The Malaysian Insider :: Features
The Malaysian Insider :: Features |
| ‘World’s oldest car’ sells at auction for US$4.6m Posted: 11 Oct 2011 07:22 AM PDT  The De Dion-Bouton was constructed in 1884 for the French Count De Dion. — AFP/Relaxnews pic The De Dion-Bouton et Trepardoux Dos-a-Dos Steam Runabout, nicknamed "La Marquise," which was built in France in 1884, sold for more than twice its estimate at auction Friday in Hershey, Pennsylvania. RM Auctions listed its top speed as 61 kilometres per hour and said it had only had four previous owners over the past 127 years. The late Texas collector John O'Quinn had bought the historic car, which participated in the first automobile race in 1887 and four separate London-to-Brighton runs, for US$3.5 million in 2007. The identity of the new owner was not given. US media reports noted that another car, housed at the National Motor Museum of Britain, also lays claim to the title of the world's oldest vehicle. However, the reports said the British car, built in 1875 by Robert Neville Grenville, has only three wheels, requires someone to ride along and tend the boiler, and bears little resemblance to a modern automobile. The four-wheeled De Dion-Bouton was constructed for the French Count De Dion — one of the founders of the company that built it. It was named "La Marquise" after the count's mother. The US$4.6 million price tag includes a 10 per cent buyer's premium, which goes to the auction company. "With impeccable provenance, fully documented history, and the certainty that this is the oldest running family car in the world, 'La Marquise' represents an unrepeatable opportunity for the most discriminating collector," the catalogue said. "It is unquestionably and quite simply one of the most important motor cars in the world." — AFP/Relaxnews Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| ‘Noah’ may mean difference between life and death Posted: 11 Oct 2011 06:55 AM PDT  Cosmo Power President Shoji Tanaka speaks as he stands next to the company's personal flotation device named "Noah". — Reuters pic But the round yellow pod, christened "Noah" for the maker of the ark, could mean the difference between life and death in the case of another killer earthquake and tsunami like the one that hit Japan seven months ago, said its inventor, Shoji Tanaka. After the March 11 disaster, which devastated a wide swath of Japan's northeastern coast and left 20,000 dead or presumed dead, Tanaka decided to create a personal flotation device that could survive both an earthquake and the tsunami that might follow. "At the beginning, I made it as a hemisphere, which I thought to be the best shape to survive earthquakes, but it was vulnerable to tsunami because it capsizes," said Tanaka, president of Cosmo Power, an equipment maker.  "Noah" could survive both an earthquake and tsunami that might follow. — Reuters pic "Noah" is about 1.2 metres in diameter, with one hatch, one glass window and two holes for drainage and ventilation. It's made out of fibre-reinforced plastic, which Tanaka said is lighter but also stronger than steel. It keeps water out and its occupants afloat, all the while protecting them from floating debris. Its bright yellow colour was designed to attract the attention of rescuers. And if all of that wasn't enough, it's small enough to fit into an average Japanese home. "Kids will love playing inside it, and those who are anxious about earthquakes will find peace of mind just by keeping it in their house," Tanaka said. The company said it already has orders for 700 of the four-seater pods, mainly from families, waterfront businesses and fishermen. It sells for ¥288,000 (RM11,795) for a standard model and US$4,500 for one with interior cushions that help absorb shocks. "At least, people sheltered inside this ark will have some time to take a breath and get ready for the worst to come," said Yuichi Ashisawa, a Cosmo Power employee. — Reuters Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
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