A lament for the passing of Saab; some good cheer for Danny Dyer relating to naughty geezers nicking his motor; some pictures of a Bentley bus; and some surprise news on the Queen’s car maintenance abilities.
Sonnet for Saab
Despite bowing to the logic of the current market that has claimed Pontiac, and looks likely to be the end of Saab, one can’t help but shed a tear for the passing of these historical and praiseworthy brands.
Most obviously there’s the immediate impact on those working for the manufacturers, but something much more intangible is lost when a brand goes to the Great Scrapyard.
Though we may be premature in declaring the end for Saab, things don’t look promising for the Swedish manufacturer.
Accordingly, here’s a snippet from a rather wonderful lament for the seemingly-doomed Saab from Asian Martin.
Saturn, Poni commiserate the pain
Of lost causes and what could have ascent,
But strive and persist in this unjust game
For big dollar buyout from the Orient.
Bentley bus
Here’s an image of a London Routemaster Bus, done out by Bentley and donated to the St Luke’s hospice.
Bentley says it took 59 workers 2000 hours to complete and has sought to retain many of the original features while adapting it to the needs of St Luke’s.
“This has been a real labour of love for all those involved. Bentley staff are incredibly proud of the cars we produce but applying those skills to a bus was a totally new experience for all,” says The Bentley production manager in charge of the project, Gary Lazenby
“We are very grateful to the many local suppliers who provided materials free of charge to help make this iconic vehicle fit for a new lease of life.”
The bus, named Luke, will be used as a travelling shop for colleges and universities as well as an education and awareness base to visit schools and other events.
Good work all round.
Naughty geezers
Danny Dyer has thanked vehicle tracking tech outfit TRACKER for returning his Porsche after it was nicked by some wide boys.
Here’s Dyer himself:
“I’m amazed at how quickly TRACKER recovered my car. Without the TRACKER device fitted, my Porsche would still be in the hands of thieves and I may never have recovered it. I’ll definitely be using TRACKER on all my cars from now on.”
Sadly, it seems as if Dyer did not track down the criminals responsible and dispense some vigilante justice himself, as portrayed in the classic* shooters and motors payback film Outlaw.
Tesco replies on compressed air
Tesco says it’s updating its air and water pumps across the country as its current machines are often ‘out of order and therefore unavailable for customers to use’.
Stay tuned.
Queen is best car mechanic
Here on Folly Friday we delight in demonstrating how plainly absurd so many press releases in the automotive industry can be. But we’ve found one this week that may just be the most barking of the lot.
It reveals that most of the UK public would trust The Queen to undertake ‘basic car repairs’ above David Cameron, Gordon Brown or Simon Cowell.
This is, presumably, because people have watched the film The Queen, where Helen Mirren berates a functionary for daring to question her knowledge of turbochargers, or something.
Either way, MT can’t be bothered enough to discuss it any more, apart from pointing you in the direction of the Automotive Technician Accreditation (ATA) scheme, whence this release originates.
Drivers fear motorways
Many motorists loathe motorway driving, according to a survey from the AA Driving School.
In their first year of driving, nearly 20% of men and 40% of women avoided motorways altogether, the survey showed.
Of course, what this does reveal is that the lack of driver training in this area is a serious problem.
That’s something evident from a lot of people who do use motorways too, from the lack of consideration for others, ignorance of lane discipline and sheer paucity of driving ability evident, particularly from young drivers.
How many hours could be saved on motorways if people obeyed regulations in force, stuck to correct tailing distances, used lanes correctly and treated other road users with a little more respect?
Villeneuve visits Hethel
Did he always look like that?
[Jacques] Villeneuve was delighted to have spent the day at the home of [Lotus] and commented:
“It has been a great day for me to catch-up with my friend Gino Rosato in his new role at Lotus and to see where the magic of Lotus comes from. My first toy car as a child was a replica model of Emerson Fittipaldi’s Lotus 72, I could say his name before I could say my dad’s!
“I really enjoyed watching them racing when I was a boy. It has been a really fun trip for me, to see the people working to build the Evora was particularly nice.”
* Not really – it’s cack
