Opus F1 book commands top dollar, signed by Bernie Ecclestone
While books may soon be something that children look at in wonderment and ask what they are, there is still something special about them that an iPad will never manage to emulate.
Take the latest one from luxury publishing brand Opus. Opus is well known for publishing lavish, magnificent books based around icons of sport and culture. Past editions have focused on sports franchises or legendary events such as the Super Bowl. Its latest edition is on Formula 1. The Official Formula 1 Opus clocks in at a mighty US$3200 ($3863) and features 852 pages edged in silver leaf, with over 1000 images and 200,000 words. It comes in a silk-covered clamshell box and is signed by F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone.
If that isn't quite exclusive enough for you, you can always grab the Legends Edition that is limited to 20 copies and is signed by all living F1 champions as well. It will cost US$16,000.
The Champions Edition is limited to 100 copies. This edition features all the signatures, but is also housed in a custom-built carbon fibre clamshell box and will set you back US$32,000.
But if that still isn't enough for you, Opus have just released a new version called The Bernie that will cost at least US$1 million. Essentially the same as the Champions Edition, The Bernie gets a custom, one-off carbon fibre case, but also comes with another rather interesting feature: a table in the Paddock Club at every Grand Prix during the 2014 season, as well as an all-access red pass for the owner and three guests at every GP for the season.
The US$1 million is the reserve price and it will go up for auction before the start of the 2014 season.
Slimy offender
While we in New Zealand use laminated registration tags in plastic holders stuck to our windscreens, the UK has circular papery tax discs.
Image 1 of 11: New York Taxi drivers bring out calendar to raise money for charity
The beauty of our system is that it is largely snail-proof, something that cannot be said of the UK system, as a garage in Yeovil, Somerset, found out recently.
When Jon Roles went to pick up a customer's Peugeot van that had broken down, he found it with a ticket for failing to display a tax disc. Jon knew the van had a valid disc, so was mystified.
Closer inspection revealed a snail munching on what was left of the disc.
Jon contacted the police, who were at first unsympathetic, but after a light-hearted letter
complete with photos of the offender they relented and sent Jon back a letter saying: ''Please feel free to interrogate the offender, preferably with a teaspoon of salt. Merry
Christmas.''
We are the world
*A teenage girl in China ran away from home recently when she found out that her parents were considering buying a Honda. it seems her reasons were far more idealistic than just not liking Honda's styling. The 14-year-old was apparently upset her parents weren't supporting the local economy by buying a Chinese car and that they were ''helping the enemy with money from our own pocket'' by buying a Japanese car.
*Carla Quinn from Ballymena in Ireland was following a Citroen Xsara that had a large dog in the back. Or so she thought. The ''dog'' lifted its head and revealed itself to be a cow.
Apparently it is ''ill-advised, but not illegal'' to carry a cow in a car in Ireland. Good to know that.
Laid-back commuting Swiss style
Swiss company Rinspeed is known for its insane concept cars that lack pretty much
anything in the way of practicality, but they may well have just designed The Good Oil's
ultimate car with their new concept.
Not as weird looking as most previous concepts, the XchangE looks remarkably normal. Apart from that moveable steering wheel. The XchangE focuses on a near-future where autonomous cars are an actual thing and is based around the idea that, if the car is driving, we may well want to do something else inside it.
Hence the renderings of a bloke stretching out for a relaxing nap while another bloke catches up on some work. As well as the ''steer-by-wire'' wheel that can be positioned out of the way, the XchangE also features swivelling front seats, for a more lounge-like atmosphere, if the mood strikes.
A car we can take for a back-road thrash when we want a bit of fun, or simply lie back
and have a snooze while it handles the heavy traffic? Yes, please ...
Plan year with Big Apple's cabbies
New York City taxi drivers aren't perhaps the first people your thoughts would turn to when the words ''glamour calendar'' are mentioned.
And rightfully so, after all taxi drivers are generally blokes and hardly ever glamorous, but that hasn't stopped photographers Philip Kirkman and Shannon McLaughlin from firing off some fantastic pics of NY's cabbies and creating a brilliant calendar that will have all of its net profits donated to a charity for working immigrants and low-income families in New York.
If you really need to, and the pictures haven't put you off, the calendar can be ordered online (www.nyctaxicalendar.com) for US$14.99 ($18.10) plus shipping.
Bad taste makes money
If you watched the German Grand Prix this year, you may have questioned Sebastian Vettel's taste when he unveiled the helmet he would be racing in.
The utterly blinged-out gold helmet was designed by Vettel himself and no doubt annoyed Mark Webber even more when Vettel won the race wearing it.
Even more annoying to Webber was probably the fact that both the helmets worn by the
Red Bull drivers at the German GP were auctioned for charity recently, and while Webber's went for a decent 17,500 ($34,429), Vettel's glittering monstrosity fetched 72,100 ($141,850), setting a world record for a helmet at auction.
At the same auction the Bell helmet worn by James Hunt during his 1976 Championship
season went for 37,500 ($73,778), proving that just because you have money doesn't mean you always spend it on the right thing.
Number Crunching
45 YEARS The amount of time since the first full-face helmet appeared in F1 in 1968, when Dan Gurney wore one at the Canadian GP.
1.25 KILOGRAMS The weight of a modern F1 helmet, compared with more than 2kg for full-face helmets from the 1970s.
500 KM/H The speed of the 1-gram metal pellets fired at an F1 helmet visor during testing.
830 DEGREES The heat the external shell is tested at for 30 seconds. The interior must stay below 70 degrees.
Emergency services were called to the scene about 8.30pm.