Ten things we learned this week: 8 April 2016 edition

Nope, not a late April Fools, but a real thing: an actual amphibious Lamborghini Countach has appeared on ebay. 

Do you even need any more information before you rush off to purchase this magnificence? If you do, you might like to know it gets a Rover V8, a composite body moulded from the Countach 5000QV, a semi-space frame chassis, push-rod suspension, some brakes, some steering, some leather, and hydraulic suspension activators, rudders, and a front hydrofoil.

It's been on TV. It was built for a considerable sum of money. It's made it to Hollywood and back. And now, for just £18,995 - the same price as a 1.6-litre, diesel Vauxhall Astra - you can buy a Rover V8-engined, sea-faring Lamborghini Countach.

What are you still doing here? Go look at it!

Want more jeopardy from your go-kart track? Look no further. Norwegian Cruise Line has announced its latest ship - dubbed 'Norwegian Joy - will feature a two-level kart circuit on the top deck.

Yep, because land-based circuit-racing is so last year. The £640 million cruise ship is currently being built in Germany, features a capacity of 3,900 passengers (a sizeable audience, then) and will be ready for its Chinese audience in 2017.

Run-off areas? How about ALL OF THE SEA.

Since it was unveiled last week, orders for the new Tesla Model 3 electric saloon have now reached topped 325,000 reservations.

Each Model 3 - the Californian carmaker's newest electric saloon and the most affordable yet - starts from $35,000, but most have already specced theirs up to more than that. Tesla now reckons the reservations mean roughly $14 billion in implied future sales.

This, without any specific details on the drivetrain, the interior, nor a definitive delivery date (we're told some time in 2017).

Posting on its blog, Tesla said: "We would write more, but we need to get back to increasing our Model 3 production plans!"

News from Volkswagen (no, not that news). Prices for the Golf GTI Clubsport 'Edition 40' - the 261bhp 40-year anniversary edition of the venerable hot hatch - will start from £30,875.

It is the fastest GTI ever, with 287bhp available for a short period on overboost. All good things. 0-62mph takes just 6.3 seconds, too, and as we found out here, is a good thing to punt around in.

But here's the kicker. This front-wheel-drive - albeit with lots of fancy diff action occuring - car is just a few hundred quid off a proper, 4WD Volkswagen Golf R. A bit of a hero in Top Gear's world. The cheapest R starts from £31,125.

So, would you still plump for the GTI 40? Have a read of our review here, and make up your mind...

How does one subtly tell one’s workmates that he is a motoring enthusiast? Why, by investing in a Porsche office chair, of course. This £4,662 sports seat is identical to the sort you get in a Carrera GTS or GT3. A rechargeable battery powers the adjustable backrest, and there’s a coat hook on which to hang your mightily tasteful Porsche Design windbreaker. Oh, and shipping is free. 

London Rolls dealer HR Owen tells us its youngest customer is 21 years old, which is quite young. But not as young as the world’s youngest Rolls owner, a Taiwanese chap who ordered his first Phantom age 12. Yes, 12. Six years before he can legally drive it in his home country. We do not know what we would’ve spent £300K on age 12, but it almost certainly wouldn’t have been a Rolls….

Big news cinemagoers: American actress Charlize Theron has landed a role in the next Fast and Furious movie, due to hit the big screens in April next year.

Theron appears to have caught the bug for action films and cars, having portrayed Imperator Furiosa in 2015’s explosion-filled extravaganza, Mad Max: Fury Road.

Naturally, TG rather liked it.

Reports suggest that the 40-year-old Hollywood actress will play a villainous character in Fast 8. The bid to name it Fast and Furiosa begins here.

That isn’t a typo. Ford has revealed that it really does employ people to diagnose issues on its production line simply by using the power of hearing.

The specialist workers have to go through months of training so they can hone in on imperfections in less than sixty seconds.

“The experience of hearing thousands of engines allows us to sense straight away when something is not working perfectly,” says quality technician Juan Carlos Rosmari. “Each different engine type has its own unique sound, and from listening to them in the test cells we get to know their individual characters – and the tell-tale signs which indicate a problem.”

The team of engine listeners at Ford’s Engine Plant in Valencia perform over 2,000 tests every day in soundproof cells to ensure their power units are running smoothly.

We’ve heard it all now. And so have Ford, by the sounds of it.

Or 4.8 trillion kilometres, depending on which system you use.

The US Federal Highway Administration announced the figure after car sales leapt up 5.7% on the previous twelve months, reaching a hefty 17.5 million vehicles in 2015.

Some analysts reckon the new mileage record is a consequence of this jump, and the fact that fuel – sorry, gas – prices fell to below $2 per gallon at the start of the year.

To put the new benchmark into perspective, driving 3.1 trillion miles would be the same as driving to distant, dwarf planet Pluto and back again 330 times.

That is, of course, assuming that TG’s trusty office calculator is in full working order...

Remember Mansory? The tuner that loves carbon fibre? Of course you do. Well, Mansory – being an innovative and fluid company – is a firm that, um, penetrates many sectors.

Want a carbon fibre and gold ostrich skin office chair? They’ve got it. Matte black modified golf buggy? No problem. How about a carbon fibre chess set? They’ll put it in the post tomorrow.

But its latest offering, the Black Marlin, is the first watercraft from Mansory. Actually, it’s the first we’ve seen from any tuner.

Marketed, presumably, at the most monied mid-life crisis sufferers, it’s a jet ski covered in carbon fibre. That carbon cladding saves a total of 10kg, enough to see you flying across the Channel in no time – largely thanks to a 500bhp supercharged engine. How much? £44,000. Bargain.