Best known for his humorous antics on BBC Top Gear, the one and only Jeremy Clarkson takes it a little easier these days. Between shoots for The Grand Tour and humorous exploits on his Oxfordshire farm, the 60-year-old journalist also writes for the Driving section of The Sunday Times.
The British publication is much obliged to talk us through the best-reviewed cars of 2020 according to Jezza, starting with an Alfa Romeo that has received top ratings. The Alfaholics GTA-R 290 also happens to be one of two restomods on the list and the second most expensive car at £320,000 ($437,110 at current exchange rates).
“Adorable more than is decent or even healthy,” the Italian coupe differs a lot from the donor vehicle. For starters, the four-cylinder engine comes from an Alfa Romeo 75 sports sedan. Bored out and gifted with individual throttle bodies, the 240-horsepower lump is connected to a close-ratio manual transmission that sends the oomph to a limited-slip differential and 7- by 15-inch GTA Superleggera alloy wheels.
It’s a thing of absolute beauty and tremendous fun, and the reason it’s so expensive boils down to the sheer attention to detail that goes into every build. No GTA-R 290 is similar to its siblings, and each build takes 3,000 hours of labor from start to finish because no bolt or nut is left untouched.
The remaining four cars out of five come in the guise of the MINI John Cooper Works GP hot hatchback, Bentley Flying Spur luxury sedan, Eagle Lightweight GT restomod, and Ford Puma front-wheel-drive crossover. No, I’m not joking. The Puma made the list because “it’s almost as though this vehicle was designed by an actual person who leads an actual life.”
Other cars that J.C. has given four stars out of a maximum of five include the McLaren GT, which will be repositioned as the entry-level model in the lineup after the Artura rolls out next year. Honorable mentions also go to the Mercedes-AMG GLE 63 luxury but sporty SUV, the controversial Land Rover Defender, and the cheap and cheerful Renault Clio.
“Adorable more than is decent or even healthy,” the Italian coupe differs a lot from the donor vehicle. For starters, the four-cylinder engine comes from an Alfa Romeo 75 sports sedan. Bored out and gifted with individual throttle bodies, the 240-horsepower lump is connected to a close-ratio manual transmission that sends the oomph to a limited-slip differential and 7- by 15-inch GTA Superleggera alloy wheels.
It’s a thing of absolute beauty and tremendous fun, and the reason it’s so expensive boils down to the sheer attention to detail that goes into every build. No GTA-R 290 is similar to its siblings, and each build takes 3,000 hours of labor from start to finish because no bolt or nut is left untouched.
The remaining four cars out of five come in the guise of the MINI John Cooper Works GP hot hatchback, Bentley Flying Spur luxury sedan, Eagle Lightweight GT restomod, and Ford Puma front-wheel-drive crossover. No, I’m not joking. The Puma made the list because “it’s almost as though this vehicle was designed by an actual person who leads an actual life.”
Other cars that J.C. has given four stars out of a maximum of five include the McLaren GT, which will be repositioned as the entry-level model in the lineup after the Artura rolls out next year. Honorable mentions also go to the Mercedes-AMG GLE 63 luxury but sporty SUV, the controversial Land Rover Defender, and the cheap and cheerful Renault Clio.