The Good Oil: Honda has the write stuff

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The New Zealand Motoring Writers Guild has named the Honda S2000 as its Car of the Year. "The stupendous performance of the S2000 obviously couldn't be ignored by the judges," says guild president Richard Bosselman.

"Here's an engine that, without any form of forced induction, punches out 176kW.

"The performance might seem a little extreme for this country, yet social responsibility isn't beyond the S2000. Honda's engine also meets the United States' low-emission vehicle standards. It proves that high-performance cars can be eco-friendly, and we'd hope more manufacturers follow Honda's lead."

The Honda headed off highly acclaimed models such as the Subaru Legacy, Nissan 200SX, Rover 75 and Holden Astra to win the award. The judging panel is made up of 33 professional motoring journalists working for daily and specialist print media, radio, television and websites around the country. Members considered cars launched in New Zealand between January 1 and December 31, 1999.

The S2000 is the second Honda to win the title; the Accord sedan won in 1994. Other winners include the VW Passat, BMW 5-series, Nissan Maxima, Peugeot 405, Mazda MX-5, Citroen ZX, Lexus LS400 and Toyota Corona.

The Check's in the mail

Once upon a time, Checker cabs filled the streets of New York. They were to the Big Apple what Black Cabs were to London. They even had their own television show (sort of); it was called Taxi, of course. The big Checkers had their heyday in the 60s and 70s, but even after the Checker Cab Manufacturing Company shut up shop in 1982 the big yellow cars had a special place in the hearts of New Yorkers. The point of the story? The last-ever Checker to travel the streets of the city, with nearly one million miles on its odometer, recently came up for auction, and an anonymous buyer signed a cheque for NZ$250,000.

Samsung going for a song

Renault has sent a survey party to Seoul to investigate Samsung Motors, with a view towards a buyout. The Korean company, part of the giant Samsung Group, built 50,000 cars in 1998, but ran up huge debts and was put into receivership in 1999 after making only another 2000 vehicles. Renault, which recently took control of Nissan, is said to interested in further expanding its Asian interests.

Rolls takes soft option

Rolls-Royce has unveiled a new Corniche convertible, the first since the previous model was discontinued in the mid-90s. The new model is based on the Bentley Azure platform, and also borrows its 6.7-litre V8 engine, but the Corniche has an all-new body with similar styling to the Silver Seraph sedan. Up to 200 per year will be built, mainly for the North American market. The Corniche will also be the last-ever Rolls to be hand-built at the company's Crewe factory. In 2003 BMW will take over the British marque from VW, and is planning a new factory for future models.