T comes before A ...

Emails and phone calls flooded the motoring desk after last Saturday's story about Tasmanian Francis Hansley and his 1903 Ford Model A. The story said the 1903 Model A was Henry Ford's first car. But the emails and phone calls said no, the Model T was the first Ford; the Model A didn't appear until 1928. So here's the final word, from Ford's official history: The 1903 Model A was the first Ford. About 1700 were made. It was followed by the Model B, C and F tourer in 1904, the "delivery car" E in 1905 and the N, K, R and S models to 1907. The S was the last right-hand-drive car. Chivalrous Henry switched to left-hand-drive so women passengers in America could ride closer to the kerb, where they could alight with some decorum. The Model T was launched in 1908. More than 15 million were made before production ended in 1927. That's when Henry went back to the start of the alphabet and the car popularly known as the 1928 Model A, which first appeared in October 1927.


Drive it and die:

Britain's best-loved small car, the classic 1960s Mini Cooper, has been named as the car everyone should drive before they die. The humble four-seater beat the mighty McLaren F1 supercar into second place in a top 50 compiled by Auto Express. The Porsche 911 C2 came third after winning praise for its "blistering performance, wonderful handling, perfect steering and a seductive exhaust note". The Model T Ford came fourth for "bringing motoring to the masses" while the sleek Citroen DS, once the car of choice for French presidents, came fifth. The highest Japanese entry at 14 was the Subaru Impreza, which made its name on the world's rallying circuits. Seeking to cover every driving experience, the judges recommended people try a traditional London black taxi (31st place) and an old banger bought for £5 ($13.44) at auction (43rd). Limping into last place was the Sinclair C5, the ill-fated electrical tricycle launched in Britain in 1985.

And all that jazz:

Just seven months after its launch in New Zealand, the Honda Jazz has broken through the 1200 sales barrier. This after Honda estimated it would sell about 800 in the first year. "Our original sales estimate was too pessimistic," said Honda New Zealand marketing manager Graeme Meyer. "We have done one-and-a-half times that. Jazz has pulled many private buyers back into the new car market, and we are also selling an increasing number to fleet customers."


Peugeot's tops:

Peugeot was the bestselling European marque in New Zealand last year and is setting out to repeat the achievement this year. It led the Euro segment last month with 121 sales, 10 ahead of its two nearest competitors, BMW and Volkswagen. The French carmaker is represented here by distributor Sime Darby NZ. Its general manager, Steve Kenchington, said: "Last year we aimed to establish Peugeot as a major player in the European market and we feel we definitely achieved that. This year we want to consolidate this and put Peugeot on the top of shopping lists." Continuing to push sales along are the two 307 models and the smaller 206. The third model 307 CC arrives this year along with the lickety-split 135kW 206 GTi 180. Meantime, the Citroen C3 Pluriel has been voted the 2002-2003 Cabriolet of the Year by motoring writers from 11 European countries, beating the Peugeot 307 CC and the Renault Megane CC. The Pluriel was chosen because it offers five cars in one - a regular hatchback, a pillarless coupe, a cabriolet, a full convertible and an open top two-seat ute.

We are the world:


* Philadelphia police officer Margo Grady was driving a crime victim from one stationhouse to another 5km away when she somehow ended up on the New Jersey Turnpike. About 120km later she turned on her patrol car siren to stop a car to ask where she was.


* Down in Texas, a police sergeant who coaches a little league baseball team was demoted to patrolman after he booked an umpire for a traffic offence. The umpire had earlier ejected the policeman from a game for arguing a call at first base.