Black with four rings
Ah, coffee. The only thing outside cars and expensive and unnecessary technology that The Good Oil gets passionate about. And it now seems that the good people at Audi share at least two of those passions.
The German manufacturer has just started offering a device called the Espresso Mobil — a portable coffee maker that plugs into a 12-volt outlet and can brew espresso in two minutes.
It costs €199 ($287). All the user needs to do is fill it with water and press a button.
One for the road
The WRC Yaris sports a 1.6 litre turbo four-cylinder engine.
Now, we don’t want to alarm anyone, but The Good Oil has recently got wind of a rumour that Toyota may get all interesting again.
There was concern when the Japanese manufacturer launched the 86 that it may be in danger of becoming interesting and those concerns got even greater when it kept dropping hints of a new Supra (in conjunction with BMW). It seems that the company needs to homologate the Yaris for its 2017 WRC assault, so is working on a road-going version for a (possibly limited) release.
While the WRC machine will pack a 1.6-litre turbo four-cylinder engine specifically built by TMG to satisfy the FIA regulations, the road car is widely expected to get the 2.0-litre turbo four that has just appeared in New Zealand in the Lexus NX 200t.
It is also expected to get a trick front diff, as opposed to an expensive and heavy 4WD system, which should make the Yaris a very hot little hatch indeed.
Fire up the Quattro!
The first of three Bonhams auctions at Goodwood this year has set the scene for a possibly bumper year for sports cars from the 1980s, with the greatest car of all times — a 1985 Audi Quattro Sport SWB Coupe (pictured) — setting a world record for the model.
The car sold for £287,100 ($566,163) and has had only three owners, with just 41,842km on the clock. Tellingly, a 1982 ex-works Quattro Group B rally car that Hannu Mikkola drove to the 1983 World Drivers’ Championship only went for £253,480.
Higher prices for pristine road models over racing cars with provenance are a sure sign that things are on the up for classic 1980s sports models, which is disappointing for The Good Oil, because while the pay might be enough for an Audi portable coffee maker, it’s never going to stretch to half a mil for the dream car.
Corkscrew hotdog
Wienermobile at Laguna Seca.
We freely admit that we have no idea what this picture is all about, but it is possibly one of the best things ever.
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca recently tweeted the shot of the iconic Oscar Mayer Wienermobile plunging through the legendary Corkscrew at the track located in Monterey.
Apparently it was a publicity stunt, but there is no clear indication as to what exactly it was publicising.
Then again, who really cares? It is a giant hotdog on wheels going through one of the most legendary corners on a race track anywhere in the world. That is enough for The Good Oil!
Americans rush to buy the Hellcat
The 707 horsepower (527kW) Dodge Challenger Hellcat is one hell of a car. The Good Oil knows that on a first-hand basis, having — quite unintentionally — entered a US freeway almost entirely sideways while driving one.
It seems that Americans can’t get enough of the mighty Hellcat in both its Challenger or Charger form, and dealers are taking orders for more cars than they can deliver.
Originally the the Hellcat (in both forms) was rumoured be limited to 1200 units, but according to US website Allparnews.com, more than 2200 have been produced so far.
Number Crunching
2 CHAMPS
The WRC titles to Audi Quattro’s name.
3 CHAMPS
Toyota and Subaru’s WRC titles.
8 CHAMPS
Citroen has dominated in the WRC.
10 CHAMPS
Lancia has the most WRC titles.