THE BIG CHRISTMAS CROSSWORD 2017

After solving the crossword, take each letter from the shaded squares ( going from left to right and top to bottom) to spell out the car-themed mystery word.

CROSSWORD CLUES Across

8 For car body repair, put this in the Christmas stocking! (6) 9 A 104bhp 1968 release - followup to the Brabham (8,4,2) 12 Car roof fittings taken from train tracks? (5) 13 The framework of a motor vehicle (7)

14 & 44 down Italian executive car based on Fiat Tipo underpinnings (6,5)

15 A 1960s offering from Rootes (6,5)

16 Smooth or firm, it’s key to driving comfort (4)

17 Fail to keep up with turborelated delay (3)

19 Four-wheelers from Reliant manufactured between 1975 and 1982 (7) 21 Maserati V8s from the 1970s (5) 22 The EB110 supercar of the 1990s revived which evocative marque? (7)

26 A Christmas pudding accompaniment gives colour to leather car upholstery (5)

27 Those giving Lancia Volumex models a boost (13)

30 British Leyland ‘TT’ from the 1970s (7,6)

31 They succeeded the Renault 5 (5)

34 The VR-4 was a version of which long-running Mitsubishi models? (7)

35 Rootes range that included the Humber Sceptre Series III (5)

36 Highly exclusive versions of the Aston Martin DB4GT (7)

39 Riley model belonging to Santa’s little helper? (3)

41 Thames Ditton sports cars on the cards? (4)

42 The Skoda Favorit’s Russian rivals (4,7)

45 Old Citroen estate bringing promise of Jeep adventure? (6)

46 Birthplace of German car firm, Melkus (7)

47 They were the parent company of sports car marque, Pegaso (5)

48 The Ford Maverick’s Japanese twins (6,8)

49 What a child might well send Santa to add character to the number plate (6)

Down

1 Fiat 500 estate launched in 1960 and later on built by Autobianchi (11)

2 How Santa and his reindeer are taking to the skies revealing a 1930s Standard nameplate (6) 3 _ Siddeley, makers of the Lancaster (9) 4 Impreza-based estates with four-wheel drive (6,9)

5 Silver Rolls - one from Scrooge’s Christmas Past? (5)

6 Polo _ , Volkswagen Derby successor (7) 7 Rebranded Austin-Healey Sprites (2,7) 9 One who wins a classic Vauxhall? (6) 10 The first production road car from De Tomaso (10) 11 Type of car roof favoured by record collectors? (5) 18 An Italian ‘MG’ with many a design (8,7) 20 Surname of the American who styled the De Tomaso Pantera (7) 23 A Lancia car from the 1950s (7) 24 Footwear for fuel distributors? (5) 25 Other than Volvo, who else had a 121 in its range? (5) 28 Like Holden, nationality-wise (10) 29 Japanese coupé from the 1990s related to the Tercel (6,5) 32 Ghiblis, Sebrings, etc (9) 33 Classic car from Renault that shares its name with a current Volkswagen van (9) 37 Those shed by Christmas trees on instrument dials? (7) 38 Surname of the Morris Marina’s designer (6) 40 Barchettas, X1/9s, etc (5) 43 Well-known racing and performance marque bought by Fiat in 1971 (6) 44 See 14 across