Mr Bean’s McLaren F1 sells for £8 million

Rowan Atkinson, otherwise known as Mr Bean, has sold his McLaren F1 sports car for a staggering £8 million.

The 60-year old star of BBC comedy Blackadder sold his beloved super car in what has been described as one of the UK’s biggest ever vehicle deals.

The £8 million sale means Mr Bean has made a tidy profit of over £7 million on a car he bought for just £500,000 in 1997.

Despite crashing it in 1999 and slamming it into a tree in 2001, Beano managed to rebuild it and actually increase the value. Nice one. Wish we could do that with our Ford Focus.

The Johnny English star, who is well known among family, friends and local thieves for his car collection, said: “It is time for it to be enjoyed by someone else. I bought it for the quality of the thinking that went into its design, and now it has become a thing of value, it is time for it to be enjoyed by someone else.”

We applaud the ageing comic for thinking of others, particularly when just 64 of this particular model were ever built.

Whoever is now behind the wheel of the exciting McLaren F1 will have to get over the fact that it has already done 40,000 miles and was practically destroyed after the tree collision.

San Francisco Startup Convinces Brands To Pay For Charging Electric Cars

Want to advertise your business? Then welcome to the latest in untapped real estate – electric car chargers!

Eagle-eyed San Francisco-based start-up, Volta, came up with the rather nifty idea of convincing brands that they would reach more consumers if they advertised their wares on electric car chargers.

In return, Volta offer free electric car charging to the punters. Everyone’s a winner, Rodders!

Volta, which is actually five years old (bit old for a startup? – Ed), has installed over 100 electric car charging stations across California, including Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco.

The one teeny tiny snag is that you can only advertise if you’ve got something green to advertise. So, no, you can’t advertise your chippy.

The revolutionary business plan has boosted the Volta coffers, who claim they have raised almost $5 million in equity funding.

They’ve also now got $3 million put aside to install further kiosks, with the aim being to install 400 brand new charging stations before the year is out.

The moral of this story? If you go green, you got mega bucks. We’re in.

Pope Pumps For Hyundai To Get Him From A To B

The Pope’s eighty year association with Mercedes-Benz has now ended, as Pope Francis has decided to swap his prestigious automobile for a rather more ordinary car, the Hyundai Santa Fe.

The Hyundai Santa Fe was handpicked by the SUV-loving Pope, who chose it ahead of a Jeep Wrangler and a Land Rover Defender.

Pope Francis is, of course, well known for under-indulging. Instead of putting his feet up in the Vatican’s sumptuous papal apartments, he prefers to dwell in a run-of-the-mill guest house. And rather than wow us with lavish gowns and expensive get-ups, he would rather dress down in his comfy robes and slippers that the common man can relate to.

So it probably comes as little surprise that he decided to say goodbye to his classy Mercedes-Benz B-class, and hello to a robust and rugged Hyundai Santa Fe.

Not that we’re confused or anything. After all, the Hyundai Santa Fe is faster than most of its rivals, and comes with impressive levels of space and practicality. Moreover, it’s stylish and comfortable. It just begs the question why the Queen hasn’t bagged herself one yet.

Though we’re convinced that Pope Francis won’t be too happy about the lack of hi-tech driver aids and choppy wind noise when you approach corners at full pelt. You can just picture his windswept face as he enters Naples at 85 mph.

Still, the Pope’s Santa Fe comes with a solid 2.2-litre CRDi turbo-diesel engine, and has a retractable roof. The downside is there are no bulletproof windows and doors so he’ll have to be extra careful regarding who he annoys.

Quite how long Pope Francis will be happy with his Santa Fe is anyone’s guess, but it’s rather refreshing to see a venerated Pope wave to us from the kind of car we could actually own.

Although it really would be something if he rocked up in a Proton.

Steve McQueen’s Modified Porsche Up For Auction

From Mr Bean to Steve McQueen, it seems the stars of the screen all want in on this car-selling game (okay we know the King of Cool died years ago, but still), as the Hollywood icon’s modified Porsche 930 Turbo has been tipped to fetch up to £1 million at auction.

The Great Escape legend bought the car in 1976, and modified it in such a way that the rear lights could be killed at the flick of a switch. Why? So the cops couldn’t catch him.

What a lad. Bet he would have loved a cheeky Nando’s too.

His grey Porsche was also customised to include a sunroof, sports seats, as well as dual mirrors and hefty wheels.

The auction of the Porsche 930 Turbo also has a poignant edge to it, as it was the last car the Bullitt star ever bought. He kept it until 1978, before dying 2 years later. RIP.

The car is up for auction in California, and experts say it normally wouldn’t be worth a dime more than 70K. But because the King of Cool had driven it, its value has rocketed.

Well, we wouldn’t kick it out of bed.

Indeed, a Porsche 911 owned by the American actor sold for over £800,000 back in 2011, eight times more than expected, whilst last year McQueen’s old Ferrari 275 GTB fetched £6 million big ones.

The shades he wore in The Thomas Crown Affair brought in £36,000.

The Porsche 930 Turbo can get from rest to 60mph in 5.2 seconds before maxing out at 153mph.

Aston Martin Hits The Speedboat Market

007 loves his Aston Martin cars, but what will he think of an Aston Martin speedboat?

Earlier this week, the prestigious British brand unveiled their first ever speedboat, the Aston Martin AM37 that comes with more bells on it than a Christmas tree.

Aston Martin collaborated on the project with Quintessence Yachts, who said in a statement that “the iconic allure of Aston Martin is built upon passion, skill and creativity of the people who dedicate their working lives to this historic brand.

“Thanks to the extensive contribution of the Aston Martin designers, the AM37 combines the highest degree of technology and innovation in a genuinely unique manner”.|

The speedboat measures 11.3-metres in length and comes with on-board voice control and a neat sliding deck.

Other neat features include a dashboard HD touchscreen, whilst the 0-60mph numbers have not yet been released. Suspension is known to be good, the grip firm and the steering responsive. Optional extras include 17” alloys.

The speedboat market is certainly the kind of luxurious market you would expect Aston Martin to dip their toes into, though whether it pays off is another story.

What we can tell you however, is that there are two versions of the AM37 available; one is described as being a “true powerhouse” that can go as fast as 52 knots, whilst the other is known to offer more of a leisurely stroll, and maxes out at 44 knots. Lightweight.