Opel/Vauxhall has revealed this new Astra saloon – but the four-door is not destined for sale in the UK. The Opel Astra saloon will instead be sold in select western European markets, including Germany and Spain, where 'notchbacks' are popular, as well as Eastern Europe, Russia and Turkey.
The Astra saloon is offered with four petrol and three diesel engines. The most powerful engine is a 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol unit with 177bhp. The most frugal is a 94bhp 1.3-litre oil-burner with CO2 emissions of 99g/km and 76.3mpg.
Opel has also confirmed its new family of turbocharged four-cylinder 1.6-litre petrol engines will be launched in the new Astra four-door from early 2013.
The Astra saloon, sister car to the Buick Verano, is 4658mm long, 1814mm wide and 1476mm high. That makes it 239mm longer than a standard Astra five-door. The four and five-door models share the same 2685mm wheelbase, but the extra length allows for an increase of 90 litres in boot capacity. The 460-litre volume can be increased to 1010 litres by folding the 60:40 split rear bench flat.
Visually, the Astra four-door is identical to the five-door from the rear doors forward. The rear screen has a sharp rake to better integrate the boot. There’s also an integrated rear spoiler and an ‘inner wing’ shape for the rear lamps, an Opel hallmark.
The new model is set to make its public debut at the Moscow motor show in August.
London's ugliest buildings: your choices - Daily Telegraph
The Queen Elizabeth conference centre offends my eyes and the Shell building on the South Bank is equally brutal.
Martin Bartlett, by email
I know most of the buildings featured: it appears that you have chosen the some of the largest projects in recent history? In terms of the Blue Fin, you should go and have a look at what used to be there. And UCL Hospital? Surely Guys Hospital should be there instead?
Martin Garthwaite, by email
The One New Change shopping centre in the City would be my choice for inclusion in London’s ugliest buildings. Not for nothing is it referred to as “the turd”.
Bob Thompson, by email
Most modern buildings are just meaningless, incongruous, dysfunctional shapes, which date with amazing rapidity. If it’s not going to look good still in 500 years; don’t build it.
John Armstrong, by email
The Shard without a doubt is one of the ugliest buildings in London. The first view I had of this monstrosity was crossing the Thames when coming from Gatwick Airport. To me it looked like a giant prophylactic.
Why do all these buildings have to stick out like a sore thumb? Isn't it about time there were height restrictions? There should also be rules about modern "architecture" (if that is what they want to call it) complementing the surroundings in which they are being built.
S Cook, by email
I would add Portcullis House. Dark brown is seldom a good colour for a building and this is no exception.
Robert Cook, by email
A gentleman's London weekend - Daily Telegraph
A couple of doors away, James Lock hatters has been around since 1676. Hat sales, I'm told, have been on the increase in the past seven years with felt trilbys and tweed caps being the most popular. Next, I pop into J J Fox, the cigar specialist, which has also been in business since the late 18th century. Unusually, you can smoke there, either in the upstairs sampling lounge or the tiny museum downstairs which contains, among other items, a Chesterfield belonging Sir Winston Churchill (who would get through eight giant cigars a day). I lit up a delicate Tres Petit Lonsdale ("a good mid-morning cigar") and thought about lunch.
After exploring another of the street's treasures, the wine merchant Berry Bros & Rudd, and contemplating booking a tasting in the 300-year-old cellars, I wandered along to the very traditional Green's Restaurant and Oyster Bar where I tucked into half a dozen Fal and Rock.
For any country gentleman worth his salt, a shotgun is part of the essential kit. So I wound down Bond Street towards Holland and Holland, which has been making shotguns and rifles since 1835 and will make you look the part, too. Its technical adviser, Pat Murphy, took me through the crucial process of "gun fit" (fitting a gun to the purchaser), explained the types of guns on offer and told me why a pair can cost £190,000 (you realise why when you examine the engraving). But you have to wait two to three years for one to be made. As at Lobb's, there are still people happy to splash out on such extravagances – and not all of them are from abroad.
Such displays of wealth put me in need of a drink and since it was cocktail hour I headed for the Connaught Hotel where the "head mixologist", Agostino Perrone, explained the thinking behind the perfect drink. His knack is giving a new twist to classic drinks and he served me an invigorating gin martini with ginger essence and then concocted the best Bloody Mary I've ever had, using tequila.
After a heady taxi ride, dinner followed at the excellent Vinoteca in Seymour Place, inspired by the wine bars of Italy and Spain, which set me up for the evening's main event, gambling.
London has a long and chequered history of gaming – as the novelist Peter Ackroyd once observed, "the dissipations of the city act as great levellers". How true that was at the Empire Casino, where you can gamble 24 hours a day. It was just shy of 11pm as I entered the poker room for a brief lesson in Texas Hold 'Em, but the big and small blinds left me somewhat bamboozled and I left the high and low rollers to try my luck on the main floor with roulette and blackjack. Unfortunately it was not my night.
The following morning, after a bacon sandwich at the Riding House Cafe, I had an appointment at Sotheby's. One of the better secrets of London is that you can duck into the auction house (even without the family heirlooms) and view the exhibits of a forthcoming auction – and there's an excellent café, too. I had a preview of February's Contemporary Art Auction, with works by Gerhard Richter, Damien Hirst and Lucian Freud, all of which sold well, a few days later.
Just up the road at Oxford Street, House of Fraser's menswear department has enjoyed a revamp, with a clubby lounge (complete with a small library containing a copy of Debrett's Guide for the Modern Gentleman, as well as a television) where you can have a suit made up or engage a personal shopper.
It used to be said that a man was defined by his clubs and so for my final indulgence, I visited the RAC on Pall Mall, founded in 1897, for an invigorating "exfoliation massage". I left reassured that London remains a city that really is anything you want it to be – and for one weekend I had enjoyed a lifestyle that Beau Brummell might have appreciated.
A gentleman's address book
St John Hotel (020 3301 8069; stjohnhotellondon.com); doubles from £150.
Vinoteca (020 7724 7288; vinoteca.co.uk); The Riding House Café (020 7927 0840; ridinghousecafe.co.uk); Green's Restaurant and Oyster Bar (020 7930 4566; greens.org.uk).
James Lock (020 7930 8874; lockhatters.co.uk); Lobb (020 7930 3664; johnlobbltd.co.uk); Berry Bros & Rudd (0800 280 2440; bbr.com); JJ Fox (020 7930 3787; jjfox.co.uk); Holland and Holland (020 7499 4411; hollandandholland.com); House of Fraser (0844 800 3752; houseoffraser.co.uk).
Sotheby's (020 7293 5000; sothebys.com); auctions in Bond Street include European paintings on June 11 and Finest and Rarest Wines, June 12-14.
Royal Automobile Club (020 7747 3365; royalautomobileclub.co.uk); non-members are admitted for massage treatments only – from £34 for 30 minutes.
Gentlemen's Tonic at Gieves & Hawkes (020 7432 6441; gentlemenstonic.com); a standard wet shave costs £35.
The casino at the Empire (020 3014 1000; thecasinolsq.com).
No comments:
Post a Comment