Things...Can Only Get Better?

Well they can't get any worse than the Website I accidentally stumbled upon this evening called "The THINGS .Com"

They have a writer called Chris Flynn who they claim, "is a proficient reader and writer. He has written for many publications including TheRichest, TheClever, TheQuiz, and ListVerse. Cars are his passion."

I can read - and write.  I can even do them proficiently.  I have never heard of any of the publications listed but suspect they are Websites not actual publications.  Cars are my passion too.

But when I write about cars, I don't simply produce lists of 15 things about them all day.

But that does seem to be what the whole THINGS website consists of.

To be fair to the lad, the item that I stumbled upon was actually a list of NINETEEN things.  Allegedly, a list of "19 French And German Cars We Wouldn’t Touch With A 10-Foot-Pole" headed up by a picture of James May modelling a KV Mini 1:



Only problem is, the list consists of 10 pretty decent German cars and 9 arguably crap French ones.

 

No mention of the Trabant or the NSU Ro80 or the Messerschmitt KR200 - just Mercs, Audis and Beemers - does the passionate car man have a problem with the prestige German brands?

 

Then maybe he should be learning about DS - the Citroen offshoot who produce far from crap French cars.

 

Remember the Citroen C6? 

Beautiful, quirky and luxurious - much like the CX before it: 

And the SM and the XM?  All decent large barges that only seemed really popular in France.  French presidents have always been driven about in large Citroens.

 

Which was good news for people looking to buy them after they had depreciated.  This is possibly because the Citroen brand never had the luxury cachet outside of France.

 

Well hopefully the DS brand will have it as this Car+Driver story about the DS9 heralds in the next French luxo-barge and it looks bloody good too: 

 My next article will be a list of 15 Websites I must remember not to visit again.

The Future Just Ain't What It Used To Be.

In 2036 I have to re-apply for my driving licence because I will be old.

Should I bother?

According to The BBC, this DS Concept Car showcases what will be the typical cars of 2035.

I was sort of on board if not a bit perplexed by the reporter's idea of "sitting back, cocooned in luxury."

But then I heard it.

They need to sort out the annoying whine or everyone travelling by car in the future will have terrible headaches.

Mind you 2019 seems to have a few problems too.  Whether it is uninsured drivers demonstrating their stupidity.  Or perhaps team-building courses that involve scrapyards.  I'm sure I could come up with some positive ideas for team-building in scrapyards - although Health & Safety might get upset at the first-to-extract-an-undamaged-speedometer-from-a-Ford-Sierra round.

2019 also has Brexit and Trump.

Let's hope 2019 also sees the end of Brexit and Trump.

Then we just need to sort out the car noises and we will be fine.

Expanding Peugeot

Last week, a brilliant young car blogger stated this:

"It looks like Peugeot are involved in negotiations to take over Vauxhall and Opel.

This would given them Peugeot, Citroen, DS, Vauxhall, Opel & Ambassador - and probably too many factories - not good news - especially since they have had financial problems over the last few years while Vauxhall & Opel have been losing money."

It appeared in this article by me.

Now, this other article, by Autocar, says they also want Proton.  It also says that their financial worries seem to have subsided - which will hopefully be good news for the workers of Peugeot, Citroen, DS, Vauxhall, Opel, Ambassador, Proton & Lotus.

Did you spot the way I stuck Lotus in at the end?

That's because Proton effectively own Lotus.

Now, that could mean some nice modern takes on collaborations from the past such as when Lotus got together with PSA (Peugeot Citroen Group) to produce the Lotus Sunbeam:

...or when they got into bed with Vauxhall/Opel for the Lotus Carlton (or Omega for the Opel badged version):

If Peugeot really do splash the cash, then why not a Lotus DS4 and a Lotus Insignia?

Of course, this could all be speculation - or even some of this fake news that the POTUS keeps warning us about (perhaps he should start by fact-checking Fox & Breitbart?)  Maybe we should swap the word "president" with "liar" and call him the LOTUS?

Anyway I'm pretty confident with reliability of the sources for the Hindustan and Vauxhall/Opel stories.

And as for Proton, I'm positive.

Peugeot Splashing The Cash

At the weekend, it emerged that Peugeot were buying the Ambassador brand - that is the Hindustan Ambassador -

 - not the Austin Ambassador -

The BBC story is here.

It doesn't say whether or not they are taking on the whole Hindustan Company, factories etc.  I suspect they are not which is a shame because they could restart manufacture and maybe restyle it on a more modern car than its original base which was the 1950s Morris Oxford:

 

A Peugeot 404 perhaps?

I imagine labour is a bit cheaper in India than Europe - they may wish to start building the other ranges they've just purchased there too.  Check out this story that has been building all week.

It looks like Peugeot are involved in negotiations to take over Vauxhall and Opel.

This would given them Peugeot, Citroen, DS, Vauxhall, Opel & Ambassador - and probably too many factories - not good news - especially since they have had financial problems over the last few years while Vauxhall & Opel have been losing money.

Although, allegedly, Peugeot shares are doing quite well at the moment.  They may be hoping to do a Fiat who had their own problems not that long ago.

In any case, I would be worried by that sudden Indian connection.  I'll just stick with my Jaguar in the meantime.

Tata for now.