When diesel was the future of audi performance

Just 30 years ago, diesel cars were a bit rubbish. They were loud, clattery, vibrating, smelly and usually appallingly slow. But politicians thought they were the bee’s knees, because they were margin

Audi is preparing its most powerful RS6 yet, with sources revealing that the next car will come equipped with a V8 plug-in hybrid powertrain as part of a major electrification push across the company’

Bugatti’s official story is that the seed of the Veyron was planted in 1997. VW Group boss Ferdinand Piëch and his powertrain chief Karl-Heinz Neumann were on a Japanese train brewing up engine ideas.

£254,200 OTR/£282,000 as tested/£5,077 pcm WHY IT’S HERE: What has a hybrid makeover – and Mulliner buffing – added to the world’s best grand tourer? DRIVER: Ollie Kew TOPGEAR’S BENTLEY CONTINENTAL GT

Once they headed the company car parks of Eighties Britain, now these executive icons offer prestige, nostalgia and pure driving pleasure from £5k. But which of these trading-floor titans best rewards the shrewd classic motorist?

AS many of you will know, I was lucky to have many adventures last year in an Audi A3. When the time came for Monty (as it had affectionately become known) to head back home to VW HQ, I wasn’t entirel