People always go on about how depressing January is, but I’ve always felt February to be much worse. Gone is the optimism of the new year; only to be replaced by potential heartbreak two weeks in.

Trust Beaulieu, though, to offer salvation in the form of Things To Do.

It’s called February Fun; and if you’re anything like me, you’ve been sold on the name alone. God, I love alliteration.

So what’s going on? How about James Bond? That do anything for you?

Bond in Motion showcases 50 original vehicles from the James Bond franchise. It’s the largest exhibition of its kind ever to be staged anywhere in the world, featuring some of the best-loved and most iconic vehicles from the films.

What vehicles? Only the Lotus Esprit S1, affectionately nicknamed ‘Wet Nellie’ from The Spy Who Loved Me; and the Rolls-Royce Phantom III used in Goldfinger.

And you can follow a special trail around the exhibition and “exercise your code-cracking skills” (yes please!) for the chance to win a Bond goody bag! Then you can have your picture taken in a genuine Bond vehicle – GOD I wish I lived closer.

There’s also an Army Commando course care of the Marchwood based 17 Port & Maritime Regiment. There you can kit yourself out in army camouflage before joining real soldiers on a patrol exercise, have fun on an inflatable assault course and – dear lord! – test your aim on a Laser Shotgun Range!

Not forgetting the National Motor Museum, which boasts over 250 vehicles and the World of Top Gear!

And the “On Screen Cars” exhibition! New for 2012, it showcases a number of TV and film favourites such as Del Boy’s iconic Reliant Regal from Only Fools and Horses, Mr Bean’s Lime green Mini and – ho yes – Chitty. Chitty. Bang Bang.

Why not? It sounds incredible, doesn’t it?

Here’s a date for your diary. And, if you’re of a certain disposition (to which I can fully, fully relate)  – it might be the first “big deal” of 2012.

January 17th 2012 will see the opening of an exciting new exhibition of no less than 50 James Bond vehicles at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu.

It will be the largest exhibition of its kind staged anywhere in the world and will celebrate the 50th year of existence for James Bond films – and the 40th anniversary of Beaulieu’s world-famous National Motor Museum!

Among the vehicles now arriving for the exhibition are a number that have never before been seen in public. These include the Ford Mustang Mach 1 from Diamonds Are Forever, villain Zukovsky’s Rolls Royce Silver Shadow II from The World Is Not Enough and the vintage 1962 Rolls Royce, pushed into a lake by May Day and Zorin with Bond still inside in A View to a Kill.

Other exhibits on public view for the first time include the ‘Burial-At-Sea Bed’ from You Only Live Twice, the Union Jack Parachute which villain Gustav Graves used when he landed on The Mall and the Surfboard with concealed weapons and ammunition from Die Another Day.

Also on display will be the Casino Royale Skyfleet S570 model, based on a Boeing 747, and original ‘Pig’ from The Living Daylights, used to smuggle Koskov across the border through the Siberian Pipe Line.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!

“Unmissable” is, I think, the word here.

Who among us would not want to own a legendary Aston Martin DB5? A car that is identifiable with fictional spy James Bond as well as British automotive culture, these vehicles are prized possessions worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. However, when such a vehicle is owned by The Beatles’ own George Harrison the price as well as popularity skyrockets even higher.

With a total of 1,023 vehicles ever produced, this model is an exquisite example of 1965 Aston Martin engineering.  However, those of you who are eagerly taking out your chequebooks will be disappointed to learn that the car sold on Wednesday for £350,000 ($547,400). Certainly no small fee, some lucky collector will certainly enjoy this one of a kind find.

The history of the vehicle is traced directly to George Harrison himself. In fact, he was the one that purchased it brand new on January 1, 1965. Since the Beatles disintegration in 1970 the car spent the majority of its life in a Tokyo museum as well as in the hands of a private collector.

The London based auction house Coy’s said that it was one of their “True Greats” auction event. As such, the vehicle felt right at home next to a Cord 810 Phaeton owned by Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page and a Mercedes Benz 540K owned by F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone. While they initially estimated its worth between £225,000-£260,000, it certainly surpassed that by a large margin.

Little is known about who won the vehicle but sources suggest that it was purchased by a Beatles fan from Houston, Texas. MSN auto’s suggested that the individual who purchased it plans to use the car in order to benefit Christian charities.

The DB5 is the second Beatles member car to go on sale this year. In fact, in February of this year John Lennon’s 1965 Ferrari 330 GT 2+2 coupe managed to turn some heads. A gorgeous car in its own right, the baby blue Ferrari was hand picked by Lennon and continues to be in remarkable condition.

Owning a car of this nature must seem quite exciting. Indeed, it is like stepping into an important part of history. With the owner certainly happy with his or her decision, let us hope that the vehicle is kept in its condition so that future generations can enjoy it.

The Porsche Cayman R has been given the title of Britain’s Best Driver’s Car for 2011 after winning the annual contest run by Autocar magazine.

The comparison test saw eleven of this year’s most exciting new cars up against each other on public road and racetrack to decide which one offers the greatest thrill for its driver.

The eleven cars tested were worth almost £900,000 in total.

The Cayman R’s competition included: McLaren MP4-12C, Mercedes CLS64 AMG, Vauxhall Corsa VXR, Renault Mégane Trophy, Caterham Supersport, Aston Martin Vantage S, Jaguar XKR-S, Lotus Evora S and BMW 1M.

For the six judges from Autocar’s experienced road test team, it was the £51,728 Cayman R’s completeness; steering and ride that made it stand out.

In second place was the Caterham Seven Supersport. Priced at £22,995, the Caterham was also one of the cheapest cars in the contest.

In third place was the Aston Martin V8 Vantage S, with the 911 GT3 RS coming fourth this time around.

The £168,500 McLaren MP4-12C only came sixth place in the test, one place behind the Lotus Evora S.

Britain’s Best Driver’s Car judge, and Autocar’s editor, Steve Sutcliffe, said: “The Porsche Cayman R’s steering is about as sweet as it gets and the ride is 150 times better than it has any right to be considering how little body movement there is when you’re really going for it.

“Right now this car is as good as it gets when it comes to pure driver satisfaction. And that’s saying something when the opposition is as good as it is.”

What’s the UK’s coolest brand? Is it Apple? Ubuntu? No. What then? Warburtons? Tesco? King’s Mill? McVitties?

None of the above. And you know it. Of course you do – for having clicked through a certain link to get here, you’re already aware that for an unprecedented fifth time in six years, Aston Martin has been awarded the prize of the UK’s coolest brand.

Well done, Aston Martin.

They’ve once again topped a list comprising of an array of leading international contemporary design-driven brands. They beat Apple, they beat Bang & Olufsen, and they beat every single other leading automotive brand. Indeed, that they were also voted the top automotive brand makes this a double victory for them.

Well done, Aston Martin.

Stephen Cheliotis, Chief Executive, The Centre for Brand Analysis and Chairman of the CoolBrands Council says: “Smooth, sexy and sophisticated; British built, high quality and hand finished, let’s be honest, young or old, male or female, opinion former or British public, who wouldn’t aspire to own what is truly the coolest car on the road. Number one in five of the last six years, this British icon is truly the coolest of the cool.”

CoolBrands was established in 2001 and, since then, they’ve made it their mission to canvass the opinions of experts and consumers to identify the coolest brands in the UK. Though they don’t seem to have anything approaching a definition of “cool”, the consensus seems to be based upon a combination of style, innovation, authenticity, originality and desirability.

There were some big names on the panel this year including Jessie J, Rob da Bank and Sadie Frost. Ho, to have been a fly on the wall during that council.

10,000 brands were initially identified which were narrowed down to a shortlist of 1,500. Of these the panel and consumers were then asked to vote in order to produce a top 500 of the most highly rated brands.

And Aston Martin came out on top.

Well done, Aston Martin.

The past decade has seen Aston Martin transformed from a small-scale manufacturer of specialist sports cars to one of the world’s best-known luxury brands. From the  One-77 supercar and the V12 Zagato to the Cygnet (pictured); from the powerful Vantage range and new Virage to the exquisite DB9, DBS and Rapide, every Aston Martin endeavours to express the core values of Power, Beauty and Soul.

The Aston Martin range was expanded further at this year’s Frankfurt Motor Show, where the company unveiled the striking new DBS Carbon Series.

Well done, Aston Martin.

Commencing this week, 2011 will see the ninth instalment of the London Design Festival, and already it’s being described as “the largest and most significant yet”. 180 partners and 250 events will celebrate that creative hub which doubles as our nation’s capital.

Aston Martin will be supporting the London Design Festival VIP Programme with a formidable fleet of chauffeured four-door Rapide sports cars and Tailor-Fit Cygnet city cars. They’re to drive guests to a specially curated series of Festival highlight events which are supposed to provide an insight into the world of design in London in 2011.

But Aston Martin aren’t content to merely oil the wheels backstage. No, they’re also set to create a distinctive display of their latest model range – including the recently launched Virage and V8 Vantage S models – at the entrance to Multiplex at The Dock.

What’s Multiplex at The Dock? Well, it’s an event hosted by famed international designer Tom Dixon at Portobello Dock. Sounds good!

The London Design Festival VIP programme runs from Monday 19 through to Friday 23 September 2011 and Multiplex at The Dock runs from Monday 19 through to Sunday 25 September 2011.

You should go, you’d like it.

Ever wanted to be Steve McQueen in ‘Bullitt’? remember those ‘Starsky & Hutch’ and ‘French Connection’ car chases? Were you the driver in your dreams?

Back in 1998, Atari tried tried to emulate that feeling with a computer game called ‘Driver’ (that spawned a couple of sequels), but it actually ended up as, if I was being kind, a pretty rubbish version of Grand Theft Auto if GTA had been half as good as actually was.

But now, under the guiding auspices of Ubisoft our hero, cop John Tanner, has had a load of development cash thrown at him to try and get a criminal called Charles Jericho to jail.

So far, so good. But Jericho escapes and rams Tanner’s car with the prison van, putting our hero in a coma in hospital. End of game?

No, just end of belief.

In hospital Tanner discovers he can leave his body and put himself into the bodies of different drivers around San Francisco, enabling him to do almost anything. Whereas we, as normal immoral human beings with the ethics of a polecat, would rob banks and raid pubs, Tanner decides to find Jericho and return him to custody.

Just like real life then?

Driver: San Francisco this time round has managed to get a licence deal on 125 cars, from a classic 1951 Hudson Hornet to the Pagani Zonda Clique, with (deep breath) Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, Cadillac, Dodge, Ford, Chevrolet, Lamborghini, Maserati, VW, Ruf, Pontiac, Nissan and McLaren amongst a few others. And amongst that there’s a plethora of cars that you’ll never be able to drive in real life, but here, it’s paaaaarty time!

208 miles of road include the Golden Gate Bridge, Bay Bridge and parts of Mavin County and Oakland, and 9 different game modes in Multiplayer too!

Of course, there’s plenty of people trying to stop you catching your man but you can use other drivers in other cars to block them off as you zoom around the streets; and you’ve always got your trusty sidekick Tobias Jones alongside you.

Every completed story chapter opens up a new part of San Francisco to ‘play’ in and you buy garages, cars and upgrades (complete with supernatural boosts, obviously) all through Tanner. Movie tokens can also be gained that you can use to action special missions and those garages that you own can earn you money; – well, sort of. You actually earn WP (willpower) which you can use to get Tanner out of his coma.

So, whatever vehicle you decide on, from police car, camper and taxi to monster truck, rally car and tow truck, you’ll have to learn how to use them, drive them and utilise them for your own needs to complete missions, tasks, dares races and pursuits.

(There’s also a collector’s edition available that offers a toy replica of a 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T 440 Six Pak (which is actually Tanner’s car), a map of San Francisco with details of the 80 dares that you can access around the city, an in-game multiplayer mode with 3 exclusive cars (1963 Aston Martin DB5), 1972 Lamborghini Miura and 1966 Shelby Cobra 427) and 4 single player race challenges: – Mass Race where you try and escape the whole San Fran police force, Relay Race where you change cars mid race to win, Russian Hills Race and Taxi Race.)

Tonight, the Streets of San Francisco are yours – at least for a few decades.

Car prices range quite widely in the world market. While most of us are confortable in our moderately priced hatchback or sedans, the exotic car market tends to be slightly more lucrative. Familiar brands like Bugatti, Ferrari, and Lamborghini immediately come to mind when we think of astronomically priced vehicles, with some old models costing more money than god could earn. A recently compiled list has put together the most expensive in the world, showing how an investment in one of these vehicles can truly pay off.

With so many luxury vehicles on the market, it’s interesting to note that the most lucrative sale occurred this year. The car in question was a Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa Prototype, which sold for $16.4 million. While it was certainly a one of a kind model, the price paid for this vehicle verges on the immoral. Second on the list is another Ferrari Testa Rossa, albeit an older model from 1957. This beauty sold for less than the previous Ferrari but still broke records with its $12.4 million dollar price tag. The third, a 1961 Ferrari 250 SWB California, and forth, a 1931 Bugatti Type 41, both sold for around $10 million, with the fifth, a 1957 Aston Martin DBR2 selling for slightly less.

While most of us have been affected by the recession and could not dream of purchasing such a vehicle, there are a select few that have maintained their considerable wealth. Emmanuel Sauz has complied a list of the top 0.1% wealthy individuals in America, showing that there has been an increase from the average $1.2 million in 1985 to $3.9 million in 2008. This market is dependent on such ‘lucky’ individuals, ultimately relying on them to keep it moving.

It is not surprising to see that both charts are ultimately comparable, showing ever more clearly a widening of social gaps. The surge in wealth can be directly linked with the boom of the stock market and the creation of the Internet. However, this trend, rather than behaving proportionately to the losses following the 2008 recession, has acted much differently for the 0.1% of the population.

Who knew that cars could potentially act as a litmus test for our economic woes. It will be interesting to see how the development of the global economic system will effected the luxury market in the next few years and if the ever greater rise in their cost will continue on.