Welcome to the August 2025 edition of the Southern Group Happenings. In this month’s update we’ve got plenty of advice on SUV buying and the verdict on the Alpine A290 hot hatchback, as well as Stu Bird reading the Mk1 Honda Civic brochure.
Read on for the full roundup of the goings-on in the automotive industry and the latest highlights from SGMW members.
2025 Southern Group Heritage Day
Last month, the Southern Group’s annual Heritage Day was held at the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu in Hampshire. The 2025 event was a record breaker, with 24 members and 35 PRs in attendance (both record numbers). A total of 33 cars were available to test from 17 car brands, another record number for the event, and there was even an Iveco truck offering passenger rides (another first for the Heritage Day).
On the day, the sprawling roads of the South Downs once again proved to be a fantastic place to put an array of cars to the test, with plenty of stunning scenery on offer.
As is now tradition, members and PRs voted for the best member’s car award and the manufacturer’s award. Several classic member cars were in the running, including a Caterham, a Kia Pride, a Fiat X/19, and a Ford Crown Victoria. While the Ford Focus RS500 and Escort Mexico were grabbing all the attention for the manufacturer’s award.
For all the highlights of the day, and the winners, the full story is here.
SGMW Car Launch Watch:
We start with cars you cannot have, and it’s a big one – as in late August, Skoda revealed an AI-generated version of what a modern Felicia Fun pick-up could look like – and it’s gloriously yellow and quirky. Tragically, it is just a design study, and they won’t make it.
August also saw the arrival of the new Volkswagen T-Roc. It gets a new Tiguan-style front end, more tech, and hybrid power. Also, and in case you didn’t know, it is likely to be the last new ICE-powered VW before the German brand goes all in on EVs. Sad times.
The facelifted Peugeot 308 also broke cover last month, sporting a revised exterior, light-up badges (urg), and improved tech. The new Audi Q3 Sportback also arrived with the same front-end design as its SUV-bodied sibling but with a sloping coupe roofline from the B-pillars onwards. Views on the new front end are mixed, to say the least, but we’re betting this won’t stop Audi from selling loads of them to sporty SUV buyers (as in most of the car-buying public).
Lastly, Vauxhall decided to be very un-Vauxhall-like with the reveal of the new Corsa GSE Vision Gran Turismo concept, a new high-performance concept previewing the future of the brand’s design language that will feature on the next-generation Corsa in 2027. We think it could be the most exciting Vauxhall since the VXR8 of the mid-noughties. Just look at it, with its angular flared bodywork and massive wheels making it look all angry. Grrrrrr indeed.
SGMW Test Drive Watch:
In last month’s reviews there was a clear winner: the Dacia Bigster SUV. In 4×4 form, it scored highly for its brilliance for a budget price. Just don’t look up its name in the Urban Dictionary, whatever you do.
Other winners included the new Nissan Micra, a car that is now almost capable of rivalling the ageing VW Polo in the supermini sector. The revised Rolls-Royce Cullinan also scored highly, but this is not unexpected for a car that starts at £350k and is nicer inside than the average motoring journalist’s house.
In the losers section, the new Volkswagen Tiguan R-Line can now be had with the 2.0 TSI engine from the Golf GTI, but it hasn’t made it any more exciting according to reviewers.
Lastly, we get to the Jeep Renegade North Star, the latest update to the decade-old Stellantis mini-SUV. According to reviewers, this new trim level cannot hide the fact that the Renegade now lags far behind rivals due to its age regardless of its powertrain. Words do hurt indeed.
SGMW Web Watch:
Alpine A290 review: the rebirth of the modern-day hot-hatch – Jim McGill
Can an electric car really be a hot hatch for the purists? As part of the SGMW’s Heritage Drive Day, Jim McGill took the Alpine A290 for a drive to find out.
Best SUVs to buy 2025 – Shane Wilkinson
With a vast array of SUVs to pick from in 2025, which is best? Shane Wilkinson picks his top ten for Auto Express.
Read the Auto Express Article here
The Honda Civic Mk1 UK Brochure Read-Through. This isn’t just any old Civic – Stu Bird
In his latest video for the DrivenIt channel, Stu Bird gives some automotive themed bedtime reading on the Mk1 Honda Civic.
The most reliable family SUVs – and the least – Claire Evans
As UK sales of SUVs continue to surge, you might wonder which are the most reliable models to buy? Well, Claire Evans has been crunching the numbers for What Car? to find out.
Read the What Car! article here
Ranger-rivalling RAM Dakota won’t reach the UK – Phil Huff
RAM has made a smaller pickup that’s a ready-made rival for the Ford Ranger – but it won’t be coming to the UK. Phil Huff breaks down the details of the new Dakota pickup for Professional Pickup.
Read the Professional Pickup article here
SGMW Social Watch:
Our resident supercar correspondent, Tim Pitt, goes exploring in Wales in an Aston Martin Vanquish Volante. Jealous? Yes, we very much are.
Exploring North Wales in the Aston Martin Vanquish Volante.
— Tim Pitt (@timpitt100) August 31, 2025
Drop-top is 95kg heavier than the coupe, with a dry weight of 1,869kg (call it two tonnes with fluids).
Weight distribution has shifted slightly backwards, so it’s now 49:51 front to rear. pic.twitter.com/H9eJZnHFD4
In rubbish bin news, Jim McGill makes a film about a Canadian dumpster he spotted on the streets of Vancouver.
Phill Tromans starts his own Jazz Club on his driveway.
Ben Hodges gets a bit teary-eyed after it’s announced that Godzilla is finally dead due to silly regulations.
