Ten things we learned this week: 17 March 2017 edition

*Well, according to a ‘respected Ford authenticator’, anyway. 

The story goes that the first of two Bullitt Mustangs was snapped up by an American collector, but the second was scrapped shortly after filming wrapped on the 1968 classic, and wound up languishing in a junkyard in the Mexican peninsula of Baja California. 

That is, until a very different movie franchise came to its rescue. Yes, it was the continuing demand for Eleanor replicas from the Nic Cage version of Gone in 60 Seconds that unearthed the ’68 fastback. It was duly shipped to the city of Paramount in California to undergo its transformation, when a quick check of its VIN purportedly revealed its true provenance. A subsequent check has apparently confirmed its identity as the ‘jump’ car – the one that was specially modified to soak up those punishing jumps performed on San Franciscan streets. 

Now for a little honesty from all you TopGearians out there – have you actually watched Bullitt? And would you want to buy one of the original cars once its restoration is completed?

No, not the massive polar research ship – that was christened the RRS Sir David Attenborough, thanks to his exceptionally large contribution to public knowledge of nature, and butterflies, and such. And it won’t be ready until 2019. 

But, never one to let a good joke go begging, the Natural Environment Research Council has applied the appellation to an autonomous submersible robot, which has just launched (as in, today) from the RRS James Clark Ross. 

It’s now off the coast of Punta Arenas, in the slightly chilly waters of the Orkney Passage, between the Falklands and the northernmost tip of Antartica. Why? Well, it does involve some science. 

Boaty’s there to find the answer to a pretty troubling question – to find out what’s going on in the Orkney Passage, a hugely important thermal redistribution channel that affects the temperature of 60-odd per cent of the Earth’s surface. It’s a serious job for a not-very-seriously named robot. 

So, what will Boaty find in his adventures? A rift in the sea floor, spewing out molten lava? Duke Nukem from Captain Planet, doing something nefarious? A gigantic Mantis Shrimp with an axe to grind? We wait with bated breath.

And no, we’re not slighting anyone who buys one. Each Demon comes with its own toolkit, furnished by Snap-On.

The gist is that you have everything you need to swap out your street kit for all your track goodies. Clearly, Dodge wants you to keep your mischievous activities on the track, which is remarkably responsible for a company that’s making an umpteen horsepower dragster called the Demon. 

In the rather fancy ski town of St Moritz lies the world’s oldest natural ice track, known as the Olympia. Being a bob track, it’s very curvy, quite dangerous, and has all the softness and safety that you’d expect from a solid wall of ice. 

It’s therefore the perfect place to try and squeeze a Subaru WRX, right? It is if you’re Mark Higgins, a well-known very fast – and very brave – man.

If that name’s familiar to you, it’s because he’s the one responsible for consistently smashing his own speed records at the Isle of Man. 

So, armed with a beefed up and strengthened WRX STI (his weapon of choice), he’s now descended the Olympia run in manic fashion. We'll put the video up as soon as Subaru gets around to releasing it. So, watch this space. 

… With an engine guide that explains “the historical origin of each engine family, the applications of these engines across the Toyota line-up, and an explanation of Toyota’s engine-naming system, which will help Toyota enthusiasts identify engines by model number.” Phwoar.

So, if you’re dying to get the low down on a 2GR-FE, or perhaps drool over the 1LR-GUE, you know what to do – click here, to download your own copy. We won’t judge.

“Give me your tired, your rusted, your high in mileage and low in value, the wretched refuse of your teeming factories.” 

We’re pretty sure that if Emma Lazarus was alive today (or returned from the dead, for any fans of Sunday School stories), she’d slap us across the face for corrupting her lovely poem. 

But how else can you describe the Festival of the Unexceptional?

It’s a celebration of the kind of car that wouldn’t even be allowed in the carpark at Goodwood, the unloved and underwhelming products of our ‘that’ll do ’em’ approach to building cars throughout the years. For instance, past winners of the vaunted ‘Concours de l’Ordináire’ include a 1978 Ford Escort and a Morris Marina pickup from 1980. 

But, if that’s not your scene, don’t fret – it’s actually a decent place to spot Lancia Fulvias, Alfa 105s and… er, Vauxhall Cavaliers. 

For 2017, the festival’s moved to Stowe House, next to a small race track called Silverstone. You may have heard of it.

Turns out that the speculation surrounding Paddy Lowe was accurate – the former Executive Technical Director of the all-conquering Mercedes-AMG F1 team has now taken the reins over at Williams. 

We’re sure that a lot of internal politics went on between Mercedes and Williams – the latter team using the former’s engines, for instance, or the Bottas-Rosberg-Massa shuffle – but the upshot is that Lowe will be with Williams F1 for the 2017 season. 

And just to ensure that the relationship doesn’t sour, Toyota Motor Europe is doubling down, investing “more than £240m in Toyota’s UK manufacturing operations.” 

As our very own Paul Horrell predicted, production will continue at Toyota’s plant in Burnaston in Derbyshire, with possible input from Her Majesty’s loose assortment of arguing suits.

Fiat, purveyor of almost every single car to come out of Italy, has decided to jump onboard the pickup-truck-as-a-family-car craze and release its own high-specced, high-riding ute, called the Fullback Cross.

It’s a craze that’s already taken over Australia, and Fiat is tipping that it’s going to take over civilised countries in the near future. The idea is that the modern manly man will drive to his job at the construction site during the week, then take his family fishing/camping/hiking on weekends. It’s lifestyle marketing, taken to the nth degree. Australians, keen to remain as manly as they can be while sipping a free trade latte, have fallen hook, line and sinker. And it could happen here, too. 

The only fly in Fiat’s ointment is that they didn’t have a suitable ladder-framed basis to build on from scratch. Luckily, however, they reached a deal with Mitsubishi to take its L200 ute, tart it up a bit and slap a Fiat badge on the front. 

So, would you consider one as a daily driver?

But you won’t see him behind the wheel of the 2017 McHonda car. No, that’s a pain left to Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne. 

Hakkinen is joining as a ‘Partner Ambassador’. We’re not entirely sure what that means, but we hope it involves driving vintage F1 cars with 100 per cent sisu.  

In related news, there is some scuttlebutt flying around that McLaren is seeking out Mercedes engines again, recreating the partnership that Hakkinen used to great effect in the 1998 and 1999 seasons. It seems unlikely, we might add.