April 14, 2010
Mirror, signal, rollover
Learner driver has a lucky escape as she rolls the car on her second lesson.
One minute she was practising here mirror, signal, manoeuvre. The next, she was upside down wondering where it went wrong.
Fortunately Krisztina Jaksa had only dented her pride, but her instructors car had more than a dent on it.
The terrifying incident happened when Miss Jaksa, 24, was crossing the junction in the village of Headington, near Oxford, when the steering wheel locked.
She accidentally put her foot on the accelerator instead of the brake, sending the car hurtling out of control and then the Fiat 500 ended upside down.
She said she could not remember much about the accident, but added stoically: ‘It has not put me off driving – why would it?”
Miss Jaksa was shocked about the incident especially since it was her second lesson.
One witness said “The passenger side window was smashed and so was the windscreen, and there were scuff marks on the side of the car.
‘We just wanted to get them out of there as quickly as possible – it does pop into your head that something could be leaking.’
Fellow resident Dermot Dobson was alerted to the crash when the driving instructor knocked on his door to tell him the car had hit his gate.
The 58-year-old said: ‘The driver came down York Road to turn right into Old Road. She must have been steering hard right and accidentally hit the accelerator and took off.
“No one was hurt but I think the instructor and his pupil were a bit shaken up.”
April 9, 2010
Nation’s favourite TV car named as Knightrider
Have you ever dreamed of owning the famous knight rider car ? A survey of 2,000 people has discovered 18.4 per cent of UK adults would like to have Kitt and the 1980′s legendary black pontiac, parked in their garages.
The study, carried out by Kwik Fit, found that the Kitt was the favourite small screen car in the UK, other notable inclusions were the Batmobile, Gene Hunt’s Audi Quattro from the Ashes and Lady Penelope’s gadget-packed pink rolls royce from thunderbirds.
The full top 10 of TV cars UK adults would most like to own:
KITT from Knight Rider – 18.4%
Inspector Morse’s Jaguar MkII – 16.1%
The Ferrari Testarossa from Miami Vice – 8.2%
Magnum PI’s Ferrari 308 – 5.0%
The Batmobile – 4.5%
Gene Hunt’s Audi Quattro from Ashes to Ashes – 4.4%
FAB1, Lady Penelope’s Rolls Royce from the Thunderbirds – 2.7%
The General Lee Dodge Charger from Dukes of Hazzard – 2.4%
The Saint’s Volvo P1800 – 2.1%
The A Team’s GMC Vandura van – 2.0%
April 8, 2010
BMW reveal their latest Art car
BMW have revealed the latest design of the Le Mans racer and like the 17 before it, it has been created by a famous artist and this time it’s Jeff Koons.
Koons is the latest in a long line of artists that have a tasked in creating a livery for a BMW racing car, others have included greats like Lichtenstein, Warhol, Holzer who have all design paint work for BMW racing since 1975.
The finished Koons art car will be unveiled at Paris’ Centre Pompidou on June 1, 2010 before competing in the Le Mans on June 12-13.
To create the car, Koons collected images of racing cars for inspiration, and also took a test drive in a GT2. According to Koons, the finished car is “evocative of power, motion and light.”
March 24, 2010
American Cops to get new cars
If you’re planning a fly-drive holiday in America you may need look out for and slow down for the new American cop cars.
For years the enforcement community have mostly drive Ford Crown Victoria, which is a crude dinosaur of a car featuring a live axel and gas-guzzling V8. Now cops have run out patience with current crop of cars and have demanded a newer, safer car that wasn’t always in the fuel station or repair shop.
The market is colossal: 60,000 police are made every year. Sensing the oppportunity, a new company, Carbon Motors, has arrived. Its bosses have decided to create a super tough, frill-free, purpose built car.
So this week they have announced a deal with BMW to supply turbodiesel engines and transmissions for the car.
Now BMW doesn’t just give have it’s name with just any flaky men-in-a-shed operation. So we can take it that the Carbon E7 police car is credible to those steely German eyes.
Purpose-bulit elements include bodywork with built-in bull bars and flashing lights, plus dent-resistant plastic panels.
Inside, the dash is built around the computers and comms gear the cops need. The front seats are big and soft and have room for the well-fed cop, his bulletproof uniform and all the accessories (i.e. weaponry) he wears on his belt.
Then there’s a protective shield between the front and the back ‘seat’ – actually just a vandal-proof hard bench. The back doors are rear-hinged and the rear seatbelts sprout from the centre so it’s easier for the cops to bundle an unwilling suspect through the door and strap ‘em in.
Meanwhile, Ford doesn’t want to be caught pants-down by this newcomer. So it too is releasing a new cop car, the Police Interceptor. It’s based on the Taurus, but heavily upgraded for 100,000 hard miles a year. Brakes and suspension are upgraded: ‘This vehicle is pursuit-ready. It’s no nonsense, through and through,’ says Ford.
It comes either as a V6 FWD or a turbo Ecoboost V6 with 4WD. If that car takes hold, powersliding movie car chases will never be the same again.
March 23, 2010
McLaren return with their new super car MP4-12C
McLaren today launched the spiritual successor to the McLaren F1 called “MP4-12c” (a terrible name we know) the car was unveiled at its Woking-based development centre, and who better to help launch it, than two of the biggest names in Formula One, Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton.
It’s a mid-mounted monster and will almost certainly be the fastest and best looking thing to come out of Woking for a long time.
Stats-wise it’s no slouch, clocking 0-60mph in 3 seconds, and it will certainly hit 200 mph, this all comes from the brand new 3.8-litre V8 that pumps out 600 Woking horses.
It’s the greenest supercar this side of a Telsa roadster too, boasting the highest horsepower to CO2 ratio of any engine-powered car in the market. That includes petrol or diesel Hybrids.
Featuring a whole host clever gismos they are touting “class leading handling” for both on the track and the road, This is done by the “Proactive Chasis Control System” which replaces anti-roll bars. There are 3 modes to fiddle with, normal, sport or high-performance mode.
One thing we do like the sound of is the Brake Steer – a system that use to be on 1997 Formula One car . When cornering too quickly, it automatically brakes the inside rear wheel to prevent understeer. It also controls acceleration out of the corner too.
Costing £160,000 it will share no part with any other manufacture unlike the SLR, and they are really proud of the fact it has been made from the ground up.
Funny note left on car after it was scratched
We love a bit of comedy at Autoebid and this note certainly falls in that category – the note above was left on car after it was scratched when a driver tried to park next to them.
The honest driver decided to leave a really nice note explaining how the dent and scratches came about, saying “I’m sorry I put a dent in your car I didn’t want to do this” nothing wrong there then. It went on to say “I did it when I tried to park next to you.
But the driver then went on to say “I am not leaving my information because you chose to use two spaces and I just wanted to park in one.”
He then went on to explain the scratches “The scratches are because I used a a towel that had sand on it to clean the dent and paint off.
“Beaches are fun” they really are fun but I don’t think that he will see the funny side of it.
The apologetic driver then went on to say “Please look your car over for the dents scratches and each time you see them remember not to park in two spaces.”
“Sorry”
So if you are going to park in two spaces, then be warned because you may regret you poor parking.
March 22, 2010
Karma strikes crazy Jaguar driver
A crazy Jaguar driver in Spain had a lucky escape last week when he lost control of his S-Type Jaguar and rolled it five times.
The amazing footage was captured by a car in the next lane and clearly show the Jag thundering along the motorway as he overtakes the other car he begins to lose control, he over compensates and crashes 30k Jag.
The car as you can imagine was totalled and the driver luckily was left unhurt, but he probably needs to come up with a decent explanation when he contacts his insurance company.
We for one would have loved to heard that phone call.
Karma Strikes Crazy Driver – Watch more Funny Videos
March 11, 2010
Tracker helps police crack organised crime group
Tracker the electronic homing device has had another victory against car crime after it was instrumental in helping the police close the net on organised crime group.
Mr Glover the owner of a stolen GTI said: “I felt utterly shocked and confused when I received the automated movement alert from TRACKER, informing me of a possible unauthorised movement of my car.”
He added: “Thankfully, because of the movement alert, I was able to act quickly, and report the theft to Warwickshire Police. To my relief, it meant my car was found the very next day”.
Not only did the tracker help find Mr Glover’s stolen car the police found 19 other stolen cars at the same time and have smashed a sophisticated crime ring.
Stuart Chapman, Police Relationship Manager for TRACKER said: “Not only did we recover Mr Glover’s car, but 19 other stolen vehicles were found simultaneously. This demonstrates our partnership with the police, combined with our unique stolen vehicle recovery system was instrumental in this case and the clampdown on vehicle crime rings.”
The clever gadget has become the very popular for retrieving high performance motor cars and they have recovered 19,000 stolen vehicles – worth a staggering £420 million – since 1993
For more information about the formidable Tracker please visit: www.tracker.co.uk
February 5, 2010
Buying Cars online is starting to click
New statistics shows that buying cars online is becoming more popular and it’s apparently a win-win situation, says Which ? Car – you will not only save substantial amount and also have added legal protection.
Which? decided to trawl the car market for 14 popular new cars and found 12 of them cheaper online, five of the models were £5,000 below their list price.
Most importantly completing a deal online makes the sale subject to a seven-day cooling off period after the delivery in which they can reject the car and be entitled to complete refund.
This is because you are buying unseen, instead of purchasing a car in a showroom. The guidelines on cancellation rights for cars bought at a distance have been set out in a special book published by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
They are heavily weighted towards the consumer, although court action may be required if the seller disputes your right to reject a car.
According to statistics compiled by Which only 5% of people asked had bought their car online, but 18% said they are likely to do so in the future.
Richard Headland, editor, Which Car ?, says:”the internet is revolutionising the way people are shopping for cars and we’re all for it. Not only can buyers find bargain prices online – without haggling with a salesperson – they have better legal rights too. The web has thrown down the gauntlet to traditional bricks-and-mortar car dealerships.”
January 27, 2010
Carbon Neutral Car Insurance – An easy way to carbon offset
With a growing number of carbon offsetting car insurance schemes available, insurance companies are beginning to encourage drivers to do their bit to stave off global warming and improve the atmosphere.
As all conventional cars produce carbon dioxide, around 27 billion tonnes of CO2 is emitted into the atmosphere each year. This figure is playing a significant role in changing the climate that we live in today.
Carbon offsetting acts as a means of wiping out the environmental damage that occurs daily – even when you use your car to drive around the corner to your local post office or supermarket.
The overall premise of carbon neutral car insurance is that providers take your premium and invest a percentage of it in environmental projects on your behalf.
These projects could range from planting new trees in the rainforests to offshore wind farming – they all work to creating a self-sufficient, cleaner environment.
Most carbon offsetting websites provide their own calculators to show drivers the total extent of the damage created by CO2 pollution from their vehicle.
The average family car produces an average of one tonne of CO2 for every 1,900 miles on the motorways.
Carbon neutral car insurance companies are not only encouraging you to lead a carbon neutral lifestyle but their policies are just as competitive as the high street brokers.
Take note of the world around you and consider purchasing your carbon neutral car insurance online whilst securing a competitive deal.
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