The Good Oil: A Supercar for kids

NZ Herald

16 Jan, 2015 10:00 PM5 mins to read

The Broon is a supercar for children. Photos / Supplied

Ever find yourself wishing that your child could have a better, more expensive car than all the other kids?

South Korean company Broon has revealed possibly the ultimate toddler's electric car - the Broon F870.

Essentially an electric supercar for those aged 5 or under, the Broon F870 comes with independent suspension with gas shock absorbers and coil springs, lightweight alloy wheels, disc brakes with drilled rotors, a leather racing seat, an Android-powered touchscreen display, dual motors and all-wheel-drive.

Admittedly the 15km/h top speed may be well short of what is expected from an adult-sized Lambo or McLaren, but for small people who have yet to master the art of counting to 10, that is plenty fast.

The F870 will set you back US$1000 ($1280).

And if your tyke is too small or unco-ordinated to drive, the F870 comes with a Bluetooth remote control so you can pilot it.

That's right: it's really just an excuse for a rich dad to have a really big, really cool remote control car.

We are the world

• Former British police officer Osman Iqbal was sentenced to seven years in jail for running a brothel, money laundering, selling drugs and a number of other crimes. While being a cop is an almost ideal cover for running illegal operations, Iqbal made one small error - he drove his Ferrari 458 to work. It made his fellow officers slightly suspicious...

• Stories of young football players buying expensive cars and destroying them because of inexperience aren't exactly unheard of, and it has just happened again, this time in Russia. Except this time there is a slight twist - the unnamed young man who destroyed his Aston Martin only three days after buying it is in trouble for allegedly leaving the scene of the accident. Oh, and also for being 15 and not having a driver's licence.

• In a stunning tribute to Italian workmanship a US$20 million ($25.7 million) bridge in Sicily has collapsed a mere 10 days after it opened. The Scorciavacche viaduct connecting Palermo and Agrigento was completed three months ahead of schedule, but little more than a week later part of the road collapsed. Four people suffered minor injuries in what the builders call an "abnormal subsidence" as opposed to "dodgy construction".

Boldly going from Chicago to Los Angeles

In The Good Oil's perfect world, beer would be free, personal nuclear-powered robot dogs with laser eyes would be a thing and we would all drive V8-powered single-seat three-wheelers with styling inspired by the B-17 bomber and designed by Captain James T. Kirk.

William Shatner designed the Rivet.

So far, one out of three ain't bad. The legendary commander of the Starship Enterprise has teamed up with US custom bike builder American Wrench to build the Rivet.

William Shatner's idea of the perfect vehicle is a V8-powered trike with no roof and styling inspired by "the timeless designs of the machines that helped win WWII".

And the 83-year-old actor says he plans to ride the Rivet from Chicago to LA when it is completed.

If you share Shatner's dream of the future, you can order a Rivet. No word on how much, but what price do you place on awesome?

Flying in the face of common sense

The Sky Commuter is great - to commute to your own garage.

Oooh, fancy!

Okay, so it is 2015 already and we STILL don't have flying cars.

If you have a lot of money and little common sense you may be interested that a 1990 prototype flying car has come up for auction in the US. The Sky Commuter prototype was built by Sky Innovations.

Apparently, the company spent more than US$6 million trying to make the vertical take-off and landing car a reality.

There is zero evidence the Sky Commuter got off the ground, despite the company's claims.

Three prototypes were produced but only one is thought to survive. The surviving car was last sold in 2008 for US$130,000.

Which is a bargain for a flying car, but rather a lot for a flying car that can't fly.

Taxi crowns 60 years

Toyota celebrates the Crown's 60th anniversary by offering a limited run in two new colours.

Everybody's favourite Japanese taxi has just turned 60.

Toyota unveiled the first Crown in January 1955, and it is now the longest-running nameplate in the company's history as well as being responsible for its obsession with crown-based names (Corona, Corolla and Camry all derive from words or phrases that mean "crown").

While the first examples were small by today's standards - and recent generations share a lot with the Lexus GS - classic models from the 60s and 70s were majestic, chrome-festooned masterpieces that found near-universal favour with taxi operators in Japan.
The Crown was, for a time, assembled in New Zealand and was the first Japanese car exported to America, as well as starting Toyota's exports to Africa (1957) and Europe (1962).

The Crown is now in its 14th generation and while no longer the taxi of choice in Japan (it has become far too luxurious and expensive) it continues to be a successful seller. Toyota is celebrating the anniversary by offering a limited run of sky blue and bright green exterior colours, just the hues a taxi might be painted ...