Not into cars

I'm not into cars. As long as it's reliable, has reasonable acceleration, and gets me from A to B, I'll drive pretty much anything. I don't get people who want to change their cars every couple of weeks. My own car, Murphy, passed the 140,000 mile mark this week. I'm kind of hoping he makes it to 200,000. If he does, I'll be hoping for the quarter-million. Murphy has been a great little car.

To be honest, I don't know much about cars either. I even find it difficult to tell them apart. Jen is very good at identifying cars. She says cars are easier to identify than birds (which I am good at) because, unlike birds, cars have their names written on the back. I suppose she has a point.

Sometimes, when we're driving together, Jen will tease me by asking me to identify the car in front.

"What's that car?" she asked me once.

"No idea."

"Yes you do. You do know what kind of car it is."

"Give me a clue."

"OK… You're driving one."

Like I said, I'm not into cars.

But what I am into is Top Gear. The thing I like about Top Gear is that it is unashamedly for something. The entire premise of the show is that cars are utterly brilliant, and anyone who says they're not isn't worth bothering about. It makes no pretence at neutrality. It is totally biased, and totally entertaining. It's also beautifully shot, and pretty damn funny. Last week's review of the new Ford Fiesta was particularly so:

Richard Carter

A fat, bearded chap with a Charles Darwin fixation.

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