Got a Mini Cooper EV? Perhaps park it outside a neighbour's house and run fast. Please don't say we didn't warn you.
In the latest news from the wonderful world of electric mobility, BMW is recalling 140,000 electric Mini Coopers because the car might catch fire or – as the mini meisters call it, "cause a thermal event". There's no recall in Australia yet so if you are driving a Mini don't park outside your house. If you have a neighbour who really annoys you, I'd park it in their driveway and run.
A few weeks ago, BMW also recalled 26,491 Minis and Alpina Xs because of electric problems with the brakes. That might explain why the BMW Group is celebrating 45 years of its hydrogen adventure.
And in a sign of how crook things are, the environmental darling of the liberal, well educated, upper middle class, Birkenstock set, the Chinese-owned Volvo have given up on their target of being all electric by 2030.
Anyway, things aren't going well for European carmakers. Volkswagen is looking at closing factories in Germany for the first time in its 87-year history. Here's another metal maker that's a victim of the EV devolution and its stupid decision to stop making the VW Beetle in 1979.
Better news for Aston Martin, with F1 design genius Adrian Newey joining the Gaydon, SDL firm next year. Adrian will be doing it tough after leaving Red Bull. His pay envelope will only contain $36m a year with overtime included.
Yup in 2025 for a tad under a million dollars, you'll be able to buy the "back from the dead" Aston Martin Vanquish. Twenty readers, one friend and the only family member who reads the daily diary of the metal lovers' dream, the eco version of the family friendly touring car has a 605KW twin-turbo V-12 and a top speed of 344km/h.
Moving back to the V8 Sleuth Heritage Revival, the grid will see 55 old racing sedans of all sorts of brands. Here it comes. Talking of Alfas, today's car of the week is a 1973 Series 2 Kammtail Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce. Can you believe I am plugging an Alfa? It's for a friend. Pete Matthews has three strikes against him: 1. He owns an Alfa. 2. He lives in Queensland. 3. He is a friend of mine. One good thing? He is selling his Alfa. Overseas this is a $175k car: in Queensland good buying at $100k.
A very brief report on the F1 Gran Premio d'Italia 2024! McLaren could have won but stuffed it up again. Ferrari had a one stop strategy. McLaren made their drivers do two stops. Lando clipped a sign on the way to a pit stop. Ozzie Oscar killed the start and drove the race of day, was very sad at coming second but he led for 32 laps.
jc@jcp.com.au