Talking about the new Dark Rebel concept car, a dramatic sports coupé, Cupra design boss Jorge Díez told us that “with no heritage or need to keep to DNA, we can make it from scratch”.
That’s no doubt accurate. But would ardent Seat fans have been banging down the doors at Martorell in protest had the Dark Rebel come out exactly the same, save for having a Seat badge? “Sorry, Jorge, but this just isn’t sufficiently Alhambraey.”
Whatever, I’m pleased for the people who work there that, after years of stagnation, they’ve alighted on a brand that seems to have hit a sweet spot. Although it feels like a direction that the parent brand could and should have taken a couple of decades ago.
Another new ‘brand’ that’s having no trouble expanding is Caffeine & Machine, which runs a hub/pub/coffee shop/hotel/place to take your car in Ettington, Warwickshire.
Last week, it opened a new branch, The Bowl, in Houghton Conquest, Bedfordshire, not far from Millbrook Proving Ground. That came as a bit of a surprise: I knew the team was working on opening two other venues, one farther north, one farther south, yet this one popped up first.
I really like locations like this – Caffeine & Machine or any of the other hospitality outlets notably friendly to cars or bikes. It makes me more inclined to get out.