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Ten things we learned this week: 19 August 2016 edition
Nissan celebrates Bolt and free Abarth driving lessons: it’s another odd week for cars
Nissan is celebrating #HappyBoltDay
Usain Bolt turns 30 this Sunday, by which time he could be a nine-time gold medallist if his Jamaican quartet seals victory in the 4x100m relay at the Olympic Games in Rio.
To celebrate Nissan has launched the hashtag #HappyBoltDay, allowing fans to pay homage to the world’s fastest sprinter on social media.
The link to cars? Bolt is Nissan’s 'Global Director of Excitement', a role he was appointed to back in 2012. A cynic might say that this ‘job’ is just corporate tokenism, but has the Nissan GT-R got less exciting in that time?
Nope. You know who to thank...
Advertisement - Page continues belowDavid Coulthard lobbed a GoPro out of a moving F1 car
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Why? To see what would happen, obviously.
Red Bull decided to attempt the, um, experiment while on tour in Jordan earlier this year, with the 13-time grand prix winner building up to a significant speed before chucking the handheld camera out of the cockpit.
After a lot of spinning and bouncing it eventually comes to a rest, remarkably still in one piece.
The clip ends with the caption: “This video was shot by professionals. Do not try this at home.” Something for the average Joe to think about before taking their F1 car for a spin in their own private desert...
The US Air Force flew a donated firetruck to volunteers in Nicaragua
Every so often it’s nice to be reminded that the world isn’t such a bad place: this story does exactly that.
New Jersey Air National Guardsman Master Sgt Jorge A Narvaez travelled to Nicaragua to meet a group of volunteers who were in desperate need of firefighting equipment at their base in the capital, Managua, in 2014. A donation of coats, boots and hoses followed, but what they really needed was a firetruck.
“I offered to help and get them assistance in the United States,” said Narvaez. “I explained to them that I couldn’t make any promises, but that I would try to do my best.”
Following a conversation with Ray Wadsworth, a fire chief in Princeton, New Jersey, it just so happened that a firetruck was being decommissioned and could be made available for donation.
The local department sold it to Wadsworth for a single dollar, and Narvaez made use of a government scheme to secure transport for the truck’s 3,700km journey to Central America. Top work.
Image credit: US Air Force & Master Sgt Mark Olsen
Advertisement - Page continues belowYou can now get an Alfa 4C as a hire car
Many holidaymakers are familiar with the disappointment of collecting a hire car when travelling abroad: you’ll sign lots of forms, agree to an insurance deal you suspect is a scam, and eventually drive away in something you’ll have forgotten the name of by the time you’ve handed back the keys.
However, that needn’t be the case. Hire company Europcar announced this week that the gorgeous Alfa Romeo 4C isbeing added to its fleet as part of its ‘luxury and fun’ range.
“Alfa Romeo is a brand that combines quality design with sporting performance to deliver a thrill for motorists,” says Europcar UK Group’s Justin Shaw. “And that’s why we’re really pleased to be able to add this new model to the Selection fleet.”
If you’re after a motor to tackle an Alpine or Dolomite pass, you’ll probably want something with a better gearbox. But if you’re more interested in snaps to show the family when you get back, the picture-perfect 4C might just be ideal.
Rolls-Royce has made a picnic hamper
Luxury carmakers never let up in their pursuit of extravagance and sophistication. Just look at Mulliner’s Fly Fishing Bentayga for evidence of how far manufacturers will go to appeal to high-end customers.
Rolls-Royce, of course, is no exception. This week it revealed the luxury picnic hamper, pictured above, as its latest addition to their Phantom Zenith Collection, available with new deliveries of the seventh-generation limo.
Crafted from American Walnut and natural grain leather, the hamper contains everything you could possible need for a righteous summer picnic, including crystal wine glasses, stainless steel cutlery and embroidered napkins.
Such is the attention to detail, Rolls even goes as far as engraving the ID number of the accompanying vehicle onto a plaque within basket. Al fresco dining has never known such finery.
This is how not to clean your car
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Of all the downsides to owning a car, there are few that are more tedious than dragging a vacuum cleaner around the driveway in an effort to remove crumbs and foliage from the lowest depths of each footwell. The sooner self-cleaning nano-tech materials arrive, the better.
However, the labours of car maintenance are no excuse for attempting to find shortcuts, as the lady in the video above appears to have done.
Utilising a power washer on the inside of her truck, the owner (we sincerely hope it doesn’t belong to someone else) seems oblivious to the idea that filling the vehicle with water might not be a good idea.
Anyone who has dabbled in existence as we know it will know that combining H2O with electricity is a recipe for sub-optimalness. At least she didn’t use a flamethrower to dry the thing out...
Abarth customers have been offered a free lesson
And no, it’s not just a coupon for an evening cookery class. It’s proper performance driving instruction at a bona fide racetrack.
Abarth has teamed up with Bondurant Racing School in Phoenix, Arizona, a facility which TG had the pleasure of visiting a few months ago. It was one heck of a day out.
Buyers and leasers of the new Fiat 124 Spider or 500 Abarth have 12 month from the date of purchase to book the free-of-charge lesson, where they will be taught how to get the most out of their new cars using the in-house fleet which also contains Chargers, Hellcats and Vipers, alongside Abarth’s finest.
“We have a great relationship with Bob Bondurant, and extending our partnership is an excellent opportunity to provide Fiat fans with the knowledge, skills and setting they need to fully experience the performance that the Abarth models can deliver,” said a Fiat Chrysler spokesperson.
If you’ve just bought a 124 Spider or 500 from Abarth, you can find out if you’re eligible by clicking on these underlined words.
Advertisement - Page continues belowVolvo aims for ‘world speed record’
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The Swedish manufacturer has promised fans that they will be able to witness a new ‘world speed record’ by tuning into the Volvo Trucks YouTube channel next Wednesday.
Exactly which ‘world speed record’ it is attempting to break hasn’t been revealed yet, so we can only speculate that Volvo's gunning for the ‘fastest truck ever’ title with its 2,367bhp, custom built Iron Knight.
Despite weighing four-and-a-half tonnes, the truck looks abominably fast, a feat Volvo attributes to the D13 power unit, a dual-clutch transmission and a cabin designed to be as aerodynamic as possible.
“The Iron Knight is the perfect way to showcase the competence and innovative power of Volvo Trucks," says Volvo Trucks CEO Claes Nilsson. “At the same time, our aim was to generate new insights into technical and design solutions. The intention is to transfer some of these to our series-produced trucks.”
We can only hope this signals the end of waiting for lorries to overtake each other painfully slowly on the motorway.
You can now relive Ford’s Le Mans win in 360 degrees
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Ford has launched a new virtual reality app that will allow users to “experience Ford innovations like never before”.
The first piece of content is this behind the scenes video shot at the Le Mans 24 Hours, which features several points of view from June’s 84th running of the race at Circuit de La Sarthe.
“We are very excited about this opportunity to provide truly immersive experiences that showcase the best of Ford Motor Company,” says Ford’s Lisa Schoder.
Just imagine if there was a 360 degree on-board from Ford's crash at Spa back in May...
Advertisement - Page continues belowA P1 had a tight squeeze in Sweden
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As a hypercar, the McLaren P1 can’t afford to be overly humungous, and it’s just as well after this near-miss in Stockholm.
A pedestrian caught on camera the moment the £866,000 vehicle was forced to inch past what looks like a bin lorry on a tight street in the Swedish capital, just about managing to fit through the gap without picking up any scratches.
Onlookers gathered to watch the spectacle unfold, although none of them appeared to offer the driver any help navigating through the hazard.
The lesson? Be wary when driving an expensive car on bin day.
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