FH5, Series 36, preview

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We start with a copy-and-paste from FH4, the 2017 AM Vanquish Zagato as the main series car. The Deberti Mustang is the 80% car. So far, a good start as I don’t mind the belated return of the Vanquish Zagato.

In summer we’re getting yet another version of the Lamborghini Aventador (yawn) and the good ol’ Ferrari Dyno… Er, Dino /diːnəʊ/, Jake (there you go, mate, phonemic transcription at no extra cost).

In autumn the season rewards are something called a 1976 VW SP-2 (never heard of it; sounds like a VW Beetle and probably has the same engine) and the Emory 356 (will this also be my third one?) I notice the prominent presence of Do(ugh)nut Media items. Curious considering that it seems to have been falling apart recently with various members of the team departing. Is Coffee and Cars meant to have been the third part of the Do(ugh)nut Media story?

I believe the Mazda MX-5 RF dates from 2022. Well, it’s about time we had a newer MX-5 in the game, considering the most recent model before this was from 2016. I predict – paint me cynical – that the 2016 model will still be the better car to drive, but I might be pleasantly mistaken in my assessment. And right alongside it is the 2022 Subaru BRZ, which isn’t as good as the 2013 model. So much for winter.

What in the name of the Nine Hells is a 1973 VW Thing (and which dilly German thought that was a good name for a car)? It looks like an updated Kubelwagen from WWII. And there’s another Lancia 037 Stradale, which really will be my third one. But again, Do(ugh)nut Media gear is back in force, All right, I suppose coffee-and-doughnuts; or is this going to be a last hurrah for Do(ugh)nut Media kit in the game?

More DLC with some old Japanese cars. Yes, I’ll buy it, but I can understand why people are a bit ticked off about all the DLC, which in total now costs more than the base game. As for the contents, I can only hope they turn out to be more interesting than they look. Also, what does this have to do with coffee?

The coffee shop in the middle of the roundabout at the western end of the motorway looks all right. I expect we’ll have to take a picture of a car there. Pity this won’t be permanent because it seems to add some life to the map in a location which probably everyone frequents a fair amount. It’s also a better location than some of the props from earlier series which were dumped in obscure corners of the map. And to go with it, we had to have especially ridiculous clothing.

Overall, this looks to be a rather pedestrian series in which the cars appear to have little or nothing to do with the other element of the theme. I don’t, for example, think of Japan as a coffee-drinking country. Is series 37 going to be the hot hatches which I erroneously predicted for this series?

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