Reports on how Ford’s new Escort XR3i faces up to the competition from hatchback rivals like the Volkswagen Golf GTi, Britain’s new tyre-test law, and cruising America’s Sunshine State in the original “muscle car” — the Mustang.

With the new Renault A610 launched yesterday and the recently introduced Venturi, does this new brace of sports cars from France have the excitement to take on Ferrari?

Should drivers be re-tested regularly once they reach a certain age? Plus test-driving Fiat’s latest small car, the Cinquecento, and a new kind of football, Motaball.

Buying an MGB may be the best route to reliable summertime fun — an almost risk-free classic and, better still, cheaper than might be expected. Plus this week’s Vauxhall Sport Rally — round 1 of the Mobil 1 Top Gear British Rally Championship.

A report on Mitsubishi’s claim that their new Colt brings true quality to small cars for the first time. Plus secondhand bargains in importing large American cars; and motorcycle sidecars. Plus the launch of the Radio Times/Top Gear competition.

Including a road-test on the Porsche 968 and Jaguar XJR-S to answer accusations that those two manufacturers have given up introducing all-new models. And a report from the Lake District on the Cumbria Rally.

Including a road and track test of the Rocket, a new sports car that looks like a 60s racer. Plus the safety of Britain’s ten most popular cars and the history of the early Ford Thunderbird.

Is it worth paying extra for the privilege of being seen in a coupe? Jeremy Clarkson drives the new BMW 3-series and the Honda Prelude. Quentin Willson discovers a car which is gold-plated, weighs three tons, and was custom-made for a flamboyant Texan in the 1920s.

The Ford GT40 beat Ferrari at its own game at Le Mans in the 1960s. Tiff Needell races and road tests a replica of one of these legends in American motoring. And Jeremy Clarkson drives the new Volvo 850.

In the last of the series, Jeremy Clarkson drives Hitler’s Mercedes convertible and Mussolini’s 1939 Lancia.