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New York

Two men prostrated themselves before the new Freelander — in gratitude, presumably, for anything more reliable than the previous model — but it turned out that the turntable on which it was displayed had jammed. On the Hummer stand another man went from car to car covering the filler caps with sticky tape. I had no idea these were so desirable, but then this was the New York Motor Show and they were expecting 200,000 visitors. The filler cap is indeed satisfyingly chunky but the rest of the car looks as if it’s trying to be more than it is, like a man with shoulder pads.

Over at Mercedes there was consternation when the roof leaked on to the C50 Sport Sedan. The new C Class was disappointingly cramped in the rear, something you expect of the CLK but not from a four-door saloon. The CL65 AMG looked as potent as it is (V12, 0–60mph in 4.2