Van Gogh-ing Nowhere

I had to register to read this article in Autocar.

It was free but I didn't have to register when I read it at lunchtime.

And now they have my details - I've ticked all the don't send me stuff boxes.

On top of that, do I want an organisation who have produced an article with a massive flaw in it having my details?

For those of you who haven't read the article or don't want to register to read the article, they are stating that UK vehicle production is dramatically down on the same period last year due to a significant drop in commercial vehicle production - 78% in fact.

They state that the SMMT have stated that the fall was "mainly down to work taking place at Stellantis’s Ellesmere Port plant, which is being upgraded to take on extra workload resulting from the closure of the firm's Luton factory."

I think, the fall may actually be down to something alluded to there that happened in March - THE CLOSURE IF THE FIRM'S LUTON FACTORY.

Running Amok, Ah!

You'd never catch me running a Mokka.

Lot's of people do - these are people who have given up on any thoughts of enjoying driving.

I may have just mentioned once or thrice how I hate SUVs - but I accept that they are here to stay.

And Vauxhall are trying to make the new version of the Mokka more exciting.  This is called the Vauxhall Vizor:

Note the exciting spelling - which I initially misread as Vauxhall Victor.  It was Ford Ecosport/Ford Escort all over again.  Anyway, the new Mokka is getting that "Vizor" front which is claimed to be inspired by the Vauxhall Firenza: 

Hopefully not one about to be crashed in to by a Mini Rally Car.  Autocar have the story.

They don't say what will be happening with the Opel Mokka - presumably they will need a pretentious corruption of a German word for the front end of that.

This is supposedly going to feature on all Vauxhalls throughout the 2020s - it may actually look good on an Astra or Insignia - and feel truer to the Firenza philosophy but in the meantime, don't Mokka the afflicted.

The Good Old Days

The other week, I compared the traffic levels on my commute to those of the late 1970s.

Turns out I should have compared them with the early 1970s.  The BBC did today.

I enjoyed one of their photos in particular:

I could identify all of the cars there - I do like a Vauxhall Victor.  This other picture they chose seems more relevant to a Covid story though:

Meanwhile, today, they also tell us that car sales fell in April to 1946 levels.

 

I wouldn't have been able to identify a line of cars from that year - the year the Wolseley Eight was launched: 

Car sales were 97% lower in April than the previous April with the top selling car last month being...

…The Tesla Model 3.

That's an Autocar story.  Autocar also tell us what the top 10 selling new cars for 2020 so far are.  I don't know if it is good news or bad news that there are two SUVs in there.  I'd have thought there would be more but it is still two too many.  I also think that they chose the wrong sub-heading for that article - "We run through the latest new car registration data to see which models are flying off forecourts"

Meanwhile Car+Driver point out a different consequence of cars sitting idle for long periods:
Rats nesting in your engine!