KEY POINTS:
A 1966 Shelby Cobra, once owned by the racing veteran who developed the iconic vehicle, has sold at auction for $US5.5 million ($7.9 million) - a record for an American car.
The sale of the Shelby Cobra "Super Snake" brought a packed house to its feet at the Barrett-Jackson car auction in Arizona. Carroll Shelby, 84, who created the Cobra in the 1960s using Ford engines and a British sport car chassis, said he built the Super Snake - with twin superchargers on a 7-litre V8 - and drove it for years.
"It's a special car. It would do just over three seconds to 60mph (100km/h) 40 years ago," Shelby said.
The car was one of two Super Snakes. The other was wrecked in an accident before being delivered to its owner, comedian Bill Cosby.
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Expat businessman Neville Creichton's company will take over distribution of Citroen vehicles in New Zealand on March 1.
The French nameplate has been handled here by a handful of investors - including leading industry figure Colin Giltrap - for the past decade or so. Creichton's Ateco Automotive NZ also distributes Italian marques Fiat and Alfa Romeo.
Across the Tasman he looks after Citroen, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Ferrari and Maserati.
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The 90 million-plus TV viewers who will watch the US Super Bowl next week will be blitzed by commercials from General Motors, Honda and Toyota.
"It's the biggest advertising stage in America," said GM marketing executive Mike Jackson. "It's expensive, but we believe it's well worth it."
Broadcaster CBS is charging as much as US$2.6 million for 30 seconds of ad time.
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Brooklands, the world's first purpose-built motor racing circuit, will mark its centenary on June 15-17.
The three-day knees-up near London begins with a black-tie ball and includes an open day at the Brooklands Museum and a recreation of the original 1907 opening parade. Mercedes-Benz will run its legendary Silver Arrows Grand Prix cars around the track.
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British and German drivers have over-relied on their cars' satellite-navigation devices, says a Reuters report, sometimes with tragic or hilarious results. In Germany, a 53-year-old man thought the device's instruction to turn "now" meant exactly that - and he crashed into a building.
In Britain, an ambulance driver covered 640km on what normally would have been a 20-minute trip, and another took 90 minutes to take a crash victim to a hospital 10 minutes away.
