TRISHBITS March 2014

Nearly £6,000 of Viagra has been stolen from military reserves since 2007, according to Government figures.  

47% of people questioned  by the AA said they would give ‘elderly’ drivers a wider berth on the roads if they had a sign on the car and 22% said they would give way to a Classic car.  

The EU is considering allowing Mega trucks, up to 82ft long and up to 60 tonnes, to be used across international borders. This would make it difficult for Britain to ban them – they are 21ft  longer than currently allowed in Britain.  The EU is also considering removing height restrictions. 

The e-Go, an ultra-light and fuel efficient single-seater aircraft has been designed in Britain by Giotto Castelli who helped with the Airbus A340.  Built with only British made parts, production at £50,000,  next year.

New ‘stealth cameras’ are to be installed on the M1, M6 and M25.  They will be grey instead of yellow but a Highways Agency spokesman said they will be signposted and are expected to cover 100 miles of motorway within 2 years.

A 1957 Ferrari Testa Rossa, the second prototype ever built, has been sold for c£24.1 million    

Tamara Ecclestone lost her High Court case over ownership of a Lamborghini Aventador which her ex-boyfriend Omar Khyami claimed she had given him.  

Many luxury vehicles include TV systems on their dashboards which are designed to work only when the car is not moving.  However, an electronic device costing  £150 allows drivers to disable the safety mechanism so they can have the set working while driving.

A learner driver's car has been seized after police who stopped her on a motorway realised the only supervisor in the vehicle was her pet parrot. 

868,605 cars were recalled in 2013 because of safety faults. Honda Jazz 171,394;  Nissan Micra 142,097 and BMW 3 Series 24,752.  Chevrolet, Subaru and Smart had no recalls.

Nick Poole was in his kitchen when a Citroen C5 ploughed into the room.

Ford announced its highest pre-tax profits in more than 10 years, of £5.19 billion.

USA Portland police arrested a homeless man who spent the night sleeping in the back of a patrol car.  The back seat of a patrol vehicle is a secure custody area and has no handle to get out.  

Porsche has asked more than 100 UK owners (785 worldwide) of the latest 911 GT3 models to stop driving them while tests go on following two cases of vehicles catching fire.

Allianz Global Investors has invested £175m on behalf of a British pension scheme in Scotland’s motorway improvements (£415 million).

A 10-mile section of the M2 motorway in Kent was closed after the discovery of a 15ft-deep hole in the central reservation.  And in Buckinghamshire a sink hole opened up overnight and swallowed the family car.  Houses had to be evacuated in Hemel Hempstead when a huge one opened.  18 sinkholes were reported in the UK in February

Ford, Toyota, Mitsubishi and Holden are closing their assembly plants in Australia where the strength of the dollar has made manufacturing costs too expensive for export.  

Jaguar Land Rover sales in China were up 46% last year, 33% up in N. America and 30% in Asia Pacific.

The new Seabreacher X has been launched - built to order for $65,000.  It can do 50 mph (surface) and 25 mph (underwater to depth 5 ft) with a 260HP supercharged engine.

Britain's most expensive parking spot has gone on sale for £400,000  near London’s Royal Albert Hall.  A nearby NCP car park charges £35.10 p.d.

A record 677 Ferraris were bought in the UK last year, making Britain the 2nd largest market for them.  The company made a profit of £217m.  Ferrari will limit the number of cars made ‘to maintain the brand's luxury status and increase the cars' value’. 

Peugeot Citroen has agreed a tie-up with Chinese maker Dongfeng.  This will end the reign of one of France’s oldest industrial dynasties.  The Peugeot family controlled the firm since 1810 when it was a maker of coffee mills, pepper grinders and later, bicycles.

A reward of £100,000 is being offered for the return of a collection of rare triathlon bikes that were stolen from a trade show in East London and parked in rental vans   at the Travelodge Excel.  “In the CCTV you can see the guys walking up and pressing a button on a box  and within a minute they drove off at speed. There was no glass-breaking, no hot-wiring, it was a very professional job. The tracking devices were ripped out of the vehicles and we have recovered those, but not the vehicles.”  CID said.

Following the £30 Billion build of the Sochi Olympics there are plans to use the facilities for a Russian Grand Prix.  The race fee is expected to be £30 Million. The GP complex is 90% finished – however there are no direct flights from European Capitals!  

Transport chiefs call to raise age limit to ease pressure on DVLA.  'Don't make motorists renew licence until they're 80'.

The teams on University Challenge were asked what ‘Parc Fermé’ was.  The reply:  ‘Guard Sanitaire’.

The Hesketh name for motorcycles has been bought by engineer and entrepreneur Paul Sleeman, who is about to produce an initial run of 24 new-generation Hesketh superbikes in Redhill, Surrey.   

Abridged version of TOPS NEWS sent to members

Trisha Pilkington