An Aston Martin once owned by a famous footballer turned pundit is up for sale on Auto Trader. You could own Roy Keane’s custom-painted Aston Martin DB7 for £23,950.
Those in the know will remember ’Keano’ as the captain when Manchester United won the treble in 1998.
That’s the Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League. This DB7 was Keane’s treat to himself as a celebration of the historic wins, which the team hasn’t repeated since.
The car is an Aston Martin DB7 3.2 automatic wearing a unique gold exterior paint. It’s one of just 588 gold cars listed for sale on Auto Trader. It’s been well used, too, coming with 60,000 miles on the clock.
“Roy Keane bought this Aston Martin to celebrate Manchester United’s iconic treble win of 99, standing out as the best four-wheeled piece of memorabilia to mark a golden milestone in the club’s history,” an Auto Trader spokesperson said.
“But it’s quite a contrast to the footballer’s cars we see so often on Auto Trader today, with G-Wagens and Range Rovers being the go-to choice for most Premier League players.
Football fans browsing Auto Trader for some isolation respite may even see more famous cars on-site in the coming weeks.”
Auto Trader saw ‘all-time record‘ car buying interest in January
The DB7 was a hot ticket car for footballers and celebrities. We recently covered an ex-Sir Elton John DB7 Volante for sale on Auto Trader.
It’s a shame that neither Sir Elton’s or Roy Keane’s cars are the Vantage V12 variety, with the silky 5.9-litre engine upgrade that came along in 1999.
Bosch says it has developed a rapid test that can detect the coronavirus in just two and a half hours. It’s the latest example of a company joining the fight against COVID-19.
Because the test can be performed at the point of care, it eliminates the need to transport samples. It also speeds up the time it takes for the patient to receive the result.
The test was developed in just six weeks in partnership with the Northern Irish medical technology company Randox Laboratories.
Bosch says the test will available in Germany in April, with other markets likely to follow soon after.
The companies say it is the first fully automated molecular diagnostic test of its kind.
A sample is taken from the patient’s nose or throat using a swab. The cartridge is inserted into an analysis device, with no prior training required.
Crucially, the medical staff are free to perform other tasks while they’re waiting for the results of the test.
It takes just 100 devices to evaluate up to 1,000 tests per day. In the laboratory, Bosch recorded results with an accuracy of over 95 percent. The rapid test meets the quality standards of the World Health Organisation (WHO).
‘Time is of the essence’
Dr Volkmar Denner, chairman of the board of management of Robert Bosch, said: “We want the Bosch rapid COVID-19 test to play a part in containing the coronavirus pandemic as quickly as possible. It will speed up the identification and isolation of infected patients.
“Time is of the essence in the fight against coronavirus. Reliable, rapid diagnosis directly on site with no back and forth – that is the great advantage of our solution.”
Marc Meier, president of Bosch Healthcare Solutions, added: “The special feature of the Bosch test is that it offers differential diagnosis, which saves doctors the additional time needed for further tests. It also provides them with a reliable diagnosis quickly so they can then begin suitable treatment faster.
“Together with our partner Randox, we have succeeded in developing this innovative rapid test within a very short time frame, and we are now in a position to offer it to the market. The Bosch Vivalytic analysis device evaluates the test safely and reliably directly in the hospital, in the lab, or in the doctor’s office, guaranteeing the best possible protection for patients and medical staff.”
As of 9:00 on 25 March, a total of 97,019 people have been tested for the coronavirus in the UK. Of these, 9,529 were confirmed positive, while 463 have died.
The current guidelines are to only go outside for food, health reasons or work (where this cannot be done from home). You must also stay two metres away from other people and wash your hands as soon as you get home.
Ford is working in other areas of personal protection equipment development and manufacturing, too.
The automaker is collaborating with GE Healthcare to expand production of its ventilator. Ford will potentially be able to manufacture the ventilators at one of its locations. This will supplement supply from the main GE facility.
Ford’s design team is also working on the design and testing of transparent full-face shields for medical workers and first responders.
The first 1,000 are this week going for testing at Detroit Mercy, Henry Ford Health Systems and Detroit Medical Center Sinai-Grace hospitals.
Roughly 75,000 shields could be finished this week. The brand is putting its recent developments in 3D printing capability and technology to the test.
“Working with 3M and GE, we have empowered our teams of engineers and designers to be scrappy and creative to quickly help scale up production of this vital equipment,” said Jim Hackett, Ford’s president and CEO.
“We’ve been in regular dialogue with federal, state and local officials to understand the areas of greatest needs.
“We are focusing our efforts to help increase the supply of respirators, face shields and ventilators that can help assist health care workers, first responders, critical workers as well as those who have been infected by the virus.”
Motorsport royalty Emerson Fittipaldi will be one of several legendary drivers taking part in a special esports online race this weekend.
Included as part of The Race All-Star Esports Battle, the Legends Trophy is open to racing drivers aged 40 and above.
The current roster of drivers set to take part in the Legends Trophy have 455 F1 starts, 24 F1 wins, 2,378 IndyCar starts, 177 IndyCar wins, and eight Le Mans victories between them!
A true motorsport hero
Double Formula 1 World champion and IndyCar champion Emerson Fittipaldi is one of the latest big names to get involved. However, racing in an esports simulator is nothing new to the man who won 14 Grand Prix between 1970 and 1980.
Speaking about the his experience of sim racing, Fittipaldi commented that: “simulators are extremely important because technically, they are so close to driving the real thing”. He also added that “I wish, in my time, we had simulators. My life would have been much easier!”
Fittipaldi officially retired from motorsport at the end of 1996, but the 73-year-old has taken part in various one-off races and events since. He also created his own Fittipaldi Motors supercar company in 2016.
So many winners
Joining Fittipaldi on the virtual will be three-time Indy 500 winner Dario Franchitti. The Scottish driver is looking forward to the race as it gives him “a chance to race with my old mates and competitors once again, hopefully with some really lairy cars and on a great track”.
Indy 500 winners will be present in big numbers in the Legends Trophy, with Hélio Castroneves, Juan Pablo Montoya, Gil de Ferran, and Tony Kanaan all taking part.
F1 driver and commentator Johnny Herbert will also be present, plus Le Mans winner David Brabham, Jan Magnussen, Paul Tracy, Bryan Herta, Adrian Fernandez, Oriol Servia and Max Papis.
All-Star Esports Battle continues
Scheduled to take place on Saturday 28th March at 16:00 GMT, the Legends Trophy will take part in addition to the third round of The Race All-Star Esports Battle.
The All-Star Esports Battle already has an almost countless roster of drivers signed up to compete in the online race. Stoffel Vandoorne, António Félix da Costa, Marcus Ericsson and Esteban Gutiérrez are just some of the real-world drivers involved.
They will face off against the best sim racers on the planet, with the virtual drivers having won the previous two rounds of the All-Star Esports Battle.
Created in under 72 hours to fill the gap left by the postponed Australian Grand Prix, The Race All-Star Esports Battle will be free to watch on YouTube.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the move was to help NHS staff “who are going above and beyond every day in hospitals across England”.
He praised NHS Trusts who are already providing free car parking and urged others to immediately do the same.
Free council car parking
More than half a million volunteers and retired NHS staff have offered their services in recent weeks, so some hospitals may require additional car parking.
Local Government Secretary Robert Jenrick has confirmed critical workers can now use council parking bays without restrictions or charges.
This includes council-owned on-street spaces and car parks, including pay and display parking.
How will it work?
“Councils will set up local arrangements so NHS and care workers and volunteers can provide suitable evidence that they can display in their windscreen to ensure they avoid parking tickets,” said a government statement.
The Local Government Association added that any fines received by critical workers will be immediately waived on appeal.
The government also highlighted an NCP free parking offer at all 150 of its car parks in England for anyone needing to travel and park during the coronavirus outbreak.
Amid the current concerns over coronavirus, many are taking a closer look at how they could pick up and spread dangerous diseases such as COVID-19.
While sneezing into the crook of your elbow and regularly washing your hands for at least 20 seconds are highly publicised pieces of advice, many invisible germs could also be lurking in your car.
A car’s cabin is a particularly compact environment, where diseases like coronavirus can exist for an extended period of time.
How dirty are our cars?
The 10 cars most at risk of keyless car theft
CarRentals researched exactly how dirty cars are, first surveying 1,000 American motorists, then collating figures for the number of microbes found in vehicles.
On average, it discovered steering wheels are SIX times dirtier than the average mobile phone screen.
They’re four times dirtier than the average public toilet, plus two times dirtier than public elevator buttons.
The average CFU number (colony-forming units per square centimetre) on a steering wheel is 629. Other areas in our cars can be very nearly as grubby.
The cupholder for instance, sits at 506 CFU. Seatbelts are 403 CFU, while the door handle is 256 CFU.
Even door handles are worse than public toilet seats, which were measured at 172 CFU.
Keeping your car clean
Tired drivers labelled a ‘significant safety threat’
Naturally, you’ll now be wondering how you can clean your car at a microscopic level. All the usual chores apply: vacuum it out and mop the mats. However, it’s also worth sanitising primary surfaces you often touch.
A couple of rub-downs for your gearshifter, steering wheel, oft-used buttons and door handles with sanitiser wipes could do a world of good. Lastly, consider changing your pollen and air filters, and spraying disinfectant in there.
Research suggests almost one in three don’t clean their car even once a year. And more than one in 10 said that they never clean inside their car.
Germ-free cars: 40 areas to clean
Toyota GB has produced a video highlighting the 40 key touch points – both inside and outside a vehicle – where germs gather.
The list includes everything from the obvious, like door handles and the steering wheel, to the less obvious, such as the rear-view mirror and fuel cap.
You’ll need some antibacterial wipes, a dry microfibre cloth and a pair of gloves.
What you may not have considered is where else in your motoring life you could be exposed to bugs. Petrol pumps, and the buttons you operate them with, are touched by hundreds of people a day. They are some of the dirtiest surfaces we could come into contact with on an average day.
Buttons to operate petrol pumps can have up to 2.6 million CFU. Pump handles can have up to two million CFU. That makes your car’s steering wheel seem nice and clean.
Also, consider ride-shares (6,056 CFU) and rental vehicles (2,001 CFU). Better get yourself some hand sanitiser, if it hasn’t already sold out…
The annual Goodwood Members’ Meeting was due to take place this weekend (28th and 29th March 2020) before the coronavirus crisis took full effect. Now, with the event postponed, Goodwood will put on a virtual show in its place.
There will be a live stream between 10am and 6pm, both on Saturday and Sunday. This will include a selection of six demonstrations and 17 races from past events that will be streamed ‘live’.
As with other Goodwood events, interaction is encouraged on social media. You can tweet and comment on Instagram and Facebook with the hashtag ‘#78mm’. There will also be a live blog running to accompany the action.
As it’s a compilation of sorts, the Goodwood team has the unique opportunity to try to please everyone. They say they have ‘struck the right balance of excellent action for all tastes’. The team will also take recommendations, if there’s a race you want to see you see included.
The 78th Members’ Meeting is due to take place at a later date. Whether the Goodwood Festival of Speed and Revival will be affected by the pandemic remains to be confirmed.
For motorsport in general, Motorsport UK today extended its suspension of permits to 30 June.
“Motorsport UK has a vital role to play with its community in re-inforcing that, at this time of national emergency, we must all stay at home to play our part in protecting the NHS and ultimately saving lives,” said Motorsport UK chairman, David Richards.
“Today, the government have required that we effectively lock-down for a period of three weeks. However given that the most vulnerable in our society are required to isolate for three months, it is evident that the most responsible course of action was to propose a longer suspension of our sport.
“When we reflect back on this time, it will be a brief, but vital, hiatus from our everyday motorsport life and we must put this in perspective. This is a time of national unity and we need to come together with the broader public community to do all we can to support this battle and ultimately save lives.”
Currently, 95 of the total 103 production facilities for light vehicles in Europe have announced stoppages in response to the COVID-19 crisis. The rest are expected to follow.
Its estimated that around 1.3 million light vehicles will have been removed from production in the six-week period leading up to 26 April 2020.
“That’s the equivalent of what four average-sized car plants would expect to manufacture in a year,” said Calum McRae, automotive analyst at GlobalData.
“Taking the average value of a new car at some £22,000, it amounts to £29.3bn in lost revenues. Our analysis shows how the short-term costs to the industry mount up over a six-week period.“
“This crisis is a negative-sum game across all industrial and consumer sectors and walks of life and the numbers could be set to become a whole lot worse before they become any better.
“It is presenting an economic crisis few expected to see again in their lifetimes after the 2007/8 global financial crisis.”
Russian car tuner and styling proprietor TopCar has unveiled its ‘Fury’ kit for the McLaren 720S and 720S Spider. The release contains some amusing literally translated exposition on what it’s all about.
“The Russian specialists at TopCar Design have now developed an extensive, high-quality body kit for this powerful sportster, which clocks in at 720 hp and 770 Nm of torque.
“Its name, “Fury”, is certainly a fitting choice given the McLaren’s extreme, furious aesthetic since the refurb.”
So, what does this 720S ‘refurb’ named Fury entail? Well, it’s quite comprehensive, and oddly, not all that distasteful. Comprehensive, because the kit is comprised of some 50 components, all made from carbon fibre.
The release continues: “As TopCar refrained from adding a coloured coating, the material’s grey fibrous structure comes to the fore.” An amusing way of saying it features exposed carbon fibre.
And by not all that distasteful, we mean it actually looks alright. The meanness is enhanced, rather than grossly over-exaggerated. It’s something akin to the aggression of the newly-revealed 765LT, rather than a cut-price Senna knock-off.
The aero is extended, and a bit more fiddly, but not excessive. Notable additions include a new splitter, skirts, diffuser and wing, complete with fins. New wheels measure 20 inches at the front, and 21 inches at the back.
Not that the McLaren 720S is by any definition in any need of more power, but there is a significant boost in grunt to match the more aggressive looks. TopCar says its collaboration with performance partner GTT, has yielded boosts in power of between 80 and 180hp.
‘Figures between 800 and 900hp are perfectly achievable’. Gulp. No word yet on performance figures, given the power numbers sound somewhat hypothetical, but we fully expect ‘Fury’ to live up to its name, and then some.
The London Congestion Charge and Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) charge have both been suspended during the coronavirus outbreak.
Parking restrictions and charges have also been relaxed for key workers.
The moves are to help heed London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s call to avoid public transport where possible.
From Monday 23 March, all road user charging schemes are suspended, says Transport for London (TfL).
This also includes the London Low Emission Zone (LEZ) for HGVs, lorries, vans, buses and coaches.
The move is “to help critical workers” after London Underground services were severely cut back this week.
Temporarily suspending the London LEZ “supports the supply chain, the effort to keep supermarkets fully stocked and the city’s continued operation”.
But it is not a green light for all motorists to drive into London, adds TfL. Following government advice, motorists should ‘consider the wider implications when thinking about using their vehicles.
‘Roads must be kept clear for emergency services and critical workers.
‘Only travel if your journey is necessary.’
Parking restrictions ‘relaxed’
TfL is, however, not responsible for car parking charges in London. They are controlled by London’s 32 borough councils and the City of London.
London Councils represents them all and has now called for a ‘common-sense approach to issuing parking and driving fines in order to help critical workers’.
Guidance has been issued to London borough on a ‘pragmatic approach to enforcement of parking and driving offences during the coronavirus pandemic’.
Safety and traffic flow will still be important, but the guidance includes advice such as:
Relaxing parking restrictions for vital members of staff around hospitals, clinics and emergency services control centres – e.g. no time limit and no charge
Giving parking permits to key workers allowing them to park more flexibly if there are no parking spaces available
Taking into account when drivers demonstrate they are key workers – e.g. when deciding whether to issue a penalty charge notice or when a driver is appealing a penalty
Making additional parking spaces available to key workers – e.g. business parking
Cllr Julian Bell from London Councils said: “All key workers using cars or other vehicles to get around can be reassured that borough parking teams are on their side.
“London boroughs are united in taking a pragmatic approach to parking enforcement in these challenging times to help our critical workers do their jobs”
All London boroughs are now putting the guidance into practice locally and on a temporary basis.
Only essential journeys
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: “People should not be travelling, by any means, unless they really have to.
“London’s roads should now only be used for essential journeys.
“To help our critical workers get to work and for essential deliveries to take place, I have instructed TfL to temporarily suspend the Congestion Charge, ULEZ and Low Emission Zone from Monday.”
Road Haulage Association chief executive Richard Burnett said: “Keeping our supply chains resilient will be key in ensuring businesses can continue to function during the crisis.
“It’s the right thing that firms have the confidence to call in other contractors to move their goods into the capital at short notice and not worry about LEZ and ULEZ charges.”
Calling for the suspension earlier this week, Conservative London Mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey claimed the suspension would cost around £21m a month in revenue for TfL.
He told Talk Radio this was “peanuts” compared to the overall impact of COVID-19 on the NHS.
