Toyota set to sell its fuel cell car in the UK

A CLEVER new Toyota which runs on hydrogen fuel cells – meaning the only thing coming out of its rear end is water vapour – will be introduced in the UK later this year.

Toyota said its Mirai model, a five-door hatchback similar in size to the petrol-powered Auris model, had been a hit in Japan so the manufacturer is now planning to sell it across Europe too.

Quentin Willson presents a new TV show you won't want to miss

A NEW TV series for fans of older cars – presented by former Top Gear and Fifth Gear host Quentin Willson – starts on Channel 5 next week.

The 13-part series, called The Classic Car Show, sees Quentin team up with supermodel Jodie Kidd and presenters Alex Riley and Will Best for the one hour shows, featuring buying advice, motorsport and drive stories.

The first episode will be shown at 7pm next Thursday (5 February).

Why I won't be investing in one of the last Land Rover Defenders

MY DAD reckons he’s had a brilliant idea for a bit of automotive investment. Buy one of the very last Land Rover Defenders, stick it in a shed somewhere and make a small fortune after unearthing it in about 20 years’ time. It’s a no-brainer, surely?

Anyone with even the vaguest interest in cars will know Land Rover’s workhorse is a British motoring institution. Despite being treated to new engine once every so often and being given the Defender name in 1990, it’s pretty much unaltered from when it was introduced more than 30 years ago. Whenit finally goes out of production this December it’ll be the end of an era.

There are however a couple of problems with my dad’s cunning scheme, the main one being that Defenders aren’t the cheap, rustic farming runarounds they used to be. Land Rover is seeing out is longest-serving modelwith a trio of special editions, the cheapest of which costs £28,000. The range-topping Autobiograhy version is an eye-watering £62,000, which is a lot of money for a car he’d like to stash away in a shed somewhere.

The other problem, of course, is there’s no guarantee it’d work. Everyone had pretty much the same idea when the Mini went out of production 14 years ago, and the result now is you don’t actually have to look very hard to find X-registered and W-registered Coopers with fewer than 1,000 miles on the clock. As a result, they’re worth barely any more than they were back in 2000.

Then there’s the vexing problem of what you’d actually do with a very old but – showroom fresh – car, because even popping to the shops will ruin the minimal mileage that makes it special. After 20 years of having a Land Rover not moving an inch, all anybody will want to do it is keep it in another shed or put in a museum, which defeats the point of it being a car.

If I were lucky enough to be able to afford one of the very last of the old-school Land Rovers, I’d take it down muddy tracks and use it to pull stranded motorists out of snowdrifts – in other words, using it for what it’s meant for.

Even if there was the remotest prospect of making a couple of quid in the distant future, I’d much rather be out there enjoying this fantastic British institution than hiding it away.

Don't miss out on tomorrow's Mini Fair

MINI fans won't want to miss out on this year's Mini Fair, which gets underway at the Staffordshire County Showground tomorrow (25 January).

Not only are there scores of the Alec Issigonis-designed classics to check out, but one of the event's long-running traditions - the chance to win a Mini in a £1 raffle - is back. This year, show organiser the British Mini Club is giving away a 1988 Mini City, worth £4,500.


The show opens at 9.30am. To find out more, visit the event website.

Updates announced for the BMW 1-Series

BMW has treated its baby model to more powerful LED headlights as part of a gentle facelift for the model.

Along with the brighter new lights, the 1-Series has been given a few subtle styling tweaks to keep the hatchback looking fresh, including larger air intakes and a reshaped radiator grille.

It goes on sale on March 28, with the cheapest model being the three-door 118i SE at £20,245.

 

Fiat's new lease deal for the 500 is young at heart

FIAT is pitching a new lease deal on its 500 to teenage motorists who would otherwise struggle with the cost of insuring their first car.

The company’s i-DEAL scheme, agreed jointly between the Italian manufacturer and Carrot, an insurance firm, allows drivers as young as 18 to drive a brand new 500 fitted with a telematics system which encourages them to drive more safely.

The three year deal costs £239 a month to take part in. While it’s not the cheapest way to get motoring at the age of 18 – there are of course, telematic monitoring systems which can already be fitted to secondhand cars – it’s ideal for parents who want their offspring to start their motoring career in a safe, hassle-free way.

Karl Howkins, Commercial Director for FIAT Chrysler UK, said: “This all-inclusive insurance package deal will make the dream of driving a brand new FIAT 500 a reality for many young drivers who would otherwise be forced to drive an older and potentially less reliable and safe vehicle.”

To find out more go to the new website covering the Fiat 500 insurance deal.

Why I've signed the motorsport noise petition

BLIPPING the throttle on a Jaguar F-type, hearing the scream of that supercharged V8 and the lovely crackle from the exhaust overrun is one of those things I reckon I’d never get tired of doing. 

It’s a truly beautiful bit of automotive acoustics, but I reckon if I moved next door to your house and did it repeatedly, day after day, you’d start to find even the F-type’s sonorous song a bit annoying after a while. It’s the same story with anyone who thinks they can get away with playing with the Black Eyed Peas in the next room – noise, when you’re not expecting it, is utterly annoying and thoroughly deserving of a strongly-worded Post-It Note.

But what if you move somewhere where a bit of racket is to be expected – in fact, where a bit of racket is actually encouraged? I reckon that’s a different story. Luckily, about 36,000 of you happen to agree with me, which is why an ongoing petition to protect motor racing circuits from people who move in next door and then complain about the noise is well on its way to getting debated at Westminster.

I completely get where the likes of Mallory Park, brought to its knees two years ago by a noise-related complaint, and Mildenhall Stadium, which is currently fighting its next door neighbours in the Supreme Court, are coming from. You can’t just move in across the street from a motor racing circuit that’s been there for years, find it a bit annoying and then take the operators to the cleaners.

I grew up in a house less than a mile from RAF Woodvale, which has been there since Spitfires were taking off and predates the nearby homes by at least 30 years.  Equally, the place I put my head down for the night during the working week is less than 50 yards from the A1, and I’m not exactly in a position to moan about what’s been the road from London to Edinburgh since the Romans set up shop here. If I didn’t like either, I’d just move somewhere else.

If you value going to somewhere like Oulton Park or Donington and you enjoy watching racing, then go online and sign the petition. Britain is the de facto motorsport capital of the world – just ask all the F1 teams based within an hour of Silverstone – and it needs protecting from the numpties next door.