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Jones tipped that it will disappear from the Formula One calendar after 2010.

 It has a Subaru engine, but could pass for one of the three genuine versions made in 1967.The bright red copy of the one that took the chequered flag at Daytona more than 40 years ago is not a replica, but a bid to fool a buyer that it is the real thing. It was shown at the Fakes Cost More anti-counterfeit summit in Belgium this week to show just how extensive the rip-offs have become.Yasmin Le Bon, the wife of British pop star Simon, was at the summit to launch a global campaign to combat the rising tide of counterfeiting and piracy of well-known, top-brand goods. And she issued the warning that counterfeiting is a really serious problem.“We are no longer talking about just fake watches, but the counterfeiting of car parts, aircraft parts and even complete cars, such as this Ferrari, which could have very serious consequences — not just in terms of fraud but in terms of people's safety,” she says.About 10 per cent of all car spares in the European Union could be counterfeit, statistics show.The theme was that fakes cost more than the real thing — whether they are brake pads for cars fabricated using sand, medicines with unauthorised ingredients, or toys with dangerous parts. 

You might think Richard Hammond's jet-car crash at 460km/h last year was the most death-defying and deeply deranged stunt the Top Gear team had ever pulled, but, amazingly, you'd be wrong.The series that has been described, quite accurately, as the best TV show of all time, has returned to SBS with, quite simply, the best episode ever - The Polar Special, to kick start the new year.Sparked by a typical bit of Jeremy Clarkson posh postulating, along the lines that arctic exploration can't be that hard, and that surely you could just drive to the North Pole if you really wanted to, the boys set off on a race to the top of the world.Hammond - who always seems to get the short end of the stick, as well as the short end of short jokes - must go the traditional way, by dog sled, while Clarkson and a highly uninterested and unwilling James May, attempt to do what's never even been attempted before and drive there.When you consider the temperature regularly drops to the ugly side of minus 30 degrees celsius and that 80 per cent of the world's polar bears occupy the area they're exploring, you can see this is not the usual thing to do in a motor vehicle.Hammond quickly discovers that sled huskies produce an uncommonly large amount of doggie waste and that being a sledder means catching a lot of said waste between your chattering teeth.At least, that's what happens when things are going well - that is he's actually standing up behind the sled, rather than falling off it spectacularly. To say the race is harder on Hammond than his car-bound co-hosts is to engage in outrageous understatement.At one stage Hammond is so emotionally and physically beaten he can't even bring himself to do a piece to camera. He just stares, speechless. Of course, the other two are doing it slightly easier in their very specially prepared Toyota Hilux, but they are also putting their lives closer to the line.Taking a massive vehicle like that across ice that could break and plunge them into deep-freeze-deathly water at any moment, does put them slightly on edge with each other, as May recalled."After a few days we were arguing for hours about the significance of just-in-time manufacturing versus the importance of interchangeability of parts," he said."By day four we had been reduced to food fantasises involving sandwich spread and sausages. Don't imagine we were nice and warm in the car. We weren't allowed to have the heating on because it would interfere with our special misery-spec Arctic onboard cameras."In fact, while Clarkson found the whole thing exciting, May was decidedly less keen."I didn't actually want to go at all," he said. "I hate snow, extreme cold and dressing up. I knew it would involve a lot of camping, since there are no hotels around there. I hardly dare remind myself of the camping. The real problem was having to share a tent with Clarkson who was incapable of helping to put the thing up. I'm not a great camper, but Clarkson is a worse one."In short, it's an outstanding journey, filled not just with the usual humour and boy-banter, but cinematography worthy of Attenborough. The punishment the hosts put themselves through makes for startling TV. And the good news is The Polar Special marks the start of a new series of Top Gear on SBS. Good news for the network, too, as it's the highest rating show in its history.It also has a global audience of more than 500 million, in 120 countries. Next episode you'll get to see the famous Hammond crash in the first episode of the ninth series. His return to the show from what looked like certain death is emotionally and hilariously handled.Later this year we'll also get to see the first episodes of the new Australian Top Gear. Our country's car love has seen us become the first place in the world to be licensed to make our own version of this fabulous format. It remains to be seen whether the Aussie version will attempt to match the Brits by trying to drive to the South Pole. 

I’m always sceptical about these sorts of things. Don’t get me wrong, I hope it succeeds, but there have been so many instances of popular television shows ruined by second-rate copies, that I fear my cynicism may be justified.Think about it, when was the last time you were at a party and someone said “geez did you see that new Seinfeld copy, it’s so much better than the original!”, or “the American version of the Office kills the English one!”. You simply don’t hear it, and if you do, you realise as the party rolls on, that the person who uttered the ludicrous claims is clearly insane.The TV shows mentioned have become immensely successful because of the people who star in them. The original, English version of Top Gear is exactly the same. With an irreverent, humorous look at motoring world, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May have become such a polished unit, that they now command an audience of over 350 million worldwide. A staggering figure considering the vehicle for their talents is (ahem) the vehicle.It’s hard to fathom anything coming close to matching its popularity. And I think this is where most television producers go wrong. I don’t think we should ever try to make an exact copy of a successful TV show.But there is nothing wrong with adapting a successful framework and adding local features and personalities. Hopefully this is what happens with Australia’s Top Gear. Considering there is a distinct lack of watchable car programs here these days, I’m sure it shouldn’t be too difficult to make this one work.

Australian GT-R shoppers may be waiting until well into 2009 before being able to get their hands on Nissan's 'affordable' supercar, but anyone with a gaming console and a little imagination can get d

I can't remember where I was when John Lennon died, but I'll remember forever that I was at my computer on the first of December 2007 when I first learned that one of my greatest childhood heroes, stuntman superstar Evel Knievel, had ridden that rocket-powered motorcycle across that big canyon into the Great Unknown.Who better to personify the hedonism, enthusiasm and downright recklessness of a crazy 1970s? Oil was cheap, lives were cheaper, and nothing quite said 'masculinity' like the act of dressing up like Elvis, strapping yourself to a powerful (preferrably rocket-assisted) vehicle, and driving it up a ramp and over something?The somethings themselves were, well, really something: Greyhound buses, live sharks and even Idaho's Snake River Canyon (I was sure it was the Grand Canyon, but I've checked Google and it appears that's just my childhood memory exaggerating. Still, I bet it was full of snakes.)Getting air was only half of the challenge. The difficult part was bringing yourself down safely on the other side - something that Knievel seemed far less concerned with than you or I. Over time there were several close calls, and many of Knievel's imitators bit the dust over the years, literally.Yet Knievel himself flew on, despite many bad landings and countless injuries. He spent amost a month in a coma after attempting to jump over the fountains at Caesar's Palace casino in Las Vegas (he cleared the fountains but blew the landing.) He finally retired from jumping after he broke both his arms and suffered concussion jumping over a tank of live sharks in Chicago.But if I were a betting man, I'd wager that greater than 99% of our male readers were inspired by Knievel as kids. Sure, kids have been thinking they could fly since the beginning of time, but in the 1970s we had Knievel doing it for real, and we worshipped the man as a hero. We added the same stars-and-stripes and Elvis impersonator touches to our own leaps of faith over a line of skateboards, boxes or neighbourhood kids, a plywood ramp and a three-speed chopper push-bike the only thing between heroic legend and a gravel-rash disaster. Evel Knievel was a hero to young boys everywhere; an inspiration to all of us who've at one time or another attempted to fly through the air on our bicycle, skateboard or billycart.The news reports say it was old-age and ill-health that got him in the end, and that's a damn shame. Great heroes like Evel should have gone out the way we'd all choose to go out - quickly, with a bang, a crowd of mostly spangly-halter-topped cheerleaders and little boys distraught at their loss......a closed casket parade through the city, the fly-past, the military salute, the presidential address......and then the flag-draped coffin secured to the flanks of a Saturn V rocket, pointed at the sun, and LIFT OFF!Did you attempt any Evel Knievel-style stunts as a kid? Share your memories in the comments section below... Five fun facts about Evel KnievelDid you know that at least three movies of Evel Knievel's life story were made?Time Magazine's obituaryTime Magazine's colourful coverage of Knievel's attempt to jump Snake River Canyon

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The show has been expanded this year with additional internal and external displays.More than 50 new models will be unveiled amongst the 500 cars on display.Headliners include the world premieres of Mitsubishi's Evolution X cult car, the new generation Toyota LandCruiser featuring new Australian-developed suspension technology, and Holden's new sportswagon. Several other world premieres are expected.Other highlights include a Lexus that parks itself, and cutting-edge concept cars from BMW, Hyundai and Škoda, and new sportscars from Bufori, Lamborghini, Lotus and Maserati.View all the latest news and action on the official Australian International Motorshow website at www.australianmotorshow.com

This 92-year-old NSW No.6 plate is expected to fetch between $1 million and $1.5 at this year's Shannon's auction on the last day of the Australian International Motor Show.