Sizing it up

Remember when Ford Sierra estates were big cars?

They aren't any more...

It looks positively tiny next to that Mazda 6.

And next to my car.

Here's some dimensions for you according to Google's AI thingy:

The 1988 Ford Sierra Estate (station wagon) had a length of 4,531 mm (178.4 in), a width of 1,727 mm (68.0 in), and a height of 1,367 mm (53.8 in). 

The Mazda 6 saloon has a length of 4,870 mm, a width of 1,840 mm, and a height of 1,450 mm. The wheelbase is 2.83 meters.

Meanwhile my car...

The 2020 Volvo S60 has a length of 4761 mm, a width of 1850 mm (excluding mirrors), and a height of 1437 mm.

Perhaps the more relevant ones though are the supposedly smaller Fords of today...

The Ford Focus Estate has a length of approximately 4,668mm (183.8 inches) and a width of 1,979mm with mirrors, or 1,844mm without mirrors. The wheelbase is 2,700mm. In terms of boot space, it offers 575 litres with the rear seats up and 1,650 litres with the rear seats folded down.

You get a lot more info on the Focus and it's bigger than the Sierra - while the Fiesta...

The 2025 Ford Fiesta is approximately 4040mm long, 1735mm wide, and 1476mm high.

Wider - and not a lot shorter.

And Google AI uses American spellings so obviously isn't intelligent enough to realise I'm sat in England.

But a 2025 Fiesta definitely wouldn't stand out on the M53 in 2025 - here's a closer look.

And the driver looked a bit like Dom Chinea.

You've Bean Nicked!

According to the guy I listen to on Dee Radio driving in to work this week, there has been some filming going on in the Handbridge area of Chester and some 1980s era cars been seen parked there.

A bit more digging by the breakfast DJ came up with Anemone, a film that will star Daniel Day-Lewis and Sean Bean.

There have been no sightings of the much-married Sean Bean or the much-retired Daniel Day-Lewis. According to Wikipedia, Daniel's first retirement in 1997 was cobblers.

Anyway, the BBC are reporting today that those cars have been ticketed by traffic wardens.

The cars, were allegedly parked on double-yellow lines - none are visible in the photos so has another crime been committed in covering them over?  Google Streetview does clearly show them:

It appears that the Council did not give any special permissions for the filming so the arrogance of the film team may have come in to play - or maybe this was a calculated risk and they are happy to pay the fines.

I am a bit more surprised that they think that in the 1980s, everybody drove Fords.

Or is it because the production company are called Focus Features?

Tinie Package

Yo!

Apparently Tinie Tempah now calls himself just "Tinie."

Dropped the surname.

Has he had an embarrassing divorce like Cheryl or Rylan or Roseanne?

Apparently not.

But he is fronting a new car show - Bangers: Mad for Cars.

Which, based on the first two episodes, is badly mis-named.

A Sierra Cosworth, a Volvo 850R, a Porsche 911 and a Honda NSX can hardly be purchased for banger money.

There are only 4 episodes and so far, I'm up for watching the rest.

Tinie is not a racing driver or a motoring journalist so there is an element of my (one of many) pet peeve here in that he shouldn't be fronting a car show.  Although he's a bit better than Paddy McGuinness & Freddie Flintoff - but just as crashy.

His side-kick is a racing driver.  Not one I'd heard of before but she has had a little success (dare I say a tinie amount?) and is by far a better motoring presenter than Tinie.  Meet Naomi Schiff:

Interesting that she is wearing a ROKiT logo there.  They sponsor Nicholas Hamilton, younger brother of her mate Lewis. I just realised that I haven't a clue what ROKiT actually do so I looked them up.

It seems they do everything.

Meanwhile, back to the show. Tinie & Naomi have to choose a car each and perform some sort of challenge down at Llandow Circuit overseen by a local.  But most of the show is Tinie trying to choose his car - which is actually quite interesting in parts.

He also spends a lot of time driving around in his own G-Wagen.

Wouldn't you have thought that if he wanted a 4x4, he'd have got a Disc-Overy.

The Wet Maestro

"Do I Not Like Ash Sutton?" I asked that question August last year.

He went on to win the BTCC Driver's Championship.

He did it again this year - he was crowned at Brands Hatch last Sunday.

I've decided that I do like him now.  He's got a genuine sense of humour.  And a hell of a lot of talent.

This was his third championship and he wants to go on and win more - more than anyone else.

That means he will need at least five titles.  Currently sharing the top of the board are his arch-rival Colin Turkington and Andy Rouse both on four.

Now, talking of Andy Rouse, this story from Autocar is quite interesting to a person of my vintage.

He has got hold of three original Ford Sierra bodyshells into which he will be installing a freshly built versions of the 575bhp Cosworth YB engine and five-speed Getrag gearboxes.  This will produce, for the princely sum of £185,000 (for a base model!) a continuation run car eligible to compete in historic races.

So what is it with the wet Maestro?

Commentator and pundit Tim Harvey referred to Ash as "The Wet Maestro" complimenting him on the fact that he is extremely accomplished at racing in the rain.

Mind you, since he is also so accomplished at driving when it is not raining, he should also be the Dry Maestro.