Radio Gaga

Life On Cars has hit the airwaves again!

This time it's the Mini's fun-loving nature that's taken the spotlight, along with a spot of go-karting, which (hopefully) makes for a slightly offbeat few minutes.

I've also took the liberty of uploading this latest episode both directly onto Blogger (below) and on Facebook (above), after a reader said they had problems listening last time. Let me know which one works better, and I can easily change them.

Either way, enjoy!

Yes, you can still buy a Volkswagen Phaeton

ANYONE looking for a truly exclusive set of wheels is in for some great news this week - the Volkswagen Phaeton still exists!

The largest and most expensive People's Car is a sort of Loch Ness monster of motoring, at least in the UK, because so few of the things are out there. VW might - through its Skoda brand - actually offer you a car called the Yeti, but when it comes to being truly elusive the Phaeton has it licked. I know motoring journos have been asking this since its launch in 2003 but I'll ask it again; who pays £40,000 for a Volkswagen?

I'm not rich enough to really know the answer but VW's decision to revamp its most luxurious motor means all my ramblings last month about how to spend a lottery win are wrong, because paying that much for a VW gives you something BMW, Jaguar, Audi and even Aston Martin can't. Exclusivity.

The problem with prestige motors, even in these recession-ridden times, is that too many of them are just too common. It's been the case for years now that you're more likely to come across a new BMW 3 Series than you are an equivalant Mondeo, and it's easy to explain why. Given the choice, which would you honestly rather have?

Which is exactly why you can no longer go for the Porsche 911, BMW 7 Series or even the Aston Martin V8 Vantage, which all attract more buyers in the UK than the 400 VW is expecting for the Phaeton. So if it's exclusivity you want the forgotten Phaeton is your best bet.

It's not as though it's badly engineered either; the Phaeton had to pass seven unbelievably hard tests surely set by the Simon Cowells of the car industry, including the requirment for the range-topping W12 to be able to maintain a steady interior temperature of 22 degrees while the vehicle is at a constant speed of 186 mph in an ambient temperature of 50 degrees. This despite the car being restricted to 155mph.

I haven't driven the Phaeton so I honestly can't say whether you should buy one over Jaguar's exciting new XJ, but I know already which one's the more exclusive. In the wild, you're far more likely to see a big cat than the Loch Ness monster.

Swapping four wheels for two

YOU'VE probably spotted something strange about the car featured above; it isn't actually a car at all!

With petrol prices steadily heading towards £1.20 a litre in some parts of Sefton and West Lancashire it's no surprise that scooters are enjoying a bit of a revival right now, and you don't have to be a fan of Quadrophenia for tiny two-wheelers to enjoy the benefits at the pumps.

Yamaha are the latest company to compete for the attention of car drivers fed up with traffic congestion and fuel prices with this, the BWs 125, which goes on sale at the end of the month.

“New for 2010, the BWs 125 is agile and responsive, powered by a 125cc, 4-stroke, fuel injected air-cooled engine, giving the rider the power and punch necessary to negotiate the trickiest of traffic and in these days of crazy fuel prices, the Electronic Fuel Injection reduces emissions and also makes the engine incredibly efficient, so its easier on your pocket, too,” a Yamaha spokesperson told Life On Cars.

“Great levels of balance, grip and rider comfort mean the machine can easily handle any commute with ease, and make it fun too. As a major plus, the off-road grade, dual rear shock absorbers smoothes any potholes the rural or city roads serve up.”

If you're new to scootering and passed your driving test after 1997 you'll need to take the Compulsory Basis Training (CBT) before you'll be allowed to take this 125cc commuter scooter out onto the roads, but as someone who's done it and enjoyed scootering I can reveal it's not only a huge help in the safety stakes, but a lot of fun too.

The Yamaha BW's 125 costs £2,499 and although you do have to pay for it to be registered and taxed, chances are you'll get it back when you stop to fill up.

The Mini is back...until it breaks again

DEATH, taxes and the car you see me crouched next to at the top of this page breaking down - those are the few things in life you can guarantee will happen!

Last time you saw the Life On Cars Mini - quite possibly the least reliable motor I've ever known - it was 2009, the ground was covered in snow and the thing had stopped working altogether, after a never-ending series of mechanical maladies left it confined to the garage and me glad I didn't have the chance to crash it on the ungritted roads. But now it's back!

Going for a spin in the Mini is like going for a pint with an old mate; they might well have fobbed you off or left you with the bar tab before, but you don't care because you haven't seen them in ages! I might drive lots of different cars and many of them are fantastic, but in my eyes they'll never beat my Mini because it's MY Mini. A car that's literally corroded around me.

Since I bought the car nearly 18 months ago the brakes, the steering, the distributor, the tyres, the fuses, the wiring, the lights, the starter motor, the sills, the floorpan and the body have all broken, and for weeks at a time it's been off the road, stubbornly refusing to start and asking me why I didn't buy a Nissan Micra instead. The 26-year-old motor is so unreliable it's actually a running joke at The Champion, but it doesn't stop me loving it.

After months of hiding from the winter I finally got the chance to get reacquainted with it, and on the roads around Churchtown the sublimely communicative steering and point 'n' squirt handling were an absolute revelation. The tiny drum brakes are still as hopeless as ever, but you shouldn't have this much fun in something this small and cheap.

In fact I was so pleased with it that I took it across town to see one of my colleagues and proudly boast that a brilliant car was now a reliable one. At which point it immediately broke down. Again.

Say what you like, but I adore the little Mini. Until the next time it stops working, anyway.

Fire up the... Peugeot 308 CC

WITH its series of flashing LEDs, strobe lights and blinking indicators, you'll like the way the Peugeot 308 CC unlocks itself.

A fellow passenger reckoned the gloriously extravagant lighting on this £26,000 motor makes it Blackpool Illuminations on wheels but when you combine it with its overwhelmingly white paintwork, club-class rear legroom and the open-air experience it warrants a much better nickname. It's the Airbus!

The reason why there's another Peugeot with a folding metal roof on Life On Cars just a fortnight after I drove the smaller 207 CC was to see whether the French firm's other open-top suffered from its sister's drawbacks of having extremely limited rear legroom. Predictably, it's far less Ryanair in the back than the smaller car, so it's definitely the Pug for the family man and any rear seat passengers who happen to have legs.

It's a far nicer machine to be in than the 207 for everyone involved, with an airier feel and more space to stretch out on longer journeys. When you've got the metal origami stowed in the boot on sunnier days, it may as well be in a different county.

But you'll soon notice the tradeoff is the sheer size of the thing; it's not in any way difficult to drive, but that feeling of it always being a little wider than you'd want means you just can't coax it through the narrower country roads with the same confidence you can other cars. But it is superbly smooth on faster roads, with the diesel powerplant and sixth gear going a long way to cutting fuel costs.

I also like the way the Airbus looks like a pint-sized Mercedes CL when parked against the stunning backdrop of Meols Hall, in Southport, and the space you get in its bulbous boot, but as a machine your passengers will enjoy it far more than you will.

I'd take the smaller car instead because I don't have kids or luggage, but if you do and you like your motoring al fresco the 308's definitely a bright idea.

As published in The Champion on April 14, 2010