Ten Things We Learned This Week

Earlier this week Mike Newman smashed his own world record for the fastest blind land speed record.

With the help of a guide -his Dad - in a chase car behind, Mike, a former banker who was born with glaucoma, managed to average 200.9mph over two runs at Elvington airfield, near York.

Mike, Top Gear salutes you.

The venerable Range Rover is a staple of the countryside... and Chelsea. Now, it appears Land Rover wants the two-tonne luxury land yacht to occupy very different territory, in the shape of... the racetrack.

The guys at Gaydon have been working on a range-topping, really-bloody fast version of the Range Rover Sport. And this is it. It's called the Range Rover SVR, and it's the fastest production Land Rover... in the world.

It's a 162mph, 542bhp Range Rover Sport that can do 0-62mph in 4.7 seconds. It's even got itself a faintly ludicrous Nurburgring time: eight minutes and 14 seconds. That makes it faster than - if you believe in such fairytale times at the ‘Ring - the Lexus IS-F, original Honda NSX and as quick as a Merc C63 AMG.

We've got more information about it here. But do you think a Range Rover belongs on track? Let us know below.

Read the full story here

One thing that instantly boils the blood of any Top Gear staffer is any mention of the word ‘caravan'.

So when news came in this week that the dog fraternity is to get its own tailor-made caravans, work quickly stopped. Some shouting ensued.

Costing a whopping £450 each, these handmade vintage trailers are custom built to the size, style, colour and needs of your dog. Not that your dog can tell you its preferred size, style, or colour, primarily because IT'S A DOG AND CAN'T TALK.

We think it's best not to inform Mr Stig about these caravans though, because last time he saw one, it didn't end well...

There is an entirely unofficial scale of road rage, which includes everything from a mild tut and shake of the head, to some light shoutiness and dismantling of your car's interior.

But as a court in Wurzburg, Bavaria, heard this week, one trucker has taken this a step further.

Over a five year period, 58-year-old Michael Harry K fired more than 700 shots at other drivers on German motorways, claiming that he wanted to "teach them all a lesson" about their poor driving.

He's been accused of five counts of attempted murder in addition to charges of grievous bodily harm after a number of motorists were injured in the shootings. The defendant claimed during the investigation that he had not wanted to injure anyone and only aimed at trucks' loads.

Why spend your money on giving your car a new paintjob when you can literally cover the car in coins? That was the exact lightbulb moment Larry and Theresa Thompson from Indiana, USA, had.

With the help of their family, they painstakingly applied 38,000 pennies by hand to give their 1948 Cadillac a unique look and add exactly $382.95 to its resale value and 89kg to its kerbweight.

But it doesn't appear that the Thompson family has applied the coins to the wheels. Which is slightly odd, as that'd be a real money-spinner. Badum tish.

Imagine the glamour, the glitz and the pizazz. You're the owner of a Pagani Zonda. You're in Cannes. Life is good.

Only your Pagani Zonda doesn't start. In Cannes. In front of many people, including one with a camera. Life isn't so good. Still, owning a jet black piece of exotica does at least attract attention, so when this chap's Zonda failed to start, a few locals helped him out the old fashioned way. By pushing him off down the road.

Better luck next time, chap.

Watch the video here

A person in Glentworth, near Hemswell, has taken the village's speed enforcement to a different level, by dressing up a dummy in the guise of a traffic cop and equipping it with a fake speed gun.

It was brought to the attention of the Lincolnshire Police, who will now look into speeding in the area, while the county council - though respecting the good nature of the gag - will look to take it down.

But - and it could just be us - doesn't the cop look a little like Ali G?

Source: Lincolnshire Echo

Back in the 1960s, Jaguar allocated 18 chassis numbers to a series of all-alloy, race-inspired ‘Lightweight' E-Type models. Only for reasons undisclosed, they never got round to building the last six. Until now.

Yes folks, quite possibly the world's finest E-Type Jaguar is now ready for its final run courtesy of JLR's newly formed Special Ops division. And it's immensely cool. We'll take three, please.

Read the full story here

News from China, and police in the southern city of Shenzhen are cracking down on drivers who inappropriately flash their headlights. By making them stare at bright headlights for five minutes.

A post on the official Sina Weibo account reports "from now on, traffic police will make those found carelessly using bright lights to look at them for five minutes."

Top Gear has made a mental note to never flash anyone in China. Ever.

... all we know is, don't let him loose near an empty stadium with Big Scary Toys, because he will somersault them. He will drift them. And he will bungee jump them.

Confused? Click on the link below to see the Stig having a little ‘down-time' at the recent Top Gear Festival in South Africa. And we do mean down-time quite literally.

Watch the video here