@cybershrike: No kidding, I live near Canary Wharf, which is the one place you would hope their 3G coverage would be impeccable, but it has over the last few months got very, very poor indeed. And I lived here 4 years, so I have noticed a significant drop in network performance.

@danio3834: Agreed, I understand these couldn't pull a greased stick out of a pig's arsehole unless they had 9000rpm on.

I need a shelf full of Tamiya radio controlled cars and mint and boxed vintage electronics.

I can hold a car on the clutch, perform hand brake-less hill starts and heel and toe on the down change (a necessity when I'm gunning the Boxster because of the gap between third and second).

@Daveinva: Agreed. I recently *devoured* the whole series (I had watched up to about season three, then stopped, so I went back and started again) watching 4 episodes an evening.

@K5ING: Well, I could go into a whole Freudian psychoanalysis on this, but yes, yes I know it's wrong.

@K5ING: The difference is, I would so do Sarah Palin, whereas Danica is a two bagger.

@sharkd: Finally. Someone who agrees she's not all that much of a looker.

This is reasonably sound advice, but really, here you are preaching to the converted.

@MC Double Def DP: "Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb"

The evidence, M'lud

@luisthebeast: "The most lying-est, cheating-est son-of-a-bitch to ever lay a wrench on a race car"

@rigidjunkie: Agreed the original Z3 was all hat and no cattle. Anemic 1.8 engine, rear suspension from the E30, and I believe (although I stand to be corrected) they were the first output of the Spartanburg plant in South Carolina so there were, ahem quality control issues.

@duurtlang: That shape Fiesta debuted in 1989.

@KeyserSöze: Have you driven one?

@alfasud: I once went into a local parts shop for brake pads for a Renault 20 my father was working on.

@Stoatmaster is Hedy Lamarr: The A Class was groundbreaking at the time, not just for Mercedes but small cars in general.

I leave a cheap old white iPod with a broken screen in the car, connected to an (iPod compatible) Becker Grand Prix.

No. And no. There are much better ways to indulge the hobby than mindlessly grinding away on Friendface.

This is not a new point of view. The late lamented Russell Bulgin made this point in one of his columns for Car about twenty years ago.