The secret of great comedy is timing, so it should come as no surprise that the arrival of Triple Eight Engineering’s Astra VXR at the evo office in the first week of December raised a laugh or two.

In quieter moments I wonder if it was such a good idea to order the new Monaro VXR in black. 'Phantom' black, as the brochure would have it. In my garage there's already a rare black coupe with a ...