Scratch and sni

VIA EMAIL

What a joy your Inside Classic Team Lotus feature was in the July issue. Aside from a hint of computer keyboard in the corner of one photo, this was a wonderfully timeless scene: blokes in overalls, tool chests, grease guns. You could almost smell it! Mind your sign language > VIA EMAIL

I’ve just read Steve Moody’s excellent article about the Bentley Continental in the May issue of CAR. I really enjoyed the descriptive writing and envied Steve the drive that he had.

However, I should point out that a man making a horn sign at you in mainland Europe is calling you a cuckold, rather than being friendly – a common sign used by the under-privileged to the wealthy. Terence Clear

AMG has never been shy > VIA EMAIL

In your May issue Georg Kacher writes: ‘Ever since the arrival of the 2003 Mercedes-McLaren SLR and the gullwing SLS that succeeded it in 2010, extrovert styling and a lot of noise have been trademarks common to all full-blooded AMG creations.’ Say what? Let us rewind to 1986, when AMG introduced the Hammer. A 32-valve dual-cam 5.6-litre V8 producing 360hp, inserted into a lowered, blacked-out saloon body. That’s 16 years before the aforementioned M-M SLR. As an impressionable young man who lived in the world of 157hp Mustangs and wheezing ’Vettes this was heady indeed. (The car’s nickname certainly helped it along.) The stuff of legend. Tom Novicki

Hang on, you mean I haven’t inherited £1m? > VIA EMAIL

I agree totally with Mark Walton (column, June) about fake additions to vehicles. The bonnet vents on my Range Rover Sport are as real as my recently deceased Nigerian uncle. But it’s not just the manufacturers that do it. When Jaguar launched the 2.0-litre diesel XF with a single lonely tailpipe, the forums went into meltdown and many people actually fitted a fake pipe on the other side. Back in the day, front foglights were key to being cool, apparently, and when they became ‘driving lights’… well, you couldn’t move in Halfords for customers. Phil Taylor

Welcome to the fold > VIA EMAIL

Please advise Phil McNamara that in order to get the wing mirrors on his Seat Ateca to fold (Our Cars, June) he should hold down the lock button on the remote for a few seconds longer when locking the car. Took us a few experiments and the manual was wrong. Dave Bradshaw

Man in the mirror > VIA EMAIL

I was both amused and gratified to read of Phil McNamara’s problems with the Seat Ateca manual’s guidance on setting the mirror for reversing. I tried several times without success, then realised there were two Rs mentioned in the instructions – one referring to the reverse position on the gear lever and the other to right position on the window controls. It works now.

But more broadly these guys are a long way from having instruction manuals that are easy to access, easy to use and consistent in style.

Now that there are so many set-up options for the user it would make sense to have a separate chapter just for set-up, not to have them buried in each section. Mike Cook