The good oil: PM gets to grin and 'bear' it

Prime Minister John Key ran into 'Bear 1' in a Wellington street the other day and was invited to jump behind the wheel. Photo / Supplied

To car nuts, it's the best seat in the house. Prime Minister John Key ran into "Bear 1" in a Wellington street the other day and was invited to jump behind the wheel. No record of what the PM had to say about the homegrown, go-fast roadster, built to honour New Zealand's only Formula One World Champion, Denny Hulme, or "Bear" to his mates. But Hulme Supercars director Jock Freemantle said: "I think the PM liked it." Fremantle is taking the Hulme CanAm around the country, drumming up support for an initial production run of 20 examples.

Double the distance when wet

Reader Francis would like to remind drivers that around 70m is not a safe following distance in 100km/h traffic. This in response to the Good Oil piece last week comparing the considerate behaviour of drivers in Spain and Portugal with the example of three trucks on Auckland's Southern Motorway, hogging lanes one, two and three at 100km/h in wet weather and forcing following motorists to hang back 70m or so to escape the blinding spray. Francis goes by the book, quoting data from the UK transport research laboratory. "In the dry at 100km/h it recommends (a following distance) of 77.7m. In the wet this almost doubles to 122.6m." Francis also says Portugal "has an horrific road toll, as far as I can remember". Portugal's road toll in 2009 was 738. It has a population of 10.6 million. New Zealand's road toll in 2009 was 384. It has a population of 4.3 million. You do the sums. Portugal has cut its road deaths by more than half since 1998. New Zealand continues to spit into the wind.

Doh! Go the other way ...

The Good Oil used a TomTom satellite navigation unit to get around cities in Portugal and Spain. It was loaded with advice from comedians Bill Connolly and John Cleese, among others. Darth Vader helped out, too. "The force is with you, but you are not a Jedi yet." So did Homer Simpson and someone called Snoop Dog. The same voices are on the latest TomTom, which gets "lane guidance" for New Zealand. Cleese might tell drivers who have lost their way to "Turn around when possible so that you are facing in the opposite direction from the direction in which you are directing your vehicle." The TomTom is simple and efficient, better than many factory-fitted systems.

Sports cars up for auction

Auction house Turner's has more than $2.5 million-worth of vehicles up for grabs today, most of them repossessions to be sold on behalf of finance companies. Among them are a 2009 Aston Martin Vantage, 2009 BMW 750i, and 1999 Ferrari 360 Modena. Turner's expects to get $150,0000 for the Aston, $180,000 for the BMW, and $110,000 for the Ferrari. There is also a 2007 Audi RS4 valued at about $80,000 and a 2005 911 Porsche Carrera expected to go for between $55-$85,000.

alastair.sloane@nzherald.co.nz