Autocar's ultimate Christmas quiz
Fancy a brain workout to perk yourself up over the festive period? The Autocar team have set some posers
Autocar's staffers have assembled 50 of the toughest car questions to test your noggin this Christmas. The answers - for scorers, enthusiasts and cheaters - are at the bottom of the page.
1 What was the short-lived Aston Martin GT that lasted just over a year on sale from 2011 called?
2 The Cupra Formentor is named after a peninsula on which Spanish island?
3 Karl Benz introduced the Benz Patent-Motorwagen in 1886, but in what year did he introduce his first four-wheeled car, the Viktoria?
4 The Volkswagen family hatchback sold in Brazil is not the Golf but the what?
5 Silverstone hosted the first Formula 1 World Championship race in 1950. Which two venues have hosted more championship grands prix since?
6 Which short-lived electric car from 1996 is the only car to be badged General Motors, rather than one of the firm’s brands?
7 In which year did Autocar merge with its historic rival, Motor?
8 The Lotus Esprit and Excel both shared their tail-light units with which other British car?
9 In 1955, which car became the first to achieve three litres per 100km (94mpg)?
10 Which eight manufacturers had works entries into the 1998 British Touring Car Championship?
11 On which road in Hethel, Norfolk, is Lotus’s headquarters located?
12 What is the name of the Australian arm of General Motors, which is going to be retired at the end of this year?
13 Why was the 14 November 1896 issue of The Autocar printed using red ink?
14 TVR has registered how many examples of its reborn Griffith since its unveiling in 2017?
15 Which are the only two non-American car manufacturers to have scored wins in Nascar-sanctioned stock car races?
16 Which three manufacturers were the last to build cars in Australia?
17 In which country was Skoda founded as Laurin & Klement in 1895?
18 The BMW M1 supercar started life as a joint venture with which other manufacturer?
19 Why was Colombian driver Ricardo Londoño denied a Formula 1 superlicence in 1981?
20 What was the name of the 2011 coupé concept that officially previewed Ford’s Kinetic 2.0 design language but got everyone excited about a return of the Capri?
21 Alfa Romeo began life in 1906 as SAID to build cars for the Italian market designed by which firm?
22 Why was the numberplate LMW 281F stolen repeatedly from a Volkswagen Beetle from 1969?
23 What’s the largest gap between the winner and runner-up in an edition of the Le Mans 24 Hours?
24 What do W and O stand for in WO Bentley?
25 What do the Lexus LFA and the Toyota Mirai have in common?
26 Which was the first production car (unmodified) to break the 150mph barrier?
27 The northern part of the Bundesautobahn 115 near Berlin was used for which grand prix circuit?
28 In which year did production of the original Volkswagen Beetle finally end in Mexico?
29 What was the first production car to feature anti-lock brakes?
30 Which now-defunct British company did Ford take to court for using the Sierra name on its (strangely) Escort-based kit cars?
31 Why did Ettore Bugatti once refuse to sell a Royale to King Zog of Albania?
32 Azerbaijani manufacturer Azermash recently restarted production of which 33-year-old car?
33 Two-time Nascar championship-winning driver Tim Flock had a co-driver called Jocko Flocko. What was unusual about Jocko?
34 The Series 1 Lotus Esprit used a tail-light design taken from which Italian car?
35 Which New Zealander won his third consecutive Australian Supercars championship title in 2020?
36 What do the letters PT stand for in the name Chrysler PT Cruiser?
37 What was the last car to be sold fitted with a cassette deck from the factory?
38 Which other car company helped Vauxhall with the design of the first-generation Zafira?
39 Volkswagen sought to buy Rolls-Royce and Bentley in the late 1990s but ultimately ended up with only Bentley. Who owned Rolls-Royce Motor Cars before selling the marque to BMW?
40 Which American circuit is located in the town of Speedway?
41 Which four brands are represented by the four rings in the Audi logo?
42 Which Brazilian manufacturer of off-road vehicles was bought by Ford in 2007?
43 Which car had the first production V6 engine?
44 In the late-1990s, Daihatsu imported to the UK a hot version of its Curore kei car. What was its curiously long name?
45 Which Japanese car company began life as a cork manufacturer?
46 Rikky von Opel is to date the only Formula 1 driver to represent which country?
47 Lewis Hamilton set a new all-time Formula 1 win record this year, but in which grand prix has he scored the most wins?
48 By comparison, which driver holds the record for the most Formula 1 races started without scoring a win?
49 Which car manufacturer boss regularly competes in the Nürburgring 24 Hours using the pseudonym Morizo?
50 Which vehicle is nicknamed the pão de forma in Portugal, because of its apparent resemblance to a loaf of bread?
*Answers to the Christmas quiz*
1 Aston Martin Virage
2 Majorca
3 1892
4 Volkswagen Golf
5 Monte Carlo (Monaco) and Monza (Italy)
6 GM EV1
7 1988
8 Rover SD1
9 BMW Isetta
10 Audi, Ford, Honda, Nissan, Peugeot, Renault, Vauxhall and Volvo
11 Potash Lane
12 Holden
13 To celebrate the repeal of the law requiring a man waving a red flag to walk in front of cars
14 One
15 Jaguar and Toyota
16 Toyota, Ford and Holden (General Motors)
17 Bohemia (part of Austria-Hungary)
18 Lamborghini
19 F1 bosses learned he was backed by drug lord Pablo Escobar (but officially because he crashed into Keke Rosberg in practice)
20 Evos
21 Darracq of France
22 It appeared on the cover of Abbey Road by The Beatles
23 349km or 216 miles
24 Walter Owen
25 They were hand-built in the same factory
26 Mercedes-Benz 300SL ‘Gullwing’
27 Avus
28 2003
29 Jensen Interceptor
30 Dutton
31 He claimed “the man’s table manners are beyond belief”
32 Peugeot 405 (badged the Azermash Peugeot 406)
33 He was a rhesus monkey
34 Fiat X/19
35 Scott McLaughlin
36 Personal Transport
37 Lexus SC430
38 Porsche
39 Vickers
40 Indianapolis Motor Speedway
41 Audi, DKW, Horch and Wanderer
42 Troller
43 Lancia Aurelia
44 Daihatsu Cuore Avanzato TR-XX R4
45 Mazda
46 Liechtenstein
47 Hungarian Grand Prix
48 Andrea de Cesaris (208 starts)
49 Akio Toyoda
50 Volkswagen Type 2
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