Goodbye
The Leon’s looks are writing cheques the car can’t cash.
During my time with the Leon, on a very quiet news day, there were various ‘end of an era’-type headlines about the planned closure of the ‘iconic’ Watford Gap services.
As is so often the case, when you read past the headline the story becomes less black-andwhite. Not so much a closure as some rebuilding. (Owner Roadchef plans a remodelled ‘hub’ with more EV chargers, if it can extend its lease.) Not so much iconic as confusing. (People think it’s near Watford, the one just inside the M25; in fact it’s 60 miles north of there, near the village of Watford.)
In honour of its impending closure I drove there in the Cupra. And it turns out to be exactly what you’d expect from one of Britain’s oldest motorway service stations, opened in 1959: ready for a bit of building work and a lick of paint.
The Cupra is very much not in need of a lick of paint – its Desire Red colour is a winner. But there is a bit of Watford Gap about it, in terms of the smokeand-mirrors of rebranding. In what way is the Cupra Leon not a Seat Leon? Nothing much.
There will be an electric successor, just as the Watford Gap will get its more EV-friendly replacement, and it will be fine.
Beneath the marketing, the Cupra Leon Estate VZ3 is a hotted-up and tarted-up Golf Estate that isn’t quite as good as the VW. It doesn’t have the fancy rear axle that makes the slightly more powerful Golf R drive so well, but nor does it have the easygoing flow of the non-R Golf. Its turbo 2.0-litre powertrain is sometimes at odds with the chassis, although it gels well if you drive harder.
It’s roomy, it’s comfortable, it has good audio and – retro bonus! – it lets you drive at low speed with your
