Land Rover

Quiz: Guess the Green Flag tools and beat Joe Swash’s score

Guess the Green Flag tool

Joe Swash has been on a road trip of a lifetime, touring the Scottish Highlands in a vintage Land Rover as part of Green Flag’s Scenic Route series of inspiring drives. But when a car is almost as old as its driver, things will inevitably go wrong under the bonnet.

When cars breakdown, getting to the root of the cause is half the battle to swiftly getting it back on the road. That’s why every Green Flag breakdown van carries hundreds of tools, each with a very specific purpose. It means if a driver’s motor splutters to a halt – as Joe’s Land Rover did several times – the Green Flag technician should be able to fix the problem at the roadside.

The tools vary from the simple to the highly complex, costing from pence to hundreds of pounds. And several of them came to the rescue of Joe Swash, although he wasn’t too sure what many of them were for.

Take our quick quiz and see if you can guess the Green Flag tools and identify more of them than Joe could…

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Scenic Route: Buying old Land Rovers – the Green Flag expert’s guide

Fans will tell you buying old Land Rovers can be a fun and rewarding experience. Old versions of the model we now know as the Defender were the original ‘go anywhere’ vehicle. Ever since its introduction in 1948, the Land Rover is one of the few cars that can truly lay claim to having a cult following. It’s no surprise then that Joe Swash picked a Land Rover for his epic road trip for Green Flag’s Scenic Route series.

Joe’s is a 1985 Land Rover 90 Soft Top, the short wheelbase version fitted with what appears to be a poorly erected tent covering the back seats and load bay. You need a sense of adventure to own and drive a car like Joe’s. It’s also ideal to have a little mechanical knowledge or, at the least, the enthusiasm to roll up your sleeves and get stuck in, learning to fix faults as they arise. And they will – as any Land Rover owner will tell you. Continue reading

Five eye-wateringly expensive new car options that are no April Fools joke

Five of the most expensive car options that are no April Fools joke, including the Rolls-Royce Wraith

You may need to sit down before looking at the price of options on a Rolls-Royce Wraith (Picture © Rolls-Royce)

Anyone who has bought a new car recently can’t help but fail to have noticed the lengthy lists of optional extras that can be added to their new pride and joy – at a cost. These are so long that they make any fixtures and fittings list for a house purchase seem like a Post-it note. Yet extras are increasingly popular, as they allow drivers to give their car the personal touch, stand out of the crowd, or show-off the latest gadgets and gizmos to friends and family.

So, without further ado, here are five of the most expensive options available on new cars in the UK. And not one of them is an April Fools joke…

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