the new tech of reverse cameras... works with the steering wheel to show you where you're going with the amount of turn applied to your steering wheel... pretty cool

even more cool, it has an interlock with the stereo level, and immediately lowers the volume when Reverse is selected, and when you get within arms length of hitting something it mutes the stereo... pretty cool.

the best Nurburgring times of the top 8 fastest cars

Car and Driver magazine

London is trying to improve parking... with sensors that input to a system drivers can access to locate empty parking spots, thereby spending less time looking for one

This week, the City of Westminster, Boroughs in Manchester and Birmingham also, London’s local councils, will start embedding the first 0f 3,000 sensors into the streets. They will be in the ground by the end of March, making London the world’s first major city to adopt the long-heralded “smart parking” revolution.

motorists spend an average of 15 minutes searching for a space in Westminster—which with Parliament, the main shopping district, and dozens of tourist sites, has a legitimate claim to be the heart of London.

 If drivers know where the empty spaces are via a smartphone app, they won’t have to cruise the streets looking for one. Each sensor in the ground detects when a car is parked on the street above it.

The list of benefits is long: Apart from reducing traffic, fuel consumption, and emissions from cars, it boosts the local economy as people spend more time in shops, restaurants and offices rather than on the street.

info from http://qz.com/166182/how-london-plans-to-eliminate-the-search-for-a-parking-spot/#/h/40232,3/

the rules of VW advertising

From the tv show Top Gear, season 13

Ford has a couple sites if you want to get the latest from them

http://action.ford.com/page/s/ford-social-unsubscribe?source=68742aa1

and
http://www.behindtheblueoval.com/

what they seem to be getting across the most on this site is the better gas mileage, with the text boxes, and the origin of the Mustang with the photos

Dear Santa, Forget my previous list... I GOTTA have one of these!

Just think Segway of self powered skateboards. No pushing, pumping, or pedaling. Lean forward, it's moving forward. Lean back, and regenerative braking kicks in, slows you and if you stay leaned back, you will go back in the other direction

Onewheel :: The Self-balancing electric skateboard from Onewheel HQ on Vimeo.

http://hight3ch.com/the-one-wheel-skateboard/  says
This personal transporter should be part of our “TOP 5 Personal Transporters” list. Start-up company Future Motion is pushing for a new kind of skateboard on Kickstarter. Onewheel has the most advanced motion sensing, hub motor and battery technology available–you just won’t see it. What you’ll experience is a board that feels magical whether for fun, waiting for the surf to come up, or getting around town.

Their homepage is at http://rideonewheel.com/

They have a Kickstarter campaign to secure funding to build at least 100 units. Pledges get interesting at the US$1,299 mark, for which Future Motion is offering the first 20 Onewheels
 The Kickstarter page is over at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/4422853/onewheel-the-self-balancing-electric-skateboard  and consider that the Kickstarter cost of buying one is about 30% off the retail, maybe more, because like the Ford GT 40, these aren't going to sit in stores at MSRP, they are going to get run up for profit if current social trends have anything to do with it, bought and flipped for profit like so many gotta have it things. If they only would trade for a kidney or first born!

Gizmag covers it at http://www.gizmag.com/onewheel-electric-skateboard-ces/30345/

Yes, it's cool stuff like this that makes me wish I cold get to CES 

2 year experiment concludes, thieves steal where they aren't being watched... even by a poster of eyes.

In a two year experiment on the university campus, the academics managed to reduce thefts from the racks with the eye pictures, combined with a short anti-theft message, by 62%. And there was also a noticeable difference in places without the signs, where bike theft went up by 63%, suggesting that the crime had been displaced to other locations, rather than eliminated.

For the first year the team monitored the level of bike theft at all racks across campus for a control figure. Then they placed the signs in three locations, leaving the rest of the racks without signs. They then monitored the whole lot again for a year to see what the impact on the level of crime would be.

Full story at http://www.ncl.ac.uk/press.office/press.release/item/watching-eyes-reduce-bike-theft
image from, and story learned from http://www.rad-spannerei.de/blog/2013/10/17/poster-mit-aufmerksamen-augen-reduziert-fahrraddiebstahl-um-die-haelfte/

A study on the behavior of drivers overtaking bicyclists... wow. Nothing about the cyclist matters, drivers suck

In a recently published study by the British Universities "University of Bath" and "Brunel University" the issue of how being overtaking by motorists is affected by different remarkable clothes of bicyclists.

Measured with an ultrasonic sensor, the distance between car and cyclist with a total of 5690 overtaking cars, was modulated only with the clothing of biking subjects.

The tests were carried out with seven types of garments. In addition to the clothing types "commuter", "everyday cyclists" and "High Visible cyclists" there was the "road racers" with a fitted dress and three types of garments with different designed safety vests. The type "Novice Cyclist" carried the message "Pass Slowly" On the back. The type "police" was decorated with a police-like logo and the indication that the drive is taken up by video. The third safety vest carrier was the type of "friendly cyclists" with the request "Please Slow Down!" On the back. Except for the everyday cyclist who was wearing a hat or a baseball cap, all biking subjects had a helmet on his head.

The tests took place in daylight and good visibility, the cyclists were traveling at a speed 16-28 km / h and drove at a distance between 50 and 80 centimeters from the roadside, with no complicating conditions such as cars parked on the road or intersections.

In one to two percent of overtaking the cyclists were overhauled at a distance of 50 centimeters. This overtaking distributed uniformly to all types of garments. Contrary to expectations, "Beginners" and "Experienced road cyclists" were treated equally bad. Only the reference to the video recording and the police-like clothing motivated drivers to comply with a slightly larger average distance when overtaking.

The team led by Dr. Ian Garrard and Dr. Ian Walker concluded that cyclists can hardly do anything against dangerous overtaking. http://opus.bath.ac.uk/37890/1/Walker_2013.pdf

Found on http://www.rad-spannerei.de/blog/

this just may revolutionize bike and motorcycle locks

the above video (if it doesn't work go to http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lock8/lock8-the-worlds-first-smart-bike-lock and watch the top video) has a much better instant communication of what and why this bike lock / antitheft notification system works... better than LowJack, which doesn't let you know your vehicle has been stolen, or your car alarm (ditto) because it does both the functions, loud audible to let people in your bikes area know someone is stealing it, and hits your cell phone letting you know, and then you can use the tracker function to tell cops where it is (might not want to tangle with bike thieves yourself)

the bike lock's batteries are charged when you are riding, and the alarm is triggered in several ways, movement, the cable being cut, and sudden temp changes, like a welding torch or liquid nitrogen

if you think your bike lock is a good one, see if the videos on YouTube agree, because there are a lot here that show that most bike locks are bullshit. http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=lock%208%20bike%20lock&sm=3

and what ever you do go with, get the best you can afford, lock it as best you can


because some very cheap bolt cutters can cut through some seemingly good ubolts like Master and Schlage:


which gives me the feeling that not only is the above guy lucky no pieces hit him in his head, they flew as fast as bullets, but that Master and Schlage are no good. The most expensive chains or u bolts might be the only safe deterrant.... they'll likely cost 1/4 to 1/2 your bikes value is my guess

Rare instance of a bike thief getting caught:


learned about this on http://derstandard.at/1381370209753/Lock8-Ein-smartes-Schloss-soll-Fahrraeder-vernetzen

Who topped the list of most profit per car sold? Not the luxury brands

Toyota earned per vehicle sold more than any other mass manufacturer

The core business often becomes financial services and other sectors. How profitable the actual automobile business is, expert Ferdinand Dudenhöffer focused on the balance sheet indicators in purely operational core business. Other areas such as financial services, real estate, supply activities or special effects, depreciation and amortization, which can greatly affect the overall balance of a group, were not included.

Toyota made about 9.5% per unit, this was more than any other mass manufacturer, Hyundai Kia was second with 9.3%

translated from German at http://derstandard.at/1375626459229/Porsche-Toyota--Co-Verdienst-pro-Auto?_slideNumber=2&_seite=

HEAVY construction

Above, Liebherr T 264 weighs 400 tons, that's more than a 747

above, the Vermeer T1255 weighs 110 tons. About twice what an Abrams tanks weighs

Images and info from http://derstandard.at/1385171626381/Fett-ins-neue-Jahr-Heavy-Equipment-Calendar

Survey Says? (Richard Dawson voice)

A survey by the consulting firm KPMG shows executives estimate that out of the last 32 world auto manufacturers only six will remain permanently independent.

The rest will probably be swallowed up by stronger corporations or alliances to join forces in order to survive.

The six companies with the greatest opportunities to independence included the managers interviewed BMW, Volkswagen, Toyota, the Korean manufacturer Hyundai's sister brand Kia, as well as the Indian automaker Tata Motors and the American electric car maker Tesla.

http://derstandard.at/1388650177413/Experten-Nur-sechs-Autobauer-werden-ohne-Partner-ueberleben

Good to Be Bad: Jaguar plays up British bad-boy side for football commercials

http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2013/11/07/Jaguar-Super-Bowl-110713.aspx

I just saw the first commercial with ben Kingsley on during the football game, but I can't find it online

Convertibles, our interest in them is about gone... just like stick shifts

According to Car and Driver magazine's article in the Feb 2014 issue, new convertible registrations are only 1% of the new car market. In 2006 they were only 2%

Honda, Hyundai, Kia, and Toyota - don't make a single drop top, and they make 4.2 million cars a year

GM only makes the Camaro and Corvette in convertible

Ford? only the Mustang

Nissan? the 370Z, the Murano, and Infinity Q60

The Smart, the Fiat 500, and the Miata still are available in convertibles.

Info from Car and Driver, via R.L. Polk & Company

Most cars began as open wheel, no tops, and getting a top on them was a big deal, known as the Turret Top by GM in 1934.

In the Ferrari dealership window in Bucharest (Romania), is not a car, but a boat... the 1953 Timossi - Ferrari "Arno XI"

The Arno XI is a hydroplane inspired by Achille Castoldi in the early 1950s and built by Timossi Azzano’s Cantieri boatyard located on Lake Como. Castoldi wanted to establish a world water speed record so he persuaded then Ferrari racing drivers Alberto Ascari and Luigi Villoresi to influence Enzo Ferrari to supply him with a 4.5-litre, V12 Ferrari engine; the same engine that gave Ferrari his first Grand Prix victory with the Ferrari 375 F1 at Silverstone Circuit in 1951

 http://www.dwrenched.com Geroge realized he'd seen the boat in his home town, and went a took a couple photos of it.. it's the same raceboat I found on http://lecontainer.blogspot.com !

how about that as a coincidence!

According to http://www.autoevolution.com/news/ferrari-store-opened-in-bucharest-romania-14141.html the Bucharest store is the 2nd biggest Ferrari store in Europe, the largest being in Milan

found on http://forums.finalgear.com/formula-1/2012-formula-1-grande-premio-petrobras-do-brasil-54745/

found on http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/boat-design/ferrari-8541.html

the above two of the number 9 is from Wikipedia, and is labeled that it's in the Enzo Museum, and is the 1957 San Marco - Ferrari racing boat

because auction company websites don't leave old sales up on their website forever, but have excellent in depth historical articles, I'm going to copy and paste the article here:

• Achille Castoldi’s famed Ferrari V-12 Timossi 800 kg class racing hydroplane • Reset the world speed record in its class on 15 October 1953, at 241.708 km/h • Beautifully and painstakingly restored; engine confirmed original by Ferrari S.p.A. • Accompanied by an extensive historical file, including a copy of the U.I.M. record certificate no. 329 and Nando Dell’Orto’s original racing logbook • Unique, instantly recognisable, achingly beautiful and immensely historic

The ‘three-point’ hydroplane, devised in America during the late 1930s by Adolph and Arno Apel of New Jersey’s Ventnor Boat Works, truly revolutionised speedboat design. Elegantly simple, the Apel design divided the ‘step’ portion of the hull into two pontoon-like surfaces, or sponsons, with each on opposite sides of the boat. The boat’s propeller acted as the ‘third point’ in the equation. The tunnel between the sponsons trapped air to generate aerodynamic lift, with only the sponsons and propeller in direct contact with the water whilst the boat was at speed.

Italy’s premier speedboat racer was Achille Castoldi, a cousin of M.C. 72 designer Mario Castoldi and a highly talented driver and engineer in his own right. Beginning in 1940 with his original ‘Arno’, a 400 kg-class boat with a Picciotti-built hull and Alfa Romeo Type 158 power, Castoldi reset the world speed record at 130.517 km/h (81.10 mph). Subsequent boats in the ‘Arno’ series followed, with most powered by Alfa Romeo and at least one Maserati-powered example, and he primarily competed in circuit-type hydroplane racing. After 1951, Castoldi ended his relationship with Alfa Romeo and changed his focus to world speed-record competition, now seeking a new engine supplier for an attempt on the 800 kg class world speed record.

Castoldi’s record preparations began in 1952, when he travelled to Maranello with his two close friends, famed racing champions Alberto Ascari and Luigi Villoresi, to order a Formula 1 specification V-12 engine from Ferrari. The blessing of Il Commendatore, Enzo Ferrari, was virtually assured since Castoldi had earlier managed to save a number of Alfetta 158 race cars during the war, keeping them hidden from the occupying German forces at his factory in Abbiategrasso, near Milan.

The Aurelio Lampredi-designed Tipo 375 V-12 engine, the same unit that powered Ferrari’s Grand Prix racing cars during 1951 and achieved Ferrari’s first ever World Championship Grand Prix win with Froilan Gonzalez in 1951 and helped Ascari to earn Ferrari the World Championship in 1952, was selected to power Castoldi’s new boat. It developed some 385 bhp with 12:1 compression and a dual-magneto ignition system, driving a twin-blade propeller via a gearbox at up to 10,000 propeller revolutions.

Castoldi’s boat, dubbed ‘Arno XI’, was built to a three-point hydroplane design by Timossi Azzano’s Cantieri Timossi boatyard located on Lake Como. A beautiful example of form and function in equal parts, the hydroplane featured a solid wood-framed structure skinned by marine-grade plywood with a mahogany veneer, a strong separate metal subframe chassis to cope with the enormous power and the engine cover and cockpit exterior appropriately finished in Rosso Corsa.

Once completed, ‘Arno XI’ was shaken down at the Campione d’Italia races in January 1953, with Castoldi reaching an unofficial top speed of 124 mph, prior to attempting an officially sanctioned two-way run. Castoldi’s main competitor, Mario Verga, who received the full factory support of Alfa Romeo, went on to set a new 800 kg class speed record of 202.26 km/h (125.68 mph) with his Alfa Romeo 159-powered boat, ‘Laura’. Adding emphasis, Verga reset the record just two weeks later with a two-way top speed of 226.50 km/h (140.74). Undaunted, Castoldi had the 4.5-litre Tipo 375 F1 V-12 engine rebuilt and highly modified, with official Ferrari support, including Stefano Meazza, Scuderia Ferrari’s chief race engineer who oversaw the engine preparations for Castoldi. This time, the already highly powerful Ferrari V-12 racing engine was tuned to operate on methanol, now allowing much higher engine compression, in conjunction with twin superchargers and twin four-choke carburettors, with power output now exceeding 600 bhp, representing a power increase of some 200 bhp over the original specification!

Once upgraded and readied for competition, Castoldi made his record attempt at Lake Iseo on the morning of 15 October 1953, with Alberto Ascari and Luigi Villoresi in attendance, clearly demonstrating Ferrari’s support of the project. Now, Castoldi finally achieved his objective, with ‘Arno XI’, by breaking the speed record in the 800 kg class with a two-way average speed in the flying kilometre of 241.708 km/h (150.19 mph). Later that day, Castoldi followed up with a new record in the 24 nautical mile event by achieving an average speed of 164.70 km/h (102.34 mph).

The year following these triumphs, Achille Castoldi survived a frightful engine failure in an aircraft engine-powered, 1,700 kg Cantieri Timossi-built hydroplane. The death of his racing nemesis, Mario Verga, soon followed in an unrelated hydroplane accident, and Castoldi retired from competition. His victorious ‘Arno XI’ was placed into storage for a few years prior to acquisition in 1958 by engineer and gentleman-driver Nando Dell'Orto, who ran it in the circuit championships, where it was pitted, amongst others, against the powerful Maserati 450S V-8 driven raceboats.

Under Dell'Orto, the silhouette of ‘Arno XI’ was continually updated by the Milan-based Carrozzeria Boneschi with a very original and more aggressive engine fairing with a “shark nose” intake and a large vertical stabilising fin at the rear. As revised, ‘Arno XI’ achieved several fastest-lap records and three titles, including the European Championship in 1963. Nando Dell'Orto retired from competition in 1968, leaving ‘Arno XI’ in the huge warehouse of his paper-manufacturing plant located in the Milanese suburbs. It is here that this famous racing hydroplane was located and saved from oblivion. A painstaking restoration of this historic, record-setting hydroplane was commissioned by the new owner in the early 1990s. Photos of the boat before and during restoration are available for review in the history file

. The glorious V-12 engine was returned to Maranello, where it revived fond memories for several mechanics who had first worked on it in 1953. Engine work included the rebuilding of the two overhead camshafts and replacement of all the valves, whilst the manufacturer’s workshop reconditioned the dual four-choke carburettors. Not one vital mechanical part escaped scrutiny and appropriate treatment, including the twin superchargers that made this unique Ferrari 375 F1 engine capable of, in fact, producing up to 700 bhp during a bench test after its rebuild. However, it should also be noted that it was converted, at this time, to run on 100 Octane unleaded fuel rather than methanol to improve reliability and usability.

As for the hull, the Bisoli boatyard, located in Sirmione on Lake Garda, checked and restored the entire structure. Laminated panels were specially ordered from Canada for the construction of a new deck, a must for racers that are put under severe strain, as it contributes greatly to the rigidity of the hull. Particular care was taken in the restoration of the steering system, propeller shaft and the razor-sharp twin-blade propeller, whose speed can exceed more than 10,000 rpm. Nando Dell'Orto had exchanged the steering wheel in 1958, but thankfully, he retained the old Bugatti four-spoke steering wheel used by Achille Castoldi during his world-record attempts, and this is the same one that is mounted on the boat today.

Once carefully restored and impressively presented in its period and now in its most highly developed form under the ownership of Nando Dell’Orto, ‘Arno XI’ has returned to the water for spirited runs since 2004, and it has received honours from the Galleria Ferrari, having been welcomed by Piero Ferrari, who warmly congratulated the craft’s present owner for the thoroughness, authenticity and high quality of the restoration of this unique, record-setting Ferrari V-12-powered hydroplane racer, an effort truly commensurate with the stature of this legendary craft. The hard work has included years of extensive historical research to collect a truly rich body of documentation and photographs accompanying the sale of ‘Arno XI’, including technical worksheets from Ferrari’s Maranello engine shop, dated September 1953. Notably, Ferrari Classiche has recently confirmed with RM Auctions that the Tipo 375 F1 V-12 engine, number G.P. 52/1, currently installed in ‘Arno XI’, is indeed original, and a declaration confirming this fact accompanies the sale of this record-setting hydroplane. http://www.rmauctions.com/lots/lot.cfm?lot_id=1049320

the damn Chevy Z codes on the side of truck beds

Z83 for a solid, smooth ride,
Z85 for enhanced handling and trailer towing,
Z71 for enhanced off-road capability,
Z60 for street performance with 20-inch wheels

1870's railroads.. a creation of cargo transportation, a lot of kerosense for home and business lighting, until Rockefeller invented pipelines

Then the railroads that had been a boom industry, collapsed in 1873

360 railroads were making great profit, right up to the oil pipelines getting put in from the oil fields in the eastern state to Cleveland, and then the crash took and put 1/3rd out of business. The stock market panic was so bad they shut down the stock exchange for 10 days. 

Fed up with the cost of Sirius XM? I was. Problem solved

Just a couple weeks before your subscription is about to expire, call them up. Ask them how much for the next year, then tell them that's far more than the service is worth to you, and to cancel your renewal. They'll ask why, and you tell them you will go without instead of paying so much, as you've already had friends pay 25 for 6 months instead of the regular 175 a year, and anything they'll sell for 25 for 6 months will do. They counter with the usual song and dance about how your account isn't due for any specials. So tell them fine, just go ahead and cancel as you aren't convinced that 175 a year is worth it. Then they'll counter that though they can't offer you 6 months at 25, they'll go 5 months at 20 bucks.

and there you go. 20 bucks instead of (did the math on a calculator) $72.92

they would prefer to charge you 15 a month http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2013/05/advice-for-all-xmsirius-subscribers.html

the Fido Futureliner, purchased from GM for 17 thou, sold later at auction for 4.3 million

photo found on http://truquetructruk.tumblr.com,

the number 11 Futureliner was bought by a consortium, used to advertise a cell phone company.

information about the Futureliners can be found at http://www.examiner.com/article/the-gm-futurliner-a-poignant-reminder-of-a-bygone-era

toy companies... make the most cars, and tires

Mattel makes the most cars.