Some Automotive Fun...

The Volkswagen xl1
Heres a good one,a car than can potentially get over 300mpg [imp NOT us],yet was only built in tiny numbers [250] & cost a ridiculous sum,$150,000USD.
I wonder how long it`d take to pay for itself with the money you`d save on fuel?;)
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And naturally for that money you even get cool "butterfly" doors:D
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Brett Davidson said:
https://www.topgear.com/car-news/list/here-are-37-worst-concept-cars-ever-built

...2018. That year, it gave us the Vision Mercedes-Maybach Ultimate Luxury, a car with a very literal name. Although not as literal as the Mercedes Oh God Our Eyes, Please Make It Go Away.
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Yep,some of those Maybachs have been utter monstrosities.
The 2006 Exelero being a good example.
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Its like a modernized 2 door version of the 6000SUX [the engine size was increased to 6L]
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An arse-end only a mother could love.
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I suspect the next update will allow the car to drive them to the police station rather than simply calling the cops....

A tattle-tale self-driving car reported two unruly teens to police after they allegedly swigged booze and drunkenly fired toy guns from the back seat.

San Mateo police detained two 15-year-olds Monday afternoon after their autonomous Waymo vehicle alerted officers about their alleged reckless behavior.

'Around 2.10pm we got a call from a Waymo rep saying there were two people in their vehicle, and they saw them shooting out of the vehicle,' said Jeanine Luna of the San Mateo Police Department, ABC7 reported.

The Waymo representative also described the passengers as 'being intoxicated,' Luna said.

Waymo directed officers to the stopped vehicle near 20th Avenue and El Camino Real in San Mateo.

They told the passengers their vehicle was having 'car troubles' while they waited for police assistance.

When officers arrived, they conducted what police described as a high-risk traffic stop, arriving with stun guns and a K9 unit.
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Self-driving car drove kids to police after they drunkenly fired Orbeez pellets out of its windows
 
Graham1973 said:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfhqUpmyXBE
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His first mistake was paying $35,000 for a used 2 or 3 year old Volkswagen Jetta over 3 years ago. Base model new Jettas were still being discounted beneath $21k in the spring of 2026. A base brand new Jetta S is a compelling value and represents years of reliable transportation. I’d consider a new one myself. Paying $35k for a years old used Jetta, even a loaded GLI, is financial insanity. Golf/Jetta variants since the 5th generation have been renowned for electrical issues. It wouldn’t put me off a new base model, or even a new GLI manual before manual production ends, if it hasn’t already.

The main lesson here is don’t pay the price of a new car for a used one and then go for an over-the-air update that could brick your out of warranty car. Which it didn’t, thankfully. Almost every modern car will eventually have a least one flashing light on the dashboard eventually. I had one for over a decade, it wasn’t an inspection item and didn’t bother me in the least. I knew what it was as but it wasn’t worth fixing. And it wasn’t what eventually killed the car after nearly 2 decades.
 
Graham1973 said:
Drongo (Aust.): meaning (A fool, an idiot, a stupid fellow)

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoraX4MRsVE
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The vigilante in question committed a number of felonies. Police offices have the right and obligation to intervene with violence but civilians don’t. Even in the most pro 2nd amendment American states, there is no right to use deadly force defend your own property, let alone the property of 3rd parties. Moreover, the picture of him smiling as he applies an illegal chokehold is particularly incriminatory. This sort of conduct would get any police officer fired and incarcerated. The vigilante was just lucky he didn’t kill the man with the chokehold.

The broader question is how anyone could steal a modern Mazda CX-5 unless the driver left the keys in it or left it running. In that case, this auto theft was very much a “crime of opportunity” enabled by the carelessness of the driver. Of course, the vigilante was apparently a third party, and just as opportunistic in his violence as the shoplifter was stealing the Mazda.

This is a great example of how negligence of multiple parties can contribute to an incident. It’s just lucky that nobody died in an incident of vigilante violence. At worst, the shoplifter/car thief was guilty of joyriding, not “grand theft auto” where there has to be some intent of profit. My guess is that the car thief was either chemically altered and/or in the midst of some sort of mental health incident. The Mazda driver had significant preexisting unrepaired accident damage, so I suspect that leaving it running was just part of a long pattern of irresponsibility by a rideshare or delivery driver. Finally, the vigilante took advantage of a situation that had nothing to do with him for some recreational violence. He was actually enjoying himself while performing acts of violence. I’d argue the car thief requires substance abuse and/or mental health intervention but the laughing vigilante needs actual incarceration.
 
Gordon Murray,the man who gave us the McClaren F1,has now produced a supercar,hypercar,whatever... bearing his very own name,the Gordon Murray Automotive T-50.
Features include the F1 signature 3-seat central steering position,but with a v12 cosworth engine instead of a bmw,& a rear mounted fan for active downforce,& neat little door mounted rear facing cameras instead of the traditional door mounted mirrors.
It should be very reasonably priced........compared to a McClaren F1.;)
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The 1993 Bugatti EB110-GT.
3.5lt V12 [60-valves-quad turbochargers] 6spd+AWD
412 kW (560 PS; 553 hp) at 8,000 rpm and 611 N⋅m (451 lb⋅ft) of torque at 3,750 rpm
The 1st resurrection of Bugatti,sadly tho the EB110 came out at around the same time as a few other supercars,the McClaren F1,being the most well known of these,so it faced some very stiff competition from the get go.
Still by 1995 they had managed to build 139 of them before the receivers were finally called in.
One area that lets this car down,tho this is just as true for the contemporary ferraris & lamborghinis as well,is the interior,it really is a mass auto makers parts bin special.
This was where the McClaren F1 rewrote the rule book on supercar interiors.
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Sineva said:
1947 Talbot-Lago T26 Record Cabriolet by Figoni et Falaschi
The amount of detail work in this thing is insane,check out the bumpers & the wheels.
Evidently this was owned at one time by a us film director who had the drivetrain replaced with a cadillac v8 & hydramatic transmission "for ease of regular use":eek:
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I swear I've seen this in an older cartoon or two.
 
Sineva said:
The 1993 Bugatti EB110-GT.
...
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I have one of those, and it's surprisingly small - only 23 cm long. They probably didn't sell many because nobody was tiny enough to fit in it.
Sineva said:
One area that lets this car down,tho this is just as true for the contemporary ferraris & lamborghinis as well,is the interior,it really is a mass auto makers parts bin special.
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The pendulum has certainly swung far in the opposite direction with the current Tourbillon.

Screenshot 2026-07-17 at 12.35.45 PM.png
 
Sineva said:
Yep,I cant see a single morris marina indicator stalk in sight.;)

Seriously tho,I think you`re right.Judging from this it looks like it might`ve swung too far in the opposite direction.:rolleyes:
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I do miss clear modernist instrument design (one of the things Ive and Newson definitely got right about the Luce). Pagani's been smoking the same.

Screenshot 2026-07-17 at 1.24.38 PM.png
 
Brett Davidson said:
I do miss clear modernist instrument design (one of the things Ive and Newson definitely got right about the Luce). Pagani's been smoking the same.

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The more I look at this one the more I see things I like. :D

Its hard to believe that in about a decade things went from this:
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To this:
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The first 2 images are from a 1963 Facel Vega,the wood grain,believe it or not is actually painted metal.
The bottom 2 are early 70s Monteverdis,they`re infamous for their ugly dash & center consoles.
 
Another crazy dashboard - De Tomaso P72 versus the much more simple - and to my mind, elegant - Morgan Supersport.
 

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Victoria Police has recovered more than $1 million worth of stolen vehicles during an operation targeting cars fitted with cloned number plates, with a Toyota LandCruiser, Nissan Patrol and Toyota HiLux among the haul.

In a statement, Victoria Police said 79 arrests had been made since the Frankston Crime Investigation Unit's Targeted Enforcement Crew (TEC) was established in March 2026.

The TEC's goal was "to disrupt offending and prevent thieves from trying to fly under the radar by using fraudulent number plates", with officers working alongside the police Air Wing and Dog Squad.
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Victoria Police recover $1 million worth of stolen cars in crackdown on cloned number plates
 
Grrr....:mad:

When a runaway Tesla Model 3 barreled into a Texas living room last month and killed a 76-year-old grandmother, public outcry immediately focused on the vehicle’s autonomous driving capabilities. According to a recent report published by Fortune, federal safety investigators have now determined that the fatal accident was actually caused by extreme human error rather than a software malfunction. A preliminary analysis from the National Transportation Safety Board confirmed that the driver manually overrode the vehicle’s self-driving feature by fully depressing the gas pedal.
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The driver who killed a Texas grandmother tried to blame his Tesla, but investigators found he floored the gas
 
Another of those things that makes my blood boil... :mad:

A Victorian judge says a man high on drugs played "Russian roulette" when he caused a crash that killed a 12-year-old girl.

Jordan Kenyon, 30, had a lengthy criminal driving record and was on parole when he smashed into a car with a family-of-four inside.

The crash occurred on January 3, 2024 at Stonehaven, on the outskirts of Geelong.

Crash victim Mia Rossiter died at the scene, while her mother, father and younger sister suffered serious injuries.

Kenyon has pleaded guilty to numerous driving offences including culpable driving causing death, a crime that carries a maximum 20-year sentence.
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Driver Jordan Kenyon boasted of drink driving weeks before killing 12-year-old girl
 

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