iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Alex Robbins @scrof.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

And because it doesn’t do solely to come on here to shamelessly self-promote, here’s another piece of news: I have bought rather a nice Volvo. So. That’s exciting.

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Alex Robbins @scrof.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

Hello. Me again. Just popping back on here to tell you that I’ve started a new car-buying service. The idea is that if you’re not sure which car you want to buy, you can tell me exactly what you want and need from your next car, and then I’ll give you three great options for your budget. ⬇️

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Alex Robbins @scrof.bsky.social · 20/07/2025

Been using the Buzz for Buzzy stuff this weekend. Chairs coming soon to a podcast near you (in all their hideousness).

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Alex Robbins @scrof.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

There are good reasons why I’ll always take my cars to Rich for any kind of serious fabrication or rust repair work. (Subtitle to these pics: Why You Shouldn’t Take A Punt On A Cheap Citroen D Special)

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Alex Robbins @scrof.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

FYI, photo/videographer/creator friends. Buried in the replies is a rec for www.swisstransfer.com/en-us as an alternative. Might be worth a try?

swisstransfer.com

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Alex Robbins @scrof.bsky.social · 14/07/2025

Only an idiot would go out and take pictures of his new black car at nighttime, right?

A black Hyundai Ioniq 5 viewed from the rear three quarter angle, down low, in a car park with a stone wall behind it. The car’s lights are on and frankly it looks bloomin’ brilliant.

A black Hyundai Ioniq 5 viewed from the front three quarter angle, down low, in a car park with a stone wall behind it. The car’s lights are on and frankly it looks bloomin’ brilliant.

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Alex Robbins @scrof.bsky.social · 11/07/2025

Hey everybody, did you know the bonnet on an ID.Buzz is hinged at the bottom with a check strap at the top, so it opens like this? I didn’t, but TIL! 😃

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Alex Robbins @scrof.bsky.social · 08/07/2025

A big day in the Robbins household today. After four years and 43,000 miles in our possession, Svetlana the Superb has left us. I have loved this car and I genuinely had a bit of a cry as we left it behind at the dealer. So many memories. But the news isn’t all sad…

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Alex Robbins @scrof.bsky.social · 08/07/2025

There really is nothing quite like a post-vehicle purchase MaccyD’s, is there?

A McDonald’s meal on a table, with one burger box open to reveal a Big Arch.

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Alex Robbins @scrof.bsky.social · 06/07/2025

Hey so I heard there’s a really unrealistic film out about F1 in which an older driver comes back and brings unexpected success for a backmarker team…

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Alex Robbins @scrof.bsky.social · 20/06/2025

Look, I know motoring journalists are really bad for posting smug pics of jammy stuff we get up to, and I’m sorry. But come on. You’d want to tell people about a day like this one, wouldn’t you?

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Alex Robbins @scrof.bsky.social · 19/06/2025

In Spain, where it’s hotter than it is at home somehow, to drive old Audis around. Spent two hours in this. Vague column shift, slow steering, sticky throttle and an occasional fondness for dying rather than idling made roundabouts a challenge. Emerged a sweat-drenched heap. Isn’t it pretty, though?

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Alex Robbins @scrof.bsky.social · 16/06/2025

Fascinating to see the similarities between that red and the X351 Jaguar XJ.

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Alex Robbins @scrof.bsky.social · 14/06/2025

“It’s like a Duster, but bigger. I was thinking we could call it the Dustigger?” “Great idea, Steve - but I’ve got a better one…”

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Alex Robbins @scrof.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

I could be wrong, but I can’t think of many other magazine covers on which you’d find these four cars. @denialvibes.bsky.social - this looks ace. Looking forward to diving into it with glee as though it were a pool filled with modified car flavoured milkshake. Buy yours at copaceticmagazine.co.uk

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Alex Robbins @scrof.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

Iwan Thomas came to my school sports day to give out the prizes and every kid got to shake his hand as we left. When it was my turn he told me I had pen on my head. (Turned out he wasn’t wrong.)

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Daniel Bevis @denialvibes.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

It’s here. I can’t believe it’s here. I am SO excited. A few short months ago, none of this existed. Built from scratch, no investors, no-one to answer to, I just dreamt it and then I made it. I hope you love it as much as I do. You can buy it here ➡️ copaceticmagazine.co.uk

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Alex Robbins @scrof.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

This week I’ve had the immeasurable pleasure of having Skoda’s Superb ‘Sleeper Edition’ in to muck around with. 470bhp, AP brakes, KW coilovers, top-spec Laurin & Klement trim, and Royal Green over Cognac. What a deliciously barmy device. I loved it.

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Alex Robbins @scrof.bsky.social · 08/06/2025

The milk selection in our house this morning is Out Of Touch.

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Alex Robbins @scrof.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

Oof. A loud, orange, attention-grabbing thing you actually want.

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Alex Robbins @scrof.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

On test this week. Handsome bugger, and a big old smoothie on the motorway, but the diesel engine and electric motor are surprisingly vocal, which spoils it somewhat. I do love a big, cruise-y estate, though. With a creamy V6 diesel it’d be a joy.

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Alex Robbins @scrof.bsky.social · 04/06/2025

Well here’s a thing. I bought this exact Kia Picanto for my wife six years ago. She then learned to drive in it, and kept it as her first car for a year and a half. Current owner is keeping it running for her daughter, who adores it. It has continued to be endlessly reliable. Lovely to see it again.

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Alex Robbins @scrof.bsky.social · 04/06/2025

I know nobody really cares about pics people have taken from a plane, but this sunset on the way into LHR tonight was really rather lovely. (Photographed from a Canberra.)

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Alex Robbins @scrof.bsky.social · 02/06/2025

Today’s hotel room is boxy, roomy, and there are many almost identical versions of it. Doesn’t have an XUD in it though. Boo.

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Alex Robbins @scrof.bsky.social · 30/05/2025

This is exactly what it’s like driving some modern cars. Makes me want to bang my head against a wall with frustration.

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Alex Robbins @scrof.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

Camping again tonight. Note the attitude of the tree. It’s a bit breezy up in the loft apartment.

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Alex Robbins @scrof.bsky.social · 23/05/2025

I don’t think it’s possible to overstate just how hard it is to launch a car magazine. Especially right now. Yet my friend Dan has done it. And because I know Dan, and I know he’s really good at magazines, I know it will be awesome. Go and order a copy. I just did. I’ve no doubt you’ll love it.

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Alex Robbins @scrof.bsky.social · 22/05/2025

Probably a good sign a car’s getting under my skin when I stop on the way home from a long trip to take pictures of it and then spam Bluesky with it.

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Alex Robbins @scrof.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

I feel like we need a cartoon series in which a Renault 5 is the hero, constantly foiling the plans of its scheming evil twin.

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Alex Robbins @scrof.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

Two Saabs in the same airport hotel car park, three years apart. Seems I can’t keep away from the things.

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Alex Robbins @scrof.bsky.social · 19/05/2025

And so our first series comes to an end. We’re taking a few weeks’ break, but we’ll be back soon. In the meantime, we’ve decided which was the best facelift ever. (The answer won’t shock you, but go and listen anyway.)

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Alex Robbins @scrof.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

Out with Robbins Jr in the Saab to visit a friend this morning. It’s been a costly month - it’s needed a clutch, spark plugs and a set of coils to get it running right. But now it is, and it’s pretty sweet to drive. Pulled 41mpg on a motorway run yesterday, too.

A Nocturne Blue Saab 9-3 Aero convertible, viewed from the offside front quarter, parked at the side of a suburban street, with the roof down.

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Overbore @overbore.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

What’s the best-sounding engine? Kitch reckons a soaring V10, or a thrummy five-pot. Scrof’s a sucker for an old-school V8. What do you think?

The V8 engine from a Lancia F1 car, with cleaning chrome ‘trumpet’ inlets

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Kitch @upndown.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

Slightly odd question, but does anyone have access to a Zafira Tourer, like this?

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Overbore @overbore.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

This week’s episode comes to you from this rather lovely Volvo V60. Kitch judged it ‘not bad’ - praise indeed - and said it was the first new car Scrof’s brought in that he could see himself owning. (Scrof quite likes it too.) But was Volvo right to reincarnate its estates?

A red 2024 Volvo V60 estate parked in front of a set of old brick arches and a metal fence on an industrial estate. In the background is a Citroen Xantia.

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Alex Robbins @scrof.bsky.social · 12/05/2025

Just listened back to this and now I’m craving Chinese food and chips. Stupid pod.

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Overbore @overbore.bsky.social · 09/05/2025

If you’re wondering where this week’s Overbore is, well, it’s coming. Just not today. Sorry. What with a family funeral this week, we’ve had to push things back a little, but we’re hoping to get the latest ep out to you tomorrow or on Monday. Hang tight - it’s coming!

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Alex Robbins @scrof.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

Yes I am playing with my cupholder while I wait to pick up my daughter. What of it?

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Alex Robbins @scrof.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

I think I’d have to have the Xantia. Or the Laguna. Mind you, the Mondeo was brilliant too. Or maybe the Primera…

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Alex Robbins @scrof.bsky.social · 02/05/2025

Tried not to talk about the Citroën Xantia. Talked about the Citroën Xantia a lot.

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Alex Robbins @scrof.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

See a BBJ, snap a BBJ. Them’s the rules. This one was departing Farnborough yesterday, on its way to Abu Dhabi.

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Overbore @overbore.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

WE’RE BACK! After our brief hiatus we’ve moved to publishing our new episodes on Friday mornings, because it felt right. (It has absolutely nothing to do with the fact we couldn’t get our act together in time to record for Thursday…) OB9 drops at 10am this morning. See you then!

Scrof and Kitch pontificating in the back seat of a car, in darkness. Scrof is smiling while Kitch speaks, his finger held aloft to prove a point. Probably about old Citroens.

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Alex Robbins @scrof.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

TIL the collective noun for woodlice is a quabble. A quabble of woodlice. You’re welcome.

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Rich (From Twitter) @joehallenbeck.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

It’s true! And look how happy we both were doing business. Now imagine yourself doing this kind of business. With me. For money. That you give me.

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Alex Robbins @scrof.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

I bought a Volvo from this man and it was good. Bodes well, doesn’t it? I’ve always loved this car and always wanted to buy it. Sadly I can’t right now. But you should.

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