Phwoar!

NOW that I've got your attention I'd like to talk to you about new laws the Government want to bring in outlawing owning an uninsured vehicle. It won't take a moment. Honest.

I immediately baulked when I read this report in this morning's Telegraph, which says that Road Safety Minister Mike Penning wants to make owning a car that isn't insured - as opposed to just driving one - an offence.

Crumbs. I own a car that isn't insured. Chances are, if you're doing up an old classic and it's been sat solemnly in the garage over the last few months, so do you.

It may have been The Telegraph's exclusive but I was relieved when I read the BBC's slightly more accurate version a couple of hours later; yep, if your car's on a Statutory Off Road Notice, or SORN, you won't be affected.

Naturally, being a journalist myself it's probably not in my interests to point out misleading articles - I've probably written a few in my time - but if you've read The Telegraph's article and got the jitters over the idea of a fine from the DVLA, don't worry.

At present it is illegal to drive a car while uninsured. The penalty for doing so is a maximum fine of £5,000 and six to eight penalty points. The police have the power to seize, and in some cases, destroy the vehicle that is being driven uninsured.

Under the new system, it will be an offence to keep an uninsured car. But - as the Department for Transport are now at pains to point out - owners who have a Statutory Off Road Notification, enabling them to keep their uninsured car, would not be affected.

Anyway; the Porsche 918RSR is the car you see in the pic above and just happens to be a hybrid that puts out 767bhp. I'll have mine with insurance, please.