Am I Boring?

Well, I have just bought a grey Volvo.

And maybe even Volvo think they are boring...

...because I've bought mine on the same day that Volvo have said, "We're continually re-evaluating our product portfolio and as part of this process have temporarily removed the S60 from sale in the UK.”

More bloody management-speak - Autocar have the story here.

So I've said farewell to my BMW.

And one of the last things I caught on the dashcam en route to the Volvo dealer was this tit.

Is he typical of cyclists?  Am I typical of Volvo drivers?  Is Jerry from Lowestoft typical of Tory Party members?

Maybe. Nah. Probably.

Video Nasty

On Tuesday I reported on the imminent demise of The Ford Fiesta.

This has now been confirmed.

And Ford have made an extremely sickly video to try to justify it.

In it, it becomes apparent that the Fiesta is to be replaced (and not in a Liz Truss way) with a quartet of electric SUVs.

"Because it's job was done."

They have a Puma in the Suella Braverman role which seems appropriate.

Never mind, here's a video from the BBC today with a happy ending:

The Party's Over

The Conservative Party?

I wish.

No, this party is a fiesta - the Ford Fiesta is dead.

Or will be soon anyway.

A bit of crappy Ford management-speak states,

"We are accelerating our efforts to go all-in on electrification and therefore review our vehicle portfolio in line with our business strategy. We do not comment on speculation and will share more information in the coming months.”

This is their response to being asked if the Fiesta will be joining its already deceased sibling, the Mondeo.

So they won't deny it then?

Auto-Express have the story here.

Autocar use it as an excuse to repeat one of their slideshows.

The Fiesta is already conspicuously absent from the top-selling cars lists - like this one - which is sadly dominated by cross-over SUVs - like Ford's horrific Kuga and Puma which both get mentions.  

Interesting that the Focus has gone from the top 10 too.

Also interesting though is that in at number one is Vauxhall's Fiesta-rival the Corsa.

I think Ford's Marketing Department have missed the party.

Did he make it to the toilet in time to avoid an accident?

Nope.

BBC News have the story here.

Basically, a Japanese gentleman whose job it is to help preserve Japan's cultural heritage has accidentally reversed his car into a bit of it.

And the bit he reversed in to is a communal latrine in Tofukuji Temple in Kyoto. (Which is an anagram of Tokyo).

Although these toilets (which is an anagram of T.S.Eliot) were 20 holes in the floor.

It's a strange looking car isn't it?

And it looks like someone has written "willy" on the back of it.

But if you look closer, you will see it says "WiLL Vi" - for it is a Toyota WiLL Vi - a rather quirky and rather ugly precursor to Scion strongly related to The Yaris.

Learn more about it here - I think this one ended up in the right place.

America Tending to the Right

With the mid-terms quickly approaching, I hope this doesn't happen.  DC will be watching closely.

One thing that I have always liked about America, and I have driven a bit over there (although not in a long time) is the rule they have in most States whereby you can turn right through a red traffic light (assuming it is safe to do so)

There are still rules to follow of course - here's a little Driver Ed for you.

And here is another Driver Ed:

But I digress.

Back to the traffic light rule.

According to Car+Driver, Washington (and the rest of D.C.) are looking to remove the turn right on red rule.  The story is here.  Apparently fatalities are on the up with pedestrians not looking around the corners as they cross and, more importantly, drivers not checking for pedestrians or cyclists as they go through the red lights.

This will become even more of a problem as quieter electric vehicles become more prevalent. 

Now throw in something I had not heard of before called The Idaho Stop and much chaos and death will ensue.  The Idaho Stop (although not fully implemented in D.C.) basically allows cyclists to do what they think they can do here in the UK and proceed carte blanche through stop signs and red lights.

Car+Driver added one of their little 50/50 votes at the end of story and, since we petrol-heads all think we are such skilled drivers, I was pleasantly surprised at the outcome with as many as 31% agreeing with tighter rules:

I just hope there are some pleasant surprises for Joe in the vote next month.

Umbrage, Pus and a Homologated Lightweight Chassis

Silly story out of F1 today.

Even Lewis Hamilton says it is silly.

Here it is on the BBC F1 page.  The Mercedes team were fined €25,000 after qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix because they filled out a scrutineering form saying Hamilton would comply with the regulations not to wear jewellery - and then he wore his nose-stud.  Apparently, he is "the only driver to wear significant amounts of piercings."

It doesn't say whereabouts these piercings are - or how the scrutineers check whether they are in place or not.

Anyway, he is taking the Alex Higgins Bow Tie defence and got a letter from his doctor claiming exemption for medical reasons.

F1 claim that body piercings are against the rules as they are in danger of getting a bit hot in a fire.

I would have thought them being ripped out during a crash would have been more of an issue - but I don't follow F1 these days so I may be missing something.

Meanwhile, Lewis is also in the unusual position of not running away with the championship this year.  This is mostly due to the success of the Red Bull Team - who suddenly find themselves under investigation for breaking budget rules.

One person who has been speaking out on the subject is Mercedes team boss Heinz Wolff who never falls fouls of the bow tie rule:

Sorry, that should be Toto Wolff - and he has fallen foul of the bow tie rule:

Anyway, Red Bull boss (and Mr. Ginger Spice) Christian Horner has taken umbrage and is talking about legal action.  But his team need to concentrate on rules about having enough fuel to test when you do a qualifying lap - because they didn't - so their top driver, Max Verstappen,  ended up eighth on the starting grid.

Max reckoned that Singapore is a difficult circuit to overtake on so he wouldn't be able to win from there. 

He was right - his team-mate won.

He did finish 7th though, two places ahead of Lewis.

Maybe Lewis was being weighted down by his jewellery.