Byline: JAMES MARTIN
When I picture you, the reader, it's a classic domestic scene: The Mail on Sunday, kitchen table, bacon and eggs, nice pot of tea. But how do you picture me? Perched at my writing desk in a purpose-built ce at the top of the house? No, no. Let me tell you what I can see right now. Directly in front of me is a row of sunglasses shops and American skinny-latte outlets - and I hate co ee, so this is as close to hell as it gets for me. To the right of me is a devil child - no, wait, two devil children - bouncing up and down on their plastic seats, making me nod like Churchill the dog every time they land. On the other side, I have a couple arguing about how he left her perfume on the side table when he was packing the suitcase and took out a pair of her shoes to make room for his coat. This has been going on for 40 minutes.
Yes, I'm in an airport. I quite often am when I write these pages, and let me tell you it never gets any easier.
Two seats away it's kicking o big time: there's a woman on the phone to her mate, pouring her heart out and crying into a tissue about her husband, who sounds like a nasty piece of work. If I wanted to write Rolex Replica a soap opera, this would be the perfect place to come - there's been more drama here in the past half-hour than in an episode of Corrie. It's not so good for writing 1,000 words for a magazine.
I've just been called onto my flight, so with my legs twisted under the seat in front like I'm trying some painful yoga position, it's time for me to knuckle down and tell you about the new Vauxhall Astra.
The Astra is the fourth-bestselling car in the UK, so to return to my mental picture of you: there's every chance you've got one in the drive. My builder's got one - it looks about 20 years old - and when he saw me pulling up in this, he nearly fell o the shovel he was leaning on. I don't blame him. This isn't just a 'refresh'; it's a whole new car - new engines, new suspension, new body - as far removed from the first Astra o the Ellesmere Port production line in 1981 as an iPhone is from a Stylophone.
Talking of Ellesmere Port, I should take a moment here to mention how important the new Astra is to its 2,100 workers: as I write, GM's bosses have been saying rosy things about the car, the plant and its future. But who knows how that story will have developed by the time you read this? I'm better o focusing on the car itself.
I was never a huge fan of the Astra. To me, it's a junior rep's car - the one you drive before you've sold enough cotton-wool buds to get your BMW 3 Series and really go places. That's the only thing I have against it - it's never been a bad car, just one with bad connotations. Maybe it's just me. Anyway, much has changed with this sixth generation, the first since the Insignia came along and gave Vauxhall a shot of design-led confidence.
Gone are the rounded rear end and plain-looking front, as well as the plasticky bumpers that looked bolted on: this is much sleeker. Dare I say it - never thought I would - it's a seriously good-looking car, particularly from the front. Inside, the dash seems to be a better type of plastic than before, with a nicely symmetrical centre panel, well-presented redbacklit dials Wallet Bags Replica and the odd touch of chrome and even ambient lighting to give the impression of Audi-like quality. It works. The driving position is too high for me, even with six-way adjustment, but when
embroidered patches I shoved my seat right back I noticed there was still ample space behind me.
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