The good oil: Little cars, big jam

More than 750 Fiat 500s got together in Italy to create a Guinness Book record for the world's longest one-model traffic jam. The cars left the Dei Fiori horse-racing tracknear Villanova to create bumper-to-bumper chaos stretching for nearly 4km. The event was a rehearsal for what the International Fiat 500 Club says will be the mother of all traffic jams next year, when it meets to celebrate the little car's 50th birthday. A new Fiat 500 will be launched in 2008 and will be available in New Zealand.

LAY OFF OUR MUSTANG

A US publication called Mustang Monthly says Ford is out to sue the pants off anyone using the Mustang name. The magazine said an internet parts supplier in the US using the Mustang name got a letter from Ford demanding payment. The inference was that Mustang clubs or even those wearing Mustang T-shirts risk standing before judge and jury. "We've invested a lot of money in the trademark and try to protect it," Ford spokesman Dan Bedore told the Chicago Tribune. "Car parts websites using it are in business to make money and they should pay us to use our trademark." Bedore said a flurry of internet chat room exchanges created the impression Ford had filed a rash of lawsuits.

WHAT DRIVES US CRAZY

A US poll asked which driving offence deserved the worst penalty. Forty-one per cent of respondents said being cut off by a driver who then jumped on the brakes drove them nuts. Door dings in car parks upset 26 per cent. Using a cellphone while driving annoyed 22 per cent. Not using turn signals angered 9 per cent. And 3 per cent said stealing a parking spot was the worst offence. Another poll asked readers to put the name of a song to news that Nissan, Renault and General Motors were talking about getting into bed with each other. Most popular was Why Do Fools Fall In Love.

WE ARE THE WORLD

From a crime report in the Washington Post: "A man directed a driver into a parking space, then grabbed her when she got out of the car. He said, 'I'm not going to hurt you. You're a unique person, and I'm a unique person.' He put a ring on her right index finger and started to chant, then took property from her pocket and fled on foot."

* Florida man Lance Kocses, 30, has been charged with reckless driving causing an accident. Police in Seminole say Kocses was distracted while turning across traffic because he was eating from a bowl of cornflakes. The Good Oil passed a woman driver in Parnell the other day eating from a bowl of pasta.