Shafiq is one of our content editors, and has been a motoring journalist since 2022, upon completion of a brace of journalism degrees.
Before joining the What Car? team, Shafiq worked for the likes of Top Gear, The Intercooler and Electrifying, allowing him to broaden his understanding of varied writing styles and tones, and adding a strong follow-up to his formal education. So clearly, all the studying and hounding ‘real’ journalists for a job actually… worked.
These days, he spends his time hammering raw pieces of content into form, and continuing to keep advice pieces, lists and reviews as evergreen as possible. Though he still enjoys putting an embargoed news story together, and filing the odd thought-provoking feature from time to time.
Outside of work, Shafiq loves to chase a good sunset in his supercharged 2009 Jaguar XFR – when it works. As such, it forces him to have some actual hobbies, like playing football, getting stuck into a fantasy novel and… questioning a higher deity as to when his XFR will cough back into life.
Shafiq is an expert in:
- New cars
- Used car tips
- Classic cars
- Road testing
- Consumer advice
Shafiq Abidin Q&A
What’s the best piece of advice you could offer a car buyer?
The automotive market has never been more competitive than it is right now, so be open-minded when searching for a new car. It’s a big commitment, and you have a right to question everything: is it comfortable enough? Will the range be suitable for your lifestyle? How much is it going to cost to insure? Be educated against savvy sales speak, and don’t let them pressure you into a deal you aren’t 110 percent sure of.
And since the market is growing at such a rapid rate, don’t be afraid to take a leap of faith in a brand that doesn’t seem entirely familiar to you. Why pay over the odds for a car in a society going through a cost of living crisis when something else will offer you exactly the same for less? Remember: heritage only holds so much value.
What’s the best car you’ve ever driven?
I’ve been fortunate enough to get behind the wheel of some proper driver’s cars in my still tender career, but the one that stuck out for me was the insatiable Aston Martin DBS. That V12 was visceral, and the six-speed manual was a proper wrestle. It was such an involving experience, and then I got out and remembered that I was hoofing around in one of the greatest designs of the 21st century. Proper posterbook car, that.
Speaking in more real world terms, a car (and journey) that I will never forget is taking the humble seven-seat Dacia Jogger from London to the Isle of Skye. Here was a frugal, cheap, seven-seat load-lugger that acted as both my chariot and my accommodation for four days (I had the ‘Sleep Pack’ option installed). It’s one of the most bang-for-buck cars in Europe right now, and there’s something utterly charming about the fact that it wears that achievement with pride. I still think about it a lot.
What will the car market look like in 20 years?
Yes, electric vehicles will be the dominant solution, and someone intelligent will find a way to make hydrogen storage feasible. But I think research and development into e-fuels will have also gone far, and that opens up a realm of possibility for the millions of cars that would be otherwise considered extinct.
It’s going to be super interesting to see, in that situation, where people’s preferences will lie. Range anxiety is becoming a thing of the past, charge times are coming down, and manufacturers are continuously trying to undercut one another, especially with the influx of competition from the east. Should it play out this way, will the average person really miss combustion?
