Ten Things We Learned This Week

Most bizarre story of the week comes from Newsweek, who report that low-profile Asian regime North Korea have reneged on a long-standing deal with Volvo that is now running to a debt of millions of pounds.

According to Newsweek, in the early 70s when North Korea was seen as relatively sane, a consortium of Swedes sent over 1000 Volvo 144s to Pyongyang to kickstart sales in the country. Then leader Kim Il-Sung chucked the bill under a load of pizza delivery flyers, took the phone off the hook, and forgot about it.

The cars still live on today and visitors to Pyongyang report seeing many of them in use as taxies, while the sellers still wait in vain for their cash. 

If only Saab could dig an outstanding invoice out of the bottom drawer like that…

Following the all-conquering GT86/BRZ twins, the latest Japanese antidote to the horsepower wars finally landed in the early hours of Thursday morning in Barcelona, and TopGear.com’s man with the many airmiles Paul Horrell was there to see it in person (“a lot smaller than in looks in the pictures” was one first impression). 

He liked it, and on the balance of the 180+ comments on the story so far, so did you. Now to see if it still drives well… 

The American National Highway Traffic Safety Adminstration takes the responsibilities of its lengthy title extremely seriously. And in a year when General Motors has had to recall over 800,000 cars due to faulty ignition switches, vigilance must be maintained at all times.

Such as a problem with the Koenigsegg Agera, where apparently the tyre monitoring system may (may) not have illuminated the warning light after the vehicle was restarted. 

To ensure the car complied with the demand from the ANHTSA, Koenigsegg was required to update the software on any US-based Agera. 

All one of them. 

Constant vigilance worthy of Mad Eye Moody out of Harry Potter, and surely most comforting for our American readers. 

Some say he’s never heard of Angel di Maria and owns 28 football boots, all for the left foot. All we know is this picture popped up on Monday and he’s started drinking milk on Ian Rush’s advice.

The mighty Morgan SP1, above, was revealed this week at the Salon Prive show. It’s the first creation from Morgan’s new Special Projects division, created at the behest of a customer. And we thought magic mushrooms started growing in October down in the West Country. 

In a busy week for new cars, Tuesday saw the launch of the Discovery Sport, the "new Freelander". 

Presumably fans of the new car are going to spend most of their time travelling between the gated garage, the yellow zig-zags outside schools and the family spaces at Waitrose, but Land Rover has offered up a slightly more exciting trip to celebrate the launch - they're going to fire four lucky competition winners into space courtesy of Virgin Galactic.

We offered to help build the rocket, but we haven't heard back yet. 

As is only right for a man who has counted Mr Universe, The Terminator and governor of California among the day-jobs, Arnie doesn’t really do normal-sized cars. Instead, his modus operandi has always been: take massive car, make massiver (see his old Hummer for proof). 

Well, this week he’s swapped the Hummer for another vehicle that breaks all of Colin Chapman’s legendary rules. A Unimog, the ultimate in “go anywhere and demolish anything in its path while doing it” practiality. With a whopping top speed of 50mph. Perfect for Californian highways. 

Last week we saw the fruits of a long-term project from Jaguar design director Ian Callum: his updated vision of the classic Jaguar Mark 2, built with restorer Classic Motor Cars. 

And this week, following the orgasmic internet reception, they announced it will a) go into a limited production run and b) have a price of “between £350,000 and £375,000”, a drop in the ocean for its "if you need to ask, it's too much" clientele. 

This or an Eagle Speedster, readers? 

It’s nearly two weeks since Nico Rosberg further lengthened his lead over Lewis Hamilton in the drivers’ standings, courtesy of an ill-advised lunge at Spa. After rapping knuckles but promising the drivers can still race each other for the remainder of the season, Merc is now threateningly waving their P45s around, saying its not afraid to wield the axe if either of them step of line again. But who would the team get in to replace Rosberg or Hamilton (pictured above, in happier times)?

After nearly a year of searching, Aston Martin finally has a new boss to replace Dr Bez. And it’s picked a Brit. Andy Palmer transfers from Nissan, a company stronger than ever thanks to the Juke and Qashqai, and boasting real clout with enthusiasts via the Nismo brand, the mighty GT-R and forays into Le Mans. On paper, then, he’s the man to help Aston deliver the competitor-crushing cars it has lacked for too long. We eagerly wait and see…