WHAT do you imagine are boom sports in 21st century Britain? Xboxing? Catching the remote? Perhaps in the spirit of social inclusiveness non-competitive I Spy.

Well don't drop your Doritos but I can tell you that driven shooting is enjoying a surge in popularity. Don't confuse it with drive-by shooting. That's something completely different.

OH what a lot of old romantics they are at Carrentals.co.uk the car hire comparison site.

Can't imagine what you are doing for Valentine's day, quick panic at the petrol station around 6pm and a table down the Strangled Parrot is the norm, but the Romeo's over there have suggested some lovers' drives. Wind blowing through what's left of your hair, top down. Don't get a chill on the chest though.

Britain is facing a fuel crisis and it is nothing to do with the Strait of Hormuz. An Iranian blockade of a fifth of the world's oil supplies would elicit a warm response. Glowing, in fact.

No, this is closer to home and no less serious - the halting of production at
the Coryton refinery.

<br />COMPETITIVE is a word readily attaching to the motor industry. Competitive as two Yorkshire terriers chasing a trapped rat. Obviously without the silly hair and that annoying thing they do to your leg.

Ever since Mr Benz decided sitting down may be the way to drive, makers have matched equipment blow for blow.

VW's acclaimed city car has arrived with quite a splash.Sorry, that belongs to Suzuki.

The up!, correct spelling and likely to become as annoying as cee'd, already has a couple of awards to its name and some controversy involving the black model and Dixieland variety act trend from the last century.

RIGHT, apparently we could be heading into a new Ice Age, then again given the track record of climate science we could be about to self immolate.

But for the purposes of this story let's assume the chill is on us and big cars are back as a sort of world central heating system.

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HISTORY may record that the dying embers of 2011 were noteworthy for the first death throes of a common currency. Frankly it would be better remembered for its facial hair.

IT would be wrong to ignore events at the other motor show last week, the Belgian wing-ding in Brussels.

Already we have had news of the new, vibrant and relevant Citroen C1 and here is a model of the next Peugeot 208

BIOMETRICS; not a game for all the family but the future of security, already in our cars in the form of the Audi fingerprint recognition system and pioneered by John Cleese who I think tried to start an Austin 1100 using voice recognition and a sapling.

Now Japanese scientists have got to the bottom of the matter with a car seat which recognises the shape of your derriere, or more specifically the manner in which we sit down.

SORRY, a bit on the long side this, but you deserve it. Unable to attend the Motor City shin-dig in Detroit due to commitments to recently budding snowdrops I must rely on special correspondents.

Now, that North American auto fest menu in full...