Hi everyone, it’s Alistair

Our latest video landed this week and, well…it’s a strange one. I was recently sent the electric DS No8 for review, a luxury French EV from Citroen’s up-market sibling. Its funky design is intriguing and if you tick all the boxes you’ll have a truly luxurious car with masses of kit – including neck warmers – but it’s a car I struggled to bond with.

Yes, it’s different and being different is no bad thing. But it felt expensive, doesn’t go as far as hoped on a charge, and had some real oddities to the way it drove. Check out my video below and let me know what you think - would you buy a DS No8? Or is this brand so far off your radar you’d not even heard of it before?

I flew to South Carolina this week to check out the all-new BMW iX5. This was a static event, so no driving just yet, but it was a great opportunity to visit BMW’s massive Spartanburg factory and get up close with the new X5 and iX5.

BMW is very proud of how the X5 is being built as a petrol and diesel mild hybrid, plus a plug-in hybrid, a full EV and even an EV powered by hydrogen fuel cell.

The iX5 has some very impressive specifications, from a range of up to 525 miles, to a maximum charging rate of 460 kW, and a battery capacity of 141 kWh. It also boast can all-new design, BMW’s lovely new Panoramic iDrive display, and a set of new door handles BMW calls winglets, which control the iX5’s electrically-assisted doors.

We’ll have a first-look video on the iX5 and X5 coming to The Next Drive’s YouTube channel soon.

Are you looking for a new car too? Perhaps you just want to show off your daily drive? Or maybe you’ve simply spotted something cool in the classifieds - get in touch and let me know what you’ve found.

[email protected]

I’ll feature the best spots and stories in future newsletters.

It’s that time of year again! We’re now just a few days away from the 2026 Goodwood Festival of Speed, and the show is set to be bigger than ever.

What began as a garden party for the then-Early of Richmond’s petrolhead mates, FoS has become the UK’s de facto motor show and indisputably one of the world’s greatest car shows.

This year will see a huge presence from Chinese brands like BYD and sub-brand Denza. There will also be a first look at the production version of the outrageous McMurtry Spiérling, a prototype of Alpine’s upcoming electric A110, a centrepiece statue in honour of Porsche specialists Singer, and the European debut of the 3,000-horsepower YangWang U9 Xtreme.

Plus, this year’s FoS will celebrate 100 years of Ducati, host a whole bunch of modern and historic Formula One cars, and welcome special guests Lando Norris and Valentino Rossi. As ever, Goodwood’s media team will be broadcasting live on YouTube throughout the show, so I recommend you head over to their channel.

I’ll be there and can’t wait to explore the site and shoot some video for The Next Drive’s YouTube channel – so stay tuned for that in the coming weeks.

I used to love building model cars when I was younger, so naturally I was thrilled to receive a 1:8 scale Pagani Utopia from Pocher.

Now, as model car kits go this is quite a challenging one. It’s massive, for a start, and comes in an enormous box packed with hundreds of parts, many made from metal but all thankfully pre-painted. You’ll need patience, a bit of skill, and a few tools to get the most out of it – and perhaps some tolerance of troubleshooting too, since the instructions could be better.

But if you’re a serious model builder don’t let that put you off. I’ve been slowly chipping away at this kit for most of the year now, and although I still have a way to go, I love looking at the half-built Utopia on my office bookshelf.

It’s not cheap – prices hover between £620 and £880 depending on retailer – but it’s an impressive kit and a wonderful way to explore every detail of one of the world’s most interesting hypercars.

Find out more at Pocher’s website – where you’ll also notice they have a 1:8 scale Ferrari F50 kit coming soon…

Thanks for reading The Next Drive. Catch you here next week!

Until then,

Alistair