Flush with pride over non-stop convenience

British biochemist James Shippen and his colleague Barbara May sat on their invention for months before declaring it a success. Called the Indipod, it's a portable toilet for motorists. The Shippens plumbed it into the back of their 4WD on a trip from Scotland to Italy and said it gave them with the convenience of not having to use restrooms. The Indipod can, they say, also fit in the boot of sedans. It costs $700. The question is: Why?

007 HAS LICENCE TO WIN

James Bond legend Sir Sean Connery has been named the coolest screen motorist of all time. Connery's 007 favoured the Aston Martin DB5 but made his motoring debut in Dr No in a much humbler motor - a rented Sunbeam Alpine. Steve McQueen was runner-up for his stint behind the wheel of a 1968 Ford Mustang in Bullitt, and third was Michael Keaton with the futuristic Batmobile in's Batman. In a survey of 1800 people by British company Churchill Car Insurance, the A Team's Mr T came fourth with his black GMC van and Penelope Pitstop from the Wacky Races was fifth. Bo and Luke Duke from 1980s hit The Dukes of Hazzard made No 6 in their 1969 Dodge Charger, and David Hasselhof - Michael Knight in Knight Rider - was seventh. John Thaw's Jaguar-driving Inspector Morse was No 8, Mel Gibson in Mad Max ninth and the original TV Starsky - Paul Michael Glaser - 10th with the 1974 red Ford Torino.

STAFF MOVED TO BUY

A Chrysler dealer in New York is selling the Voyager people-mover for $US14,600 and the PT Cruiser for $US9700. That's $21,500 and $14,300 in our money. Here, the Voyager costs $57,900 and the PT Cruiser from $34,900. The New York prices are based on what Chrysler employees would pay for the vehicles. General Motors started the "staff discounts for all" deals in June and Ford and Chrysler followed. Sales have skyrocketed. Ford's were up 28.5 per cent in July, thanks mostly to 126,905 F-series pick-up trucks. The previous best month for F-series was October 2001, when 102,424 were sold in the post-September 11 sales frenzy of 0 per cent financing. Ford boasted last month's F-series sales made enough to put it in the annual Fortune 500 rankings. Analysts estimate it made $US3.5 billion ($5 billion) from the trucks.

WE ARE THE WORLD

Thomas Mason was just about to get into his getaway car when a bank employee pointed him out to police as the gunman who had just robbed the Fortress Bank in Winona, Minnesota. The Winona Daily News said the main evidence against Mason was the hold-up note he handed to a teller. It began: "Hi, I'm Thomas Mason ... "