y.m.m.v

Targa Newfoundland

The second annual “Targa Newfoundland” is a six day - 2000 km rally oriented toward historic (1900-1946) , classic (1947-1976), modern (1977-today) sports cars and panamericana (1900-today).

This $4500 per car event may be the most “open minded” race one can see and participate in. I think I’ll attend next year and who knows, maybe even race.

Renault BeBop

CarDesignNews.com brings another preview from the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show, the Renault BeBop

Can you tell that Renault & Nissan are collaborating ? No ? Think Nissan Murano.

SEG! Canada

One of my colleague has started a Montreal based Segway rental shop, Seg!.

Since I think the technology is way cool, I think it prompts me to remark on how this might be a great option for warmer climates as a year-round transportation.

Hyrdogen on the Road

The Car Connection is running an article about a “solid” solution to hydrogen fuel.

Prius 2004

CanadianDriver drives the new Prius. (Say that 10 times fast)

From the onset, note the similarities with the ECHO in dash logic, aerodynamics and the shared 1.5 l engine. Or maybe the upcoming Scion xC for the “fastback” styling, really just taking a teardrop as far as logically and visually possible.

Note that Ontario gives $2000 back for buyers, British Columbia $1000 and so far Quebec zilch.

smart roadster & coupé

Daimler-Chrysler’s smart roadster & coupé Flash Mini-site UK.

Read about it at Evo UK

Accura NSX 2003

Canadian Driver’s Laurance Yap again has a fun drive in an exotic car, the 2003 NSX.

Threatened with extinction by Honda numerous times, the more then 10 year old design still shines enough to merit EVO Magazines’ top choice in 2002 as the Type R.

Flaminio Bertoni

Car Design News brings a beautiful set of pictures from the Flaminio Bertoni exhibition at the Design Museum, London.

Bertoni is the influential designer of the Citroën DS aka “Goddess”.

Ford GT chassis #10

The first Ford GT, a modern re-imaging of the legendary Ford GT40, sold for over half a million dollars at auction by Christie’s at 2003 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

Burns @ Subaru for 2004

Next year, Richard Burns (GB), the current point leader in the WRC 2003, will return to Subaru. This certainly was news to many fans. The WRC.com straw poll indicates that most people still think Petter Solberg (N) will be the dominant driver at Subaru.

All this happened because the “eminence grise”, Tommi Makinen (FIN) has called it quits and retired at age 39 with 4 world titles under his mantle.

Polo Fun

Frankfurt Motor show will introduce the “new” VW Polo Fun, a chunkier, outdoor-trimmed edition of the popular little car.

SEAT Altea

Update: VWvortex presents some nice pictures.

Instead of the stoic VW fare, the group’s Spanish brand has been extensively promoting a “Hotter” look. The new SEAT Altea Prototipo, really a pre-production unit, indicates to me an influence of the Toyota Matrix on the world of hatch-or-sedan based MPVs. See more at CarDesignNews’s Frankfurt Motor Show Preview.

2004 Daimer-Chrysler Pricing

AllPar presents the 2004 US pricing for all Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep models. Make your own judgment about value.

20 weeks

It takes 20 weeks of median family income, before taxes in the US to buy a new car. read more

Ricey Plastic

Toyota makes some car parts from biodegradable plastics made from old rice.

I would rather ferment it and make fuel. But that’s just me.

_{props to Denis for pointing this out}

ECHO Sedan 2003

CanadianDriver.com has done a small review of the revised 2003 ECHO Sedan, the “ugly duckling” car made by Toyota.

Marten Wire

^{rights belong to Reuters}

Furry animals flummox car engineers
Fri 1 August, 2003 11:55 BST

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German car engineers, at the forefront of technological innovation, are being outsmarted by small furry animals that damage thousands of cars every year by chewing through wires.

Martens, forest-dwelling weasel-like creatures with sharp teeth and bushy tails, scamper into parked vehicles at night. They nibble through ignition cables and cooling hoses, causing thousands of breakdowns a year from short-circuits and overheated engines.

“Marten damage is a problem which has spread since the end of the 1970s from Austria and southern Germany into parts of central Germany,” Ulrich Buckmann of the German drivers’ association ADAC said this week. The organisation recorded more than 16,000 breakdowns due to marten damage in 2000.

Olaf Otto, who lives in Munich, said he had to pay over 3,000 euros (1,800 pounds) for a new engine for his Opel Corsa after martens ate through cables, causing a breakdown on the motorway.

“Martens are a big problem in the Munich area and in my street they seem to go for Opels,” Otto said.

The marten-populated southern states of Bavaria and Baden Wuerttemberg, where the Black Forest is located, are also home to Germany’s prestigious carmakers Mercedes and BMW.

They boast the latest in gadgetry, but a car firm spokeswoman could only suggest hanging dog hair in the engine compartment as a deterrent.

“Carmakers can’t do anything, there are no cables in the world that are marten-proof, no chemicals to stop them and anyway, animal protection groups would kick up a fuss,” said a spokesman for DaimlerChrysler, which owns Mercedes.

Blue Beetle

So I just bumped into a used Dark Blue Beetle.

This Y2K beastie has beige cloth interior, sunroof, a TDI and 5-speed stick.

It also has 107,000 km and the used car dealer want $14,950 !

So, I went to Dodge.ca, in the lower left corner clicked on “Trade-In Value” and confirmed my suspicion using the Canadian Black Book:

2000
VOLKSWAGEN
NEW BEETLE
2D BEETLE GLS TDI
Based on the kilometers entered and the options selected, your vehicle’s classification is appraised as: Below Average.
Depending on your vehicle’s condition, the value may be appraised within the High and Low range. * less Reconditioning Costs
Low: $10,526.00     High: $12,026.00

So, should I buy this Diesel Bug for $10K ?

Hydrogen Car

Props to Lu for pointing out a great article online from the New Yorker, written in 1980 about the car industries shakeup and downsizing of cars.

Longer article then what most read online, but worth every sentence. I have acquired a taste for the “New Yorkers’” style, due to my “pusher” loaning her consumed copies. Good writing all around.

Ford 1.65 million jackpot

Meanwhile in North America Ford is recalling 1.65 million vehicles due to “driver’s side seat upper recliner to seat back frame attachment bolt fracturing on certain vehicles”.

Joy. Almost 500,000 others, which may also be counted above, have problems with the speed limited cable.

The vehicles in question:

1998-2001 Ford Explorers and Mercury Mountaineers
2001-2002 Ford Explorer Sport and Sport Trac sport utility vehicles

Survey says < ding >< ding > “Don’t buy SUVs”

To the MAX

Ford is going MAX all over European models:
- A-MAX based on the Ford Ka
- C-MAX based on the new Ford Focus
- D-MAX based on the Mondeo
- E-MAX based on the “Galaxy”

All these vehicles are mini-station wagons with some sporty looks and feel.

Is Subaru worried ? Probably not.

Frankfurt 2003

Frankfurt 2003 should stoke the fancy of a “petrol head”. New cars of various capacity and price will certainly wow the crowd, and the manufacturers must be hoping for hits, as the industry is still floundering.

Hindenburg

A retired NASA engineer and hyrdogen expert, Addison Bain, claims that evidence indicates that the Hindenburg Disaster was not primarliy caused by hyrdogen, but the airship’s skin.

Future Car

Scientific American Frontiers, hosted by Alan Alda, will feature a new episode sometime after January 2004 called Future Car that features the GM Hy-Wire.

Premium Gas

… is loosing ground in America. Calling 91 Octane premium is silly when then rest of the world has ratings up-to-and-beyond 100. Nevertheless, US buying public is avoiding the “expensive” stuff. Read the USA Today article for an excellent review of the facts and concerns.

Statistics - Sources: Energy Information Administration, American Petroleum Institute
Ave. price of gallon of premium gas: Premium gas share of all gas sold:
1993 $1.30 19.9%
1999 $1.36 16.8%
2002 $1.58 13.5%
2003 $1.80 12.1%

Hollywood Prius 2.0

Toyota organised a private test-drive of the 2nd generation Prius and invited some movie stars like Billy Crystal. Out of the 28 invitees, 23 sales were recorded. Billy and his wife each ordered one.

Hollywood “Green” advocacy in practice ?

Vegie Fuel

US military tested and clean-air advocate aprooved BioDiesel is making more news.

Nokian Renkaat

My favourite Winter Tyre maker, Nokian Renkaat, has posted good 2nd quarter results and notes a 19% investment by Japan’s Bridgestone Corp. Being focused on the “Winter Tyre” niche, the company has the healthiest profits in the industry.

Not the worse

US brands better then German when it comes to car quality ? So says this Which? magazine.

Driver.FX

Candadian Tire has a performance car-parts-shop ? Yep

SRT-4

Fascinating! MSRP $26,950 Cdn for the Dodge SRT-4

I’m stunned. This “Dodge SX 2.0”, better known as Neon, derivative has managed to squeeze an incredible amount of technology, performance and looks into that $26,950 MSRP. How in blazes did they hit such a low price ? The tires alone are worth more then $1,500.

Bravo. Though … it’s still American made.

40th

A lot of car press is talking about the 40th Anniversary of the Porsche 911, the car that ultimately made-and-almost-unmade Porsche’s fortunes. Potentially the most recognisable performance car, with a look as identifiable today as in 1963.

With a base price of $131,450 … you too can own one of the 1,963 anniversary editions.

Do check out the nice collection of wallpapers and history.

Super 7

The Caterham Seven is 30 years old this summer, so production of the Tracksport and SV 30 will be limited to only 30 cars, 15 of each. Both get a host of extras over the standard car. The former is £17,950, while the latter is £19,950. _{cnp from AutoExpress}

Make mine an Academy Roadsport Edition!

Scion Era

Scion, Toyota’s “Youth Oriented” brand, is picking up nicely for the successful car maker. The Car Connection reveals that the current sales rate has the Toyota engineers scrambling to improve production throughput. I assume the factory mentioned also make ECHO and other shared platform vehicles.