While You Were Sleeping: January 5th, 2015

Welcome back to the return of “While You Were Sleeping”, an overnight digest of various news items that didn’t make the cut on TTAC’s homepage.

Think tank click bait, Mansell hawking Mitsubishis and leather engine covers. 2015 is off to a wacky start, but at least you don’t have to waste your time reading individual articles about it.

• Even think tanks aren’t above click bait: We see the charge of “click bait” leveled at us on occasion – typically when a fan boy’s favorite brand is maligned. But this dubious claim by Navigant Research is a prime example of click bait; making ridiculous, misleading claims in the headline, only to pull a “bait and switch” in the body of an article. If you clicked on their press release, you’d expect to see a story about how “Conventional Gasoline Models are Expected to Represent Less Than Half of Vehicles Sold Worldwide by 2017“. But according to Navigant, “conventional gasoline” means “naturally aspirated”. So, even a turbo engine is outside that definition. Who knew that research funding was falling faster than CPM rates?
• Mansell’s Mitsus: Former F1 Champ Nigel Mansell is apparently hawking Mitsubishis on the British island of Jersey. The new showroom, run by the ex-racer and his son Leo out of an old Art Deco movie theater, made the move from used vehicles to new Mitsubishis. Mansell, who once owned a Ferrari dealership, drives an Outlander PHEV himself. The plug-in CUV has been a major hit in Europe, but Jersey does not offer the same incentives as the rest of the continent. Instead, the L200 pickup is said to be a popular choice.
• And they ensure an adolescence of involuntary celibacy as well!: Hidden within this story on the danger of teenage drivers in older cars is a list of sub-$6,000 cars that also offer a adequate crash-worthiness. Young parents will be delighted to know that the choices, like the Hyundai Azera, Kia Sedona and Suzuki Grand Vitara, come with the added bonus of preventing teenage pregnancy or venereal disease.
• And in unrelated news, I’m wasting my time on this earth: Racing driver Franck Montagny tests positive for cocaine, admits using, may lose racing license. Better to burn out than fade away and all that…
• Or would you prefer lace?: BMW will apparently have a leather engine cover for the next-gen 7-Series.