The week that was: old age and the nanny state

Love, hate or simply feel indifferent about the result, the federal election is finally over and we must all turn our attention to finding something else to complain about until the next one.

Perhaps it will be the price of the Toyota Supra which was at last confirmed unceremoniously this week on the Japanese brand’s consumer website. How much is too much for a Toyota that’s based on a BMW? You decide.

Maybe we can get your blood boiling with more Ford job cuts? In addition to the thousands chopped from the Australian workforce when the factories were shuttered locally, another 7000 roles will be culled worldwide this year.

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Nope? Still not enough malevolence to displace your loathing of political campaigns? How about yet another car advert torn from our tellies by Ad Standards Australia? In the spotlight this time was Holden’s new SUV campaign which staged a ‘heist’. All it took was one meddling killjoy to disapprove of a J-turn and it was curtains for yet another light-hearted commercial.

With a coalition government reinstated, it’s unlikely the alternative energy, electric vehicle and hybrid tech movement will make any local quantum leaps any time soon. No surprise then that Audi has put the brakes on a hybrid version of its excellent Q5 mid-sized SUV (who knows if its TT successor will make it to our shores).

And the renewable energy opposition (yes, believe it or not, there is such a thing) will be popping the champagne. Mmm, you can taste the coal.

But there has been plenty to be happy about in this week’s motoring news. Mercedes’ latest innovation in driverless technology means even the most diabolically bad drivers can remain safe behind the wheel, we revealed why it’s a good idea to get your driver’s licence and also why it’s also just as good to get rid of it under certain circumstances.

The week was, of course, marred by the passing of a motorsport legend. As a company of motorsport fanatics, we rallied around to bring you our favourite moments of Niki Lauda’s incredible life in motorsport. It was also a great excuse to revisit our favourite car movies.

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As always, Andy, Dan and Scott swept up the cutting room floor morsels and brought you instalment number 20 of the WhichCar Weekly podcast. Watch this space, as we’ll be bringing you even more on-demand podcast content soon.

If moving images are your thing then another episode of our TV show went out on Sunday afternoon, and you’ll be able to catch number 18 coming to your screens this weekend too.

Like early voting, you can get a sneak preview here, and if clock-watching and calendars are definitely not your thing, then you can catch the last four episodes at a time that suits you by heading to TenPlay.

Regardless of the torrent of news heading through the WhichCar doors, the tide of car reviews never stops. This week we got behind the wheel of the Mazda 3 G25 Astina, Volvo V60 Cross Country, Skoda Octavia wagon, Ford Focus ST-Line Wagon, Holden Equinox LT, Renault Trafic, BMW 330i and Jeep Wrangler. Phew! What a week.