A few of my favourites

A brief rundown of a few of my favourite cars.

Firstly I shall start with my beloved Peugeot 206. Everybody remembers their first car. Most blokes can probably give you a run down of its specs and any problems encountered during their term of ownership. This is the same for me. Percy, as he is fondly named, is a green 206 lx with a 1.2 litre engine. He is my favourite car ever purely because he is mine. I remember the moment I got him, the first drive and the first MOT.



The next car on my list is slightly cooler than my beloved Percy. It is the Bugatti Veyron. This is a beast of a machine. It has 1,000 bhp under the bonnet and the ability to do over 250mph. Its shiny, sleek and damn right beautiful. I think the picture alone provides enough proof.


My future car... hopefully.The Ford Focus ST, is one of the best looking Fords ever, with the exception of the Mustang. I honestly think its the colour that draws me to this car. Also, I must say that Clarkson's review on Top Gear was so entertaining that it was enough to convince anyone that this car is amazing.

The humble VW Beetle. It has clubs set up in its name, a vast range of merchandise and a huge fan base. Its a quirky little car and I love it. The new Beetles have kept the curves but, in my eyes, lost the passion. The old ones shall soldier on despite the numerous breakdowns which they will inevitably encounter.


Peugeot photo courtesy of: Myrtlemotors.co.uk, Bugatti Veyron photo courtesy of: whatonemillionbuys.com, Ford Focus ST photo courtesy of: motormobiles2.de, VW Beetle photo courtesy of: cachejalopnik.com

Caterham R500

The Caterham superlight R500 admittedly looks like a race car of the 1950's but do not be deceived. This is one of the fastest cars in production today. It even beat the Bugatti Veyron round the Top Gear test track. The Bugatti Veyron being the £800,000 supercar with 1,000 bhp and a top speed of 252mph. The fastest road-legal car in production today.

The Caterham superlight R500, in comparison, has about as much power as a Fiat Panda. Despite this the Caterham harnesses its 253bhp from its 2.0 litre engine to knock out 0-60mph in just 2.88 seconds. That's fast, even better is that it costs a fraction of the price of a Veyron at just £36,995.

Designed for speed, it is a real driver's car. Stripped down to the pure essentials, all the unnecessary comforts are removed to the extent that the heater is an optional extra and given that it has no real roof you will probably be needing one.

The Caterham superlight R500 really is a good car, but only in terms of performance. The ride comfort has been compromised to produce such results and it is hardly a good car in terms of practicality, so as long as its just you and perhaps a smallish friend that desire the wind through your hair this little car could be perfect.


Picture courtesy of cache.jalopnik.com

PLease excuse me whilst I rant

I would like to discuss with you the issue of stereotyping people due to the type of car that they drive. Let's have a quick look at some of the stereotypes conveyed by society.

Firstly, as I have discussed before on this blog, the stereotype that Audi, BMW and Mercedes drivers are "cocks". I stand by this stereotype as I am often chased out of the fast lane by one of these cars.

Another rather comical stereotype is that of the Honda Jazz driver. The Jazz seems to be exclusively driven by old men, many of whom look too old to be driving and can barely see over the steering wheel. They all seem to have flat caps on and do 55mph on the motorway. I must say I was rather surprised when I was over-taken by a Honda Jazz the other day that was doing 80mph. It seems this particular driver had managed to find the accelerator.

Stereotype number three is that of the Saab and Volvo drivers. Nobody will ever utter the words "look at that maniac in that Saab". They are considered to be boring cars. This stems from Volvo being very safe cars to drive and are considered to be the boring option.

I feel that we need to break away from these stereotypes in society so I appeal to BMW, Audi and Merc drivers everywhere and implore you to take your foot off the accelerator occasionally. Rather the opposite with Jazz drivers though, take your flat caps off and put your foot down.

Is orange the new black?

A new trend is appearing in the world of car manufacturers. Colours from every part of the spectrum are now being used as standard colours for many cars.

Colours such as orange, bright green and yellow, which traditionally were only found on supercars such as Lamborghinis, Ferraris and Porsches, have made their way into the world of everyday, no fuss motoring.

Ford is leading this trend. Their most notable, and most likely their first example of this was the Ford Focus ST, which is often seen in an eye-catching shade of bright orange. They followed up well with the new Ford Fiesta being advertised in a colour, which is described by Ford as Hot Magenta, but to those of us in the real world is clearly pink. To continue with their trend the new Focus RS comes in a stunning shade of bright green.

The strangest thing about this whole phenomenon is that the colours work. The Ford Focus ST is one of the nicest, affordable cars Ford has made for a long time. It's a beast of a machine and was described by Clarkson as the "perfect car for modern Britain".

If other car manufacturers get on board then Britain's motorways could be transformed from the grey and silver powerbook world of art deco and brushed aluminium into a world of colour, and illuminous ones at that.


Photo courtesy of motormobiles2.de

Tesla- the future of electric motoring?

Green cars, not the sexiest of cars are they? Well for starters the G-Wiz is green car and it is hideous, not in the slightest bit sexy. Other examples of green cars are rather ordinary looking to say the least, for example the Seat Ibiza Ecomotive just looks like any other Seat and the Citroen C1 looks like a deformed Smart car.

I would like to welcome you to the world of the Tesla, and in particular the Tesla Roadster. Possibly the most beautiful green car on sale today. Its looks are based on a Lotus Elise and it can do 0-60mph in 3.9 seconds. That's fast for a petrol powered sports car.

Tesla was first created to fill a gap in the motoring market. It is designed to be fast, fun efficient and above all electric.

So could this little beauty be the future of stylish, green motoring? Possibly...

Let's look at the facts. It has a top speed of 125mph and does this all within one gear. The single speed gear-box allows 14,000 rpm on the redline and does an average of 244 miles per charge, which is a lot when you compare it to the G-Wiz which does a feeble 50 miles per charge. Pretty good huh?

Well, the 244 miles is only an average, and as Top Gear proved yesterday, when driven at full throttle the average miles per charge is considerably less. it also takes several hours to charge compared with a few minutes for filling up petrol going cars.The price is also another issue. the are coming in at over £90,000, which is a lot for an electric car.

So in the end is it really worth it?

Personally, despite the beautiful design and the added cosmetic touches such as LED running lights and an aero kit, I don't think its worth it. It is a lot of money to look cool and feel good about saving the planet. In the world of green motoring it seems you can't have both.

Photo provided by carforums.net