- 60k KTM X-Bow - one of only 30 made - with Kuwaiti number plate was spotted in Knightsbridge
- The area has become the racing car playground of rich Middle Eastern motorists
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This bizarre looking sports car wouldn't look amiss on the set of the latest Batman movie.
But while Cate Blanchett and Christian Bale were filming scenes for Knight of Cups in Venice, California, a mystery man was driving this 'batmobile' around London.
Wearing a Black helmet and full leathers, the driver of this black KTM with a Kuwaiti licence plate seemed very keen to keep his identity a secret as he drove through Hyde Park to Knightsbridge in London earlier today.
Day rider: A mystery man dressed in black was pictured taking this odd looking car for a spin around London
Far from home: The KTM sports car, which generally have a price tage of well over 60,000, has a Kuwait licence plate
The KTM car appears to be an X-Bow model - one of only 30 made, which cost more than 60,000 each.
The completely roofless super car is stripped to the bare basics and aimed at driving purists. It can do 0-60mph in 3.7 seconds and can reach a top speed of 137mph.
Onlooker Justin Thomas, 28, from London, happened to be riding his bike home when he spotted the bizarre contraption and quickly took some snaps of the car as it whizzed past.
He said: 'I just spotted this ridiculous looking car and thought I have to get a photo of it otherwise people won't believe I saw it.
'It was like something out of Knight Rider or Batman. The car would have looked more at home on the set of an action movie rather than in the middle of central London.
Jubilee celebrations: This Lamborghini LP640, emblazoned with the Omani flag on the roof and side, had a picture of the Queen on the front in honour of the monarch's 60 years on the throne
Reckless: An Iraqi playboy has been slammed for driving this Ferrari 599 at up to 120mph around central London streets
'After taking the photo I gave the driver a thumbs up before he revved the engine and sped off.
'Despite having no roof, the driver must have been quite hot as he appeared to be dressed head to toe in black leather.'
Super cars are often spotted in Knightsbridge, the London playground for the rich and famous, and many have customised and decorated individually.
In the run-up to the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations, one driver even emblazoned a picture of the Royal family on their Lamborghini.
Meanwhile, many Knightsbridge residents have complained about super racing around London streets at top speeds.
It comes after an Iraqi millionaire was filmed recklessly driving his 200mph super car around London in footage posted on YouTube.
The millionaire show-off was seen speeding through Knightsbridge in his turquoise Ferrari 599 without any regard for the safety of pedestrians and other motorists.
Residents have forged a campaign group and aired their grievances to Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, claiming that police and council have failed to act over these super car racers.
Strangely familiar:The real Batmobile at the Batman Begins premiere in Leicester Square, London
On set: Cate Blanchett and Christian Bale filming scenes for the new Batman film in California
Vauxhall sponsor England but stop workers from watching the Euros - The Sun
Bosses showed the red card to car factory staff who asked to watch tomorrow’s vital match against Sweden on TV sets.
The gaffers said it would breach “strict health and safety regulations”. They also barred scores of workers at Vauxhall’s plants in Luton, Beds, and Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, from seeing the 1-1 draw with France on Monday.
Outraged staff only saw the result after clocking off.
Ironically, production line workers feature along with England stars like Steven Gerrard and Joe Hart in a glitzy TV ad made by Vauxhall for the Euros.
The firm’s logo is on team jerseys. And the squad visited the Luton factory before the tourney.
Excited staff put up banners saying: “Good luck England from all at Vauxhall.”
One Luton worker angered by the TV ban said yesterday: “Our company is the main sponsor for England yet when it comes to matches we aren’t even allowed to watch.
“We work hard for the company. We’re gutted.”
Scott Boutwood, 35 - whose family worked at Vauxhall for over 50 years - said: "What an own goal. They'll have to reconsider."
Vauxhall said it was “proud” to sponsor England in a deal thought to be worth £6million a year.
But it added: “Strict health and safety regulations do not permit employees working on the production line to be distracted by matches shown on screens. And lines cannot simply be stopped to accommodate match times.”
Nissan has a similar ban at its Sunderland plant.
London 2012 Olympics: Double Olympic champion Haile Gebrselassie will carry the Olympic Torch - Daily Telegraph
The flame will arrive in Newcastle on Friday night where adventurer Bear Grylls will zip slide off the Tyne Bridge with the torch over the river and on to the Quayside.
To coincide with the arrival of the torch the city has decorated the Tyne Bridge with the Olympic Rings. The aluminium rings are about 25m (80ft) wide and 12m (40ft) high, which makes them the largest set of metal Olympic rings in the UK.
After the torch leads Newcastle it will travel to Sunderland via the Angel of the North before arriving in Gateshead at midday. In the afternoon the torch will then head on towards Hexham, Northumberland, before finishing the day with a celebration in Durham, where BBC presenter Matt Baker will carry the flame.
London tourist's illegally parked car blown-up by police - BBC News
A London tourist had his car blown up by anti-terrorist officers after it broke down - and he was also given a parking ticket.
Nima Hosseini Razi, 32, said his Ford Mondeo had broken down in early hours of Wednesday close to the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey.
He said he had left a note on the car to say: "This car is broke. Please do not fine me," before going sightseeing.
But when he returned hours later, "the boot was blown off".
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "We can confirm there was a suspect vehicle at Storey's Gate at 10.20am on Wednesday and a controlled explosion took place... the incident was subsequently deemed as non-suspicious."
Westminster Conservative Councillor Daniel Astaire said: "On this occasion the driver was parked in a very dangerous place, on yellow lines, so police instructed our parking attendant to issue the driver with a ticket."
'Extremely arrogant'Mr Razi, who is studying for an MBA at the University of Wales, said he had left a note on his car explaining: "Dear Sir or Madam, this car is broken. I am just waiting for the AA to arrive. Please do not fine! Thank you, yours sincerely."
He said he had gone off to visit some of London's sights, including Buckingham Palace, but when he returned to the car "the windows were smashed in pieces. I was completely shocked".
"Police wanted to remove the car. They covered the car with some of my stuff left in it.
"On the window, they had fined me."
He added: "The police's actions were extremely arrogant and unprofessional.
"They treated me like a terrorist. They were never interested in listening to my real story."
Scotland Yard has not responded to Mr Razi's comments.
London 2012 set to be delivered under budget - sportbusiness.com
The figures were released as the government published its final quarterly economic report before the Games commence next month. The anticipated final cost of the Olympic Delivery Authority’s (ODA) construction and transport programme is £6.761 billion – a decrease of £16 million on the previous quarter. Savings made by the ODA up to May 31 this year have now topped the billion pound mark in total, reaching £1.004 billion.
The £9.298 billion budget, which included a £2 billion contingency, was set in 2007 and was almost four times the estimated cost at the time London won the right to stage the Games in 2005. The remaining contingency money is expected to be ploughed back into the UK Treasury’s coffers. Secretary of State for Culture Olympics Media and Sport, Jeremy Hunt, said: “With only 44 days to go before the Olympics it is fantastic news that there is still £476 million of contingency funds left. Britain has proved that not only can we put on a great show for the world to watch like we did with the Jubilee but that we can also deliver big construction projects on time and on budget.”
The Olympic Park and Village were transferred from the ODA to the organising committee (LOCOG) in January, to allow them to prepare the venues for staging the Games. The government said funding made available to LOCOG has increased by £29 million in the quarter, as a result of these transfers from the ODA, and for additional infrastructure works. Additional funding of £19 million has also been made available to improve crowd management and public information in central London and the ‘last mile’ – the distance between transport hubs and Games venues. This will include additional stewards and crowd flow measures.
The remaining balance of contingency within the public sector funding package now stands at £388 million, with an additional £88 million available to the ODA in programme contingency to cover assessed risks - both ahead of the Games and for post-Games work. Minister for Sport and the Olympics, Hugh Robertson, added: “With a matter of weeks to go until London 2012 we are in a strong place. The transformation of the previously contaminated land into the Olympic Park on time and under budget is a great success story for UK plc. I would like to thank all those who have worked so hard to deliver this project in such an exemplary manner. We can now look forward to a summer of sport built upon the firm foundations set down by the ODA, LOCOG and everyone else involved in the project.”
Mods and Mokkas: Vauxhall's new Mokka softroader takes on Nissan, Skoda and Ford - Daily Mirror
FROM November there will be another choice in the soft-roader class.
The Vauxhall Mokka will go head-to-head with Nissan’s Qashqai and Juke, Skoda’s Yeti and Ford’s new Kuga when it arrives.
As with most of its rivals the Mokka will be available with a choice of two and four-wheel drive.
Three engines will be offered from launch, and the first is a 1.6-litre petrol engine with 115bhp that will be fitted as standard with a start/stop system.
The other petrol engine is a 1.4-litre turbo that produces 140bhp and comes standard with a 4wd drivetrain. Then there is a 1.7-litre diesel with 130bhp and emissions of 124g/km.
Three trim levels will be available and will start with S, run through Exclusiv and finish with the top level, SE.
Actually, there is a fourth trim that Vauxhall calls Tech Line that is intended to be a tax buster for company cars.
Tech Line cars come standard with a host of options typically popular with business users, such as air conditioning, satnav and Bluetooth.
By making the features standard the price-plus-options cost that the taxman uses to calculate his share is kept low.
Six-speed manual and automatic gearboxes are available but if you do want your Mokka to be in four-wheel drive form it will be manual only.
On dry roads the 4wd Mokka will be propelled by its front wheels but when the going gets slippery up to 50% of the torque can be transferred to the rear wheels for extra traction.
Stability control and a hill descent system is standard in all models.
Much of the development work for the Mokka was carried out in the UK and both the suspension and steering have been specially tuned for our roads.
Vauxhall did the same with the Astra GTC and it makes a big difference.
Inside, the Mokka has 19 storage locations, rear seats that split 60/40 and a total luggage area of 1,372 litres when the rear seats are folded flat.
The Mokka will also be available with Vauxhall’s clever FlexFix bicycle carrier that slides out from the rear bumper like a drawer and can carry three bicycles at a time.
I can see family buyers choosing the Mokka over its rivals simply because of this feature.
Interestingly, Vauxhall had already announced the Mokka prices before sending out another press release, barely hours later, letting us know about the extra Tech Line trim.
The cheapest Mokka available is the 1.6-litre Tech Line at £15,995.
This will be £1,000 cheaper than the Mokka S with the same engine.
The 1.6-litre Exclusiv with this motor is £17,995 and the SE version jumps up to £20,495.
Those are all 2WD models. The cheapest 4WD version is the 1.4 turbo 4x4 in Exclusiv trim at £20,200.
The order books for the Mokka are open and we will be testing one of them before they arrive in car showrooms in the autumn.
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