The Carchat

Click on the photo to read Autocar's story about Proton's announcement on the future of Lotus. Gone is Colin Chapman's philosophy of lightness and simplicity, and in comes aspirations of selling fancy, upmarket, luxury £100,000 cars. There are even plans to introduce a city car - Aston Martin's Cygnet is surely crass enough, but at least it's based on the fairly marvellous Toyota iQ. A Proton Lotus city car? Don't make me retch.

I posted some thoughts many months ago about the Elise facelift - positing my opinion that Lotus seems to think it's Ferrari - all but confirmed by the latest announcements. And of course, Michael posted this story last month about Lotus' ideas for lightweight cars in the future. Clearly a pamphlet of lies.

Thing is, we already have a Ferrari. From Italy. A Ferrari from Malaysia is going to take a while to become quite as glamorous and exciting, why not stick with 50 years of heritage from being Lotus of Norfolk? The problem for Lotus has been a lack of investment for years, not of engineering nous and a great philosophy. So many cool concepts and ideas have not come to fruition - where's the new Esprit, a sportier grand tourer to rival the Rapide?

With not even the merest hint of melodrama, it's a sad day, methinks.

So the former Toyota F1 team principal thinks that F1 has become too out of touch. I don't think I've ever heard of him though, I hope that's not too elitist.

It's nice that the chap is still giving the justification for suddenly cutting and running a go, but if I'm honest I don't think I noticed that all the manufacturer teams upped and went whenever they did back some time ago round about that time the thing was doing the stuff. In the same way you don't notice when a dullard leaves a party.

Fair enough if F1 doesn't allow a manufacturer to get in touch with its customers in the way that it'd like to - but that's what dealerships are for. Elitist is said here like it's a bad thing - I don't want to watch tractors racing between bales of hay, I want to see a glamorous, enclosed world full of people I want to think I can be but never will.

But it's like Groucho Marx said - I never want to be a member of a club that will let me in.

The average new vehicle today has approximately 100 different computers using close to 100 million lines of code, all of which are constantly communicating with each other and with hundreds of sensors, Maibaum said.

By comparison, the safety system at Ontario's Darlington nuclear plant uses one computer with 60,000 lines of code.

And how did this happen? By demanding heated seats, rear-seat DVD players, and stability control programs?

A far less expensive and far safer alternative is to take an accredited skid control / advanced driving course, and improve your skills enough to avoid being in an accident.

The best computer ever created lies between our two ears…

July 1, 1997 - Torrance, CA - Toyota Motor Sales, USA (TMS), Inc., today announced that when its RAV4-EV electric vehicle goes on sale in mid-October to fleet customers, the Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) will be $42,000. The vehicle may also be leased for $499 per month with no mileage restrictions.

Hmm…Makes the Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Volt seem like a deal, eh? Range: 120 miles per charge, speed: up to 79 mph.

I'm sorry, dear readers: I'm the last person you'd ask for advice on a minivan. My earthly possessions include a nice digital camera, Apple MacBook Pro, Vivo Barefoot shoes and an expensive recycled European shoulder bag. No TV, no two car garage, no blender, no woman and definitely no kids. I have entered into a long-term relationship with my cat; however, she doesn't take up much space.

On the face of it, my minivan advice is just as valid as Conan O'Brien's advice on how to avoid upsetting your employer. However, you'd be mistaken for two reasons: I'm young enough to remember actually being a kid in the family minivan (three, actually) and my best friend has a van and children — so I know what works in a family setting beyond pacifying the young'uns with Go, Diego, Go! DVDs.

My full review of the all-new Toyota Sienna. Cheeky.

I agree, apart from when he tells you to turn the car off: your power steering will die. Otherwise, yes, reluctant Toyota owners: learn how to drive your fucking cars.

The OCDA is the first District Attorney's Office in the U.S. to bring a consumer protection lawsuit against Toyota after the 'unintended acceleration' issues.

In an official statement, Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas' office said that it will try to stop Toyota's U.S. division "from continuing to endanger the public through the sale of defective vehicles and deceptive business practices".

Really? Really?

Sometimes you see something you just can't believe. And yet, there it is in cold type (or warm electrons).

Today's candidate is a single sentence by Washington Post writers Peter Whoriskey and Frank Ahrens, discussing Congressional investigation of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's response to multiple reports of Toyota safety problems.

Its says: NHTSA officials told investigators that the agency doesn't employ any electrical engineers or software engineers.

Makes. Me. Sick.

But does not make me surprised.