Sun, Sand and, er... Steel Wheels? - Almost a Week in Spain with a Renault Clio 1.5 dCi

Back in October, I got my first taste of continental driving on a short holiday in Spain. Having contacted our rental company in the run up to the trip, we’d been told by email to expect a Nissan Micra or similar – that last part being the roll of the dice in the lucrative “Class C” market at Tony’s rent-a-car. We’re not talking Mercedes here.

On arrival at Malaga airport, we were met by two representatives of Tony’s (one of whom could have filled out the handover form in his sleep if he’d had to) and, speedy paperwork behind us, we were led outside with our bags to a bustling bank of rental pick-up-and-drop-off activity. Here we were introduced to our car for the week. A car, which, in the bleary, dank darkness looked almost Micra-shaped, but was not itself a Micra.

Hey, that cloud looks like a Clio... kind of... if you squint maybe?

A Bit of an Update...

It’s been very quiet here on McMotors – TheScottish Car Blog of late, partly that’s due to my usual lackadaisical attitude, but this time it’s also down to the fact that I’ve been working on another project.

Back in October I started writing for Supercars.net as a contributor. Below are links to some of the pieces I’ve written for them, including most recently their Car of the Year 2016 posts. 

Part of the One Per-Cent - Aston Martin DB7 Zagato

It's not often the chance pops up to get up close with a one-of-100-built piece of automotive history in the metal, never mind the chance for an audience with such a machine.

Yes, the Lamborghini IS striking

Which is why, when I heard Aston Martin Edinburgh had a pre-loved DB AR1 DB7 Zagato in stock, I rushed along, camera in hand to take a peek at this rarity.

What Range Anxiety? EV Adventurers take on Longest Challenge Yet

Rarely are electric cars brought up in conversation without the phrase "range anxiety" following close behind. Two EV enthusiasts have come a long way to silently leaving that old stigma behind.

Chris Ramsey of Plug In Adventures has a history of breaking new ground for electric vehicles on Scottish soil, becoming the first person to complete the North Coast 500 in a electric car whilst racking up fuel costs of absolutely zilch thanks to his frugal choice of powertrain.