Three for the Price of One

Three different articles from the motoring Interwebs caught my eye today and since I can't be bothered making three posts, here they are in one handily sized container.

The first is from the BBC.

It involves a spiteful and presumably very jealous woman who shops as The Asda.  She has been caught on camera kicking and damaging a McLaren 570S.

Stupid cow.

Hopefully the pictures will be good enough to get her charged with criminal damage although I doubt if she will become as infamous and vilified as that cat woman.

Next up, how can you tell that someone is ashamed to admit that they vote Tory or Reform?

Easy, they say that all politicians are the same then go on to slag off The Labour Party

Auto Express's Mike Rutherford is very much in that camp.  In that article, he tries to deflect with a little anti-Trump rant but you would have to be Nigel Farage to say anything complimentary about the orange toddler.

Finally, from Autocar, a bit of nostalgia - remember The Beastie Boys?

They seem to have aged a bit.

They also started the craze of stealing VW badges.

Well it's back! 

Albeit for modern times.

Apparently, the modern badges incorporate the radar unit used by their ADAS systems.

This means that the car’s adaptive cruise control, speed limiter and lane assist will not function.

Maybe it's worth not having the Radar then?

Anyone know where you can buy an old VW badge to replace it?

Maybe the Beastie Boys fans were onto something after all.

Really OMG

Last time, I said that this... 

...wasn't an MG.

And I stand by that.

But was still shocked by the following Auto Express piece:

Not that one, although I shouldn't be shocked that Mike Rutherford is praising Trump - what's the betting he's a member of Reform?

No, this one.

Now MG are teasing a boxy, mid-sized SUV which, according to them, “echoes the spirit of young people to explore.”

The teaser pictures make it look like lots of other boxy SUVs while the remit reminds me of the boxy and now-deceased Scion xB.

The brand became defunct in 2016 after a short life.

I predict a similar fate for the MG SUV - especially as they are naming it after Elon Musk stuff.

Who will buy an MG Cyber X?

They are hoping lots of young Chinese people - they may be right.

But I hope not.

BECAUSE IT IS NOT AN MG!

The case for the defence.

I may have mentioned once or twice that I can't be doing with SUVs.

And people who like cars and driving tend to agree with me.

So what is Steve Walker, Head of Digital Content, at Auto Express, doing defending the stupid things?

Is he a website geek rather than a car geek?

His bio states that he has "been a motoring journalist, road tester and editor for over 20 years" so maybe not.

He gives several reasons why SUVs are extremely popular with the buying public, specifically:

• tough looks
• higher seating position that makes it easier to get in and see out
• outdoorsy image

His words not mine.

I get the easy access angle for those of an arthritic nature.

But I certainly wouldn't call a Ford Puma "tough-looking."

In fact, don't get me started on Ford prostituting their former glories by naming SUVs after them:

• Puma
• Capri
• Mustang
• Kuga/Cougar

Back to Steve though, and for all his words, at no point does he say that HE likes SUVs.

Despite this, his article does have a pro-SUV feeling and imply a preference for them so I expected a backlash in the comments.

It is now 7pm British Summer Time and there are only 10 comments.

Three of them are from either a Chinese bot or a Chinese moron using AI.  There is a comment about the Ford Fiesta and a reply stating that they don't make them any more and the final 5 comments are a pointless argument that doesn't really go anywhere.

Meanwhile, I think SUVs don't handle properly and they all look  alike:

So there.