Feeling the Buzz

If I said, "Toy Story Porker", you'd probably think of Hamm, the toy piggy bank voiced by Cliffy from Cheers.

Seen here with the annoying dinosaur from the Argos adverts.

Although not as annoying as the doll from the Argos adverts.

But that's besides the point.

Now, if I said Buzz car, and I hadn't already put Toy Story into your head, you'd probably think of the VW ID Buzz.

And if I said Woody car, and I hadn't already put Toy Story into your head, you'd probably think of something, probably American, like this:

But you'd be wrong.

Because the Porker in question is Porsche.  They are cashing in on the latest Toy Story movie by producing 3 new special edition 911s based on Toy Story characters:

Car+Driver have the story here.

The Buzz Lightyear 911 is a GT3 RS in white, green, and purple color scheme.

The Jessie one is a Targa 4 GTS with cow-print floor mats and a paint job that mimics her outfit.

The Woody one, a Carrera T, seems a bit of a stretch though (which is apparently a purple octopus toy voiced by Whoopie Goldberg) because its paintwork is meant to look like his jeans.

Actually, I'm being uncharitable saying that they are cashing in, because these are actually one-offs to be sold off in aid of charities.

But my favourite Woody is this one:

Cheers!

I Do like a Wooden Dash

Not sure about a whole wooden car though:

Although it does look quite funky from the side:

This is the Toyota Setsuna, a concept car launched at Milan Design Week

It includes a clock that reads up to 100 years to mark how long you've owned it although it may feel longer since it only does 28mph and it's range (for it is electric) is just 16 miles.

I like the headline Autoblog have given the news.

It is made of Japanese Birch and Japanese Cedar which just sounds a bit classier than carbon fibre or magnesium/aluminium alloy.  Mind you after 100 years and a couple of coats of Dulux Non-Drip Gloss it may not look so good.  Rust should not be a problem although I suppose woodworm could be an issue.

And what happens if it is involved in an accident?

 I don't think Halfords have a carpentry department.

Getting Wood

Someone at Autoguide must be on something strange.

Maybe Viagra.

First I see this picture:

it goes with this story about a vibrating gear knob - one for the ladies perhaps?

 

Although the person in the photo (I'm guessing it's a man) is about to grasp it with his left hand in a left-hand drive car - looks dodgy to me.

 

Unless it is actually a right-hand drive car and the passenger fancies a grope.

 

The story is about a Ford engineer who has developed the vibrating gear-knob that is wi-fied to the engine CPU and is supposed to tell the driver when to change gear.  I guess this would require the driver to keep a hand on the gearstick all the time when driving - not a bright idea.

 

Anyway, lots of modern cars have little irritating lights somewhere near the speedo (small "s" - nothing to do with tiny swimming trunks) which light up at gear-change time.

 

Or, you can do what I do and go by the engine noise and general feel.

 

Having recovered from that shocking story, I then saw this shocking picture: 

It is from this Autoguide story.  Fortunately, it is a computer rendering - it doesn't exist in the flesh yet - but it could.

It's what happens when a Porsche Cayenne is given wood.