Dave Wilson
I'm 32, married with three childre, Dominic, Aidan & Barnabas. I was born in Cheltenham, went to Uni in Scotland (where I studied Astrophysics) and have lived in London and Surrey. I now live in Terrington St Clement in Norfolk and work for Maze Media, a Norfolk marketing consultancy.
Homepage: http://www.mazemedia.co.uk
Posts by Dave Wilson
Nissan Leaf goes Video mad
Jun 21st
Nissan’s all-electric Leaf has already won plaudits from experts and critics, and has been named as the European Car of the year.
Despite the fact that it makes much more sense than many of its rivals, being a proper 5 seat family car with a 109 mile range, Nissan have their work cut out persuading the general public to shell out hard earned cash on what many still see as early stage technology.
To this end, Nissan have produced a veritable shedload of videos aimed at dispelling what they call the ‘myths’ about electric cars. What’s more they are also running a competition to win a VIP trip to the AMGEN Tour of California cycle race in, er, California. And they are also laying on an ‘innovation station‘ event at the O2.
Watch the Videos to find out more
Myths of Electric Motoring
- Electric cars have a poor range
- Charging an electric car is difficult
- Electric cars are too expensive
- Electric cars can never be responsive or practical
- Electric car technology is unproven
- Electric cars will never be popular
Adrian Flux have special hybrid and electric car insurance schemes – call 0800 089 0199 for a quote.
Le Mans Highlights
Jun 15th
Wow, what a weekend of motorsport we have just had. Jenson winning one of the most epic Formula 1 races in my memory, John McGuinness bagging his 17th TT win with his victory in the Senior Manx TT.
The orgy of motor racing left Le Mans seeming, almost, a little bit left out, so in case you missed the thrills and spills from the Circuit de la Sarthe, you’ll be pleased to know that Michelin have managed to distill the whole 24 hours into five minutes.
Le Mans Anticipation
Jun 8th
The Isle of Man TT, isn’t the only big sporting event in the first half of June – although it is the only one where the TV coverage is sponsored by Bikesure (by the way, have you seen the special edition of influx to mark the Manx TT association?).
No. As all true motorsport fans will be aware the coming weekend is the 24 Heures du Mans, one of the greatest motoring spectacles on the planet.
For petrolheads, the anticipation is almost unbearable, but, luckily, many of the sponsors have provided some interesting things to keep us all entertained and whet our appetites.
Michelin have produced a virtual Le Mans Team Manager game again, which is an entertaining way to familiarise yourself with the setup in advance of the racing.
Peugeot, meanwhile, who have enjoyed unparalleled success at Le Mans in recent years, offer their own well-produced video in advance of the all new 908′s circuit debut. With ex-Formula One pilots like Anthony Davidson and Alexander Wurz in their team – in fact all six have some F1 experience – and a car that has already won the Spa 1,000km this year, they must stand a great chance.
Get those pro-plus at the ready…
Is this the Coolest Car Configurator?
May 9th
Like any car fan, I love having a play around with car configurators. These days manufacturers go to great lengths to make them stand out from the crowd, using cool animations, 3D viewing tools and cheeky gimmicks to make them stand out from the crowd.
Range Rover have been trying extra hard with the marketing push for their new Countryman-esque Evoque model. We previously covered their crowd-sourced effort, and now they have created a car configurator that builds your perfect car in tandem with your answers to a seemingly unrelated Choose-Your-Own-Adventure style set of videos.
The production values are very high, resulting in a film that is visually stunning, but I guess only users will decide if configuring a car by choosing nail polish is the way forward.
You start here:
And, yes, that is the bloke from The Wire…
Play on at www.helloevoque.com/beinghenry
Top 16 Wacky Wedding Cars
Apr 20th
Unless you actually do live under a rock, you cannot fail to have noticed that there is a big wedding taking place some time next week. And while Wills and Kate have opted for a fairly traditional means of arrival, in the shape of a big old Rolls Royce, these days many brides and grooms ahve realised that the choice of wedding transportation is almost limitless.
In recent years, we have noticed that requests for wedding car insurance related to less traditional vehicles have soared, with many taking their inspiration from their favourite film and TV shows, or perhaps from the vehicles which they have encountered on their travels around the world. Still others pick something which has a special sentimental or emotional meaning to them.
- Replica Starsky & Hutch Ford Torino
- Del Boy’s Reliant Robin three wheeler
- General Lee from the Dukes of Hazard
- Delorean as featured in Back to the Future
- Replica A-Team GMC van
- US police car
- Auto-Rickshaw / Tuk Tuk
- 1960s split screen VW Camper van
- White London Taxi
- Current shape VW Beetle Cabriolet
- 1967 Ford Mustang Fastback (Bullitt)
- New York Taxi
- Beetle Limousine
- Armoured Car / Tank
- Smokey and the Bandit TransAm
- Various James Bond Cars
EU Transport Policy – Have Your Say
Mar 28th
Unless you’re an obsessive EU-rophile, you’ve probably not noticed the recent publication of the ‘Transport 2050 Roadmap’, or to give it its catchier title – “Roadmap to a Single European Transport Area – White Paper on a Sustainable and Competitive Transport.”
It really isn’t riveting stuff, I’m afraid, but it is something that petrolheads need to pay attention to, as this is the document that is proposing to ban gas-fuelled cars from all European cities by 2050.
Now before you shout me down as a luddite, I’m totally in favour of clean vehicles, whether electrically powered, or using fuel-cells. By then even low-temperature fusion may be a viable means of propulsion.
But a blanket ban would do a massive disservice to anyone who loves old cars.
In 1900 almost all city transport was horse-drawn. The worry at the time (because there is always an environmental catastrophe just around the corner), was that the volume of horses required to keep the cities flowing would lead to food shortages as the horses ate more and more of the crops produced and massive volumes of manure piling up daily would lead to London being buried under nine feet of horse poo.
This seems laughable now of course, because we know now that the nascent technology of internal combustion obviated the need for horse-drawn technology within a couple of decades, all without any need for legislation or coercion.
The same will be true of electric cars.
Right now they are expensive, high-maintenance beasts with limited range. Their sex-appeal is severely limited, because ‘fun’ driving wears down the batteries even further. And yet, in the next decade or two, the high price of oil will inevitably lead to a reduction in the number of petrol- and diesel-powered cars on our roads, particularly in the cities, where charging points will be plentiful, and journeys short. Of course, another technology may well outdo electric – in 1900 both steam and electric power looked equally likely to replace the horse as petrol.
But just as no-one has ever banned horses from our city centres, banning oil burning cars from cities will be an unnecessary piece of legislation, that will only succeed in frustrating future hobbyists and classic car enthusiasts. Already London makes exceptions to its Low Emission Zones to allow classic vehicle rallies to take place, and keep the tourist-friendly Routemaster buses on their ‘heritage’ routes.
Are the EU saying that children of the future will have to travel out to the depths of the countryside to see, hear and smell the vehicles their grandparents drove? Will you have to move out of the city if you want to own a classic car?
The EU’s aims in this are laudable – regardless of your view on global warming, cleaner air benefits everybody – but legislating the solution is counterproductive.
Their video is worth a quick view though, as the last few seconds have a Futurama-style (the GM one, rather than Matt Groening) transport hub of the future.
You can find out some interesting facts and figures on EU transport issues, or get the whole whitepaper, if that kind of thing floats your boat.
If you feel strongly about this, let your local MEP know. Other craziness includes letting the government pick the vehicles that commercial fleet buyers are allowed to buy.
Beware the Blimp
Mar 25th
Goodyear are coming for you and I’m not sure what they have planned…
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Evoque your city
Mar 14th
Range Rover have released a new video claiming that the design and feel of the new Evoque has, to some extent, been crowdsourced. How this squares with the fact that the whole thing was designed by Gerry McGovern, who refused to accept any compromise of the design even from Range Rover’s own engineers (as we posted on influx), we are left to imagine.
But perhaps that explains why some people see a lot of the Mini Countryman in the Evoque. Who knows?
What we do know is that Range Rover seem keen to pitch the Evoque at what would be, for them, an entirely new demographic, and are even planning to give away a snazzy iPad2 to folk who view this video and enter their details at the end.
You can get involved in the exercise at helloevoque.com, where you can view the journeys of celebrities such as George Lamb and Daisy Lowe, download smartphone apps to map your travels in a unique visualisation, and help OK Go create a video. Not a gentleman farmer in sight.
Drive Essex
Feb 17th
John Peel famously thought so little of the driving ability in Essex that he went miles out of his way every time he drove from London to his Suffolk home, just to avoid driving through the county.
Essex County Council seem to be keen to change that perception and have launched a major campaign to help educate drivers in the art of awareness. The site at Drive Essex contains information on the various distractions that can affect your perceptive powers, as well as drawing attention to easily missed hazards like bikers.
To test your vigilance behind the wheel, you are invited to play the viral game embedded below. It’s a sort of cartoony version of the hazard perception tests on the new driving tests, but even if you’ve had a go at these, it’s well worth taking the time to play this game, as it simulates additional facets of driving such as mirrors. You may be surprised at what you miss:
Put Together Your Own MacLaren MP4-26
Feb 7th
The F1 season is fast approaching, and all of the teams have been unveiling their 2011 cars over the past few weeks, some we were lucky enough to see at AutoSport.
In terms of imagination and theatre though, the prize probably goes to the MacLaren team who had a pseudo -crowdsourcing spectacle involving ‘members of the public’ carrying chunks of the new MP4-26 to a central Berlin location where it was assembled by mechanics and, of course, the two British former World Champions, Lewis and Jenson.
Their car is also the most interesting visually with some wacky new air intakes and a weird front wing, which the world will be eagerly watching to see how much of an advantage they actually provide.
In the meantime here is the video of the car being assembled:
Along with all F1 fans at the moment, we’d also like to say “Get well soon Robert Kubica.”