Borgward was probably best known for its Isabella model, which was introduced in 1954.
Borgward was probably best known for its Isabella model, which was introduced in 1954.
It would seem that the big German brands, such as BMW, Audi, VW, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche are about to be joined by another Teutonic manufacturer.
Actually, make that "rejoined", because according to a recent press release, Borgward is about to rise again.
Now, if you are not a fan of classic cars, you may well greet that news with a bewildered "who?", which is fair enough, because the company went under in 1961 after being founded by Carl Borgward in 1919.
While it was probably best known for its Isabella model introduced in 1954, Borgward was regarded as something of an innovator.
But the company struggled to compete with the likes of VW, lacking the larger company's economies of scale, but also by being plagued with quality issues.
The Borgward name is being revived by Carl's grandson, Christian Borgward (who says it is a "childhood dream come true"), and will reveal its new car at the Geneva motor show on March 3.
We are the world
• Stephen Chick, a truckie in the UK, has for several years played the Euromillions lottery with numbers he picks from the number plates of other trucks he drives behind. It paid off when he won £1 million ($2.05 million). He didn't know about it for a week because he was "too busy driving trucks" to check his ticket. He eventually did, however, but has no plans to give up driving trucks.
• Residents of Romford in east London were left amused and baffled after a council contractor painted what is being called "Britain's most useless parking space" that features a road sign smack in the middle of it. The council says that the contractor "mistakenly" painted around the sign and that it will remove the lines as soon as possible. Hopefully before someone stupid tries to park in it.
Snow is stuff that The Good Oil has no time for. After all, it just makes everything you have to do in it colder, more difficult and wetter than it needs to be.
But Nissan has released pictures of something that could change our opinion of the cold stuff - the Juke Nismo RSnow.
Basically the same as the VW Golf-baiting Juke Nismo RS, the RSnow has had a few tweaks to make the huge tracks fit and its torque-vectoring AWD system has been reprogrammed. But that is all.
The RSnow was built to support an ice-driving event in Finland and Nissan has no plans to put it into production but it doesn't sound like it would be too difficult to do if the demand was there. And it should be. It really should be.
Aston Martin sues over Speedback GT
The Automotive Speedback GT.
We knew this would happen ... it seems Aston Martin isn't so keen on the design of the David Brown Automotive Speedback GT, which looks similar to the classic Aston, and it is suing.
What is surprising, though, is who it is suing. Rather than having a crack at David Brown Automotive, Aston Martin is suing one of its own suppliers - UK firm the Envisage Group, which has done design work for Aston since 2007. It seems Envisage also operates a coach-building operation, which handles the production of small-volume vehicles. Such as the Speedback GT.
Aston Martin and David Brown Automotive stress that the lawsuit is unrelated to the Speedback's striking resemblance to certain Aston designs. According to the Telegraph, the lawsuit makes specific mention of badges, wheels and headlights belonging to Aston Martin that Envisage has allegedly used in promoting its services.
Batfan gadget silly but super
Batmobile phone case
While it is painfully obvious that The Good Oil is something of a Batmobile obsessive, even this one is probably a bit too far for us - the finely detailed replica of the Tim Burton-era Batmobile from 1989 made by Bandai is actually a case for an iPhone 6.
Featuring handy and convenient slide-out openings to access the camera and other essential controls, a useful Batsignal projector and working lights, the appropriately named Batmobile Crazy Case also manages to make your slim iPhone 6 incredibly bulky and inconvenient.
If you have an older iPhone 5 - never fear - because Bandai also offers a similarly inconvenient case in the shape of the Tumbler Batmobile from the Christopher Nolan movies.
While these are the silliest phone cases The Good Oil has seen, we still would almost consider buying an iPhone just as an excuse to get one ...
Bond-worthy trio
A Range Rover Sport SVR, Jaguar C-X75 and Land Rover Defender Big Foot feature.
While the World's Most Conspicuous Spy - James Bond - will wheel around in a highly obvious, bespoke Aston Martin DB10 in his next cinematic outing, Spectre, Jaguar Land Rover has revealed the first details and pics of the cars it has supplied to the production.
Featuring alongside the DB10 in a chase scene through Rome will be the Jaguar C-X75 (that only made it to concept stage), which has been specially built for the film by Williams Advanced Engineering who developed the advanced hybrid drivetrain for the original C-X75 concept. Although apparently this has been dropped in favour of the lower-tech approach of jamming a big V8 into the movie car.
Also joining the C-X75 will be the Range Rover Sport SVR - the fastest and most powerful Land Rover the company has produced - and some impressive looking Land Rover Defender Big Foots that have been tweaked by JLR's Special Operations division. The Defenders feature 37-inch off-road tyres and bespoke suspension, as well as additional body protection.
Of course, The Good Oil's favourite thing about all of this is that the Bond franchise seems to be getting some of its over-the-top silliness back (spies and bad guys driving highly conspicuous one-off cars) after a run of dreary "gritty reboot" films ...
