SOME ridiculously rich person with more money than sense has just blown £9.5 million on the world's most expensive car.

La Voiture Noire – The Black Car – from French supercar maker Bugatti has been sold to an unnamed buyer. The car – which has the engine power of 20 Ford Fiestas – was built to commemorate Bugatti's 110th anniversary.

Besides all that vroom, what else do you get for your money?

We're told it combines "extraordinary technology, aesthetics and extreme luxury", has a jet-black carbon fibre body and a 1,500 horsepower 16-cylinder engine. With six exhaust pipes, it's bound to be noisy too. Experts expect it will have a top speed of 261mph.

My reaction?

So what.

I wouldn't swap this sleek, Bat-mobile-like beast for our 22-year-old Renault Laguna which cost me nothing. That's right, my old wreck was a gift. We took it off the hands of a friend who was moving abroad about five years ago. What can I tell you about the car? Well, it's blue – and super comfy, with big padded seats that you just sink into. It gets us from A to B – and in my book, that's pretty much all I require in a car.

It's not perfect. There are rips in the upholstery, the heating system is temperamental and until recently it had a large crack in the windscreen (which has now been repaired). The fuel gauge is broken, so we set the mile counter to zero every time we fill up and make sure we top up the tank every 250 miles so we are never caught out. We have a great mechanic who keeps it on the road for us, without it costing us a fortune.

One of my hubby's hobbies is to "research" cars we might buy when our 1997 Laguna finally gives up the ghost. But he quickly realised this was to be a solo occupation. Few things make my eyes glaze over quicker than sentences with the words "hatchback" "estate" "hybrid" and "boot space".

And it's eye-watering how much you have to fork out for a new car – not "new" new, but new to us. Figures being banded about by my husband vary from six grand to more than twice that much. We don't have that sort of money, and if we did, I can think of lots more to do with it.

We could even do without. We've done that before. From 2012 until the Laguna arrived, we were car less: and managed just fine. We live in the city centre and went everywhere by bike, bus or taxi. If we needed a car, we hired one for a few days.

It was surprisingly do-able, but would not have been had we lived in a remote spot.

Cars and status are often intertwined. And I have a special affection for my fella that he doesn't give a hoot about what people think of him driving around in a vehicle clearly on its last legs.

I just keep my fingers crossed that the old dear has plenty of more miles in her to come.

HAPPY International Women's Day. The fact so many people (mostly men of the MCP – male chauvinist pig – variety) object to such an event is proof enough that women still need to make a big noise about equality.

Yes, there is still work to be done (and I'm not just talking about the laundry, grocery shopping and childcare, although we will be fitting that in too.)

The gender pay gap needs to be eradicated and business needs to find ways to make it easier for women to break through the glass ceiling. These are not things that women can achieve by themselves. Women and men together need to create a more equal world: both at work and home. That means giving women the same opportunities, training and promotions as men as well as helping with the vacuuming, dishes and babysitting.

And there are more challenges too: the public, often hate-fuelled, spats between some feminists and the trans community is hugely disappointing.

Instead of burning bridges, these two groups need to be building them – and finding ways to celebrate what it means to be a woman in the 21st century.

Equality for trans people is a challenge for all of us to take on.