Antony Ingram

Yeah, it's used far too much. Frustrating too as it's the one track where you can't make up for a performance deficit during a series - I'm having to redo a few of those races because a competitor might have big power advantage and you just never get close to them.

I've always liked "Nights Out" by Metronomy for the first gen Insight. Feeder's "Yesterday Went Too Soon" had a DS throughout the album artwork too.

Ties into my idea for a TV show about a crime-fighting duo in a small Japanese drop-top called Bobbies in the Beat.

Thinking of setting up an extremely niche one called Cappuccinos and Cappuccino.

Yup, watched that a few days back after I'd seen the drama on Instagram etc. Nicely highlights the problem of fighting against poorly-made crap all over the internet.

I took my Pentax 110 last year but discovered it has a winding problem, so couldn't use it. But yeah, I'm already over 110 - got two of the format's coolest cameras in my collection, but for the quality the cost of getting the film developed isn't worth it. They'll make nice ornaments...

I quite like the interior design, though the touchscreen is a bit of a busy mess.

80s and 90s Japan feels like the time and place where manufacturers added technology that was genuinely useful but *also* could be relied upon not to break.

New Paul Smith Mini is a bit disappointing, innit? Some muddy green details over standard body colours? Doesn't exactly pop like the blue and lime green combo on the classic Mini (pic via collectingcars.com/for-sale/199...)

I'll probably take one of the lenses to Japan when I go in a few weeks and see how it behaves.

The snaps I took a year ago when I got the combo weren't up to much, but I didn't know about focus peaking back then which really helps with manual focus, and I'd not set my camera to recognise the right focal length of the lenses either (since it doesn't do it automatically on old lenses).

I regret that I didn't own mine long enough to enjoy those dials.

Big fan of that. Name isn't messing about either.

That was meant to be "reminding myself" obviously.

Reminding me how amusingly ridiculous the Fuji looks with a lens from my Pentax 110. Actually pretty good sensor coverage.

Glasses definitely don't help, I try to keep mine as clean as possible. Noticed in a recent vid that @hubnut.bsky.social has yellow clip-ons for his, I'm actually considering a fully yellow set just for night driving.

Conversely, the headlights on my Panda 100HP were oddly shite, even with upgraded bulbs. My 106 isn't amazing either. Not sure what the RX-7 is like because I can't remember the last time I drove it at night...

Think the most unexpectedly good I've had was my last mk1 MX-5. Was an import and had sealed-beam 7in lights (UK cars got 7in buckets where you could change the bulbs). Output was way better than you'd expect, but again round 7in lights have a pretty decent surface area.

Second-gen RAV4 isn't as funky but it's quickly growing on me too. Still has a two-door version. Keep thinking it'd make a good winter daily...

Drove Toyota's heritage fleet one a few years ago. Likeable thing, and nice knocking around in something where performance isn't the point but you still have style (if you're into it), and reliability. Engine very much a lugger - pretty disinterested above about 4000rpm (redline is over 6k).

Those blue-dial VWs *look* great but the colour's never going to be as cosy or easy on the eye as something towards the red end of the spectrum.

In some ways they're better the more "normal" they are. I've never totally gelled with most of the M-cars I've driven, because there are often other performance cars that I prefer. But a regular 3-Series is often several steps ahead of a regular [generic sedan] which is more impressive.

Driven a few newer ones over the last few years, but been a while since I've driven an older one. Can't get any more cars until the Peugeot goes, but got my eye on a few as potential daily drivers.

Spotted a bolt from my computer chair on the floor. Not quite loose wheelnuts levels of danger, but the rest were loose enough that I was probably only a few weeks away from an embarrassing office-related calamity.

Also that photo's a good example of the interior lighting not being a distraction either. Camera is probably exaggerating it of course, but what's outside the car is noticeably brighter than inside. Lot of cars with large displays get a little too close to going the other way.

Could be temp, but probably having fairly simple oblong units helps in some cases, lot of surface area for the light to reflect off.

Having lights that match the performance of the car is critical too. Some quick stuff still doesn't quite manage it.

Ah, interesting! Makes me wonder how many other cars have it and just hide it...

I know a lot of cars switch between day and night modes, but I can't think of any that let you set a warmer colour temperature like "Night Shift" on an iPhone.

(The colour temperature thing also needs highlighting for car interiors, since we're now getting white/blue screens that glare far more than old orange/red/green gauge lighting. I don't think any manufacturer offers a warmer night mode like you get on phones and computers, either...)

And something about the intensity of LEDs seems to create bad contrast too - you certainly get much worse shadows over uneven ground, and the brightness dead ahead makes everything else look even darker, so your overall picture is narrower.