Moggie Minor Accident

This is actually about a Toyota Auris Private Hire taxi not a Morris Minor but the cat reference doesn't work otherwise.

Here is what happens when a Toyota Auris driver swerves to avoid a cat at 4 o'clock in the morning:

The rather brief BBC story is here.  It doesn't answer much.  For example, Was there really a cat? If there was a cat, what happened to it? and, How fast was the driver going to end up parked like that on a Jeep?

There were no injuries.

If you clicked on this story looking for a Minor bump, then these next two pictures should sate your desires.  If you were looking for a minor bump, then they will distress you.

This one was full of scrap en route to a Scrapyard in 2018:

This one allegedly rolled on the M20 in 2012:

In both cases, injuries to the drivers were minor.

That's not a Golf

It's a 3-Series BMW.

But it is in the Golf section of the BBC Website.

I'm not an expert on Golf but I would suspect that most top-class golfers would be able to hit a ball a great distance in a straight line.

So Paul O'Neill is doing the hard work in this successful World-Record attempt:

(click on the picture to see the video)

And yet Marcus Armitage gets to be the record holder.

I'm looking forward to seeing Paul in action next weekend for the return of the BTCC where he should be presenting and commentating for ITV Sport again.

Obviously, Paul was wearing a crash helmet for this attempt - I really don't understand why Marcus has one though.

At this point, please insert your own joke using the word "Driver."

Car Park Full

I like what Gareth Wild has done because it is daft and he enjoys the fact that it is daft.

BBC News have his story here.

Gareth is a Dad of Two from Bromley who dislikes shopping.  Much like myself (apart from the Bromley bit).

Anyway, to make his shopping trips less boring, he has managed to park in all 211 parking spaces that he is allowed to use in his local Sainsburys.  He's used Excel and a diagram to keep track:

He said, "It was only six years ago when I said to myself, 'wow I could probably park in every single one of these spaces given enough time', and time is on your side when you're doing the weekly shop."

When asked about the trickiest spots to get, he said: "Without getting too technical, when I say B7 and B8 you'll know exactly what I mean. They were really difficult to get. I don't know what it is because they're not even great spots but people seem to love them..."

(In my opinion, those are the only two spots that you don't have to reverse in or out of which would explain their popularity)

"...So I went down one evening for snacks quite late and I managed to snag B8...ooh that was quite a moment in my life."

His next challenge? "I've got my eye on Lidl. But how do you go up from this?"

I like his style - and it's an excuse to revisit something I wrote on the subject many years ago when I was nearer his age: Metro's Car Blog - Shopping Trip

Flight of Fancy

 Caught this twerp on my Dashcam yesterday morning:

I assumed, going by the fact that it was a small Fiesta with a big exhaust pipe that it would be a young lad - a boy-racer if you will.

I was right.

When I pulled alongside him at the next set of traffic lights, he was replete with hoodie and vaping cigarette.

So why have I got a grudging respect for the one driving the car in this next video?

Is it because he achieves air IN A HYUNDAI SANTA FE!?

It's probably because I'd quite like to have a go at that myself.

Given the damage, I think I would also wish to be using somebody else's Hyundai Santa Fe:

This article by Car+Driver writer Ezra Dyer covers the story in an entertaining manner.

Although, if you want an even more impressive jump, you need to check out the Tower Bridge Website.

Creating a Monster

 Albeit a cute one:

Looks better from the rear though:

The front reminds me too much of Tina from Bob's Burgers:

So what is this mystery car that looks so much like a Mark I Hyundai Pony?

It's actually a Mark I Hyundai Pony.  It has been disassembled and rebuilt by Hyundai to celebrate their new customer centre in Busan, Korea. They have added an electric motor and some other funky touches. Car+Driver have the story here.

One of my favourite funky touches is the Nixie tubes in the dash display:

I never even knew that those things were called "Nixie Tubes"

So what is "the monster" of which I speak?

Is it from a film as scary as Dracula or La La Land?

No.

I am talking about the gigantic motoring conglomerate that is Hyundai/Kia and which was created, or at least grown, with a bit of help (including the Mark I Pony in the photo above) from British Leyland.  That story is here.

Now a film of the story of British Leyland WOULD be a horror movie.