KEY POINTS:
One way to fix the boy racer problem, says reader Viv, is to make third-party vehicle insurance part of the driver licensing procedure. It would add many dollars to the cost of a licence but would guarantee that every licensed driver was insured. It might even make drivers more responsible, she reckons. A good driver would be rewarded over time with reduced third-party premiums; a careless driver would be penalised. Suspended drivers would have to pay a penalty when renewing their licences, above and beyond any fines. That way "bad drivers would pay for good drivers, rather than the other way round, which is the present situation", she says. Viv believes her scheme would also root out unlicensed drivers.
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If you run into a convoy of Triumph Stags on the main trunk line over the next couple of weeks, give them a wave - they're on a pilgrimage of sorts. The Auckland Stag Owners Club is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a run to Dunedin. Participants get together at Cornwall Park at 2pm today before heading off for an ETA in Dunedin of March 14. Just under 26,000 Triumph Stags were built between 1970 and 1977. The 2+2 Stag was styled by Italian designer Giovanni Michelotti and aimed by Triumph at the Mercedes-Benz SL. But its dodgy build and equally dodgy 3-litre V8 engine helped shorten its life. Nevertheless, it remains a classic, largely because of its Michelotti styling.
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General Motors has cancelled its planned right-hand-drive Camaro, meaning New Zealand and Australia will miss out on the US muscle car. The Camaro was developed in Australia by GM Holden on the Commodore platform. GM executives were talking about export orders for the car to Britain as recently as last month's Detroit motor show. The RHD version could also have been sold in Japan and South Africa, but the global economic recession, GM's liquidity problems, and the aftershock of 2008's record high oil prices killed off the project.
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Part of GM's bailout proposal to the US Government included the carmaker's plans for more fuel-efficient vehicles and its assessment of future fuel prices. For the record, GM expects the price of petrol in the US to return to US$4 a gallon by 2014. That means upwards of $2 a litre in this part of the world. Watch the future price of petrol creep into Mitsubishi's spiel about why you should buy the iMIEV, the all-electric version of its iCar. A test model iMIEV is doing the rounds in Wellington as we speak.
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BMW is studying whether to use wind energy to help power its US plant. If wind power is viable, it could join the list of alternative energy resources used to run the factory, which produces the X5 and X6 crossovers. About 63 per cent of the South Carolina factory's power now comes from recycled methane gas collected from a local landfill. BMW estimates the landfill project has saved the company more than US$1 million ($1.96 million) annually since it was launched in 2003.
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A Volvo Australia executive was asked at a press conference the other day if he was learning to speak Chinese. The inference was, of course, that Chinese carmakers were lining up to buy Volvo from Ford. But one Chinese company quickly distanced itself from the rumoured scramble. Geely Automobile Holdings says it has no plans to buy into Volvo. Nor is the Sichuan Auto Industry Group interested in buying Hummer from General Motors. "It's a complete rumour," a Sichuan spokesman said of the reported US$500 million deal. "We have never had discussions with GM, nor are we interested in Hummer."
alastair.sloane@nzherald.co.nz
