KEY POINTS:
A 92-year-old car owned by late Australian businessman Robert Holmes A'Court was one of the main attractions at auction in Sydney the other night. The incomplete but rare 1914 Rauch & Lang Electric sold for $A28,000 ($32,102). Rauch and Lang cars were built in Cleveland, Ohio, early last century and often used by the wives of wealthy businessmen. Some models had seats outside the closed compartment for the driver.
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The wags say computer software company Adobe, makers of electronic airbrush programme Photoshop, should receive a special mention in the 2007 Pirelli Calendar. Why? Because one of the models is 70-plus Italian actress Sophia Loren, who doesn't look a day over 30 or 40. Loren is joined on the glossy pages of the annual tyre company's calendar by years-younger tinseltown stars including Penelope Cruz, Hilary Swank, and Naomi Watts.
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Women don't want novelty gifts for Christmas and men don't want socks, undies and handkerchiefs, according to a survey of 1200 British shoppers. A personalised plate company asked: What is the worst gift you have ever received? Twenty-seven per cent of women pointed to novelty gifts, 14 per cent said things for the kitchen, and 10 per cent slipped that special item of clothing to the bottom of the drawer. For men, 50 per cent were turned off by socks and undies. But 60 per cent of men and women said they would be happy with a personalised plate.
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Another British survey finds that, in the eyes of drivers, a car changes its sex as it gets older. The Bosch Car Service network of garages found that a car starts its life as a female, but becomes a man as it ages. Jan Walsh, author of the report said: "It perhaps suggests that when a car is at its newest, sexiest and looking its best, owners relate it to being female. As it gets older, we consider it male - reliable and solid, much like your dad or granddad."
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A German driver followed prompts from his car's satellite-navigation system to the letter - and drove into a toilet block on a building site reports Reuters. The 53-year-old turned as soon as the sat-nav told him to, rather than wait for the next exit road.
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Loretta Nall, 32, Libertarian Party candidate for governor of Alabama, told reporters from her campaign pick-up truck that she hoped voters attracted by her cleavage would listen to her campaign platform. She offers a T-shirt reading: "More of these boobs and [referring to pictures of her opponents] less of these boobs."
