The Driver Robert Coucher

Why simplicity is best in the era of cars as appliances

- 

It's a well-known fact that blokes like a list.

A listing of the 'Top 10' in pretty much any subject will grab our attention as we mentally tally it with all the other lists filed in our heads. Especially when it comes to buying suggestions in the classic car world.

I'll come back to that in a moment, but first - by way of context - I need to talk about the misfortune I experienced when hiring two cars over Christmas and at the start of the ski season. The first was something by the name of Tonale. I'd never heard of nor seen one before but it's a mid-sized SUV by Alfa Romeo. It has the attractive Alfa 'face' and generic SUV looks and it swallowed the family and luggage; our US readers might also know it as the Dodge Hornet, which may go some way to explain its rather confused character. Avis likes to park its cars with a mere wafer-thin gap between them, so you have to struggle to gain entry and then try to find the vital controls in the darkness of its underground car park.

This car featured one of those silly circular gear selectors, but otherwise it doesn't pile all other controls onto its touchscreen.