A visitor is photographed as he photographs a restored mural which shows a Trabant car breaking through the Berlin wall, Germany. This artwork, along with other pieces of art, can be seen at the still-standing 1.3metre long portion of the Berlin Wall known as the East Side Gallery.

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LIFE IN THE SLOW LANE

A racing car that runs on chocolate?
That’s two of my favourite things; cars and chocolate!

A British research team have developed a fully sustainable racing car that runs on chocolate.
The car actually runs on a biofuel that is made from mainly chocolate, but there’s a lot more that makes this car an extraordinary contribution to sustainability.
The body of the car is made using recycled carbon fibre, flax, and recycled resin, the steering wheel is made from carrot pulp. The lubrication for the moving parts in the car are made from plant oils.
Despite being the most environmentally friendly car on the Formula 3 circuit, it’s not slow.
This car has a top speed of 135mph, and with a little help from the turbo charger it does 0-60 in just 2.5 seconds.

Dr Kerry Kirwan from the University of Warwick, England, is the lead researcher of the project and despite the idea of ‘green’ motor sport often being greeted with cynicism, he is confident that it’s definitely a feasable option.
Dr Kirwan said that the idea behind this project was to help people understand that “being sustainable and green can be incredibly sexy, fun and fast” and that they hope to “show ways for the future, for people to race and be green.”
Dr Kerry Kirwan is confident that the car which cost £500,000 to build, will not embarrass itself.
He said, “We believe it is the world’s greenest car but it shows that being green does not have to be boring.”

Ross Brawn, the F1 team boss, and racing drivers Lewis Hamilton and Adam Carroll have given their approval to the project and the car.
The car, called the ‘WorldFirst Formula 3 Racing Car’, but is also known as the ‘flying carrot, took part in its first racing competition in the Formula 3 Championship final on the 17th October at Brands Hatch.

While I’ve no doubt there will be many ‘green’ people who think this is a great idea, I’m not so sure.
Running a car on chocolate? I prefer to eat my chocolate.

Posted on ZEITGEIST

LIFE IN THE SLOW LANE

Computer scientists in Germany have developed an application for the iPhone that turns the phone into a remote control for their self-constructed car.
Using the app, iDriver, the driver can operate the steering, brakes, and accelerator pedal by simply stroking of the mobile phones touchscreen.

A video camera on the dashboard transmits a signal to the iPhone, allowing the iDriver user to see everything in front of the car, and to adjust the car in the direction of their choice.
The commands are transmitted from the iPhone via radio to the power transmission in the car. The iDriver user is able to park a car on the ground level from as far away as the fourth floor of a building.
The remote control and the car called ‘Spirit of Berlin’ were constructed by the Artificial Intelligence Group at Freie Universität and powered by Appirion UG in Berlin, Germany.
The group is investigating how autonomous vehicles may change our lives in the future.
Professor Raúl Rojas, who directed the project, said one day we could all be dropped off and picked up by driverless taxis, which would remove the need for everyone to own a car.

Hmm, this sounds interesting in theory, but I’m not sure about the reality. Although being dropped off and picked up by a driverless vehicle may mean no more driving round and round car-parks looking for a vacant space, I think I prefer driving myself, and this should be left to the world of James Bond.

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The Wine Connoisseur

This car is the world’s most expensive SUV.
The Dartz Prombron Monaco Red Diamond Edition costs £1 million, it comes with gold-plated windows, tungsten exhausts, and the speed gauges are encrusted in diamonds.
The leather seats are made from a whale’s penis, and the exterior has a bulletproof Kevlar coating.
The vehicle weighs four tons and is powered by a V8 engine capable of 450 horse power, Dartz also claim the car is ‘rocket grenade proof’.

The £1 million price tag also includes three bottles of the world’s most expensive vodka.
The car company has included three bottles of Russo-Baltique, the vodka brand it created this year to celebrate its 100th anniversary.
Last year, a bottle of Russo-Baltique reportedly sold for £790,000.
According to the Dartz company website the vodka is not meant to be drunk, it should be displayed as art!
The website says that the flask, a replica of the radiator guard used for the Russo-Baltique cars, is made from gold coins minted between 1908 and 1912. This is around the time that Dartz manufactured its first car.
The flask cap is made from white and yellow gold, and it contains a diamond-encrusted replica of the Russian Imperial Eagle.
And finally, the bottle is made of 30cm thick bulletproof glass!

Dartz Prombron Monaco Red Diamond Edition, and the Brusso-Baltique vodka, were produced especially for the mega-exclusive Top Marques luxury motor show in Monaco next year, by the company that produced armoured vehicles for Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky, and Tsar Nicolas.

A spokesman for Dartz said, “It is inspired by the original playboy Aristotle Onassis’ yacht Christina O, which had bar stool seats made from sperm whale foreskin.
“Some people have called us crazy because of this, but we think we must make a luxury car till the end.
“In the past our customers have included Lenin and his revolutionary partner Trotsky.
“In fact we are launching a version of this new model in 2012, just for Latin America.
“This will commemorate the fact that Trotsky was killed in Mexico with an ice pick in 1940.
“As such, the Latin version will come with a gold ice axe to mark this fact.”

Dartz say the SUV will be unveiled to Prince Albert of Monaco at the Top Marques opening in April 2010. Albert has already reportedly taken the Dartz Prombron Monaco Red Diamond Edition for a test drive.

This is the tackiest ugliest car I have ever seen, and although I’m sure there will be lots of chavs who will think it’s cool, no amount of ‘free’ vodka will ever change my opinion.

Posted on Zeitgeist

The Wine Connoisseur

The Python is an amphibious car that according to its makers is the fastest amphibious vehicle ever sold, and it’s set to blow the competition out of the water.
The Python costs £125,000.

This amphibious vehicle can reportedly reach 60mph on the waves, and is just as comfortable on dry land. To go from boat to car, the driver simply puts the gears in to neutral, and vice versa for going from road to water, the wheels are raised and lowered at the push of a button.
The Python is powered on land by a V8 engine from a Chevrolet Corvette, which produces 640 horsepower, enabling the 3,800lb machine to reach a top speed of 100mph.
On water, the power is provided by its Dominator Jet, which gives approximately 500 horsepower.

This is the first time such a powerful engine has been put on an amphibious car, and it means that the Python can effortlessly skim the tops of waves traveling at twice the speed of its closest rivals.
The five-seat Python is built by the WaterCar company, based in California.
The Python weighs almost two tonnes, which explains why it needs so much power. It’s 30mph faster than the Gibbs Aquada, which is also built in America, and the Python is 54mph faster than the Dutton Mariner which is built in Great Britain.

The Gibbs Aquada has a similar power drive and retractable wheels, but Dave March, creator of the Python, says it is the hull design, which rides higher in the water than competitors, allied to the Dominator Jet that gives his Python amphibian vehicle its bite.
Dave March said, “I noticed in the late 1990’s that a number of design specifications between cars and boats were being shared.
“Boat manufactures were using lightweight high-performance automotive-type engines. Car manufacturers were incorporating light-weight marine-type composite and alloy bodies and chassis. It sparked the idea of developing high-performance cars that could be driven on the water.
“My vision was to see high-performance cars that were also high-performance boats.
“But I was not interested in previous amphibious vehicles that just float around. I was interested in designing a high-performance automobile capable of getting to plane on top of the water, to reach motorway-style speeds on the water.”

The Python has the front end of a truck, the rear end of a Corvette, and the interior of a boat, which all add up to a bit of a mess.
On the road the Python feels like a truck due to the lightweight hull on the bottom, so drivers need to be careful when driving over speed bumps.
The wheels tuck up into the hull when on water, which help to give the Python more speed.

Ever since the Amphicar was manufactured in Berlin, Germany, from 1962 to 1967, with most of the 4,500 produced commercially being sold in America at the then high price of £3,000, car makers have attempted to conquer the waves with machines which are equally at home on land.

The Aquada costs £150,000, which has meant that these vehicles remain luxury items for the wealthy. Not surprisingly at these prices amphibious vehicles sales have been relatively low, and considering the current economic climate I doubt that will change any time soon.

On land the Python will reach a top speed of 100mph, while its top speed on water of 60mph ranks it close to the top luxury speedboats.
Buyers are offered the chance to customise their vehicles, with a choice of 60,000 colour shades for the paintwork, and 4,000 different colours for the interior.

I love love love cars. Boats are OK too! But I’ve never understood why anyone would want a car and a boat in the same vehicle. What’s wrong with owning a car and a separate boat?
I blame James Bond!
The Python is probably the ugliest vehicle I’ve ever seen, and despite a vast choice of 60,000 colour shades of paint, and 4,000 colours for the interior, I don’t think any combination will ever make it look cool.
If I was ever fortunate enough to have £125,000 burning a hole in my pocket I can think of 125,000 better things to spend it on than a Python!

Published on Zeitgeist

LIFE IN THE SLOW LANE

I’m not particularly interested in gardens or gardening, but I do like this Formula 1 car shaped hedges.

Not surprisingly this hedge isn’t in a private garden, it’s at the Williams F1 headquarters, where the gardeners spend several hours every month trimming their topiary to keep the fantastic shape of the Formula 1 car and mechanics.
The Formula 1 car is 11ft long and consists of six plants, and the 6ft mechanics are each made from two plants. They all sit on top of gravel.
The Williams F1 headquarters is in Grove, near Didcot, Oxfordshire, England, and visitors are usually pretty impressed by the topiary which shows a couple of mechanics changing the cars wheels during a pit stop.
Apparently an Italian nursery originally made the model for Ferrari, but Williams purchased it and then changed the shape of the car to reflect their car design.
It wasn’t a quick chnage as the plants took two and a half years to weave round the metal frames which are now completely covered.
Tim Lightfoot, facilities manager at Williams, said visitors are impressed by the detail of the work.
He said, “Our gardeners trim the plants into shape by hand and take a great deal of care doing it.
“It is hard work but the result is really impressive.
“The topiary has pride of place outside our conference centre and is popular with the many people who visit us each year.
“Many guests are shocked by the size of it.
“We often have people trying to sit in it but it’s not a very comfortable drive. It doesn’t go very fast either.”

Williams-Toyota are currently sixth in the Formula 1 constructors’ championship on 30.5 points.
Driver Nico Rosberg has secured all their points, and lies in sixth place in the drivers’ championship. Kazuki Nakajima is yet to score this season.

I love everything about cars, and if I ever had more money than sense, I think I’d get my gardener to make me something similar to this. Maybe I’d have a Bugatti Veyron shaped hedge?
Who am I kidding - I’d have chocolate shaped hedges!

LIFE IN THE SLOW LANE

The stars of BBC2 programme Top Gear have been immortalised in plastic brick form for a new motorsport-themed attraction at Legoland.

Top Gears men join the 40-million-brick Miniland attraction at Legoland near Windsor, England.
The show’s presenters Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May as well as the Stig can be seen huddled around a Caterham Superlight R500 in the motorsport-themed arena.

Guy Bagley, Legoland’s chief model maker, said, “The Caterham is such a timeless and iconic car that it was a no-brainer as our choice for the motorsport area.
“My colleague remembered that the Stig had put the R500 through its paces and how incredible it was on the test track.
“It’s a design that lends itself particularly well to our bricks, too.”

I wonder if Lego will produce a set of Top Gear bricks as a set? If they do it will definitely be a big seller.
Top Gear is my favourite TV programme, I love it so much I’d even buy Top Gear Lego!
The Caterham Superlight R500 was Top Gears Car of the Year 2008, I’d love one, but for now I think I’ll have to settle for the Lego version!

LIFE IN THE SLOW LANE

Andy Waite owns the worlds fastest VW Golf, it’s reportedly faster than a Bugatti Veyron supercar.

Father of three Andy, 42, purchased the 1979 VW Golf Mk for £50, which is almost £1 million less than the price of the Bugatti Veyron.
After purchasing the VW Andy spent £60,000 on modifications, which included a custom-built turbocharged engine, and now the VW can achieve 0-60mph in just 2.36 seconds. That’s faster than the Bugatti Veyron, which takes a tenth of a second longer. Andy’s VW can do 0-113mph in 6.6 seconds.
The VW Golf, which has a top speed of 180mph, can also beat the Bugatti in a quarter-mile drag race, with a time of 10 seconds, around half a second faster than the world’s most expensive supercar.

Andy, of Fordham, Cambs, England, said creating his “monster” motor had been a labour of love. He enjoys driving it in drag races, and it is fully road legal and runs on unleaded fuel.
Andy added, “The biggest problem is that once you get over 160 you can only drive it in a straight line because the steering goes wobbly.”

I’m sure Andy is very proud of his VW Golf, but only being able to drive at 160mph before the steering wobbles … it’s hardly in the same league as the Bugatti Veyron is it?!
It’s not really faster either; it would be a distant spot in the rear view mirror on a decent road such as the autobahns in Germany - we had a lot of fun driving there a few years ago.
VW Golf vs Bugatti Veyron? I know which car I’d prefer to drive, the Bugatti Veyron - it’s one of my dream cars.

RICHARDS REALM

Denis Evans was stopped by off-duty Assistant Chief Constable Nick Croft whilst driving his 195mph Ferrari, and told off for going too slow.
Businessman, Denis Evans, 58, was driving his £164,000 car at 25mph in a 40mph village zone when off-duty Assistant Chief Constable Nick Croft saw him and pulled him over.
After a roadside check on the car’s ownership, and the telling off Denis, of Southerndown, South Wales, was allowed to go.
Denis said, “I was flabbergasted when he said I wasn’t going fast enough.
“The road is badly lit, with a nasty bend, and often has sheep on it. I felt 25 was safe.”

Assistant Chief Constable Nick Croft ~ Denis Evans and Local publican Steve Fisher

Apparently the locals in Ogmore-by-Sea want the 40mph limit lowered.
A police spokeswoman defended Mr Croft, who lives nearby.
She said, “The Assistant Chief Constable was following the Ferrari, which was going very slowly, and he thought, ‘What if it was stolen?’”

This proves what we’ve know for some time - the law really is an ass.

The Wine Connoisseur

Yesterday a police force in England defended using 150mph rally cars as pursuit vehicles by claiming they are quicker to repair after accidents.

I see this copper has got a bottle of milk - good idea, calcium is good for the bones he may break if he is involved in any accidents!

Some critics have said that the cars featured on the Channel Five programme ‘Police Interceptors’, which is based on pursuit teams in Essex, encourage police officers to drive dangerously.
They also blasted the police for recreating the high speed chases for the channel five show with real police officers the driving the Subaru Impreza and Mitsubishi Evo vehicles.

A police force insider reportedly said, “Most people in the job are appalled, the programme depicts our blokes as muppets.”
But Essex Police said the series showed, “how we improve road safety.”
A spokesman said the high-performance cars let the “advanced” police drivers “swiftly but safely” pursue criminals.
He added, “The fact they’re rally-type allows them to be fixed quickly when dangerous motorists hit them.”

Talking about the need to employ the high spec model, Inspector Slack of the South Yorkshire Road Crime Unit said, “The Evo X was the car of choice, because of its excellent pursuit capabilities and the fact that so much time and effort has been put into maximising performance whilst minimising the risk of accidents”.

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We bought a Saburu Impreza when we first moved here to France, but unfortunately our model didn’t come with police markings, loud siren, and flashing lights which would no doubt have made driving it even more fun.
Sadly our gorgeous car died after hubby rolled it over several times.
Thankfully hubby was completely unscathed - unlike the car which was a complete write-off.
No amount of repairs would ever have brought it back to life!
I still miss our Scooby all these years later, it was a phenomenal car with great handling. The fact that it kept hubby safe made me love it even more, especially when the police and the local garage said they couldn’t believe that he wasn’t seriously injured or killed.
Seeing this photo of our car all bashed and bruised is too depressing - which is why I have only posted a tiny section of the mangled wreck.
RIP Scooby!

Life in France