The Good Oil: Better than Auckland real estate

The XJ Jeep Cherokee tried to drive over a border fence between mexico and US. For use in Driven NOv 17. Photo / Supplied

Tom Hartley earned a spot in the record books when he sold his 1998 McLaren F1 for more than $6.8 million.

An F1 last sold at auction in 2008 for $4.96 million.

Hartley's McLaren became the most expensive supercar ever sold and this was just a standard road version of the F1. Race examples and longtails could conceivably fetch even more, experts say.

Hartley owns an exotic car dealership in England and has been buying and selling vehicles since he was 11.

He says the F1 is his favourite car of all time.


What older Jeeps are good for
The XJ Jeep Cherokee is a capable off-roader. With decent suspension flex and stout running gear, it will get you where you need to go within reason. Unfortunately for
some would-be immigrants it didn't quite have the break-over angle needed to drive a set of ramps up and over a 4.3m-tall border fence between the US and Mexico. The Border Patrol seized the XJ and are seeking its occupants.


Start spreading the news ...

Why would Toyota name the top model of its new Corolla hatch after a town in the Horowhenua?
Actually, they didn't. Levin, an Old English word meaning ''lightning'', has been around on Corollas since 1972, when the first Levin and Sprinter Trueno were introduced as
high-performance greased lightnings of the day.




Cue the iFerrari

Eddy Cue, vice president of internet software and services for Apple, has joined Ferrari's board. Now pundits predict an embeddimg of Apple technology in the supercars.

Apple is already partnering manufacturers including General Motors, Honda and Toyota to integrate Siri, a ''personal assistant'' app developed for smartphones, into vehicles.

At Apple Cue has been involved with everything from iLife to iBooks, the App Store to iCloud. He's currently overseeing iOS Maps and Siri. It probably helps that he's owned five Ferraris.


China toughens up on recalls

The Chinese manufacturers who fail to recall vehicles in a ''timely manner'' can next year expect to face fines between $100,000 and $200,000.

A chickenfeed fine for an auto giant? Maybe, but Chinese regulations also allow the Government to levy a fine of 1 per cent-10 per cent of the total sales value of the recalled units.

Worse: a manufacturer could face revocation of production licences if it knowingly conceals defects or refuses to stop selling faulty vehicles.

Currently, Chinese car companies work under guidelines that impose a tiny fine of between $2000 and $5500 for failing to do a recall.

Chinese manufacturers recalled some 6.2 million units over the last seven years.


We are the world

The latest craze among Tokyo's trendiest partygoers is the ''bagel head'', in which fun-lovers inject saline just under the skin of the forehead to create a swelling and
then pressure the centre to achieve a donut look that lasts 24 hours.

Whatever happened to 36-24-36?
Beauty contestants in China's Hubei province must now comply with minimum body requirements. Among them, according to China's Global Post, the space between the pupils should be 46 per cent of the distance between each pupil and the nearer ear, and the distance between a candidate's nipples should be at least 20cm.

Britain's Leeds Crown Court has ''punished'' a 25-year-old man who sneaked into the changing room of China's female Olympic swimmers.
He was banned, for five years, from entering any female changing room.

Meanwhile, Britain's Gravesham Borough Council, weary of neighbours' complaints about
the noise and smell from Roy Day's brood of 20 pigeons, ordered him to find them a new home. Trouble is, they are homing pigeons. Said a friend: ''He has never lost one.''


Talk about flamin' screw-ups

Police in Mesa, Arizona, say a citizen was busy stealing petrol from a car using an electrically powered siphon when the device ignited the fuel. The thief's shirt
caught fire so he rolled in the street in an effort to put it out.

Having no luck and still on fire, he raced back to his truck for a getaway. A surveillance camera caught him igniting the cab, leaping out and attempting to run.

A neighbour caught the badly burned miscreant just as the truck, which had rolled away, blew up.

Once in hospital, police are said to have found a book and thrown it at him.



Number crunching

21 PER CENT
Growth in NZ car sales over a year ago.

2-3 PER CENT
Approximate growth of NZ economy in 2012.

9 PER CENT
Growth rate of
China's car market.

6 PER CENT
Growth rate of Australia's car market.