The Trip isn't helping my Range Rover infatuation

REAL ale, good food, uncannily accurate Michael Caine impressions and ABBA's The Winner Takes It All.

If that sounds like a familiar celluloid combination then chances are you are - like me - a fan of The Trip, the excellent comedy Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon and the BBC teamed up to make a couple of years ago. In essence, it takes up the two-blokes-on-a-trip-to-Cumbria format employed so elegantly in Withnail and I, chucks in some sidesplittingly funny improvisation from two of the country's best known comedy actors, and then leaves to simmer in some of the finest restaurants the north of England has to offer.

The Trip is probably one of the most worn-out DVDs in my collection - car chase movies and Bond films aside - so it delighted me no end to discover from a friend that plans are in the pipeline to make a second series, this time moving the restaurant-based action from the Lake District to Italy.

I mention The Trip in a motoring blog, however, because it did such a wonderful job of showcasing one of my favourite cars, the Range Rover, in the Lake District, which is one of the places I love taking a car most. In fact, AF59 WEC almost became one of the characters, seemingly featuring in almost every shot which didn't involve Steve and Rob exchanging Roger Moore impressions over a glass of white wine. Somehow, in the cold, muddy, grey Lakeland vistas, the Range Rover just looks right somehow, even if it doesn't actually venture off road once. Repeated viewings haven't helped my Range Rover infatuation at all!

I can only hope, however, the new series retains part of what gave the show a distinctly petrolhead whiff - shots of suitable set of wheels wafting serenely through whatever sublime scenery there is to offer. It'd probably be right, therefore, for the second series to feature an Alfa or a Maserati strutting its stuff in the Italian countryside.

Getting the comedy balance just right is something I'm really looking forward to with The Trip's second outing. Until then, however, savour just some of the stunning Range Rover shots the series' creators captured in the Cumbrian countryside...

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Video: The new Range Rover

THIS is Land Rover's TV advert for what'll be by far its most expensive offering when it hits the showrooms early this year; the new, full-size Range Rover.

I know this is the second Range Rover article in as many days and adverts aren't really my thing, but this one's got all the right ingredients. Mountain scenery, winding Alpine roads, a brief look at what it can actually do off-road, some Matt Monro on the stereo and - perhaps best of all - a quick nod towards the beautiful 1970 original that started it all. It is The Italian Job for 4x4 enthusiasts.

As if I wasn't dreaming of owning one already...

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Fire up the... Range Rover Evoque

TO appreciate this baby off-roader you have to think not in terms of ground clearance, horsepower or litres of loadspace. It is a car callibrated best in column inches, retweets and Facebook likes.

The Range Rover Evoque is, thanks to its near-constant appearances in the likes of Heat and Hello! and the input of Victoria Beckham's style know-how in its inception, one of the coolest cars on the planet right now. It's also one of the hardest to judge with an open mind - not only am I from a family of Range Rover owners, I'm aware too that it's made right here in the north west, in a Liverpool factory and was developed with help from the British taxpayer. Not that you're interested in that. What you want to know is if it's any good.

First impressions are good - the five door 2.2 diesel I tested looks, for want of a better word, fabulous, although its three-door sibling is even more stylish. Sharply creased and with a distinctive squint at the front end, it manages to look like a Range Rover without inducing the environmentalists' irk its bigger brother manages.

In fact, the question everyone's asked me is whether that shallow rear window makes it tricky to see out of, but it doesn't. It is no harder to drive than a Ford Mondeo, which is perhaps no big surprise given the two are - via Land Rover's Freelander - distant relations under the skin. In fact, the biggest dissapointment is that you lose the commanding driving position Land Rover owners know and love, but you'll forgive that because it handles crisply and tidily on even the trickiest of roads.

The price to pay for all of that, naturally, is the price itself; you can get an entry level version for around £28,000 but the ED4 version I drove was nearer to £36,000. If you're more worried about value and practicality you definitely get more for your money by going for the Freelander, but that's missing the point. The quality of the interior, the sportier drive and the looks, to my mind, make the Evoque more than worthy of the extra outlay.

As much as I hate coming to an obvious conclusion the Evoque is just too good for the pop singers and TV stars to keep to themselves.

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The all new Range Rover easily beats an express train. If only I could afford one

MY FAVOURITE means of lounging in luxury on the way down to London might be no more, but that's okay because Land Rover's come up with a solution.

I have to admit to feeling a slight tinge of sadness when I read that as of December the express train services along the West Coast Mainline will no longer be run by Virgin, because for the best part of a decade it's been the quickest, comfiest way to get to the capital. The car, as much as I like to sing its praises, simply can't shift you from the north west to central London in a shade over two hours.

That said, the car offers you a privacy even the swishest trains can't and if you're rich enough to regularly travel Virgin First Class then there's a new contender for your considerable amount of cash; the first new Range Rover in 11 years. Pedants, I know, will point out there's been 2005's Sport and last year's Evoque for anybody after a fresher car with those famous capital letters spelt out across the bonnet, but this is the big, proper Range Rover.

The big news for anyone planning on using one to impress their fellow golf club members/tow a horsebox/feature in a hip hop video (delete as appropriate) is that Land Rover have listened to the environmentalists and used a blend of lightweight materials and clever engines to make it less offensive to Greenpeace activists. The old one weighed twice as much as a Ford Mondeo and was so big it could qualify for its own postcode, but the new one manages to shave nearly half a tonne when it sits on the EU's set of scales.

It's also a credit to the designers of the outgoing one that it doesn't look dated and it seems it's business as usual with the new one - maybe it's not quite as bluntly imposing, but it's sleeker and showier, although I'm not entirely sure about the curious slats running down the front doors. A Range Rover is like one of those flats you see Kevin McCloud getting excited about; the elegance is in its simplicity.

There's only one problem. The new Range Rover's going to be more upmarket - or in layman's English, even more expensive - than the old one, so it means that for me at least the comfiest way to get to London is still going to be by train.

First West Coast Ltd, please don't ruin it...

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