Space Tourism

It looks like NASA are not very pleased with Elon Musk sending his Tesla Roadster off to discover new worlds.

Here's the Metro (the newspaper not the motoring Blogger) story.

 

They are worried about space junk. (They being NASA, not me or the Metro newspaper)

 

I would be more worried about finding charging points.

 

Or more philosophical questions like, "If it was travelling at the Speed of Light, what would happen when you switched on the headlamps?"

 

Anyway, at least the thought of cars touring about space is pretty exciting.

 

Which is presumably why Citroen have a car called a Spacetourer.  They've had it for a couple of years but I never noticed.

 

Presumably because it is this...

- a van-sized people-carrier.

 

I only found out about it today because I read this Autocar story about Citroen renaming their C4 Picassos to be C4 Spacetourers - to bring them into line with it.

 

Now I regard people-carriers (or MPVs) as highly as I regard SUVs and CUVs. In other words - I don't.

 

Someone in the Citroen marketing department is being very optimistic.

 

Maybe they need a rocket under them.

Pig Of A Journey

Or not.

Because we're talking Kermit, not Piggy.

And we're talking about a big PUB CRAWL!

 

We're talking about a green car.  Which all seem to be called Kermit if you do a Google search for "Kermit Car".

 

Except my car - which is green and most definitely does not have a name - unless you count "Jaguar X-Type Estate" as its name.

 

But the green car which is called Kermit is in this BBC story about Ben Coombs who has driven his car 20000 miles across 21 countries, starting at the most northerly pub in the world and finishing at the most southerly.

 

The impressive thing is it is a TVR.

 

You expect a TVR to be photographed like this:

Not this: 

The first photo is the TVR having a clutch replaced en route in Nicaragua - the only major work done on the car on the entire journey.  As I say - impressive.

 

The car is now being shipped back to Britain.  Presumably Ben's liver will be having a rest now.

C U Later

What is the difference between a CUV and an SUV? (a CUV being a Crossover Utility Vehicle)

 

Google gives this answer:

For many car experts, the difference between the two is simple: A crossover is based on a car's platform, while an SUV uses the chassis of a truck. The result is that crossovers use "unibody" architecture, meaning the body and frame are one piece, while SUVs use a "body on frame" design.

 

But then again, would car experts really care?

 

They shouldn't.  But as Autoguide tell us today, BMW and Benz to Sell More CUVs Than Cars This Year.

 

By the way, the term CUV isn't used much here in the UK, we'd just call them cross-overs.  It's a bit like sidewalk & pavement or Trump & childish moron.

 

Those of us that like cars and driving should view this as a bad thing.  People who aren't very interested in cars and see them in the same category as washing machines used to buy Japanese cars in the '80s and Korean cars in the '90s and now buy CUVs and SUVs.

 

But buying them they are.

 

In big numbers.

 

Forcing even the likes of Lamborghini and Rolls Royce to start building the things.

 

And forcing The Grand Tour boys to do a film with three of the least worst:

Albeit reluctantly.

 

Last week Autocar revealed the top 10 sellers in the UK in January, which included:

• The Nissan Qashqai
• The Vauxhall's Mokka X
• The Kia Sportage
• The Ford Kuga

Oh dear.

 

I suppose I should be grateful there are only four in there.  And none in the top three.

 

Anyway, despite the constant negative press CUVFEFE.

 

Grid Kids

No, that's not what I mean.

 

It was just over a week ago that I reported on the removal of Walk-On Girls from certain darts tournaments and how there was pressure on F1 to scrap their Grid Girls.

 

Then, a few days later, the BBC reported on F1 scrapping their Grid Girls.

 

Today, they announced what they will have to replace them - Grid Kids!  This is a very good idea - just not one that belongs to F1.

 

Formula E, being a bit more forward thinking, has been using them for a year.  Here is Oliver Turvey, no relation to Kevin, with a Grid Kid:

These are motorsport fans being given an amazing opportunity in the same way young football fans are who get to be child mascots walking out on to the pitch with their heroes.

Unfortunately, the BBC decided to open up these stories to comments and, for some reason, the BBC News website comments mostly attract the sort of person who believes the things The Mail and Sun tell them - the highest rated comments are always ignorant claptrap.  So, after reading some of them, I need cheering up - ah, Kevin's 'Ere: