The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) has outlined how it sees the car market unfolding over the next 12 months and, while it’s not expecting a complete recovery from nearly two years of decline, there is some good news for buyers and retailers alike.

You could count the number of brands that actually grew sales in 2019 on one hand, with a vast majority reporting negative growth last year, and that overall backward trend has been unchanged for 21 months.

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But, says the FCAI, the new decade will mark a reversal of fortunes for manufacturers. Don’t expect a return to the glory days just yet, but 2020 will be the year that many brands will see “some” growth.

Speaking to WhichCar, FCAI chief executive Tony Weber said the toughest times were over for new car sales and, while the next 12 months weren’t expected to be record-setting, a small reversal of sales trends would emerge.

“Our prediction for 2020 is a solid year but not great growth,” he said.

Weber didn’t offer a timescale over which the change was expected but said, ultimately “The rebound in the Australian car market will be quite strong. We’ve had 21 negative months but it will turn around.”

Quite what is causing the sales downturn is open to debate, but Weber believes it is not a result of any fault on the manufacturer’s part, instead siting economic variables (wages, household debt, drought, finance reform and now the recent bushfires) as the main contributing factors.

“Consumer confidence is the net product of all those other factors in the economy and when confidence is down, sales tend to fall as well.”

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But Weber predicts early positive indications in the housing and finance sectors to quickly flow into the stalled car market too.

“What’s really important to confidence in Australia is house prices,” he said. “We’ve seen house prices lift in the last quarters in both Sydney and Melbourne. That is a clear green shoot.

“After the banking royal commission, we could well see finance come back to more moderate levels and that will certainly help stimulate the car industry. I think they’re two really good signs. The economy is not that bad and the fundamentals are still pretty good.

“There will come a time when people will say to themselves, it’s time to change over my car and they will do that.”

But, until there is conclusive evidence that the general new car market is returning to growth, the various brands will be hungrier than ever to make a sale and it’s here that the news is also good for consumers said Weber.

“If you’re in a position as a consumer, this would be one of the best times ever to buy a vehicle. There have to be great deals around.”

Weber’s advice aligns with our suggestion to arm yourself with as much research as you can, hit the dealerships, drive a hard bargain, and come away with a great new deal in 2020. Not only is now one of the best times to hunt a hot deal, you’ll also be helping to stimulate the economy and avoid continued economic uncertainty.

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As for the other major developments expected in 2020, Weber acknowledged the rising popularity of ride sharing services such as Uber. Interestingly, an immediate negative impact on car sales is not the most likely scenario however.

“It is an issue for the future but I don’t think it is playing a significant role at this point in time,” said Weber.

“I can see a future in which ride-sharing will play a greater role but it’s predicated on behavioural and technological change. It’s hard to predict how far in to the future that will be.”

Conversely, Weber said ride-sharing may actually contribute to sales as more people buy cars to participate as virtual franchisees.

“People still have cars, but this (ride-sharing) has more flexibility about what these services provide. It’s an add-on service rather than an alternative to buying a car.”

And, when asked if 2020 will be the year electrified vehicles finally gain a foothold in Australia’s challenging market, Weber’s response was clear.

“No advanced nation in the world will get any higher than 4.0 percent of passenger-based vehicles with electrification before they get to price and range parity. That will be between 2025 and 2030.

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“If we want to have a quicker uptake of electric vehicles, that needs to be subsidised by the government.”

That said, Weber highlighted a dramatic increase in ‘low emissions’ vehicles and explained their importance as stepping stones to fully electrified cars.

“We need to talk about low-emissions vehicles. In 2019, hybrid car sales increased 119 percent. That’s a significant number because that’s the first significant shift in the Australian market towards low-emissions vehicles.

“That will ultimately impact upon the level of both plug-in hybrid and ultimately electric vehicles”.

Whatever type of car you are looking at or for what purpose, now is looking like the prime time to snap up a new car before the market returns to a more profitable state and potentially diminishes your bargaining power. Happy hunting.

If you wanted progress from the new BMW 3 Series, wrap your head around the BMW M340i xDrive that’s as quick as the outgoing M3 and costs a smidge under $100,000.

It’s first M Performance offering in the 3 Series range and the first all-wheel drive 3 to be sold in Australia. It’s also the sole six-cylinder 3 on sale, wringing a healthy 285kW and 500Nm from its specially tuned B58 engine.

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Considering this news, we made sure we tested one at first opportunity, and you’ll be able to read our full road test when MOTOR’s January issue hits stands today (January 9). When you do, we’re hoping you notice the performance figures we extracted from BMW’s new beast.

On a warm spring day at Heathcote Raceway last year the M340i xDrive stormed 100km/h from rest in 4.1 seconds. Look closer at the data logged on our PerformanceBox and it reveals that it actually achieved the sprint in 4.07sec without rounding the figures.

For comparison, we tested an M3 Pure a couple years ago in a sedan comparison, and from rest it bolted to 100km/h in 4.15sec. We were happy with that, since it was quoted to complete the feat in 4.1 seconds.

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So, in fact, this M340i, what is meant to wedge between BMW’s regular and full-house M offerings, is fractionally quicker than the outgoing M3. And, unlike the M3, it smashes its quoted performance, which is 4.4 seconds, something more in line with its rivals like the Mercedes-AMG C43 and Audi S4.

We hear you, though. It’s all-wheel drive, so surely it’s slowing down towards the drag strip’s end? Its terminal speed lags at 183.12km/h while that M3 Pure stormed to 191.39km/h, revealing how the M340i xDrive crosses the quarter mile in 12.26sec, as opposed to the M3’s 12.14.

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As always, no rollout is applied, meaning timing starts as soon as it moves. So it’s a freaky set of numbers that show BMW has upped its performance for the G20 3 Series.

Scarily, it implies the incoming M3, with all-wheel drive and 375kW, should easily dip into the 3sec bracket for 0-100km/h times and 11sec range on the quarter miles. Bring it on.

Heathcote Dragway, 24˚C, dry. No rollout applied. Driver: Louis Cordony Official timing supplier: www.vboxaustralia.com.au

A university lecturer of mine had a theory on how to eliminate road toll overnight and it’s one you’ve probably heard, too. “Every new car”, he said, “should have a spike in the middle of the steering wheel and if you have a crash, even a minor one, you’ll be impaled and die”.

I dislike his idealist and simplistic theory intensely for several reasons. Firstly, it assumes any crash you’re involved in was your fault and, by simply driving sensibly, it could have been avoided, which we know to be completely untrue.

Even if you’re on best behaviour, there’s no guarantee a drunk/tired/texting idiot isn’t going to cause the collision and kill the pair of you. These types of deaths happen all the time without the help of a spike.

But it also ignores a fundamental flaw in the theory. People simply won’t change their driving behaviour even if they are very likely to die. Sounds absurd, doesn’t it?

But I firmly believe it to be true. If it wasn’t then people wouldn’t use their phones while driving, drive too fast or under the influence of drugs – things that are known to dramatically increase the risk of death at the wheel.

Alas, without a practical demonstration I could never convince everyone in the automotive engineering class that I was right but now, at last, I have almost the perfect analogy – the Takata airbag crisis.

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Right now, more than a million cars are out on Australian roads equipped with a component that, through a small manufacturing error, have been transformed from miraculous lifesaving devices into something chillingly similar to a hand grenade.

In the image at the top, US senator Bill Nelson holds a piece of the shrapnel that an exploding inflator can project through the cabin at supersonic speeds. That’s more than 1200km/h. Right into your face.

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It’s a dark irony that has sparked the largest global automotive recall to date, injured more than 320 people and claimed at least 29 lives. Put simply, thousands of people are aware their car has a potentially fatal defect but they continue to drive it.

The defective Takata airbag is the spike in the middle of your steering wheel and no one seems to care.

Of course, there is a slight difference. Not every identified airbag module is defective and your untimely demise isn’t necessarily guaranteed in the event of a crash. But would you seriously take the risk?

It’s here that many motorists are dangerously applying the good old ‘it’ll never happen to me’ reasoning.

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Well, let the statistics show that it absolutely could happen to you and if you keep driving a car with a defective airbag, it absolutely will happen to you.

People have died and people have been seriously injured here in Australia. This is not a drill.

If you haven’t yet picked a New Year resolution and own a car with an identified Takata airbag, get the recall done.

Don’t procrastinate, don’t forget about it, and definitely don’t drive the affected car. There’s a reason the government issued its first-ever compulsory automotive recall for the crisis and it should highlight just how real the threat is to you and your passengers.

In fairness, many drivers have already attempted to carry out the simple fix but have been told there simply aren’t enough parts to go round given the enormity of the problem. If you’re one of them, push back and ask the manufacturer how they are going to deal with it.

The defective airbag is not the fault of the car manufacturers but the responsibility to sort the problem certainly does lie with them.

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The ACCC has now confirmed that sufficient replacements are now available to complete the recall in a “timely manner” – the compulsory recall must be completed by the December 31 this year.

It’s also worth knowing that if the fix is going to take more than 24 hours, the manufacturer must provide you with a loan car.

Manufacturers are contacting owners of the 1.3 million vehicles that still haven’t been recalled but many are reporting problems reaching the current owners. It’s a great idea, therefore, to go to the manufacturer’s website or productsafety.gov.au and find out yourself.

If you’re the owner of an affected car, particularly one fitted with the more concerning Alpha type units, don’t delay in booking the car in and getting it sorted.

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Globally, the crisis is estimated to ultimately affect 100 million vehicles – an unimaginable figure – but at least in Australia, the compulsory recall has given consumers the power to get action fast. Wouldn’t it be a brilliant result if, in 2020, we finally put this sinister problem on the spike?

Have you had your Takata bag replaced? Tell us your experiences – both good and bad – in the comments below.

In a chaotic press conference held in Beirut, fugitive ex-Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn has defended his dramatic flight from Japan and said that he “was left with no other choice”.

Arrested in Tokyo in 2018 for allegedly misappropriating millions of dollars of Nissan funds by underreporting his pay, Ghosn has since spent around four months in Japan’s notorious prison system and around nine months under close surveillance at his Tokyo home.

However, late last month the disgraced former chairman managed to slip past the 24-hour security net at his house and resurfaced in Beirut, Lebanon – which is not only his ancestral home, but also a country that doesn’t have an extradition treaty with Japan.

He managed to flee the country and bypass its immigration controls by boarding a private jet at a regional aiport near Osaka, which then flew him to Turkey where he boarded another private jet bound for Beirut.

Now essentially a free man in Lebanon, Ghosn held a press conference to give his side of the story to the world’s media.

“Today is a very important day for me. One that I have looked forward to every single day for more than 400 days since I was brutally taken from my world as I knew it. I have not experienced a moment of freedom since November 19, 2018. It is impossible to express the depth of that deprivation.”

Ghosn then recounted how, one year ago, he had his charges presented to him in a Tokyo courtroom while wearing handcuffs and shackled around the waist.

“I had spent the previous months being interrogated for up to 8 hours a day without any lawyers present, without an understanding of what I was being accused of, without access to the evidence that justify this travesty against my human rights and dignity.

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“‘it will get worse for you if you don’t confess’, the prosecutor told me repeatedly – and this has been taped. ‘And if you don’t confess, not only are we going to go after you, we are going to go after your family’.”

“The feeling of hopelessness was profound, and every day for 130 days in detention, I fought for my innocence. When I was finally granted bail for the first time, and so [had] the opportunity to share with you all what I intend to share today, I was ruthlessly thrown back into solitary confinement within 24 hours, a confinement that flies in the face of global and United Nations standards of justice.”

“This is why today is such an important day for me.”

I am not here to talk about how I managed to leave Japan, although I can understand that you are interested in that. I am here to talk about why I left.

“I am here to shed light on a system that violates the basic principles of humanity. I’m here to clear my name and to pronounce clearly and emphatically something that was interpreted as a heresy in the Japanese legal system: that these allegations are untrue, and I should never have been arrested in in the first place.

“Thanks to the systematic leaking of false information and distorted information and the intentional withholding of information by the prosecutor and by Nissan , I was presumed guilty before the eyes of the world and subject to a system whose only objective is to coerce confessions, secure guilty pleas without regard to the truth.

“I have come to learn that my unimaginable ordeal of the past 14 months is the result of a handful of unscrupulous vindictive individuals at Nissan [and] at the Latham and Watkins law firm, with the support of the Tokyo prosecutor’s office.”

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According to Ghosn, the allegations that he embezzled funds were a central part of a strategy by Nissan senior management to permanently remove him as head of the company. A move he says was motivated by their desire to avoid a merger with Nissan’s alliance partner Renault, which would have reduced Nissan’s autonomy even further.

Currently Renault holds a 43.4 percent share of Nissan, while Nissan only holds a 15 percent stake of Renault. That imbalance in the equity share has long been a contentious issue at Nissan’s Yokohama headquarters.

However, whether Ghosn will ever get his chance to defend himself in a court of law remains unclear – as does the jurisdiction that court will lie within. Suffice it to say, it won’t be in Japan.

“I did not escape justice, I fled injustice and persecution – political persecution”, he said.

“I would be willing to stand trial anywhere where I think I could have a fair trial”

YOU could be mistaken for believing that choosing the best car from each year would be a simple and straightforward affair, but you would be wrong.

Choosing the winner of Wheels Car of the Year is much more than casting a lazy eye over the contenders and picking a favourite, instead utilising a tried and trusted testing regime that lasts an entire week.

The COTY judging process has been refined and honed over several decades to ensure that the winner is truly worth of the most prestigious motoring award in the country.

Here’s how the COTY week pans out:

Day 1 & 2: Pre-testing

New for this year’s COTY is the introduction of pre-testing.

Conducted across two days, each car taking part has its 0-100km/h acceleration performance independently tested, along with 100-0km/h braking on wet and dry surfaces, and interior decibel reading at 80km/h on course and smooth chip roads.

The full results of this testing will be revealed as we approach the COTY 2020 announcement on January 30.

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Day 3: Presentations

Before a single ignition is prodded and engine fired into life, each contender for COTY 2019 is introduced to the judges.

Every judge is responsible for a selection of the models, and presents each to their fellow assessors, running over why the car is present at COTY, key mechanical items of interest, how the car compares to its competitors, and other core information.

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It’s at this point that judges then pore over the car, poking and prodding, and going through the finer points of ergonomics and packaging with a fine-toothed comb.

Day 4-5: Proving ground assessment

For the first two days of driving, COTY HQ is smack bang in the middle of Holden’s Lang Lang proving ground.

Utilising Holden’s expansive facility allows the COTY judges to test vehicles in a range of different conditions with relative ease.

We say relative, as in order for every judge to drive every car, time is at a premium, and testing is conducted non-stop during this first two days for 12 hours a day. Food is grabbed on the fly because the schedule doesn’t let up.

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And that time window has to encompass a sealed road ride and handling course, a gravel ride and handling course, a dirt ABS test from 80km/h, a rough road course, a 120-metre double lane change at 80km/h, and a wet ABS test from 80km/h. And note taking. Judges have to be experienced enough to drill down to the essence of the vehicle and contextualise it against class benchmarks rapidly, over and over.

Day 6-7: Round of 5

At the end of the proving ground testing, the judges cull the field to five finalists – a process which can take several hours of heated discussion.

These five finalists then move onto round two, where they undergo road assessments.

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Over two days each car is driven on Wheels’ 57km road loop, with a pair of judges sharing driving duty for each vehicle.

Round two puts a vehicle’s real-world ability into perspective, with a carefully curated drive route highlighting shortcomings of the contenders.

Day 7-8: Round of 3

Another round of voting follows, leaving just three finalists for the third round.

This time an alternate drive loop is selected that includes a mixture of surfaces, and for this exercise there are four judges riding in the car at all times.

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By assessing the cars four-up, the judges get a better understanding of how the vehicle performs with a heavy load, and can understand how the car performs from the point of view of each passenger – not just the driver.

Day 8: Final voting

By the eighth day the driving is done, the support crew are packing up, and the judges are locked in a room for a final deliberation.

Each judge is given a chance to put forward their opinion on the three finalists, before casting their votes.

Even after eight days of gruelling assessment, opinions can still remain divided, resulting in fierce debate.

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The deeply furrowed brows of John Carey and Byron Mathioudakis over breakfast on day eight are testament to the internal consternation and deliberation each judge goes through before they decide on which of the final three cars will receive their support.

Editor Inwood is tasked with tallying the votes – usually in the nearest restroom – before dismissing the team.

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Until the winner is announced on January 30, Inwood is tasked with keeping the winner secret from the rest of the Wheels team, and the industry at large. The only other mortal trusted with the secret is our hard-working designer and the author of the final magazine piece.

Find out who came away victorious when the Wheels Car of the Year 2020 is announced at the Australian Motoring Awards on January 30.

If you’re one of the handful of gamers who doesn’t already have Rockstar’s landmark driving game/crime simulator, Grand Theft Auto 5, but you DO have an Xbox Game Pass subscription, we have good news: you can now play it for free.

Newly added to Microsoft’s Game Pass library, GTA5 now costs you nothing to install provided you’re hooked into the Game Pass system, which costs $10.95 per month, and gives you access to more than 100 gaming titles.

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Note however that GTA5 is only available on Game Pass for the Xbox One console, and is presently not offered on the Game Pass for PC service (which currently costs $4.95p/m on an introductory offer).

If you’ve got an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription ($15.95p/m) or Xbox Live Gold, however, you’ll also be able to enjoy the multiplayer mayhem of Grand Theft Auto Online.

Given the vast options for generating money in GTA Online, whether through participating in heists with your friends, operating a motorcycle gang, arms dealing, drug cultivation, doing online races and challenges or just straight-up robbing your fellow human players, there’s seemingly limitless gameplay options once the game gets connected to the internet.

And that’s all on top of the single-player campaign, which is easily one of the best video game storylines of the past decade.

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Online or off, GTA5 still has plenty to give – and that’s remarkable for a game that was released way back in 2013 and still retails for between $39-50.

Don’t have an Xbox at all? Microsoft and Telstra are now offering the Xbox One under a $27p/m subscription plan that includes the Game Pass Ultimate, and thus GTA5 and scores of other free games as well. Not a bad option for those looking to jam a few more entertainment options into their living room.

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In case you were wondering whether you should hold out for GTA6, there’s still no concrete information about a Grand Theft Auto sequel. There are plenty of rumours circulating about GTA6, with theories that it could see a return to GTA3’s Liberty City or even head south of the equator to Colombia or Jamaica. That said, we’re not expecting any clarity on that in the near-term.

Porsche’s 992 911 has been here for a while now, but production of certain versions of the 991.2 hadn’t finished until right at the end of 2019.

Porsche recently announced that the last 991 911, a Speedster of course, had been completed in late December.

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As the 911 is Porsche’s flagship, the brand took a moment to be a little bit sentimental and look back at the highlights of the 991 911 after its 233,540 unit run.

“Porsche stands for both tradition and innovation,” said Porsche’s chief research and development officer Michael Steiner.

“This is reflected nowhere more clearly than in the core of the brand – the 911. The 911 replaced the 356 in 1963 and, in the decades that followed, our rear engine model grew into an unrivalled sports car icon.

“The 991 generation in particular has set new standards in terms of performance, drivability and efficiency. It fills me with pride, as well as a touch of sadness, to have to send it off into retirement. For myself, I can say that the 991 has given me enormous pleasure.”

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For a start, Porsche says the 991 Targa’s launch was ‘equally as spectacular’ as the launch of the generation as a whole, with the top-off 2012 model featuring a ‘hoop’ over the car instead of B-pillars.

Of course, the 991 generation’s run coincided with the 50th anniversary of the Porsche 911 in 2013, and so a limited number (1963, appropriately) of 911 50th Anniversary Editions were built.

Then, in 2016, Porsche released a car that to this day is sought after by collectors, the Porsche 911 R. naturally aspirated, manual, and rare, the 911 R is a modern Porsche purist’s wet dream and thus prices have steadily sat around several hundred thousand dollars.

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A year later, Porsche would build its millionth 911,finished in Irish Green with a houndstooth (called Pepita by Porsche) upholstery scheme and wood throughout the interior, the car was a nod to Ferry Porsche’s first 911.

Porsche’s next milestone for the 991 also boasts a MOTOR connection – it’s our 2019 Performance Car of the Year. The 991.2 911 GT2 RS still reigns, too… until we announce the 2020 winner very soon.

Finally, the Speedster. A 375kW manual open-top 911 with a screaming atmo six and a price tag just north of AUD$600,000, the Speedster was a special 911 for the special few who could secure one.

Volvo has moved to bring the recommended retail price (RRP) of the venerable XC90 more in line with what customers actually pay in the showroom.

The entry point has been lowered by $5000 to $89,990 for both the D5 diesel and T6 petrol variants, while the top-spec plug-in hybrid T8 now comes in at $114,990 – a massive $15,000 discount.

On average, the seven-variant line-up has dropped by $8000.

When asked to comment, Volvo Cars Australia corporate and PR director, Greg Bosnich, stated the move is about creating the best offer for customers and to shift the list price closer to the real-world figure.

“We have found that in the large luxury SUV segment in particular there is a significant disparity between the manufacturers’ retail price and that of the transaction price.

“We feel that transparency is the best solution,” Bosnich said.

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The slashing of prices means that the base diesel and petrol XC90s can compete with the likes of the new Volkswagen Touareg, in $85,490 190TDI Premium guise.

At the other end of the spectrum, Volvo’s top brass T8 Plug-in Hybrid R-Design now stacks up well against bottom-rung variants of the Audi Q7, BMW X5 and Mercedes-Benz GLE.

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Despite being on sale since late 2014, the XC90 isn’t showing signs of ageing and it continues to be a Wheels favourite, with the easy-to-live-with seven-seater taking out our most recent luxury SUV test.

And unlike its German counterparts, which all but BMW recorded a sales decline in 2019 compared to 2018, Volvo posted a 16.2% increase in sales for 2019.

The current XC90 isn’t due for an update/replacement until 2022.

VOLVO XC90 PRICING:

Lexus is expanding its Encore Owner Benefits loyalty program in 2020 to include capped price servicing, access to more owner events and a new smartphone application, enhancing the aftersales service that the Japanese company is already renowned for.

All vehicles sold after New Year ’s Day this year are now covered by capped price servicing for three years but, unlike some other brands, the Encore deal does not require a package of services to be pre-purchased ahead of time.

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Instead, Lexus owners need only book in for a scheduled service to benefit from the freshly introduced offer. Servicing any passenger vehicle and the UX or NX SUVs will cost $495 per visit, while the sportier LC and F-models, and the RX SUV cost $595 per scheduled service.

The only exception to the otherwise range-wide 15,000km/annual intervals is the LX large SUV which requires servicing bi-annually or every 10,000km (at a cost of $495) to maintain its heavy-duty off-road components, says Lexus.

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Customers of certified pre-owned Lexus models will also be covered by the expanded program as long as their vehicle has been maintained exclusively by Lexus dealerships and are no more than eight years old or have fewer than 120,000km on the clock.

As before, each service includes home collection and drop-off if required, as well as a wash and vac.

No change has been made to Lexus’ warranty as part of the New Year enhancements. While parent Toyota recently increased its new car warranty to five years, the Lexus deal remains at four years.

MORE Brands with the longest warranties

In addition to the more transparent servicing regime, Lexus will also be rewarding customer loyalty with more Encore events throughout the year. These allow owners to enjoy dining, lifestyle and resort experiences as a guest of Lexus at its various partnership locations.

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These include track days for the more enthusiastic Lexus drivers, lifestyle-focused drive days, Melbourne Cup horse racing, and hotels and resorts such as the ultra-opulent Wolgan Valley retreat in the Blue Mountains.

Lastly, customers will be better informed of the broadened event calendar through a Lexus Encore application that is also new for 2020. Through their smartphone, members of the owner benefits program can find out about offers and book more conveniently than previously.

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Lexus had planned to announce the Encore expansion at a press event hosted at its Melbourne headquarters early in the New Year. Following the unfolding national bushfire crisis, however, the company elected to instead communicate the news to media outlets electronically and donate the allocated event funds to the Bushfire appeal. WhichCar applauds this decision.

If ever there was a used car with a niche target market, it’s this. It’s the 1996 BMW E38 750iL which was once owned by Death Row Records, becoming notorious as the car in which rapper Tupac Shakur (or 2Pac) was shot multiple times.

Restored and reconditioned since it was involved in the shooting, the car is for sale by Las Vegas-based dealership Celebrity Cars, which has the baller Bimmer priced at USD$1.75 million (approx. AUD$2.55m). Not only is that a hefty price regardless of how much you like classic rap or V12 limos, but it’s also more than the original listed price.

The car has been for sale for a couple of years, appearing on the History Channel show Pawn Stars in early 2018. Then, the car was listed at USD$1.5 million (AUD$2.19m).

The listing on the Celebrity Cars site shows images of the odometer at 121,043 miles, which is almost 195,000km, which were supposedly a result of Death Row co-founder Suge Knight’s driving.

It’s unlikely the 7 Series has seen much action since the night of the shooting in September 1996, when Knight was reportedly driving with Shakur after the two had seen a boxing match at the MGM in Las Vegas.

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The stories and rumours surrounding Shakur’s death involve suggestions of Los Angeles gangs or The Notorious B.I.G being to blame, but what is known is that several bullets hit the car and Shakur – even Knight was injured in the shooting.

Whether the car is worth its asking price is debatable, and the argument could be made that it’s less valuable having been restored since the shooting, but the fact it’s been sitting in a showroom for more than two years goes some way to concluding that debate.