July 2009 Archives

Friday 11am and I can safely say my step father is spinning in his grave.
Which? the bible of white goods buyers the world over, has been put in the naughty corner by General Motors.
Which? which my late pop would quote even if I was intending to but lugworm for bait, claimed Vauxhall had tweaked prices to compensate for shelling out on scrappage deals.
Oh dear, the words raw and nerve spring to mind.
Here is that telling off - but not in full:

Have you ever wondered how you would fare if you re-sat your driving test after years behind the wheel?
A bit more worried about the eyesight test I imagine.

Whatever happens in America sooner or later finds its way over here. Just ask Gordon Brown.
The same cannot be said of Japan. Apart from an obsession with Wii-ing and portable music. Japanese culture has not really exported. For instance they are almost nuptially passionate about seafood while, to the best of my knowlege, very few people in Britain have ever married a fish.

The GM fiasco and subsequent jobs fears at Ellesmere Port is distressing enough for workers and their families without any more pain being heaped upon them.

This morning I drive with a skip in my step and a lighter touch on the wheel.
The children are on holiday and traffic volumes are down. Don't try this skipping while driving at home, kids.

I make no apology for trotting out the statement below in full.

I think few of us even realised the select committee has ben passing round the tea and biscuits in a Westminster Dungeon.

Is it just me who finds the latest Ford ad annoying?

I don't normally plug car ads because I have noticed they never plug my car columns - hello you lucky Middlesbrough Gazette and Newcastle Chronicle readers, you are in for a treat this Friday - in their adverts but for this I will make an an exception.

Air travel is a large part of this job, thankfully in a manner harking back to the days when Gatwick Airport was a field in Croydon and men boarded aeroplanes wearing trilby hats and carrying a Macintosh, in case the pilot wanted the top down.

Of course it's not all frolics but often, after driving on roads with a view an eagle would give its right wing for, through little traffic barring the odd goatist and his herd of lunch, the journey ends with the chef at Bodegas Costapacket seeking approval for a simple menu of swan stuffed with gilded pig and oysters in a light sauce of diamonds.

Toyota today announced plans to manufacture a hybrid version of its Auris at Burnaston, Derbyshire.

Production of Toyota's first European-built hybrid will kick-off in mid-2010.

Further to the Jaguar story and with no slight intended, a letter has arrived, once via the penny post and once by the miracle of e-transmission, from Audi PR director and all round solid chap Jon Zammett.

He is rightly crowing that the German vorsprungists are top of the motor manufacturers champions league despite the terrible playing conditions.