Ten things we learned this week: 28 August 2015 edition

There are perks to being a racing driver. Fame, fortune and the opportunity to go wheel-to-wheel on the world’s best circuits, yes. But don’t forget the nice company cars…
 
Affable Aussie Mark Webber this week took delivery of his Porsche 918 Spyder, the perfect complement to the 919 Hybrid he races during work hours. Naturally, all the most hardcore, lightweight options boxes have been ticked, while the red’n’white colour scheme matches his 919 perfectly.
 
And as if picking up a shiny new 918 couldn’t get any better, Webber collected his new acquisition on his 39th birthday. Lad.

So if a Porsche racer gets a 918, what does McLaren-Honda driver Fernando Alonso get? Erm, a Civic.
 
Yep, Alonso has also acquired a new car this week, one worth around four per cent of Webber’s. All is not lost, though, as it’s not only a really quite good Civic, but it’s also a mere stopgap until Nando’s new NSX turns up.
 
And with a mighty 306bhp being ferociously channelled through its front wheels, there’s every chance his new Civic is as fast as his work wheels…

If you own a pair of pooches, you might be looking at a Subaru Outback or something similarly workhorse-like to cart them around in.

Well, stop! Save your pennies and instead buy a Smart. Yep, the littlest city car maker has made its Forfour model a haven for hounds, with something called ‘readyspace seats’.

The entry point can be lowered by 12cm for smaller dogs to hop in, while there’s a dog crate for safe transport (it’s comfier than it sounds), protecting your mutt from hard braking and the like.

It’s not in lieu of existing puppy safety, of course, which the Germans are only too keen to point out: “Please still make sure that your dog always wears a seat belt.” Quite.

The news of TVR’s rebirth continues to sound so positive, we’re a trifle concerned it’s too good to be true.
 
“TVR is delighted to announce that it has taken in excess of 250 deposits for its new sports car in only the first six weeks since the company opened the order book,” the latest release reads.
 
That’s enough for all of 2017’s production to be taken care of. If you’re thinking you’ve missed a news story where we’ve shown you the new V8, rear-drive sports car the Brit manufacturer has planned, rest assured you’ve not, the picture above being a classic Tuscan.
 
“We are mindful that we have taken deposits from customers who have not even yet seen official pictures of the car,” says chairman Les Edgar. And we thought we were eager to see the fruits of reborn TVR’s labour…

A couple of weeks ago we showed you this spectacularly cheeky move in Germany’s DTM touring car series.
 
The shunt looks bad enough without audio, but listen carefully (with some German knowledge to hand) and you’ll hear that guilty driver Timo Scheider is told “push him out” by team boss Wolfgang Ullrich.
 
Karma fans can sleep easy, though, as both have been punished. Scheider is banned from the next DTM round in Moscow, while Ullrich is banned from the pitlane for the rest of the season. Audi also been fined 200,000 euros and every point it earned that weekend has been docked. Ouch.

Okay, we’re a bit bored now. The arrival of Jag’s first proper SUV – the F-Pace – is undoubtedly exciting news. Not only because we’ve a hunch it’ll be one of the best cars in its class to look at and drive, but its boost to the JLR coffers is likely to catalyse the development yet more lovely sports cars too. Let’s call it the Cayenne effect.
 
But can we just see the finished thing already, please? It feels almost bi-weekly that we see an F-Pace wearing a new camouflage colour scheme, the car beneath it looking eerily, thought not unexpectedly, like the C-X17 concept that appeared so production ready back in 2013.
 
Given the Frankfurt show is a mere two weeks away, we’ve not long to wait. But we can live without teaser image overdrive between now and then…

Or so we suspect. If you’ve frequented any car website in the past few years, you’re probably familiar with the car above. Vauxhall’s Maloo press demonstrator appeared in many, many tests and features, likely consuming a pair of rear tyres during each.
 
Well a 28,000-mile used example, in the same lurid yellow hue, has appeared at a second-hand car dealer in Peterborough, priced at £39,975.
 
A quick bit of digging suggests a mere two manual Maloos reside in the UK, so this is surely that very car. Fancy owning something Stig has both driven and been transported in the loadbay of?

Given Audi’s penchant for niche-busting, no mash-up of body styles should come as a surprise. And yet this Audi A3 limo convertible has those of us with beards furiously scratching them.
 
It is, as you might expect, a coachbuilt special. The list of reasons as to why this six-door, eight-seat cabrio isn’t a production car could likely fill rest of the website, but we’re pegging ‘intensely complex roof mechanism’ and ‘lack of chassis rigidity’ right up there.
 
Still, if there’s a hen do seeking al fresco champagne glugging, there is little to rival it…

When Aston Martin first revealed its new Lagonda saloon – the Taraf – it wasn’t meant to come to the UK, instead being aimed at affluent Middle Eastern markets.
 
Good news came, though, when the decision was reversed. The bad news? We’ve now learned it’ll cost £696,000. And yes, we have typed that correctly.
 
It’s a super sharp looking thing, mind, and you’ll more than likely never see another, something of real value in this part of the market.
 
Some quick TG maths, though, calculates you could have a long-wheelbase Rolls-Royce Phantom, a Porsche 911 GT3 RS and an Aston of your choice for the same cash...

We shall end on a bittersweet note. This week saw tragedy make an unwelcome return to the motorsport world, British racer Justin Wilson passing away after a freak accident in America’s IndyCar series.
 
But he left the world just as he raced in it, making people smile: by being an organ donor, he saved six lives, news initially confirmed by brother Stefan.
 
Over to American donor programme Gift of Life: “During this most difficult and tragic time Justin’s family supported his decision to be an organ donor, which he had indicated on his driver’s license. This selfless act of giving by Justin and his family allowed six organs to be transplanted, resulting in many individuals receiving the ‘gift of life’.”
 
Rest in peace, good sir.