The good oil: Major bash for Mini

Got a Mini? Join the party for the car's 40th birthday next Saturday. The Mini Car Club of Auckland is planning to celebrate the anniversary in style. The day kicks off at 10am at North Harbour Stadium with games and competitions before a convoy of Minis crosses the Harbour Bridge and heads up Queen St in the mid-afternoon for another get-together at the Domain. The party mood continues into the night at the Northern Sports Car Club in Otahuhu. The day's events are free, the evening costs $10 a head. Phone Lyn on 025 964 606 if you want to join the fun.

Hulme's motorsport collection


A week before he died in 1992, Denny Hulme told the Good Oil's tape recorder the best way to get around the Mt Panorama circuit in a BMW Motorsport 3-Series: off the grid and into Hell Corner at 160 km/h, what to do across the top of the mountain, when to brake, when not to brake, what gear to use ... and so on. Hulme's guided tour of the Bathurst track is fascinating. Meantime, Hulme's total professionalism will occupy conversation at the Takapuna Library on Monday night when rally champion Possum Bourne and ther motorsport identities get together to talk the sport and look at the library's Denny Hulme Motorsport Collection. If you like motorsport, pop along between 6 pm and 7.30 pm.

Seizing cyberspace


General Motors, acknowledging the commercial power of the Internet, has set up a special business group to seize a profitable piece of cyberspace. "The use of the Internet is doubling before our eyes every month," said GM Group vice-president Mark Hogan. The new group, e-GM, will coordinate the company's electronic activities from research to selling, financing and insuring new vehicles. It will be linked with GM's Websites.

Duncan's their mate


The New Zealand Racing Drivers Club has endorsed Avondale College student Cameron Duncan's award-winning road safety advertisement. So much so that it has asked Duncan and his family to be its guests at the DriveSafe 500 race at Pukekohe on November 7. The race will be the biggest local event since the Wellington Street Race. V8 touring cars will compete against FIA 2-litre racers over 500km. New Zealand's best drivers will take on a handful of international stars.

We are the world


* Italian policeman Marco Pisano dived into a canal in Lodi to rescue the driver of a car that had careered off the road and submerged. He dragged the driver to dry ground, helped resuscitate him - then issued him with a ticket for running a red light immediately before his plunge into the water.

* Ford is building a car it calls the Ikon for India. It is a stretched Ford Fiesta strengthened for the rugged roads. But the Ikon is unlikely to use a Ford engine - Fiat has opened a new plant in India and will build engines for both its own cars and the new Ford.

* BMW halted production at its Munich plant for a while last week so its 19,000 workers could watch the last solar eclipse of the century. DaimlerChrylser allowed its workers to choose when they took their breaks so they could watch too.