Batmobile 2

Given my penchant for Batmobiles I have just been offered this beauty for our vehicle owner's programme, now all I need is to find some water to put it in.

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Barca Rally Part 3 of 3

Road Rallys have been the outstanding discovery of the year - whether it is the chance to drive upto 8 cars on 1 weekend, or the social networking opportunities, or just a chance to get away from the screaming kids for a few days (that's definitely my reason!) - people just love them.

Both of our trial events were sold out for this year so I am posting the dates of next year's rallys now. Full details will be on the website in January, but the for the super-organised amongst you, or in case you need an idea for an (expensive) Xmas present, here are the plans:

March 6-8 Leeds to Lake District - complete with accommodation in a castle, helicopters and Land Rover Off-Roading experience. This event is 'with partners' and is limited to 8 couples.

Sept 11-13 London to Nurburgring - repeat of this year's trip (viewable here), with a few surprises thrown in to keep it fresh. 14 places

Oct 22-24 Barcelona to Marbella - stretch your Summer with a few days in sunny Spain complete with paella, boats and Ascari, 8 places

Tesla on PH

Read Beefmeister's PistonHeads review on the Tesla here

I thoroughly agree with his comments and for someone considering buying one his final statement is bang on - "too many compromises in a fancy frock". The only way it would make commercial sense was if you supplied it to a car club to subsidise the cost of ownership!

Talking of which, we have had so much success with our Vehicle Owner's Plan (VOP) that I am confidently predicting that vehicle availability will be a thing of the past come next Summer...I'll blog more about this next month.

Another members' freebie

Last night we were supporting the launch of the Embassy Club's new VIP Onyx card.

It has been a long time since I was last there and I think the direction they are taking the club is quite cool.

It may well be worthwhile sorting out a corporate arrangement with them whereby members get complimentary access and discounts off food and drink.

Tesla teething troubles

Living with an electric car on the fleet presents a few unforeseen challenges - most notably that the car needs charging for 7 hours between bookings which can be a bit tricky if it is brought back 'empty'.

But my greatest surprise is how little interest there has been for this car. Bear in mind, our car is not only the first customer Tesla in the UK, the first manufacturer-built electric supercar in the UK and it's faster than a F430 - I would have thought members would be queueing up to take it out for a spin.

Obviously it can't go much more than 150 miles on a single charge but then only a few of our other cars did more mileage than that this last weekend, so what's not to like?

Any suggestions or clues gratefully received.

MPH show

Just finished off at MPH this weekend. Compared to last year the show was fantastic - interest levels are definitely up and you can tell that people are wondering "how to spend it" and not simply "when to spend it".

For me the highlight of the show was the Citroen 'Playstation' car* - it says a lot about the power of video games when a manufacturer can spend over $1 million making a prototype of a car that was fictitiously created for Playstation.

If they ever made the thing, it would be awesome.

A quick plug: went to the newly opened Kitchen W8 in Kensington last week - owned by 2 Michelin starred chef Philip Howard -the food was of Michelin quality at Chez Gerrard prices. I put it in my top 3 restaurants in London.

Here's a not very good photo of the outside with Mrs Shah waiting for a cab.

*photo courtesy of another website

Batmobile

Regular readers will remember we wrapped "LK55" last month. Members totally dig the new look and she has been loving renamed the Batmobile. Her first guest appearance will be on the main stand at MPH in Earls' Court this weekend.

Of course, we have a stand there too, right by the main entrance so if you are planning to attend, please do pop by and see us.

And don't forget we have complimentary tickets for any members wishing to attend the pre-MPH party at Aura tonight.

You can see the making of the Batmobile on YouTube here.