Hello and welcome to Overdrive, a program that investigates matters to do with motoring and transport.

I’m David Brown

And in the program this week we look at news stories with David Campbell

1. Chairman of Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance Arrested

2. Ford plans construction on Michigan Central Depot by year's end

3. Waymo paid autonomous taxi service could launch in December

4. Government-subsidised plug-in cars may never have been charged

5. 1915 Ford Model T somehow survived the California fires

6. Skoda Aims to double sales in Australia

We road test the just released BMW X5 large SUV

And Errol Smith, Brian Smith and I take a lively look at some weird and wonderful news stories about cars and transport.

1. Capturing Route 66 on film before it's gone

2. Jaguar F-TYPE Rally Cars Celebrate 70 Years Of Sports Car Heritage

3. SpaceX's Starman Roadster has ventured past Mars orbit

You can find more information at drivenmedia.com.au or you can podcast previous programs on I-tunes or Spotify.

So, here’s the news

Originally broadcast 24 November 2018.

Hello and welcome to Overdrive, where we take a populous approach to cars and transport.

I’m David Brown

And in the program this week we look at news stories with David Campbell

1. Telstra exec quits to replace Musk as Tesla chairman

2. Vehicles from Mexico, Canada escape import tariff under trade pact

3. Melbourne Based SEA hopes for significant market share.

4. Infiniti Australia hopes for better days

5. Ford purchases scooter company Spin

6. Maserati cars and Bentley Limousines for APEC summit

7. One in five Australian drivers admits to cyclist road rage, survey finds

We hear a motoring minute on the new pricing for the Maserati and I reflect on driving it from Albury to Melbourne on the secondary roads.

We review an ad from the 1950s for the latest Morris Minor, Performance then isn’t what it is today.

And Errol Smith and I take a sunny look at some weird and wonderful news stories about cars and transport.

• Motorising transport that was once aimed at keeping you fit.

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You can find more information at drivenmedia.com.au or you can podcast previous programs on I-tunes.

So, here’s the news

Originally broadcast 17 November 2018.

Hello and welcome to Overdrive, where we experiment with ideas and activities to do with cars and transport.

I’m David Brown

And in the program this week we look at news stories with David Campbell

1. Rising SUV sales as the market softens in September

2. Automotive industry applauds Queensland government’s leadership on ‘alpha’ airbags

3. GM prepares to launch eBikes in 2019

4. Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles of the future will help combat motion sickness

5. Volvo Australia is having a great year

6. Queensland Police Kia Stinger takes Las Vegas spotlight

7. F1 Announces new street-race in Vietnam

Overdrives resident artist Dean Oliver drives a 12-year-old Subaru. We put him in a new model and test his reaction.

We hear a motoring minute on the new BMW M5

And Errol Smith and I take a sunny look at some weird and wonderful news stories about cars and transport.

1. Lincoln Aviator warning and alert sounds are played by an orchestra/ Pizza Hut and Toyota transform truck into mobile pizza kitchen (DB)

2. Volvo customizes Stan Smith Adidas shoes, you know, for kids (BS)

3. From Noddy’s car to a Vauxhall Vivaro re-imagined as the nag’s head pub from ‘only fools and horses’ ES or DB if Errol not available)

You can find more information at drivenmedia.com.au or you can podcast previous programs on I-tunes.

So, here’s the news

Originally broadcast 10 November 2018.

Hello and welcome to Overdrive, a program that seeks simplicity among the complexities of cars and transport.

I’m David Brown

And in this program, we look at news stories including:

1. Mobile Speed Camera Warnings in NSW may be scrapped

2. Holden pauses production on Commodore & Equinox

3. Ford teases V-8-powered Mustang hybrid, could be called Mach 1

4. How safe is ADAS? Euro NCAP tests automated driving technology for first time

5. VW previews lighting elements that can communicate

6. Google Maps adds electric-car charging locations

And Brian Smith, and I have an extended conversation about

1. Amazon’s Alexa gets a Whisper Mode– what can we learn from this about conveying information in cars

2. Bugatti Veyron owner hits 250 mph on the autobahn

3. Ford Bronco to reportedly get 7-speed manual transmission/ Electric cars may end the automatic era this Olds began

You can find more information at drivenmedia.com.au or you can podcast previous programs on i-tunes.

So, here’s the news

Originally broadcast 27 October 2018.

Hello and welcome to Overdrive, a program about cars and transport

I’m David Brown

And in this program, we look at news stories including:

1. Who Needs German Engineering? Tesla Outsells Mercedes-Benz For The First Time—And Has a Plan to Pass BMW Too

2. The end of traffic lights? Ford explores non-stop journeys with connected cars

3. Israel plans to end internal combustion car sales by 2030

4. Free travel expanded for homeless and disadvantaged Victorians

5. Audi fined for diesel violations

6. Chrysler ceases operating in New Zealand, promises to keep on with Australia

We have a few reflections on Kia’s seven-year warranty – Its only be around for 4 years but what has been the impact.

We continue extracts from an interview with Dr Max Lay about the history of transport.

And Brian Smith, Errol Smith and I cast a gleeful eye over the unusual motoring stories including a monkey driving a bus and a couple get married at 70 mph.

You can find more information at drivenmedia.com.au or you can podcast previous programs on I-tunes.

Originally broadcast 20 October 2018.

Hello and welcome to Overdrive a program that samples as much as it can of the experiences of cars and transport

I’m David Brown

And in this program, we look at news stories including:

1. Consumer Reports ranks Tesla Autopilot second among self-driving systems

2. U.S. will revise road safety rules for fully self-driving cars

3. Honda and General Motors join forces to build autonomous cars

4. Bathurst 1000 & Driver fatigue

5. Dual Bathurst Winning Commodore Sells for Record Breaking $2.1 Million at Auction/Trio of Burt Reynolds movie cars fetch $330,000 at auction

6. Hot Wheels stamps help celebrate 50 years of the toy car

The program this week is dedicated to the jaunty look at the jalopies from the Paris motor show – well concept cars anyway.

And Brian Smith, Errol Smith and I take a jaunty look at some jalopies from the Paris motor show – well concept cars anyway.

You can find more information at drivenmedia.com.au or you can podcast previous programs on I-tunes.

So, let’s start the program with the news

Originally broadcast 12 October 2018.

Hello and welcome to Overdrive, a program where we let our thoughts wonder over issues to do with cars and transport

I’m David Brown

And in this program, we look at news stories including:

1. VW chooses Microsoft as tech partner for digital services, mobility

2. Mercedes-Benz cars will soon suggest safest areas to park

3. Uber to Pay $148 Million in Settlement Over 2016 Data Breach

4. Smart previews future look with ForEase speedster concept

5. Crossover practicality, zero-emissions, 485-kilometre range: the new all-electric Kia e-niro

6. VFacts

7. Ford Endura

8. HAVAL Introduces 7 Year Unlimited Km Warranty

9. Great Wall Breaks The $20k Barrier With New Dual Cab Offer

10. Five Year/Unlimited Kilometre Warranty on all new Volkswagens

With the death of the racing driver Bob Jane, we spoke to our good friend Bob Holden who drove at the same time starting in the late 50s and still going strong.

We went to the reveal of Nissan’s latest Leaf electric Car

And Brian Smith and Errol Smith and I take a jolly look at some quirky news stories about motoring and transport.

1. China’s FAW lures ex-Rolls-Royce chief designer

2. Symbol of Fiat Chrysler-UAW scandal could soon hit auction block

3. Dua Lipa and Jaguar create music track every fan can remix and call their own

You can find more information at drivenmedia.com.au or you can podcast previous programs on I-tunes.

So, let’s start the program with the news

Originally broadcast 5 October 2018.

Arguably the most recognised, respected and awarded road and transport engineer in Australia, Dr. Max Lay, has written another book: “The Harnessing of Power: How the 19thCentury Transport Innovators Transformed the way the world Operates”.

Why write the book?

At the end of the 20th century Max was asked to write a presentation for an international roads conference in Paris on “Roads in the 20th century”. In the hotel before the talk, he thought about how he should introduce his presentation because the big break throughs for many things to do with transport, happened in the 19th century. The 20th century was more a time where these inventions flourished to their full extent.

I asked Max if this was a “Road to Damascus” experience, an epiphany but he said he didn’t meet St Paul or anyone else!

What does an engineer bring to history? Max believes that you don’t understand something unless you know the history.

He said that he did not write this book as a historian with a background in economics, social sciences or politics,but wrote it as an engineer. For him, an engineer brings to the debatean understanding of the cause and effect of a situation with humans as part ofthe process. The engineer, however, particularly looks at the physical things that made something possible.

Not even the inventors understood what impact their inventions would have.

The incredible thing that Max discovered while writing the book was how little the inventors realised just what their inventions would lead to and how they would be used.

Max noted that Karl Benz didn’t think that people should drive cars more than 20 mph and he didn’t think anyone would be killed by a car because they would never travel fast enough. Gottlieb Daimler thought that engines were better for boats and aeroplanes but he originally built the few cars to keep the business going.

How the watch helped transport

One of the examples of the technology that was behind the ultimate inventions of thecar andthe train was the watch. A couple of hundred years before these vehicles came into being,people had invented incredible mechanisms with cogs and things whizzing around faster than the eye can see. Much of this technology hadmade it possible to produce the valves on steam engines and many people who had worked with watches (such as Carl Benz) transplanted it 100 times bigger into vehicles.

Transport and watches work together to establish the concept of a universal time. It the past time was recognised on the circumstances of every particular location. The stagecoach’s arrival was not timed to the minute. But with trains travelling at a much faster pace there was a need for a schedule across many regions. It was around this time that the concept of Greenwich Mean Time was established.

It didn’t all happen instantaneously. Developments were not always instantaneous and were not always achieved uniformly across the world. Max’s book went way back in history to look at some of our earlier freight vehicles.

Oxen were used before horses under a simple engineering principle of a better power-to-weight ratio but another great advantage was that they had broad shoulders on which it was easy to fita harness. Harnessing a horse was harder. The Celts had mastered the effective use of horses before Roman times but in some European communities did not manage to develop a way to easily ride and control horses until the 1700s.

Effective use of iron also changed our use of horses significantly. With the ability to manufacture stirrups for horses they then became much more effective in battle because the rider then needed only one hand to control horse and so could hold a weapon in the other.

Bob Holden started racing in the late 50s. I asked him if he raced against Bob Jane who had just died. He hadn't race against him much but he did reminisce on an incredibly varied career as an Aussie Battler who over came great adversity.

He raced against Bruce McLaren who took an interest in Bob's performance.

I have spoken about his win in the Bathurst 500 in a MIni at length on another occasion and mention it briefly here.

Bob is 85 years old and still racing.

Hello and welcome to Overdrive, a program where we take a diverse look at cars and transport.

I’m David Brown

And in this program, we look at news stories with David Campbell including:

1. Hyundai Motor and H2 Energy to bring the world’s first fleet of fuel cell electric trucks into commercial operation

2. Stackable 'cars of the future' unveiled in Scotland

3. PEUGEOT e-LEGEND CONCEPT - #Unboring the future

4. Renault-nissan-mitsubishi And Google Join Forces On Next-generation Infotainment

5. Hyundai Santa Fe, Kona and NEXO honoured with prestigious 2018 IDEA design awards

We hear about the partnership between the Ford Driving Skills for Life Program and the Amy Gillet Foundation to fill in a huge gap in our driver training and licensing procedures. How to deal with vulnerable road users such as cyclists

We have some personal reflections from Anita Curnow an executive with the Victorian road authority Vic Roads about here career as a transport engineer.

A Minute of Motoring on the latest Nissan Navara ute

And Brian Smith and Errol Smith take a joyful look at some quirky news stories about motoring and transport.

1. PEUGEOT e-LEGEND CONCEPT is presented at the 2018 Paris Motor Show.

2. Grupo Antolin CEO Pascual sees interiors as the front door to the future

Originally broadcast 29 September 2018.