BBC Top Gear Magazine July 2025

@jack_rix @rixjack jack.rix@bbctopgearmagazine.com The world of cars and consumer tech have been hurtling towards a collision point for years… this month we have impact. Where were you when TopGear got the exclusive on the launch of Apple CarPlay Ultra? Yes, it’s car related and we tested the new system in a suitably fruity 700bhp Aston Martin, but in essence it’s a first drive… of some software. As TG contributor and YouTube tech king Marques Brownlee commented on our video with flat disbelief, “Tech videos on TopGear.” The tech takeover of cars has been creeping up on us for a while and only highlighted by the massive influx of new Chinese cars in the UK – every single one of which we drive and rate on page 72. For now, these…

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Actually, Merlin McCormack does not identify as a ‘car dealer’. Reclining in his tumbledown office, I ask how he prefers to be branded. “We like to wind people up. We decorated our f**king showroom like Terry Tibbs’ [the used car salesman from Fonejacker] because the thing is a complete farce. I dunno what I am. Guess I’m an idiot who likes cars.” Self deprecation and a sense of humour (along with a bottomless well of car knowledge inherited from his restoration mad dad) are part of what’s got Merlin, only 31 years young, here today. Lord of all he surveys here in his showroom – a ‘need to know’ location stuffed with 1960s Americana, late 1990s Ferraris, myriad Porsches and smatterings of esoteric Alfas, Fiats and Astons. We’re somewhere in…

IF YOU OWN AN iPHONE AND DON’T drive a car inherited from your grandma, chances are you’ll know all about Apple CarPlay, the now ubiquitous software that lets you mirror your smartphone on your car’s infotainment screen for a familiar looking and easy to use way of accessing navigation apps, podcasts, music, messages and more. Well, that’s now offcially old tech because the next gen CarPlay – CarPlay Ultra – has launched, and we’ve had a play. Whereas the old system was a mirror of your phone and selected apps, all the computing was done on the phone and the car displayed that info like a monitor. Here there’s a fair bit more going on. There’s still some stuff that’s mirrored and computed on the phone, but that’s now mixed…

JACK RIX TG’S EDITOR-IN-CHIEF IS A PROUD APPLE AFICIONADO If youíre already hooked on Apple, and a user of CarPlay, youíre going to love this even more. Everything is integrated and shot through with Appleís hallmark clarity and familiarity ñ something that carmakers are so hit and miss with when it comes to their in-house software. By the way, you can always switch back to the manufacturerís UI if you prefer, or MkI CarPlay if you must. Iím pumped to see how other manufacturers, especially those with multiple screens measured in acres, interpret this new found freedom. At last, the Apple Car has arrived! Sort of… “At last, the Apple Car has arrived! Sort of…” OLLIE KEW TG’S DEPUTY EDITOR IS FED UP OF SCREENS DOMINATING OUR CARS First, they…

THEY WILL BE PARTYING ON THE STREETS OF KRAGUJEVAC tonight, because the Yugo is back. Yep, entrepreneur, engineer, automotive exec and university professor Dr Aleksandar Bjelić has acquired the naming rights to Zastava’s communist cult hero, and he’s teamed up with Serbian designer Darko Marčeta to produce this 1:5 scale model that previews a future production car. Looks super cool, doesn’t it? And don’t worry, because the Yugo isn’t about to become yet another identikit crossover. The newly formed Yugo Automobile showed off its model at the Car Design Event 2025 and said that the production car would be a B segment hatchback, so it’ll rival things like the Toyota Yaris, Renault Clio and Volkswagen Polo. It gets better too. The new Yugo will apparently launch with combustion engines and…