Manchester - Top of the League.

Many years ago, when computer printers were quite large and you only had one or two in a large area shared by many users, we had one sat outside a manager's office.

That manager didn't like large amounts of paper building up out there.

So he started to keep track of how much it was used and who was using it the most.

He would send out emails with the top users listed on them.

The main outcome of this was that everyone wanted to be top of the table so printed more.

This story reminded me of that.

Here are the Police Force areas with the fastest speeders in 2019:

A fine win for South Yorkshire there.

It will depend on the sort of roads you have in your area though - I don't imagine Dyfed-Powys will be troubling the scorer.  As it is, only 27 of the 45 Police Authorities actually took part in the competition.

And the title is a bit misleading given thatg only the winning score was over 160 mph.

In 2020 we had 3 over that mark and former champions South Yorkshire only just qualifying for the Champions League.

Covid obviously didn't have any impact - I assume there were no passengers in the cars though.

2021 saw an improvement from South Yorkshire missing out on the top spot by just 4 mph.

Then on 2022 they had a disaster but there was a very impressive performance from Kent.

Finally, because the final 2024 results are not in yet, we have 2023:

Manchester at the top - very disappointing for a Merseyside blogger like myself.

It might give Pep a boost though - he needs one at the moment.

Take a Seat

Or a Cupra - same thing really.

So, if you've got a new boring electric cross-over SUV that needs marketing, how do you make it stand out from all of the other new boring electric cross-over SUVs?

Well, to start with, give it a memorable name - like Tavascan.

Hmm - makes me think Gaviscon - or maybe some Computed Tomography you may require if the Gaviscon isn't doing the trick.

So once you've chosen the name, you  need some sort of pretentious TV ad to try to make people believe that they actually need this particular boring electric cross-over SUV.  I guess there must be enough gullible people out there to make it work - the perfume industry has been doing this for longer than I care to remember.

Here is the Cupra one:

Vomit inducing.  They've also mangled "Everybody wants to Rule the World" by Tears for Fears.

It is so mangled that at first I decided it was "Walls Come Tumbling Down" by The Style Council (that lyric is included in the bit of the Tears for Fears song that they are mangling)

Shame it wasn't the Style Council one really because then it would make more sense if I said...

You don't have to take this crap.

You don't have to sit back and relax.

Just go out and buy a non-pretentious, non-boring saloon or estate car.

Cybercrime

Back in 2019 I got a bit obsessed with the Cybertruck - here is a post from around then.

At the time I said I didn't like it - I think that is still true although I may be more biased by my dislike of Elon Musk - or "President" Musk as he will soon become.

The Dubai Police seem to like it though.  That posting of mine included a link to this story wherein they were claiming that they would have one on their fleet in 2020.

Presumably Covid and Tesla got in the way but they did eventually get one last year.

It might work in Dubai - and indeed in The States.

But not on UK roads.

Pedestrian safety is laughable - and if one hit another vehicle? - well here's one example.

Although fortunately in that example it looks like there were no injuries.

This is why they are not allowed on UK roads - and Greater Manchester Police are not fans of people driving illegal vehicles on their roads.

So they seized one.

Good.

Imagine if an uninsured driver of an uninsured vehicle had killed someone.

Just awaiting a Musk tweet now condemning laws actually being enforced in the UK.

Inferior Design

Remember when BMW introduced their iDrive knob?

Lots of people hated it.

Then it evolved.

I found it perfectly useable on my 2012 3-Series.

Apple obviously weren't too bothered by its name - it was well before they had even considered making cars themselves so they wouldn't have needed it.

But now it is on it's way out...

...at least as we know it today.

Several motoring sites are reporting that BMW are at CES 2025 in Las Vegas showing the new version that will appear within the Neue Klasse electric models slated for the back end of this year.

Look! No knob!

And unfortunately, no buttons either.

Have they learned nothing from Volkswagen's U-Turn?

Now driving a BMW will be how I imagine driving a Tesla to be - just about everything involving fingering a big central screen - not exactly a driver's car any more.  But at least the BMWs will still have indicator stalks - something Tesla dropped in favour of steering wheel buttons - a horrific idea that you can only get away with if you are Ferrari.

And maybe not even then.

But, also at CES, we have evidence that someone at Tesla has seen a bit of sense.

Pretty safe bet it wouldn't have been Elon.

Drive.com.au have the specs for the all-new 2025 Tesla Model Y here.

Remember the days when a heated rear window or a rear fog lamp were proudly listed as features on the more upmarket versions of a particular model of car?

Well if you look at the features offered on the 2025 Model Y you will see...

...an indicator stalk!

Cool Grannies

 

Now that to me is the coolest type of Granny.

Not that exact model, but the Ford Granada in general.

But, according to Car+Driver, an old lady in Japan is the coolest Granny "on the planet".

She is admittedly cool, having just given up her licence due to age and selling her car to Mazda.

Her car being a third-generation Mazda RX-7.

But if we are talking about motoring grannies, how about this one on the BBC News site today?

Now, the article doesn't actually say if she is a granny, just that she has sons.  But she looks somewhere around my age and I'm well old enough to be a grandparent.

And just off the top of my head, what about Michele Mouton?  she is 73 and has at least one daughter so it's quite liable that she is enjoying granny status.

Meanwhile if you want uncool grannies, apparently crocheting covers for supercars is a thing...

Actually it isn't - it's people messing about with AI - but just in case any actual grannies are reading this...

...NOT A GOOD LOOK.