Performance Direct Insurance

For all you home mechanics out there who have tried to uprate your car’s suspension, you may have seen into the abyss that some ‘in the know’ call a bit of a black art.

Indeed , my own classic old Beetle (well, just officially classic as it’s 1972 rather than a 1950’s Oval or some-such)similar cherished beast) has suffered - and I mean suffered – from various attempts over the past ten years to get the ride height and comfort factor to kind of hold hands together, for want of a better way of putting it.

It is currently the most comfortable it has ever been – it’s off the road SORN Declaration has seen to that, but start her up and drive anywhere that isn’t a perfectly smooth, flat runway (all British roads in other words) and you will soon find that it’s a bit of an aerobic workout.More...

My first memory of music, was The Monkees. Being slightly too young to remember them first time round, I inherited a prize load of 7 inch singles from my older sister, which I meticulously played, marking the tunes I liked with a small yellow price label. The Monkees stood out, and so did their wacky TV series which ran and ran. It was like a bus - wherever, whatever, you could just hop on and catch the ride as it sped circles round and round.

One thing confused me though, my friend who had all the best Corgi toy cars, had a Monkeemobile – but the series was mainly studio shot & I don't recall seeing it – so what was this strange looking car?More...

Whether you like cars or not, there’s pretty much one care you’re near enough guaranteed to take a ride in – a hearse.

Back in 2004 on holiday at Watergate Bay in Cornwall, I remember we were pulling out of the car park, after a sun scorched afternoon on the beach and in the beach bar; as I swung the car around, a fantastic sight came into my view – you can see it in the picture here, a hearse that had been converted into the coolest surfboard carrier this side of a lowered, split-screen camper van. It’s stayed with me for all these years, today I looked a bit deeper..More...

Recently I looked at the fascinating history of automobile paints (you can see that article by clicking here). The advance in technology that gives some show cars that wow factor – deep, bottomless pools of colour. But you can take this a step further with a custom design as well, ranging from a bit of subtle pin striping, to a full blown design.More...

For anyone that is in the process of restoring a classic automobile there comes a time when you reach the exciting part – the dirt, grease and grime has temporarily gone, and now you can consider the wheels and the paint. It’s often been said that these two things can make or break a vintage car. Especially if you are creating a custom job rather than an authentic period model.

A good paint job can cost thousands, and I’ve seen lacquers on metallic painted Beetles that are so deep and clear that you feel giddy just looking too deeply.More...

An interesting report sprang to my attention today that reminded me of something that happened last winter. A curious tale of a pair of British traffic police officers going about their duty in checking for speeding motorists in Berwick. The hand held radar gun was registering a speed of 300mph as it was pointed at an oncoming vehicle. Before they could believe their eyes, the radar gun stopped working.More...

Monday 3rd of October 2011 was an extraordinary day. Nearly 30 degrees and as still as a moonlit night in June. I watched the sun drop elegantly into the sea over the remains of the old pier at Brighton, camera in hand, the sound of the sea on the pebble beach, knowing it was the last throes of our Indian Summer, and I had captured it forever. The following day was heavy with the melancholy of seasonal change as I took a walk around my village and past the local independent garage to see what gems might be in their display window to entice my mood..More...

While the UK and other countries ponder on the long term relevance and efficiency of electric vehicles and the effective distance that can be achieved on one full battery charge, Don Wales and his son, Joe, attempted to break the UK land speed record of 137mph for powering an electric car with a rather historic name - Bluebird. The Bluebird Electric team's attempt took place over Pendine Sands in South Wales on a quiet weekend this August. So if you thought that you would never be looking at any form of modified car insurance for an electric vehicle, you might have to think again.More...

In a week when it emerged that Sooty briefly hospitalised Paul Daniels (google it) it was to be no real surprise that Mr Bean would follow this by crashing his car. To be fair, this wasn't Mr Bean rolling his Mini, it was Rowan Atkinson crashing his beloved McLaren F1, which he bought in 1997 for around £650,000 and which is now estimated to be worth around £2.5 million. Apparently escaping without serious injury, the Blackadder star had ironically only recently registered the fastest lap time as a guest on the BBC's Top Gear programme. Though of course, if he wants something a little more sedate following the crash, there is always the racing wheelchair from the film, Johnny English, to leave hospital in, should he need it.More...

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I suspect that I'm not alone in saying that one of my favourite films is American Graffiti – it has everything. The nostalgia of youth through the rose tinted way we tend to look at the 1950's and early 60's bathed in late afternoon sunlight. Add to that the romance of the American craze of street racing and customised cars and you have a winner.

But what of customising? Why do we do it? I've just been reading about George Barris, the guy that created the customised car that was used in the series Batman in the 1960's, you know the one, Adam West, Burt Ward – Boy Wonder: My Life In Tights..

George Barris is happy to be known as the “king of the kustomizers” and has been obsessed with tricking out cars since the 1940's. More...