Renew your 928 paintwork and detailing

Pic: (c) Daytona Coachworkx

So I thought I would give them a big plug!

They specialize in Vehicle Body Accident Repair. The team are BMW qualified, Mercedes-Benz main dealer experienced as well as having worked overseas at a Lexus main dealer in NYC.

All work is undertaken & carried out to the highest standard following all manufacturers guide lines.

They have a low bake oven, Du-Pont paint scheme & Car-o-liner jig facilities. As well as standard insurance work, they will also undertake custom work, body kits, flip/pearlescent /chromaflare paints, flush fitting, smoothing & colour coding, also engine detailing (painted cam covers) & brake calliper painting.

Go visit their new web site Daytona Coachworks where you will find how to contact them and some more pictures of their work. Looks great!

Renew your tax disc online?

Screenshot: Angus

Twenty minutes of farting about with my browser and this is what happens. Im off to the Post Office...

It started when someone posted to the list that they were selling a Covercraft 'Noah' for an S2 on e-Bay so, despite having a GTS, I decided to bid on it - anything would be better than the three old sheets I currently use, assuming it was cheap enough. The seller said he'd paid £350 for it (mmmm......), and I was eventually outbid when it went for £115 delivered.

Out of curiosity, I later decided to check out the new prices. TheCoverCompany in the UK seemed to offer a reasonable deal for a GTS tailored Covercraft 'Noah' at £239 + £8.50 P&P, but I then cast the net wider and found that in the States the identical item was being offered for around only $190. Having enquired what the likely delivery cost and import duty would amount to, I ended up buying the brand new item from CarBytes in Flagstaff Arizona for the total UK delivered, tax paid, cost of £170.98. CarBytes were very communicative, with prompt e-mail responses to my queries, and I can thoroughly recommend them. Our current favourable exchange rates helped, of course, and the cost breakdown is as follows:

Cover (does not incl. storage bag) $189.54,
Delivery via USPS 'Global Express' $57.00
Credit Card Charge £141.14 ($246.54 + £3.77 commission)
UK Customs/Postal Charges £29.84 (£16.34 VAT + £13.50 Clearance Fee)

> and the moral of the story is - do your research!

BTW, the US Postal Service managed to transport the item several thousand miles in three days, whereas Royal Mail took eight days to deliver it a mere 120 miles! Also, if using the USPS tracking system, the term 'Attempted Delivery' is not a very accurate description. I was twice given this feedback, whilst knowing that our house was in full occupation throughout. Presumably there is no code for 'Sitting in the Warehouse Going Nowhere', so the operator simply swipes the > barcode for something that satisfies the system!

This episode of 'The Bill' was transmitted on ITV1 on November 15th 2006

928 maintains it's public reputation!

For the past 2 months I've been directing 'The Bill' for ITV1. When reading scripts I have to think carefully about the characters - who they are, how they develop, and their role in the story I have to tell.

One of my scripts had the wonderful character of 'Alec Vincent', an old school, London villain, accused of doing 'one last robbery' before retiring to spain.

My Location Manager and I soon found the perfect house for such a man, a huge detached residence tucked away in South London, with palm trees outside, and a wonderful huge space inside. Finding the right actor was more problematic, but I soon cast Gary Powell, who went on to give an excellent performance.

I decided this 80's criminal needed an 80's supercar, and therefore opted for the Porsche 928. My design team looked nervous, saying they are a very difficult car to source and would be expensive. I dug my heels in though and insisted Alec Vincent would only ever cruise to retirement in the great Porsche V8 supercar.

In the build up to filming, 'Alec Vincent's car' often came up, and it was a choice I had to defend quite a lot. Many people didn't know what a 928 was, and those that did said things like 'that's a bit old" ( missing the point ), and "that's a bit crap" ( ignorant ! ).

Filming day soon arrived, and I got to location at about 8.30 am. Everything was set to go. The house was dressed, the actors were made up, the camera van was ready....but where was the 928?!!!. Convinced a conspiracy was about to deny me my vision, I took the art director aside, only to hear the beep of a horn and the roar of an engine. The 928 had arrived.....

Pic: Karl Neilson

.....on the back of a low loader. That morning all the other cars we needed for the days filming had started fine. No it just happened to be the 928 that wouldn't turn over and delayed me for 15 mins whilst it was unloaded and pushed into position.

We all stood and watched this happen. There were smiles among the many who told me the 928 was not a very good car. But as I told them all, I bought mine as much to look at, as to drive. And when pushed into position it didn't matter that it had an off coloured wing, a bent sunroof, and didn't start. It just looked fantastic, like it does in 'Weird Science', 'Risky Business', 'The Business', and now 'The Bill'!!!! Perhaps Alec Vincent should pay more attention to it's servicing requirements though....

Pic: Karl Neilson