Why Alex (and Top Gear) need Supercars

I know it's a squashed Beetle...but still...

There was never any doubt to Alex’s love of cars. He’s just past 2 3/4 years old now and already has marques and models that he prefers. He’s just as happy to sit down and watch Spongebob as he is Top Gear (Fifth Gear is bearable, but he thinks Tiff is a “Stupid man”).

Give him a Mini or a Porsche and he seems pretty happy – even if it is just a picture in a magazine. Trucks and buses keep him occupied for a while, but racing cars are the number one attraction for him. He makes all the noises and learning all the names!

I used to like cars when I was a kid…ah, who am I kidding, I still love cars! (Jag XJ13 – droooool!!!), but between the 70’s and today there wasn’t anything that major happening. Yes – improvements on engines, performance, aerodynamics, safety – all wonderful and exciting…. but they were improvements or variations on the theme that had been there for decades. When Alex is my age though, I imagine things will be a lot different.

Even now there are hybrid cars on our streets – and some that even Jeremy Clarkson would have to admit are really getting there. Not the slow green machines we all thought they would be, but blistering performance hybrids and alternate fuels – things we would never have put money on in the 70’s. Back then economy was all to do with plastic bodies and smaller engines that just farted along.

Now more than ever we need Top Gear to race around and keep the general publics interest in road going  performance cars on the boil. If the interest is there, then the manufacturers will see fit to invest in new greener sports cars – but the moment Top Gear vanishes, then what is there to keep us informed of these cars?  Lets face it – love them or hate them, these performance cars today will make our cars safer (and greener) tomorrow.

150mph plus and they walk away

I know that I’d rather have a sports tourer on the road than a family car – purely because it is designed for better driving performance all round. Sports cars have better brakes, better handling and more power – all things that I like to have for the safety of me and the family. There are countless times people wish they could have a bit more power to get out of a dangerous situation – but I can’t recall one time when I thought “I could do with a few horse power less here…” – after all, the “loud” pedal doesn’t have to go all the way down – but it is reassuring to know there is still power left for when you need it. Sports cars are just safer in my opinion (if used correctly) – You just have to look at the 150mph Ferrari road crash that left the passenger/driver compartment intact and resulted in no injuries. In fact the police couldn’t find the driver or passenger because they’d walked back home…..

Hear that straight 3 roar...

For a while I thought Alex would miss the sound of the V8,10,12’s  or straight 6’s (I loved my old Supra 3l Turbo!) due to the economic and ecologic forces at play, but I have faith that ways around these issues will be found. Even if the death bell tolls for huge gas guzzlers, looking at the new and future car projects makes me think that something will fill the void. It might not rumble through your body and shake your fillings, but it will still leave a perma-grin on your face.

I can grab a test drive in a Ford Focus – I can read up about the pro’s and con’s on the Internet – but I have to get my performance car fix in third person.

So Mr Clarkson, Mr May and Mr Hammond, please keep racing those power houses around the track and letting us drive with you – I may never own a supercar, so the excitement and feeling you put into your tests is as close as a lot of us will get.

Jeremy "POWER!" Clarkson

James "Captain Slow" May

Richard "erm...." Hammond

Back in the real world though we get our track-side entertainment from a Hotwheels set in the house. Alex races cars around it on and off all day… mind you, some of them get a fair lick of speed going and “Off” is a near danger experience as small metal cars hurtle off of the track at bruise invoking speeds – which just makes Alex enjoy it even more. Even at such a young age he knows that the crashes are one of the key things that make motor racing exciting to watch!

Houston... we have a negetive on that trajectory...

Christmas Phoenix smiles

Saved by a little lads smiles!

Generally we leave Christmas shopping until November/December, but during our various shopping trips through the year we had spotted items in sales or discounted for whatever reasons that Alex would love (things weren’t bought just because they were discounted, they were bought because Alex would love them AND they were a great deal).

Seeing some of Alex’s favourite things at such good prices throughout the year made it worth snapping them up and putting to one side for Christmas – which was lucky considering the particular position we have found ourselves in.

Chris and I were unable to buy each other anything, let alone any one else, so we were thankful for our early buys for Alex – we couldn’t have him miss out.

We chose correctly it appears, as Alex was so happy with all his little gifts. Over the months we had built up two stockings full of small toy cars.

Chris had wrapped each car individually so Alex would have to unwrap them all. He is into unwrapping at the moment, so he thoroughly enjoyed ripping into these toys.

Next up was his big present – and by that I mean largest. It was a work bench with tools and a car engine he can strip and build. He was straight onto the tools as soon as he saw them – he’s seen me use my tools, so he knew just what to do. In no time the car that came with this work bench was stripped and in pieces…and then back together again!

The box this came in was perfect for all the wrapping paper and paper waste to go into (although the wrapping paper still managed to litter the floor – but it is Christmas, so who cares!).

More car toys followed as Alex opened up a couple of small Hot-Wheels (and similar) kits. He also had a Hot-Wheels battery operated race track (cars are launched around a track by rubber wheels). Once more, discounted items due to box damage! A slight tear in the packaging and it was half price!!! As soon as the paper came off it the box was ripped to shreds anyway – so a great bargain… and greatly appreciated by Alex!

His Police Station set has trap doors and ramps all over it – which Alex soon discovered to his happy surprise!

Later in the afternoon Granny and Granddad came over. Alex loves seeing them, as you can see (as do Chris and me of course!)!

They had bought over some more gifts for Alex, from them and some more of the family. Play-doh, water whistles, more cars, toy fishing sets, DVD and…. oh dear Lord…..an electronic drum set…. Really! What have we done to deserve that?!!!

Anything that can make a noise or has wheels and you can gaurantee that Alex will love it – and be occupied by it for a long time… but a drum set…. ha ha!!!! I guess we’ve bought noisy toys for people before, so it is payback time!

After Granny and Granddad had left, Alex carried on playing and running around – right up until he started getting heavy eye lids…. but he didn’t want to quit.

It all ended in tears as the excitement and tiredness collided!!! What didn’t help was his habit of wanting to wash all his cars in the bath when he first gets them! This time there were far too many cars to be carried – so he ended up dropping and fumbling the cars – which just upset him even more (poor lad!). Once he was in the bath though he was a lot happier – after all, he had his water flutes and modelling foam soap!!! By the time he got to bed he was dead on his feet – bless him!

Chris had put on snacks during the day and then did a great Christmas dinner in the evening. Unfortunately by the time we thought about dinner, Alex had burnt out and had gone to bed… so we’ll have to have another Christmas lunch today (ah boo!).

Many thanks to everyone for the well wishing and presents for Alex – he had a great day, and his laughter and big grin gave Chris and myself the greatest present we could have hoped for – a very happy son.

...Alex discovers the mic! CAT CAT PFFFFF CHRISTMAS Ha Ha!!!

Not wanting to miss out, one of the cats gave us a present, at 01:34am…

I was awake (still suffering from the bad back and lack of sleep) and noticed a certain “burning rubbery” aroma in the room. My sense of smell isn’t great, so I asked Chris if she could smell anything…. The next 10 minutes had us looking around the house for the gift… which turned up under the couch in Alex’s bedroom…. Very quietly and carefully, and by the soft light of the iPhone, the “present poop” was cleaned up, whilst a foot away from us was a sleeping Alex!

iPhone Poop Assist….. is there anything it can’t do?

Downhill from here

Not downhill like this blog thread, but downhill as in racing.

Alex got an early Christmas treat today as Granny and Grandad (Chris’s parents) came up to visit us.

Alex received a loop the loop gravity race track. He’s played with one before when he visited His Granny and cousin Ben was playing with his track.

Alex has been playing on it pretty much non stop since it was set up! He’s quite content to play on his own, or scream out loud as he passes me cars to launch for him!

It’s always good when we see Granny and Grandad – Alex loves them and is really chatty and cuddly with them…and also quite mental! A little bit of cheer that did us all good!

Flood Warning as cars washed away

It’s a ritual that he’s made up himself! When Alex gets a new Matchbox, Hotwheels (etc) car, it will join him for that evenings bath or shower!

I think it’s just because it’s his newest car/s, and he takes them everywhere as priority before they join the ranks of all the others. He does play with them all pretty much equally after the giant car wash!