The good oil: Adding up to a semi-kill

Nissan GT-R. Photo / Supplied

Nissan pledges to carry on with its German-baiting advertising despite being threatened with legal action by Porsche. Porsche was one of several German marques targeted by Nissan at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in Britain. Nissan used Battle of Britain-type imagery on its GT-R, showing the number of "kills" it had achieved against rivals from Porsche, BMW and Audi at race-tracks like the Nurburgring. Postcards were handed out with themes that echoed the "How to beat the Germans" slogan of Nissan's giant billboard at a prominent London cinema. But after executives from Porsche complained, Nissan withdrew the ads. "We didn't have a problem with the campaign, only that our crest trademark was being used without permission," said a Porsche spokesman. Nissan is set to continue with the campaign - but without using its rivals' logos.

Too far behind to catch up

All that talk about New Zealand catching up with Australia on wages and such? Sydney to the bush it'll never happen, unless we are sitting on an undiscovered mineral crucial to the future of man. New Zealand has lagged too far behind for too long. Take the new car market as a barometer of sorts. New Zealand will sell about 77,000 new cars and commercials this year. Australia expects to do more than one million. The upcoming Ford Focus RS narrows things down a bit. It's a limited-edition three-door hatchback, the quickest thing the segment has seen. Ford New Zealand is bringing in 10 examples - Ford Australia is taking 315.

Talbot rises from the dead

The Talbot brand could be set for resurrection as Peugeot-Citroen seeks to increase its presence in emerging markets. Talbot was originally the British brand name used on imported French Clement-Bayard cars early last century. British company Darracqs bought the Clement-Bayard company in 1919 and reorganised it to become part of the Sunbeam-Talbot-Darracq conglomorate and, later, Talbot-Lago. France's Simca bought Talbot-Lago in 1958; Chrysler took over Simca in 1967 and merged it with Rootes to become Chrysler Europe. Ten years later, Peugeot bought Chrysler Europe. Peugeot still owns the Talbot name, although it shelved it in 1992. The story is that the Talbot badge will be used for the Middle East, Asian and Africa markets, while core Peugeot and Citroen brands continue to be sold in more mature markets. It is claimed that a Talbot was the first car to break the 100mph (162km/h) barrier back in 1913.

Cop this lot about fatalities

There were more than 51,000 traffic deaths in the United States in 1980. By 2000, annual road fatalities had fallen to about 43,000 and, by 2007, to 41,259. But the road toll for police officers went up. From 1980 to 1982, police-vehicle crashes accounted for 26 per cent of all law enforcement deaths. But from 2005 to 2007, 54 per cent of police-officer deaths were traffic fatalities. Police-motorcycle deaths have remained largely unchanged but deaths in patrol cars spiked.

We are the world

Harry Jackson, 26, was doing a short spell in jail on several minor charges, including driving on a suspended licence. He didn't smoke, so the Georgia jail's non-smoking policy didn't worry him. But it frayed the nerves of inmates who did smoke. Low-security risk Jackson agreed to break out, steal cigarettes at a nearby store and break back in undetected. He got caught. Now he's doing 20 years for the escape and burglary.

alastair.sloane@nzherald.co.nz