The worst car ever

British motoring weekly AutoExpress cashed in on the countdown to the Car of the Century competition by announcing its own winner - of the Worst Car of the Century. The magazine said the worst car - "worse in every way than the car it replaced" - was the 1970s British-built Austin Allegro, some of which are still on the roads in New Zealand.

Some of the five finalists in the Car of the Century are still on the road in New Zealand, too. They are: the Ford Model T, Volkswagen Beetle, Mini, Citroen DS and Porsche 911. The winner will be announced this weekend. The bookies' favourite is the Model T.

Oldie but goodie

The Volkswagen plant in Puebla, Mexico, is building 600 New Beetles and 100 old Beetles a day. That's right, 100 old Beetles, in left and right-hand drive. Most are for the Central and South American markets, although some turn up new in Britain and Japan. But the old Beetles are off-limits to New Zealanders.

"The Government won't let us bring them in," said Volkswagen marketing chief Dean Sheed at Monday's launch of the New Beetle. Seems the old Beetles don't meet crash-safety legislation. But New Zealand doesn't have crash-safety legislation - it relies on other countries' standards. For example, if a new BMW or Saab meets British standards, it meets New Zealand's. So how come you can get a new old Beetle in Britain but not in New Zealand?

Sure, the old Beetle has had its day and is ideally suited to Third World markets. But it would be stronger and safer than the damaged Japanese imports Labour and National Governments allowed Third World-like backyard panel-beaters to import and rebuild.

All eyes on small car

The small-car market will be highly competitive in New Zealand next year. The Toyota Echo goes on sale next month, followed by the Fiat Punto in February/March and the new Volkswagen Polo perhaps mid-year. Auto, Motor and Sport on Friday night compares the new Punto with the facelifted Ford Fiesta, which doesn't sell here. The Triangle Television show also looks at the Lancia Delta Intergrale and how it dominated rallying in the 80s, why the design of the Volvo station wagon has been so successful, how a mechanic in Germany rebuilt a Lamborghini Espada from scrap, and why Formula One stars such as Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello are taking to indoor go-kart racing.

Fair dinkum figures

So far this year, Australians have bought 713,992 new vehicles - down 3 per cent on the 736,000 for the same period last year. Passenger car sales are down 6.6 per cent, with only three segments performing ahead of last year: prestige and luxury cars and people-movers. But the big news across the ditch is that Holden is poised to win back market leadership for the first time since 1981. At the end of November, Holden led second-placed Toyota by 3000 vehicles and third-placed Ford by 19,000 vehicles. The Commodore outsold the Falcon for the 27th consecutive month. In New Zealand the Falcon has been consistently outselling Commodore for some months.

Citroen's shopping trolley

The Renault Scenic was the first mid-range people-mover to have among its many cubby holes underfloor storage boxes. The latest model on the market, the Nissan Tino, has them, too. And so will the Citroen Picasso when it gets here next year. Only Citroen has extended the novelty equipment list to include a pair of collapsible shopping trolleys attached to the inside of the boot. They work like a spring-loaded umbrella: pull them out, press a button on the handle and they unfold, just like that, as comedian Tommy Cooper used to say.

We are the world

* The Washam oil company in New Mexico has told its tanker drivers to pull over if they see more than four cars stuck behind them. Washam bosses hope that the gesture will impress following drivers enough for them to start filling up at a Washam station.