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Check out this great free mixtape from kings of the blend, Mick Boogie and Terry Urban, taking Coldplay’s tracks and mixing them with Jay-Z. Even better than the illegal mash-up that was the ‘Grey’ album (mixing Jay-Z’s ‘Black’ album with The Beatles ‘White’ album) from Gnarls Barkley’s Danger Mouse a while ago. Check out the links on the site and download yourself a copy, it’s well worth it. Highlights are ‘Hola Blanco’, ‘Science Is Ignorant’ and ‘The Reverse Fix’ to name but a few. 

http://www.vivalahova.com/

It was originally designed to win rally championships, but they changed the rules. That didn’t stop Mercedes though, they just used it to go saloon car racing instead (with huge success in the 90’s). In order to build the racing car they had to build a production version and that was why the Mercedes 190E 2.3-16 was born. It looked like an ordinary Merc 190 with a subtle(ish) bodykit, a bit like a sober suited junior executive wearing Nike’s, but under the bonnet it had a 2.3 litre, 4 cylinder engine with a Cosworth fettled 16v head and enough power to make it interesting. Running through the 5 speed dog-leg manual, Getrag gearbox to the rear wheels. The sublime handling and rev-happy engine made it instantly the most driver-focussed car in the Mercedes line-up, and perhaps in the history of Mercedes cars.

Now you can by one of these motorsport legends from as little as £2,000 for a half decent one, or £7k-£10k for an absolutely mint example. At that money it’s a very tempting purchase. Couple in cheap, classic insurance, relatively inexpensive road tax and a reasonable availability of spare parts and specialist mechanics, and I think it’s a bit of a bargain. And it’s the type of motor that those in-the-know will notice, but most will just think is a shit old Merc with a chavvy body kit. I love them.

The 2.3-16 gave way to the 2.5-16 in 1989, and this is the one to go for in my opinion (although there are many advocates of the earlier model). It has a wee bit more power and a slightly less frenetic engine.

If you like BMW’s classic E30 M3, but can’t be bothered with a left hand drive car in the UK, then this is a great alternative, with the added practical bonus of 4-doors and a wee bit more refinement. It’s a true connoseurs choice. Much better than that tin can, piece of french crap, Peugeot 205 GTI I was on about last time. Nope this is definately my favourite car (this week).