Good Oil: High noon for film star's Bentley

Australian auction house Shannons expects the 1956 Bentley Continental Coupe once owned by Hollywood legend Gary Cooper to fetch about NZ$150,000 on July 24. Cooper bought the right-hand-drive Bentleyin 1956, four years after starring in the cult Western High Noon. He had it delivered to Paris, where he used it during breaks in filming Love in the Afternoon, before shipping it to his Los Angeles home. Following his death in 1961, it was sold back and forth between Britain and the US before being bought by an Australian.

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One in three motorists fail to recognise even the most basic road signs, a British survey has found. Men fared marginally better than women with a 68.1 per cent success rate compared with 62.4 per cent. The biggest disparity in the battle of the sexes related to the uneven road warning, illustrated by two humps inside a red triangle. Only 53.7 per cent of women correctly identified it, compared with 71.4 per cent of men. Age also has an effect. Drivers aged 55 to 64 were the most knowledgeable and drivers aged 25 to 34 the worst. In the poll of 1100 motorists, only 2 per cent scored the maximum.

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A speed camera detector that allows motorists in Britain to spot hidden cameras will be banned by the government from next year, but meanwhile the suppliers say they will sell remaining stock at a cut price to motorists who quote "I hate speed cameras" when they order. Mark Cornwall, of Car Parts Direct, said: "While the 'I hate speed cameras campaign' may seem childish humour, the issue is a very serious one. Speed cameras have ruined motorists' lives with no real improvement to road safety."

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In the midst of Ford's "Red, White & Bold," buy-American ad campaign touting its classic Mustangs, the research firm CSM Worldwide revealed that 35 per cent of the 2006 Mustang's content came from overseas, and that five Honda models and seven Toyota models contained more US content than the Mustang.

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Most of the US Senators and Congressmen criticising the rise in fuel prices at a press conference in Washington arrived and left in gas-guzzling sports utility vehicles, reports The Washington Post. The paper added that several senators had drivers who sat with the engines of the SUVs idling while they waited for the conference to finish.