Sixties style, Teenies tech

IT'S nice to think that when people go onto West Lancashire Borough Council's website to sort out their council tax, they might well be granted with this wonderfully evocative image featuring my very own MGB GT.

I only discovered this poignant picture of MGs from years gone by the other day when I was checking a possible Champion story out but I'll let you into a little secret; I haven't actually driven the bumble B much since that sunny Bank Holiday weekend. In fact, it's been holed up in a garage since then, undergoing a series of subtle but hugely beneficial upgrades.

First off, it's been treated to a much newer and less holey tailgate, which should do wonders in preventing the small lake which lives in the boot appearing every time it rains. Until it's finished I've been limited to taking the MGB out on days when I know it isn't going to rain, which with it being Britain means I've taken it out twice in the past month. It's frustrating, but my luggage will thank me for it!

Another essential bit of kit Santa's brought early is a new fuel tank which - trust me - isn't as dull as it sounds. My biggest bugbear with the BGT is that thanks to having the original fuel tank it suffers with the same problem as every other fortysomething smoker; its lungs are filled with muck, so it coughs and splutters if you ask it go for a run. A new fuel tank means not only less time coughing and spluttering at the side of the road but should actually mean it'll be able to dump more fuel into its two enormous carburettors, more of the time. Which'll make it faster.

But what I'm really looking forward to is the new stereo I've just had fitted to it, which moves the MGB's in car entertainment from a very stodgy Pioneer radio job from the early Eighties straight through to the very latest MP3-ready, USB compatible, digitally futuristic job I could afford. Get this; it's a a 1972 car with a DVD player!


This immediately begs two questions.

Should a 40-year-old classic have such a defiantly modern stereo? Admittedly, I did agonise over whether to fit a retro stereo, but decided against it because a) they're expensive, b) life is too short for a shoddy Seventies eight track stereo and c) the old stereo wasn't the original anyway, so I figured fitting an even newer one wasn't about to dent its originality. I'm sure the purists will sneer at classic car shows, but that'll be twice a year. Enjoying the right accoustics, on the other hand, is an everyday delight.

Do I need a car stereo with an inbuilt DVD player? I've tried to kid everyone that it's to keep me entertained on camping trips but the answer's a tad simpler than that; I am male, and all men love needless gadgets, especially ones in MG-style retro packaging. If I had enough time and expertise I'd build the world's first WiFi-equipped MGB, brimmed with weapons grade technology and gadgets that'd give a Porsche 959 a run for its money.

Which the leaky tailgate would immediately ruin...

Fire up the... Toyota Auris Hybrid

TRAFFIC JAMS. You hate them just as much as I do, but it's where this clever hybrid hatchback from the world's biggest car company starts showing off.

Slip the hybrid version of Toyota's mid-sized hatch into its EV - or Electric Vehicle - mode and it suddenly becomes your very own Coalition Government, refusing to let you spend any money at all by frittering away precious fuel. Instead it sidles along in silence, determining not to restart its 1.8 litre engine unless you mash your foot to the floor. Like its pricier Prius sister, crawling through jams using absolutely no petrol at all is the Auris Hybrid's party trick.

Toyota practically invented the hybrid - the car which combines petrol with electric motors in the quest for eco-friendly motoring - over a decade ago with the original Prius, but I reckon the Auris is actually the better buy. It might not come with the Cameron Diaz celebrity endorsement its more iconic sibling gets but what you do get is a slightly more resolved package.

The Auris is, to my mind at least, not only better looking than the Prius but also a better drive, giving you more confidence once you leave the jams, stick it Power Mode and drive it like, well, like a car. No, it isn't going to make you the Jenson Button through the bends but thanks to its effortless auto box, fingertip light steering and a handy amount of grunt from its petrol-burning department it is startling easy to drive. Only the slightly fidgety ride and a lack of all-round visibility let the side down but otherwise I reckon it's got the Prius - an impressive car in its own right, don't forget - licked.

If your drive to work involves lots of twisty lanes then this probably isn't the car for you; it's too woolly and not communicative enough for cross-country work, where the petrol-powered traditionalists like Ford's Focus still rule the roost. If, on the other hand, your commute seems to be a never ending series of traffic jams, the Auris Hybrid is well worth a look.

Your wallet will thank you for it.

The new BMW 3 Series

BMW's got back to doing what it does best after it unveiled the latest generation of its 3 Series saloon last weekend.


The Munich motor makers confirmed that the latest version of its compact executive car will start at £24,100 when it goes on sale next February, with a choice of four different engines available when it reaches the showrooms.

A spokesperson for the company said:

"The new BMW 3 Series Saloon is a car of contradictions: larger and more spacious than the model it replaces, but lighter; quicker in many cases, but more fuel-efficient; and more nimble and agile while even safer. There have been big steps forward in style, quality, comfort and specification for only a minimal price increase.

"A wider choice of trim levels and an extensive personalisation programme will allow 3 Series Saloon buyers to order virtually a bespoke car."


The 3 Series Saloon one of the BMW's biggest sellers, responsible for one-fifth of the company’s global sales.

Prepare to fire up the... Renault Twizy

A RENAULT that's not even a car is set to arrive in the company's UK showrooms from spring next year.

The two-seater Twizy is described by the French firm as “an urban compact vehicle”, and uses an electric battery to power a narrow four-wheeler which blurs the lines between an electric car, a scooter and a quad bike.

But if that makes you think of mobility scooters used by the elderly, consider that it'll do 50mph and - thanks to its low weight - is capable of outdragging most conventional city cars away from the lights, while Renault are promising its nimbleness will make it great fun to drive.

Prices for the Twizy will start at £6,690, with monthly battery hire costing £40. For more information check out the Renault website at www.renault.co.uk

Video: Hyundai Velostar

IT'S not often I'll upload the videos manufacturers make to plug their own models, but I thought I'd make an exception for this swoopy coupe.

Hyundai's got a bit of track record for injecting a touch of style into its sportier two door models, and the Velostar - which is technically a three door thanks to some clever engineering - carries it on for the firm in fine form.

So sit back, grab some popcorn and enjoy some lovely footage of what I reckon could be one of next year's big hits...

Italy's cars help brighten up our rainy British landscapes

THE spaghetti bolognese came served with a question. Why don't I feature more Italian cars in this column?

Well, Mr Waiter at my favourite Italian restaurant, this one's for you. I'm as much a fan of Italy's cars as I am of its food. Which means I like them a lot!

I could be obvious and spend the next 300 words explaining the appeal of expensive exotics which all have a million horsepower and names ending with “i” but that'd be doing a disservice to all those wonderfully Italian cars you and I can actually afford, which help to make Britain's rain-lashed roads a slightly brighter place.

Take the Fiat 500, or specifically the glorious Abarth version I tested for Life On Cars. With its cheeky, slightly reto styling and its mini-Ferrari soundtrack it is the perfect embodiment of all that's good with Italy's automotive industry; maybe not as well rounded as its German, French or Japanese counterparts but somehow all the more engaging for it. If it's a city slicker, clearly Rome was the city its creators had in mind.

The traditional ripposte, of course, is that the cars coming off the production lines in Turin and Milan aren't as sturdy as the ones from Stuttgart and Wolfsburg, which when you look at how Fiat and Alfa do in the reliability surveys you can tell is at least partly true. But it's also true that one of the country's biggest successes isn't even built there - the aforementioned 500 is in fact screwed together in a Polish factory - and that last time I drove an Alfa Giulietta not one of its many components broke or stopped working in any way.

Besides, getting hung up about build quality would deny you what I reckon is one of the greatest car designs ever to come out of Italy, and I'm not talking about the Ferrari Dino, the Maserati Ghibli or the Lancia Stratos. They're all masterpieces but they're almost always consigned to museums and shows these days. The Alfa Romeo 156 Sportwagon, on the other hand, is still making supermarket car parks prettier places to this day.

The 156 saloon is a stunner in its own right and no bad place to start, but the Sportwagon I think is a true design classic because it's the only estate I can think of which significantly improves the styling of the car it's based on.

Just don't mention that it's less - not more - spacious than the saloon and therefore useless as an estate. What's losing an argument when you're doing it with style?

Is car insurance for the young too expensive?

A PARLIAMENTARY committee led by a Liverpool MP has come to the same conclusion most motorists already know; that car insurance is crippingly expensive for younger drivers.

This week the Transport Select Committee has reopened its inquiry into the cost of car insurance, armed with new research which suggests a whopping 96% of younger drivers feel they are being “priced off the road” due to high insurance premiums.

Liverpool Riverside MP Louise Ellman, the committee's chairperson, said:

“I am extremely concerned about these results, which show that young drivers think they are being priced off the road because of the high cost of motor insurance. It is shocking that so many young drivers are considering breaking the law – by driving without insurance or changing the details they provide to insurers – in order to get a cheaper premium.

"It's revealing that most young drivers are also unaware that many insurers receive referral fees in order to deal with claims they make. This highlights why the committee called for referral fees to be made more transparent in its report on the cost of motor insurance earlier this year."

However, insurers continue to charge younger drivers higher prices than their older counterparts, and point to high accident rates to justify them - Department for Transport statistics show that although people under 25 make up just 12% of those on the roads, they're involved in more than a quarter of the accidents.

Are you a younger driver being hit by the cost of insuring your car? Or do you think the accident statistics justify the prices? Share your thoughts by sending an email to david.simister@champnews.com