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Jack Yan on Vox
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Personal addenda from Jack Yan, supplementing his work blog, with posts on humour, politics, the media, cars and anything else that might be of interest.
Recent Posts Tagged With 'Car'
Classic Brits Down Under
This was a nice surprise as I came up the escalator at the (former) BNZ Centre: a near-new Lotus Elise, very rare in these parts. As you can see, Nissan Cefiros (sold as th...
Life in the twenty-first century
When I was a kid, those predicting the future in sci-fi would say we would drive around in tiny cars resembling boxes and they would run on electricity come 2000. The former was ...
That’ll be the Daewoo
The last time they made a car called the Chevrolet Cruze, it was a rebodied Suzuki Wagon R: and, before Holden started selling Daewoo Kaloses, was considered the worst model...
New cars this month
The new Ford Ka, based on the Fiat 500 platform, looks good, but the other débutante, the Renault Symbol, looks like a Clio that swallowed a Nissan Tiida. I imagine the looks ar...
Connect four
I was fascinated by this: the parts that go in to the Matchbox model of the Lotus Evora, minus wheels and axles. Sadly, Matchbox seems to be nearly dead in New Zealand, which is a sh...
500th model on Autocade
I reached the 500th model milestone today on Autocade. The 500th entry was a very unlikely one, but it goes to show how varied the models are, and how they are not necessarily cars I even like! For...
Jags “R” us
I had wondered which marque would get to have its entire range from one period all represented on Autocade. It dawned on me that it is Jaguar, today. Jaguar X-type. 2001 to date (prod. under 300,00...
For the automobiliacs: Car’s best from the ’60s and ’70s
This was a great find at Take Note in Lower Hutt today. Take Note is a post office and gift shop run by my friend Mandeep but I have never bought a book from there before. I was surpr...
Behind the new BMW 7er Reihe
I enjoy these behind-the-scenes design stories a lot, and check out the video of the designer drawing the new BMW 7-series (F01). From Lucire. Read and post comments...
Ten out of ten
Spotted in Waikanae (an hour north of our office) last week while we were heading to a beauty spa for a story: a lovely and well maintained Austin Ten. Read and post co...
’77 Granada for sale
I was out at Nicole and Paul McKinnon’s today with my friend Cas, and I can now, with their permission, mention that the 1977 Ford Granada (left-hand drive) that was featured on thi...
My ass is cold but at least I have sat-nav
Got this baby till Monday. First time I played with sat-nav in New Zealand and it is surprisingly accurate. Without the ass-warmers, I mean, seat warmers, and heavier steering you kin...
Audi A5 at night
Not the best shots since they are off a cell but the better ones are on my 35 mm. I really love this shape from the rear, too. It looks very low and purposeful but the car is nar...
A5 at rest
I love it. Haven’t really opened it up yet—the fastest I have gone so far is 60 km/h. I need to find some tougher roads. This is after I cleaned the bird poop off. Rea...
I don’t mean a piece of paper measuring 210 by 148·5 mm
I am looking forward to picking up one of these babies shortly … the Audi A5 V6. Read and post comments | Send to a friend ...
Chrysler’s street beasts
For Pat, as requested … These were fun to research and a good reminder of what made Chrysler special in the 1990s: the desire to take risks, loving cars, compressed R&D times and having the pulse on...
Park Avenue: from Michigan to China
For some reason, I found the Buick Park Avenues of interest on Autocade today. Buick Park Avenue (C-body). 1991–6 (prod. unknown). F/F, 3791 cm³ (V6 OHV). Attractive, roomy Park Avenue (the Ele...
Not just Audis
Yesterday wasn’t all Audis. Some of my journalist colleagues came in other press cars. There were plenty of jokes being bandied about the BMW X6, the car...
More Audis from the launch
Last night, Vox (or probably the Java-featured ads) was crashing badly and I couldn’t post the remaining images. Here they are, from yesterday’s time out at Pukekoh...
A day at Pukekohe: Audi launches three models
Today was a fun day: flying to Pukekohe for the launch of three Audis. The first was the Audi TTS—the TT with a turbocharged two-litre, replacing the V6 ...
Herbie lives
Someone in Wellington must really love Herbie and The Love Bug. This is a Volkswagen Käfer done up with the perfect Herbie livery, it’s a 1963 model year (which I believe...
Vox Hunt: photo Thursday
Show us the very last picture you took. No cheating! This was last Saturday, at the home of Lucire beauty columnist Nicole McKinnon and her husband Paul. Paul likes his American car...
On the horizon
Here’s another car some of you may remember from Autocade—and for American readers, you may have even had one, or had a friend who owned one as a first car. Developed by Chrysler Europe and als...
The car of the future was here!
I was chatting to Nick Tomlinson au blog, and this ad for the 1988–9 Vauxhall Cavalier came to mind. Yes, the car of the future is the Opel Vectra A! No mention of a nuclear powe...
Missing on Car IQ
My friend Chuck got me hooked on Car IQ on Facebook—and I have been playing the darned quiz and even wrote one with the pics I had from Autocade. It also helped that I am ’fluey, not really having...
Beyond Thunderdome
This is more groovy than a roller-skating date with Olivia Newton-John, having a fondue party or getting Erik Estrada to give you a signed helmet. Spotted in Alicetown, Lower Hutt, Ne...
Ford Mondeo is bigger than Falcon on width, height, wheelbase
Now that we are nearing the E241 Ford Falcon launch in New Zealand, and in response to a comment Robin made about an earlier blog post I made on the subject, I Googled the dimensions of the new car an...
Auckland diary
Don’t you hate it when the place you are staying at has dodgy wifi and no SMTP server? It’s probably the most troublesome wifi I’ve had ever: I can’t connect yet three viruses managed to come ...