When the checkered flag fell in the 48th Rolex 24 At Daytona, it was the No. 9 Action Express Racing Porsche that took victory. Team drivers, Mike Rockenfeller, Ryan Dalziel, Joao Barbosa and Terry Borcheller completed the prestigious, grueling 24 hour endurance race without any major incidents.
The newly formed team- which was a composit of the 2009 second Brumos Porsche team car along with some new personnel drove a Riley chassis-Porsche Cayenne V8 powered prototype to victory lane in its season début. Although instead of utilizing the new flat six Porsche power plant, the team opted to use a privately built 2009 Porsche V8 engine. No doubt guaranteed to be the chagrin of the Porsche factory!
This marks Porsche’s 21st overall win at the Daytona endurance classic event. Additional Porsche stats at Daytona show an impressive 62 class wins and 36 victories for the famed 911. Porsche also have the most consecutive wins- at 20 from 1966 to 1987 and the most 1-2 finishes at Daytona with 11.
We’ve all done it, hit a kerb hard, or clobber and even hit that mysterious pothole and expected to have cracked an alloy, but what if the damage occurs without any obvious cause? BMW investigates as its a situation which has faced many BMW 3 Series owners recently and like most unfortunate BMW owners the wheels weren’t covered under warranty.
It seems to be a recurring issue with 19-inch alloys with run-flat tyres. The BBC’s Watchdog programme highlighted the issue in October 2009 and BMW’s initial response was to stand its ground, saying: ‘Every one of these [cracked alloys] has been investigated by our specialist technicians and in every case the wheels concerned have shown signs of impact damage, which have resulted in the cracking.’ A fair argument in any case, however under mounting pressure, BMW has now changed its position. They have decided to stop offering customers the affected 19-inch wheels on new vehicles while they look into this matter, also quoting that their actions should not be interpreted as acceptance of liability, but rather as a clear sign that we take our customers’ concerns very seriously. Also another fair argument.
Since this debate has come about in some cases that earlier decisions to reject warranty claims have been reversed. BMW is now replacing cracked 19-inch alloys with run-flats unless there are clear visual indications of impact damage. Warning has gone out to owners of BMW 3 Series with 19” alloys wheel but it is the last thing you’d expect from a nice new BMW. Scotland has some terrible roads and dealerships have also been reimbursing new tyres and new alloys to combat this issue.
That’s it! I’ve done it now! I have got rid of my car. Well, actually, not quite but I have asked the disposal company to come and take it away.
This was a difficult decision, though totally logical. The car, a 1988 BMW 318i, has covered less than 59,000 miles in its 22 years and though in very good condition for its age (at least until the vandals attacked it just over a year ago) it may not pass its May 2010 MoT Test without some expenditure and I think it will be just the start of a series of repairs and replacements which will make the already unjustifiable annual cost even more so.
We do not need a car. Cardiff Bus provide free services to ancient individuals like me, every 7-8 minutes from a stop about 50 yards from our house and these will take us to all the important local destinations. Also, almost every week, my ever-helpful daughter drives Granny Anne to do the weekly shopping – followed by a light lunch here and a good old chat for a couple of hours before my grandsons have to be collected from school. So in the past twenty-one months we have averaged just 60 miles per month in our own car and this has fallen to 20 miles per month in the past five months.
Set against this, after 48 years of accident and claim-free driving my insurance premium is going up annually in leaps and bounds and, for third party, fire and theft, now exceeds the value of the car by a good margin. The governments “road tax” is simple robbery, no other word for it, and not even spent on the roads. Fuel is a ridiculous price (again, mostly tax) and the total motoring costs cannot be justified by our low mileage – on the rare accasion that it might be necessary it would pay us to take a taxi.
After 48 years of motoring (I had hoped to make it 50) it was not an easy decision but actually, I am rather pleased that I will no longer be paying excessive sums of money to parasitic motor insurers and undeserving governments.
Well I thought I would have a break from working on the HugoCREATE project and focus some time on my BMW e30 M3 project. Below are the latest installments:
The front area of the windshield needs work as there are some missing details and the meshflow is a bit thin there as well. I am pretty happy with the rear, more details need to be added but the crease on the C pillar was a nightmare to get right.
Wires can be found here if you are interested.
Not sure what area I will be working on next but I will keep you posted. As always: 3DS Max 2010
Berlin, 19 Januari 2010 - Tepat di pertengahan Januari, pabrikan otomotif asal Jerman Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW) membuat langkah penyegaran terhadap dua variannya, yaitu Seri 3 Coupe dan Seri 3 Convertible. Keduanya dipoles sehingga tampil lebih segar dan penyegaran juga menyentuh kekuatan yang dihasilkan mesin.
Menurut sumber BMW seperti dikutip autoevolution, perubahan selain meningkatkan daya pacu mesin juga bermaksud membuat irit bahan bakar sekaligus rendah emisi. “Penggantian dilakukan untuk membuat performa mesin model ini lebih efisien dan rendah emisi. Kehadirannya untuk menyegarkan pasar,” aku sumber tersebut.
Pada tipe320d mesin disel 2.000 cc misalnya, kini tenaga yang disemburkan mencapai 184 daya kuda dan torsi 378 Nm. Walhasil, akselerasi kecepatan 0 – 100 kilometer (km) per jam bisa dicapai dalam tempo 7,5 detik. Sedangkan emisi CO2 tak lebih dari 125 gram per km.
Sementara itu, tipe 335i yang bermesin bensin enam silinder kini dilengkapi piranti turbo tunggal. Peralatan turbo itu diambil dari varian BMW Seri-5 GT. Tenaga yang dihasilkan sama persis dengan mesin yang dilengkapi turbo ganda yaitu 306 daya kuda dan torsi 398 Nm.
BMW Seri 3 Convertible
Pada saat yang sama, BMW juga memperkenalkan tipe baru BMW 318d Seri-3 saloon dan touring yang bermesin disel. Tipe mesin ini irit bahan bakar yaitu satu liter minyak disel untuk 22 km jarak yang ditempuh.
Namun sayang, hingga kini manajemen BMW belum memberi keterangan resmi ihwal harga untuk Seri 3 Coupe dan Convertible versi facelift itu. Perusahaan ini hanya menyebut, keduanya akan dipasarkan di Eropa mulai Maret mendatang.
“You know what, I’m really getting sick of this guy,” snapped Garcia.
He leaned back in his chair, Ferragamo shoes on the desk. Two of the world’s deadliest women sat across him, silently staring, awaiting their instructions.
On the right was Lola Dare. Yesterday, she was Cheryl Riscke. The day before, she called herself Elena Massakar. Last week, she was walking home when shady-looking man, who had obviously been drinking, stopped her, insisting he knew her and demanding she give him her name. She broke his neck in one swift move and continued walking, never looking back. Her name that day, for the record, was Francesca Morte.
Adopted by a wealthy Argentinean family at the age of four, Lola Dare was kidnapped by guerillas and held for ransom on her 16th birthday. Her parents refused to pay for her safe release, and would never see her again. She spent the next four years trapped in a vicious cycle of rape, violence and sexual servitude. She eventually escaped after gathering the courage to slit her captors’ throats as they slept. She honed her survival skills living in the jungle for a year, in isolation. She emerged a different creature – stealthy, dangerous, and able to adapt to any situation without hesitation. Having never spoken a single word since her maturation from innocence to brutality, Lola Dare was now a mute by choice. Meanwhile, she earned a comfortable living as one of the world’s most lethal assassins.
To Lola Dare’s left sat an older woman, Asian, well into her 50s, and still exceptionally sultry. Men fawned over and lusted after her, as she maintained the sexiness of an innocent, wide-eyed young Lolita. Unfazed by the dogs who could not ignore her beauty, she was renowned to the richest and most powerful men in the world… A little too well-known at times. The woman with no name (for she never revealed her name to anyone, not even Garcia) moved from Japan, having concocted there an impressive mixture of natural herbs and poisons. She created a powerful killing tool: a clear, tasteless, liquid that – when swallowed – caused its victim’s insides to stop functioning, while the poisons and herbs themselves dissipated without a trace.
The true genius of her poison was that it only proved harmful when ingested, allowing her to sip discreetly from a small vial, while kissing her victims. She made sure to probe their mouths with her tongue long enough to force them to swallow; less than a day later, they were dead. In fact, her trademark method was so infallible that in the past 10 years, medical scientists had developed a name for the mysterious condition of her victims. She never bothered to learn it.
Staring at his computer screen, Garcia quickly swung his legs down, slammed them on the floor and spoke.
“Every time it’s the same goddamn thing,” he muttered. He pounded the desk with his fist and motioned for the girls to lean in closer. “No more bullshit, no more nonsense. This prick just doesn’t get it. I tell him I want details only, no bullshit. What does he give me? His life fuckin’ story! I don’t have that kind of goddamn time, to sit around listening to irrelevant bullshit from the likes of his sorry ass!! Enough!! No more being subtle! I have weapons… downstairs… I know what you two are capable of, and I appreciate your special skills, both of you…”
The women nodded slightly, never taking their eyes off his.
“But I also know that you’re both a good shot… No more being fucking subtle. I want him dead, I want you to shoot him, I want him dead. Dead. Do you hear me?! You fuckin mutes… DEAD! GO!
***
Lola Dare and the Asian woman with no name perched on a rooftop, dressed completely in black and each in possession of an assault rifle with night-vision scope. They were undetectable as they stared through the lenses attached to their weapons, waiting for their mark to drive by as scheduled. It was 11:47 PM… They didn’t wait long.
“Look.” The Asian woman with no name nodded towards the street. At a red light, 600 metres away, a black 2005 BMW 750i was stopped, facing their direction.
“He always had poor taste in cars. Idiot.” The Asian woman with no name wrapped her hand around the rifle and placed her finger on the trigger. Lola Dare had been ready for the past five minutes.
“… As soon as he goes by the Italian place…” She did not need to say any more. They were both ready. The car sped towards them, passing Sal’s Ristorante… Like a flash of lightning and clapping like thunder, a hailstorm of bullets riddled the car. The BMW swerved erratically all over the street, holes sprayed the length of the car driven by a dead man. It took seconds. That was also all the time it took for Lola Dare and the Asian woman with no name to disappear into the night.
The vehicle sped uncontrollably another 200 metres, before crashing into a popular lounge full of people. The front room, rented out for a birthday party, was devastated.
Blood on the dance floor and thick smoke in the the air, bodies were strewn about as the car rested in the club. Moans of unbearable pain came from party-goers trapped underneath the car. Local police appearing on that night’s news confirmed that 12 people died, plus the driver, in an bizarre alleged assassination gone horribly wrong.
“Those poor kids,” said Gary Watterson, chief of police. “This could have all been avoided if they had just gone to Daniel’s birthday. Tsk…”
So it is that the Formula One racing season looms on the horizon for 2010 and some of the most interesting and telling developments have come out of a winter of radical and dynamic changes unseen in the Formula One world for many years. I would certainly be a pretty boring fan if I said that I did not think that this season will see a rebirth of some of the fire and ice that spices up the world of Formula One racing and makes it so thrilling to watch.
For many people the idea of watching a car loop round a circuit for lap after lap could only spell boredom and complete loss of interest, but for anyone that has ever driven a powerful sports car at incredible speed, there is a bug and a bite that grips you and never fully leaves you. You just have to look at the Formula One paddock to see the truth of this in the likes of Eddie Jordan who for many years was a team principle and now is firmly rooted in our hearts as a Racing Pundit. The likes of Michael Schumacher returning to the sport after a three year hiatus and the many others that return and pop up time and time again, returning to a sport that becomes a passion.
As a young boy I guess I was overwhelmed by the unique shape, the unthinkable speeds, the sheer amounts of money involved in the sport, and the pride of winning the championship not only for the driver but for the constructor. The vibrant colours, the excitement of that first corner, the expense and catastrophe of an accident, the chances that men take pushing their vehicles and themselves to the limits for hours on the track. There are times, as in the last two seasons where it has come down to the result of a certain race that will determine the outcome of a whole season of racing that keeps you firmly in place in front of the screen of your television as the drama unfolds and like any sports fan your heart is in your mouth as the battle unfolds before you. The elation of victory lifting you off your seat as that final push carries your favourite driver over the line to victory and glory.
For any Formula One fan, this is the passion and thrill that brings us back every year to watch another season unfold with its admittedly sometimes mundane familiarity as the teams battle it out to take glory at the end of the season. In today’s Formula One world, the competitiveness of the team and driver lies in the value of the car they find themselves in. This is certainly evident in the lack of performance from both McLaren and Ferrari last year. It was amazing to watch cars that had once dominated the sport slip into almost oblivion as two complete new cars to the race stormed away with the pack.
I truly do believe that Ross Brawn is a genius of Formula One. It is his uncanny understanding of the sport, the way he is able to inspire and drive his team in pursuit of perfection, his ability to read a driver and gain the maximum advantage from a race that makes him a formidable force behind any team. I don’t care if you gave him a wooden go-cart and a team of self stackers from Tesco to operate his garages, the man would still pull off a miracle on the starting grid come race one. Ok maybe that is farfetched, but it his accomplishments of the 2009 season that sets him aside as one of the greatest men in Formula One for me.
It is only natural then that it would be Ross who would be the man to bring Michael out of retirement, and I have to be honest, I am surprised to find that it is Nico Rosberg that’ll sit next to him in 2010. I a way I was hoping that it’d be Jenson Button, as I honestly believe that it would have given the whole field a level playing pitch, as I think it’ll be far too easy for the Brawn team to now play favourites with Nico in much the same way as we became used to seeing with Michael in his days at Ferrari when frequently the likes of Rubens Barrichello would fall foul of team orders to let Michael through.
With both Button and Hamilton now driving for McLaren, it seems that the team are very determined to put a British stamp on the team in 2010. With both world champions in the same team I am very interested to see how the team dynamic plays out over the season. Two very different drivers, and two very different people, I think that it’ll play out a very interesting season as we watch these two settle into 2010. I can only pray that McLaren get it right this year and pull their finger out and get the car working, for if they don’t Brawn Mercedes will give them a firm and not so pleasant kick up the bum.
Red Bull I do believe will continue to excite us in 2010. A team with a dedicated focus on winning and a drive to accomplish a lot, Red Bull have proved to be the one to watch in the last few seasons, building from success to success and are now really in the hunting for a title in the season looming ahead. I think Christian Horner has been sensible and very mature in sticking by his drivers and stands a very real chance on building on his success in 2010 if, and I say if tentatively, he can overcome his engine reliability issues this season. As yet I have not heard of any change of engine for the Red Bull team, so let’s hope that the engine they unveil for their 2010 car can lose some of that unreliability that dragged possibly the fastest car on the track in 2009 down. I am also really keen to see what Sebastian Vettel will pull out of the bag when put up against the one and only Michael Schumacher. I have a sneaky suspicion that the young wonder boy will show the maestro a thing or three.
Ferrari storms on a usual, the reliable and ever present thorn in everyone’s side. Despite their lack of performance in 2009, Ferrari is always a team to watch out for. As a dominant player for so long, it is only natural that as their dominance came to an end they would need to go back to the drawing board and design a new team, something that the Ferrari paddock has always been great at doing throughout the years of Formula One. I have no doubt that in time to come they will once more surface as a dominant player in the game. With Alonso and Massa in their cars, they certainly have experience behind the wheel, it just remains to see if they will deliver mechanically in 2010.
Williams field a complete new car with a complete new engine this year. They have ditched the unreliable BMW and instead are entering a car powered by a Cosworth V8 going into 2010. Sir Frank Williams has been around long enough to know that he needed to do something about his engine, and it seems sad to see the BMW bow out of Formula Once more as Williams takes up a new drive under Ford power. The exciting news from the Williams stables this year is the fact that Nico Hulkenberg is recruited as their number two driver alongside Rubens. The winner of last season’s GP2 feeder circuit is an exciting and fresh talent to emerge in the racing world over the last few years and I think the 22 year old will be one to watch as his wings unfold and take to the F1 world.
Renault does not seem to have quite shaken off the gloomy cloud that has hung over the team since its shenanigans midway through last season. Little seems to be coming out of the team news room in terms of its 2010 season, what their plans are for the new year ahead and who they will have driving for them. For now I am given to believe that Robert Kubica is on their books, but have no clue who will be joining him in the team if anyone at this time. It seems testing is underway with three potential young guns but no official word has confirmed if any one of them will defiantly have a ride with Renault in the 2010 season. What I can say is that from what I have seen of the 2010 Renault R29 F1 car, I have to say it looks impressive. Bright and colourful is always a winning trend in my opinion.
Force India certainly stamped their place in Formula One last year as they took podium places that is very unusual for a new entry into the world of Formula One. Once more this showed the reliability issues that so many of the other teams face in 2009, but also showed that a new team with dedication and determination can make it to the top in the tough world of F1 racing. I think that this has certainly opened up the field in terms of who is who in the jungle and leaves opportunities that five or six years ago did not exist for a new team trying to break into the heavily dominated world of F1. Sutil and Liuzzi will continue to build on credible performances in 2009 and hopefully 2010 Force India and the Mercedes-Benz engine continue to hassle the boys at the top reminding them that they are not the demy gods they like to think they are.
Toro Rosso again fields a strong challenge and I guess that here, as with so many of the other teams they can give everyone something to think about in 2010. Another Red Bull sponsored car, it seems that their reputation can only improve going into 2010. Buemi and Alguersuari are still fresh faces to the F1 circuit and after many incidents through the 2009 year, the team seem to have stuck to their guns and stayed with the two for the 2010 season. Is that such a wise idea one has to ponder? Well I guess as a fresh and new racing team, they open the way for new and inexperienced drivers that perhaps don’t cost as much financially to get to grips with F1, while allowing the team to perform in a potential race winning car. Maybe there is merit in their formula, but after a season as expensive in terms of race damage as 2009 must have been for the team, you must wonder about the team strategy.
Sauber are as quiet as ever in their preparation for 2010. To be entirely honest with you Sauber is a team that very often I forget about in terms of F1. They never really make much of a fuss, never get involved in any of the noise at F1 meetings, quietly arrive, race and disappear into the mists of a Swiss valley somewhere again. It seems Sauber are having a complete restructure going into 2010. Having bought out from its founder to remain in the 2010 season the team, the car will field with a Ferrari engine being the last car to drop the BMW that it hope would give it so much promise in the 2009 season. Kobayashi is confirmed as its prime driver for 2010 but no news as yet as to his partner although rumours are rife that de la Rosa or Fisichella are both being considered for the position. Time will tell I guess.
And so we come to the four new comers to the Formula One track for 2010. It is exciting to be able to say that Lotus F1 finally return to the track and I hope that unlike Jaguar when it returned to the field in the 1990’s that Lotus will have more success and the staying power to make it work. There is certainly enough money behind the team, but I worry that if success is not enjoyed within the first few seasons at Lotus that it’ll head South as so many of the new comers do in this sport. Again powered by a Cosworth engine, the team have elected to put experience behind the wheel of their cars, and this will certainly give them a cutting edge in performance into the season. Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen make an interesting pairing again, and I think will make for an interesting season just watching their relationship pan out much like Lewis and Button. With Mike Gascoyne at the helm of the technical team, Lotus F1 certainly has the expertise in-house to produce a very interesting team for the track, but turning the technical prowess of Gascoyne into racing results will remain to be seen as the season unfolds.
It seems being the name behind Brawn racing for the 2009 season has given Sir Richard Branson the F1 bug too. Having been behind the winning team as the sponsor has lead Sir Richard to decide that racing is a little too exciting and now he wants to get in with the new guns in British Motor Sport, Manor Racing. The team called Virgin Racing is fielding the seasoned experience of Timo Glock alongside the Brazilian novice Lucas di Grassi. Both come to the team with underlying sponsorship and so it seems that Sir Richard and the team behind Mannor Racing, John Booth and Alex Tai are certainly aiming high. With a Cosworth tucked away under the hood, it should be a fighting team for the start of the season and it remains to be seen if Sir Richards uncanny ability to be associated with winning formulas carries through to the Manor Racing team in 2010.
In yet another return to the F1 grid, former driver Adrian Campos is making his return debut to F1 in 2010 as a team owner alongside Daniele Audetto. Campos Meta. With design expertise coming in from the respected Italian car designer Dallara using the new Cosworth engine, and the signing of one of F1’s most exciting new comers Bruno Senna, the infamous Ayrton Senna’s nephew, big things are expected for this all new Spanish team in 2010. No news yet on their number two driver, but things are looking strong in the Campos corner.
Last but certainly not least, the American US F1 team have yet to tell us very much about themselves. I guess that they want to remain an unknown till the very last minute. We know they plan to use a Cosworth, being American there is no great surprise there. We know they have Peter Windsor a former Williams and Ferrari boss on their books, but not really much else is known as yet. We know that Chad Hurley is tied up with the venture so it can be expected that You Tube will feature heavily as a sponsor for the team, and Ken Anderson takes his place as Team Principal. Rossi and Hildebrand were linked to the team in test sessions in Spain, but still nothing official about the rides for the 2010 season. There is speculation that it’d be an all American team with drivers pulled from some of the American Racing circuits, but that is mere speculation at this stage, and one has to wonder if that would be such a good idea considering the vast difference between the international racing conditions experienced through the worldwide competition of Formula One, and the multi skilled nature of the track in that far more demand is put on a driver in a F1 race say as opposed to an indie car race, though I am sure there would be some who would dispute that fact.
And so as I’ve run through the teams for 2010, I cannot help but salivate at the wonder that awaits us for the season ahead. As that first race looms in Bahrain in March this year I am sure that a thrilling and adventurous year awaits us in Formula One 2010. 19 races await us as Canada returns to the schedule and the Korean Grand Prix enters into the mix. All eyes in the Formula one fan’s world will closely be focused on the F1 news in the coming months that is certainly sure. So tell me, who’s your money on for the 2010 championship?
BMW India unveiled the X1 at Auto Expo 2010. It plans to sell this small SUV in India by the end of this year with a 2.0-litre diesel engine. Autocar India reports the price of this model will be around 25 lakh making it the cheapest new BMW in India. The BMW X1 is based on the 3 Series sedan and assembly will begin at the Chennai plant in the next few months. The 25 lakh rupee car is touted as a solid SUV despite just the rear-wheel drive layout and basic level of equipment. The top-spec variant will have 4×4 and will be filled with features. The SUV will be available with a 4×4 and a rear-wheel drive option and it’s the latter that will be the cheaper of the two. The compact SUV is based on the 3 series saloon and will be shipped to India as a CKD unit and will be assembled at the company’s plant in Chennai where the 3 series is built. The X1 will supplement the existing lineup of big BMWs X3, X5 and X6.
… cos he had a sexy BMW, a stunning wide-pinstripe suit, gorgeous brogues and a hot baby blue shirt with white collar and cuffs. Oh, and the cufflinks… they sealed the deal.
He was a young client – only 30-something. He met me at a small motel which he payed for over and above tipping me. He was the perfect Hugh Grant. Slimey, selfish and oh-so irresistible! And whats more, he took half the time he payed for and didn’t even actually have sex with me!
It was a thrilling call. Being in the motel reception as he arrived I knew I looked like a hooker. I was wearing black fishnets and a short pink coat and pink heels. My lipstick shouted ’scarlet woman’. And as soon as he had checked in I joined him outside the reception door and we walked to our room.
The only problem with the entire session was his slightly over zealous interest in my nipple. He bit, sucked and pulled visciously at the rings. I didn’t tell him to stop because for the price he was paying I thought he deserved to be a bit rough if he wanted to. He enjoyed it and that’s what matters when you get a client like him – he has said he will want to see me again
Shame is that I only just realised how much he’d ripped my left nipple. There’s no way it’ll heal around the ring so I had to take the ring out. Which then meant (partly because I have OCD and partly for looks) that I had to take out the ring on the other side too. I quite like my nipples without the rings in, and the piercings have been playing up a bit recently. One less health and safety hazard eliminated!
Excerpt from http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Tax-break-causes-mini-car-sales-boom-pd20100106-ZF6QK?opendocument&src=rss
The Australian vehicle market ended 2009 in a rush, as deliveries lifted to meet the deadline for the big business tax break on capital expenditure.
Sales in December were up 12,198 or 16 per cent on December 2008, although seasonally adjusted they were about 4,000 below December 2007, the last month of a record sales year.
The good monthly result ended a year which started very weakly but lifted as business buying responded to the tax break – the deadline for delivery of vehicles to larger businesses ended on 31 December while small businesses had to order vehicles by then to be eligible for their even more generous tax break.
December sales illustrated just how important the business tax break was, with light vehicle sales to business up 45 per cent on December 2008 and sales to rental companies – which lagged badly for most of the year – up 32 per cent. In contrast sales to private buyers were down marginally and government sales down more severely.
For the full year sales to business were down by one per cent while private sales were down 8 per cent; government and rental sales were down more markedly, with total sales down 7.4 per cent.
But luxury brands did better than most, with Audi increasing its full year sales by 20 per cent and BMW and Mercedes sales down just one per cent and 2.5 per cent respectively. The business tax break and the improving value of the Australian currency against the Euro during the year favoured these brands.
Mini jumped on the guerilla marketing campaign bandwagon just after the holiday, choosing Amsterdam as its stomping ground. Massive boxes covered in drawings of the go-cart were strategically strewn about the city in mounds of garbage and topped with mangled bits of ribbon, symbolizing a remnant of the ultimate gift (only for some, that is – my experience in these shabby cabs has been less than sub-par). Watch the reaction of some passers-by here.
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There is a slew of fashion-focused press surrounding us, but few magazines withstand the pressure of blogs, pods and twitters, to have us salivating at the mailbox for the next print edition. Perennial glossies require just the right mix of good writing, gorgeous photography, must-have items, celebrity style gossip, and the latest and greatest in fashion design. Here are my top five:
1. Vogue
The bible of fashion stays ahead of the game thanks to a roster of fashion heavy weights such as Editor-at-Large Andre Leon Talley, and stellar contributors like photographer Annie Leibovitz and novelist Candace Bushnell. They are experts in their genre, with a common passion for fashion that shines through every word they write or picture they take. Anna Wintour reigns queen supreme and ultimately the words she deems worthy the pages of Vogue become fashion commandments. While the extensive prose can drag on for a fashion novice, there is no other resource quite as authoritative on the market. If you are looking for a guide with the most extensive information looking back ,and the most up-to-date information looking forward, Vogue is the answer. Tip: The September Fall Fashion issue, at nearly 800 pages, can double as a dumbbell, so you can tone up for the fashions inside.
Elle Thanks to an extensive international following and a staff that travels far and wide (Elle has over 20 international outposts), you can always count on Elle to bring you the latest fashion news from all around the world. This is how I knew my favorite Swedish jean brand, ACNE, was heading stateside. Sections such as Jet-Setter, Fashion Insider, and Trends bring you worldwide updates and tips on obscure brands you never knew you wanted. Elle feels a little younger and edgier than Vogue, with cover girls straight from E! News (Lindsay, Mary Kate, JLo). Understanding that fashion is not just about clothes, but a lifestyle, Elle always brings you hot new amusic rtists, books, gallery openings and more for the complete cultural experience. Oh, and let's not forget the refreshing relationship advice from Auntie Eeeee (Ask E.Jean)!
Harper's Bazaar (HB) Harper's Bazaar lands squarely in between Vogue and Elle. Eloquent writing and artistic photography mirror Vogue, while content ranging from bios on European royalty to the latest cosmetic surgery techniques in South America, gives it a distinct international feel. The best part about HB is the What to Wear for Your Age section. Recognizing that fashionistas range from tweens to grand dames, HB dedicates several pages every month to interpret the latest trends to look good at any age. Discover how you can make tweed look youthful and leather conservative through creative yet practical interpretation of fashions. Accompanied by images of celebrities at different stages in life, we're served with age-appropriate fashion role models. Another goody is the What's In, What's Out section at the very back. Get instant notice to what you should be running out to buy and what should be stowed away.
InStyle InStyle has a warm and welcoming feeling. Rather than parading stick thin models in obscure haute couture across its pages, InStyle uses familiar faces from our favorite TV shows and movies. The images feel light and airy with smiling actresses in simple yet beautiful attire that could look totally acceptable on a size 10. The fashion spreads are in-depth and offer practical advice for every size and shape – look especially for the intimate apparel, swim, and jean issues, which break down the trends and styles for every body type. Not only do we get workable fashion, but at a price tag we can usually afford. Interviews with designers and celebrities are entertaining without the sleazy paparazzi factor – InStyle has found its own niche between OK! magazine, Vanity Fair, Vogue and Reader's Digest. We get candid interviews along with celebrity tips on how to style our hair and wear our shirts. A special treat is the “home section” towards the back, where we get a glimpse into fashionable peoples equally fashionable homes.
Lucky Last, but certainly not least, is Lucky magazine. Lucky takes fashion advice to the next level, with near index-like information on new trends and fashion developments. Here, fashionistas are the celebrities. See the editors give advice on their personal picks for the season, see how regular (but fashion-savvy) citizens put together outfits from an impropmtu street rack of new clothes, and get a breakdown on how to make a trend look right, not “fashion-victim”. Lucky also supplies plenty of in-depth guides to trends of the season, as well as destination guides for a great shopping experience when you travel. Nifty little post-its are included in each issue so you can mark off what to buy, and make sure to visit the back for great deals and sweepstakes. Also, Lucky understands that we are all busy bees these days, so there is always great advice for online shopping.
So it is that the Formula One racing season looms on the horizon for 2010 and some of the most interesting and telling developments have come out of a winter of radical and dynamic changes unseen in the Formula One world for many years. I would certainly be a pretty boring fan if I said that I did not think that this season will see a rebirth of some of the fire and ice that spices up the world of Formula One racing and makes it so thrilling to watch.
