The Good Oil: Patrick Rover 75 grows up

The new Mini, a four-seater hatchback, will be unveiled at the Birmingham Motor Show in October. There was talk that it would appear at Geneva next month but Rover owner BMW did not want to deliver a premature model, something it was accused of doing with the Rover 75 sedan.

But if the 75 was brought into the world too early last year, it has quickly grown up. It has won many automotive awards in the past six months, including Import Car of the Year in Japan. An Italian design house liked its lines so much it gave it its Most Beautiful Car in the World award. It has been selling in New Zealand at a modest average of two a week since October. But rival dealers are keeping an eye on it since it showed up on a research group's New Year list of cars executive buyers most want to test drive.

In-house competition

When Daimler-Benz and Chrysler became DaimlerChrysler about 18 months ago, executives said there would be no direct in-house competition between models. But Auto Motor and Sport says otherwise - that the Chrysler Neon sedan was designed as an alternative to the Mercedes-Benz A190. It puts one up against the other on Friday night on Triangle Television. Also on the show is a road test of the new Citroen Picasso, a mid-range people-mover due in New Zealand later this year; a look at Volkswagen's reconditioning centre, which has been overhauling engines and parts for 40 years; and why a fellow called Lutger Wemmer collects old Saabs.

Remembering "Bullitt"

It was one of the film world's great car chases: Steve McQueen hustling a Ford Mustang around the streets of San Francisco in the 1967 movie, Bullitt. Ford liked the chase sequence so much that it commissioned a company called Jack Rausch Racing to build a commemorative car, the "Bullitt Mustang GT." It was launched at the Los Angeles Motor Show the other day. The bonnet and the lights are new but the five-spoke alloys and the green paint job are the same as the original. Unfortunately for fans of American muscle, it was a one-off model.

Ford beaming

The Starship Enterprise and Captain Kirk's command to "beam me up, Scotty" are being bandied about as Ford staff in New Zealand get to grips with the company's satellite-based communications network. It's called Fordstar, and links 23 Ford sites in New Zealand with 268 in Australia. It will be used for training, marketing and product information. Fordstar was set up in the United States in 1994 to link 6000 Ford sites in North America and Mexico.

Birthday bash

Speaking of Ford Australia, it is counting down to its 75th birthday bash on Sunday, April 2, at Geelong, near Melbourne. Included in the celebrations is the National Ford Rally, where thousands of Australian and New Zealand enthusiasts and their Fords will get together in the last week of March. On the Saturday night, a three-hour Ford-backed concert will be held for rally participants, and on the day itself the mega-party is centred on the Geelong waterfront. On show will be a rare Falcon GT-HO Phase IV and a Le Mans Ford GT40 coupe.

We are the world

* Research in Japan shows that drivers wearing popular platform shoes take a crucial fraction of a second longer to apply the brakes than drivers wearing normal shoes. The Japanese car insurance industry is taking the findings seriously. Up until now, the number of accidents involving drivers wearing platform shoes didn't quite fit.

* Australian Associated Press reported the other day that a fellow was booked driving in Victoria at 192 km/h. Two women were asleep in the car and a baby in the back seat. Police expected to charge the 32-year-old driver with dangerous driving. The car? A Honda Civic.