KEY POINTS:
Much international interest in the Brisbane Motor Show next month, where a couple of rare beauties go up for grabs at a classic auction. A 1928 Stutz BB Sports Tourer is expected to fetch around $100,000 and a rare 1927 Auburn 8-88 Open Tourer (pictured) is likely to attract similar money. The Stutz, with its Weymann-style fabric bodywork, is a Concours winner and remains in exceptional condition. The Auburn 8-88 has had only two owners.
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The station wagon variant of the Mini, the Clubman, will land in New Zealand in March/April. Two 1.6-litre models will be available - the naturally aspirated Cooper at $40,900 and the turbocharged Cooper S at $48,900. Later in the year, Mini will trot out the 1.6-litre diesel version, the Cooper D Clubman, priced from $44,900. Mini is claiming fuel consumption for the turbocharged oil-burner of 3.8 litres/100km, or 74mpg.
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Carmakers are saying that white is the new black. What that says about changing tastes in car colours, we don't know. What we do know, however, is what motoring website shebuys.com.au says about the colour of your car and you. Red: Outgoing, fiery and energetic. Orange: Self-confident and dramatic. Pink: Flirty and fun. Green: Easygoing and laid-back. Blue: Reliable and calm. Grey, silver: Hardworking, ambitious. Black: Dignified, stylish, mysterious. Yellow: Sporty and spontaneous. White: Dependable and conservative.
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British company Smith Electric Vehicles plans to build 10,000 zero-emission electric trucks a year in the United States by 2010. The company is searching for a US site to build an assembly plant, test track and space for rolling stock. Smith already has a plant in Fresno, California, with production capacity for 1000 vehicles. The company believes there is a potential market in the US for 200,000 electric commercial vehicles a year.
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One in 10 people who drive for a job have fallen asleep at the wheel in the past year, according to new research by British road safety charity Brake and Green Flag. Fatigue mostly occurs on motorways, where at 100km/h a driver is covering 27 metres a second. The research found that 50 per cent of full-time drivers often drive after less than five hours' sleep. In Britain, six people die each week in crashes caused by tired drivers, says the road safety group.
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A Canadian man who admits the shape of some cars floats his sexual boat is doing time in jail for indecent exposure. Sandy Wong, 45, got naked on the roof of a BMW at a fair in Edmonton, Alberta. Wong told a court-appointed psychiatrist the car turned him on because its roof is "curved like a woman's body." He said he also has been sexually aroused by a 1967 Chevrolet Camaro, a 1965 Chev Bel Air, a 2005 Mini Cooper and a 1991 Buick Century.
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A man who allegedly tried to hijack a car and its occupants in Reno, Nevada, ran on to a building site in an attempt to flee pursuing police. Rudy Aguas, 25, was found trying to wade through freshly poured concrete.
alastair.sloane@nzherald.co.nz
