a) The X-1 couldn’t go supersonic without the changes made after acquiring the British research. They tried, it was OK up to near mach 1 and then became uncontrollable. There is no doubt that it was British tech that ‘took [the X-1] past’ the sound barrier in the most direct sense.

Same goes for the Harrier. VTO and hover are party tricks, not operating modes with any sort of war load.

It’s worth pointing out that there are almost no theoretical mission profiles that utilise the Harrier’s VTOL capability, and as far as I am aware it has never been used in a real mission. While it can take off vertically and hover, it can’t do so with a full war load, so it’s not really a useful ability - and nor was…

They’re not exactly the same. There’s no doubt the 9-3 was a much better car than the sodding Vectra, and that the BLS took the same platform and made it worse in every way, largely by adding loads of extra weight.

I vaguely looked at buying one a couple of years ago. Then I ran insurance quotes and decided it would be cheaper to get a helicopter. No idea how, but the bland, slow versions had insurance costs comparable to putting a new driver in an M5 or something.

It’s weird Nissan has a reputation in the US for anything other than the beigeist of beige. They’ve deliberately set out to be as bland as possible, like a Prius but without the emotional involvement and sense of fun... 

You should try getting actual insurance instead of dealing with scammers. Real insurance companies have no interest in messing about with claim pay-outs because they have absolutely zero effect on their bottom line.

There’s a really simple solution: let teams swap the points of their drivers if they finish consecutively. Then Bottas would have won, but Hamilton would get the points for the win.

It’s better than the MR2 in many ways. And worse in many others. One with fully working hydragas suspension is a great drive, as well as being comfortable over rough roads. Much more room for bags as well - you can barely fit a toothbrush in an MR2.

It’s also a heaping pile of shit. You might as well compare a Nissan Beige and a BMW 3-Series.

You can’t compare the Leaf and the i3 if you’ve ever driven both. The Leaf is dreadful and dreary, the i3 isn’t. Also, the Leaf has the space of a small car, and the footprint of a big one. It’s a terrible car all-round.

Some of us just live in smaller countries - 150 miles takes you halfway across England :)

Being outstandingly ugly is a redeeming feature. It’s better than bland.

Armouring this kind of vehicle would encourage the inappropriate use of them. They are designed to not be used in direct combat, like most military equipment.

I don’t understand this story. Either he has no money, in which case the debt is unrecoverable, usual rules of bankruptcy etc apply, or he does have money and is refusing to pay the debt.

Reliant Kitten airport tug, if you don’t mind.

It’s quite normal in London for companies to have big lorries for moving stuff, and little city cars for managers, salesmen, technicians, etc to whiz around in. It still makes me smile, though. Best one I’ve seen was a Smart liveried for a company who fix heavy equipment; as part of the graphics it had a cartoon logo…

Those aren’t even close.

Rubbish. I daily drive an eighties Toyota. They didn’t quite have rust-proofing of the bodywork down to modern good standards, but it’s close. Other than that it is simply and absolutely reliable - partly because there’s nothing to go wrong, and partly because the build quality is excellent. It’s a model released in…

I like the Crosscab. Well, like is the wrong word. But I have a soft spot for cars that anyone would have had to be utterly insane to buy new.