A boat carrying used cars from Japan docked at Auckland the other day. Nothing unusual about that, except that about 100 of the cars were tied down as deck cargo, says the Good Oil's spy. "I've seen damaged cars come in as deck cargo but not ones that appeared in
good condition - and certainly not 100 of them," he said. He is willing to bet that every one of the 100 would have been exposed to salt spray, if not sea water. He knows about these things. So should you.
Celtic fury
The farmbike Auckland inventor Jim Goulter built in his garage a couple of years ago has become a moderate commercial success. Or at least an improved version has. The original prototype, praised throughout the industry for its simplicity, has been stolen from Goulter's Howick home. He is of Celtic blood and is cranky.
Previa power
Mention of hybrid models the Honda Civic and Toyota Prius in this column brought a response from Toyota, the world's third-biggest carmaker after General Motors and Ford. Toyota has unveiled the hybrid Estima (Previa in New Zealand), the world's first production people-mover with petrol/electric power. It boasts fuel consumption of 5.5 litres/100km, about half that of conventional people-movers, and produces a quarter of exhaust emissions. In theory, it could get from Auckland to Wellington and back to around Taupo on a single tank. Trouble is it would cost about $120,000 landed here.
The Estima is powered by a 2.4-litre petrol engine producing 96kW at 5600 rpm and 190Nm of torque at 4000 rpm, and two electric motors, mounted at the front and rear and generating 13kW and 18kW. They drive the wheels through a continuously variable automatic transmission linked to Toyota's new E-Four electrical 4WD system. This automatically sends power to the rear wheels when it detects the likelihood of wheelspin at the front. Toyota aims to sell 500 Estima hybrids a month in Japan.
Web venture
German carmaker Opel is to form a joint venture with AOL Time Warner to sell cars over the internet, extending an existing alliance between Opel parent General Motors and AOL. Opel said it will spend at least $10.8m on the partnership, to start at the Frankfurt motor show in September. Opel has been selling cars independently over the internet since March and has sold 69 out of a planned 300 cars.
BMW facelift
The first pictures of BMW's updated 3-Series are starting to appear. The range gets a restyled grille, front bumper and front and rear lights. The 318i also gets a more powerful 2-litre engine. Whisper is the facelifted car will go on sale in New Zealand early next year.
Roller rules
Every British royal driver since 1920 and more than 5500 chauffeurs worldwide have completed the Rolls-Royce trainee chauffeur course in Crewe, England. Those who have graduated will have remembered things like:
* Don't enter into conversation in the car.
* Always set the air-conditioning to a comfortable temperature before making a pick-up.
* Avert the eye when helping a lady from a car and always offer the arm, not the hand.
* Be loyal, discreet, well-disciplined and polite.
* Always carry overalls, gloves and umbrellas for changing tyres in the wet.
A boat carrying used cars from Japan docked at Auckland the other day. Nothing unusual about that, except that about 100 of the cars were tied down as deck cargo, says the Good Oil's spy. "I've seen damaged cars come in as deck cargo but not ones that appeared in
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