Modern SUVs, EVs and crossovers may be faster, safer and more efficient than ever before, but somewhere along the way many cars lost the character, identity and eccentricity that once made us fall in love with them

There was a time when even children could identify cars instantly. In fact, I was one of those annoying little kids who could recognise a car from half a mile away, at night, purely from the headlights. A Jaguar XJS looked like a Jaguar XJS. A Saab looked like a Saab. A Citroen looked like it had arrived from the future after taking a wrong turn somewhere near the Eiffel Tower.