DU LOVE IT

Both my grandmothers are long gone, but I’d have sold either one of them to get my hands on a Ducati Panigale V4. This breathtakingly beautiful superbike has just landed at British dealerships. I’m a bit old and creaky to be bent over a superbike, but the technical spec and styling of the V4 is amazing.

A pity I haven’t got 19 grand to spend, or a big enough sitting room to display the Ducati in. I will settle for a test ride.

Mercedes-AMG is introducing a new engine to its performance line-up to power its upcoming AMG 53 range. It’s a 3.0-litre, six-cylinder in-line petrol unit producing 435bhp. It features twin turbochargers that have electrically driven compressors to reduce lag. The engine also features a starter/generator unit which momentarily adds an additional 250Nm of torque. The new unit will be fitted to CLS and E-Class cabriolet and coupe models. The top-of-therange CLS 53 is expected to carry a ballpark price tag of around £74,000. Order books open in April.

I’ve not been to one of Bicester Heritage’s Sunday Scramble events, but by all accounts these classic car gatherings at the old RAF base (which is now a sort of craft village for old machinery) are great fun. The next one is being held on April 22 (bicesterheritage.co.uk/ events). January’s scramble attracted 4,000 people, so I’d imagine a warmer spring day will attract even more classic car enthusiasts.