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| Last laugh |
It seems that being a Hell's Angel in Sweden is either depressing or very lucrative - the Stockholm chapter of the biker gang is being investigated for fraud after police found 70 percent of members were certified as depressed by the same doctor and were receiving state sickness benefits. |
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| In the long run |
Three women in the Dubai marathon had their prize money increased when it was discovered that they had run four kilometres further than the other competitors after being given the wrong directions.
Luminita Talpos of Romania and Ethiopians Hirut Abera and Diribe Hunde complained they were led off course when in third, fourth and fifth place respectively. The trio eventually finished fourth, fifth and sixth. A review of the race tapes backed up their complaints and as a gesture of goodwill the race director agreed to pay them for the positions they were in when they went off course and the athletes were awarded $10,800, $8,000 and $5,400 respectively. |
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| Car talk |
A survey of 2000 British car owners found that nearly half of them regularly talk to their cars. 40 percent think their car has a personality and that a few kind words of encouragement before a long trip and praise at the end makes them drive more efficiently. 19 percent of owners worry about how their car is feeling.
The poll, conducted by organisers of the British International Motor Show, discovered that women drivers have the closest relationships with their cars - 20 percent admitted to having a pet name for their car, but not for their partner. |
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| Wwwacky website |
In the summer of 1998, David Borgenicht read a magazine article about a man who'd been forced to land a plane after the pilot had a heart attack. It made him think about classic action movie scenes, and what he would do in those situations.
He researched and wrote a book, and this month's Wwwacky website, www.worstcasescenarios.com, is a spin-off from that. If you've ever worried about what you might do if your parachute failed to open, you had to escape from a sinking car or wrestle an alligator, this site has all the answers.
There's an extensive archive of worst nightmare scenarios and a column on survival, both of which are constantly being added to by the site's researchers. Because, as they say, you just never know... |
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Volume 11.03
March 2006 |
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Hello Welcome to this month's edition of Fleettorque, bringing you the news on the world's streets.
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Audi Q7 |
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 This is Audi's first foray into the SUV market - the Q7 will be the star of Audi's stand at the Melbourne International Motor Show and is sure to attract a few longing looks with its sophisticated yet sporty styling.
Although on the surface a lot less rugged than many SUVs on the road, the Q7's sleek Audi good looks belie under-the-bonnet technology that the manufacturer insists is a match for even the worst terrain or weather conditions. There is space inside for seven people to travel in comfort and the paintwork option of two contrasting body colours certainly means the Q7 will be easy to spot in a packed car park.
The Q7 will hit the showrooms in September and will be available in two engine sizes - the V6 3.0 TDI powerplant and a high-performance V8 4.2 FSI petrol engine - priced at around $85,000 to $115,000 for Australian-specification vehicles. |
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Little MINI's big achievement |
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 The 200,000th MINI, built at the MINI factory in Oxfordshire, England in 2005, has arrived on these shores. The Pepper White MINI Cooper S Cabrio is now in Sydney, following in the tyre tracks of the 2,103 MINIs that were sold in Australia last year.
MINI sales around the world continue to surpass expectations, even in the fifth year of its model life, with the result that the MINI factory is only silent for five hours a week while essential maintenance is carried out. In Australia the MINI already comfortably outsells luxury, sporty brands from the UK, Italy and Germany and two new models are planned for 2006 - the luxurious MINI Park Lane and the sporty MINI Checkmate, which will sit alongside the regular and Chilli special equipment models. |
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Stuck on you |
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 Los Angeles traffic cops are testing glue-based darts in an effort to catch just some of the joyriders who cause around 600 police chases each year.
The system should dramatically reduce the need for high-speed pursuits as it involves launching gas-propelled sticky darts from the squad car's radiator grille to tag the target vehicle. Hidden inside the goo on the front of the dart is a golf-ball sized GPS receiver, which allows officers to track the crook's progress on a computer screen without endangering the public. Even if the thieves realise they have been tagged it is almost impossible to remove the dart, so the police can apprehend them at their leisure.
The LAPD is testing the sticky dart system for six months, and if it proves successful, it will be offered to other forces. |
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Rollover Rolls |
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 This strange vehicle is a Rolls Royce-inspired version of the Porsche Cayenne Turbo S, which has been created by Italian design house Castagna, famous for doing unusual things to MINIs.
Christened the Imperial Landaulette, the car will debut at this month's Geneva Motor Show, and is based on a stretched Cayenne platform but with the design hallmarks of a 1931 Rolls-Royce. The rear section of the hard-top cabin opens up to give passengers in the back a wind-in-the-hair experience, while centre-hinged doors swing out together. Luggage goes in the boot, or in two simulated wood containers on the flanks, as on the 1931 original. |
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Club class |
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 The Segway 'personal transporter', which famously proved too much for George Bush to handle, has now been modified to carry much more precious cargo - your golf clubs.
Simply load your clubs in the backpack attached to the Segway GT (for Golf Transporter), hop aboard and let its two wheels whisk you and your clubs to the next tee at two or three times walking speed. Its enhanced-grip tyres and extended-range batteries mean the GT will happily cruise you from hole to hole for fourteen miles, and as it is so small it can travel on paths and other areas where regular golf carts are not permitted. Priced at $9,400, the Segway GT is available from segway-uk.net
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