I’m not a total fool, I just have standards

WITHOUT wanting to sound like a total bin lid, I’m not sure the bosses in the motor industry are doing enough to rouse the designers.

Sure, they all do their bit, but many seem to be a little misguided; if you’ll forgive the terrible metaphor, it’s like they’re being given directions in France by someone from Mombasa in Kenya.

We hear all the time about how quality is more important than quantity, and how manufacturers are striving night and day to give the customer exactly what they want, which seems unlikely as Skoda produced its 14 millionth vehicle last week, of which five million have been sold in the last five years.

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Were you to quiz the majority of car owners in the UK right now they’d probably all tell you the same thing: the interiors are shoddy.

Granted, there are a few shining beacons of hope; I like the dash in the Fiat 500, for example, and think the Ford Fiesta is rather nice to look at and that the Vauxhall Corsa is rather nice to drive.

But in the most part, modern car interior designers leave a lot to be desired.

Last week, however, Toyota announced the GT 86 would cost £29,995. For a rear wheel drive, super-coupé that looks as good as it does?

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At this stage, no one really knows what interior specifications customers can opt for, nor do we know to what price you could spec it to if your had as much sense as a potato and a wallet the size of Tokyo.

But who cares? A 2-litre, turbocharged flat four, 200 bhp, 205 Nm of torque and looks that would put some Ferraris to shame, all for a smidge under £30k.

Also, if you’re a regular reader of the motoring press you’ll have heard how magical it is to drive, and how it blows old Toyota’s like the Celica into the middle of last century.

Most importantly, though, it has, as my friend Sarah would put it, a ‘lush’ interior - sounds like the bargain of the decade.

Seán Ward

Editor, newmotoring.com

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