Motoring: In brief

Still going strong

The world's oldest working motorcar is for sale. The 1884 de Dion Bouton et Trepardoux Dos-a-Dos competed in the world's first car race in 1887, and was the only vehicle to turn up. It takes half an hour to warm up, reaches 60km/h, seats four, and is expected to achieve $2.5 million at auction this month.

Lego on the road

A Ford Explorer built of 380,000 Lego bricks has been unveiled. Constructed on an aluminium base, the Lego Explorer took 2500 hours to build.

Five-star equals

Holden's Barina scored five stars in the latest ANCAP crash tests alongside Audi's A6 and BMW's X3. The Automobile Association's manager of motoring services, Stella Stocks, says: "There is no excuse for any manufacturer to be releasing new vehicles that score less than four stars."

Barina specs

The Holden Barina, which will go on sale next month, includes stability control, six airbags, Bluetooth hands-free capability and cruise control. It has a 1.6-litre petrol engine and sells from $22,990.

Drink deterrent

Development of a button with an infra-red sensor that measures your blood alcohol and can disable the starter is being funded by the United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. One American was killed in a drunk-driving incident every 48 minutes in 2009 - that's 11,000 a year, and accounts for 32 per cent of total vehicle fatalities.