The good oil

Supercar on new wheels

The New Zealand-built Hulme supercarwill be unveiled in Auckland in February/March - with new wheels and tyres to replace the ones stolen after a break-in at the Onehunga factory.

The car's lightweight carbon-fibre body will be painted "Hulme orange", one of six colours available, and powered by a 5-litre BMW V8 engine. The Hulme model is named after New Zealander Denny Hulme, the 1967 Formula One champion. The project team is building the two-seater for the international market and is looking at launching it at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in Britain in July.

Meantime, the Brabham BT11A single-seater that Hulme raced in 1966 is for sale. British auction house H&H expects it to fetch more than £100,000 ($270,000). It is one of an exclusive lot of cars, including a 1961 Jaguar E-Type, the fourth E-Type ever built, expected to sell for around £300,000 ($813,000). A 1971 Ferrari 365 GTB4 Daytona should go for £50,000 ($136,000) and a 1955 Jaguar XK150 for £45,000 ($122,000).

Mix-up at the pumps

Reader Chaz Foxall writes: "There are now two companies in Auckland whose sole business is draining the fuel tanks of vehicles whose owners have mistakenly put petrol in their diesel tanks or vice-versa. This begs the question, why has there never been standardisation in the design of petrol pumps?

"Three of the basic tenets of good design are simplicity, forgiveness and affordance.

"Simplicity meaning that everybody can understand the design regardless of experience, literacy or concentration level.

"Forgiveness is achieved when designs minimise the occurrence and consequence of errors.

"Affordance, where objects should afford their intended function and negatively afford improper use.

"Most petrol pumps fail on all three categories. One company has its fuel pumps colour-coded (bad luck if you are colour blind) and the middle pump is diesel. Another company places its diesel pump on the end of the row, again with poor signage.

"Often the safety latch for diesel pumps is missing or damaged, and in an era when the phrase 'service station' is an oxymoron, attendants are usually missing as well.

"One central city station proprietor told me that they have up to three cars a week using the incorrect fuel.

"The AA now charges over $100 to members for a callout to drain a fuel tank, and the waiting time for this service can be up to three hours. Perhaps the AA or the oil companies should be leading the way in attempting to rectify this situation for the average motorist."

Crack down on unlicensed

Another reader, Graeme, asks why police and transport authorities don't crack down on the 40,000 or so unlicensed drivers in Auckland. "Getting those people off the roads would go a long way to freeing up traffic congestion."

Eyes on the road or else

Swedish carmaker Saab has unveiled a speed-sensitive safety system that could soon make its way into production cars. It's called Daws (Driver Attention Warning System) and consists of two miniature infrared cameras, mounted in the instrument panel, that monitor driver head and eye movement. If the driver's eyes stray from what Saab calls the primary attention zone - basically between the A-pillars - a warning sounds and is followed by a brief pulse of the brakes. An alarm will sound if the driver's gaze wanders away from the primary attention zone for about two seconds.

We are the world

Police in Manchester, Connecticut, charged 28-year-old Frank Hersha with drunk-driving after they spotted him trying to order from the drive-through window of a restaurant that was closed.