JetSet

My dad had one of the early Mini's, bought it brand new in 1961. I also had a 1965 Mini Van with a push button starter, dip switch on the floor, sliding windows, hinges on the outside of the door ,one of those pieces of string that opened the door and a gearstick that was several feet long and moved under acceleration . I also had 2 facelift minis both from new an 850 in 1970 and a 1000 in 1974. Not very comfortable or reliable but great fun to drive. Pete

Don't think we will hear anything else official for a while. The location of Schumacher's rehabilitation is being kept secret to respect his privacy, and it is not expected that there will be any further updates about his exact condition imminently. Yes, there'll be no updates for a while although it's widely reported that he's now in The University Hospital in Lausanne. Pete

Is it stuck near to the fully open position or not opening at all? Pete

BREAKING NEWS....... Out of Coma, more to follow. Pete http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-27868787

Next year we'll have an LMP1 factory Nissan and there are strong rumours that Ferrari are about to return with an LMP1 as well....wow . There are some photos on the internet of what is claimed to be their 2015 car testing at Imola. Pete

Well, that just about sums up my interest in football these days. Years ago I'd have known the squad inside out and not just the England squad either and I'd have watched every single game...so far I've seen just 3. Pete

Good summary. We just don't have anyone with the same class as Pirlo sorry to say. Pete No Pete, closest comparison maybe Carrick? Gerrard should have been that player for us but he seems well past his best unfortunately... Gerrard, 3 or 4 years past his best I'd say, plays too deep nowadays to have the impact he had then. Carrick impressed me when he came on as sub against Liverpool, worth giving him a game I reckon. Pete

Good summary. We just don't have anyone with the same class as Pirlo sorry to say. Pete

Almost as fast as this though . 160 MPH 0-60 5.5. Just looks fast I guess . Pete

Yes, a classic case of a car that became a classic . Shocking bodywork, an engine that was a disaster and a car with poor overall sales, stick a decent V8 in it though and the value will drop considerably. Pete

Some of the worst cars ever made have become "classics". Even if they don't become classics they will hit rock bottom then appreciate. Some old American cars that were made in the millions and were worthless 10 years after they were made are now rocketing in value, like for example The Ford Edsel or Ford Fairlane . It's like anything that's made , the older it gets, the less there are and the value goes up, Hang on to your Spectrum 48k for long enough and it'll be worth a fortune by 2100 . When I auctioned 25 years worth of Autosport magazines on E-Bay I thought I'd be lucky to get a tenner, in fact there was a bidding war and I got £150. The guy I sold them to only wanted three of them as for some reason these three were very rare (but he took the lot ) Seriously though, there's little chance of The 350Z going up in value for many years, at least 30 and probably 50 or more years. I'd say pretty much the same for any of todays mass produced cars. A classic, hard to say, it's future generations who'll decide that. Pete

Cars I've driven but not owned. MGB, Gutless, handled like a barge Ford Anglia, best gearchange I've ever encountered Ford Focus ST, disappointing, boring. Austin Montego Turbo, defies description Land Rover, Uncomfortable, noisy , tiring Toyota Avensis, O.K if you're not interested in cars Mini Cooper 970, Fun Honda S2000, Nice car Triumph 1300/1500, Comfortable but ropey handling (My dad had both of these) Vauxhall Chevette, Just awful. My Cars, Lotus Europa, buy in haste, repent at leisure. MG Midget, better than the MGB Triumph Spitfire, better than the Midget Triumph GT6, Other than rust and minor reliability issues not bad at all Ford Capri 2.8i, I'd have another one Fiat X1/9, Almost impossible to reach the cars limit in the dry, but needed another 50 bhp and body parts that had some sort of rust protection Datsun Cherry, Well, it was very reliable Sunbeam Stiletto, Loved this car, considering it only had 875cc it would keep up with a 1.3 Spitfire. Pete

Never owned or indeed driven one but I used to get a lift to work in one when I was in my teens. It was a gold and black one, "D" reg, 1966 and compared to my dad's Cortina seemed like a rocket ship . Pete

Was going to watch a few hours but Eurosport have adverts every 5 minutes so gave up, I'll watch the footie instead. Pete

They're over together with a number of B52's for a military exercise . I saw something interesting yesterday too, I'm not as keyed up as I used to be but what looked very much like a Gloster Meteor flew over at 1,000 or so feet. Pete

Weather looks good then, any chance of rain to liven things up . Pete

Quite a few owners, especially those doing 3 or 4,000 miles a year will have them serviced by miles, or every couple of years, which in my mind is O.K. However, even doing it this way this one should have had 5 services and be due another one right now. At least one service has exceeded the 9k service limit so I'd check the service book and make sure it's had at least one P3 service. Pete

Well, didn't expect that! Spain looked completely out of it and it looks like the end of the Spain era. Good to see Torres miss his usual sitter . My word though, The Netherlands look to be a real threat, very impressed. Pete

Just a thought Ian, could this have started around the time you fitted your rear LED's? Might be worth checking them out you know . Pete

With reference to my earlier post about my daughter, just as she was leaving to go to UNI another dad or in this case step dad story emerged. This involved Caroline's daughter who lived with us for 12 years, until she was 36 in fact . She lost her license due to a drink driving offense so every weekday morning for 9 months I had to get up at 7.00 to take her to work in Chester, luckily she could get a lift home. However, this did come with a major plus as I got the exclusive use of her almost brand new Mazda MX5 while she was disqualified (although I could barely fit in it ) Pete

My parents got really lucky. We left our rented large house in Birkenhead when we found out it was due to be demolished to make way for a by-pass. My dad saw this house advertised in Wales, 6 bedrooms, 5 acres of land but in a bit of a state as it had been unoccupied for about 3 years. The house was owned by a brickworks and they wanted something like a 1£ a week for rent. This was in 1961 and they offered to help us out with any jobs that needed doing. My parents got the house sorted and in 1974 the brickworks was taken over by Hanson. They decided to sell off all of the houses they owned (about 15) and as sitting tenants my dad got our house for the amazing sum of £3,950, I had just paid £6,000 for a semi a few miles away. A couple of years later the brickworks closed and Hanson sold all of the remaining houses and land they owned in the area and my dad bought the adjoining 5 acre field for £10,000. My parents moved away in 1985 as the house and gardens became to much of a burden and they sold up for £85,000. Just recently the house has changed hands again, the price.......£750,000 ! Pete

Yes, when my daughter was 4, she had ballet lessons in Wrexham from 5 to 6:30. It's 12 miles away so I would walk to McDonalds have a burger and by the time I'd walked back it was time to go home. Then there was the gymnastics, she started aged 6 and continued until she left for UNI aged 18. At the peak of her powers, around 14-15 she would go 7 days a week . She also played football for Tranmere Rovers ladies so that was a 16 mile drive twice a week for training and a game every other Sunday to take her to and if it was an away game she'd need a lift to Birkenhead to get the team coach....and picking up again in the evening. Now she's got a good job I'm thinking of sending her a bill . Pete

New card arrived today . Slipped it into my wallet and spotted the tip of my old card in there. What a wally , I'd obviously put my out of date card into the machine and the card I should have used was in the wrong slot in my wallet. Moral of the story, destroy your old card the minute you get your new one . Pete

Had a few hit and runs in my time too, fairly inevitable sadly. The worst one I had was when I parked outside my mate's house at night in my GT6 . After I left, got about half a mile down the road when I heard this scraping noise and it turned out that they'd hit my rear bumper with such force that it had been forced downwards onto the exhaust snapping the brackets . Nobody ever came forward and it cost me a fair bit to fix. Even saw this in the place I worked when one poor guy had his whole door pushed right in and it must have been someone who worked there as you needed to scan your works card to get in the car park. Pete

Interesting bonnet . Pete