We have all heard the folk tales of what happens when a car is struck by lightning. I can remember a fad for trailing a strap from the rear of the car to the ground and being told that this was to “earth any lightning strikes”. It is very doubtful that lightning would bother to notice such a detail but most folklore is agreed that you are perfectly protected from lightning inside a car anyway. “It’s the tires,” we cry, you’re insulated.

But would you trust the theories enough to volunteer to be the guinea pig in a targeted lightning strike? One of the presenters of Top Gear, Richard Hammond, did just that and you can see the result by clicking on this link.

It is quite a tense experience even for the viewer, with thoughts of what would happen if something went wrong. The presenter seems quite cool, however, until after the experiment - he then starts to chatter away merrily, completely unaware of how the tension has been so visibly drained from him.

But it’s not that I blame him. I still wouldn’t volunteer for a similar test.

Always fancied driving a race car but never had the time, money or opportunity? Well, a small company in Britain is producing what amounts to a road legal race car and it is going to be made in the States by Brammo Motorsports.

It is called the Ariel Atom and is just a space frame, wheels and an engine - needless to say, it goes like a racer. In fact, Jeremy Clarkson says it’s more fun than a motor bike and he just might be right.

With the Honda Civic R engine, supercharged, it has over 500 bhp per ton and achieves 0-60 mph in 2.9 seconds. Top speed is a mere 140 mph or so but, as it has no windscreen (or body for that matter), it would be tearing off your face at that speed anyway.

As with all great cars, it is the handling that makes the real difference and the Atom just begs to be thrown around - as it should with so little weight and loads of power.

The American version will have a supercharged GM Ecotec engine but promises to be just as quick and as much fun. Save your pennies.

After the responsibility and level headedness demonstrated by my last post, it must be time to look at something totally irresponsible, insane and outrageous. How about the fastest production car in the world, the Bugatti Veyron?

Of course, it’s lovely, apart from the attempt to fit in the Bugatti grille with modern supercar styling, but they were always going to have difficulty with that - absolutely necessary, however, to persuade us that the car has some sort of remote connection with the real Bugattis of the 1920s and 1930s.

And it’s far too costly for any of us to contemplate buying one. So our interest must center around this business of it being the fastest - 253 mph is claimed. Can it really do that?

For the answer, just watch this video of Top Gear finding out.

GM Hy-Wire

Although the global warming scare is much more a matter of manipulation of the media for political ends than anything to do with scientific fact, the desire to find a more environment-friendly power source than the internal combustion engine is nothing new. As long ago as the late sixties, there was recognition that such a change would have to come and various alternatives were suggested.

The electric motor appeared then as the most likely solution and this sparked a hunt for lighter and more efficient batteries. The range of new and rechargeable batteries we can buy these days is a result of that but no truly practicable solution for the automobile has been found as yet - in fact, all seems to have gone quiet on the new battery front in recent years and I suspect the researchers may have given up on the idea.

So it was with joy that I discovered that GM have found a better answer than anything we envisaged in my youth. Forget the hybrids that still depend on gasoline for their primary power source, throw your weird batteries away and feast your eyes on the GM Hy-Wire!

This is the car of the future, the answer that makes all the alternatives look silly. In designing and building this car, General Motors’ engineers have shown that they can still think clearly and logically towards an elegant and practical solution to a problem. Be proud, America!

But you don’t have to take me at my word - I am an instant convert and we know how over-enthusiastic one of those can be. See for yourself by clicking on this link. But be prepared to be as besotted with the machine as I am - it is a truly beautiful concept and it works.