CAR fans are not happy, it seems!

Those who enjoy the sensations and satisfactions that come with car ownership are truly fed up with, well, many things. There's the fact that less than a third of road tax gets spent on roads, that fuel is expensive and also mostly tax, then there's insurance, rip-off garages, dodgy dealers and speed cameras.

We are under siege, they cry. What ever happened to the golden age of motoring? Well the golden age is right now. When viewed without the blurring fog of nostalgia, the past is far less rosy.

Pre-war, cars were a luxury that few could afford. Roads were not quite up to the same standard of today - and neither were the cars. If you were unfortunate enough to crash, a quite likely scenario with cable brakes, you'd have to be removed from the steering column before being buried.

From the 1950s, motoring was aimed at the general population rather than the rich and cheaper cars meant more families were getting their hands on the wheel. Can you imagine squeezing four people into something the size of an Austin Seven?

Then there's pollution - smog killed 4,000 people in 1952, and leaded petrol had another 30 years of harm to do to children's brains.

The 1960s and 1970s had more comfortable and powerful cars, better roads and decent cheap cars. However the '70s also saw the fuel crisis and the introduction of the 70mph motorway speed limit as a 'temporary' measure. Few manufacturers had solved the problem of rust and seat belts were mostly of the lap variety rather than the three-point version. In truth, cars today are safer, cleaner, more efficient and infinitely better specified. The roads are also better - even if they do seem to be perpetually ruined by roadworks, but the fact that they're crowded proves just how good the system is. It's still the most convenient and usually cost-efficient method of getting about. Not to mention the comfort and privacy your own car brings.

Obviously this is the natural course of progress, but there's nothing like a bit of pressure to move things along.

The combination of environmental factors and the strain on the road system means the boffins are having to work even harder to meet the needs of today. That's why the car you buy in 30 years time might well be entirely recyclable and produce no emissions at all, bar water.

It should also be impossible to crash, allow a great deal of personalisation and be a delight to own.

Sure, you may have to try a bit harder to find a nice twisty bit of road that's free from traffic and cameras, but that just makes the rewards even greater. So pull on your string-backed gloves, fold down the roof and enjoy the motoring world as it is, because it was a lot worse than you remember.

Belt up!

THIS month sees the introduction of laws aimed at preventing up to 2,000 child deaths or injuries a year.

Adult seat belts are designed for those more than 150cm/5ft in height with an adult bone structure. Booster cushions put the child in the right position to benefit from the adult seat belt properly.

Key changes to child safety regulations:

Children aged between 0 and 11, but less than 135cms (about 4ft 6ins) in height, must use an appropriate child restraint when travelling in the front.

Children aged between three and 11, but less than 135cms, must use an appropriate child restraint when travelling in the rear, provided there is a seat belt to secure the child restraint.

Children aged 12 or more, or children under 12 to do so if they are 135 cms or more in height, must wear an adult seat belt in the rear (or use an appropriate child restraint).

The use of rear facing child restraints where there is an active frontal air bag (unless the bag is designed not to cause injury to a child in a rear facing seat if it inflates) is prohibited.

Under threes cannot be carried in the rear unless in an appropriate restraint.

Exemptions: Children in licensed taxis or hire cars if an appropriate restraint is unavailable and in police or security or emergency service vehicles;

Threes and over who, because of an unexpected necessity, are travelling a short distance in a passenger car or light goods vehicle without an appropriate child restraint;

Threes and over in the rear of a vehicle with two other children in child restraints where there is not room for a third.

A disabled child who needs to use a disabled seat belt where none is available;

Under 14s travelling in large buses or coaches and for the under threes also in relation to small buses

Threes to 14s travelling in the rear of a small bus without child restraints must wear an adult belt if available.

New Concepts

PEUGEOT 908RC

Debut: Paris Motor Show, this month.

Appearance: Like no other Peugeot, that's for sure. As a showcase for the V12 diesel engine to debut in the firm's Le Mans racer in 2007, Peugeot created the 908 RC as a luxury limousine that offered something unique. Unquestionably it's succeeded, as the 908 RC looks like the result of a cross between a 607 saloon and a Bugatti Veyron. Just like a Labradoodle, it sounds a bad idea - but looks brilliant.

Prediction: Unfortunately, like too many previous Peugeot show cars, there will be no production version. Traditionally, no-one except the French buy big French saloons, but imagine rolling into your corporate parking space in this.

TechArt

Debut: October.

Appearance: The German Porsche specialist, TechArt, has extensively reworked the bodywork and already brutal 450bhp Porsche Cayenne Turbo engine to deliver a whopping 600bhp. The in-your-face styling includes slick bonnet vents, a taller, wider grille, bigger wheels and more front lights.

Prediction: With its heavily modified twin turbo V8 engine, the Magnum is a 4x4 which can outgun the supercar. It can accelerate to 60mph in a humbling 4.5 seconds, while the ultimate interpretation of the Cayenne will reach 183 mph - impressive for a supercar, phenomenal for a 4x4.

Speed and power freaks will find it irresistible if they've got the cash.