Ten things we learned this week: 31 July 2015 edition

Until we read the advert, we had literally no idea that the Ferrari Enzo pictured in this magnificent image was in fact, a 1986 Pontiac Fiero outfitted in the style of an Enzo.

Yup, so good is the replica – complete with V12 badging, roof scoop, gullwing doors and chromed mirrors – that we were completely fooled into thinking that an example of LaFerrari’s dad could be had for as little as $5,500.

“Does run and drive but will need a little work,” the advert explains. Erm, sure…

Wayne and D’Ann Rauh from Texas like Vipers. Not the bitey snake kind, but the comically-engined automotive kind. In fact, they like them so much, they have amassed a whopping 79 Dodge Vipers in a very unique collection.

Yep, Vipers number 78 and 79 were added to their collection – dubbed, unsurprisingly, the ‘Viper’s Nest’ – only last week.

Well done, Wayne and D’Ann Rauh from Texas. Though if you really want to be unique, how about a collection of 79 Dacia Dusters?

Infiniti – that’s the posh arm of Nissan, if you’re confused – is offering up the chance to drive a real, proper, actual Red Bull F1 car. 

And all you have to do is test drive an Infiniti road car. From there, you shall be entered into a prize draw, which if successful, puts you in a shootout at Rockingham Speedway, and from there – if you pass – you’ll join up with winners from other territories to drive an F1 car.

Danill Kvyat will also be on hand to give you guidance, too. Which, if you’ve just jumped out of a road car, will prove to be helpful guidance.

Proof that age is just a number comes in the shape of 95-year old Laura Thomas from Pembroke Dock, west Wales, who is believed to be the UK’s oldest driving instructor.

Which means she’s been dishing out driving wisdom since 1938. And in that time, she’s never once used a ‘dual-control’ car, nor has she ever had an accident.

“I gave a man lessons the other day,” she told the BBC, “and he was what I’d call… thick.” You tell ‘em, Laura.

Via BBC news

Tesla wants to sell cars via word of mouth, and announced that if current Tesla owners persuade a friend to buy a Model S, that person will get $1,000 off the purchase price and the owner will get a $1,000 credit in their Tesla account.

Each Tesla owner can grant a maximum of ten $1,000 discounts, but the first person to hit ten referrals will get a brand new Model X with all the option boxes ticked, for free.

So yes, you have to turn into that friend who gushes about how great your new car is.

It’s not the first time, admittedly, but it is – to our knowledge – a first in the UK. Supercar dealer Dick Lovett bragged via Twitter this week about its ‘famous five shoot’.
 
Yep. In lovely, tidy chronological order, they have the 288 GTO, F40, F50, Enzo and LaFerrari. That’s 52 cylinders and around 3000bhp. And all of the coolness…

…and a less likely sentence you will not read this week, month or perhaps year. The revelation came out alongside a rather fruitier word as Helen Mirren appeared on breakfast TV in the UK this week.

“I went camping with an ex-boyfriend of mine, Liam Neeson,” she revealed. “We went camping in Cornwall, he loved camping. We had this little 2CV car, and Liam - 6’4” - in this 2CV, his head was sticking out the top of the car really. We had our tent in the back and all our stuff, our little stove and everything.”

Ford sure knows how to whet appetites. As if the new GT didn’t have enough visual clout spinning around on a motor show stand, Ford has seen fit to parade it around London, bustling as it is with tourists during the school holidays.

Driving it through busy traffic could be a fool’s errand, of course, but Ford’s got that covered too. The GT was placed in a rather unsubtle glass box atop a lorry for its sightseeing tour of the capital. Wonder how many selfies it ended up gatecrashing?

We really like the 911 GT3 RS, and we would seriously consider selling many things to buy one for the £131,296 Porsche ask. Sure, we’d have to wait a year or so, but we’d end up with a brand new, very special Porsche to our own spec. But would we pay more than £160,000 over the odds to have one now? One in a colour we do not like, with things on it we do not want? Hmm…

That’s what Porsche dealer Dick Lovett is asking for a silver GT3 RS, the only one on sale in the UK. £160k over the odds – that’s £295,000. Aventador money. McLaren 675LT money. Yeah, we’ll take a pass on that one…

Being driven around by people who cannot drive doesn’t sound like fun. And now there’s another reason not to be a driving instructor – it’s actually quite dangerous.

See, DVSA research has found that, in the past year, more than 120 driving instructors have been injured while giving lessons in the UK. That’s one every three days. As occupational hazards go, that isn’t a particularly appealing one…