Generally more known for cruising around in a green ’76 Mini as Mr. Bean, in the real world Actor Rowan Atkinson is an avid car and race enthusiast whose had quite recognized lineup of cars throughout his career. The prize of the collection, however, has always been his McLaren F1. After 18 years, its been reported by Western Morning News that Atkinson has put his prized sports car is up for sale, and the asking price is $12 Million.
That number is more staggering than you think if you consider the history of this particular car. When it was first purchased in 1997, the McLaren cost the actor upwards of $810,000, but the legendary status of this car has upped its worth considerably. Like a proper enthusiast, Atkinson didn’t stuff this car into a garage for occasional amusement, he’s been driving it a lot over the course of nearly two decades. the F1 has 41,000 miles on it, which in supercar terms means it was a workhorse.
He’s also wrecked it twice, the most amazing of which was not long ago in 2011, when it hit a tree after he lost control, almost severing the car in half. Engineers at McLaren Special Operations estimated the costs of repairs, which came out to $1,366,160, a price is insurance actually approved, given the rising value of the car.
There’s the celebrity value, too. It’s not only owned by one of the England’s living legends, but there’s a good chance you’ve seen it in action: Atkinson’s car was borrowed by the Top Gear team to set it against a Bugatti Veyron in a drag race.
The car was in tip top shape after having essentially been rebuilt by McLaren. It’s mid-mounted 6.1-liter V12 engine was capable of producing 627 horsepower back in its heyday, giving it a 0-60 speed of 3.2 seconds and a top speed of an amazing 241 mph. Its rear-wheel drive, manual transmission, lack of driving assists and performance capabilities make it the holy grail of sports cars to many enthusiasts.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.