Good oil: Veteran flexes muscle

Muscle car fans across the Tasman were out in force for the sale of a 1972 Ford Falcon XA GT coupe, one of the most collectable of Australian muscle cars from the 1960s and 70s. Ford Australia made only 891. The XA GT has a special place in Ford history - it was the only Falcon GT model to win Bathurst twice, in 1973 and 74. The car sold for A$46,000 ($54,000), helped along by its most desirable drivetrain: a 351-cubic inch V8 engine mated to a top loader four-speed gearbox. But the star of the Shannons show was a genuine 1946 Plymouth "Woody" surf wagon once used by famous surfers Dich Ash, Midget Farrelly, Nat Young and Bob McTavish. It was knocked down for A$50,000.

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Sales of new cars and commercials at the end of August in New Zealand were 3.7 per cent down on the same eight-month period last year, says Land Transport NZ. But sales in August alone of 8642 units were up by more than 600 over July. Market leader Toyota sold 1610 new cars and commercials in August for 18.7 per cent of the market, followed by Ford with 1596 (18.5 per cent), Holden with 907 (10.5 per cent), Honda with 663 (7.7 per cent), Mazda with 571 (6.6 per cent), Nissan with 534 (6.2 per cent), and Mitsubishi with 503 (5.8 per cent). After eight months of 2006, Toyota leads the sales race with 20.7 per cent of the market. Ford is second with 14.4 per cent, followed by Holden (12.3), Nissan (7.1), Honda (6.9), Mitsubishi (6.1), and Mazda (6.0).

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An automotive website in the US asked its readers for ideas on how Ford could return to profitability. The response: 27.7 per cent said it should sell off its British brands (Jaguar, Land Rover, Aston Martin); 10.5 per cent wanted it to join with a "big foreign name" like Hyundai or Renault; 16.5 per cent said "follow the yellow brick road"; 16.1 per cent said "go private"; 12.5 per cent said "all of the above"; 12 per cent said "stay the course"; 2.6 per cent said it should sell its Mazda stake; and 2.1 per cent wanted it to sell off Volvo.

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One of the prizewinners in a US competition for the best excuse to beat a traffic ticket: "I was driving along one day minding what I thought was my own business, and kind of daydreaming. I must have gone a little faster than I should have and was pulled over and stopped by a police officer. My husband is a former police officer and told me how he always let someone go if they could tell him a reason for speeding that he hadn't heard before. I knew I had to think quick because the officer was now approaching my door. He advised me that the reason he was stopping me was I had exceeded the limit by 15mp/h. I looked him in the eye and said: "Do you have any idea what I did to the last cop who stopped me for speeding?" He looked a little shocked. I said, "I married him." He roared with laughter and told me to slow down and have a nice day."