The Saab 9-3, which has one of the car world’s most desirable badges on its nose and rump, shares the platform of the Vauxhall Vectra, one of Europe’s most ordinary cars It is the 9-3’s major weakness. Ultimately the A4 is a pointless vehicle, a pretty marketing gimmick aimed at those keen on some badge one-upmanship. It is a fine car, because the Volkswagen group is expert at borrowing and tuning mechanicals But the Passat, which is cheaper, is also better. Yet others may argue that a premium-brand sports car should not be riding around on the mechanicals of a humble hatchback, never mind that there is a turbocharger installed to add a touch of spice.There are myriad other examples. Most Saab owners, of course, have no idea about their cars’ humble mechanical ancestry. But, for me, it’s a bit like buying a valuable watch only to find that it shares its movement with a pounds 10 Casio. Saab, in the days before General Motors bought it, used to have bespoke mechanicals and were all the better for it.

The new Audi TT sports car, one of the most drop-dead gorgeous cars of 1998 and the subject of huge waiting lists in most countries, is – underneath that voluptuous skin – a Volkswagen Golf Of course this makes it cheaper for Audi to make. Ford wins and, because we punters get more choice, we win too. In the case of Ford, all three cars are roughly the same size and the same price, so there is minimal compromise in sharing parts.Where the platform strategy can potentially go wrong is when cars designed for one purpose – a family hatchback, for instance – try to get ideas beyond their station in life. The new 318 is significantly better than the model it displaces.

Pound for pound, it is arguably the best-value car that BMW makes: the law of diminishing returns bites deep beyond pounds 20,000. She squeals with delight over the clothes chosen by the stylist for today’s shoot and tries them on like a delighted teen at a pyjama party, but at the last minute she pulls her own slip dress from a Prada holdall the size of a small garden shed and wears that. “I love buttons and I’ve got jars and jars of them which I’ve collected from markets and haberdashers. It ain’t cheap being a true fan: Nick Hornby’s favourites Arsenal, for instance, can expect to play in the Charity Shield at Wembley, and at least a dozen games in the FA Cup and European Champions League, with travel this season to France, Greece and the Ukraine. In addition, many club ticket prices have nearly doubled since 1994: the legacy of some transfers of more than pounds 10m and many players earning at least pounds 10,000 a week. The following is a rundown of all the essentials for the season, August this year to May 1999 – for those who will not settle for going down the pub and watching it on satellite.