Chris Harris on Cars: The Perfect Petrol Heads Antidote to Top Gear.

After a brief spell behind a paywall Chris Harris on Cars is back and is shaping up nicely to be the perfect petrol heads antidote to Top Gear.
In his latest film, which is 40 odd minutes long (& a welcome departure from the usual 8 or 10 minute pieces) Harris and a few mates drive very fast in a selection of very fast cars, around a race track and talk about them.

...and that's about it. There are no gimmicks, no explosions, no fancy graphics, no staged 'comedy' routines and no plot. They set some lap times, shred some tyres and clearly have a great time doing it. Don't get me wrong, I love Top Gear, but it's not really a car show anymore and hasn't been for a long time, it's an entertainment show that has some cars in it..and that's just fine. This is just better, or at least I think it will be before too long.

Mickette's Christmas Gift Wish List!

Looking for some Christmas Gift inspiration for Mickette? 

iHome Rechargeable Mini Speaker Cube - €34.95 
These dinky little speakers are small but LOUD! Connect an iPhone or Smartphone to the speaker using Bluetooth and you can play any music from your phone any time anywhere! Super handy for Holidays, Festivals, anywhere around the home or garage.

Streetwize in-car 12v Heated Hair Straighteners - €16.95
This is a great invention! A 12 volt hair straighter that simply plugs into the cigarette lighter in your car! Ideal for camping, festivals, rally's or just caught in the rain while out and about. It heats in about 2-3 minutes and ceramic plates are big enough to straighten medium to long hair. While it won't be replacing my GHD at home and we definitely don't recommend you try this on the M50, it is simple to use, effective and is the ideal stocking filler gift this Christmas!!

Top Gear Tee - Shadow Stig (Ladies) V-neck Large Purple €19.95

New to MicksGarage.com "The Stig" Official Top Gear Merchandise includes a range of ladies Shadow Stig and " I am the Stig" Tee's in Purple and Black, great Christmas gift for any Top Gear Girls.

Warning these t-shirts were tested on animals. they didn't fit! 

Orla Kiely Rotating iPad  & iPhone Case Design: Car Park 
Irish fashion designer based in London Orla Kiely has created a range of iPad and iPhone cases in a range of designs! We just love this one, because well it's cars.

Beats Solo HD V2 On-Ear Headphones

MicksGarage.com have expanded our range of electrical products and we now stock a huge range of headphones including the ever popular Beats! 

We hope you've found something helpful here for your Christmas list, you can find these gifts and more in our Christmas Gift Store and don't forget to check out Mick's Money Saving Bundles, if you buy 2 Christmas gifts together you can save up to 10% off the price! 

Words by Amy

Mick's Christmas Gift Wish List

Mick's been writing his letter to Santa! Here's his Top Ten Christmas Gifts.

The Haynes V8 Engine - €39.74 Looking set to become Mick's most popular Christmas gift second year running, Haynes engines always go down a treat on Christmas morning with Petrol Heads of all ages! It's older brother the ever popular Haynes 4 Cylinder Engine and the all New younger Haynes V-Twin motorcycle engine will also be making an appearance under many trees this coming Christmas.

Top Gear The Stig Official Merchandise - From €15.95 New to MicksGarage for Christmas 2014 "The Stig" Top Gear Official Merchandise includes Gifts for all the family with t-shirts to fit "The Stig" "Stigette" and kids sizes for the "soon to be Stigs". We also have cool mugs with Top Gear stuff on them too! 

AutoGlym High Definition Wax - €60 This stuff smells AMAZING!! High Definition Wax is quite simply AutoGlym finest product and without a doubt the best car wax on the market at the moment. The presentation of this gift pack makes it a pleasure to buy or to give to anyone (Yes I have bought it as a gift & used it myself) and if your just browsing the web for a gift to impress someone who loves to spend a Saturday or Sunday morning washing and waxing their pride and joy well STOP here it is!

Draper 12V Mini Analogue Air Compressor - €19.86 This is a really handy tool for any car owner. It can be used through the cigarette lighter in your car anywhere anytime, to inflate sports equipment and most importantly car tyres. This little gadget has enough power to re-inflate a car tyre within minutes powered only by your own car! It also has a very handy torch built in on one end should you need it. It's a very practical and clever little gadget we like it alot!

Beewii Fiat 500 Bluetooth Android - €39.62 These Bluetooth remote control Fiat 500's went down a treat in the MicksGarage office. Simply download an app onto your smartphone and you can control these using your phone as a joystick. Just to note these cars are for use on Apple or Android phones, if you are buying them for a gift you must get the car that matches the phone as apple and android will not work together, just double check you have the right car before you buy.

BeeWii Bluetooth Smartphone Controlled Helicopter - €49.60 Like the BeeWii Fiat 500 the BeeWii Bluetooth Helicopter is another great little gadget that will give kids and the larger kids hours of entertainment on Christmas morning.

Parrot CK3100 LCD Bluetooth Dash Mounted Hands Free Car Kit - €128.95 This is an essential piece of kit for every driver. With new traffic laws introduced in 2014 bluetooth car kits have become more popular than ever! This neat little unit can connect to multiple handsets, and you will be able to place and receive calls in comfort and safety, without ever touching your mobile phone. With Bluetooth car phone ear pieces and accessories from as little as €10 MicksGarage.com have bluetooth accessories to suit every budget this Christmas.

Draper Cordless Drill & 33Pc Magnetic Bit Set - €49.99 Perfect gift for any DIYer! This complete drill kit is a neat and compact tool. Ideal for any household or apartment tool kit, but also strong enough for tougher garage and garden jobs. It's great value and sure to be a really handy and practical gift!

AutoGlym Car Care Gifts Packs - From €19.72 The clever chaps at AutoGlym have created some really lovely gift packs for this Christmas, most of AutoGlym's high quality cleaning products come in 3 steps. A surface preparation, conditioning and finishing or final polish step. These gift packs come in some simple options, Interior, Exterior, Wheels, and the complete kit. Packaged in some really nice and presentable gift packaging and ranging from as low as €20 they are a perfect Christmas Gift.

Draper 240mm Machine Polisher 110W 230V - €44.95 So your petrol head has a garage full of shampoos, waxes clothes etc, what do you buy them then? Simples - this Draper Machine Polisher will speed up those Car cleaning days no end. This 230 volt Machine Polisher waxes and buffs a car at up to 3000 rpm. It's easy to use shape and design will take some of the toil out of waxing and polishing cars, caravans or boats.

We hope you've found something helpful here for your Christmas list, you can find these gifts and more in our Christmas Gift Store and don't forget to check out Mick's Money Saving Bundles, if you buy 2 Christmas gifts together you can save up to 10% off the price! 

Words by Amy

Bugatti to Build The Last Ever Veyron; A 1500bhp Machine

Bugatti is a symbol of technology, power and engineering genius and it’s about to get even better. I find it hard to comprehend the specifications and abilities of supercars but the new Bugatti is going to be truly mind blowing. Who can forget when James May brought a Veyron to the Ehra-Lessien track and reached its top speed of 253mph. It made his eyes water and mine too (a little).  In fact, I just watched the video of it again and I got goose bumps. It was a moment where technology and engineering were pushed to their limits.

James May Driving the Bugatti Veyron

The new Bugatti is called Ettore Bugatti to commemorate the founder of the firm. The initial cars he produced were famous for their eloquent design, clever engineering and light weight frames. Little did he know that a car that’s capable of over 400km/h will be named after him. The design of the new Veyron will also pay tribute to one of the most famous Bugatti's ever made, the 1932 Type 41 Royale.

It will feature an updated version of the current 16 cylinder engine with hybrid technology and Bugatti are once again pushing the limits to produce a 1500bhp engine that's capable of a top speed of 408kmh. As this model will be one of the last Veyrons to be made, it comes with a price of €2.35 million. It will be revealed at the Quail Motorsports Gathering on August 17^th at Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Will someone take me there? Please!

Words by Niall

Braking Bad - Jesse from Breaking Bad on Top Gear

We all loved Breaking Bad in the MicksGarage office and that is partly down to the excellent acting from Aaron Paul who played the drug-addled Jesse Pinkman.

He certainly knows his way around the Top Gear track and perhaps that is one of the reasons he is the lead actor in the upcoming Need for Speed film.

Words by Max Bradley, An Expert in Everything! 

Top Gear Korea Helicopter Crash

During filming of Top Gear Korea, a helicopter crash was caught on camera.

The film was being made to finally give mankind an answer to the age old question of what would win in a race between a Corvette ZR1 and an AH1 Cobra helicopter.

Watch below to find out who wins, and then keep watching to see what wins between a helicopter and planet Earth.

Nobody was seriously injured in the incident.