HELLO PORK PIE
Mini owners like to name their cars. The world’s first Mini census carried out by the organisers of July’s Mini World Live at the Rockingham Motor Speedway in the UK, received responses from Mini owners all over the globe, including New Zealand.
It revealed that 51 per cent of the world’s named Minis are boys, 35 per cent are female and 14 per cent are gender neutral.
The youngest respondent was a 17-year old named Luke from Auckland, who calls his Mini Cooper Sheldon, after Sheldon Cooper from
The oldest was 80-year old John from Bangor, North Wales, who named his mini Mavis after his late wife.
The most popular male names are Marvin, Tommy (another Cooper reference) and Jack, although Dave, Stuart and Bob, made famous by the animated movie characters in
are also trending. Female Minis tend to follow a more alliterative tone, with Minnie, Mollie and Millie being the top three.
Some of the more unusual names include Pingu (white with a black roof), Tetley (more holes than a tea bag), Mojo Jojo ( the evil monkey in
and Leigh Halfpenny, after the Welsh rugby international (smallish, gorgeous and powerful).
LANDWIND LAWSUIT
Jaguar Land Rover is suing Chinese automaker Jiangling Motor for allegedly copying the British firm’s Range Rover Evoque.
The suit relates to Jiangling’s 2014 Landwind X7 sport utility vehicle which has a similar shape, identical tail lights and character lines.
The X7 costs a third less than an Evoque, and is behind in technology and performance, but the slight design differences can be virtually eliminated using widely available Range Rover grilles, logos and badges kits for an X7.
On Alibaba’s Taobao shopping website, thesesell for around 128 yuan (NZ$28).
Despite widespread and often blatant copying, global car makers generally don’t take legal action in China as they feel the odds of winning against local firms are low.
If JLR wins its case, it could prompt other automakers to take legal action, speeding up a shift to stronger enforcement of intellectual property rights.
However, it took Honda 12 years to win a case in China against a littleknown local automaker for copying its best-selling CR-V SUV.
WINTER DRIVING
All set to drive in treacherous winter road conditions? A new survey by insurer IAG shows that many of us aren’t.
Almost 75 per cent of motorists don’t carry additional survival items such as clothing and food, close to 62 per cent don’t check their car’s battery before the cold weather arrives, and 62 per cent don’t keep a small bottle of water in the boot to top-up the wiper fluid bottle.
More than half don’t carry a set of jumper cables; almost half don’t bother to check radiator water levels; almost half don’t check the brakes when the wet and wintry weather arrives, and more than 40 per cent don’t carry emergency items such as a torch and first-aid kit.
So-called baby boomers – drivers aged 50 and 59 – are best prepared for driving in winter conditions, with nine out of 10 having checked the tread on their tyres in the last six months in preparation for the colder weather.
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