Porsche 997, an E46 M3, a Mercedes W124 estate. Twenty-year-old cars that are cheaper to own than you fear, if you buy the right one from the right man.
Motoring · Electric
The Case for an Electric Grand Tourer
Silent at 200 km/h, 500 kilometres between coffees and a chassis that hides two tonnes. The electric GT has arrived, and the arguments against it are mostly out of date.
The tool for this
Drive Match
Budget, what the car is for, how many seats, petrol or electric, comfort or edge. Three cars from twenty-six, with the case for each.
Reader poll
The weekend car, if money were sensible?
Questions we get asked
Is a manual gearbox still worth it?
For a weekend car, yes: involvement is the point and manuals hold value better. For a daily driver in a city, a good automatic is the more civilised choice and nobody will think less of you.
Are modern classics a good investment?
Some have been. Buy one because you want to drive it; if it holds its value, that is a bonus. Cars that are bought as investments tend to be the ones that get sold at a loss.
Petrol, hybrid or electric?
For the daily commute an electric car is quieter, cheaper to run and quicker. For the weekend and the grand tour, petrol still delivers the experience. Many men end up with one of each.
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