Consider driving these high performance cars

Manufacturers of old brands of cars have enhanced features for better performance. 

By MICHAEL MWAI

In Summary

• Rub your hands in glee, massage your eyeballs and let’s start licking the cream on top of the automotive cake.

SEE Slideshow: Dream cars for 2015

The brisk pace of technology innovations in the automotive industry makes it thrilling to write about cars.

Just years back it all seemed a fantasy but today electric and battery powered vehicles are on the shop floors. I drove the almost silent Renault Zoe quietly through the streets of Paris and was left feeling rather strange. Soon we may not even need to drive again with the advent of autonomous vehicles.

I am back writing about cars after a short break to launch my TV show, Autovault. I am tempted to take school children out to the streets to profess the death of the ordinary vehicle as we know it.

Trust me, the danger is real for the car lover. I suggest you invest in a classic car, whatever that means to you. If a stick shift is what you consider a real car, get one before things change forever.

If a real 4x4 is one that engages you more, then get yourself a Land Rover Defender before it is retired. If all that makes no sense to you, then all you want is a spanking new car because you worked hard and smart in 2014.

Here are a few ideas.

This year will be full of excitement, celebration and jubilation for the growing middle class with clean money to spend or bad money to clean. Rub your hands in glee, massage your eyeballs and let’s start licking the cream on top of the automotive cake.

New

Porsche signed off 2014 leading the luxury segment with the ‘end of life’ Cayenne. If you are one of the lucky few that snapped up a ‘bargain basement’ unit before prices shot upwards, you can smile without shame.

Is the party over now that the market is ready to respond?

BMW have introduced the new X5, X6 and Mercedes launched the new ML. Nothing too special about these old names except that the products are much improved.

If you want to stand out you will need to be more daring. Check out the new Jaguar CX17 and its fraternal twin the Discovery Sport. Now that is brave. Will they find a following in a ‘conservative’ market such as Kenya? Yes of course.

The nouveau riche do not conform. They will go for the unique proposition. They may be few in number, but they are growing and more outgoing.

Niche

To counter the competition, Mercedes introduced many new cars including the locally irrelevant GLA and trendy GLE. BMW continue trying to make sense of the X1 and introduced the strangely positioned X4 that will cannibalise the X3. Nothing wrong with these cars, there is just not enough appetite yet.