The drivetrain of the M35h marries a V6 petrol engine with 50 kW electric motor built in to the 7-speed automatic transmission. But where Infiniti has gone further is to use the electric motor as part of the power steering and braking systems as well.

The steering of the M35h is an electro-hydraulic system with ‘on-demand’ assistance. It offers the advantages of both types of steering - the natural and smooth feel of hydraulic power steering and the improved fuel efficiency of an electric system - while the motor cuts in only when the wheel is turned, further boosting efficiency. The system is smaller than traditional power steering set-ups, a feat achieved by integrating multiple parts.

The vehicle’s electric drive motor is also used to directly operate the brake cylinders using a system called the Electric Driven Intelligent Brake. When the driver steps on the brake pedal, the necessary braking force is maintained while the hydraulic pressure of the friction brake is controlled to help maximize the energy regeneration of the hybrid motor and re-charge the battery.

The simplicity of these elegant mechanical solutions, with their emphasis on more compactness, lighter weight and fewer parts, is made possible by advanced computerised control.

The rear-wheel drive M35h also features a dual clutch system. The first clutch is installed between the naturally-aspirated 3.5-litre V6 and the electric motor, which is embedded within the automatic transmission. The electronically-controlled clutch allows the full decoupling of the V6 when the car is in electric drive and power regeneration modes. Decoupling the V6 reduces mechanical drag and boosts the efficiency of the electric motor.

Aided by an exceptionally fast charge/discharge response from the lithium-ion battery pack, the result is a hybrid that’s electrically powered for more of the time, and at higher speeds, than conventional hybrids.

Yet when the driver demands it, the Infiniti M35h responds like a true high performance machine, offering linear acceleration and unsullied rear-drive handling - top speed is a limited 155 mph and it goes from 0 - 62mph in a respectable 6.2 secs. When it goes on sale in Europe and the USA next year, the M35h is likely to cost around £43,000.

Back in the States, surfing became synonymous with a particular type of car, known as the ‘Woody’ (stop sniggering at the back). The Woody was the first car linked specifically to surfing, and to many it is still the quintessential wave wagon. Built in the ’30s and ’40s by companies such as Chevy, Ford, Buick and Oldsmobile, the ornate cars were crafted of shiny wood (typically ash or oak) and were originally conceived to pick up or drop off passengers at train depots or stations, hence their original names ‘depot wagon’ or later ’station wagon’. 

These vehicles, traditionally large estate cars based on mainstream models but with timber-framed bodywork, made perfect surf mobiles. They were cheap and spacious enough to carry the surfboards and equipment, and also provided ample backseat room for some extra-curricular activities. Oddly enough, the cars hit their height of popularity well after most companies stopped producing the model. The post-war economy mandated cheaper materials, hence the switch to steel and fibreglass. Yet even when car makers stopped using wooden frames the Woody had become so much a part of American culture that its essence continued, with Chevrolet one of many US manufacturers who used Di-Noc woodgrained vinyl panelling to maintain the woody effect.

Now Chevrolet has tried to re-create the image of the Woody by producing a one-off special version of its ‘Spark’ supermini car in order, and I quote, “to celebrate the brand’s American heritage and connection to youth culture”.

The car recalls the dawn of the surf movement in the USA, when, in the late fifties and early sixties, the cars were immortalised in song, chiefly in The Beach Boys’ Surfin Safari and Jan and Dean’s Surf City, both widely regarded as two of the most famous surfing tunes ever.

The ‘Spark Woody‘ was created in the UK for Chevrolet using a three-quarter vinyl body wrap. Its roof is adorned with an Escape Mini-Mal surfboard, made in Cornwall, as its wood-effect panelling was in keeping with the car’s retro styling. Chevrolet chose the annual Boardmasters surf, skate and music festival in Newquay to show off the car for the first time, as the Cornish resort is famous across the world for its surfing culture.

However, these days the surfer’s favoured mode of transport has to be the ubiquitous VW Camper Van, which has achieved cult status in this respect. Quite what Chevrolet thinks it will achieve with this publicity stunt involving the diminutive Spark is beyond me. The size of the car goes totally against the ethos of surfer vehicles in that there’s no room to pack in all the equipment. Nor do I understand how it is meant to appeal to the youth market – slinging a surfboard on a roof rack does not make a vehicle ‘cool’. Nor does a piece of wood-effect body-wrap.

And what is the point of drawing attention to a version of a car which you cannot buy? Even if someone saw it and thought “Wow, that’s cool, I’ve got to have one” (unlikely I know) they would be disappointed because this is a one-off.

To try and equate a modern supermini with the classic American cars of the fifties and sixties just doesn’t work. I’m sorry Chevrolet, but this is one Spark which just won’t ignite.

I went back to the car, re-joined the slow-moving queue and zipped off down the lane. Sure enough, with air flowing through the system, the temperature dropped and I made it home without further drama.

It turned out that the reason I had overheated was because the electric fan which should kick-in while standing in traffic had seized up. The mechanic at my local garage explained that it was possible to get it going by giving it a gentle tap, but that it wasn’t up to working of its own accord. He explained that the reason it had failed was because in this country temperatures are rarely high enough for it to have to engage and so it had seized up.

Now let me get this right. Normally I have to pay large sums of money in order to replace parts of my car that have worn out. I was now being asked to pay over £200 for a part which had stopped working because it hadn’t been used. Wouldn’t it be better if the electric fan was set to operate every now and then just in order to keep it running freely? Is that too much to ask? With the sophisticated electronics that oversee and regulate our cars these days surely it can’t be hard to program in something of this sort?

Or am I just expecting too much from motor manufacturers today to expect them to do something that will benefit me and prevent me from having to buy spare parts from them? I’ve just answered my own question, haven’t I?

The answer, it seems, is to deliberately force my car to overheat slightly every now and then in order to make sure that the fan remembers what it is it’s meant to do. Otherwise, the next time I sit in a queue of traffic and see the temperature heading for the red, it won’t be the only thing that’s overheating, believe me.

Apparently, this phenomenon is on the increase - during the summer months last year men made 16.4% more claims than during the rest of the year. The insurance company also found that 25% of male drivers have at least one crash during the summer, compared to 17% for women.

The figures seem to indicate that men, being more visually oriented than women, are more easily distracted by an attractive woman walking down the road.

But it’s not the only reason why men tend to have more accidents in the summer months. Testosterone also plays its part since it makes men more prone to aggression, especially if they are in a confined space such as a car in hot weather, which makes people more irritable anyway.

But leaving aside seasonal variations, the causes of most accidents fall into four categories - equipment failure (such as tyres or brakes), road layout and weather conditions, poor road maintenance and driver behaviour. And it is this latter factor which, sometimes combined with one or more of the other three, accounts for 95% of all road traffic accidents.

According to the AA, speeding is a contributory factor in only 30% of accidents.

A new phenomenon is people running into the back of another car because they were looking at their Sat-Navs, a recent survey indicating that one in five drivers lose concentration while using such a system.
But the worst form of self-inflicted distraction, and the cause of many accidents, is smoking, drinking or eating while at the wheel. In Scotland it was made illegal in 2006 to smoke while driving and quite why that hasn’t happened elsewhere I don’t know. If you can’t use a mobile phone, why on earth should you be allowed to smoke?

And that of course brings us to one of the greatest distractions of all – the mobile phone, regardless of whether it’s being used with a hand-off facility or not. According to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) drivers who use a mobile phone are less aware of what is happening on the road, tend to miss road signs and vary their speed and lane position irregularly. They are also more likely to react slower to a situation and take longer to brake.

All of which I suppose simply means that to avoid accidents we should concentrate on driving and not allow ourselves to be distracted by anything else. And I certainly would be mortified if the Nanny State suddenly outlawed women wearing skimpy summer clothes on the grounds that they caused accidents. Eyes on the road gentlemen!

In essence, it is a society garden party in the middle of London by day and a glamorous cocktail party by night, attended by high profile guests.

Manufacturers such as Audi, Aston Martin, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Lexus, Maserati and Rolls Royce were all showing off their latest creations at this year’s event to a discerning audience who were treated to the very best in hospitality.

For example, on the opening day, a selected group of what Maserati described as ‘gentlemen clients’ were treated to experience first hand the collaboration between the car company and luxury shoe brand Berluti, by admiring the bespoke car shoes created for the occasion, personalised to match some of the colour combinations available within the Maserati range.

You don’t get that with a Ford Mondeo, believe me.

The following day, Maserati GB hosted a very special event for its ‘lady clients’, who were joined by supermodel and Maserati ambassador Jodie Kidd as they attended Salon Privé Ladies’ Day at the Hurlingham Club.

The day started at the QMS Medicosmetic Spa in Cadogan Gardens, London, where clients enjoyed a champagne breakfast and personalised mini treatments of their choice.

A fleet of Maserati GranCabrios, Quattroportes and GranTurismos were then on hand to chauffeur the ultra-glamorous ladies to an exclusive lunch at the Club, where they were able to admire a selection of classic cars, alongside the Maserati 2010 range: the Maserati GranCabrio, flanked by the GranTurismo S and the Quattroporte Sport GTS, taking pride of place on the Supercar Lawn.

Salon Privé is simply the world’s poshest motorshow, which is why you’re unlikely to ever see me there. I just don’t have the right shoes.

These supercars aren’t just being produced by big-name manufacturers such as Ferrari, Lamborghini or Bugatti either, but by small, independent engineering companies creating a market for a specialist product.

The latest to appear is called the Hulme, named after the 1967 Formula One world champion, Denny Hulme. Apart from his F1 triumph, the New Zealander also enjoyed considerable success racing McLaren sports cars in a category known as Can-Am in North America and was champion in 1968 and 1970. It is on this type of machine that the new 200 mph plus Hulme is based.

The Hulme CanAm is a high-performance, mid-engined roadster, intended for both road and track use. It is powered by a 7-litre Chevrolet engine developing 600 bhp with a six-speed manual gearbox. Because of its lightweight construction, the Hulme is expected to reach 0 - 60 mph in less than three secs and have a top speed in excess of 200 mph. Oh, and only 20 of them will be built.
It is this extreme built-in rarity value which of course guarantees the exclusivity and desirability of such vehicles. The purchase price of the Hulme is £295,000 and to have the chance to order one you have to put down a deposit of £10,000. This is fully refundable should the option not be converted into a firm order.

To those who know their motor sport history, the name of Denny Hulme will be familiar, but to those who have only come recently to the sport or do not follow it at all, it may seem an odd choice of name for a new supercar. It is, however, wholly appropriate. Apart from becoming the 1967 F1 world champion driving a Brabham, Hulme also competed in the Indianapolis 500 and numerous sports car races. The bright orange McLarens of Hulme and team-owner Bruce McLaren dominated the big Canadian and American (hence Can-Am) sports car series in the late sixties and early seventies, though McLaren was killed testing one of the cars at Goodwood in June 1970, forty years ago. Hulme himself retired from F1 in 1974 and died in 1992 of a heart attack while competing in a 1000 km race in Australia.

The new supercar has been designed and hand-built by the Hulme Supercars technology team in New Zealand, some members of which were responsible for the nation’s America’s Cup triumphs.
The concept car, in coupe form, was shown at the 2006 Goodwood Festival of Speed, and such was the interest that the company conducted extensive research to assess demand, culminating in the decision to initially offer an open-top Can-Am version.

For those intending to purchase a Hulme, a private viewing and driving experience will take place at or before the 2011 Festival and delivery of the cars will commence in autumn next year. Customers will then be flown business premier class to New Zealand and provided with one week’s luxury accommodation, for a final fitting in their car, plus circuit and road tests, before it is shipped to their chosen destination.

And with only 20 to be built, it will be quite an experience just to see one on the road one day, never mind owning one!

According to a poll of British adults by YouGov, commissioned by Auto Windscreens - the automotive glazing services company - over half surveyed needed glasses or contact lenses to drive. Those who do so and are planning on driving in Spain, Switzerland and Liechtenstein this summer will be breaking the law if they fail to carry a spare pair of glasses in their vehicle at all times.

Drivers from the UK who plan to avoid speed traps abroad by using a radar detector, which is still legal in this country, could find its use, or even ownership, is illegal in many European countries. Just owning a radar detector is illegal in nine European countries, including Belgium, France, Switzerland and Austria, and using one in a moving vehicle is not permitted in 16 countries including Spain, Germany, Denmark and The Netherlands. Penalties can include a fine, driving ban and even imprisonment.

Some countries now also prohibit the use of Sat Navs which have maps indicating the location of fixed speed cameras meaning that you must deactivate the ‘fixed speed camera PoI (Points of Interest)’ function.

And if you’re thinking of letting your teenager gain some European driving experience, make sure they’re at least 18 years old. Unlike the UK, where the legal driving age is 17, this is not the case in many countries throughout Europe. Most have a minimum driving age of 18, including Spain, Switzerland, France, Italy, Portugal, France, Germany and Belgium.

So remember, it’s not just speed limits and road signs that you have to be knowledgeable of when driving abroad. Motoring rules, laws and regulations differ widely from country to country and being ignorant of them could ruin your family’s summer getaway.

Other little-known driving laws that vary by country include the minimum age of a child allowed to travel in the front of a vehicle, the carrying of visibility vests and warning triangles and the compulsory requirement for headlamp converters.

Oh, and in case you hadn’t heard, following research by the Health Protection Agency, drivers are now being warned to top up their vehicle’s washer bottles with windscreen wash after it was found that windscreen wiper water may be the cause of 20 per cent of cases of Legionnaires’ Disease in England and Wales. Stagnant, warm water is a breeding ground for the Legionella bacterium, which when inhaled causes pneumonia. However, adding screenwash kills the bacteria and could save lives.

Happy motoring!

Figures from the UK Department for Transport for 2007 (and don’t ask me why these are the most recent ones quoted because I don’t know) show that 530 women were involved in what is known as KSI (killed or seriously injured) accidents compared to 1,640 men. However, according to a report from the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM), women are most vulnerable at junctions and are involved in more low-speed accidents than men. And don’t make the obvious comment that this is because they drive slower…

I suppose it depends on how you define ‘better drivers’, doesn’t it? Just because women are involved in fewer serious accidents but more low-speed ones, does that necessarily make them better? Men certainly break more traffic laws than women and are cited for reckless driving more often.

But because of these statistics, women are apparently losing out on driver training offered by their employers. Around 60% of both men and women either drive to or for their work but whereas a staggering 94% of men had been offered training to improve their driving by their employers, only 22% of women were offered the same. And it’s not as if they wouldn’t take advantage of such training either because according to the IAM’s report, only 47% of women actually feel safe on the roads.

The IAM says that more businesses should offer driver training and assessment to all their employees as best practice and a duty of care, since employers have a responsibility to take all reasonable steps to lower the risks to their employees when behind the wheel. After all, it is well documented that the most dangerous times for driving are in the morning and evening during rush hours periods and, therefore, those driving to work are at high risk of being involved in an accident.

So equal training for all, but are women actually better drivers? Some years ago a report from Bradford University claimed that the female hormone oestrogen improved spatial recognition memory, rule learning, attention planning and motor control. It said that women were more able to shift their attention from one stimulus to another, making it easier for them to perform tasks like driving. I’m not sure I fully concur with that one, though.

The report concluded that men are better at navigation, spatial awareness and confidence, but are involved in more accidents, whereas women are better at paying attention.

On the other hand, a study in 2008 by psychologists at Queen Mary College, London, found that women and gay men were most likely to be the worst drivers. Research showed that both performed poorly in tasks involving navigation and spatial awareness, compared to heterosexual men. The findings concluded that driving in a strange environment was more difficult for gay men and women as both rely on local landmarks to get around and were slower to take in spatial information.

So where does that leave us? Probably back where we started. Men think they are better because they can drive faster with more confidence and find their way around. They also crash more often, though. Women pay more attention, obey the rules, but are involved in more low-speed accidents. In other words, we drive differently, not better or worse than one another.

Now there’s been many times when I’ve borrowed or hired a car, or driven a new one for the first time, only to find myself heading into a filling station not knowing which side of the pump to aim for. I know that most pumps are designed for you to be able to fill from either side by stretching the hose across if necessary, but it’s still a lot more convenient and doesn’t require such precise positioning next to the pump if you know which side your filler cap is on.

It’s not something I’ve lain awake at night worrying about mind, but now that I know the secret it’s blindingly obvious and I wonder why more people aren’t aware of it. Or maybe they are – perhaps it is just me?

Next time you sit in your car, take a look at the dashboard, in particular the fuel gauge. Alongside it will be a symbol of a petrol pump. Now look and see which side on the symbol the nozzle is. Got it yet? If the nozzle on the graphic is on the right-hand side, then that’s where your filler cap can be found. Left-hand nozzle equals left-hand filler. The little arrow alongside is a bit of a giveaway as well. Simple isn’t it? So why didn’t someone tell me before?

I suppose there is a chance that buried somewhere in the depths of the owner’s manual is a reference to this salient point, but who reads them in detail?

There are exceptions apparently, as with every rule in life. The Ford Puma is one, as is the Nissan Primera and a friend of mine’s SEAT doesn’t follow this convention either, but it seems that most cars do.

Which begs the question, why isn’t it universally adopted and broadcast? It’s like which side the windscreen wiper and indicator stalks are in cars. Why can’t that be standardised? How many times have you driven a different car and turned the wipers on when you wanted to indicate left, simply because the wretched controls were a mirror image of the vehicle you were used to driving?

But leaving that aside, I wonder how many other gems of motoring trivia there are lying about waiting to be discovered by people like me who thought they knew about cars? I don’t want to turn into a geek about this, but I might just sit down and actually read the manual of my car this afternoon, just to find out what all those symbols and lights actually mean. After all, I might even learn something.

The Institute acknowledges that driver etiquette means that ‘zip merging’ can be frowned upon by drivers in long queues of traffic, but if all available lanes are used, right up to the bottleneck, it is perfectly acceptable for vehicles from each lane to take it in turns to merge into the single lane. According to the IAM, this reduces the length of road the queue stretches along and prevents blocked junctions.
 
‘Pinch points’, it adds, are all too common on our roads, but the advice in the Highway Code is vague. In fact Rule 288 of the code simply states: where lanes are restricted due to roadworks, merge in turn.
 
The IAM is offering this more detailed advice: “If you are approaching a long queue of traffic in only one lane, you should stay in the lane you’re in, even if it’s empty, as long as you reduce your speed. Even if you have to merge further down, it is worth using all the space available to avoid unnecessarily long tailbacks. When travelling alongside a queue of traffic, keep your speed right down and be extra vigilant, as other drivers may be considering pulling out into the empty lane.”

So the next time you feel like having a go at one of the people apparently queue jumping, bear in mind that they might well be a far better driver than you. The Institute of Advanced Motorists, which was established in 1956, has over 100,000 full members in the UK and Ireland and is best known for its advanced driving courses and tests available to drivers. It’s also the UK’s largest independent road safety charity.

Perhaps instead of complaining we ought to all sign up for a course and improve not only our ‘zip merging’ techniques, but our overall driving standards as well. Just a thought.