

Letters from Readers, February 1939
fetteii,a1<t *,acleit THE TALBOT DARRACQ EIGHT sir, The letter of Mr. Rivers Fletcher in the December issue describing his Talbot Eight interested me very much indeed. In 1922 my father…
This is not a story I’d intended to write. I’d turned up to drive the new BMW X1 crossover SUV but was told that if I wanted to, I could also try the rather mildly face-lifted M340i Touring which was waiting for someone else to drive. So I did.
It’s an unfashionable car. Nobody wants estates any more because they’ve all piled into SUVs. It has no hybrid system and it hasn’t even got a downsized 2-litre four-cylinder engine with implausible amounts of boost blowing through it. Instead there’s a very lightly turbocharged 3-litre straight six.
And it is absolutely wonderful. Because it’s not got a centre of gravity up in the clouds and doesn’t weigh as much as a limousine, it is both fast and fun, while superbly judged suspension settings means it rides superbly and the only significant noise is a straight six howl. It has enough space in the back and boot for a small family, is sumptuously equipped and, by the increasingly absurd standards of crossover SUVs, not even that expensive.
What does everyone else see that I do not? Given the choice why would you not go for the car that is faster, quieter and less polluting? I have been railing against crossovers for sometime, but if you want to be reminded just how flawed is their prospectus, there’s nothing likely to do a better job than a 3 Series Touring. Preferably with a big, fat six-cylinder motor up front. My fear is we’ll only realise just how amazing such cars are once they’re gone. AF
• Price £56,455
• Engine 3 litres, six cylinders, petrol, turbocharged
• Power 374bhp
• Torque 369lb ft
• Weight 1795kg
• Power to weight 208bhp per tonne
• Transmission Eight-speed auto, four-wheel drive
• 0-60mph 4.6sec
• Top speed 155mph
• Economy 35.0mpg
• CO2 182g/km
• Verdict See sense and get an estate.