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YAMAHA Paints it Blue
Yamaha MOTIV.e - a terrible name for a promising car
YOU couldn’t make it up. That simplest of ideas – the small, unpretentious car – might be about to be saved by two of the fastest names in motoring.
The first, Yamaha, you’ll be familiar with. Provided you’re not an aficionado of the company’s musical instruments, the name will probably spring to mind most immediately as the makers of mentalist superbikes, although they’ve actually made more of a contribution to the car world than you might expect.
If you drive a Ford with a Zetec badge on the back, it means your car’s humble engine got flown halfway around the world so the Japanese firm’s boffins could fiddle with it and make it far more rev-happy than it really ought to have been. Well, at least it was until Ford’s marketing boys got in the act and decided ‘Zetec’ was a trim level, rather than a badge of honour to say your hatchback’s humble engine had been tuned by superbike experts.
The second name, Gordon Murray, will either mean absolutely nothing or get your inner car nut immediately excited. He’s a South African car lover who moved to Britain in his early twenties, and having blessed the F1 world with his expertise than turned his technical know-how to making a string of supercars. Put simply, he is the brains behind the McLaren F1 and the Mercedes-Benz SLR.
What connects the dots? Well, you might remember reading about Gordon Murray’s efforts to almost single-handedly reinvent the way small cars are made. The end result, the T25, was so small you could fit three ofthem into a parking space, but it wasn’t a production car in the conventional sense.
It was a more a sort of open invitation to the car world, and Yamaha’s the first company to take him up on it.
The end result, the MOTIV.e, might have a terrible name but it looks fantastic, with lithe lines that make it stand out a mile from the blobby superminis which dominate the showrooms today. While there’s no word on it being a production model just yet, the prospect of being able to drive to work every morning in a car designed by an F1 genius and finished off by a group of superbike experts does have a certain appeal to it.
All Yamaha need to do now is whip the MOTIV.e’s electric motor out and drop in the 180bhp screamer from the R1. Now THAT would be a small car worth writing home about…
Swapping four wheels for two
YOU'VE probably spotted something strange about the car featured above; it isn't actually a car at all!With petrol prices steadily heading towards £1.20 a litre in some parts of Sefton and West Lancashire it's no surprise that scooters are enjoying a bit of a revival right now, and you don't have to be a fan of Quadrophenia for tiny two-wheelers to enjoy the benefits at the pumps.
Yamaha are the latest company to compete for the attention of car drivers fed up with traffic congestion and fuel prices with this, the BWs 125, which goes on sale at the end of the month.
“New for 2010, the BWs 125 is agile and responsive, powered by a 125cc, 4-stroke, fuel injected air-cooled engine, giving the rider the power and punch necessary to negotiate the trickiest of traffic and in these days of crazy fuel prices, the Electronic Fuel Injection reduces emissions and also makes the engine incredibly efficient, so its easier on your pocket, too,” a Yamaha spokesperson told Life On Cars.
“Great levels of balance, grip and rider comfort mean the machine can easily handle any commute with ease, and make it fun too. As a major plus, the off-road grade, dual rear shock absorbers smoothes any potholes the rural or city roads serve up.”
If you're new to scootering and passed your driving test after 1997 you'll need to take the Compulsory Basis Training (CBT) before you'll be allowed to take this 125cc commuter scooter out onto the roads, but as someone who's done it and enjoyed scootering I can reveal it's not only a huge help in the safety stakes, but a lot of fun too.
The Yamaha BW's 125 costs £2,499 and although you do have to pay for it to be registered and taxed, chances are you'll get it back when you stop to fill up.
