Autoblog UK

Earlier this year, Brawn GP were the surprise team of the new Formula One season. They now need only half a point to take the constructors' championship title and Jenson Button has to score just another six points from two races to clinch the drivers' world championship for the first time. Titles and cups are not yet in the bag, but Brawn GP have now brought out their very own series of watches. At the Silverstone Grand Prix, Ross Brawn's team announced that they would be working with luxury watch maker, Graham-London, who claims to have developed the very first chronograph movement. Graham-London has now launched the first timepieces to be made exclusively for Team Brawn GP. Of course, all Chronofighter and Silverstone watches are individually numbered. The team's official logo and racing colours too figure in the design.

Because of the traditionally high number of arrests for public order offences at the legendary Bathurst 1000 event, the local authorities in this part of New South Wales (Australia) have imposed an alcohol limit. Each adult visitor is permitted to consume no more than 24 'stubbies' of full-strength beer or 36 of Lite. Alternatively, they can down four litres of wine. Drinking beer or wine in combination is strictly prohibited. 500 officials will be on hand to ensure a peaceful weekend at the Mount Panorama venue. When you look at these figures, though, you wonder what the average consumption has been in previous years.

In Europe, the Ford Capri achieved the status of a cult car, the equivalent of the ever-popular Ford Mustang in the United States. But unlike the typically American pony car which has continued rolling off the assembly lines since its launch in 1964, the Capri ceased production in 1986. There are strong rumours that the Capri is heading for a remake and could be putting in a reappearance at the first auto shows of 2010.

57-year-old US citizen Edward Smith lives with his cars and calls it love. He refers to them as his 'girlfriends' and shows less fidelity than is customary in normal affairs of the heart. His current passing fancy is a white VW Beetle called Vanilla. Smith recently revealed his fetish in a TV documentary. He goes so far as to claim having had 'sex' with 1,000 vehicular partners. The dear chap insists that he is not mentally disturbed and has no intention of desisting from his private passion: "Perhaps I'm a bit of an extreme case, but when I see the Herbie movies or Knight Rider where cars are portrayed as loveable creatures, I think that's great. I'm a romantic sort of guy. I write poetry about cars, sing to them and talk to them just like I would with a girlfriend."

He first fell in love at the age of 13 when his head was turned by a Corvette Stingray: he goes so far as to call it a 'sexual relationship'...whatever that's supposed to mean. Meanwhile, Vanilla has to share his affections with the rest of his harem. One of his most enduring affairs has been with a 1973 Opel GT which he calls 'Cinnamon' and a buxom 17-year-old Ford Ranger Splash who answers to the name 'Ginger'. He is not choosy about age or sex. The entire story was screened on 28th May on British TV (Channel Five). The programme title was 'My Car is my Lover', which automatically qualified it for a late-night viewing slot.

On 11th June 2009 in New York, a number of rare pieces belonging to film legend Steve McQueen will be auctioned. At the Antiquorum Important Collectors' Wristwatches Auction, McQueen's legendary chronograph, Monaco, will go under the hammer. He wore this watch whilst making Le Mans, the film about racing drivers, in 1971.The Monaco chronograph by Tag Heuer was brought out in 1969 to mark the Monaco Grand Prix. It features a square case, gleaming blue dial, white totalisers and red chronograph pointer. Tag Heuer recently reissued the chronograph on its 40th anniversary, in honour of Steve McQueen. Shortly after filming Le Mans, McQueen gave the watch to his financial adviser at the time, as a gift. It is estimated that the watch could fetch between 10,000 und 20,000 US dollars. Given McQueen's large fan base, this figure could actually be considerably higher.

Canadian Jacques Villeneuve's greatest achievements were in Formula One. The 1997 World Champion has recently been trying his luck in the Speedcar Series. Prior to that, he spent a year competing in the American ARCA Championship and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

The 38-year-old also generated headlines as a singer and restaurateur. Now Jacques Villeneuve is to open a school for racing drivers, near Montreal. It will be known as the Jacques Villeneuve Academy and will offer a number of courses, for novices as well as experts.

The scrappage allowance devised by Germany's Chancellor Merkel is being adopted by other governments. In order to help out their ailing auto industry, the UK government are planning to introduce a similar scheme amounting to £2,000 for every owner willing to scrap a vehicle that is older than nine years. Details of the British allowance have still to be hammered out between the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, but it is quite apparent that they will be using the German scheme as a model. The British Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders made it known that £2,000 would be the minimum amount sufficient to give an effective boost to the industry. The SMMT estimates the costs for the first twelve months the system is in place at around £160 million.

Last week, the United States also expressed an interest in this successful idea from Europe: in a dramatic address to the automotive sector, President Obama praised the recycling allowance as exemplary and pledged to introduce a version tailored to US needs. However, Obama will have to set aside a significantly larger sum in his budget than the UK, as there are well over 250 million cars and trucks on American roads. Of these, at least 30 percent are older than 15 years, which makes 75 million owners eligible for a handout.

In Saudi Arabia, car registrations that include the character combinations 'USA' plus other dubious allusions such as 'SEX' or 'ASS' have been taken out of circulation. These include any references to alcohol consumption or sexual activity.

According to the 'BBC' (not sure if that's OK), a total of 90,000 Saudi vehicles are affected. These undesirable number plates are not necessarily a deliberately naughty gesture on the part of the vehicle owner but often arise randomly as a consequence of the Arabic characters having their Latin alphabet equivalents displayed alongside.

At one time or another, we will all have wished we could put our home on wheels. Now, designer Stephanie Bellanger has come up with a highly colourful solution. Her 'Mobile Mini House' has a floor plan complete with bathroom, living room, bedroom, kitchen and even office. The separate domestic areas are divided by walls that fan out on rails to a radius of 252 degrees. For rainy days, there is a transparent cover to keep you dry. Take a look at the gallery and hope that the sun continues to shine on Stephanie.

In Germany, well-known body specialist Karmann is the latest victim, as this automotive company with great tradition has now also fallen foul of drastic cuts in demand and the global economic crisis. The reason cited by Wilhelm Karmann GmbH in Osnabrück on Wednesday was the threat of inability to pay given the level of their obligations. A cleanup strategy from September 2008 indicated that 2009 would at least show balanced results. With a tradition exceeding 100 years and worldwide workforce of some 8,000 employees, the companywent on to say that it saw itself fundamentally capable of being restored to profitability, being virtually free of any bank loans.

The Osnabrück-based company became internationally well-known in the Fifties by constructing the legendary VW Karmann Ghia and in the meantime achieved global fame as a convertible specialist for many manufacturers. Karmann planned to completely close vehicle production in May 2009 at their Osnabrück location by ceasing their conversion of the Mercedes CLK Cabrio. This has led to operational redundancy for a total of 1,300 employees. It was in February that the last Audi A4-Cabriolet rolled off the production lines at the Rheine works.