Porsche following Audi, pulls factory team out of ALMS
by Drew Phillips on Dec 15th 2008 at 3:34PM
Click above for a high-res gallery of the ALMS race at Laguna Seca
The American Le Mans Series took another blow this past weekend with announcement that Porsche is pulling out of the P2 category, although it will continue to support the 911 GT3 RSR in GT2. This follows Audi's announcement that they will not compete in the series after the 12 Hours of Sebring in March. The possibility of private entries for both Audi and Porsche still remains, although it now looks as though Acura will be the favorite in the prototype categories with both P1 and P2 entries. Mazda has also stepped up its efforts for 2009, joining forces with Dyson Racing for a two-car P2 program. More on Porsche's announcement and the status of the ALMS series following the jump.
Gallery: 2008 ALMS at Laguna Seca
Photos copyright ©2008 Drew Phillips / Weblogs, Inc.
[Source: ALMS]
PRESS RELEASE:
It's been a roller coaster of a week for the American Le Mans Series. Last Friday, Audi served up a curve ball worthy of Sandy Koufax when, seemingly out of the blue, it revealed it would not compete in the 2009 Series after the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida. Coming on the heels of the not-unexpected news that Porsche had elected not to compete in LMP2 next year on a factory level, Audi's announcement was - if not devastating - worrisome news.Seven days later, however, Mazda and Dyson Racing confirmed they will join forces in 2009 for a two-car LMP2 effort. While Mazda's decision to double its effort with one of the Series' top independent teams hardly balances-out the loss of two manufacturers who regularly fielded six prototypes in recent seasons, it goes a long way to nullify the perception that the Series is hemorrhaging manufacturers. In fact, given that BMW confirmed its plans for a GT2 program a fortnight ago and that Porsche's commitment to GT2 remains steadfast, the number of auto makers committed to the '09 schedule remains essentially unchanged from last year. And with a new, two-car LMP1 program and a continuing (if reduced) LMP2 effort, Acura is more committed to the Series then ever.Still, there's no denying prototype racing circa 2009 will lack some of the pizzaz of recent seasons. Where once Porsche and Acura went toe-to-toe in an LMP2 battle that, often as not, threatened Audi (and occasionally Peugeot) for overall victory, now it will be a surprise if Acura does not win more or less at its leisure in LMP1 with any opposition from LMP2 for the overall victory offered by Mazda and, er, Acura. On the other hand, GT2 figures to be more fiercely-contested ever, what with the welcome addition of BMW and (after Le Mans) Corvette with ANOTHER manufacturer in the wings. Indeed, this figures to be a dream season for GT2: not only a battle royal among a host of the world's leading auto makers, but an opportunity to emerge from the shadows of the prototypes.
No two ways about it, though, Audi will be missed. Just why the German automaker opted for a Sebring-only American Le Mans Series program this year is hard to define. Audi was sending all the right signals to the Series last year, from its less than top-secret decision to develop a successor to the mighty R10 TDI to Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich's upbeat comments at the post-season banquet about competing with Acura in 2009. While the worldwide economic meltdown is an obvious reason, nowhere in its official statements did Audi even mention the worrisome economic environment as a factor in its decision. Some have opined there must be more to this than meets the eye; that Audi would hardly have taken on the design and development of the R15 just to race at Sebring and Le Mans. And if Audi's '09 focus is beating Peugeot in Turbo Diesel Smackdown III at Le Mans, wouldn't competing in the American Le Mans Series after Sebring be the best way to develop the R15?Not necessarily. For after Sebring come St. Petersburg, Long Beach and Miller Motorsports Park - the latter the only one of the three on a pure road circuit and thus the only one remotely close to approximating the environment of le Sarthe. Perhaps the plan is to dispense with those street races and focus on Le Mans in '09 before embarking on a more ambitious program for 2010 - a variation on Audi's modus operandi with the R10 which, it will be recalled, debuted at Sebring in '06, was replaced by the venerable R8 at Houston, Mid-Ohio and Lime Rock, then returned to complete the post-Le Mans part of the schedule prior to a complete seasons in '07 and '08.Then again, some have connected the dots and concluded Audi has other fish to fry in North America, namely an IndyCar Series that is actively pursuing additional manufacturers for the 2011 season, the centennial of the Indianapolis 500. Audi's name has been frequently mentioned in association with the ICS; indeed, Audi is widely seen as the manufacturer most likely to join Honda competing at the pinnacle of American open wheel racing. What is known, however, is that Mazda is taking what was already the most comprehensive commitment to American racing by an automotive manufacturer to the next level. To its support of grass roots competition, the MX-5 Cup, Skip Barber National and MazdaSpeed Challenge series, Star Mazda and Formula Atlantic, now add a top shelf prototype program to which the stars of the MazdaSpeed Motorsports Development ladder can aspire...and rest assured Audi's departure hardly leaves the American Le Mans Series manufacturers cupboard bare.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Friday, October 17, 2008
One of Big 3 Might Not Survive
Daniel Howes: Commentary
One of Big 3 may not survive
The truth about Detroit's painful automotive transformation, marked by new products, concessionary labor deals, asset sales, plant closings and job cuts, is that none of it will be enough soon enough.
Instead, a global credit crisis, plunging consumer confidence and abysmal corporate finances are forcing once-proud companies and their senior executives to flail for even more disruptive answers. They won't be any easier to find than back in the 1950s, when Detroit's independent automakers -- Packard and Studebaker, Nash and Hudson -- hastily married up in an effort to fend off the market power of General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co.
They failed. Today's thinking atop the automakers: Do almost anything to avoid bankruptcy, dismembering operations, invalidating decades of promises to employees and retirees, gutting a 70-year relationship with the United Auto Workers and staining the legacies of men named Ford Jr. and Mulally, Wagoner and Nardelli.
The details of a would-be "merger" between GM and Chrysler LLC or whoever else, or the fact that GM also talked to Ford, are far less important than confirmation that Chrysler's owners want out and that GM is desperately looking for a Plan B because it is running out of cash and time, which these days are one and the same thing.
How else to read GM's feeble attempt to knock down reports of tie-up talks with Chrysler and Ford? Or the implication that increasingly dire circumstances could force it to seek a "bailout" from the feds? Or Barack Obama's call for speeding low-cost loans to Detroit's automakers? Or the fact that GM is asking two Detroit pension funds to buy its Renaissance Center headquarters and then lease it back -- all so the General can pocket somewhere between $250 million and $500 million?
All options are options. You know things are serious, that GM's cash burn is accelerating and its options are limited, when a presidential nominee ups the bailout ante Monday and GM's CFO last week personally makes an investment pitch to pension reps for Detroit's cops, firefighters and city employees.
Another reality: Chrysler's owner, Cerberus Capital Management LP, wants to make a deal -- with anyone -- that will free it from the black hole that is a Detroit-based automaker. Lest there be any doubt, the private equity shop would gladly sacrifice Chrysler, its employees and retirees to GM's corporate ax if it can extricate itself from an industry it never fully understood.
Using the word "merger" to describe a combination of GM and Chrysler is verbal dishonesty of the worst kind. Whole swaths of Chrysler engineering, manufacturing and product development would be collapsed into GM; redundant support staffs would be trimmed; more plants would be closed and more jobs cut; Chrysler communities would be devastated.
And GM would eliminate a competitor in a "neutron bomb" kind of deal that eliminates jobs and the people in them but leaves valued hard assets and, presumably, Chrysler's corporate cash hoard intact. Which is the point.
Chrysler wouldn't be merging with GM so much as be submitted for its own execution. In exchange, Cerberus would assume total control of GM's GMAC finance arm, a business the financial engineers at Cerberus better understand and assume will return someday to normalcy and profitability.
The Big Lie in all this is how disingenuous Cerberus has been since the get-go: Cerberus's commitment to Chrysler, reiterated repeatedly by its hired hands and founder Stephen Feinberg, apparently lasts only as long as they say it does -- that is, long enough for Cerberus to cut its losses and for CEO Bob Nardelli and his top boys in Auburn Hills to reap their change-in-control payouts.
GM needs more brands, more plants and more dealers like it needs another credit crunch. Would the incremental volume of, say, merging Dodge Ram pickups with Chevy Silverados or combining the Chrysler minivan platform with GM's crossovers -- a multi-year undertaking -- deliver revenue worth waiting for? And would it come too late?
GM's directors aren't keen to embrace a Chrysler deal with Cerberus because they realize the remedy for what ails GM won't come from swallowing a competitor. It'll come from buying enough time to survive the imminent shakeout because -- and I wish I could say otherwise -- one of Detroit's Big Three may not.
Daniel Howes' column runs Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. He can be reached at (313) 222-2106 or dchowes@detnews.com.
One of Big 3 may not survive
The truth about Detroit's painful automotive transformation, marked by new products, concessionary labor deals, asset sales, plant closings and job cuts, is that none of it will be enough soon enough.
Instead, a global credit crisis, plunging consumer confidence and abysmal corporate finances are forcing once-proud companies and their senior executives to flail for even more disruptive answers. They won't be any easier to find than back in the 1950s, when Detroit's independent automakers -- Packard and Studebaker, Nash and Hudson -- hastily married up in an effort to fend off the market power of General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co.
They failed. Today's thinking atop the automakers: Do almost anything to avoid bankruptcy, dismembering operations, invalidating decades of promises to employees and retirees, gutting a 70-year relationship with the United Auto Workers and staining the legacies of men named Ford Jr. and Mulally, Wagoner and Nardelli.
The details of a would-be "merger" between GM and Chrysler LLC or whoever else, or the fact that GM also talked to Ford, are far less important than confirmation that Chrysler's owners want out and that GM is desperately looking for a Plan B because it is running out of cash and time, which these days are one and the same thing.
How else to read GM's feeble attempt to knock down reports of tie-up talks with Chrysler and Ford? Or the implication that increasingly dire circumstances could force it to seek a "bailout" from the feds? Or Barack Obama's call for speeding low-cost loans to Detroit's automakers? Or the fact that GM is asking two Detroit pension funds to buy its Renaissance Center headquarters and then lease it back -- all so the General can pocket somewhere between $250 million and $500 million?
All options are options. You know things are serious, that GM's cash burn is accelerating and its options are limited, when a presidential nominee ups the bailout ante Monday and GM's CFO last week personally makes an investment pitch to pension reps for Detroit's cops, firefighters and city employees.
Another reality: Chrysler's owner, Cerberus Capital Management LP, wants to make a deal -- with anyone -- that will free it from the black hole that is a Detroit-based automaker. Lest there be any doubt, the private equity shop would gladly sacrifice Chrysler, its employees and retirees to GM's corporate ax if it can extricate itself from an industry it never fully understood.
Using the word "merger" to describe a combination of GM and Chrysler is verbal dishonesty of the worst kind. Whole swaths of Chrysler engineering, manufacturing and product development would be collapsed into GM; redundant support staffs would be trimmed; more plants would be closed and more jobs cut; Chrysler communities would be devastated.
And GM would eliminate a competitor in a "neutron bomb" kind of deal that eliminates jobs and the people in them but leaves valued hard assets and, presumably, Chrysler's corporate cash hoard intact. Which is the point.
Chrysler wouldn't be merging with GM so much as be submitted for its own execution. In exchange, Cerberus would assume total control of GM's GMAC finance arm, a business the financial engineers at Cerberus better understand and assume will return someday to normalcy and profitability.
The Big Lie in all this is how disingenuous Cerberus has been since the get-go: Cerberus's commitment to Chrysler, reiterated repeatedly by its hired hands and founder Stephen Feinberg, apparently lasts only as long as they say it does -- that is, long enough for Cerberus to cut its losses and for CEO Bob Nardelli and his top boys in Auburn Hills to reap their change-in-control payouts.
GM needs more brands, more plants and more dealers like it needs another credit crunch. Would the incremental volume of, say, merging Dodge Ram pickups with Chevy Silverados or combining the Chrysler minivan platform with GM's crossovers -- a multi-year undertaking -- deliver revenue worth waiting for? And would it come too late?
GM's directors aren't keen to embrace a Chrysler deal with Cerberus because they realize the remedy for what ails GM won't come from swallowing a competitor. It'll come from buying enough time to survive the imminent shakeout because -- and I wish I could say otherwise -- one of Detroit's Big Three may not.
Daniel Howes' column runs Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. He can be reached at (313) 222-2106 or dchowes@detnews.com.
Other Chrysler Suitors... as if GM wasn't bad enough!
GM not only Chrysler suitor
Renault-Nissan, Fiat, Tata have been in contact; Cerberus says it's open to making a deal
Christine Tierney and David Shepardson / The Detroit News
Cerberus Capital Management LP began entertaining offers for Chrysler less than a year after acquiring the smallest and most vulnerable of Detroit's automakers.
In recent months, as the industry's outlook has worsened, Cerberus officials have discussed deals involving Chrysler LLC with General Motors Corp. and with the Renault-Nissan alliance, according to sources familiar with the negotiations. They also have had contacts with Fiat SpA of Italy and India's Tata Motors, the sources said.
After news of the GM-Cerberus talks broke Friday, Chrysler Chairman and CEO Bob Nardelli confirmed to employees Monday that the company was talking to potential partners.
"I can tell you that we have approached and have been approached by third parties who are interested in exploring future possibilities with Chrysler," he said in a note to employees.
Sources close to the negotiations say most of the discussions have been on hold since the recent turmoil in the financial markets.
Compared with the merger frenzy of the late 1990s, the tone of the talks is more cautious and guarded, the sources said. But some of them said Cerberus seemed eager to conclude a deal.
Delphi Corp. Chairman Robert S. Miller told The Detroit News on Monday that the talks between carmakers reflected the "serious financial pressures the industry is facing."
With U.S. auto sales tumbling this year to their lowest level in more than 15 years, and Detroit's automakers all losing money, Miller said there was mounting "pressure toward consolidation, just like we saw in the steel industry or the airline business."
Now privately owned, Chrysler does not publish its financial results. But the automaker has suffered the sharpest sales drop of any major player in the U.S. market. Its sales have fallen 25 percent so far this year, twice the rate of the overall market's decline.
Most of the discussions involving Chrysler arose out of its product-sharing negotiations with other automakers, such as Nissan Motor Co. and Volkswagen AG.
But the talks with Nissan expanded beyond vehicle projects in February, when Nissan, Chrysler and Cerberus officials met in Japan to discuss the possibility of a deeper relationship. Cerberus executives have been leading the negotiations with Renault-Nissan since the late spring.
Cerberus, Renault, Nissan and Fiat declined to comment.
But Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Renault SA and Nissan, has sought for a long time to add a North American partner to the French-Japanese alliance.
Sources familiar with the talks say Ghosn is monitoring the discussions dispassionately, while Nissan Executive Vice President Carlos Tavares is pushing for a deal. Ghosn's No. 2 at Renault, Patrick Pelata, is said to be cool to the idea and opposed to assuming the risks of an equity stake. Renault is investing more than $1 billion in Russia's AvtoVAZ.
The sources said "multiple scenarios" have been discussed. Estimates of savings resulting from any combination of the carmakers' automotive operations are "certainly encouraging," though not on the scale of the benefits that would have been generated by the Renault-Nissan-GM deal proposed two years ago, one of the sources said.
At the Paris Car Show earlier this month, Ghosn said the recent shocks to the markets and banking system had made merger and acquisition activity less likely, not more. "I think that initiatives, in terms of alliances, are frozen for a very simple reason: Everyone is scared of credit crunch and cash problems," he told reporters.
While GM's management opposed a link-up with Renault-Nissan in 2006, Chairman Rick Wagoner and President Fritz Henderson are interested in exploring a deal with Chrysler, said industry sources. The discussions, which began about a month ago, have been described as preliminary.
However, members of GM's board are questioning the logic of combining two struggling automakers, said a source familiar with the board discussions.
Industry analysts say the shift in the thinking of top GM executives reflects profound changes in the industry that have darkened the challenging prospects for Detroit's automakers.
"For the U.S. automakers, already wounded by dramatic U.S. sales declines, falling market share, eroding mix, rising commodity and regulatory costs, and weakening balance sheets, the latest blows to global markets have all the appearances of being fatal," Deutsche Bank analyst Rod Lache wrote in a report issued Monday.
"At this point, we do not believe that U.S. automakers have the internal means to avert a liquidity crisis. They simply cannot reduce costs or capital spending sufficiently, without causing additional impairment to their businesses," he said. "Media reports over this weekend indicating that GM had initiated merger talks with Ford (Motor Co.) and that it is now in discussions with Chrysler reinforce our belief that U.S. automakers have run out of internal options. Therefore, they have begun to seek external sources of savings and liquidity."
The deterioration in the U.S. auto industry began shortly after Cerberus acquired Chrysler from Daimler AG in August 2007 for $7.2 billion.
"I don't think when they put this deal together that they had any inkling what this industry was shaping up to be," said Joe Phillippi, president of AutoTrends Consulting Inc. in Short Hills, N.J. "I think they were totally blindsided by the fall in the market."
With a preponderance of large vehicles in its lineup, Chrysler was badly hurt by the surge in fuel prices at the start of the year. The credit squeeze compounded its problems, Phillippi said.
Cerberus owns many manufacturing firms. But the New York-based private equity firm was unlikely to be a long-term investor in Chrysler, Phillippi said. Its founder "Stephen Feinberg is a financier."
One person briefed on the talks said Cerberus expected to retain a stake in Chrysler in the event of a sale. The firm has other automotive holdings, including the parts supplier Tower Automotive, and it owns 51 percent of GMAC Financial Services.
From the outset, Chrysler has been in talks with many other automakers, including Russian and Chinese firms, about capacity- and platform-sharing projects. Its executives have met counterparts at many other carmakers, including Tata and Fiat, after negotiating deals and transactions.
But Nardelli's comments mark the first official confirmation that Cerberus was discussing potentially more far-reaching deals for Chrysler.
You can reach Christine Tierney at ctierney@detnews.com.
Renault-Nissan, Fiat, Tata have been in contact; Cerberus says it's open to making a deal
Christine Tierney and David Shepardson / The Detroit News
Cerberus Capital Management LP began entertaining offers for Chrysler less than a year after acquiring the smallest and most vulnerable of Detroit's automakers.
In recent months, as the industry's outlook has worsened, Cerberus officials have discussed deals involving Chrysler LLC with General Motors Corp. and with the Renault-Nissan alliance, according to sources familiar with the negotiations. They also have had contacts with Fiat SpA of Italy and India's Tata Motors, the sources said.
After news of the GM-Cerberus talks broke Friday, Chrysler Chairman and CEO Bob Nardelli confirmed to employees Monday that the company was talking to potential partners.
"I can tell you that we have approached and have been approached by third parties who are interested in exploring future possibilities with Chrysler," he said in a note to employees.
Sources close to the negotiations say most of the discussions have been on hold since the recent turmoil in the financial markets.
Compared with the merger frenzy of the late 1990s, the tone of the talks is more cautious and guarded, the sources said. But some of them said Cerberus seemed eager to conclude a deal.
Delphi Corp. Chairman Robert S. Miller told The Detroit News on Monday that the talks between carmakers reflected the "serious financial pressures the industry is facing."
With U.S. auto sales tumbling this year to their lowest level in more than 15 years, and Detroit's automakers all losing money, Miller said there was mounting "pressure toward consolidation, just like we saw in the steel industry or the airline business."
Now privately owned, Chrysler does not publish its financial results. But the automaker has suffered the sharpest sales drop of any major player in the U.S. market. Its sales have fallen 25 percent so far this year, twice the rate of the overall market's decline.
Most of the discussions involving Chrysler arose out of its product-sharing negotiations with other automakers, such as Nissan Motor Co. and Volkswagen AG.
But the talks with Nissan expanded beyond vehicle projects in February, when Nissan, Chrysler and Cerberus officials met in Japan to discuss the possibility of a deeper relationship. Cerberus executives have been leading the negotiations with Renault-Nissan since the late spring.
Cerberus, Renault, Nissan and Fiat declined to comment.
But Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Renault SA and Nissan, has sought for a long time to add a North American partner to the French-Japanese alliance.
Sources familiar with the talks say Ghosn is monitoring the discussions dispassionately, while Nissan Executive Vice President Carlos Tavares is pushing for a deal. Ghosn's No. 2 at Renault, Patrick Pelata, is said to be cool to the idea and opposed to assuming the risks of an equity stake. Renault is investing more than $1 billion in Russia's AvtoVAZ.
The sources said "multiple scenarios" have been discussed. Estimates of savings resulting from any combination of the carmakers' automotive operations are "certainly encouraging," though not on the scale of the benefits that would have been generated by the Renault-Nissan-GM deal proposed two years ago, one of the sources said.
At the Paris Car Show earlier this month, Ghosn said the recent shocks to the markets and banking system had made merger and acquisition activity less likely, not more. "I think that initiatives, in terms of alliances, are frozen for a very simple reason: Everyone is scared of credit crunch and cash problems," he told reporters.
While GM's management opposed a link-up with Renault-Nissan in 2006, Chairman Rick Wagoner and President Fritz Henderson are interested in exploring a deal with Chrysler, said industry sources. The discussions, which began about a month ago, have been described as preliminary.
However, members of GM's board are questioning the logic of combining two struggling automakers, said a source familiar with the board discussions.
Industry analysts say the shift in the thinking of top GM executives reflects profound changes in the industry that have darkened the challenging prospects for Detroit's automakers.
"For the U.S. automakers, already wounded by dramatic U.S. sales declines, falling market share, eroding mix, rising commodity and regulatory costs, and weakening balance sheets, the latest blows to global markets have all the appearances of being fatal," Deutsche Bank analyst Rod Lache wrote in a report issued Monday.
"At this point, we do not believe that U.S. automakers have the internal means to avert a liquidity crisis. They simply cannot reduce costs or capital spending sufficiently, without causing additional impairment to their businesses," he said. "Media reports over this weekend indicating that GM had initiated merger talks with Ford (Motor Co.) and that it is now in discussions with Chrysler reinforce our belief that U.S. automakers have run out of internal options. Therefore, they have begun to seek external sources of savings and liquidity."
The deterioration in the U.S. auto industry began shortly after Cerberus acquired Chrysler from Daimler AG in August 2007 for $7.2 billion.
"I don't think when they put this deal together that they had any inkling what this industry was shaping up to be," said Joe Phillippi, president of AutoTrends Consulting Inc. in Short Hills, N.J. "I think they were totally blindsided by the fall in the market."
With a preponderance of large vehicles in its lineup, Chrysler was badly hurt by the surge in fuel prices at the start of the year. The credit squeeze compounded its problems, Phillippi said.
Cerberus owns many manufacturing firms. But the New York-based private equity firm was unlikely to be a long-term investor in Chrysler, Phillippi said. Its founder "Stephen Feinberg is a financier."
One person briefed on the talks said Cerberus expected to retain a stake in Chrysler in the event of a sale. The firm has other automotive holdings, including the parts supplier Tower Automotive, and it owns 51 percent of GMAC Financial Services.
From the outset, Chrysler has been in talks with many other automakers, including Russian and Chinese firms, about capacity- and platform-sharing projects. Its executives have met counterparts at many other carmakers, including Tata and Fiat, after negotiating deals and transactions.
But Nardelli's comments mark the first official confirmation that Cerberus was discussing potentially more far-reaching deals for Chrysler.
You can reach Christine Tierney at ctierney@detnews.com.
GM Could Use Chrysler's Cash Reserves
GM could use Chrysler's cash
Money key reason for merger discussions
Robert Snell / The Detroit News
General Motors Corp. doesn't need Chrysler LLC's brands, workers or plants, but if the companies merged, the Auburn Hills automaker's $11.7 billion in cash could help GM survive the worst sales market in 15 years, analysts said Monday.
The cash, which Chrysler said it had on June 30, and an estimated cost savings of about $6 billion through combining automotive operations, is a key reason why GM and Chrysler-parent Cerberus Capital Management LP are discussing a possible merger that otherwise makes little sense for either company, analysts said.
Barclays Capital analyst Brian Johnson said GM needs $10.3 billion in fresh cash through next year, at which point the automaker could see significant savings from a new union contract and a possible sales boost from fuel-efficient models such as the Chevrolet Cruze and Volt, an extended-range electric car. A deal with Cerberus could quench GM's cash quest, said auto analyst Erich Merkle of Crowe Horwath.
"It's the smell of money," attracting GM's interest in any deal, Merkle said. "GM needs cash to live to fight another day."
Officials at both GM and Cerberus have declined to comment about their discussions.
Meanwhile, GM's shares rebounded Monday, jumping $1.62, or more than 33 percent, to close at $6.51 following news of steps being taken by major governments to support the global banking system.
But merger talks -- which have stalled amid the Wall Street turmoil -- did not improve the automaker's credit rating or convince analysts that GM would benefit from a potential Cerberus deal.
Standard & Poor's didn't budge Monday from last week's decision to place GM's credit rating on CreditWatch with negative implications, which means the rating could fall further into junk status.
Any merger would not solve GM's immediate challenge raising cash, said Robert Schulz, S&P's credit analyst.
"We would be skeptical that a GM-Chrysler transaction could easily address our primary concern by resulting in a substantial increase of current liquidity for the parties involved," Schulz said.
GM is burning through at least $1 billion a month. It had access to about $21 billion cash and $5 billion in available credit at the end of June and is in the midst of cutting $10 billion in costs by the end of 2009 and raising $5 billion through asset sales and borrowing.
Those cost-cutting moves intensified Monday when GM announced it was closing plants in Grand Rapids and Janesville, Wis. The moves affect about 2,500 hourly workers at plants that produce sport-utility vehicles and parts for pickups and SUVs.
The Grand Rapids facility will close by the end of 2009 while the Janesville factory will close ahead of schedule in December. GM officials had said in June the Janesville plant, along with three others, would close in 2010 as demand slumped for pickups and SUVs.
It was unclear exactly how much money GM will save by idling those plants.
S&P believes GM has enough cash and available credit for the rest of 2008 but the deteriorating industry -- GM's sales are down 18.1 percent this year -- will be challenging next year
Meanwhile, analysts remained skeptical about any GM/Chrysler deal three days after merger talks first surfaced.
Any short-term gain from acquiring Chrysler could come at the expense of long-term health, said Deutsche Bank analyst Rod Lache.
"The fact that there is so much product/geographic overlap between the companies is precisely the reason for the large ... savings potential in a GM/Chrysler combination," Lache wrote in a research paper Monday.
A merger would not have a significant benefit or address shared problems such as too many dealers, damaged brands, falling sales, overcapacity and inability to raise cash, said Aaron Bragman, an auto analyst with Global Insight.
A combined company would have larger market share and be in a stronger bargaining position with the United Auto Workers. Another round of talks is likely considering GM's struggles, he said.
"The negatives far outweigh the positives for any potential merger of GM and Chrysler," Bragman wrote in a research paper published Monday.
"The details of what a combined GM/Chrysler would look like point to a company that would immediately be in an even worse position than either of these companies are alone."
The real winner might be Cerberus if it swaps Chrysler for the 49 percent share of GMAC Financial Services owned by GM, Bragman said.
Cerberus, a private equity fund, acquired 51 percent of GMAC in a $14.1 billion deal in 2006.
The recently passed $700 billion Wall Street bailout bill is designed to buy up bad securitized mortgages and lobbyists are pushing to extend the bailout to include bad auto loans.
"That one-two punch would go a long way towards restoring the profitability of GMAC, making it an attractive business to have," Bragman said.
Money key reason for merger discussions
Robert Snell / The Detroit News
General Motors Corp. doesn't need Chrysler LLC's brands, workers or plants, but if the companies merged, the Auburn Hills automaker's $11.7 billion in cash could help GM survive the worst sales market in 15 years, analysts said Monday.
The cash, which Chrysler said it had on June 30, and an estimated cost savings of about $6 billion through combining automotive operations, is a key reason why GM and Chrysler-parent Cerberus Capital Management LP are discussing a possible merger that otherwise makes little sense for either company, analysts said.
Barclays Capital analyst Brian Johnson said GM needs $10.3 billion in fresh cash through next year, at which point the automaker could see significant savings from a new union contract and a possible sales boost from fuel-efficient models such as the Chevrolet Cruze and Volt, an extended-range electric car. A deal with Cerberus could quench GM's cash quest, said auto analyst Erich Merkle of Crowe Horwath.
"It's the smell of money," attracting GM's interest in any deal, Merkle said. "GM needs cash to live to fight another day."
Officials at both GM and Cerberus have declined to comment about their discussions.
Meanwhile, GM's shares rebounded Monday, jumping $1.62, or more than 33 percent, to close at $6.51 following news of steps being taken by major governments to support the global banking system.
But merger talks -- which have stalled amid the Wall Street turmoil -- did not improve the automaker's credit rating or convince analysts that GM would benefit from a potential Cerberus deal.
Standard & Poor's didn't budge Monday from last week's decision to place GM's credit rating on CreditWatch with negative implications, which means the rating could fall further into junk status.
Any merger would not solve GM's immediate challenge raising cash, said Robert Schulz, S&P's credit analyst.
"We would be skeptical that a GM-Chrysler transaction could easily address our primary concern by resulting in a substantial increase of current liquidity for the parties involved," Schulz said.
GM is burning through at least $1 billion a month. It had access to about $21 billion cash and $5 billion in available credit at the end of June and is in the midst of cutting $10 billion in costs by the end of 2009 and raising $5 billion through asset sales and borrowing.
Those cost-cutting moves intensified Monday when GM announced it was closing plants in Grand Rapids and Janesville, Wis. The moves affect about 2,500 hourly workers at plants that produce sport-utility vehicles and parts for pickups and SUVs.
The Grand Rapids facility will close by the end of 2009 while the Janesville factory will close ahead of schedule in December. GM officials had said in June the Janesville plant, along with three others, would close in 2010 as demand slumped for pickups and SUVs.
It was unclear exactly how much money GM will save by idling those plants.
S&P believes GM has enough cash and available credit for the rest of 2008 but the deteriorating industry -- GM's sales are down 18.1 percent this year -- will be challenging next year
Meanwhile, analysts remained skeptical about any GM/Chrysler deal three days after merger talks first surfaced.
Any short-term gain from acquiring Chrysler could come at the expense of long-term health, said Deutsche Bank analyst Rod Lache.
"The fact that there is so much product/geographic overlap between the companies is precisely the reason for the large ... savings potential in a GM/Chrysler combination," Lache wrote in a research paper Monday.
A merger would not have a significant benefit or address shared problems such as too many dealers, damaged brands, falling sales, overcapacity and inability to raise cash, said Aaron Bragman, an auto analyst with Global Insight.
A combined company would have larger market share and be in a stronger bargaining position with the United Auto Workers. Another round of talks is likely considering GM's struggles, he said.
"The negatives far outweigh the positives for any potential merger of GM and Chrysler," Bragman wrote in a research paper published Monday.
"The details of what a combined GM/Chrysler would look like point to a company that would immediately be in an even worse position than either of these companies are alone."
The real winner might be Cerberus if it swaps Chrysler for the 49 percent share of GMAC Financial Services owned by GM, Bragman said.
Cerberus, a private equity fund, acquired 51 percent of GMAC in a $14.1 billion deal in 2006.
The recently passed $700 billion Wall Street bailout bill is designed to buy up bad securitized mortgages and lobbyists are pushing to extend the bailout to include bad auto loans.
"That one-two punch would go a long way towards restoring the profitability of GMAC, making it an attractive business to have," Bragman said.
GM Absorb Chrysler...
One plan: GM may absorb Chrysler
Possible scenario would eliminate rival, reduce excess capacity; pact similar to AMC purchase.
David Shepardson, Christine Tierney and Alisa Priddle / The Detroit News
General Motors Corp. could swallow Chrysler LLC and end the Auburn Hills automaker's 83-year existence under one scenario being discussed by GM and Chrysler's owner, Cerberus Capital Management LP, said a source briefed on the talks.
Such a deal, similar to Chrysler's 1987 acquisition of American Motors Corp., would allow GM to pick up some of Chrysler's 2.7 million in annual sales -- while avoiding the bulk of Chrysler's costs, the source said.
GM, Cerberus and Chrysler all declined to comment.
Sources familiar with the negotiations say the talks still are in early stages, and many combinations are being considered.
Analysts say a deal along the lines of Chrysler's purchase of AMC, which eliminated Detroit's No. 4 automaker as an entity and all its brands except Jeep, would make sense for GM.
Such a deal would differ from the 1998 acquisition of Chrysler by Germany's Daimler-Benz AG, which left the U.S. carmaker operating intact as a separate division. Instead, Chrysler would be completely absorbed into GM and melded into its car making and other operations over time.
"That would be the likely scenario, if such a thing were to happen," said Aaron Bragman, an analyst at Global Insight.
Besides the Jeep brand and Chrysler's minivans, the company has few assets of value to its bigger rival, he said.
"For GM, the only reason to absorb Chrysler would be to eliminate a competitor," he said.
Many industry experts believe GM's interest in Chrysler, both now and in 2007, when DaimlerChrysler AG put the American unit up for sale, reflected its goal to reduce the excess capacity in the U.S. auto industry that has hurt all of Detroit's carmakers.
"The others (automakers) will be delighted to have Chrysler just die and take 1.5 million units out of the industry, which is about what the excess is," said Gerald Meyers, former chairman of AMC and now a professor at the University of Michigan.
Such a deal would surely worsen Michigan's economic woes, eliminating thousands more auto jobs in Metro Detroit, canceling contracts with suppliers and prompting more plant closures.
The source familiar with the negotiations told The Detroit News that GM could cut costs by eliminating much of Chrysler's staff and gradually shifting production of Chrysler vehicles to use more GM components.
Lincoln Merrihew, an analyst with TNS Automotive in Boston, said he didn't see the Dodge or Chrysler brands surviving if such a deal were concluded. "In the situation the Big Three face, you're looking for hard-core, quick economies of scale," he said.
At Chrysler's Auburn Hills headquarters, morale is bleak as employees fear huge job losses in any GM deal, while the top bosses installed by Cerberus are expected to leave with fortunes.
GM, struggling with huge losses and a liquidity squeeze, might use Chrysler's cash -- $11.7 billion at the end of June -- to close Chrysler dealers and some of its businesses, as well as shore up GM's finances, analysts say.
Sources close to the negotiations say Chrysler might survive -- or at least fare better -- in a three-way deal with the Renault-Nissan alliance.
But it is unclear whether the French-Japanese partnership still is interested in Chrysler.
Renault SA is in debt, and executives are studying whether Nissan Motor Co. has enough cash to comfortably afford a deal in this difficult economic environment.
Carlos Ghosn, the CEO of Renault and Nissan, is said to have been more inclined to do a deal with Cerberus a few months ago.
At GM, many top executives support acquiring Chrysler, but only in a deal like Chrysler's acquisition of AMC from Renault.
Renault agreed in 1987 to sell its 46.1 percent stake in AMC, and AMC's board sold the remainder to Chrysler in a $1.2 billion deal, the biggest merger in the U.S. auto industry at the time. Chrysler ended all of AMC's car lines, keeping only the Jeep brand.
In their discussions, GM and Cerberus also have looked at their shared ownership of GMAC Financial Services since 2006, when GM sold 51 percent to Cerberus. Cerberus wants to acquire the rest, but GM wants GMAC focused on its auto sales business.
This week, after GMAC's announcement that it would consider auto loans only for customers with high credit ratings many wondered whether Cerberus was putting pressure on GM.
At Cerberus, officials deny any ulterior motive. GMAC spokeswoman Gina Proia said the decision to increase credit requirements was a result "of the current market environment that has reduced access to funds and increased the cost of funds."
Robert Snell contributed. You can reach Christine Tierney at ctierney@detnews.com.
Possible scenario would eliminate rival, reduce excess capacity; pact similar to AMC purchase.
David Shepardson, Christine Tierney and Alisa Priddle / The Detroit News
General Motors Corp. could swallow Chrysler LLC and end the Auburn Hills automaker's 83-year existence under one scenario being discussed by GM and Chrysler's owner, Cerberus Capital Management LP, said a source briefed on the talks.
Such a deal, similar to Chrysler's 1987 acquisition of American Motors Corp., would allow GM to pick up some of Chrysler's 2.7 million in annual sales -- while avoiding the bulk of Chrysler's costs, the source said.
GM, Cerberus and Chrysler all declined to comment.
Sources familiar with the negotiations say the talks still are in early stages, and many combinations are being considered.
Analysts say a deal along the lines of Chrysler's purchase of AMC, which eliminated Detroit's No. 4 automaker as an entity and all its brands except Jeep, would make sense for GM.
Such a deal would differ from the 1998 acquisition of Chrysler by Germany's Daimler-Benz AG, which left the U.S. carmaker operating intact as a separate division. Instead, Chrysler would be completely absorbed into GM and melded into its car making and other operations over time.
"That would be the likely scenario, if such a thing were to happen," said Aaron Bragman, an analyst at Global Insight.
Besides the Jeep brand and Chrysler's minivans, the company has few assets of value to its bigger rival, he said.
"For GM, the only reason to absorb Chrysler would be to eliminate a competitor," he said.
Many industry experts believe GM's interest in Chrysler, both now and in 2007, when DaimlerChrysler AG put the American unit up for sale, reflected its goal to reduce the excess capacity in the U.S. auto industry that has hurt all of Detroit's carmakers.
"The others (automakers) will be delighted to have Chrysler just die and take 1.5 million units out of the industry, which is about what the excess is," said Gerald Meyers, former chairman of AMC and now a professor at the University of Michigan.
Such a deal would surely worsen Michigan's economic woes, eliminating thousands more auto jobs in Metro Detroit, canceling contracts with suppliers and prompting more plant closures.
The source familiar with the negotiations told The Detroit News that GM could cut costs by eliminating much of Chrysler's staff and gradually shifting production of Chrysler vehicles to use more GM components.
Lincoln Merrihew, an analyst with TNS Automotive in Boston, said he didn't see the Dodge or Chrysler brands surviving if such a deal were concluded. "In the situation the Big Three face, you're looking for hard-core, quick economies of scale," he said.
At Chrysler's Auburn Hills headquarters, morale is bleak as employees fear huge job losses in any GM deal, while the top bosses installed by Cerberus are expected to leave with fortunes.
GM, struggling with huge losses and a liquidity squeeze, might use Chrysler's cash -- $11.7 billion at the end of June -- to close Chrysler dealers and some of its businesses, as well as shore up GM's finances, analysts say.
Sources close to the negotiations say Chrysler might survive -- or at least fare better -- in a three-way deal with the Renault-Nissan alliance.
But it is unclear whether the French-Japanese partnership still is interested in Chrysler.
Renault SA is in debt, and executives are studying whether Nissan Motor Co. has enough cash to comfortably afford a deal in this difficult economic environment.
Carlos Ghosn, the CEO of Renault and Nissan, is said to have been more inclined to do a deal with Cerberus a few months ago.
At GM, many top executives support acquiring Chrysler, but only in a deal like Chrysler's acquisition of AMC from Renault.
Renault agreed in 1987 to sell its 46.1 percent stake in AMC, and AMC's board sold the remainder to Chrysler in a $1.2 billion deal, the biggest merger in the U.S. auto industry at the time. Chrysler ended all of AMC's car lines, keeping only the Jeep brand.
In their discussions, GM and Cerberus also have looked at their shared ownership of GMAC Financial Services since 2006, when GM sold 51 percent to Cerberus. Cerberus wants to acquire the rest, but GM wants GMAC focused on its auto sales business.
This week, after GMAC's announcement that it would consider auto loans only for customers with high credit ratings many wondered whether Cerberus was putting pressure on GM.
At Cerberus, officials deny any ulterior motive. GMAC spokeswoman Gina Proia said the decision to increase credit requirements was a result "of the current market environment that has reduced access to funds and increased the cost of funds."
Robert Snell contributed. You can reach Christine Tierney at ctierney@detnews.com.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Head of Italian Car Design Dies
Chief executive of Pininfarina dies in accident
The Associated Press
Thursday, August 7, 2008
MILAN, Italy: Andrea Pininfarina, the chief executive of the Italian car design firm founded by his grandfather that counts Ferraris and Alfa Romeos among its creations, died Thursday in a road accident near the northern Italian city of Turin.
Pininfarina was driving a scooter along a provincial highway when he struck a car whose driver failed to stop at an intersection, Luigi Semenzato, the police chief in the town of Trofarello south of Turin, told Sky Tg24 television news.
The driver "didn't see the Vespa coming," Semenzato told Sky.
Pininfarina, 51, was the third generation to run Pininfarina SpA, founded in 1930 by his grandfather Battista "Pinin" Farina — who combined his nickname and last name to create the company's name and new family name.
Pininfarina SpA has designed cars for Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Cadillac and Volvo, among many others, but is perhaps most closely associated with Ferrari, designing nearly all of Ferrari's models since the 1950s. They include the convertibles California Spider and Daytona Spider.
Andrea Pininfarina took over as CEO in 2001, and in 2006 also became chairman of the board of directors, a position previously held by his father, Sergio Pininfarina, who is a senator for life in the Italian parliament.
Andrea Pininfarina studied mechanical engineering at the Polytechnic of Turin and started his career in the United States with Freuhauf Corp. in 1982, before returning to the family business a year later.
He was a frequent visitor to Ferrari headquarters and nurtured close relationships with the technical experts. He was also a former vice president of the Confindustria industrial lobby, and his death was felt throughout the business community.
"Italy, Turin and the entire Fiat Group have lost a symbol of entrepreneurialism, a man who carried on, and introduced innovations to, the work of his grandfather Pinin and his father Sergio," Fiat chairman and Ferrari President Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, a former Confindustria president, said in a statement.
Pininfarina is survived by his wife and three children, according to Italian media reports.
There was no immediate announcement of funeral arrangements.
The Associated Press
Thursday, August 7, 2008
MILAN, Italy: Andrea Pininfarina, the chief executive of the Italian car design firm founded by his grandfather that counts Ferraris and Alfa Romeos among its creations, died Thursday in a road accident near the northern Italian city of Turin.
Pininfarina was driving a scooter along a provincial highway when he struck a car whose driver failed to stop at an intersection, Luigi Semenzato, the police chief in the town of Trofarello south of Turin, told Sky Tg24 television news.
The driver "didn't see the Vespa coming," Semenzato told Sky.
Pininfarina, 51, was the third generation to run Pininfarina SpA, founded in 1930 by his grandfather Battista "Pinin" Farina — who combined his nickname and last name to create the company's name and new family name.
Pininfarina SpA has designed cars for Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Cadillac and Volvo, among many others, but is perhaps most closely associated with Ferrari, designing nearly all of Ferrari's models since the 1950s. They include the convertibles California Spider and Daytona Spider.
Andrea Pininfarina took over as CEO in 2001, and in 2006 also became chairman of the board of directors, a position previously held by his father, Sergio Pininfarina, who is a senator for life in the Italian parliament.
Andrea Pininfarina studied mechanical engineering at the Polytechnic of Turin and started his career in the United States with Freuhauf Corp. in 1982, before returning to the family business a year later.
He was a frequent visitor to Ferrari headquarters and nurtured close relationships with the technical experts. He was also a former vice president of the Confindustria industrial lobby, and his death was felt throughout the business community.
"Italy, Turin and the entire Fiat Group have lost a symbol of entrepreneurialism, a man who carried on, and introduced innovations to, the work of his grandfather Pinin and his father Sergio," Fiat chairman and Ferrari President Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, a former Confindustria president, said in a statement.
Pininfarina is survived by his wife and three children, according to Italian media reports.
There was no immediate announcement of funeral arrangements.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Lamborghini to Open North American HQ in Southern Cal
Lamborghini picks L.A. for U.S. HQ
queryvar="lamborghini,picks,la,for,us,hq";
Mark Rechtin Automotive News May 12, 2008 - 12:01 am EST
LAS VEGAS -- Turns out you can’t spell Lamborghini without L.A.
Automobili Lamborghini has created a separate sales arm for its North American operations --the first such business unit outside of Italy. It will be headquartered in the beachside Los Angeles suburb of Santa Monica.
North America represented 41 percent of Lamborghini’s 2,406 units sold in 2007. However, California represented about one-third of North American sales. Taken singly, California would have been the second-largest nationality, larger than sales in either Italy or Germany.
Although there was much debate whether to place the U.S. headquarters in Los Angeles or on the East Coast, the importance of the California market won out, said Stephan Winkelmann, CEO of Automobili Lamborghini.
“While we will have to wait until the afternoons to call California from Italy, it was the best decision,” Winkelmann said at an interview here, at the media launch of the redesigned Gallardo LP560-4.
“California is where the future trends are. It’s where our PR agency is. It’s where many of our buyers are,” he added.
For 2007, Lamborghini posted a net pre-tax profit of 47.1 million euros ($72.8 million at current exchange rates) on revenues of 467 million euros ($721.7 million), up from an 18.1 million euro ($28.0 million) profit on 346.3 million euros ($535.2 million) in revenues in 2006.
Said Winkelmann: “It’s the first time we’ve ever earned real money.”
queryvar="lamborghini,picks,la,for,us,hq";
Mark Rechtin Automotive News May 12, 2008 - 12:01 am EST
LAS VEGAS -- Turns out you can’t spell Lamborghini without L.A.
Automobili Lamborghini has created a separate sales arm for its North American operations --the first such business unit outside of Italy. It will be headquartered in the beachside Los Angeles suburb of Santa Monica.
North America represented 41 percent of Lamborghini’s 2,406 units sold in 2007. However, California represented about one-third of North American sales. Taken singly, California would have been the second-largest nationality, larger than sales in either Italy or Germany.
Although there was much debate whether to place the U.S. headquarters in Los Angeles or on the East Coast, the importance of the California market won out, said Stephan Winkelmann, CEO of Automobili Lamborghini.
“While we will have to wait until the afternoons to call California from Italy, it was the best decision,” Winkelmann said at an interview here, at the media launch of the redesigned Gallardo LP560-4.
“California is where the future trends are. It’s where our PR agency is. It’s where many of our buyers are,” he added.
For 2007, Lamborghini posted a net pre-tax profit of 47.1 million euros ($72.8 million at current exchange rates) on revenues of 467 million euros ($721.7 million), up from an 18.1 million euro ($28.0 million) profit on 346.3 million euros ($535.2 million) in revenues in 2006.
Said Winkelmann: “It’s the first time we’ve ever earned real money.”
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Heffner Performance's Latest Gallardo Video
Video of Jason Heffner's newest addition to his twin turbo line...
http://www.germancarblog.com/2008/04/lamborghini-gallardo-spyder-heffner.html
http://www.germancarblog.com/2008/04/lamborghini-gallardo-spyder-heffner.html
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Tips On Pumping Gas
TIPS ON PUMPING GAS I don't know what you guys are paying for gasoline.... but here in California we are also paying higher, up to $3.50 per gallon. But my line of work is in petroleum for about 31 years now, so here are some tricks to get more of your money's worth for every gallon.. Here at the Kinder Morgan Pipeline where I work in San Jose, CA we deliver about 4 million gallons in a 24-hour period thru the pipeline One day is diesel the next day is jet fuel, and gasoline, regular and premium grades. We have 34-storage tanks here with a total capacity of 16,800,000 gallons. Only buy or fill up your car or truck in the early morning when the ground temperature is still cold. Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground the more dense the gasoline, when it gets warmer gasoline expands, so buying in the afternoon or in the evening....your gallon is not exactly a gallon. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and the temperature of the gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products plays an important role. A 1-degree rise in temperature is a big deal for this business. But the service stations do not have temperature compensation at the pumps. When you're filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to a fast mode. If you look you will see that the trigger has three (3)stages: low, middle, and high. In slow mode you should be pumping on low speed, thereby minimizing the vapors that are created while you are pumping. All hoses at the pump have a vapor return. If you are pumping on the fast rate, some other liquid that goes to your tank becomes vapor. Those vapors are being sucked up and back into the underground storage tank so you're getting less worth for your money. One of the most important tips is to fill up when your gas tank is HALF FULL or HALF EMPTY. The reason for this is, the more gas you have in your tank the less air occupying its empty space. Gasoline evaporates faster than you can imagine. Gasoline storage tanks have an internal floating roof. This roof serves as zero clearance between the gas and the atmosphere, so it minimizes the evaporation. Unlike service stations, here where I work, every truck that we load is temperature compensated so that every gallon is actually the exact amount. Another reminder, if there is a gasoline truck pumping into the storage tanks when you stop to buy gas, DO NOT fill up--most likely the gasoline is being stirred up as the gas is being delivered, and you might pick up some of the dirt that normally settles on the bottom. Hope this will help you get the most value for your money. DO SHARE THESE TIPS WITH OTHERS! WHERE TO BUY USA GAS, THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT TO KNOW. READ ONGas rationing in the 80's worked even though we grumbled about it. It might even be good for us! The Saudis are boycotting American goods. We should return the favor. An interesting thought is to boycott their GAS. Every time you fill up the car, you can avoid putting more money into the coffers of Saudi Arabia . Just buy from gas companies that don't import their oil from the Saudis. Nothing is more frustrating than the feeling that every time I fill-up the tank, I am sending my money to people who are trying to kill me, my family, and my friends. I thought it might be interesting for you to know which oil companies are the best to buy gas from and which major companies import Middle Eastern oil. These companies import Middle Eastern oil: Shell........................... 205,742,000 barrels Chevron/Texaco........ 144,332,000 barrels Exxon/Mobil.............. 130,082,000 barrels Marathon/Speedway.. 117,740,000 barrels Amoco............................62,231,000 barrels Citgo gas is from South America , from a Dictator who hates Americans. If you do the math at $30/barrel, these imports amount to over $18 BILLION! (oil is now $90 - $100 a barrel Here are some large companies that do not import Middle Eastern oil: Sunoco................0 barrels Conoco..................0 barrels Sinclair.................0 barrels BP/Phillips.............0 barrels Hess.....................0 barrels ARC0.....................0 barrels If you go to Sunoco.com, you will get a list of the station locations near you. All of this information is available from the Department of Energy and each is required to state where they get their oil and how much they are importing. But to have an impact, we need to reach literally millions of gas buyers. It's really simple to do. Now, don't wimp out at this point.... keep reading and I'll explain how simple it is to reach millions of people!! I'm sending this note to about thirty people. If each of you send it to at least ten more (30 x 10 = 300)...and those 300 send it to at least ten more (300 x 10 = 3,000) .. and so on, by the time the message reaches the sixth generation of people, we will have reached over THREE MILLION consumers !!!!!!! If those three million get excited and pass this on to ten friends each, then 30 million people will have been contacted! If it goes one level further, you guessed it .... THREE HUNDRED MILLION PEOPLE!!! Again, all you have to do is send this to 10 people. How long would all that take?
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Adam Corolla To Host Top Gear USA
Rumormill: Adam Carolla to host Top Gear USA?
Posted Mar 1st 2008 7:56AM by Merritt JohnsonFiled under: Lifestyle, Celebrities
Recent news about NBC's quest to create a Top Gear for the United States has brought forth rumors of potential hosts. First, names like Jay Leno and Jerry Seinfield were offered up to great debate. Now another name with an extensive hosting resume but no previous ties to the peacock network is heading up the leader board. That name is Adam Carolla, formerly of Loveline and The Man Show. Carolla is no stranger to the land of automotive enthusiasm, either. He owns a BRE replica Datsun 510 that once graced the cover of Grassroots Motorsports. The rest of the horses in his stable aren't too shabby either, like an E30 BMW M3, for instance. No official word has come out of NBC on the matter, but an excited Carolla decided to spill the beans on his radio show, anyway.
Posted Mar 1st 2008 7:56AM by Merritt JohnsonFiled under: Lifestyle, Celebrities
Recent news about NBC's quest to create a Top Gear for the United States has brought forth rumors of potential hosts. First, names like Jay Leno and Jerry Seinfield were offered up to great debate. Now another name with an extensive hosting resume but no previous ties to the peacock network is heading up the leader board. That name is Adam Carolla, formerly of Loveline and The Man Show. Carolla is no stranger to the land of automotive enthusiasm, either. He owns a BRE replica Datsun 510 that once graced the cover of Grassroots Motorsports. The rest of the horses in his stable aren't too shabby either, like an E30 BMW M3, for instance. No official word has come out of NBC on the matter, but an excited Carolla decided to spill the beans on his radio show, anyway.
Audi V12 TDI to show in Geneva
Geneva 2008: Here comes the Audi Q7 V12 TDI!
Posted Mar 1st 2008 7:24PM by Sam AbuelsamidFiled under: SUVs, Geneva Motor Show, Green, Crossovers/CUVs, Audi
Click above for high-res gallery of the Audi Q7 V12 TDIAudi may not have any current plans to offer the monster R8 V12 TDI it showed in Detroit to consumers, but that doesn't mean the 12-cylinder oil burner is going to waste. We first saw Audi's 6L V12 diesel mounted in a Q7 V12 TDI concept at the 2007 Detroit Auto Show, and now it looks like it will be heading to showrooms. Volkswagen's southern branch will be offering the Q7 V12 TDI quattro to customers with enough cash, although exactly how much lettuce will be needed is unknown at this point. Audi plans to start taking pre-orders for the 758 lb-ft, all-wheel-drive seven-seater in the second half of this year. The Germans also haven't said if U.S. dollars will be acceptable for the transaction or Euros will be required. What we do know is that mind-boggling torque figure and the 500 hp peak coming from the V12 oil burner. Even in this large, high-riding SUV, that should be enough to reach 62 mph in 5.5 seconds while going nearly 20 miles on each U.S.-sized gallon of diesel. Transferring that much torque to the asphalt will be the job of four 20-inch wheels, while dissipating speed shall be executed by clamping down on four carbon ceramic rotors. The front calipers have eight pistons each while the rears get by with four. Occupants of the Q7 will get to watch the sky whiz by from any seating position thanks to the optional glass roof, as well. Befitting what will undoubtedly be one of the priciest SUVs on the planet, the interior is done up in all kinds of special materials like bits of carbon fiber and aluminum. We can't wait to try this beastie out on our favorite roads.
Gallery: Audi Q7 TDI Quattro[Source: Audi]PRESS RELEASE
The new Audi Q7 V12 TDI quattro: The Ultimate High-Performance SUV
Audi is taking TDI technology to a whole new level with the Audi Q7 V12 TDI quattro, the most powerful diesel-powered passenger vehicle in its class. The V12 engine under the hood generates 368 kW (500 hp) of power and 1,000 Nm (757.56 lb-ft) of torque from six liters of displacement, enabling the big SUV to perform like a sportscar. The new Audi Q7 V12 TDI quattro represents a combination of superior power and efficient fuel consumption, an Audi hallmark. With its sporty chassis, modified body and exclusive equipment, the Audi Q7 V12 TDI quattro is the consummate high-performance SUV. quattro GmbH, a wholly owned Audi subsidiary, is responsible for production and development of the vehicle. Series production of the Audi Q7 V12 TDI will begin this year.
Audi, the inventor of TDI technology, is penning a new chapter in the history of diesel engines with the Audi Q7 V12 TDI quattro. The world's first V12 diesel engine in a series-production vehicle moves this big, high-performance SUV with supreme confidence and composure. On demand, the six-liter engine catapults the Audi Q7 from zero to 100 km/h (62.14 mph) in 5.5 seconds like a top-class sportscar. Speed is electronically capped at 250 km/h (155.34 mph).
The 12-cylinder diesel engine is no less impressive when it comes to fuel consumption. On average, it requires just 11.9 liters of fuel per 100 km (19.77 mpg), a surprisingly good figure in light of the strength of the engine. The six-liter TDI uses significantly less fuel than any competing gasoline engine in the high-performance SUV sector; thanks to efficient combustion and the complex exhaust emission control system, the Audi Q7 V12 TDI quattro already complies with future emissions standards.
Totally refined, high-tech engine
The V12 TDI captivates its drivers with sheer inexhaustible power and highly cultivated operation – the subtle engine sound takes on a voluminous, strong note when the throttle is open. The six-liter unit is a member of the modern family of Audi V engines, all of which have center-to-center spacing of 90 millimeters (3.54 inches) between cylinders. Instead of the usual 90 degrees, however, its cylinder angle measures 60 degrees. This method of construction is ideal for the V12 as it prohibits any undesirable free inertial forces and moments of inertia.
Another factor contributing to the vehicle's smooth running characteristics is the high rigidity of the crankcase. Made of cast vermicular graphite, it is approximately 15 percent lighter than conventional gray iron. The six-liter unit is extremely compact at just 684 millimeters (26.93 inches) in length. The crankshaft is held in place by a rigid main bearing bracket. The V12 TDI's engine capacity of 5,934 cc is derived from a bore measurement of 83.0 millimeters (3.27 inches) and a stroke of 91.4 millimeters (3.60 inches), just as in the 3.0 TDI.
The aluminum cylinder heads consist of three elements: the lower section where the intake and escape channels are integrated, the upper section which guides the flow of oil and a reinforced ladder frame containing the two camshafts driven by two simplex chains on the back of the engine. The valves are actuated by low-friction roller cam followers. Map-controlled flaps in the intake channels cause the induced air to swirl. This improves combustion, thus reducing emissions and enhancing performance.
High pressure: 2,000 bar in the common rail system
The common rail injection system, with high-pressure pumps driven by chains, can create pressure of up to 2,000 bar. The high pressure level permits intensive mixture formation of the fuel in the combustion chamber, thereby facilitating especially smooth, acoustically satisfying combustion. Shifting very rapidly and precisely, the eight-hole injectors working on the piezo principle can deliver up to five injections per combustion cycle.
Two turbochargers are positioned on the exterior of the V engine, each supplied with a cylinder bank. Thanks to their adjustable guide vane geometry, they respond quickly even at low engine speeds and reach high levels of efficiency, applying a relative maximum boost pressure of 1.6 bar. Two large charged air coolers reduce the temperature of the compressed air, paving the way for the high output of 500 hp.
Outstanding performance paired with exceptional efficiency
The six-liter TDI unit is further impressive proof of the technological leadership embodied in Audi's "Vorsprung durch Technik" slogan. Back in 1989, the brand with the four rings put the TDI principle into series production and has been continually advancing it ever since at the forefront of the field. The most powerful diesel in its class generates an extremely high specific torque of 169 Nm (124.64 lb-ft) per liter of capacity; 1,000 Nm (757.56 lb-ft) is available at a range of 1,750 to 3,250 rpm. Specific power output is 62.0 kW (84.3 hp) – equivalent to that of a sportscar.
The new V12 TDI in the Audi Q7 is closely related to the engine that twice powered the Audi R10 TDI racing car to overall victory in the Le Mans 24 Hours – a 5.5-liter V12 that delivers approximately 480 kW (over 650 hp).
The Audi Q7 V12 TDI quattro's powerful engine torque flows through a rapidly and gently shifting six-speed tiptronic that was specially designed for the six-liter diesel engine's immense torque. The driver can shift the gears of the automatic transmission either with the selector lever or manually with the standard chromed shift paddles on the three-spoke steering wheel.
The quattro drive distributes the power to the front and back wheels in a 40:60 ratio – giving the vehicle a sporty, rear-focused driving style that guarantees maximum agility and driving enjoyment. When needed, the inter-axle differential transfers most of the power to the axle with better traction. Great care has also been devoted to reinforcing all key components in the quattro driveline.
High tech from Audi: The aluminum chassis
The chassis of the Audi Q7 V12 TDI quattro is a marvel of high-tech construction. Elaborate double wishbones guide the front and rear wheels; the axle components are made primarily of aluminum. Thanks to the extreme precision and directness of the servotronic steering, the driver remains in close contact with the road. This is where the handling characteristics, driving safety and comfort of the high-performance SUV set new standards. With maximum ground clearance of 205 millimeters (8.07 inches), the Audi Q7 V12 TDI quattro also proves itself easily capable of handling the demands of rough terrain.
The adaptive air suspension works with sporty new tuning. In combination with electronically controlled shock absorbers incorporating dynamic roll stabilization, the air suspension can be adjusted in three zones ranging from extremely comfortable to highly dynamic. The driver can also adjust ground clearance in five stages via this system and lower the tail end by 71 millimeters (2.80 inches) for comfortable loading.
Standard carbon-fiber ceramic brakes
The ultimate high-performance SUV from Audi takes to the road on sporty 10-spoke wheels of 20 inches in diameter. Alternatively, the wheels are also available in a 20-spoke design or as 21-inch variants in three different designs. Behind the large wheels is a powerful 20-inch brake system. Made of ceramic reinforced with carbon fiber, the internally ventilated disks are notable for their low weight, robust performance and minimum wear. The front disks are gripped by eight-piston brake calipers, while the rear brakes function with four pistons each. The calipers are titanium gray and the front ones bear the "Audi ceramic" logo.
The visual styling of the Audi Q7 V12 TDI quattro gives it an unmistakable look. Daytime running lights consisting of twelve white LEDs per headlight announce the vehicle's presence even at a distance. They are located on the upper edge of the air intake slots, replacing the turn signals that were moved to the bi-xenon headlights. Further honing the vehicle's profile is a chromed grid in the single-frame radiator grill and a shiny underbody protector made of stainless steel. The newly designed bumper groups the side air intake slots into large units.
When viewed from the side, both the 20-inch wheels and the matt aluminum caps on the exterior mirrors catch the eye. The wheel arches have been widened a total of 26 millimeters (1.02 inches) at the front and 30 millimeters (1.18 inches) at the rear; the lower edges of the doors flaunt striking new moldings. The windows are framed by matt aluminum cover strips, the roof rails sport the same look. The taillights are set in a dark-colored background, while the newly designed bumper incorporates two large, oval exhaust tailpipes. At the rear, the underbody protector is also made from stainless steel. A metallic or pearl effect finish comes standard.
Sophisticated: Highlights on board the Audi Q7 V12 TDI
In the interior of the most powerful Audi Q7, passengers will find shiny door sill trim with aluminum inserts and velours carpet. Carbon covers and the aluminum-look selector lever give the center tunnel a high-tech ambience, exclusive wood trim is available as an option. The buttons of the MMI operating system, which has proven a superior concept in numerous independent tests, gleam in silver, the air vents in aluminum, the pedals and footrest in stainless steel. On the speedometer, the range extends up to 310 km/h (192.63 mph).
Verano leather covers the electrically adjustable sport seats, the deluxe center armrest and the armrests in the doors are upholstered with leather as well. The front and rear seats can be heated; a special lighting package softly illuminates the interior.
Also included in the luxurious standard specification are the leather package, leather multi-function sports steering wheel, black roof lining, folding exterior mirrors, DVD navigation system, Bose Surround Sound system with CD changer, Bluetooth mobile phone preparation, alarm system and tire pressure monitoring system. The tailgate opens and closes electronically. Partially overlapping the D-pillars, it gives the vehicle a brawny rear body.
There are four optional high-tech assistance systems for the Audi Q7 V12 TDI quattro: The adaptive cruise control system, Audi lane assist and Audi side assist aid the driver in maintaining the proper distance to the vehicle ahead, staying in lane and changing lane, while Audi parking system advanced incorporates a camera for a clear view behind the vehicle.
The optional Audi music interface offers a convenient iPod interface. Available on request, the B&O Advanced Sound System creates an unparalleled acoustic experience. An even more comfortable interior can be achieved with the advanced leather package that includes, among other things, exclusive leather covering of the instrument panel and center console.
The large glass roof open sky system is available to crown the spacious interior – optionally with four, five, six or seven variable seats – as is a rail system for the cargo area of up to 2,035 liters in size.
Presales of the Audi Q7 V12 TDI will begin in the second half of 2008. The most powerful diesel vehicle in its class is the exclusive top-of-the-line model in the Q7 range.
Posted Mar 1st 2008 7:24PM by Sam AbuelsamidFiled under: SUVs, Geneva Motor Show, Green, Crossovers/CUVs, Audi
Click above for high-res gallery of the Audi Q7 V12 TDIAudi may not have any current plans to offer the monster R8 V12 TDI it showed in Detroit to consumers, but that doesn't mean the 12-cylinder oil burner is going to waste. We first saw Audi's 6L V12 diesel mounted in a Q7 V12 TDI concept at the 2007 Detroit Auto Show, and now it looks like it will be heading to showrooms. Volkswagen's southern branch will be offering the Q7 V12 TDI quattro to customers with enough cash, although exactly how much lettuce will be needed is unknown at this point. Audi plans to start taking pre-orders for the 758 lb-ft, all-wheel-drive seven-seater in the second half of this year. The Germans also haven't said if U.S. dollars will be acceptable for the transaction or Euros will be required. What we do know is that mind-boggling torque figure and the 500 hp peak coming from the V12 oil burner. Even in this large, high-riding SUV, that should be enough to reach 62 mph in 5.5 seconds while going nearly 20 miles on each U.S.-sized gallon of diesel. Transferring that much torque to the asphalt will be the job of four 20-inch wheels, while dissipating speed shall be executed by clamping down on four carbon ceramic rotors. The front calipers have eight pistons each while the rears get by with four. Occupants of the Q7 will get to watch the sky whiz by from any seating position thanks to the optional glass roof, as well. Befitting what will undoubtedly be one of the priciest SUVs on the planet, the interior is done up in all kinds of special materials like bits of carbon fiber and aluminum. We can't wait to try this beastie out on our favorite roads.
Gallery: Audi Q7 TDI Quattro[Source: Audi]PRESS RELEASE
The new Audi Q7 V12 TDI quattro: The Ultimate High-Performance SUV
Audi is taking TDI technology to a whole new level with the Audi Q7 V12 TDI quattro, the most powerful diesel-powered passenger vehicle in its class. The V12 engine under the hood generates 368 kW (500 hp) of power and 1,000 Nm (757.56 lb-ft) of torque from six liters of displacement, enabling the big SUV to perform like a sportscar. The new Audi Q7 V12 TDI quattro represents a combination of superior power and efficient fuel consumption, an Audi hallmark. With its sporty chassis, modified body and exclusive equipment, the Audi Q7 V12 TDI quattro is the consummate high-performance SUV. quattro GmbH, a wholly owned Audi subsidiary, is responsible for production and development of the vehicle. Series production of the Audi Q7 V12 TDI will begin this year.
Audi, the inventor of TDI technology, is penning a new chapter in the history of diesel engines with the Audi Q7 V12 TDI quattro. The world's first V12 diesel engine in a series-production vehicle moves this big, high-performance SUV with supreme confidence and composure. On demand, the six-liter engine catapults the Audi Q7 from zero to 100 km/h (62.14 mph) in 5.5 seconds like a top-class sportscar. Speed is electronically capped at 250 km/h (155.34 mph).
The 12-cylinder diesel engine is no less impressive when it comes to fuel consumption. On average, it requires just 11.9 liters of fuel per 100 km (19.77 mpg), a surprisingly good figure in light of the strength of the engine. The six-liter TDI uses significantly less fuel than any competing gasoline engine in the high-performance SUV sector; thanks to efficient combustion and the complex exhaust emission control system, the Audi Q7 V12 TDI quattro already complies with future emissions standards.
Totally refined, high-tech engine
The V12 TDI captivates its drivers with sheer inexhaustible power and highly cultivated operation – the subtle engine sound takes on a voluminous, strong note when the throttle is open. The six-liter unit is a member of the modern family of Audi V engines, all of which have center-to-center spacing of 90 millimeters (3.54 inches) between cylinders. Instead of the usual 90 degrees, however, its cylinder angle measures 60 degrees. This method of construction is ideal for the V12 as it prohibits any undesirable free inertial forces and moments of inertia.
Another factor contributing to the vehicle's smooth running characteristics is the high rigidity of the crankcase. Made of cast vermicular graphite, it is approximately 15 percent lighter than conventional gray iron. The six-liter unit is extremely compact at just 684 millimeters (26.93 inches) in length. The crankshaft is held in place by a rigid main bearing bracket. The V12 TDI's engine capacity of 5,934 cc is derived from a bore measurement of 83.0 millimeters (3.27 inches) and a stroke of 91.4 millimeters (3.60 inches), just as in the 3.0 TDI.
The aluminum cylinder heads consist of three elements: the lower section where the intake and escape channels are integrated, the upper section which guides the flow of oil and a reinforced ladder frame containing the two camshafts driven by two simplex chains on the back of the engine. The valves are actuated by low-friction roller cam followers. Map-controlled flaps in the intake channels cause the induced air to swirl. This improves combustion, thus reducing emissions and enhancing performance.
High pressure: 2,000 bar in the common rail system
The common rail injection system, with high-pressure pumps driven by chains, can create pressure of up to 2,000 bar. The high pressure level permits intensive mixture formation of the fuel in the combustion chamber, thereby facilitating especially smooth, acoustically satisfying combustion. Shifting very rapidly and precisely, the eight-hole injectors working on the piezo principle can deliver up to five injections per combustion cycle.
Two turbochargers are positioned on the exterior of the V engine, each supplied with a cylinder bank. Thanks to their adjustable guide vane geometry, they respond quickly even at low engine speeds and reach high levels of efficiency, applying a relative maximum boost pressure of 1.6 bar. Two large charged air coolers reduce the temperature of the compressed air, paving the way for the high output of 500 hp.
Outstanding performance paired with exceptional efficiency
The six-liter TDI unit is further impressive proof of the technological leadership embodied in Audi's "Vorsprung durch Technik" slogan. Back in 1989, the brand with the four rings put the TDI principle into series production and has been continually advancing it ever since at the forefront of the field. The most powerful diesel in its class generates an extremely high specific torque of 169 Nm (124.64 lb-ft) per liter of capacity; 1,000 Nm (757.56 lb-ft) is available at a range of 1,750 to 3,250 rpm. Specific power output is 62.0 kW (84.3 hp) – equivalent to that of a sportscar.
The new V12 TDI in the Audi Q7 is closely related to the engine that twice powered the Audi R10 TDI racing car to overall victory in the Le Mans 24 Hours – a 5.5-liter V12 that delivers approximately 480 kW (over 650 hp).
The Audi Q7 V12 TDI quattro's powerful engine torque flows through a rapidly and gently shifting six-speed tiptronic that was specially designed for the six-liter diesel engine's immense torque. The driver can shift the gears of the automatic transmission either with the selector lever or manually with the standard chromed shift paddles on the three-spoke steering wheel.
The quattro drive distributes the power to the front and back wheels in a 40:60 ratio – giving the vehicle a sporty, rear-focused driving style that guarantees maximum agility and driving enjoyment. When needed, the inter-axle differential transfers most of the power to the axle with better traction. Great care has also been devoted to reinforcing all key components in the quattro driveline.
High tech from Audi: The aluminum chassis
The chassis of the Audi Q7 V12 TDI quattro is a marvel of high-tech construction. Elaborate double wishbones guide the front and rear wheels; the axle components are made primarily of aluminum. Thanks to the extreme precision and directness of the servotronic steering, the driver remains in close contact with the road. This is where the handling characteristics, driving safety and comfort of the high-performance SUV set new standards. With maximum ground clearance of 205 millimeters (8.07 inches), the Audi Q7 V12 TDI quattro also proves itself easily capable of handling the demands of rough terrain.
The adaptive air suspension works with sporty new tuning. In combination with electronically controlled shock absorbers incorporating dynamic roll stabilization, the air suspension can be adjusted in three zones ranging from extremely comfortable to highly dynamic. The driver can also adjust ground clearance in five stages via this system and lower the tail end by 71 millimeters (2.80 inches) for comfortable loading.
Standard carbon-fiber ceramic brakes
The ultimate high-performance SUV from Audi takes to the road on sporty 10-spoke wheels of 20 inches in diameter. Alternatively, the wheels are also available in a 20-spoke design or as 21-inch variants in three different designs. Behind the large wheels is a powerful 20-inch brake system. Made of ceramic reinforced with carbon fiber, the internally ventilated disks are notable for their low weight, robust performance and minimum wear. The front disks are gripped by eight-piston brake calipers, while the rear brakes function with four pistons each. The calipers are titanium gray and the front ones bear the "Audi ceramic" logo.
The visual styling of the Audi Q7 V12 TDI quattro gives it an unmistakable look. Daytime running lights consisting of twelve white LEDs per headlight announce the vehicle's presence even at a distance. They are located on the upper edge of the air intake slots, replacing the turn signals that were moved to the bi-xenon headlights. Further honing the vehicle's profile is a chromed grid in the single-frame radiator grill and a shiny underbody protector made of stainless steel. The newly designed bumper groups the side air intake slots into large units.
When viewed from the side, both the 20-inch wheels and the matt aluminum caps on the exterior mirrors catch the eye. The wheel arches have been widened a total of 26 millimeters (1.02 inches) at the front and 30 millimeters (1.18 inches) at the rear; the lower edges of the doors flaunt striking new moldings. The windows are framed by matt aluminum cover strips, the roof rails sport the same look. The taillights are set in a dark-colored background, while the newly designed bumper incorporates two large, oval exhaust tailpipes. At the rear, the underbody protector is also made from stainless steel. A metallic or pearl effect finish comes standard.
Sophisticated: Highlights on board the Audi Q7 V12 TDI
In the interior of the most powerful Audi Q7, passengers will find shiny door sill trim with aluminum inserts and velours carpet. Carbon covers and the aluminum-look selector lever give the center tunnel a high-tech ambience, exclusive wood trim is available as an option. The buttons of the MMI operating system, which has proven a superior concept in numerous independent tests, gleam in silver, the air vents in aluminum, the pedals and footrest in stainless steel. On the speedometer, the range extends up to 310 km/h (192.63 mph).
Verano leather covers the electrically adjustable sport seats, the deluxe center armrest and the armrests in the doors are upholstered with leather as well. The front and rear seats can be heated; a special lighting package softly illuminates the interior.
Also included in the luxurious standard specification are the leather package, leather multi-function sports steering wheel, black roof lining, folding exterior mirrors, DVD navigation system, Bose Surround Sound system with CD changer, Bluetooth mobile phone preparation, alarm system and tire pressure monitoring system. The tailgate opens and closes electronically. Partially overlapping the D-pillars, it gives the vehicle a brawny rear body.
There are four optional high-tech assistance systems for the Audi Q7 V12 TDI quattro: The adaptive cruise control system, Audi lane assist and Audi side assist aid the driver in maintaining the proper distance to the vehicle ahead, staying in lane and changing lane, while Audi parking system advanced incorporates a camera for a clear view behind the vehicle.
The optional Audi music interface offers a convenient iPod interface. Available on request, the B&O Advanced Sound System creates an unparalleled acoustic experience. An even more comfortable interior can be achieved with the advanced leather package that includes, among other things, exclusive leather covering of the instrument panel and center console.
The large glass roof open sky system is available to crown the spacious interior – optionally with four, five, six or seven variable seats – as is a rail system for the cargo area of up to 2,035 liters in size.
Presales of the Audi Q7 V12 TDI will begin in the second half of 2008. The most powerful diesel vehicle in its class is the exclusive top-of-the-line model in the Q7 range.
Ferrrari or a Dodge
Ferrari or a Dodge?
What would you do with $228,143.43? Buy a house? A yacht? A Ferrari?
If you're a big NASCAR fan, you spend it on a Richard Petty-inspired Dodge Challenger SRT8. Chrysler LLC auctioned off the 43rd Challenger -- the only blue one -- to Richard Martin of Delaplane, Va., for more than 200K. Petty drove blue stock cars emblazoned with the No. 43. Proceeds from the sale went to the Victory Junction Gang, a camp for ill children founded by racer and Petty's son, Kyle.
The Challenger SRT8 lists for $37,995 -- but Insider is certain Chrysler wouldn't mind a 600 percent profit on a few more of them.
Advertisement
Contributors: Eric Morath, David Shepardson and Brian O'Connor.
What would you do with $228,143.43? Buy a house? A yacht? A Ferrari?
If you're a big NASCAR fan, you spend it on a Richard Petty-inspired Dodge Challenger SRT8. Chrysler LLC auctioned off the 43rd Challenger -- the only blue one -- to Richard Martin of Delaplane, Va., for more than 200K. Petty drove blue stock cars emblazoned with the No. 43. Proceeds from the sale went to the Victory Junction Gang, a camp for ill children founded by racer and Petty's son, Kyle.
The Challenger SRT8 lists for $37,995 -- but Insider is certain Chrysler wouldn't mind a 600 percent profit on a few more of them.
Advertisement
Contributors: Eric Morath, David Shepardson and Brian O'Connor.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Mosler Coming Out With What Was Once Known As Their R Version
XXtreme: Mosler preparing faster, lighter MT900 GTR XX
Posted Feb 20th 2008 11:01AM by Noah JosephFiled under: Supercars
Click above to view small gallery of the Mosler MT900 GTR XX
More power, less weight. That's what we like to hear, and Florida-based supercar-maker Mosler has answered the call with its new MT900 GTR XX. Based on the MT900 GTR, which itself is as barely legal as the Olsen twins, the XX spec packs an extra 20 horsepower and loses 150kg in dead weight.
To trim the fat, Mosler fitted a new six-speed sequential transmission weighing 10kg less than the "conventional" version, installed a titanium exhaust system that weighs 5.5kg less than the steel tubes, replaced the brakes with aluminum brake calipers and carbon-ceramic discs, reworked the carbon-fiber body panels, developed seats that weight 4kg less apiece and cut 5kg out of the air-con. The Richard Simmons weight loss program further unburdens the 620-hp 7.0L Corvette LS7 V8 to bring the sprint to 100km/h (62mph) down to three seconds flat, and 200km/h (124mph) down to 8.7 seconds. If that sounds bonkers already, consider the rumors that Mosler is working on a twin-turbo version for the future, which is looking brighter
Posted Feb 20th 2008 11:01AM by Noah JosephFiled under: Supercars
Click above to view small gallery of the Mosler MT900 GTR XX
More power, less weight. That's what we like to hear, and Florida-based supercar-maker Mosler has answered the call with its new MT900 GTR XX. Based on the MT900 GTR, which itself is as barely legal as the Olsen twins, the XX spec packs an extra 20 horsepower and loses 150kg in dead weight.
To trim the fat, Mosler fitted a new six-speed sequential transmission weighing 10kg less than the "conventional" version, installed a titanium exhaust system that weighs 5.5kg less than the steel tubes, replaced the brakes with aluminum brake calipers and carbon-ceramic discs, reworked the carbon-fiber body panels, developed seats that weight 4kg less apiece and cut 5kg out of the air-con. The Richard Simmons weight loss program further unburdens the 620-hp 7.0L Corvette LS7 V8 to bring the sprint to 100km/h (62mph) down to three seconds flat, and 200km/h (124mph) down to 8.7 seconds. If that sounds bonkers already, consider the rumors that Mosler is working on a twin-turbo version for the future, which is looking brighter
Gordon Murray's Latest Project
NEW £35K BRIT SPORTS CAR
Exige challenger planned from ex-McLaren designer
A new British sports car is on the horizon which is the brainchild of an ex-McLaren Cars designer.
Jim Dowle was involved in the design, development and testing of both the F1 road car and the SLR and mostly worked for Gordon Murray.
He is now working on the design of his own car and hopes to have a running prototype in 18 months.
The car is being described as a competitor to the Lotus Exige and a number of engine options are being considered.
Mr Dowle tells PistonHeads that the car will have around 200bhp from a mid-mounted motor, and the whole thing will weigh 870kg.
The car is not being built for out-and-out straight line speed; the priority will be on making the car fun to drive.
He currently runs JJAD, an automotive design & prototyping business, from a unit in Chobham,
Surrey, and is now working on a quarter scale clay model.
An important factor will be providing luggage space to make the car a useable GT.
Chassis construction will be aluminium/carbon composite and the price will be around £35k.
Author: Oli S
Exige challenger planned from ex-McLaren designer
A new British sports car is on the horizon which is the brainchild of an ex-McLaren Cars designer.
Jim Dowle was involved in the design, development and testing of both the F1 road car and the SLR and mostly worked for Gordon Murray.
He is now working on the design of his own car and hopes to have a running prototype in 18 months.
The car is being described as a competitor to the Lotus Exige and a number of engine options are being considered.
Mr Dowle tells PistonHeads that the car will have around 200bhp from a mid-mounted motor, and the whole thing will weigh 870kg.
The car is not being built for out-and-out straight line speed; the priority will be on making the car fun to drive.
He currently runs JJAD, an automotive design & prototyping business, from a unit in Chobham,
Surrey, and is now working on a quarter scale clay model.
An important factor will be providing luggage space to make the car a useable GT.
Chassis construction will be aluminium/carbon composite and the price will be around £35k.
Author: Oli S
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Lutz Says Global Warming Is A Total Crock Of Shit...
GM’s Lutz On Hybrids, Global Warming And Cars As Art
Posted on January 30th, 2008 4:50pm by Glenn Hunter Filed under Business
Bob Lutz, General Motors’ vice chairman and chief car guru, says what really turns him on is “doing the unexpected”–acting “contrary to the conventional wisdom, forcing people to re-think their beliefs.” Maybe that’s why Lutz, who made his name developing behemoths like the V-10 Dodge Viper, is so sold on the fuel-efficient new Chevrolet Volt, which will run on a lithium-ion battery and could go on sale by 2010. “The Volt thrills me because it’s the last thing anybody expected from GM,” the ex-Marine said at a private lunch in Arlington today. If you’re into cars or the car business, jump to read more of Lutz’s contrarian beliefs.
During a closed-door session with several journalists at the Cacharel restaurant, Lutz declared that:
–Hybrid cars like those made by Toyota “make no economic sense,” because their price will never come down, and diesel autos like those touted by Chrysler are also uneconomic. The only place in Europe that diesel-driven cars are big, he said, is where diesel fuel is half the cost of regular gasoline; in most places there, the costs are comparable and diesel has little market penetration.
– Global warming is a “total crock of ****.” Then he added: “I’m a skeptic, not a denier. Having said that, my opinion doesn’t matter. (With the battery-driven Volt), “I’m motivated more by the desire to replace imported oil than by the CO2 (argument).”
– With more and more good-quality cars on the market these days, “you’ve got to look at the business artistically, too. Part of our business is creating blockbusters–just like the movie business–yet we never think of ourselves that way. A car is an exciting mobile sculpture that you want to own, drive and be seen in. That’s why (auto-industry) comeback stories are always design-driven.” One GM car that fills that bill, he said, is Cadillac’s CTS.
– The best car dealers will thrive even in a sluggish economy. “They’ve got to isolate themselves from the economic forecasts,” Lutz said, “and say, ‘I make my own prosperity.’ ”
Tonight, Lutz will jawbone privately with area GM dealers about these and other matters at a local restaurant where steak will be served.
Posted on January 30th, 2008 4:50pm by Glenn Hunter Filed under Business
Bob Lutz, General Motors’ vice chairman and chief car guru, says what really turns him on is “doing the unexpected”–acting “contrary to the conventional wisdom, forcing people to re-think their beliefs.” Maybe that’s why Lutz, who made his name developing behemoths like the V-10 Dodge Viper, is so sold on the fuel-efficient new Chevrolet Volt, which will run on a lithium-ion battery and could go on sale by 2010. “The Volt thrills me because it’s the last thing anybody expected from GM,” the ex-Marine said at a private lunch in Arlington today. If you’re into cars or the car business, jump to read more of Lutz’s contrarian beliefs.
During a closed-door session with several journalists at the Cacharel restaurant, Lutz declared that:
–Hybrid cars like those made by Toyota “make no economic sense,” because their price will never come down, and diesel autos like those touted by Chrysler are also uneconomic. The only place in Europe that diesel-driven cars are big, he said, is where diesel fuel is half the cost of regular gasoline; in most places there, the costs are comparable and diesel has little market penetration.
– Global warming is a “total crock of ****.” Then he added: “I’m a skeptic, not a denier. Having said that, my opinion doesn’t matter. (With the battery-driven Volt), “I’m motivated more by the desire to replace imported oil than by the CO2 (argument).”
– With more and more good-quality cars on the market these days, “you’ve got to look at the business artistically, too. Part of our business is creating blockbusters–just like the movie business–yet we never think of ourselves that way. A car is an exciting mobile sculpture that you want to own, drive and be seen in. That’s why (auto-industry) comeback stories are always design-driven.” One GM car that fills that bill, he said, is Cadillac’s CTS.
– The best car dealers will thrive even in a sluggish economy. “They’ve got to isolate themselves from the economic forecasts,” Lutz said, “and say, ‘I make my own prosperity.’ ”
Tonight, Lutz will jawbone privately with area GM dealers about these and other matters at a local restaurant where steak will be served.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
End of an Era?
End of an Era?
With new rules and revised CAFE standards, the days of powerful, fuel-thirsty cars may soon be long gone.
By Lawrence Ulrich
Click to see more pictures
The goverment is ready to take the gasoline out of car enthusiasts' veins.
There's only one thing to say about a Corvette that can top 200 mph, or a Cadillac sedan that makes the muscle cars of the '60s seem like a bunch of wimps: Enjoy it while it lasts. This golden age of horsepower may be coming to an end, at least in the gas-guzzling manner to which we've become accustomed.
An initial stroll through the recent auto show in Detroit might convince you that nothing has changed. GM was touting the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, a 620-horsepower 200-mph monster that's simply the fastest production car in GM's history. Next door at the Cadillac display, the CTS-V sport sedan was flexing its 550-horsepower muscles.
Even squeaky-clean Toyota — ignoring recent environmental backlash over guzzlers such as its Tundra pickup — offered the 500-plus horsepower Lexus LF-A roadster. This Tokyo demon, heading to showrooms next year, should also break the 200-mph barrier.
These hard-drinking machines might convince you that automakers are still partying like it's 1999, when gas cost around $1.20 a gallon. But just under the Detroit show's surface, something else was brewing. And it wasn't high-octane unleaded.
Read: Gasoline's New Math: Miles Per Dollar
New rules will force the car kings to shift their focus. Revised CAFE standards require automakers to raise the average mileage of their car and truck fleets to 35 mpg by 2020. Proposed pollution standards in the U.S. and Europe may force even more dramatic increases. And if California wins the right in court to regulate global-warming emissions, you might just kiss your super-powered car goodbye — at least those that rely solely on gasoline.
In Europe the government and greens are proposing carbon-dioxide targets so strict that, if passed, not a single gas-burning model on sale today — including hybrids like the Toyota Prius — would pass muster.
The situation recalls the end of the first muscle-car era, which left Boomers shedding tears for their beloved GTOs, Shelby Mustangs and Hemi 'Cudas. In the early '70s, the first-ever tailpipe standards were a critical step toward cleaning up smoggy cities, but they also helped strangle the muscle car. It took two decades and a serious dose of engineering Viagra before cars recovered their potency.
The unfortunate side effect is that the average car today slurps more gasoline than it did 20 years ago. Cars became vastly quicker and more powerful. And of course, Americans switched en masse to SUVs.
Read: Fuel Economy: Then and Now
For anyone — including myself — with a need for speed, the longtime cliché is that they have gasoline in their veins. But a century's worth of shooting-up has put us where we are now, trying to kick a national addiction to oil.
As a result, the Motown show also featured enough green cars to stock a Sierra Club parking lot. On display was Toyota's hybrid A-BAT concept pickup and General Motors' latest hybrids, including a plug-in Saturn Vue SUV that's coming in 2010. Mercedes, VW and Honda hyped their high-mileage diesel cars that can even meet California's tough pollution rules.
Tellingly, the show also saw carmakers backing away from the thrilling-but-thirsty V8 engine that's as much a part of American culture as rock and roll. GM deep-sixed a $300 million project to develop a new V8, with Vice Chairman Bob Lutz saying that new fuel-economy rules directly sparked the move. Ford plans to drop V8s from several models, replacing them with turbocharged V6 and four-cylinder engines that go farther on a gallon.
If all that doesn't have you seeing the writing on the wall, you'd better schedule an eye exam. Still, if there's a difference between today's golden age of performance and the '60s original, it's the ability of technology to ride to the rescue.
Discuss: Do you think the new regulations will really mean the end of high-powered cars or will technology come to the rescue once again?
At the Detroit show, I asked Lutz — the GM car czar who famously inspired the Dodge Viper while at Chrysler — whether this was the last hurrah for horsepower. And while Lutz has become a vocal supporter of hybrids, electric cars and alternative fuels, he said that cars like the Corvette would still find their niche. "At the height of the vegetarian craze, the grocery stores are still selling New York steaks," Lutz said.
Lutz's point was that some people will always find a way to go fast. But the future does look bleak for speed machines powered by gasoline. While it's too early to predict which fuels will be winners and losers, it's certain that there will be multiple players. Half the new cars sold in Europe run on clean diesel, and that impressive technology is finally on its way here.
Mercedes showed off a sumptuous diesel-hybrid S-Class sedan that delivers 44 mpg. Audi will almost certainly bring us a diesel version of its spectacular R8 sports car, combining 500 horsepower with a respectable 24 mpg.
Energy experts agree that the transition to alternative fuels will take decades. There will still be gas pumps 30 and 40 years from now. Car lovers will still be able to cruise their classic internal combustion machines, whether it's a '32 Ford Deuce Coupe, a '57 Chevy or today's hottest rides.
But the days of guzzling gas as quickly as you can hose it into your tank are over. Looking back 30 years from now, we'll know it was not only the right move, but the only move.
Lawrence Ulrich lives in Brooklyn and writes about cars. His reviews and features appear regularly in The New York Times, Popular Science, Men's Vogue and Travel + Leisure Golf.
With new rules and revised CAFE standards, the days of powerful, fuel-thirsty cars may soon be long gone.
By Lawrence Ulrich
Click to see more pictures
The goverment is ready to take the gasoline out of car enthusiasts' veins.
There's only one thing to say about a Corvette that can top 200 mph, or a Cadillac sedan that makes the muscle cars of the '60s seem like a bunch of wimps: Enjoy it while it lasts. This golden age of horsepower may be coming to an end, at least in the gas-guzzling manner to which we've become accustomed.
An initial stroll through the recent auto show in Detroit might convince you that nothing has changed. GM was touting the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, a 620-horsepower 200-mph monster that's simply the fastest production car in GM's history. Next door at the Cadillac display, the CTS-V sport sedan was flexing its 550-horsepower muscles.
Even squeaky-clean Toyota — ignoring recent environmental backlash over guzzlers such as its Tundra pickup — offered the 500-plus horsepower Lexus LF-A roadster. This Tokyo demon, heading to showrooms next year, should also break the 200-mph barrier.
These hard-drinking machines might convince you that automakers are still partying like it's 1999, when gas cost around $1.20 a gallon. But just under the Detroit show's surface, something else was brewing. And it wasn't high-octane unleaded.
Read: Gasoline's New Math: Miles Per Dollar
New rules will force the car kings to shift their focus. Revised CAFE standards require automakers to raise the average mileage of their car and truck fleets to 35 mpg by 2020. Proposed pollution standards in the U.S. and Europe may force even more dramatic increases. And if California wins the right in court to regulate global-warming emissions, you might just kiss your super-powered car goodbye — at least those that rely solely on gasoline.
In Europe the government and greens are proposing carbon-dioxide targets so strict that, if passed, not a single gas-burning model on sale today — including hybrids like the Toyota Prius — would pass muster.
The situation recalls the end of the first muscle-car era, which left Boomers shedding tears for their beloved GTOs, Shelby Mustangs and Hemi 'Cudas. In the early '70s, the first-ever tailpipe standards were a critical step toward cleaning up smoggy cities, but they also helped strangle the muscle car. It took two decades and a serious dose of engineering Viagra before cars recovered their potency.
The unfortunate side effect is that the average car today slurps more gasoline than it did 20 years ago. Cars became vastly quicker and more powerful. And of course, Americans switched en masse to SUVs.
Read: Fuel Economy: Then and Now
For anyone — including myself — with a need for speed, the longtime cliché is that they have gasoline in their veins. But a century's worth of shooting-up has put us where we are now, trying to kick a national addiction to oil.
As a result, the Motown show also featured enough green cars to stock a Sierra Club parking lot. On display was Toyota's hybrid A-BAT concept pickup and General Motors' latest hybrids, including a plug-in Saturn Vue SUV that's coming in 2010. Mercedes, VW and Honda hyped their high-mileage diesel cars that can even meet California's tough pollution rules.
Tellingly, the show also saw carmakers backing away from the thrilling-but-thirsty V8 engine that's as much a part of American culture as rock and roll. GM deep-sixed a $300 million project to develop a new V8, with Vice Chairman Bob Lutz saying that new fuel-economy rules directly sparked the move. Ford plans to drop V8s from several models, replacing them with turbocharged V6 and four-cylinder engines that go farther on a gallon.
If all that doesn't have you seeing the writing on the wall, you'd better schedule an eye exam. Still, if there's a difference between today's golden age of performance and the '60s original, it's the ability of technology to ride to the rescue.
Discuss: Do you think the new regulations will really mean the end of high-powered cars or will technology come to the rescue once again?
At the Detroit show, I asked Lutz — the GM car czar who famously inspired the Dodge Viper while at Chrysler — whether this was the last hurrah for horsepower. And while Lutz has become a vocal supporter of hybrids, electric cars and alternative fuels, he said that cars like the Corvette would still find their niche. "At the height of the vegetarian craze, the grocery stores are still selling New York steaks," Lutz said.
Lutz's point was that some people will always find a way to go fast. But the future does look bleak for speed machines powered by gasoline. While it's too early to predict which fuels will be winners and losers, it's certain that there will be multiple players. Half the new cars sold in Europe run on clean diesel, and that impressive technology is finally on its way here.
Mercedes showed off a sumptuous diesel-hybrid S-Class sedan that delivers 44 mpg. Audi will almost certainly bring us a diesel version of its spectacular R8 sports car, combining 500 horsepower with a respectable 24 mpg.
Energy experts agree that the transition to alternative fuels will take decades. There will still be gas pumps 30 and 40 years from now. Car lovers will still be able to cruise their classic internal combustion machines, whether it's a '32 Ford Deuce Coupe, a '57 Chevy or today's hottest rides.
But the days of guzzling gas as quickly as you can hose it into your tank are over. Looking back 30 years from now, we'll know it was not only the right move, but the only move.
Lawrence Ulrich lives in Brooklyn and writes about cars. His reviews and features appear regularly in The New York Times, Popular Science, Men's Vogue and Travel + Leisure Golf.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Has Cerebus Killed The Viper?
Who would win in a fight between a 3-headed hell hound and a snake? In a case important to a great number of high-horsepower-lovin' enthusiasts, it appears it's going to be Satan's canine.In all the hoopla over the past few weeks about Dodge's new entry to the Muscle Car Wars, the media stories popping up hinting Chrysler may be thinking about discontinuing the Dodge Viper have gone relatively ignored by the majority of the product press. Unfortunately for those with a love of the serpentine-named supercar, we've learned through several of our sources that the decision to kill off the next generation of the Dodge Viper has already been made.
The next generation Viper roadster, referred to internally as ZC-D27 -- and ZC-D29 in the case of the coupe -- are no longer part of Chrysler LLC's future plans. They've been shuttled to the side -- we're assuming as part of "Project Genesis," the new game plan "intended to align the needs and wants of the customer with its [Chrysler's] product portfolio and the dealer network." Or perhaps it was part of "Project Alpha" the game plan prior to "Genesis" and before Cerberus really got a good look at the books. All we know is the decision was made during the period Cerberus has been running the show in Auburn Hills.
In other words: Shit.
Originally, the new version of Dodge's halo car was set to start rolling down the assembly line in January of 2009 alongside two Chrysler badged platform mates. These two new Chrysler branded performance vehicles were to be modeled after the Firepower concept car. The first one, a roadster, was given the internal name ZC-C27, and a coupe version was given the internal name ZC-C29. However we know the decision to kill the Chrysler-brand versions was made sometime in the middle of last year.
This certainly would've hurt the business case for the entire "ZC" program. The Viper is hand built at the Connor Avenue Assembly Plant. A plant that, without the Firepower, would do nothing but build Vipers and the big V10 engines that go in them. Its a plant that we're fairly certain Chrysler's new Six Sigma-loving management would probably like to close.
The general unrest and financial struggles of Chrysler played a huge role as well. When this embattled company chooses how to spend their R&D money, they have to choose very carefully. Sadly there are many other vehicles in the Chrysler lineup that need attention before they can start to think about a low volume, hardcore sports car again -- halo status be damned.
What now?
Chrysler recently launched the freshened, more powerful, fourth generation Viper for the 2008 model year. Original plans had this car being built for only two model years. It was meant to be a stop-gap model until the next generation "ZC" car could be brought online. Now that an all new Viper won't happen, sources tell us that the fourth generation Viper will instead be built until around the 2011 model year. We'd also venture a guess that so long as the fourth gen is being built, a few of the track prepped ACR models will continue to trickle out of the factory.
What happens after 2011? That's a question we don't yet have an answer for.
It's hard to imagine Chrysler leaving the halo car market for good -- but we're thinking the future will call for a more affordable halo. Not just more affordable for the buyer but more affordable for Chrysler build. We know they'll want something that can still put up a fight with the Corvette -- at least the base model -- but at the same time, be much closer to the Corvette's base MSRP.
In the next one or two years, we can only a hope a concept car pops up on the auto show circuit that can give some hope for an all new, SRT hot rod. For now though, we mourn the loss of a legend.
RIPDodge Viper1992-2011
The next generation Viper roadster, referred to internally as ZC-D27 -- and ZC-D29 in the case of the coupe -- are no longer part of Chrysler LLC's future plans. They've been shuttled to the side -- we're assuming as part of "Project Genesis," the new game plan "intended to align the needs and wants of the customer with its [Chrysler's] product portfolio and the dealer network." Or perhaps it was part of "Project Alpha" the game plan prior to "Genesis" and before Cerberus really got a good look at the books. All we know is the decision was made during the period Cerberus has been running the show in Auburn Hills.
In other words: Shit.
Originally, the new version of Dodge's halo car was set to start rolling down the assembly line in January of 2009 alongside two Chrysler badged platform mates. These two new Chrysler branded performance vehicles were to be modeled after the Firepower concept car. The first one, a roadster, was given the internal name ZC-C27, and a coupe version was given the internal name ZC-C29. However we know the decision to kill the Chrysler-brand versions was made sometime in the middle of last year.
This certainly would've hurt the business case for the entire "ZC" program. The Viper is hand built at the Connor Avenue Assembly Plant. A plant that, without the Firepower, would do nothing but build Vipers and the big V10 engines that go in them. Its a plant that we're fairly certain Chrysler's new Six Sigma-loving management would probably like to close.
The general unrest and financial struggles of Chrysler played a huge role as well. When this embattled company chooses how to spend their R&D money, they have to choose very carefully. Sadly there are many other vehicles in the Chrysler lineup that need attention before they can start to think about a low volume, hardcore sports car again -- halo status be damned.
What now?
Chrysler recently launched the freshened, more powerful, fourth generation Viper for the 2008 model year. Original plans had this car being built for only two model years. It was meant to be a stop-gap model until the next generation "ZC" car could be brought online. Now that an all new Viper won't happen, sources tell us that the fourth generation Viper will instead be built until around the 2011 model year. We'd also venture a guess that so long as the fourth gen is being built, a few of the track prepped ACR models will continue to trickle out of the factory.
What happens after 2011? That's a question we don't yet have an answer for.
It's hard to imagine Chrysler leaving the halo car market for good -- but we're thinking the future will call for a more affordable halo. Not just more affordable for the buyer but more affordable for Chrysler build. We know they'll want something that can still put up a fight with the Corvette -- at least the base model -- but at the same time, be much closer to the Corvette's base MSRP.
In the next one or two years, we can only a hope a concept car pops up on the auto show circuit that can give some hope for an all new, SRT hot rod. For now though, we mourn the loss of a legend.
RIPDodge Viper1992-2011
1968 Dodge Grand Spaulding Hemi Dart
Chicago 2008: 1968 Dodge GSS Hemi Dart
Posted Feb 9th 2008 7:01PM by Drew PhillipsFiled under: Chicago Auto Show, Time Warp, Coupes, Sports/GTs, Dodge
If you ever ask a 1960's Mopar fan who the king of high performance is, they'll instantly tell you "Mr. Norm!" Owner of Grand Spaulding Dodge in Chicago, Norm Kraus was known for fitting performance parts to all types of Mopars, and even started the development for factory cars like the 383 and 400 Dart GTS. The king of all Mr. Norm's cars, however, was the Hemi GSS Dart. Each of the cars was fitted with a 426ci Hemi V8 with a pair of Holley carbs, a heavy duty cooling package, and aftermarket headers. In an effort to save weight, a fiberglass hood and front fenders were used, as well as a front bumper and doors stamped for a lighter gauge steel. In addition, the radio, rear seats, exterior mirrors, and window mechanisms were all removed. The result was a non-street legal drag car that could run down into the 10's in the quarter mile, making it the fastest factory built muscle car ever produced.
Forty years later, Mr. Norm is producing a limited run of 21st century Hemi Darts. Serial #1, pictured above, was on the showfloor of the Chicago Auto Show to commemorate the 1960's along with other vehicles to commemorate each decade from the last 100 years. Each car is based on a hand-picked 1968 Dart that is fully restored - the preparation process for the restoration takes 400 hours alone. To ensure that the new Hemi Dart retains its title as the king of muscle cars, engine options include a 610 horsepower 472ci Hemi V8 and a 825 horsepower 572ci Hemi V8 that both run on 91 octane. Follow the jump for more on Mr. Norm and the Hemi GSS Dart or check out the gallery of photos below.
[Source: Show Your Auto, LLC]
Gallery: 1968 Dodge GSS Hemi Dart
All photos Copyright ©2008 Drew Phillips / Weblogs, Inc.
PRESS RELEASE:
Grayslake, IL - February 2008 - Mr. Norm stages a Chicago homecoming as his new GSS HEMI Dart makes its 2008 Chicago Auto Show Debut. The 1968 GSS HEMI Dart has been chosen to represent the 1960's in the 100 Years of the Chicago Auto Show display hosted by the Volo Auto Museum. "The Volo Auto Museum display, is located in the North building," said Greg Grams, proprietor of the Lake County based auto museum. "Our educational display illustrates how much progress the industry and this show have made during the past 107 years."
The decade of 1960 through 1969 will be illustrated by the 1968 GSS HEMI Dart with a 725 hp 528ci Hemi V8 developed by the Iconic Mr. Norm's of Chicago's Grand Spaulding Dodge fame. Norm Kraus and the Chicago automobile scene have been linked for more than 60 of those 100 years. In 1948 he began his automotive career selling used cars with his brother from a gas station their father Harvey owned, located at the Corner of Grand and Spaulding in Chicago. The famous appellation "Mr Norm" first appeared, due to a space limitation in a newspaper ad selling performance oriented cars. The name stuck and Norm Kraus became "Mr. Norm."
The new Grand Spaulding Dodge showroom and service department was built in 1963. Tying in the performance theme that was established from the onset, the "Mr. Norm's Sport Club" was started and the relationship with youthful performance purchasers was further developed. The first Clayton Chassis Dynamometer was installed in the service department and the dealership began selling "Mr. Norm's" racing apparel. By 1965, Norm teamed up with Gary Dyer and began match racing with a factory altered wheel base Supercharged Hemi Dodge Coronet that changed the course of racing forever, laying the groundwork for what became the professional Funny Car Category.
Mr. Norm developed the first 383 Dart that became the prototype for the factory 383 Dart GTS in 1967. In 1968 Mr. Norm also developed the first 440 Dart GSS that became the prototype for the factory M Code 440 Dart GTS. Mr. Norm also sold the majority of the legendary Hurst/Campbell-built 1968 Hemi Darts. By this time Mr. Norm had well earned the honorary title of the "Hi-Performance King."
Many who grew up in Chicago during the 60's will remember the "Get with the Go Group" jingle on WLS radio, the many "Mr. Norm's" Sport Club social/dances with The Buckinghams as feature music group took place at the dealership, hot summer nights spent hanging out in the Grand Spaulding Dodge dyno bay on South side of Chicago at 3300 West Grand Avenue.
If you are too young to have been in the bleachers to watch the Mr. Norm's Super Charger dominate the factory backed Ramchargers on their home turf at Ubly Dragway in Michigan, you may have still witnessed many "Mr. Norm's" vehicles crashing through Dixie Square Mall or piled up at the intersection of Illinois Routes 12 & 176, in Wauconda, IL in the film the "Blues Brothers". Grand Spaulding Dodge fleet department became so large in 1975 that it supplied many of the Chicago Police Department cars, as well as the Illinois Secretary of State, Department of Transportation and many municipalities. Special orders of police pursuit vehicles equipped with 440 Magnum V8 engines were dyno-tuned for maximum power.
It is particularly fitting that the Mr. Norm's new Hemi GSS Dart has been chosen as the benchmark contribution of the 1960's automotive history at the 100th Anniversary of the Chicago Auto Show. At age 72, Mr. Norm by have already received Hall of Fame Status and at least one Lifetime Achievement Award, but he is hardly content to rest on his laurels. Just like he did in 1968, Mr. Norm is once again revolutionizing the way performance vehicles are created and sold. The vehicle that will be on display is the pre-production prototype of the Limited Edition New GSS Series. These aren't "continuation" or "tribute" cars, this is a new GSS program developed by Mr. Norm and his hand picked team.
Designed to blend the finest 21st century components and technology with classic muscle car style, this is the Hemi Dart that Mr. Norm would have offered in 1968 had the methods and products existed. The Mr. Norm's GSS Hemi Dart exceeds the performance of the original in every category, making it a far superior vehicle. Amongst the notable features is a base 472 cubic-inch HEMI which makes street friendly 610hp on 91 octane pump gas. Each drive-train component, like the transmissions and rear-ends, are dyno tested to withstand up to 850hp to ensure they are able to take to punishment of even the biggest optional Hemi mill. This would be the all-aluminum 572 cubic inch Hemi headed monster which produces a mind bending 825 horsepower, also on everyday 91 unleaded.
Another note worthy aspect of this new GSS is the use of nearly zero body filler. Each of the 40 Limited Edition GSS Darts requires 400 hours of body prep and the use of leading-edge water-jet technology. This process means the body is stripped down to bare metal using a solution treated with a potent rust inhibitor. Each Dart is then painted in sealer, basecoat, intermediate tinted clear, final clearcoat layers, and then baked at 150 degrees for thirty minutes. Once final assembly is complete, each GSS is dyno-tuned, road tested and dialed in so its owner can enjoy hassle free performance. On the day of delivery, Mr. Norm himself will show up and present your new GSS. The customer is still king.The 1968 GSS HEMI Dart being featured at the 100th Chicago Auto Show signals the return of the Hi-Performance King. The New GSS Dart itself marks the beginning of an entire line of classic GSS Performance Vehicles. Mr. Norm has also teamed up with noted custom vehicle designer Larry Weiner of Performance West Group and respected collectable automobile marketer Patrick Krook of Show Your Auto LLC to offer a limited edition series of 2008 Mr. Norm's Hemi Ram 1500 Super Trucks. The Super Truck promises to be the first of many modern Mr. Norm's Super Cars.
Posted Feb 9th 2008 7:01PM by Drew PhillipsFiled under: Chicago Auto Show, Time Warp, Coupes, Sports/GTs, Dodge
If you ever ask a 1960's Mopar fan who the king of high performance is, they'll instantly tell you "Mr. Norm!" Owner of Grand Spaulding Dodge in Chicago, Norm Kraus was known for fitting performance parts to all types of Mopars, and even started the development for factory cars like the 383 and 400 Dart GTS. The king of all Mr. Norm's cars, however, was the Hemi GSS Dart. Each of the cars was fitted with a 426ci Hemi V8 with a pair of Holley carbs, a heavy duty cooling package, and aftermarket headers. In an effort to save weight, a fiberglass hood and front fenders were used, as well as a front bumper and doors stamped for a lighter gauge steel. In addition, the radio, rear seats, exterior mirrors, and window mechanisms were all removed. The result was a non-street legal drag car that could run down into the 10's in the quarter mile, making it the fastest factory built muscle car ever produced.
Forty years later, Mr. Norm is producing a limited run of 21st century Hemi Darts. Serial #1, pictured above, was on the showfloor of the Chicago Auto Show to commemorate the 1960's along with other vehicles to commemorate each decade from the last 100 years. Each car is based on a hand-picked 1968 Dart that is fully restored - the preparation process for the restoration takes 400 hours alone. To ensure that the new Hemi Dart retains its title as the king of muscle cars, engine options include a 610 horsepower 472ci Hemi V8 and a 825 horsepower 572ci Hemi V8 that both run on 91 octane. Follow the jump for more on Mr. Norm and the Hemi GSS Dart or check out the gallery of photos below.
[Source: Show Your Auto, LLC]
Gallery: 1968 Dodge GSS Hemi Dart
All photos Copyright ©2008 Drew Phillips / Weblogs, Inc.
PRESS RELEASE:
Grayslake, IL - February 2008 - Mr. Norm stages a Chicago homecoming as his new GSS HEMI Dart makes its 2008 Chicago Auto Show Debut. The 1968 GSS HEMI Dart has been chosen to represent the 1960's in the 100 Years of the Chicago Auto Show display hosted by the Volo Auto Museum. "The Volo Auto Museum display, is located in the North building," said Greg Grams, proprietor of the Lake County based auto museum. "Our educational display illustrates how much progress the industry and this show have made during the past 107 years."
The decade of 1960 through 1969 will be illustrated by the 1968 GSS HEMI Dart with a 725 hp 528ci Hemi V8 developed by the Iconic Mr. Norm's of Chicago's Grand Spaulding Dodge fame. Norm Kraus and the Chicago automobile scene have been linked for more than 60 of those 100 years. In 1948 he began his automotive career selling used cars with his brother from a gas station their father Harvey owned, located at the Corner of Grand and Spaulding in Chicago. The famous appellation "Mr Norm" first appeared, due to a space limitation in a newspaper ad selling performance oriented cars. The name stuck and Norm Kraus became "Mr. Norm."
The new Grand Spaulding Dodge showroom and service department was built in 1963. Tying in the performance theme that was established from the onset, the "Mr. Norm's Sport Club" was started and the relationship with youthful performance purchasers was further developed. The first Clayton Chassis Dynamometer was installed in the service department and the dealership began selling "Mr. Norm's" racing apparel. By 1965, Norm teamed up with Gary Dyer and began match racing with a factory altered wheel base Supercharged Hemi Dodge Coronet that changed the course of racing forever, laying the groundwork for what became the professional Funny Car Category.
Mr. Norm developed the first 383 Dart that became the prototype for the factory 383 Dart GTS in 1967. In 1968 Mr. Norm also developed the first 440 Dart GSS that became the prototype for the factory M Code 440 Dart GTS. Mr. Norm also sold the majority of the legendary Hurst/Campbell-built 1968 Hemi Darts. By this time Mr. Norm had well earned the honorary title of the "Hi-Performance King."
Many who grew up in Chicago during the 60's will remember the "Get with the Go Group" jingle on WLS radio, the many "Mr. Norm's" Sport Club social/dances with The Buckinghams as feature music group took place at the dealership, hot summer nights spent hanging out in the Grand Spaulding Dodge dyno bay on South side of Chicago at 3300 West Grand Avenue.
If you are too young to have been in the bleachers to watch the Mr. Norm's Super Charger dominate the factory backed Ramchargers on their home turf at Ubly Dragway in Michigan, you may have still witnessed many "Mr. Norm's" vehicles crashing through Dixie Square Mall or piled up at the intersection of Illinois Routes 12 & 176, in Wauconda, IL in the film the "Blues Brothers". Grand Spaulding Dodge fleet department became so large in 1975 that it supplied many of the Chicago Police Department cars, as well as the Illinois Secretary of State, Department of Transportation and many municipalities. Special orders of police pursuit vehicles equipped with 440 Magnum V8 engines were dyno-tuned for maximum power.
It is particularly fitting that the Mr. Norm's new Hemi GSS Dart has been chosen as the benchmark contribution of the 1960's automotive history at the 100th Anniversary of the Chicago Auto Show. At age 72, Mr. Norm by have already received Hall of Fame Status and at least one Lifetime Achievement Award, but he is hardly content to rest on his laurels. Just like he did in 1968, Mr. Norm is once again revolutionizing the way performance vehicles are created and sold. The vehicle that will be on display is the pre-production prototype of the Limited Edition New GSS Series. These aren't "continuation" or "tribute" cars, this is a new GSS program developed by Mr. Norm and his hand picked team.
Designed to blend the finest 21st century components and technology with classic muscle car style, this is the Hemi Dart that Mr. Norm would have offered in 1968 had the methods and products existed. The Mr. Norm's GSS Hemi Dart exceeds the performance of the original in every category, making it a far superior vehicle. Amongst the notable features is a base 472 cubic-inch HEMI which makes street friendly 610hp on 91 octane pump gas. Each drive-train component, like the transmissions and rear-ends, are dyno tested to withstand up to 850hp to ensure they are able to take to punishment of even the biggest optional Hemi mill. This would be the all-aluminum 572 cubic inch Hemi headed monster which produces a mind bending 825 horsepower, also on everyday 91 unleaded.
Another note worthy aspect of this new GSS is the use of nearly zero body filler. Each of the 40 Limited Edition GSS Darts requires 400 hours of body prep and the use of leading-edge water-jet technology. This process means the body is stripped down to bare metal using a solution treated with a potent rust inhibitor. Each Dart is then painted in sealer, basecoat, intermediate tinted clear, final clearcoat layers, and then baked at 150 degrees for thirty minutes. Once final assembly is complete, each GSS is dyno-tuned, road tested and dialed in so its owner can enjoy hassle free performance. On the day of delivery, Mr. Norm himself will show up and present your new GSS. The customer is still king.The 1968 GSS HEMI Dart being featured at the 100th Chicago Auto Show signals the return of the Hi-Performance King. The New GSS Dart itself marks the beginning of an entire line of classic GSS Performance Vehicles. Mr. Norm has also teamed up with noted custom vehicle designer Larry Weiner of Performance West Group and respected collectable automobile marketer Patrick Krook of Show Your Auto LLC to offer a limited edition series of 2008 Mr. Norm's Hemi Ram 1500 Super Trucks. The Super Truck promises to be the first of many modern Mr. Norm's Super Cars.
Nissan Trying To Limit Price Gouging On GT-R's
Nissan Puts Safeguards in Place as It Begins Taking GT-R Orders
Date posted: 02-06-2008
CHICAGO — Nissan North America said on Wednesday that the 480-horsepower Nissan GT-R is now available for pre-ordering at 691 of approximately 1,400 of its dealerships in the U.S. At the same time, the automaker told Inside Line it has put a formal program in place to help prevent price gouging on the supercar, which starts at $69,850 for the base model."We are taking steps to let the dealers know that marking up the car is not a good thing," said Nissan North America Spokesman Darryll Harrison. "We're trying to take steps to curb excessive markups."Harrison said the automaker is requiring dealership management staff, such as the dealer principal, to conduct all GT-R transactions. "We're not saying salespeople are bad, but management is closer to the day-to-day operations of the dealership, and they don't work on commission," Harrison noted.Dealers will also be required to file all GT-R paperwork, such as factory orders for the GT-R, through Nissan North America's regional sales offices, which will oversee the sales prices of the car and provide "counsel" in case of price gouging. It is unusual for dealers to have to turn over orders to regional offices for oversight.The 691 Nissan dealers who won GT-R certification are "many of our urban dealers in larger markets," said Harrison. A complete list is available at nissanusa.com.
To become certified, the dealers had to have a master technician on staff who is trained in the "ins and outs of the GT-R," said Harrison. The certified dealers also had to invest in an upgrade of their facility, down to such details as providing larger lifts to accommodate the low and wide body of the GT-R.Nissan also formally detailed pricing on the GT-R — except for the destination charge, which has not yet been set.
The base GT-R is priced at $69,850; the GT-R Premium starts at $71,900. An iPod converter adds $360 to the bottom line, while carpeted GT-R floor mats add $280. "Super Silver," a special exterior paint, costs an additional $3,000. A cold-weather package is a no-cost option and bundles either all-season or snow tires made specifically for the GT-R, as well as different fluids that allow the car to operate in optimum fashion in colder climates.Harrison said that customers should expect the pre-order process to require a down payment.
But the automaker is not allowed to set that amount for the dealers. Harrison said bloggers have been e-mailing him, suggesting that pre-orders may require deposits as low as $500 or $1,000. The Web site Exhaustnote.com warns of additional charges of $25,000-$60,000 over sticker for the GT-R in the U.S. Harrison would not provide advice to consumers on how much of a down payment is reasonable.
Harrison says the company expects a U.S. sales volume for the GT-R of 2,500 units in the first full year, followed by sales of about 1,500 a year afterwards. He emphasized that the 2,500 was a sales number, not a production number. "The 2,500 number is not a production cutoff," Harrison said. "We haven't determined whether or not we'll do that [cut off sales at a certain point]."Customer deliveries of the GT-R are set to kick off in June.
What this means to you: Undoubtedly you'll pay over sticker price for the GT-R — but how much is the key question. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent
Date posted: 02-06-2008
CHICAGO — Nissan North America said on Wednesday that the 480-horsepower Nissan GT-R is now available for pre-ordering at 691 of approximately 1,400 of its dealerships in the U.S. At the same time, the automaker told Inside Line it has put a formal program in place to help prevent price gouging on the supercar, which starts at $69,850 for the base model."We are taking steps to let the dealers know that marking up the car is not a good thing," said Nissan North America Spokesman Darryll Harrison. "We're trying to take steps to curb excessive markups."Harrison said the automaker is requiring dealership management staff, such as the dealer principal, to conduct all GT-R transactions. "We're not saying salespeople are bad, but management is closer to the day-to-day operations of the dealership, and they don't work on commission," Harrison noted.Dealers will also be required to file all GT-R paperwork, such as factory orders for the GT-R, through Nissan North America's regional sales offices, which will oversee the sales prices of the car and provide "counsel" in case of price gouging. It is unusual for dealers to have to turn over orders to regional offices for oversight.The 691 Nissan dealers who won GT-R certification are "many of our urban dealers in larger markets," said Harrison. A complete list is available at nissanusa.com.
To become certified, the dealers had to have a master technician on staff who is trained in the "ins and outs of the GT-R," said Harrison. The certified dealers also had to invest in an upgrade of their facility, down to such details as providing larger lifts to accommodate the low and wide body of the GT-R.Nissan also formally detailed pricing on the GT-R — except for the destination charge, which has not yet been set.
The base GT-R is priced at $69,850; the GT-R Premium starts at $71,900. An iPod converter adds $360 to the bottom line, while carpeted GT-R floor mats add $280. "Super Silver," a special exterior paint, costs an additional $3,000. A cold-weather package is a no-cost option and bundles either all-season or snow tires made specifically for the GT-R, as well as different fluids that allow the car to operate in optimum fashion in colder climates.Harrison said that customers should expect the pre-order process to require a down payment.
But the automaker is not allowed to set that amount for the dealers. Harrison said bloggers have been e-mailing him, suggesting that pre-orders may require deposits as low as $500 or $1,000. The Web site Exhaustnote.com warns of additional charges of $25,000-$60,000 over sticker for the GT-R in the U.S. Harrison would not provide advice to consumers on how much of a down payment is reasonable.
Harrison says the company expects a U.S. sales volume for the GT-R of 2,500 units in the first full year, followed by sales of about 1,500 a year afterwards. He emphasized that the 2,500 was a sales number, not a production number. "The 2,500 number is not a production cutoff," Harrison said. "We haven't determined whether or not we'll do that [cut off sales at a certain point]."Customer deliveries of the GT-R are set to kick off in June.
What this means to you: Undoubtedly you'll pay over sticker price for the GT-R — but how much is the key question. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent
Jay Leno Let's Loose on the Knight Rider Mustang
This is a fun video of Jay abusing the Knight Rider Mustang.
Hit this link and watch the video:
http://www.autoblog.com/2008/02/11/jay-leno-abuses-kitt-val-kilmer-makes-his-voice-heard/
Hit this link and watch the video:
http://www.autoblog.com/2008/02/11/jay-leno-abuses-kitt-val-kilmer-makes-his-voice-heard/
Vinnie & Cody from OCC Start Their Own Custom Bike Company
V-Force Customs to unveil its first custom bike.
V-Force Customs to unveil its first custom bike at Daytona Beach, Bike Week, 2008Company plans to give away bike to one lucky winner after year-long inaugural rally tour.Rock Tavern, New York – 12 January 2008
Read more...
Feel The Force, Ride The Power, Take The Journey
To our Fans, Friends, and Family... Cody our team here at V-Force and I want to take this time to thank all of you for your solid support. Your positive comments, good wishes, and faith in us inspire us to set high goals for our future. We will continue to reach out to all of you via e-mail and internet because your ideas and comments mean so much to us, and we hope to be seeing many of you at future bike events.Currently, our focus is to finish building our shop. We recently treated our floors and we are expecting equipment soon. We have developed our V-Force apparel line, and will be bringing you a larger variety of clothing such as long sleeve shirts, pull over sweat shirts, women's clothing, with different styles of hats, jackets, and accessories. Come visit us and keep checking in-there’s something for everyone. We can’t wait to have our shop ready so we can be back doing what we do best: BUILDING BIKES. We want to satisfy all our passions for custom designs. We hope you will continue to be patient with us as we are in this developing stage. Hold on tight because we are ready to explode with great ideas and great bikes in the near future, and we want you along for the ride.We can’t thank you enough for all your love and support. Everyone at V-Force Customs greatly appreciates all your cards, emails, and postings. We love it – don’t ever stop!Remember: "Feel the Force, Ride the Power, Take the Journey" with us at V-Force Customs.Sincerely,Vinnie DimartinoCody Connelly
V-Force Customs to unveil its first custom bike at Daytona Beach, Bike Week, 2008Company plans to give away bike to one lucky winner after year-long inaugural rally tour.Rock Tavern, New York – 12 January 2008
Read more...
Feel The Force, Ride The Power, Take The Journey
To our Fans, Friends, and Family... Cody our team here at V-Force and I want to take this time to thank all of you for your solid support. Your positive comments, good wishes, and faith in us inspire us to set high goals for our future. We will continue to reach out to all of you via e-mail and internet because your ideas and comments mean so much to us, and we hope to be seeing many of you at future bike events.Currently, our focus is to finish building our shop. We recently treated our floors and we are expecting equipment soon. We have developed our V-Force apparel line, and will be bringing you a larger variety of clothing such as long sleeve shirts, pull over sweat shirts, women's clothing, with different styles of hats, jackets, and accessories. Come visit us and keep checking in-there’s something for everyone. We can’t wait to have our shop ready so we can be back doing what we do best: BUILDING BIKES. We want to satisfy all our passions for custom designs. We hope you will continue to be patient with us as we are in this developing stage. Hold on tight because we are ready to explode with great ideas and great bikes in the near future, and we want you along for the ride.We can’t thank you enough for all your love and support. Everyone at V-Force Customs greatly appreciates all your cards, emails, and postings. We love it – don’t ever stop!Remember: "Feel the Force, Ride the Power, Take the Journey" with us at V-Force Customs.Sincerely,Vinnie DimartinoCody Connelly
Sunday, December 23, 2007
More oN Unique Performance's Financial Troubles...
Former 'Muscle Car' Employees Demand Unpaid Wages
ReportingStephanie Lucero FARMERS BRANCH (CBS 11 News) ―
They worked on one of the most popular muscle cars in America and they say they weren't paid for the last month of their employment.
In a cbs11tv.com exclusive, there's more fallout following the investigation into dozens of vintage cars manufactured in Farmers Branch. The company, Unique Performance, has shut its doors and filed for bankruptcy, but former employees say they're owed tens of thousands of dollars in wages.
"I stayed there until the end," says Luis Deras, a former assembly technician on a custom version of the Ford Mustang called the Foose Stallion. "Pretty much it was me and two other guys that finished the last cars that we built there and it was really, really, sad."
Deras is referring to the collapse of Unique Performance. On November 1st Farmers Branch police detectives started executing search warrants at several locations where the vehicles were manufactured and stored. In all, 61 vehicles were confiscated; 58 were Shelby Mustangs in various stages of completion, three were Chevrolet Camaros. Police say the vehicles lacked adequate titles and the vehicle identification numbers had been scraped off all of the confiscated cars. No arrests were made and no charges have been filed. The case is still under investigation.
After the raid, Unique Performance locked it doors and would not answer questions about the cars seized, but employees who worked on the Foose Stallion were asked to stay on the job.
EMPLOYEE UPDATE
CBS 11 News Reporter Stephanie Lucero has spoken to numerous former Unique Performance employees who say they are owed more than $40,000 in back pay. Some of the men and women say they've been given assurances that they will be paid on December 26th. Doug Hasty is the President of Unique Performance.
"Doug is waiting for the funds to clear. That's the story we've been told," said Mike Luzader, a former program manager who worked on the Foose Stallion and the vintage Shelby Mustang. "They're waiting for the funds to clear on an 11-day hold with the bank and there's been promises made that we're going to get paid. Whether or not we see the money, is a different story."
After police seized the Shelbys, employees say work on the Foose vehicles continued. The former employees say they also helped clear the warehouses and moved materials to other locations.
STATEMENT FROM FOOSE DESIGN
The Foose Stallion Mustang is a vehicle conceptualized by famed automobile designer Chip Foose. His company, Foose Design, which is based in California, had a licensing agreement with Unique Performance and Techstar Automotive Group. Shortly after the police seizure, Foose Design terminated its licensing agreement and all business activities with Unique Performance.
In a statement issued to CBS 11 News, Foose Design said it, "Does not manufacture production vehicles. Foose Design created the concepts for prototype vehicles and licensed the right to build certain vehicles to Unique. Unique was solely responsible for dealing with customers, manufacturing the cars, as well as hiring, managing and paying its employees who worked on the cars. While Foose Design had no direct involvement with the individual cars being built at Unique Performance, Chip Foose's heart goes out to any employee who was not paid for work he or she performed. Foose Design and its attorneys are working with law enforcement and preparing their own legal claims against Unique."
DOUG HASTY
Tom Pappas, a Dallas attorney representing Hasty in the criminal case, says the former employees are "the least of the problems for him". Pappas says "I know that Doug strongly believes if he can get out of bankruptcy he'll be able to pay his debts".
Pappas says, "Many of these matters are in bankruptcy court and the decisions about who gets paid what and when belong to the bankruptcy court and the bankruptcy trustee."
Pappas would not allow CBS 11 News to speak directly to Hasty.
CARROLL SHELBY LICENSING
Legendary sports car icon Carroll Shelby pulled out of his licensing agreement with Unique Performance just days after the police raid. Carroll Shelby Licensing says Unique fell behind on customer orders for the vintage Shelby Mustangs and numerous lawsuits were filed by angry customers. Hasty claimed Shelby's company was late in delivering parts.
EMPLOYEES HAVE LITTLE HOPE
Former employees of Unique Performance say they have little hope of getting their money. They say they are owed various amounts of money and stayed, even though they didn't know when they would get a paycheck, due to their loyalty to the company and the car.
"We were passionate about it," says Alison Weber, a former material manager for the company. Weber says she feels responsible for her colleague's losses because she asked many of them to stay and complete the work, and on numerous occasions they were told the money was coming soon. Weber says they were always told a different story. "Probably in an hour, probably by the end of today, three o'clock today, four o'clock today and nothing, but please keep building these cars."
Deras says building the Foose Stallion was personal for him. "We took it very personal on the car because when I grew up I used to build model cars and I always called my dad and said, 'Hey dad, I'm building cars but now it's a real car and it's a special edition'."
The employees say they believe Unique Performance and Techstar have a responsibility to pay their unpaid wages. A spokesperson for Techstar did not return CBS 11 News phone calls.Three people have filed complaints against Unique Performance with the Texas Office of the Attorney General.
ReportingStephanie Lucero FARMERS BRANCH (CBS 11 News) ―
They worked on one of the most popular muscle cars in America and they say they weren't paid for the last month of their employment.
In a cbs11tv.com exclusive, there's more fallout following the investigation into dozens of vintage cars manufactured in Farmers Branch. The company, Unique Performance, has shut its doors and filed for bankruptcy, but former employees say they're owed tens of thousands of dollars in wages.
"I stayed there until the end," says Luis Deras, a former assembly technician on a custom version of the Ford Mustang called the Foose Stallion. "Pretty much it was me and two other guys that finished the last cars that we built there and it was really, really, sad."
Deras is referring to the collapse of Unique Performance. On November 1st Farmers Branch police detectives started executing search warrants at several locations where the vehicles were manufactured and stored. In all, 61 vehicles were confiscated; 58 were Shelby Mustangs in various stages of completion, three were Chevrolet Camaros. Police say the vehicles lacked adequate titles and the vehicle identification numbers had been scraped off all of the confiscated cars. No arrests were made and no charges have been filed. The case is still under investigation.
After the raid, Unique Performance locked it doors and would not answer questions about the cars seized, but employees who worked on the Foose Stallion were asked to stay on the job.
EMPLOYEE UPDATE
CBS 11 News Reporter Stephanie Lucero has spoken to numerous former Unique Performance employees who say they are owed more than $40,000 in back pay. Some of the men and women say they've been given assurances that they will be paid on December 26th. Doug Hasty is the President of Unique Performance.
"Doug is waiting for the funds to clear. That's the story we've been told," said Mike Luzader, a former program manager who worked on the Foose Stallion and the vintage Shelby Mustang. "They're waiting for the funds to clear on an 11-day hold with the bank and there's been promises made that we're going to get paid. Whether or not we see the money, is a different story."
After police seized the Shelbys, employees say work on the Foose vehicles continued. The former employees say they also helped clear the warehouses and moved materials to other locations.
STATEMENT FROM FOOSE DESIGN
The Foose Stallion Mustang is a vehicle conceptualized by famed automobile designer Chip Foose. His company, Foose Design, which is based in California, had a licensing agreement with Unique Performance and Techstar Automotive Group. Shortly after the police seizure, Foose Design terminated its licensing agreement and all business activities with Unique Performance.
In a statement issued to CBS 11 News, Foose Design said it, "Does not manufacture production vehicles. Foose Design created the concepts for prototype vehicles and licensed the right to build certain vehicles to Unique. Unique was solely responsible for dealing with customers, manufacturing the cars, as well as hiring, managing and paying its employees who worked on the cars. While Foose Design had no direct involvement with the individual cars being built at Unique Performance, Chip Foose's heart goes out to any employee who was not paid for work he or she performed. Foose Design and its attorneys are working with law enforcement and preparing their own legal claims against Unique."
DOUG HASTY
Tom Pappas, a Dallas attorney representing Hasty in the criminal case, says the former employees are "the least of the problems for him". Pappas says "I know that Doug strongly believes if he can get out of bankruptcy he'll be able to pay his debts".
Pappas says, "Many of these matters are in bankruptcy court and the decisions about who gets paid what and when belong to the bankruptcy court and the bankruptcy trustee."
Pappas would not allow CBS 11 News to speak directly to Hasty.
CARROLL SHELBY LICENSING
Legendary sports car icon Carroll Shelby pulled out of his licensing agreement with Unique Performance just days after the police raid. Carroll Shelby Licensing says Unique fell behind on customer orders for the vintage Shelby Mustangs and numerous lawsuits were filed by angry customers. Hasty claimed Shelby's company was late in delivering parts.
EMPLOYEES HAVE LITTLE HOPE
Former employees of Unique Performance say they have little hope of getting their money. They say they are owed various amounts of money and stayed, even though they didn't know when they would get a paycheck, due to their loyalty to the company and the car.
"We were passionate about it," says Alison Weber, a former material manager for the company. Weber says she feels responsible for her colleague's losses because she asked many of them to stay and complete the work, and on numerous occasions they were told the money was coming soon. Weber says they were always told a different story. "Probably in an hour, probably by the end of today, three o'clock today, four o'clock today and nothing, but please keep building these cars."
Deras says building the Foose Stallion was personal for him. "We took it very personal on the car because when I grew up I used to build model cars and I always called my dad and said, 'Hey dad, I'm building cars but now it's a real car and it's a special edition'."
The employees say they believe Unique Performance and Techstar have a responsibility to pay their unpaid wages. A spokesperson for Techstar did not return CBS 11 News phone calls.Three people have filed complaints against Unique Performance with the Texas Office of the Attorney General.
Monday, December 3, 2007
Chrysler, VW Getting Closer?
The ink is hardly dry on the Chrysler-Daimler divorce papers, but already, another German carmaker could be waiting in the wings for the American carmaker.
David Cole, chairman of the Center For Automotive Research, said competition is forcing automakers to consider options they might not have contemplated only 12 months ago.
"There is going to be another round of mergers in the auto industry and the one company that matches up well with Volkswagen is Chrysler," he noted.
Volkswagen already has a joint project with Chrysler to develop a new minivan, which will be assembled by Chrysler in the next couple of years and will be sold in the U.S.
"VW needs a strong presence in North America. In a complimentary and synergistic relationship, Chrysler has got a lot to offer. The scale that General Motors and Toyota have are absolute killers. The only thing you can do is match up to them. GM will have taken $5,000 out of the cost of a car soon," Cole noted.
Carlos Ghosn, the chairman of Renault/Nissan, has expressed an interest in Chrysler, Cole said. Ghosn said he had not spoken with anybody at Chrysler about an alliance. However, he noted, for strategic reasons, the Renault-Nissan alliance needed to bolster its relatively small presence in North America.
Cole, however, said there is little doubt VW is going to have to move quickly to develop a new North American strategy. A new study by CAR indicated autoworkers in western Europe are making almost $10 more per hour than their counterparts in the U.S. The study was finished even before the U.S. dollar began its most recent slide.
Until now, Europeans carmakers have been able to fend off the challenge by charging a premium for their vehicles and with hedging strategies in which they built different pieces of the vehicle in other parts of the world where labor costs are lower.
VW had operated an assembly plant in western Pennsylvania during the 1980s but shut it down in the late 1980s after sales of the VW models built at the factory dropped sharply. By the time it closed, the utilization of the Pennsylvania plant had dropped to under 40 percent. Since then, VW executives have talked about building cars in the U.S. again, but few observers believed they were serious since the employee representatives on the company's board of supervisors opposed the idea.
However, with the euro trading at $1.50, the idea has taken on a new urgency. Volkswagen is at the point where it needs to build more vehicles in North America if it is serious about expanding sales in this market because it will becoming too expensive to export from Europe to the U.S., Cole said.
"The euro is a killer," he said.
Meanwhile, VW officials have confirmed that the German automaker is considering building a new plant in North America.
VWoA Chief Executive Stefan Jacoby said at the Los Angeles Auto Show last month that the company would offer more details on possible plans for additional North American production capacity within the next six months.
"There are a number of factors that we need to consider in this decision and we will make an announcement in the next six months on whether or not we will proceed with this initiative," he said.
One possibility, VW officials noted, is to expand the company's existing North American plant in Puebla, Mexico. Cole, however, said the Mexican plant specializes in small cars and VW probably wants to use a new plant for a very different product - one that could broaden its appeal to consumers.
"If they want to sell a million vehicles in the U.S., they're going to have to do something else," he said.
VW announced last week it planned to invest $14.1 billion over the next three years in new products, plants and production capacity. The Volkswagen Passenger Cars unit will invest more than half the money - $9.6 billion - in new products, a company statement said.
Another $2.5 billion was set aside for new production plants in India and Russia and a paint shop in Pamplona, Spain. Another $711 million will be spent at its main plant in Wolfsburg. The statement, however, didn't contain any specific information about North America and the ultimate decision on the company's future strategy could be scrambled or delayed by a new investigation by German authorities into the activities of VW's top executives.
David Cole, chairman of the Center For Automotive Research, said competition is forcing automakers to consider options they might not have contemplated only 12 months ago.
"There is going to be another round of mergers in the auto industry and the one company that matches up well with Volkswagen is Chrysler," he noted.
Volkswagen already has a joint project with Chrysler to develop a new minivan, which will be assembled by Chrysler in the next couple of years and will be sold in the U.S.
"VW needs a strong presence in North America. In a complimentary and synergistic relationship, Chrysler has got a lot to offer. The scale that General Motors and Toyota have are absolute killers. The only thing you can do is match up to them. GM will have taken $5,000 out of the cost of a car soon," Cole noted.
Carlos Ghosn, the chairman of Renault/Nissan, has expressed an interest in Chrysler, Cole said. Ghosn said he had not spoken with anybody at Chrysler about an alliance. However, he noted, for strategic reasons, the Renault-Nissan alliance needed to bolster its relatively small presence in North America.
Cole, however, said there is little doubt VW is going to have to move quickly to develop a new North American strategy. A new study by CAR indicated autoworkers in western Europe are making almost $10 more per hour than their counterparts in the U.S. The study was finished even before the U.S. dollar began its most recent slide.
Until now, Europeans carmakers have been able to fend off the challenge by charging a premium for their vehicles and with hedging strategies in which they built different pieces of the vehicle in other parts of the world where labor costs are lower.
VW had operated an assembly plant in western Pennsylvania during the 1980s but shut it down in the late 1980s after sales of the VW models built at the factory dropped sharply. By the time it closed, the utilization of the Pennsylvania plant had dropped to under 40 percent. Since then, VW executives have talked about building cars in the U.S. again, but few observers believed they were serious since the employee representatives on the company's board of supervisors opposed the idea.
However, with the euro trading at $1.50, the idea has taken on a new urgency. Volkswagen is at the point where it needs to build more vehicles in North America if it is serious about expanding sales in this market because it will becoming too expensive to export from Europe to the U.S., Cole said.
"The euro is a killer," he said.
Meanwhile, VW officials have confirmed that the German automaker is considering building a new plant in North America.
VWoA Chief Executive Stefan Jacoby said at the Los Angeles Auto Show last month that the company would offer more details on possible plans for additional North American production capacity within the next six months.
"There are a number of factors that we need to consider in this decision and we will make an announcement in the next six months on whether or not we will proceed with this initiative," he said.
One possibility, VW officials noted, is to expand the company's existing North American plant in Puebla, Mexico. Cole, however, said the Mexican plant specializes in small cars and VW probably wants to use a new plant for a very different product - one that could broaden its appeal to consumers.
"If they want to sell a million vehicles in the U.S., they're going to have to do something else," he said.
VW announced last week it planned to invest $14.1 billion over the next three years in new products, plants and production capacity. The Volkswagen Passenger Cars unit will invest more than half the money - $9.6 billion - in new products, a company statement said.
Another $2.5 billion was set aside for new production plants in India and Russia and a paint shop in Pamplona, Spain. Another $711 million will be spent at its main plant in Wolfsburg. The statement, however, didn't contain any specific information about North America and the ultimate decision on the company's future strategy could be scrambled or delayed by a new investigation by German authorities into the activities of VW's top executives.
Friday, November 9, 2007
Top Gear Video's On Why NOT To Buy An Old Italian Supercar
These are hilarious and painful reminders on what older Italian supercars are all about... enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JalEKpOiS3g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3Y6hzQjVcU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8uN8uVOkx8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGkDfFyl4Dw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JalEKpOiS3g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3Y6hzQjVcU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8uN8uVOkx8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGkDfFyl4Dw
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Pagani Zonda Video
Here's a high quality video on the design to the making of a Zonda...
http://www.supercarmovies.com/html/interface.html
http://www.supercarmovies.com/html/interface.html
Reason To Wear Seatbelts
Driver Hit, Killed By His Car
By Stephen Thompson of The Tampa Tribune
Published: October 29, 2007
ST. PETERSBURG - In a bizarre one-car wreck early Sunday, the driver was thrown from his own car as it spun out of control – then the car ricocheted off a building and struck the driver, killing him, St. Petersburg police said.
The driver was identified as Jonneth Correa, 20, of St. Petersburg.
At 1:12 a.m. Sunday, Correa was driving down 38th Avenue North at a high rate of speed when he decided to try to beat a changing stoplight, St. Petersburg Traffic Homicide Investigator Mike Jockers says in a written statement.
The Honda he was driving flew into the air, struck the center median, slid sideways and then hit an above-ground city water meter, Jockers said. It then struck a tree, causing it to spin violently counterclockwise. In the process, Correa, who was not wearing a seat belt, was thrown from the Honda, and the young man struck a building at 4957 38th Ave. N.
The Honda then struck the same building and then struck Correa, Jockers said.
A 21-year-old passenger in the Honda was wearing a seat belt and was treated at an area hospital for minor injuries.
Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336 or spthompson@tampatrib.com.
By Stephen Thompson of The Tampa Tribune
Published: October 29, 2007
ST. PETERSBURG - In a bizarre one-car wreck early Sunday, the driver was thrown from his own car as it spun out of control – then the car ricocheted off a building and struck the driver, killing him, St. Petersburg police said.
The driver was identified as Jonneth Correa, 20, of St. Petersburg.
At 1:12 a.m. Sunday, Correa was driving down 38th Avenue North at a high rate of speed when he decided to try to beat a changing stoplight, St. Petersburg Traffic Homicide Investigator Mike Jockers says in a written statement.
The Honda he was driving flew into the air, struck the center median, slid sideways and then hit an above-ground city water meter, Jockers said. It then struck a tree, causing it to spin violently counterclockwise. In the process, Correa, who was not wearing a seat belt, was thrown from the Honda, and the young man struck a building at 4957 38th Ave. N.
The Honda then struck the same building and then struck Correa, Jockers said.
A 21-year-old passenger in the Honda was wearing a seat belt and was treated at an area hospital for minor injuries.
Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336 or spthompson@tampatrib.com.
Street Fire Films Experiences Major Theft of Equipment After SEMA
My friends at Street Fire Films www.streetfire.com got home from a successful SEMA. Unfortunately after they returned, all of the film equipment and film footage was stolen from their facilities in Culver City.
Spread the word to everyone that this happened and to keep their eyes open for their equipment if it pops up.
Thanks everyone for spreading the word for me.
Brad
Spread the word to everyone that this happened and to keep their eyes open for their equipment if it pops up.
Thanks everyone for spreading the word for me.
Brad
J Mays Overhauling Ford's Design
He is finally figuring out that the world hates most of his designs (like his Art Center alumnus Chris Bangle at BMW). The key is whether this move comes too late for him or Ford. The Mustang is about the only silver lining at Ford that is keeping this hulk alive by artifical means... this is what you get when you are believing your own press J!
Personally, I think that they should kick him (and Thomas) out like the folks at Pinanfarina did to Okuyama san.
Brad
J Mays set to overhaul Ford's global design
Posted Nov 6th 2007 8:56AM by Dan RothFiled under: Trends, Etc., Ford
Rather than have disparate design wings flung across the globe, all speaking in a different tongue, Ford's tasking J Mays with teaching everyone the design equivalent of Esperanto. The new, unified, global design language will replace the "Kinetic Design" that Ford of Europe employs, as well as superseding the "Bold American" motif we get here in the United States. We're not likely to see the Edge pick up any Mondeo themes any time soon, but Mays is looking forward about six years to see the convergence come to fruition on a new generation of vehicles.
Ford is looking inward, trying to divest some of the PAG largesse while simultaneously reinvigorating the core Ford brand. New, cohesive, and most of all exciting design is key to transforming Ford, and Mays will serve as overlord from his London base of operations. While you'd think that something as important as global design for such a huge automaker would be cloistered in the bowels Dearborn, Mays says that Alan Mulally is comfortable with him working remote. We think it will be good to have the design chief living abroad, able to take in a wider sampling of automotive fashion than what we can find here in the US.
Besides, we're sure there's an XK in the Mays garage, ready to rip on down to Carnaby Street to study fashionistas in their natural habitat.
Personally, I think that they should kick him (and Thomas) out like the folks at Pinanfarina did to Okuyama san.
Brad
J Mays set to overhaul Ford's global design
Posted Nov 6th 2007 8:56AM by Dan RothFiled under: Trends, Etc., Ford
Rather than have disparate design wings flung across the globe, all speaking in a different tongue, Ford's tasking J Mays with teaching everyone the design equivalent of Esperanto. The new, unified, global design language will replace the "Kinetic Design" that Ford of Europe employs, as well as superseding the "Bold American" motif we get here in the United States. We're not likely to see the Edge pick up any Mondeo themes any time soon, but Mays is looking forward about six years to see the convergence come to fruition on a new generation of vehicles.
Ford is looking inward, trying to divest some of the PAG largesse while simultaneously reinvigorating the core Ford brand. New, cohesive, and most of all exciting design is key to transforming Ford, and Mays will serve as overlord from his London base of operations. While you'd think that something as important as global design for such a huge automaker would be cloistered in the bowels Dearborn, Mays says that Alan Mulally is comfortable with him working remote. We think it will be good to have the design chief living abroad, able to take in a wider sampling of automotive fashion than what we can find here in the US.
Besides, we're sure there's an XK in the Mays garage, ready to rip on down to Carnaby Street to study fashionistas in their natural habitat.
Unique Performance Raided By Police
Exotic Car Company Raided In Farmers Branch
Stephanie LuceroReporting
(CBS 11 News) DALLAS Imagine spending six figures on an exotic car and never receiving the vehicle.That's what Farmers Branch police said happened to customers who bought from a company called Unique Performance. The company restored Shelby Mustangs, a limited-edition muscle car, for a price of $200,000 per car. Monday, police confiscated all 61 vintage cars from the company. Many of the cars could be worthless because the vehicle identification number has been removed. Steel plates with illegitimate numbers covered up the scratched areas. Police believe the company was involved in title-washing.
Check out the video at the link...
http://cbs11tv.com/topstories/local_story_309192500.html
Stephanie LuceroReporting
(CBS 11 News) DALLAS Imagine spending six figures on an exotic car and never receiving the vehicle.That's what Farmers Branch police said happened to customers who bought from a company called Unique Performance. The company restored Shelby Mustangs, a limited-edition muscle car, for a price of $200,000 per car. Monday, police confiscated all 61 vintage cars from the company. Many of the cars could be worthless because the vehicle identification number has been removed. Steel plates with illegitimate numbers covered up the scratched areas. Police believe the company was involved in title-washing.
Check out the video at the link...
http://cbs11tv.com/topstories/local_story_309192500.html
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Small Block Chevy Quadracycle
SEMA 2007: Small Block Chevy Quadracycle
Featuring such luxury amenities as power rack and pinion steering and a 425 horsepower 383 cubic-inch Chevrolet small block is the Bourget's Shredder F-80 Quadracycle. This beast is designed to attract that group of the motorgoing public that wants to ride a motorcycle, but can't be bothered screwing around with just two wheels. A quick change rear differential puts the power to the ground through a pair of Porsche 930 constant velocity joints and what will certainly be a short-lived set of Avon tires. A mere 90K will put you in on the driver's seat. Press release and specifications after the jump.
Bourget's Bike Works Introduces New Small Block Powered Quadracycle for 2008
Phoenix, AZ - Bourget's Bike Works, manufacturers of highly sought after custom motorcycles and accessories, announced the newest addition to the 2008 model lineup crossing the boundaries into the personal transportation marketplace. On display at SEMA is the 2008 Bourget's Shredder F-80. The Shredder F-80 is the industry's first limited production V8 powered quadra-cycle being offered from Bourget's Bike Works beginning January 2008.
With the look and feel of an open riding position similar to a motorcycle, but the ride,performance, and handling of a high-end sports car, the Shredder bridges the gap of these two types of vehicles appealing to many buyers wanting to ride a bike without the risk and worries of balancing on two wheels. Using many parts from the automotive industry including a small block Chevrolet V8, suspension, and steering components, this vehicle appeals to many consumers in the Hot Rod industry looking for a unique vehicle to customize and enhance. Future options will include a number of engine and transmission choices that allow the end user to achieve gas mileage as high as 50MPG.
"As the personal transportation market continues to grow, I wanted to build a new breed of vehicle that customers can get excited about, feel comfortable about riding, and customize it like the hot rods of the past with relative ease" said Roger Bourget, President of Bourget's Bike Works, "These machines will appeal to a new breed of open-air rider, and change the future landscape of the performance market."
SPECIFICATIONS:
- Limited Production of 25 Per Year - MSRP - Starting at $90,000.00 USD - 425 Horsepower, 383 Fast Burn Chevrolet Crate Motor- Turbo 350 Automatic Transmission - Winters "Quick Change" Rear End- Porsche 930 CV Joints - 4-Wheel Independent Suspension - Power Rack and Pinion Steering- All Aluminum Body- Custom 17 x 12 Aluminum Wheels with AVON 330 Tires
Featuring such luxury amenities as power rack and pinion steering and a 425 horsepower 383 cubic-inch Chevrolet small block is the Bourget's Shredder F-80 Quadracycle. This beast is designed to attract that group of the motorgoing public that wants to ride a motorcycle, but can't be bothered screwing around with just two wheels. A quick change rear differential puts the power to the ground through a pair of Porsche 930 constant velocity joints and what will certainly be a short-lived set of Avon tires. A mere 90K will put you in on the driver's seat. Press release and specifications after the jump.
Bourget's Bike Works Introduces New Small Block Powered Quadracycle for 2008
Phoenix, AZ - Bourget's Bike Works, manufacturers of highly sought after custom motorcycles and accessories, announced the newest addition to the 2008 model lineup crossing the boundaries into the personal transportation marketplace. On display at SEMA is the 2008 Bourget's Shredder F-80. The Shredder F-80 is the industry's first limited production V8 powered quadra-cycle being offered from Bourget's Bike Works beginning January 2008.
With the look and feel of an open riding position similar to a motorcycle, but the ride,performance, and handling of a high-end sports car, the Shredder bridges the gap of these two types of vehicles appealing to many buyers wanting to ride a bike without the risk and worries of balancing on two wheels. Using many parts from the automotive industry including a small block Chevrolet V8, suspension, and steering components, this vehicle appeals to many consumers in the Hot Rod industry looking for a unique vehicle to customize and enhance. Future options will include a number of engine and transmission choices that allow the end user to achieve gas mileage as high as 50MPG.
"As the personal transportation market continues to grow, I wanted to build a new breed of vehicle that customers can get excited about, feel comfortable about riding, and customize it like the hot rods of the past with relative ease" said Roger Bourget, President of Bourget's Bike Works, "These machines will appeal to a new breed of open-air rider, and change the future landscape of the performance market."
SPECIFICATIONS:
- Limited Production of 25 Per Year - MSRP - Starting at $90,000.00 USD - 425 Horsepower, 383 Fast Burn Chevrolet Crate Motor- Turbo 350 Automatic Transmission - Winters "Quick Change" Rear End- Porsche 930 CV Joints - 4-Wheel Independent Suspension - Power Rack and Pinion Steering- All Aluminum Body- Custom 17 x 12 Aluminum Wheels with AVON 330 Tires
John Force Released From Hospital After 27 Days
NHRA's Force set for hospital release
Posted: Friday October 19, 2007 10:23PM; Updated: Friday October 19, 2007 10:23PM
DALLAS (AP) -- Through thousands of runs at 300-plus mph, drag-racing star John Force never spent more than a few hours laid up with injuries in the first 30 years of his career.
On Saturday, he's supposed to get out of the hospital 27 days after a horrific, replayed-around-the-world crash that broke an ankle, foot, hand and several fingers and badly damaged a knee and wrist. Among other things.
"I'm a pretty proud guy," Force told The Associated Press on Friday. "The hospital has humbled me in ways you can't imagine."
Like the day doctors who put the 14-time Funny Car champion back together brought him a steering wheel, but he couldn't grip it. Or the preschool toy with blocks that have matching holes, something therapists have used to help Force feel comfortable using his hands again.
The recovery from last month's crash at Texas Motorplex will be far from over when the 58-year-old Force gets home to Yorba Linda, Calif. The rehab sessions will continue, and he'll return to Dallas in about five weeks to have pins removed from his legs.
"Getting home will be a big step," said Force, the subject of a reality TV show on A&E called "Driving Force."
Force was injured in the Funny Car semifinals of the O'Reilly NHRA Fall Nationals in a race against longtime rival Kenny Bernstein. The cars were traveling at more than 300 mph just after the finish line when Force's car broke in two, and the back half, including the cockpit with Force strapped in, skidded across the track.
The owner of John Force Racing plans to be back at the track for the last two NHRA events of the season, starting in Las Vegas in two weeks. His bus will have a special bed, and several devices will help him get around. He can't use crutches because of a badly dislocated left wrist.
Force said he was lucky to be alive in a crash that came six months after one of his drivers, Eric Medlen, was killed during a testing session in Gainesville, Fla. Still, Force has been working overtime in therapy to get ready for testing in January. The 2008 NHRA season starts in February.
"I can't quit now. To quit now would mean my whole life meant nothing," said Force, whose daughter, Ashley Force, and son-in-law, Robert Hight, are drivers on his team. "We're the Force family. We race. It's what we do."
Some of the biggest names in racing -- like NASCAR veterans Dale Jarrett and Rusty Wallace -- have called Force to wish him well. He talks enthusiastically about building faster and safer cars, the latter a commitment he made after Medlen's death.
"I never realized how much I missed the racing," Force said. "I watch NASCAR, I watch anything I can watch, football. I've just got to get back. I can't be an owner, let me just say that. I've got to be a driver."
Dr. Amy Wilson, medical director for the Baylor Institute for Rehabilitation, and Force's therapist, Melissa Simon, said the driver has a lot of work ahead. He can't put any weight on his left ankle for another month, and most of his time out of bed will be spent in a wheelchair or walker.
Since he's a race car driver, he'll have perhaps his biggest problem in Las Vegas. He said he won't be able to sign autographs.
"I don't want to go there and be an embarrassment," he said. "I'd love to be able to sign autographs. I will come out for pictures."
Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Posted: Friday October 19, 2007 10:23PM; Updated: Friday October 19, 2007 10:23PM
DALLAS (AP) -- Through thousands of runs at 300-plus mph, drag-racing star John Force never spent more than a few hours laid up with injuries in the first 30 years of his career.
On Saturday, he's supposed to get out of the hospital 27 days after a horrific, replayed-around-the-world crash that broke an ankle, foot, hand and several fingers and badly damaged a knee and wrist. Among other things.
"I'm a pretty proud guy," Force told The Associated Press on Friday. "The hospital has humbled me in ways you can't imagine."
Like the day doctors who put the 14-time Funny Car champion back together brought him a steering wheel, but he couldn't grip it. Or the preschool toy with blocks that have matching holes, something therapists have used to help Force feel comfortable using his hands again.
The recovery from last month's crash at Texas Motorplex will be far from over when the 58-year-old Force gets home to Yorba Linda, Calif. The rehab sessions will continue, and he'll return to Dallas in about five weeks to have pins removed from his legs.
"Getting home will be a big step," said Force, the subject of a reality TV show on A&E called "Driving Force."
Force was injured in the Funny Car semifinals of the O'Reilly NHRA Fall Nationals in a race against longtime rival Kenny Bernstein. The cars were traveling at more than 300 mph just after the finish line when Force's car broke in two, and the back half, including the cockpit with Force strapped in, skidded across the track.
The owner of John Force Racing plans to be back at the track for the last two NHRA events of the season, starting in Las Vegas in two weeks. His bus will have a special bed, and several devices will help him get around. He can't use crutches because of a badly dislocated left wrist.
Force said he was lucky to be alive in a crash that came six months after one of his drivers, Eric Medlen, was killed during a testing session in Gainesville, Fla. Still, Force has been working overtime in therapy to get ready for testing in January. The 2008 NHRA season starts in February.
"I can't quit now. To quit now would mean my whole life meant nothing," said Force, whose daughter, Ashley Force, and son-in-law, Robert Hight, are drivers on his team. "We're the Force family. We race. It's what we do."
Some of the biggest names in racing -- like NASCAR veterans Dale Jarrett and Rusty Wallace -- have called Force to wish him well. He talks enthusiastically about building faster and safer cars, the latter a commitment he made after Medlen's death.
"I never realized how much I missed the racing," Force said. "I watch NASCAR, I watch anything I can watch, football. I've just got to get back. I can't be an owner, let me just say that. I've got to be a driver."
Dr. Amy Wilson, medical director for the Baylor Institute for Rehabilitation, and Force's therapist, Melissa Simon, said the driver has a lot of work ahead. He can't put any weight on his left ankle for another month, and most of his time out of bed will be spent in a wheelchair or walker.
Since he's a race car driver, he'll have perhaps his biggest problem in Las Vegas. He said he won't be able to sign autographs.
"I don't want to go there and be an embarrassment," he said. "I'd love to be able to sign autographs. I will come out for pictures."
Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Tesla Suspends Battery Pack Business
Tesla Suspends Battery-Pack Business
Electric sports-car startup says it is 'all hands on deck' to focus on shipping cars. Think Global, which had expected to buy battery packs from Tesla, says it is turning to partnerships with Enerdel, Groupe Dassault and A123Systems.
by: Jennifer Kho
October 31, 2007
Tesla Motors is putting its battery business on hold for now to focus on producing its Roadsters, company officials said.
"Tesla Motors is doing a lot of different kinds of businesses, including the battery business, but today it's all hands on deck shipping cars," Martin Eberhard, president of technology and former CEO of Tesla Motors, told Greentech Media.
While the company is best known for its speedy sports car, the Roadster, it also had planned to sell battery packs to Think Global, a Norwegian electric-car company, for additional revenue.
Some analysts had said they liked the business model of selling batteries in addition to cars, anticipating that the car business might be farther away from mainstream-market volumes.
Now the deal seems to be off.
"Tesla said they would be happy to provide the battery, but in six months, perhaps, and we said we can't wait," said Think CEO Jan-Olaf Willums.
Willums said he first heard there might be delays in delivering the battery packs a few months ago. The news has affected Think "badly, obviously, so we are instead finding deals with other people," he said.
Think already has signed agreements with Indianapolis-based Enerdel and France-based Groupe Dassault to develop battery systems for Think's cars. The company also is in the process of signing a development deal with A123Systems, a battery startup in Watertown, Mass., he said.
All three suppliers are working on iron-phosphate versions of lithium-ion batteries for this deal, said Willums, who added that the technology that performs the best will be selected for a final contract.
With the three contracts, Think will have as many batteries as it expected to get from Tesla, he said, adding that, with the iron phosphate, "we think they will be safer than what Think has."
But Tesla is still a possible partner, he said. "We haven't decided whether we want to drop the Tesla [battery pack] or if we want to keep going and do it when they have time."
Think began producing cars in February and expects to make 500 cars this year, which it will sell to partners to get feedback. The company plans to ramp up to several thousand cars next year and 20,000 cars annually by 2009.
Willums said it isn't behind schedule yet, but that the timeline to expand production might change, depending on how the new battery packs perform in tests.
Think's new battery partners are scheduled to deliver batteries for testing in spring, and the length of the tests will depend on how the batteries perform, he said.
While he said he wishes Tesla had told Think earlier that it wouldn't be able to deliver the batteries on time, Willums said the move makes sense for Tesla.
Bringing the battery prototypes to the production phase would have cost the company a good bit of money, he said, and after announcing mass production of its Roadster would be delayed until 2008, it made sense for them to focus on the car.
"From their [business-strategy] point of view, I have a full understanding," he said. "From a contractual point of view, it's not so good, but we're all in the same boat and we were flexible enough to find some other partners."
Elon Musk, a Tesla investor and board member, said the company has not abandoned Think or the powertrain business at all.
"It is simply a question of focus being on the Roadster right now and, to a lesser extent, model 2 (codenamed White Star)," he said, referring to the four-door sedan expected to cost half of the $89,000 price tag of the Roadster when it comes out in 2008.
"The technical aspects of the battery are solved, but there is still a lot of work remaining to make battery production cost-efficient," he said. "There is no point in providing Think with an overly expensive battery."
Thilo Koslowski, a vice president and lead automotive analyst with Gartner, said Tesla is doing the right thing by focusing on getting the car right and out in a meaningful way.
"Tesla is a car manufacturer first of all, and that's the reason it achieved so much attention and interest," he said. "It's cool, it's seen as robust and it's got a good design."
It makes sense for the company to focus on the parts of its business that most differentiate the brand, he said.
"The battery is not something that will be a huge differentiation or that the company needs to focus on in-house," he said. "As in consumer products, the battery is not seen as something that makes the product distinct."
In the future, the company might decide to turn its attention back to batteries or partner with another company for the batteries, Koslowski said.
He pointed to Better Place, which raised $200 million for its plan to lease easily removable batteries for electric cars and set up battery-charging and replacing stations around the United States (See In Brief: New Choices At the Pump).
VantagePoint Venture Partners, which invested in Tesla, also invested in Better Place.
Mark Huang, a former senior vice president at GE Energy Financial Services, also said Tesla's core competency is car manufacturing.
"It's hard to do it all, the battery pack and the car," he said. "There is some significant engineering work that needs to be done for both."
Electric sports-car startup says it is 'all hands on deck' to focus on shipping cars. Think Global, which had expected to buy battery packs from Tesla, says it is turning to partnerships with Enerdel, Groupe Dassault and A123Systems.
by: Jennifer Kho
October 31, 2007
Tesla Motors is putting its battery business on hold for now to focus on producing its Roadsters, company officials said.
"Tesla Motors is doing a lot of different kinds of businesses, including the battery business, but today it's all hands on deck shipping cars," Martin Eberhard, president of technology and former CEO of Tesla Motors, told Greentech Media.
While the company is best known for its speedy sports car, the Roadster, it also had planned to sell battery packs to Think Global, a Norwegian electric-car company, for additional revenue.
Some analysts had said they liked the business model of selling batteries in addition to cars, anticipating that the car business might be farther away from mainstream-market volumes.
Now the deal seems to be off.
"Tesla said they would be happy to provide the battery, but in six months, perhaps, and we said we can't wait," said Think CEO Jan-Olaf Willums.
Willums said he first heard there might be delays in delivering the battery packs a few months ago. The news has affected Think "badly, obviously, so we are instead finding deals with other people," he said.
Think already has signed agreements with Indianapolis-based Enerdel and France-based Groupe Dassault to develop battery systems for Think's cars. The company also is in the process of signing a development deal with A123Systems, a battery startup in Watertown, Mass., he said.
All three suppliers are working on iron-phosphate versions of lithium-ion batteries for this deal, said Willums, who added that the technology that performs the best will be selected for a final contract.
With the three contracts, Think will have as many batteries as it expected to get from Tesla, he said, adding that, with the iron phosphate, "we think they will be safer than what Think has."
But Tesla is still a possible partner, he said. "We haven't decided whether we want to drop the Tesla [battery pack] or if we want to keep going and do it when they have time."
Think began producing cars in February and expects to make 500 cars this year, which it will sell to partners to get feedback. The company plans to ramp up to several thousand cars next year and 20,000 cars annually by 2009.
Willums said it isn't behind schedule yet, but that the timeline to expand production might change, depending on how the new battery packs perform in tests.
Think's new battery partners are scheduled to deliver batteries for testing in spring, and the length of the tests will depend on how the batteries perform, he said.
While he said he wishes Tesla had told Think earlier that it wouldn't be able to deliver the batteries on time, Willums said the move makes sense for Tesla.
Bringing the battery prototypes to the production phase would have cost the company a good bit of money, he said, and after announcing mass production of its Roadster would be delayed until 2008, it made sense for them to focus on the car.
"From their [business-strategy] point of view, I have a full understanding," he said. "From a contractual point of view, it's not so good, but we're all in the same boat and we were flexible enough to find some other partners."
Elon Musk, a Tesla investor and board member, said the company has not abandoned Think or the powertrain business at all.
"It is simply a question of focus being on the Roadster right now and, to a lesser extent, model 2 (codenamed White Star)," he said, referring to the four-door sedan expected to cost half of the $89,000 price tag of the Roadster when it comes out in 2008.
"The technical aspects of the battery are solved, but there is still a lot of work remaining to make battery production cost-efficient," he said. "There is no point in providing Think with an overly expensive battery."
Thilo Koslowski, a vice president and lead automotive analyst with Gartner, said Tesla is doing the right thing by focusing on getting the car right and out in a meaningful way.
"Tesla is a car manufacturer first of all, and that's the reason it achieved so much attention and interest," he said. "It's cool, it's seen as robust and it's got a good design."
It makes sense for the company to focus on the parts of its business that most differentiate the brand, he said.
"The battery is not something that will be a huge differentiation or that the company needs to focus on in-house," he said. "As in consumer products, the battery is not seen as something that makes the product distinct."
In the future, the company might decide to turn its attention back to batteries or partner with another company for the batteries, Koslowski said.
He pointed to Better Place, which raised $200 million for its plan to lease easily removable batteries for electric cars and set up battery-charging and replacing stations around the United States (See In Brief: New Choices At the Pump).
VantagePoint Venture Partners, which invested in Tesla, also invested in Better Place.
Mark Huang, a former senior vice president at GE Energy Financial Services, also said Tesla's core competency is car manufacturing.
"It's hard to do it all, the battery pack and the car," he said. "There is some significant engineering work that needs to be done for both."
Alex Zanardi to compete in NYC Marathon
Amputee race car driver Alex Zanardi to compete in NYC Marathon in handcycle category
Posted: Thursday Nov 1, 2007 2:21 PM
NEW YORK (AP) - It started as a joke.
Race car driver Alex Zanardi was chatting with a manager at a pasta manufacturer he endorses about getting involved with the New York City Marathon, for which the company, Barilla, sponsors a prerace dinner. Zanardi, who lost both legs in a horrific crash during a 2001 race, quipped that he could compete in the marathon.
Silence. Then the manager said, "You're crazy.''
To a man who returned to racing in a modified car after his accident, that was enticement, not discouragement.
"Up to that point, I was just joking. When he told me I couldn't do something,'' Zanardi said, "in my head, it's 'You've got to prove it now.'''
Next thing he knew, Zanardi, who had never used a handcycle, found himself with less than a month to prepare to race one 26.2 miles.
He will pedal a bike with his hands along the course Sunday, and not only does he intend to finish, but he hopes to post a fast time.
The 41-year-old Italian won CART championships in 1997 and '98. During a September 2001 race in Germany, Zanardi lost control of his car coming out of the pits and swerved into the path of Alex Tagliani, who hit him at about 200 mph. The impact sliced Zanardi's car in half and left him in a coma for a week.
Two years later, Zanardi returned to complete the final 12 laps he never finished. He now competes in the World Touring Car Championship.
Despite Zanardi's vow to the Barilla manager in early September, he faced some obstacles. First he had to enter - Barilla was able to get him in at the last minute. The next obstacle was finding a handcycle.
A chance meeting four years earlier provided the solution. Zanardi and another driver had been angling for the same handicapped parking space. When Zanardi got out of his car, the other man recognized him and Zanardi wound up with the business card of Vittorio Podesta, a paraplegic who went on to finish second in the handcycle category at last year's NYC Marathon.
So when Zanardi needed a handcycle, he called Podesta, who put him in touch with a man in Milan looking to sell one. Zanardi picked up his new bike while competing nearby Oct. 6.
The next day, he took it for a spin. Ever the optimist, he decided to pedal 18 miles along the Po River then turn around and head back.
Three miles into the return trip, he'd had enough.
"But I still had to do the other 15 to get back to the car,'' he said with a chuckle in a phone interview Monday. "I had no choice. I felt very stupid.''
By the end of his third workout, though, he felt fresh enough to do even more. His arms had grown strong through the necessities of life with prosthetic legs. He must rely on his upper body to sit down and stand up and to walk with the help of a cane.
Zanardi joked that "I've become like the Incredible Hulk a little bit - the only thing is I'm not green.
"The muscles were already in place. They had to be educated to move in a slightly different way.''
Citing superstition, Zanardi didn't reveal the times he has clocked in training. He did say he wants to finish somewhere in the range of 1 hour, 45 minutes to 1 hour, 50 minutes. In 2006, 17 entrants in the handcycle category went faster than 1:50. The winning time was 1:25.
Always competitive, he speculated that maybe he'll keep training and try to win next year. At the very least, he plans to keep using his handcycle.
That first time he went for a ride, under a dazzling blue sky, Zanardi relished a sensation he had so missed: his heart pounding faster and faster as only an aerobic workout can make it. After his accident, aerobic exercise was one activity difficult to recapture.
Once an avid runner, Zanardi will enter his first marathon sitting down and on three wheels. He accepted the challenge to make a statement to himself, not the world, but he knows how others have been touched by his story.
"If along the way, by things I do, people at home say, 'Look at this guy with no legs enjoying this, smiling, completing 42 kilometers with a funny bicycle; at least I could go down to the grocery store and buy a couple apples,''' Zanardi said. "I'm proud to be an inspiration, but I'd be completely wrong to do it to send a message.''
Posted: Thursday Nov 1, 2007 2:21 PM
NEW YORK (AP) - It started as a joke.
Race car driver Alex Zanardi was chatting with a manager at a pasta manufacturer he endorses about getting involved with the New York City Marathon, for which the company, Barilla, sponsors a prerace dinner. Zanardi, who lost both legs in a horrific crash during a 2001 race, quipped that he could compete in the marathon.
Silence. Then the manager said, "You're crazy.''
To a man who returned to racing in a modified car after his accident, that was enticement, not discouragement.
"Up to that point, I was just joking. When he told me I couldn't do something,'' Zanardi said, "in my head, it's 'You've got to prove it now.'''
Next thing he knew, Zanardi, who had never used a handcycle, found himself with less than a month to prepare to race one 26.2 miles.
He will pedal a bike with his hands along the course Sunday, and not only does he intend to finish, but he hopes to post a fast time.
The 41-year-old Italian won CART championships in 1997 and '98. During a September 2001 race in Germany, Zanardi lost control of his car coming out of the pits and swerved into the path of Alex Tagliani, who hit him at about 200 mph. The impact sliced Zanardi's car in half and left him in a coma for a week.
Two years later, Zanardi returned to complete the final 12 laps he never finished. He now competes in the World Touring Car Championship.
Despite Zanardi's vow to the Barilla manager in early September, he faced some obstacles. First he had to enter - Barilla was able to get him in at the last minute. The next obstacle was finding a handcycle.
A chance meeting four years earlier provided the solution. Zanardi and another driver had been angling for the same handicapped parking space. When Zanardi got out of his car, the other man recognized him and Zanardi wound up with the business card of Vittorio Podesta, a paraplegic who went on to finish second in the handcycle category at last year's NYC Marathon.
So when Zanardi needed a handcycle, he called Podesta, who put him in touch with a man in Milan looking to sell one. Zanardi picked up his new bike while competing nearby Oct. 6.
The next day, he took it for a spin. Ever the optimist, he decided to pedal 18 miles along the Po River then turn around and head back.
Three miles into the return trip, he'd had enough.
"But I still had to do the other 15 to get back to the car,'' he said with a chuckle in a phone interview Monday. "I had no choice. I felt very stupid.''
By the end of his third workout, though, he felt fresh enough to do even more. His arms had grown strong through the necessities of life with prosthetic legs. He must rely on his upper body to sit down and stand up and to walk with the help of a cane.
Zanardi joked that "I've become like the Incredible Hulk a little bit - the only thing is I'm not green.
"The muscles were already in place. They had to be educated to move in a slightly different way.''
Citing superstition, Zanardi didn't reveal the times he has clocked in training. He did say he wants to finish somewhere in the range of 1 hour, 45 minutes to 1 hour, 50 minutes. In 2006, 17 entrants in the handcycle category went faster than 1:50. The winning time was 1:25.
Always competitive, he speculated that maybe he'll keep training and try to win next year. At the very least, he plans to keep using his handcycle.
That first time he went for a ride, under a dazzling blue sky, Zanardi relished a sensation he had so missed: his heart pounding faster and faster as only an aerobic workout can make it. After his accident, aerobic exercise was one activity difficult to recapture.
Once an avid runner, Zanardi will enter his first marathon sitting down and on three wheels. He accepted the challenge to make a statement to himself, not the world, but he knows how others have been touched by his story.
"If along the way, by things I do, people at home say, 'Look at this guy with no legs enjoying this, smiling, completing 42 kilometers with a funny bicycle; at least I could go down to the grocery store and buy a couple apples,''' Zanardi said. "I'm proud to be an inspiration, but I'd be completely wrong to do it to send a message.''
Driving the Lambo Reventon
Here's a video of a drive in the Lambo carbon composite marquee car... the Reventon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDAHs1zXdjU&eurl=http://jalopnik.com/index.php?refId=318332
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDAHs1zXdjU&eurl=http://jalopnik.com/index.php?refId=318332
Saturday, October 27, 2007
BMW's Quandt Family Faces Its Nazi Past
Europe October 10, 2007, 12:29PM EST text size: TT
BMW's Quandt Family Faces Its Nazi Past
A shocking documentary aired on German TV exposes the family's shameful history of Nazi profiteering and use of slave labor
by Gail Edmondson
Automaker BMW is Germany's most admired employer and a pioneer in profit sharing. So it came as a shock Sept. 30 when an investigative television documentary exposed the Nazi-era misdeeds of BMW's controlling shareholder family, the Quandts. The Silence of the Quandt Family highlighted how patriarch Günther Quandt, grandfather to the generation now controlling BMW (BMWG.DE), built a blood-stained wartime fortune on the back of slave labor and how he sidestepped postwar recrimination.
The reclusive Quandt family responded to the documentary five days later, on Oct. 5, pledging to back a research project into the family's Nazi past and its role under the Third Reich, opening family archives and documents to an independent historian.
Testimony from Former Slave Laborers
"The accusations that have been raised against our family have moved us," said the family in a statement. "We recognize that in our history as a German business family, the years 1933 to 1945 have not been sufficiently cleared up."
BMW, of which the Quandts became major shareholders 15 years after the war, was not implicated in the documentary. In keeping with its normal policy, the automaker made no comment about the Quandts, but noted that it has publically confronted its own wartime history via independent research projects.
The TV program stunned Germany and triggered a raft of newspaper stories with headlines such as "The Quandts' Bloody Billions" and "A Fortune Stained in Blood." The hour-long documentary included interviews with former slave laborers who testified to the devastating conditions and atrocities which took place at Günther Quandt's battery company, Accumulatorenfabrik AG (Afa). Afa produced highly specialized batteries for the Nazi war machine, used in U-boats and V-2 rockets. It also produced munitions. "We were treated terribly and had to drink water from the toilets. We were also whipped," said Takis Mylopoulos, a forced laborer who worked in Quandt's Hannover plant.
Based on documents unearthed by the filmmakers, Quandt estimated a "fluctuation of 80 prisoners per month," in his battery factory—a likely reference to expected deaths per month, the film claims. It also says that Quandt, who joined the Nazi party in 1933, wielded close family ties to the Nazi elite to grow his battery business. Sven Quandt, a grandson of Günther and the only family member to appear in the documentary, says that he and his siblings cannot be held responsible for their grandfather's activities.
Quandts Rejected Pleas for Reparations
Afa had factories in Hannover, Berlin, and Vienna and was supplied with slave laborers from concentration camps who died by the hundreds, according to the documentary. One former Danish slave laborer testified in the film that he and other survivors, who were deported to a German concentration camp and sent to work at Afa, returned to Germany in 1972 to plead for financial support from the Quandts, since the harsh working conditions at Afa had resulted in lifelong ailments.
The Quandts turned them away, the film says. "It's for me a step in the right direction that the Quandt family, after so many decades, finally is willing to face its history," says Carl-Adolf Sörensen, a former Danish resistance fighter who was sent to the Hannover-Stöcken concentration camp in 1943. Sörensen wants the Quandts to admit that Afa relied on slave labor from the camp.
Escaping Justice
The Silence of the Quandt Family was broadcast by Norddeutsche Runkfunk (NDR), an affiliate of the national ARD network, and was based on five years of research by authors Eric Friedler and Barbara Siebert. It premiered at the Hamburg Film Festival on Sept. 30 and was aired without notice on television later that night, at 11:30 p.m., reaching an estimated audience of 1.3 million. Some German commentators surmise the broadcast was not announced in advance for fear of legal interference from the Quandts to block the program. ARD officials denied the speculation and said they decided to air the program only after the Film Festival premiere.
Despite his Nazi membership—and, as it now appears, his use of slave labor—Günther Quandt was deemed after the war to have been more of a "passive follower" than a convinced Nazi. But Benjamin Ferencz, a prosecutor from the Nuremberg Trials interviewed in the documentary, said that the facts revealed today likely would have led to Quandt's conviction for war crimes—similar to those meted out to members of the Krupp and Flick families.
"Quandt escaped justice," Ferencz told the filmmakers. Industrialist Friederich Flick, by contrast, received a prison sentence of seven years at the Nuremberg Trials for deploying slave labor and for serving the Nazi war machine, but was freed in 1950.
After the war, Quandt received his company, later renamed Varta (VARGK.F), back from the government and continued to build his industrial wealth—the fortune eventually wielded by his son Herbert in 1959 to buy BMW. Herbert's heirs, including wife Johanna, daughter Susanna Klatten, and son Stefan, today own a controlling 47% stake in BMW, which has a market capitalization of $42 billion. The Quandts also own a controlling stake in pharmaceutical giant Altana (ALTG.DE). The family's holdings are worth an estimated $34 billion.
Damage Control
Despite its acknowledgement that the family's ties to the Nazis have been played down, the Quandt family members insist the details of Günther Quandt's past are not entirely new. A 2002 biography covered much of the same ground. It's also been known that Quandt's wife Magda Ritschel, whom he divorced in 1929, remarried Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels in 1931 and that Goebbels adopted Quandt's son Harald. Adolf Hitler acted as witness at the wedding.
Many German companies including BMW, Volkswagen (VOWG.DE), and Deutsche Bank (DB) already have explored their own wartime collaboration and misdeeds during the Nazi era, publishing books, turning over documentation to experts, and paying millions of dollars into funds distributed to forced-labor survivors. Volkswagen's book documents its deployment of 20,000 slave laborers during the Third Reich. In 1999, BMW and other German companies founded the "Remembrance, Responsibility and Future" foundation, which provides compensation to former forced laborers.
The Quandts, by contrast, have remained silent about their past, perhaps fearing a global public backlash against the BMW brand. Until now, the family has refused historians access to its Nazi-era historical archives and papers—and it still has not acknowledged that Afa factories made use of slave labor from concentration camps.
The Oct. 5 statement by the family noted that Quandt-owned companies BMW, Varta, and Altana, as well as individual family members, contributed to national funds established to compensate former slave laborers but did not mention the sums contributed.
Edmondson is a senior correspondent in BusinessWeek's Frankfurt bureau .
BMW's Quandt Family Faces Its Nazi Past
A shocking documentary aired on German TV exposes the family's shameful history of Nazi profiteering and use of slave labor
by Gail Edmondson
Automaker BMW is Germany's most admired employer and a pioneer in profit sharing. So it came as a shock Sept. 30 when an investigative television documentary exposed the Nazi-era misdeeds of BMW's controlling shareholder family, the Quandts. The Silence of the Quandt Family highlighted how patriarch Günther Quandt, grandfather to the generation now controlling BMW (BMWG.DE), built a blood-stained wartime fortune on the back of slave labor and how he sidestepped postwar recrimination.
The reclusive Quandt family responded to the documentary five days later, on Oct. 5, pledging to back a research project into the family's Nazi past and its role under the Third Reich, opening family archives and documents to an independent historian.
Testimony from Former Slave Laborers
"The accusations that have been raised against our family have moved us," said the family in a statement. "We recognize that in our history as a German business family, the years 1933 to 1945 have not been sufficiently cleared up."
BMW, of which the Quandts became major shareholders 15 years after the war, was not implicated in the documentary. In keeping with its normal policy, the automaker made no comment about the Quandts, but noted that it has publically confronted its own wartime history via independent research projects.
The TV program stunned Germany and triggered a raft of newspaper stories with headlines such as "The Quandts' Bloody Billions" and "A Fortune Stained in Blood." The hour-long documentary included interviews with former slave laborers who testified to the devastating conditions and atrocities which took place at Günther Quandt's battery company, Accumulatorenfabrik AG (Afa). Afa produced highly specialized batteries for the Nazi war machine, used in U-boats and V-2 rockets. It also produced munitions. "We were treated terribly and had to drink water from the toilets. We were also whipped," said Takis Mylopoulos, a forced laborer who worked in Quandt's Hannover plant.
Based on documents unearthed by the filmmakers, Quandt estimated a "fluctuation of 80 prisoners per month," in his battery factory—a likely reference to expected deaths per month, the film claims. It also says that Quandt, who joined the Nazi party in 1933, wielded close family ties to the Nazi elite to grow his battery business. Sven Quandt, a grandson of Günther and the only family member to appear in the documentary, says that he and his siblings cannot be held responsible for their grandfather's activities.
Quandts Rejected Pleas for Reparations
Afa had factories in Hannover, Berlin, and Vienna and was supplied with slave laborers from concentration camps who died by the hundreds, according to the documentary. One former Danish slave laborer testified in the film that he and other survivors, who were deported to a German concentration camp and sent to work at Afa, returned to Germany in 1972 to plead for financial support from the Quandts, since the harsh working conditions at Afa had resulted in lifelong ailments.
The Quandts turned them away, the film says. "It's for me a step in the right direction that the Quandt family, after so many decades, finally is willing to face its history," says Carl-Adolf Sörensen, a former Danish resistance fighter who was sent to the Hannover-Stöcken concentration camp in 1943. Sörensen wants the Quandts to admit that Afa relied on slave labor from the camp.
Escaping Justice
The Silence of the Quandt Family was broadcast by Norddeutsche Runkfunk (NDR), an affiliate of the national ARD network, and was based on five years of research by authors Eric Friedler and Barbara Siebert. It premiered at the Hamburg Film Festival on Sept. 30 and was aired without notice on television later that night, at 11:30 p.m., reaching an estimated audience of 1.3 million. Some German commentators surmise the broadcast was not announced in advance for fear of legal interference from the Quandts to block the program. ARD officials denied the speculation and said they decided to air the program only after the Film Festival premiere.
Despite his Nazi membership—and, as it now appears, his use of slave labor—Günther Quandt was deemed after the war to have been more of a "passive follower" than a convinced Nazi. But Benjamin Ferencz, a prosecutor from the Nuremberg Trials interviewed in the documentary, said that the facts revealed today likely would have led to Quandt's conviction for war crimes—similar to those meted out to members of the Krupp and Flick families.
"Quandt escaped justice," Ferencz told the filmmakers. Industrialist Friederich Flick, by contrast, received a prison sentence of seven years at the Nuremberg Trials for deploying slave labor and for serving the Nazi war machine, but was freed in 1950.
After the war, Quandt received his company, later renamed Varta (VARGK.F), back from the government and continued to build his industrial wealth—the fortune eventually wielded by his son Herbert in 1959 to buy BMW. Herbert's heirs, including wife Johanna, daughter Susanna Klatten, and son Stefan, today own a controlling 47% stake in BMW, which has a market capitalization of $42 billion. The Quandts also own a controlling stake in pharmaceutical giant Altana (ALTG.DE). The family's holdings are worth an estimated $34 billion.
Damage Control
Despite its acknowledgement that the family's ties to the Nazis have been played down, the Quandt family members insist the details of Günther Quandt's past are not entirely new. A 2002 biography covered much of the same ground. It's also been known that Quandt's wife Magda Ritschel, whom he divorced in 1929, remarried Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels in 1931 and that Goebbels adopted Quandt's son Harald. Adolf Hitler acted as witness at the wedding.
Many German companies including BMW, Volkswagen (VOWG.DE), and Deutsche Bank (DB) already have explored their own wartime collaboration and misdeeds during the Nazi era, publishing books, turning over documentation to experts, and paying millions of dollars into funds distributed to forced-labor survivors. Volkswagen's book documents its deployment of 20,000 slave laborers during the Third Reich. In 1999, BMW and other German companies founded the "Remembrance, Responsibility and Future" foundation, which provides compensation to former forced laborers.
The Quandts, by contrast, have remained silent about their past, perhaps fearing a global public backlash against the BMW brand. Until now, the family has refused historians access to its Nazi-era historical archives and papers—and it still has not acknowledged that Afa factories made use of slave labor from concentration camps.
The Oct. 5 statement by the family noted that Quandt-owned companies BMW, Varta, and Altana, as well as individual family members, contributed to national funds established to compensate former slave laborers but did not mention the sums contributed.
Edmondson is a senior correspondent in BusinessWeek's Frankfurt bureau .
Friday, October 26, 2007
Video: GT3 on the Ring in the Rain
Here is some very good driving video... look how smooth and relaxed his hands are. The GT3 is being piloted Walter Rohrl who is a famous rally driver.
http://www.germancarblog.com/2007/10/porsche-911-gt3-video-of-walter-roehrl.html
http://www.germancarblog.com/2007/10/porsche-911-gt3-video-of-walter-roehrl.html
Audi Quattro S1 Rally Video
This is a great video of some of Audi's racing legacy with the Quattro's...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJjBzSKN7LE&eurl=http://www.germancarblog.com/2007/10/audi-quattro-sport-evolution-s1-great.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJjBzSKN7LE&eurl=http://www.germancarblog.com/2007/10/audi-quattro-sport-evolution-s1-great.html
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
California Speedway Crash of Carrera GT Settled for $4.5 million
This will probably change the way track events are done in the future... Since when does lack of traction control constitute a known handling problem? I guess Vipers ALL have this known problem...
http://www.sportscarmarket.com/content/carrera
Brad
________________________________
Carrera GT Crash Settled at $4.5m
130 mph point of impact, play structure in background
Last summer, "Legal Files" reported about a lawsuit resulting from the fatal crash of a Porsche Carrera GT at a club track day at the California Speedway (June 2006, p. 30). The lawsuit was recently settled for a reported total of approximately $4.5 million. The contributions to the settlement were about 49% from the estate of the driver, 41% from the track owners and the event organizers, 8% from Porsche, and 2% from the driver of the Ferrari that was claimed to have triggered the crash.
"Legal Files" received numerous comments from SCM readers, all of which were critical of the lawsuit, plaintiff, and attorney. No doubt, many readers may have the same reaction to the settlement. But let’s take a closer look at the facts.
To refresh our memory, Tracy Rudl filed the lawsuit alleging the wrongful death of her husband, Corey Rudl, who was a passenger in the CGT owned and driven by Ben Keaton at the Ferrari Owners Club track day. Rudl was represented by attorney Craig McClellan, a former racer and a successful plaintiffs’ attorney from San Diego. As the CGT was traveling at about 130 mph on the straightaway, a Ferrari entered the track at a relatively slow speed. Keaton swerved to avoid it and the Porsche skidded into a concrete barrier wall, killing both men. The wall had been placed closer to the track than its original position, in order to enlarge the area behind it for use as a children’s play area during an earlier NASCAR race.
Discovery creates clearer picture
Extensive investigation, interviewing of witnesses, and other forms of legal discovery brought out more facts. Here is the bigger picture, according to McClellan.
The Track. The track suffered from two major design defects—the pit-out (exit onto the track) design and the concrete wall along the straightaway that was moved to accommodate the NASCAR race. The problem with the pit-out design was that it brought the drivers onto the track in the middle of the straightaway and the pit-out driver’s view of the straightaway was completely blocked by a guardrail, so the driver had to rely entirely on the flagger when entering.
The aerial view of the track shows how the concrete wall that normally ran parallel to the track was moved to enlarge the area behind it. A second photo shows the Carrera GT crashed in the worst possible place—right where the wall protruded. It looks as the CGT would normally have hit the wall and bounced back toward the track. Whatever happened then would have been better than a 130-mile near head-on crash.
The Organizers. The Ferrari Owners Club requires that all cars pass a technical inspection by an approved repair facility. At a previous event, the FOC President and organizer had been warned by one of their vehicle certifiers that he believed that something was wrong with the handling of Keaton’s car and it should not be allowed to run. They let it into that event anyway, and it spun out three to four times—one time the event organizer was even on board and became nauseous. But he didn’t tell anyone about the warnings and did not exclude Keaton from that event. (As you will see below, it appears the concerns the mechanic had were related to the oversteer inherent in the design of the car, not to any particular mechanical defect.)
Keaton did not have the CGT inspected before this event, but was allowed to sign his own tech inspection form stating that the car was fine. Investigation revealed the FOC had never denied a participant access to a track day on account of a failure to pass tech.
The organizers also failed to enforce the track safety rule about cars entering the track. Pit-out was in the middle of the straightaway, with entry on the left side. But cars on the straightaway tended to stay to the left to set up for the right-hander at the end. To avoid collisions, cars entering the track were required to move to the right side as soon as possible. However, at this event, cars were entering the track and staying on the left side.
The Driver. Keaton was warned about the handling problems with the CGT, ignored his mechanic’s advice, and invited Rudl for a ride without mentioning the problems. And, when the Ferrari came onto the track slowly, he overreacted and spun.
The Ferrari Driver. The Ferrari driver and the flagger blamed each other for what happened, but it was concluded that the Ferrari entered the track too slowly, forcing Keaton to evade him.
Porsche. The sole claim against Porsche was that the CGT was defective because it was designed without electronic stability control, which Porsche calls PSM. McClellan deposed two German engineers on the subject, and their answers were inconsistent. One testified that Porsche did not think that its PSM system would work on the CGT because the car’s frame structure and suspension mountings would create strong vibrations that would interfere with its operation. The other engineer testified that PSM was not offered because the customers didn’t want it.
McClellan suspects it was a marketing decision, as the CGT was marketed as a "race car for the streets," and race cars don’t have electronic stability control. He notes that during its development, the CGT had exhibited a tendency to oversteer during high lateral acceleration. Porsche made some adjustments, but did not fully correct the problem, which explained why the mechanic who drove Keaton’s car reported “handling problems.” PSM would have corrected the “tail happy” oversteer response to Keaton’s steering input to avoid the Ferrari.
What about the releases?
One of the primary matters addressed in the settlement negotiations was the release signed by Rudl. As all of us who have participated in a track day know, the release contained language that waived any claims against the organizers and participants, with Rudl assuming full risk of injury or death. Many SCM readers pointed out that the release should end the matter.
While the settlement was being negotiated, the California Supreme Court was considering a broadly similar case. The Court of Appeal had ruled that releases were effective as to negligence claims, but not as to claims of gross negligence. There was uncertainty about the outcome because this case was the first time this issue had been addressed by a California court.
McClellan insisted that the Supreme Court would agree with the Court of Appeal, and that he could prove gross negligence against the various defendants. He also insisted that the release would not be effective against the driver, as Keaton had been warned about the car’s handling problems before the event and did not disclose them. Either way, the release had nothing to do with the claim against Porsche, as it was not a participant at the track day.
The Supreme Court’s opinion was issued shortly after the settlement and was what McClellan predicted. The case involved a release given by the parents of a developmentally disabled girl who participated in a City of Santa Barbara summer camp and drowned while swimming. With no prior California precedent, the Court looked to decisions from other states. Quite a number had addressed the issue, and the majority ruled that properly written releases would be effective against claims of ordinary negligence, but that public policy made them void as to claims of gross negligence. The Court noted that most of the handful of decisions that enforced releases in cases of gross negligence involved auto racing incidents, but also noted that several states had ruled that releases are ineffective against claims for ordinary negligence, even in auto racing situations.
Interestingly, the Court received amicus curiae briefs from a number of organizations, including NASCAR and the California Speedway Association, predicting the demise of spectator racing and numerous types of recreational activities if the Court adopted this rule. The Court brushed them off, pointing out that NASCAR holds three races each year in Virginia and New York, both of which have laws that bar releases even in cases of ordinary negligence.
Was anything accomplished?
A lot of money changed hands in this settlement, but did anything of lasting societal value get accomplished here? McClellan thinks a lot of good may have been accomplished. He points out that the California Speedway is now safer. The guardrail blocking the view from pit-out has been moved, and the track may move pit-out to the end of the straightaway. He is confident that the Ferrari Owners Club will institute better safety procedures at track days, and he is hopeful that Porsche and other manufacturers will never again build a supercar without electronic stability control. McClellan thinks that the manufacturers’ greatest exposure in this regard may not be crashes on racetracks, but what might happen on the street. Imagine a CGT driver who gets in over his head on a public road, the rear end comes around, and he spins into an oncoming car, killing its occupant. Faced with expert testimony that electronic stability control could have prevented the spin, what will the jury think?
McClellan points out that the typical SCM subscriber, a car enthusiast who holds fast cars and racetracks dear, will never make it onto this jury. The jurors will be more ordinary citizens. "Most people, especially those with children on the streets and highways, would fear a vehicle like the Carrera GT, with its tricky handling characteristics, 600-plus horsepower, and unskilled, unqualified drivers. When a 'race car for the streets' is sold to anyone with enough money, regardless of his ability to drive it, and it doesn’t even incorporate modern electronic safety devices that correct driver errors, then maybe the manufacturer should accept some responsibility for the foreseeable deaths that will result."
Tracy Rudl also believes that the lawsuit will benefit others. "My loving husband was an innocent passenger in an expensive sports car that inexplicably failed to incorporate a modern, life-saving safety feature. He was a passenger on a racetrack that was dangerously designed. While driving on racetracks always involves risks, the result of this case and the redesign of the track will help eliminate unnecessary risks and make the sport of high speed driving safer."
JOHN DRANEAS is an attorney and a car collector in Oregon. His comments are general in nature and are not intended to substitute for consultation with an attorney.
http://www.sportscarmarket.com/content/carrera
Brad
________________________________
Carrera GT Crash Settled at $4.5m
130 mph point of impact, play structure in background
Last summer, "Legal Files" reported about a lawsuit resulting from the fatal crash of a Porsche Carrera GT at a club track day at the California Speedway (June 2006, p. 30). The lawsuit was recently settled for a reported total of approximately $4.5 million. The contributions to the settlement were about 49% from the estate of the driver, 41% from the track owners and the event organizers, 8% from Porsche, and 2% from the driver of the Ferrari that was claimed to have triggered the crash.
"Legal Files" received numerous comments from SCM readers, all of which were critical of the lawsuit, plaintiff, and attorney. No doubt, many readers may have the same reaction to the settlement. But let’s take a closer look at the facts.
To refresh our memory, Tracy Rudl filed the lawsuit alleging the wrongful death of her husband, Corey Rudl, who was a passenger in the CGT owned and driven by Ben Keaton at the Ferrari Owners Club track day. Rudl was represented by attorney Craig McClellan, a former racer and a successful plaintiffs’ attorney from San Diego. As the CGT was traveling at about 130 mph on the straightaway, a Ferrari entered the track at a relatively slow speed. Keaton swerved to avoid it and the Porsche skidded into a concrete barrier wall, killing both men. The wall had been placed closer to the track than its original position, in order to enlarge the area behind it for use as a children’s play area during an earlier NASCAR race.
Discovery creates clearer picture
Extensive investigation, interviewing of witnesses, and other forms of legal discovery brought out more facts. Here is the bigger picture, according to McClellan.
The Track. The track suffered from two major design defects—the pit-out (exit onto the track) design and the concrete wall along the straightaway that was moved to accommodate the NASCAR race. The problem with the pit-out design was that it brought the drivers onto the track in the middle of the straightaway and the pit-out driver’s view of the straightaway was completely blocked by a guardrail, so the driver had to rely entirely on the flagger when entering.
The aerial view of the track shows how the concrete wall that normally ran parallel to the track was moved to enlarge the area behind it. A second photo shows the Carrera GT crashed in the worst possible place—right where the wall protruded. It looks as the CGT would normally have hit the wall and bounced back toward the track. Whatever happened then would have been better than a 130-mile near head-on crash.
The Organizers. The Ferrari Owners Club requires that all cars pass a technical inspection by an approved repair facility. At a previous event, the FOC President and organizer had been warned by one of their vehicle certifiers that he believed that something was wrong with the handling of Keaton’s car and it should not be allowed to run. They let it into that event anyway, and it spun out three to four times—one time the event organizer was even on board and became nauseous. But he didn’t tell anyone about the warnings and did not exclude Keaton from that event. (As you will see below, it appears the concerns the mechanic had were related to the oversteer inherent in the design of the car, not to any particular mechanical defect.)
Keaton did not have the CGT inspected before this event, but was allowed to sign his own tech inspection form stating that the car was fine. Investigation revealed the FOC had never denied a participant access to a track day on account of a failure to pass tech.
The organizers also failed to enforce the track safety rule about cars entering the track. Pit-out was in the middle of the straightaway, with entry on the left side. But cars on the straightaway tended to stay to the left to set up for the right-hander at the end. To avoid collisions, cars entering the track were required to move to the right side as soon as possible. However, at this event, cars were entering the track and staying on the left side.
The Driver. Keaton was warned about the handling problems with the CGT, ignored his mechanic’s advice, and invited Rudl for a ride without mentioning the problems. And, when the Ferrari came onto the track slowly, he overreacted and spun.
The Ferrari Driver. The Ferrari driver and the flagger blamed each other for what happened, but it was concluded that the Ferrari entered the track too slowly, forcing Keaton to evade him.
Porsche. The sole claim against Porsche was that the CGT was defective because it was designed without electronic stability control, which Porsche calls PSM. McClellan deposed two German engineers on the subject, and their answers were inconsistent. One testified that Porsche did not think that its PSM system would work on the CGT because the car’s frame structure and suspension mountings would create strong vibrations that would interfere with its operation. The other engineer testified that PSM was not offered because the customers didn’t want it.
McClellan suspects it was a marketing decision, as the CGT was marketed as a "race car for the streets," and race cars don’t have electronic stability control. He notes that during its development, the CGT had exhibited a tendency to oversteer during high lateral acceleration. Porsche made some adjustments, but did not fully correct the problem, which explained why the mechanic who drove Keaton’s car reported “handling problems.” PSM would have corrected the “tail happy” oversteer response to Keaton’s steering input to avoid the Ferrari.
What about the releases?
One of the primary matters addressed in the settlement negotiations was the release signed by Rudl. As all of us who have participated in a track day know, the release contained language that waived any claims against the organizers and participants, with Rudl assuming full risk of injury or death. Many SCM readers pointed out that the release should end the matter.
While the settlement was being negotiated, the California Supreme Court was considering a broadly similar case. The Court of Appeal had ruled that releases were effective as to negligence claims, but not as to claims of gross negligence. There was uncertainty about the outcome because this case was the first time this issue had been addressed by a California court.
McClellan insisted that the Supreme Court would agree with the Court of Appeal, and that he could prove gross negligence against the various defendants. He also insisted that the release would not be effective against the driver, as Keaton had been warned about the car’s handling problems before the event and did not disclose them. Either way, the release had nothing to do with the claim against Porsche, as it was not a participant at the track day.
The Supreme Court’s opinion was issued shortly after the settlement and was what McClellan predicted. The case involved a release given by the parents of a developmentally disabled girl who participated in a City of Santa Barbara summer camp and drowned while swimming. With no prior California precedent, the Court looked to decisions from other states. Quite a number had addressed the issue, and the majority ruled that properly written releases would be effective against claims of ordinary negligence, but that public policy made them void as to claims of gross negligence. The Court noted that most of the handful of decisions that enforced releases in cases of gross negligence involved auto racing incidents, but also noted that several states had ruled that releases are ineffective against claims for ordinary negligence, even in auto racing situations.
Interestingly, the Court received amicus curiae briefs from a number of organizations, including NASCAR and the California Speedway Association, predicting the demise of spectator racing and numerous types of recreational activities if the Court adopted this rule. The Court brushed them off, pointing out that NASCAR holds three races each year in Virginia and New York, both of which have laws that bar releases even in cases of ordinary negligence.
Was anything accomplished?
A lot of money changed hands in this settlement, but did anything of lasting societal value get accomplished here? McClellan thinks a lot of good may have been accomplished. He points out that the California Speedway is now safer. The guardrail blocking the view from pit-out has been moved, and the track may move pit-out to the end of the straightaway. He is confident that the Ferrari Owners Club will institute better safety procedures at track days, and he is hopeful that Porsche and other manufacturers will never again build a supercar without electronic stability control. McClellan thinks that the manufacturers’ greatest exposure in this regard may not be crashes on racetracks, but what might happen on the street. Imagine a CGT driver who gets in over his head on a public road, the rear end comes around, and he spins into an oncoming car, killing its occupant. Faced with expert testimony that electronic stability control could have prevented the spin, what will the jury think?
McClellan points out that the typical SCM subscriber, a car enthusiast who holds fast cars and racetracks dear, will never make it onto this jury. The jurors will be more ordinary citizens. "Most people, especially those with children on the streets and highways, would fear a vehicle like the Carrera GT, with its tricky handling characteristics, 600-plus horsepower, and unskilled, unqualified drivers. When a 'race car for the streets' is sold to anyone with enough money, regardless of his ability to drive it, and it doesn’t even incorporate modern electronic safety devices that correct driver errors, then maybe the manufacturer should accept some responsibility for the foreseeable deaths that will result."
Tracy Rudl also believes that the lawsuit will benefit others. "My loving husband was an innocent passenger in an expensive sports car that inexplicably failed to incorporate a modern, life-saving safety feature. He was a passenger on a racetrack that was dangerously designed. While driving on racetracks always involves risks, the result of this case and the redesign of the track will help eliminate unnecessary risks and make the sport of high speed driving safer."
JOHN DRANEAS is an attorney and a car collector in Oregon. His comments are general in nature and are not intended to substitute for consultation with an attorney.
Too Much Horsepower Video
This is an answer to an age old question... can you ever have too much HP?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRKO6NgviR0&eurl=http://www.vodcars.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRKO6NgviR0&eurl=http://www.vodcars.com/
Russian Secret Weapon... Underwater Car Video
Celebrity Driving Test
Crackin' Up: The Celebrity Driving Test
Columnist Lawrence Ulrich's take on the latest rash of celebrity car crashes.
Click to enlarge
By Lawrence Ulrich
Fear no more, celebrities. A driving test has been created for A-listers so you may one day be on the Hollywood Walk of Fame instead of the wall of shame.
They don't do their own hair or makeup. Many even let others pick out their clothes. So you'd think that celebrities would be happy to leave the driving to a professional, or at least a freeloading buddy, like steadfast Turtle on "Entourage."
In a way, I can't blame them. When you can buy cars like regular people buy socks, filling a garage with Aston Martins and Bentleys, it's hard not to take the wheel. Especially when preening comes so naturally.
But we know what happens next. The kind of celebrity smash-ups that have been a staple since James Dean's high-speed demise in his Porsche Spyder. Only today, it seems like celebrities are worse drivers than ever, unable to pull up to the valet without running over his foot.
It doesn't help that every doofus with a movie deal or rookie bonus thinks he's qualified to drive a 200-mph supercar. And unluckily for them, today's technology and tabloids are exposing every ding, dent and late-night arrest for a celeb-crazed public.
Through the magic of videotape, we've winced as actor Eddie Griffin destroyed a $675,000 Ferrari Enzo, displaying the grace and hand-eye coordination of Valerie Bertinelli playing beach volleyball. We've endured the escapades of Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, et al, in various states of intoxication and undress.
But enough is enough.
To ensure that citizens never again face the terrifying specter of a glassy-eyed Lindsay Lohan weaving toward them in a Mercedes convertible, motor vehicle departments have taken action and created a Celebrity Driving Test. The California version was leaked to me by a sympathetic and perfectly tanned clerk in the Malibu DMV office.
The test is not open to C-listers or below, so David Hasselhoff can keep on Knight Ridin'. But anyone who's Grade-A meat for the tabs and gossip rags will have to sharpen their pencils.
For now, tests will focus on key carnage zones of the Rich and Famous: Los Angeles, New York, Miami. Yet it's only a matter of time before a celebrity crack-up occurs during Sundance, or on some ranch in Montana.
The test may not improve celebrity driving. But like a velvet rope, it will separate a bona-fide star from average folks, meaning anyone who hasn't yet landed a reality series.
California Department of Motor Vehicles: Celebrity Driving Test
1. A group of shouting pedestrians crosses in front of your vehicle, carrying what appear to be cameras and tape recorders. You should:
Stop. Pedestrians have the right of way.
Stop. Hide face behind sun visor.
Stop. Remove baby from lap, place in properly secured child seat.
Speed up: "Paparazzi" is Italian for "roadkill."
2. In an automobile with a manual transmission, the "clutch" is the:
Pedal on the right
Pedal on the left
Prada bag in left hand
Bold play for sex
3. Before leaving a hot club, a safe driver must consider whether he/she is intoxicated. Based on the full range of female body weights in "the industry," match the alcoholic beverages consumed per hour [left] with the weight [right] that would cause legal intoxication, public flashing, unfortunate hairstyles, or hospitalization for "exhaustion."
Drinks per Hour
Body Weight
1
86 pounds
.1
88 pounds
.01
93 pounds
.001
95 pounds
.0001
97 pounds
4. A police officer signals you to pull over. Upon reaching the shoulder, you should:
Call publicist
Remove registration from glove compartment
Remove drugs from glove compartment, stash in underwear
Underwear?
5. To drive safely in heavy fog in the canyons, you should use:
Fog lights only
High beams
Low beams
video iPod
6. Four vehicles arrive simultaneously at red-carpeted intersection, as Officer Seacrest directs traffic. Which has the right of way to hog the camera?
Black limousine
Toyota Prius
Ferrari Enzo
Kia DiCaprio
7. Your vehicle is stopped on suspicion of drunken driving. A police officer requests a breathalyzer exam. Hoping to salvage career and reputation, you:
Remind police of large personal contributions to their salaries.
Describe noteworthy physical attributes of female officers.
Reveal existence of massive Jewish conspiracy.
Flash famous grin
All of the above
8. For each vehicle operator [left], match correct number of license suspensions [right] that will result in meaningful jail time:
Operator
# of Suspensions
Platinum blond heiress
27
Brunette check-out girl
2
Gangsta rapper
6
All-American Quarterback
xx3
True/False
9. Britney couldn't find her car's ignition with a flashlight and a search party. T/F
10. It is illegal to operate or be seen in a motor vehicle worth less than $100,000. T/F
Fill-in Section:
11. Based on DMV statistics, the average speed at which a Lamborghini will strike a lamppost is _____.
12. On average, an owner will travel _____ miles from the dealership before his new Lamborghini strikes a lamppost.
13. ____, the distance a Lamborghini owner will cover on foot, prior to apprehension for lamppost violations.
Special Section (to be completed by professional athletes ONLY):
14. In a motor vehicle with belted positions for five occupants, the correct number of handguns is ____.
15. Traveling west on Wilshire Blvd. at 35 mph, you signal for a right turn on La Cienega. Slowing for an ambulance, you proceed east on Sunset Boulevard. Checking all mirrors, you merge onto the Hollywood Freeway, exit and proceed north on Coldwater Canyon before executing a perfect parallel-park. Along the route described, there are precisely ____ strip clubs.
16. Essay Question: Why are hockey players such lousy drivers? Would they be better off driving on ice?
Extra Credit:
17. Correctly identify the worst celebrity driver in U.S. history:
James Brown
Lindsay Lohan
Sen. Edward "Ted" Kennedy
Billy Joel
Juan Pablo Montoya
Lawrence Ulrich lives in Brooklyn and writes about cars. His reviews and features appear regularly in The New York Times, Popular Science, Men's Vogue and Travel + Leisure Golf.
Columnist Lawrence Ulrich's take on the latest rash of celebrity car crashes.
Click to enlarge
By Lawrence Ulrich
Fear no more, celebrities. A driving test has been created for A-listers so you may one day be on the Hollywood Walk of Fame instead of the wall of shame.
They don't do their own hair or makeup. Many even let others pick out their clothes. So you'd think that celebrities would be happy to leave the driving to a professional, or at least a freeloading buddy, like steadfast Turtle on "Entourage."
In a way, I can't blame them. When you can buy cars like regular people buy socks, filling a garage with Aston Martins and Bentleys, it's hard not to take the wheel. Especially when preening comes so naturally.
But we know what happens next. The kind of celebrity smash-ups that have been a staple since James Dean's high-speed demise in his Porsche Spyder. Only today, it seems like celebrities are worse drivers than ever, unable to pull up to the valet without running over his foot.
It doesn't help that every doofus with a movie deal or rookie bonus thinks he's qualified to drive a 200-mph supercar. And unluckily for them, today's technology and tabloids are exposing every ding, dent and late-night arrest for a celeb-crazed public.
Through the magic of videotape, we've winced as actor Eddie Griffin destroyed a $675,000 Ferrari Enzo, displaying the grace and hand-eye coordination of Valerie Bertinelli playing beach volleyball. We've endured the escapades of Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, et al, in various states of intoxication and undress.
But enough is enough.
To ensure that citizens never again face the terrifying specter of a glassy-eyed Lindsay Lohan weaving toward them in a Mercedes convertible, motor vehicle departments have taken action and created a Celebrity Driving Test. The California version was leaked to me by a sympathetic and perfectly tanned clerk in the Malibu DMV office.
The test is not open to C-listers or below, so David Hasselhoff can keep on Knight Ridin'. But anyone who's Grade-A meat for the tabs and gossip rags will have to sharpen their pencils.
For now, tests will focus on key carnage zones of the Rich and Famous: Los Angeles, New York, Miami. Yet it's only a matter of time before a celebrity crack-up occurs during Sundance, or on some ranch in Montana.
The test may not improve celebrity driving. But like a velvet rope, it will separate a bona-fide star from average folks, meaning anyone who hasn't yet landed a reality series.
California Department of Motor Vehicles: Celebrity Driving Test
1. A group of shouting pedestrians crosses in front of your vehicle, carrying what appear to be cameras and tape recorders. You should:
Stop. Pedestrians have the right of way.
Stop. Hide face behind sun visor.
Stop. Remove baby from lap, place in properly secured child seat.
Speed up: "Paparazzi" is Italian for "roadkill."
2. In an automobile with a manual transmission, the "clutch" is the:
Pedal on the right
Pedal on the left
Prada bag in left hand
Bold play for sex
3. Before leaving a hot club, a safe driver must consider whether he/she is intoxicated. Based on the full range of female body weights in "the industry," match the alcoholic beverages consumed per hour [left] with the weight [right] that would cause legal intoxication, public flashing, unfortunate hairstyles, or hospitalization for "exhaustion."
Drinks per Hour
Body Weight
1
86 pounds
.1
88 pounds
.01
93 pounds
.001
95 pounds
.0001
97 pounds
4. A police officer signals you to pull over. Upon reaching the shoulder, you should:
Call publicist
Remove registration from glove compartment
Remove drugs from glove compartment, stash in underwear
Underwear?
5. To drive safely in heavy fog in the canyons, you should use:
Fog lights only
High beams
Low beams
video iPod
6. Four vehicles arrive simultaneously at red-carpeted intersection, as Officer Seacrest directs traffic. Which has the right of way to hog the camera?
Black limousine
Toyota Prius
Ferrari Enzo
Kia DiCaprio
7. Your vehicle is stopped on suspicion of drunken driving. A police officer requests a breathalyzer exam. Hoping to salvage career and reputation, you:
Remind police of large personal contributions to their salaries.
Describe noteworthy physical attributes of female officers.
Reveal existence of massive Jewish conspiracy.
Flash famous grin
All of the above
8. For each vehicle operator [left], match correct number of license suspensions [right] that will result in meaningful jail time:
Operator
# of Suspensions
Platinum blond heiress
27
Brunette check-out girl
2
Gangsta rapper
6
All-American Quarterback
xx3
True/False
9. Britney couldn't find her car's ignition with a flashlight and a search party. T/F
10. It is illegal to operate or be seen in a motor vehicle worth less than $100,000. T/F
Fill-in Section:
11. Based on DMV statistics, the average speed at which a Lamborghini will strike a lamppost is _____.
12. On average, an owner will travel _____ miles from the dealership before his new Lamborghini strikes a lamppost.
13. ____, the distance a Lamborghini owner will cover on foot, prior to apprehension for lamppost violations.
Special Section (to be completed by professional athletes ONLY):
14. In a motor vehicle with belted positions for five occupants, the correct number of handguns is ____.
15. Traveling west on Wilshire Blvd. at 35 mph, you signal for a right turn on La Cienega. Slowing for an ambulance, you proceed east on Sunset Boulevard. Checking all mirrors, you merge onto the Hollywood Freeway, exit and proceed north on Coldwater Canyon before executing a perfect parallel-park. Along the route described, there are precisely ____ strip clubs.
16. Essay Question: Why are hockey players such lousy drivers? Would they be better off driving on ice?
Extra Credit:
17. Correctly identify the worst celebrity driver in U.S. history:
James Brown
Lindsay Lohan
Sen. Edward "Ted" Kennedy
Billy Joel
Juan Pablo Montoya
Lawrence Ulrich lives in Brooklyn and writes about cars. His reviews and features appear regularly in The New York Times, Popular Science, Men's Vogue and Travel + Leisure Golf.
Lutz Loves Holden
I love Holden, says GM product boss
Barry Park, The Age, 17/10/07
General Motors vice-president Bob Lutz has given Holden a glowing wrap after his trip to Australia last week.
Mr Lutz's comments were posted on GM's official 'Fastlane' blog, and show that he was impressed with the line-up of left-hand-drive cars coming out of Holden's design and development departments.
"I have never experienced an automotive company [such as Holden], including my three years at BMW, that has so much passion for excellence and dedication to the product," said Lutz. "It’s contagious. Oz is a nation where the 'car-guys' (both genders) rule, at least at Holden. I just love the palpable air of the "we want to win" spirit that this team exudes."
As part of his trip, Mr Lutz visited GM Holden's Lang Lang proving ground to drive future models.
''We sampled (Commodore-based) G8s in various states of tune, and they were fabulous," said Lutz. "We drove the Daewoo Veritas and the (Holden Caprice-based) Chinese Buick Park Avenue, both large, ultra-luxe executive transports created by the global rear-wheel-drive team.
"And we also drove ... other things in the rear drive hopper,'' Lutz wrote, no doubt referring to a mid-size-car architecture that is expected to underpin not only a Cadillac rival for the BMW 3 Series but also a Holden Torana.
One car he did provide details on was the Holden-designed Chevrolet Camaro.
''The car had just been completed and had had no tuning or finessing. But I loved the response, the sound, the steering and the brakes,'' Lutz said.
"On a side note, vice president for global design Ed Welburn was on the drive, too. Seeing his beloved Camaro as a real car … in near-final metal, glass, rubber and plastic … transformed from a visionary dream into a highly drivable reality… Well, it was almost too much for him. He broke ranks, ran over to it, and hugged it!"
Barry Park, The Age, 17/10/07
General Motors vice-president Bob Lutz has given Holden a glowing wrap after his trip to Australia last week.
Mr Lutz's comments were posted on GM's official 'Fastlane' blog, and show that he was impressed with the line-up of left-hand-drive cars coming out of Holden's design and development departments.
"I have never experienced an automotive company [such as Holden], including my three years at BMW, that has so much passion for excellence and dedication to the product," said Lutz. "It’s contagious. Oz is a nation where the 'car-guys' (both genders) rule, at least at Holden. I just love the palpable air of the "we want to win" spirit that this team exudes."
As part of his trip, Mr Lutz visited GM Holden's Lang Lang proving ground to drive future models.
''We sampled (Commodore-based) G8s in various states of tune, and they were fabulous," said Lutz. "We drove the Daewoo Veritas and the (Holden Caprice-based) Chinese Buick Park Avenue, both large, ultra-luxe executive transports created by the global rear-wheel-drive team.
"And we also drove ... other things in the rear drive hopper,'' Lutz wrote, no doubt referring to a mid-size-car architecture that is expected to underpin not only a Cadillac rival for the BMW 3 Series but also a Holden Torana.
One car he did provide details on was the Holden-designed Chevrolet Camaro.
''The car had just been completed and had had no tuning or finessing. But I loved the response, the sound, the steering and the brakes,'' Lutz said.
"On a side note, vice president for global design Ed Welburn was on the drive, too. Seeing his beloved Camaro as a real car … in near-final metal, glass, rubber and plastic … transformed from a visionary dream into a highly drivable reality… Well, it was almost too much for him. He broke ranks, ran over to it, and hugged it!"
EU Okays Porsche To Buy VW
October 23, 2007
Porsche Seen Likely to Realize VW Merger
By MARK LANDLER
FRANKFURT, Oct. 22 — A 47-year-old German law is the only roadblock that stands between Porsche and its long-sought goal of taking over Volkswagen. On Tuesday, the law is likely to be swept away.
The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg is expected to strike down the so-called Volkswagen Law, a statute devised by the German government to protect the auto giant from an unwanted takeover.
While such a decision would be greeted as a significant milestone in Europe’s development of an open market, it would be even more momentous in the way it reshapes the German auto industry.
After Porsche is free to increase its voting stake in Volkswagen, analysts predicted, it will move to become VW’s majority owner — a small, but highly profitable maker of sports cars swallowing a company 14 times its size.
It would be a classic David-and-Goliath tale, if this Goliath were not synonymous with the tiny Beetle.
Porsche has been buying shares in Volkswagen for two years, and it has made no secret of its goal. It has even arranged a $14 billion credit line for additional stock purchases, though Porsche executives insist they are under no pressure to raise their stake and in no hurry to do so.
Still, the court ruling promises to heat up an already simmering corporate drama, as Porsche’s hard-driving bosses begin to bear down on the management and employees at Volkswagen.
Porsche’s chairman, Wendelin Wiedeking, has declared he wants Volkswagen to rival Toyota — a grand ambition that would require VW, at a minimum, to recapture its lost presence in the American market. He has little patience for money-losing models, like the Phaeton, Volkswagen’s luxury sedan, which never held its own against BMW or Mercedes-Benz.
“Wiedeking has said, ‘We’ve got to change a lot of things at Volkswagen; there are no sacred cows,’” said Ferdinand Dudenhöffer, the director of the Center for Automotive Research in Gelsenkirchen. “Porsche is very successful in being lean and profitable. It’s not going to be harmonious.”
Already, Volkswagen workers have gone to court to stop Porsche from allocating board seats at the new holding company in a way that would reduce their representation from 10 seats to 3. The court, in Ludwigsburg, Germany, is due to hand down a ruling a day after the European court.
While the European court’s ruling on the Volkswagen Law is not automatic, lawyers said the court was unlikely to deviate from the opinion of its advocate general, Dámaso Ruiz-Jarabo Colomer, a legal counsel to the court, who declared last February that the Volkswagen Law infringed on the free flow of capital within Europe.
The German government adopted the law in 1960 to protect the position of the state of Lower Saxony, which owns 20.1 percent of Volkswagen’s shares, and views itself as a protector of the workers’ rights. A spokeswoman for Lower Saxony said it expected the court to uphold the law.
Porsche has spent more than 5 billion euros ($7 billion) to buy close to 31 percent of Volkswagen’s shares. But its voting share is capped at 20 percent, the same as Lower Saxony’s. Without the Volkswagen Law, Porsche would be able to behave like a principal shareholder.
To some extent, it does anyway. Mr. Wiedeking, who has a seat on Volkswagen’s board, speaks about the company’s strategy in a way that suggests he is — or expects to be — deeply involved in formulating it.
Porsche does not worry about ruffling feathers. A spokesman, Frank Gaube, said the change in the allocation of board seats was necessary to protect the interests of Porsche’s 12,000 workers, which under German law could be overwhelmed by the interests of Volkswagen’s 340,000 workers.
To circumvent this, Porsche chose to incorporate its new holding company, Porsche Automobil Holding, under European, not German, law. Known as Societas Europaea, or S.E., the arrangement allows Porsche to negotiate reduced worker representation on the board. It also gives workers outside Germany a voice in choosing board representatives.
“Under German law, you’d have six employee representatives from Volkswagen on the supervisory board and zero from Porsche,” Mr. Gaube said. “Now we’ll have three from each company.”
That delicate balance is less evident in the other board seats, several of which are allocated to members of the Porsche family. The heirs of Ferdinand Porsche will effectively control Volkswagen, which some see as the closing of a circle, since Mr. Porsche led the company that, at the behest of Hitler, created the car that would become known as the Beetle.
In the unfolding power game, Mr. Wiedeking bears watching, according to analysts. He pushed Porsche to invest in Volkswagen and is likely to exert influence on decisions like what new models to build, or whether it should open a factory in the United States.
Volkswagen’s chief executive, Martin Winterkorn, said last month that an American plant might make sense, if the dollar continued to weaken against the euro. But Porsche executives said Volkswagen first needed to increase capacity at its existing plant in Puebla, Mexico.
In an interview at the Frankfurt auto show last month, Mr. Winterkorn seemed eager to breathe life into the faltering Phaeton line. But Mr. Wiedeking, analysts said, would have little tolerance for pouring resources into an unprofitable luxury car, especially since the Volkswagen-Porsche group already has several other premium brands: Porsche, Audi, and Bentley.
“The Phaeton will lead to conflict with Winterkorn, since he pursues products for image reasons,” Mr. Dudenhöffer, the analyst, said. (Mr. Wiedeking declined to comment before the court ruling.)
While Mr. Winterkorn may find himself under heightened pressure, he retains a powerful ally in Ferdinand Piëch, a former chief executive of Volkswagen and a member of the Porsche family.
On one point, Volkswagen and Porsche are agreed: VW needs to rebuild its once-mighty franchise in the American market. Mr. Winterkorn has made this his top priority, and is planning new models that will cater to American tastes by offering less complex and less costly engineering.
“Our problem, really, is that we build cars for Europe and think we can sell the same cars in America,” he said.
Porsche Seen Likely to Realize VW Merger
By MARK LANDLER
FRANKFURT, Oct. 22 — A 47-year-old German law is the only roadblock that stands between Porsche and its long-sought goal of taking over Volkswagen. On Tuesday, the law is likely to be swept away.
The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg is expected to strike down the so-called Volkswagen Law, a statute devised by the German government to protect the auto giant from an unwanted takeover.
While such a decision would be greeted as a significant milestone in Europe’s development of an open market, it would be even more momentous in the way it reshapes the German auto industry.
After Porsche is free to increase its voting stake in Volkswagen, analysts predicted, it will move to become VW’s majority owner — a small, but highly profitable maker of sports cars swallowing a company 14 times its size.
It would be a classic David-and-Goliath tale, if this Goliath were not synonymous with the tiny Beetle.
Porsche has been buying shares in Volkswagen for two years, and it has made no secret of its goal. It has even arranged a $14 billion credit line for additional stock purchases, though Porsche executives insist they are under no pressure to raise their stake and in no hurry to do so.
Still, the court ruling promises to heat up an already simmering corporate drama, as Porsche’s hard-driving bosses begin to bear down on the management and employees at Volkswagen.
Porsche’s chairman, Wendelin Wiedeking, has declared he wants Volkswagen to rival Toyota — a grand ambition that would require VW, at a minimum, to recapture its lost presence in the American market. He has little patience for money-losing models, like the Phaeton, Volkswagen’s luxury sedan, which never held its own against BMW or Mercedes-Benz.
“Wiedeking has said, ‘We’ve got to change a lot of things at Volkswagen; there are no sacred cows,’” said Ferdinand Dudenhöffer, the director of the Center for Automotive Research in Gelsenkirchen. “Porsche is very successful in being lean and profitable. It’s not going to be harmonious.”
Already, Volkswagen workers have gone to court to stop Porsche from allocating board seats at the new holding company in a way that would reduce their representation from 10 seats to 3. The court, in Ludwigsburg, Germany, is due to hand down a ruling a day after the European court.
While the European court’s ruling on the Volkswagen Law is not automatic, lawyers said the court was unlikely to deviate from the opinion of its advocate general, Dámaso Ruiz-Jarabo Colomer, a legal counsel to the court, who declared last February that the Volkswagen Law infringed on the free flow of capital within Europe.
The German government adopted the law in 1960 to protect the position of the state of Lower Saxony, which owns 20.1 percent of Volkswagen’s shares, and views itself as a protector of the workers’ rights. A spokeswoman for Lower Saxony said it expected the court to uphold the law.
Porsche has spent more than 5 billion euros ($7 billion) to buy close to 31 percent of Volkswagen’s shares. But its voting share is capped at 20 percent, the same as Lower Saxony’s. Without the Volkswagen Law, Porsche would be able to behave like a principal shareholder.
To some extent, it does anyway. Mr. Wiedeking, who has a seat on Volkswagen’s board, speaks about the company’s strategy in a way that suggests he is — or expects to be — deeply involved in formulating it.
Porsche does not worry about ruffling feathers. A spokesman, Frank Gaube, said the change in the allocation of board seats was necessary to protect the interests of Porsche’s 12,000 workers, which under German law could be overwhelmed by the interests of Volkswagen’s 340,000 workers.
To circumvent this, Porsche chose to incorporate its new holding company, Porsche Automobil Holding, under European, not German, law. Known as Societas Europaea, or S.E., the arrangement allows Porsche to negotiate reduced worker representation on the board. It also gives workers outside Germany a voice in choosing board representatives.
“Under German law, you’d have six employee representatives from Volkswagen on the supervisory board and zero from Porsche,” Mr. Gaube said. “Now we’ll have three from each company.”
That delicate balance is less evident in the other board seats, several of which are allocated to members of the Porsche family. The heirs of Ferdinand Porsche will effectively control Volkswagen, which some see as the closing of a circle, since Mr. Porsche led the company that, at the behest of Hitler, created the car that would become known as the Beetle.
In the unfolding power game, Mr. Wiedeking bears watching, according to analysts. He pushed Porsche to invest in Volkswagen and is likely to exert influence on decisions like what new models to build, or whether it should open a factory in the United States.
Volkswagen’s chief executive, Martin Winterkorn, said last month that an American plant might make sense, if the dollar continued to weaken against the euro. But Porsche executives said Volkswagen first needed to increase capacity at its existing plant in Puebla, Mexico.
In an interview at the Frankfurt auto show last month, Mr. Winterkorn seemed eager to breathe life into the faltering Phaeton line. But Mr. Wiedeking, analysts said, would have little tolerance for pouring resources into an unprofitable luxury car, especially since the Volkswagen-Porsche group already has several other premium brands: Porsche, Audi, and Bentley.
“The Phaeton will lead to conflict with Winterkorn, since he pursues products for image reasons,” Mr. Dudenhöffer, the analyst, said. (Mr. Wiedeking declined to comment before the court ruling.)
While Mr. Winterkorn may find himself under heightened pressure, he retains a powerful ally in Ferdinand Piëch, a former chief executive of Volkswagen and a member of the Porsche family.
On one point, Volkswagen and Porsche are agreed: VW needs to rebuild its once-mighty franchise in the American market. Mr. Winterkorn has made this his top priority, and is planning new models that will cater to American tastes by offering less complex and less costly engineering.
“Our problem, really, is that we build cars for Europe and think we can sell the same cars in America,” he said.
Audi's Future Plans In Le Mans Prototype Racing
Independent Design Focus: Audi LMP10
by the Segra GroupOct 22, 2007source: The Segra Group
Just this past weekend, Audi Sport shut the door on the 2007 American Le Mans Series with a nail-biting win over the competition in the series finale at Laguna Seca. Audi Sport boss Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich was coy about the company’s plans for return next year, something that’s been in question due to the rules advantages given to their LMP2 competitors by the American series. What isn’t in question though is the company’s future. Audi will race the R10 next year, and even more interesting is what they might run in 2010 when a new set of rules from the ACO will dictate development of a closed-top car.\n\nSeveral months ago, Fourtitude featured one take on Audi’s next-generation LMP racecar that would abide by the new rules. Put together by an Architect with a passion for Audi and a real talent for CGI, the design offered a first look at what such a future prototype might look like. \n\nIn this most recent Independent Design feature, we take a look at another vision of the future of the ACO’s top prototype class in the form of an Audi. \n\nThis new design comes from the Segra Group, a firm that specializes in engineering for the auto racing industry. In as much, it is likely an even more realistic impression of what could come from Audi in just a few short years.
Here’s a description of the project from the Segra Group in their own words: Audi R8/LMP10Segra Group annually engages in a number of design studies for motorsport applications. Our most recent study was to develop a design for a Le Mans Prototype (LMP) that captures the intent of regulation proposed by the ACO for 2010. Based on the information they have released, it appears the ACO wants the prototype category entries to more closely resemble road cars, yet retain the architecture of a true ‘prototype’ much like those seen at Le Mans in 1998.\n\nBecause of their success at Le Mans so far this century, we chose to base our concept on an Audi platform. Our design, the R8/LMP10, takes its name and design cues from the R8 road car. Much like you see in the German Touring Car series, our design takes the road car and ‘morphs’ it into a racecar. But because of the desired end product (a LMP), our morph is more extreme.
Like the current R10, our design uses a turbo-diesel engine as the primary powerplant. Regenerative braking and other energy recovery systems would be incorporated as they become available. Our design utilizes a hybrid airflow management concept. This concept retains features from the R8/R10 racecars that make sense to carry over such as general fender and rear deck profiles, side air extraction, engine intakes, rear deck treatment and rear wing design. This concept also changes or adds features that are more specific to the R8 road car such as a front radiator, higher rear deck, shorter front fender ‘teardrops’, general greenhouse shape, as well as the general front and rear design layouts including the lights. We have also included one of the R8’s most distinctive features – the ‘brushed aluminum side panels’.\n\nOur design was modeled and rendered entirely in Solid Edge from UGS/Siemens.
Wired into Audi as we are, we note a few other details that might change between now and whenever Audi shows off their next-generation racecar.\n\nFirst, a rumor from deep inside Audi is that a V12 TDI sportscar will come from the company, but would not necessarily be in the form or name of the R8 road car. Our sources suggest the V12 is too long for the current R8 chassis. If the engine is to go inside a sportscar, according to our sources, it would be a longer car and an eventual replacement for the R8. Dubbed R10 perhaps?
If that’s the case, and the LMP cars take more of a basis on a production model, then maybe the next-gen car would be an R10 LMP and be named after a possible R10 road car that would replace the R8 road car.\n\nAlso, don’t expect to see a yellow car. Those of us who remember Frank Biela’s dominant stint in the BTCC may love the color on Audi racecars, but more recent mentions of driver preferences at Audi Sport suggest otherwise. No prototype racer with an Audi badge has ever won a 24 Hours of Le Mans with the yellow accenting, and racecar drivers can be superstitious. \n\nNaming and color aside, this is the most convincing look yet that we’ve seen of the next-generation LMP racer. And, the Segra Group\'s qualifications are certainly very impressive. While the design doesn’t originate from Audi, we’re guessing it’s a strong indicator of what a future Audi LMP will look like.
For now, we do expect Audi to return to racing the R10 next season. How much involvement there will be in the American Le Mans Series and the European Le Mans Endurance Series remains to be seen. Even if Audi pulls from a full season of the ALMS though, it is expected that the company will compete in the 12 Hours of Sebring and the Petit Le Mans at the very least. \n\n RELATED LINKS: The Segra Group\n \n FOURTITUDE INDEPENDENT DESIGN FOCUS SERIES: Audi A1 by Gabriel Rabhi \n Audi R15 TDI Racecar by Kim Stapleton \n The Future of Audi by Larson \n Audi F1 Racecar by Kim Stapleton \n Audi A7 by Gabriel Rabhi \n Audi A1 by Luis Camino \n Audi Moto Concept by Bertrand Bach \n RELATED LINKS: Z-Oxyde.com: Gabriel Rabhi\'s Personal Website\n Gabriel Rabhi Gallery on Fourtitude \n\nFor more discussion on this story, click on the link to our discussion forums to the left.
Just this past weekend, Audi Sport shut the door on the 2007 American Le Mans Series with a nail-biting win over the competition in the series finale at Laguna Seca. Audi Sport boss Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich was coy about the company’s plans for return next year, something that’s been in question due to the rules advantages given to their LMP2 competitors by the American series. What isn’t in question though is the company’s future. Audi will race the R10 next year, and even more interesting is what they might run in 2010 when a new set of rules from the ACO will dictate development of a closed-top car.Several months ago, Fourtitude featured one take on Audi’s next-generation LMP racecar that would abide by the new rules. Put together by an Architect with a passion for Audi and a real talent for CGI, the design offered a first look at what such a future prototype might look like. In this most recent Independent Design feature, we take a look at another vision of the future of the ACO’s top prototype class in the form of an Audi. This new design comes from the Segra Group, a firm that specializes in engineering for the auto racing industry. In as much, it is likely an even more realistic impression of what could come from Audi in just a few short years.Here’s a description of the project from the Segra Group in their own words:
Audi R8/LMP10Segra Group annually engages in a number of design studies for motorsport applications. Our most recent study was to develop a design for a Le Mans Prototype (LMP) that captures the intent of regulation proposed by the ACO for 2010. Based on the information they have released, it appears the ACO wants the prototype category entries to more closely resemble road cars, yet retain the architecture of a true ‘prototype’ much like those seen at Le Mans in 1998.Because of their success at Le Mans so far this century, we chose to base our concept on an Audi platform. Our design, the R8/LMP10, takes its name and design cues from the R8 road car. Much like you see in the German Touring Car series, our design takes the road car and ‘morphs’ it into a racecar. But because of the desired end product (a LMP), our morph is more extreme.
Like the current R10, our design uses a turbo-diesel engine as the primary powerplant. Regenerative braking and other energy recovery systems would be incorporated as they become available. Our design utilizes a hybrid airflow management concept. This concept retains features from the R8/R10 racecars that make sense to carry over such as general fender and rear deck profiles, side air extraction, engine intakes, rear deck treatment and rear wing design. This concept also changes or adds features that are more specific to the R8 road car such as a front radiator, higher rear deck, shorter front fender ‘teardrops’, general greenhouse shape, as well as the general front and rear design layouts including the lights. We have also included one of the R8’s most distinctive features – the ‘brushed aluminum side panels’.
Our design was modeled and rendered entirely in Solid Edge from UGS/Siemens.
Fourtitude Editor’s Comments: Wired into Audi as we are, we note a few other details that might change between now and whenever Audi shows off their next-generation racecar.First, a rumor from deep inside Audi is that a V12 TDI sportscar will come from the company, but would not necessarily be in the form or name of the R8 road car. Our sources suggest the V12 is too long for the current R8 chassis. If the engine is to go inside a sportscar, according to our sources, it would be a longer car and an eventual replacement for the R8. Dubbed R10 perhaps?If that’s the case, and the LMP cars take more of a basis on a production model, then maybe the next-gen car would be an R10 LMP and be named after a possible R10 road car that would replace the R8 road car.Also, don’t expect to see a yellow car. Those of us who remember Frank Biela’s dominant stint in the BTCC may love the color on Audi racecars, but more recent mentions of driver preferences at Audi Sport suggest otherwise. No prototype racer with an Audi badge has ever won a 24 Hours of Le Mans with the yellow accenting, and racecar drivers can be superstitious. Naming and color aside, this is the most convincing look yet that we’ve seen of the next-generation LMP racer. And, the Segra Group's qualifications are certainly very impressive. While the design doesn’t originate from Audi, we’re guessing it’s a strong indicator of what a future Audi LMP will look like.For now, we do expect Audi to return to racing the R10 next season. How much involvement there will be in the American Le Mans Series and the European Le Mans Endurance Series remains to be seen. Even if Audi pulls from a full season of the ALMS though, it is expected that the company will compete in the 12 Hours of Sebring and the Petit Le Mans at the very least.
by the Segra GroupOct 22, 2007source: The Segra Group
Just this past weekend, Audi Sport shut the door on the 2007 American Le Mans Series with a nail-biting win over the competition in the series finale at Laguna Seca. Audi Sport boss Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich was coy about the company’s plans for return next year, something that’s been in question due to the rules advantages given to their LMP2 competitors by the American series. What isn’t in question though is the company’s future. Audi will race the R10 next year, and even more interesting is what they might run in 2010 when a new set of rules from the ACO will dictate development of a closed-top car.\n\nSeveral months ago, Fourtitude featured one take on Audi’s next-generation LMP racecar that would abide by the new rules. Put together by an Architect with a passion for Audi and a real talent for CGI, the design offered a first look at what such a future prototype might look like. \n\nIn this most recent Independent Design feature, we take a look at another vision of the future of the ACO’s top prototype class in the form of an Audi. \n\nThis new design comes from the Segra Group, a firm that specializes in engineering for the auto racing industry. In as much, it is likely an even more realistic impression of what could come from Audi in just a few short years.
Here’s a description of the project from the Segra Group in their own words: Audi R8/LMP10Segra Group annually engages in a number of design studies for motorsport applications. Our most recent study was to develop a design for a Le Mans Prototype (LMP) that captures the intent of regulation proposed by the ACO for 2010. Based on the information they have released, it appears the ACO wants the prototype category entries to more closely resemble road cars, yet retain the architecture of a true ‘prototype’ much like those seen at Le Mans in 1998.\n\nBecause of their success at Le Mans so far this century, we chose to base our concept on an Audi platform. Our design, the R8/LMP10, takes its name and design cues from the R8 road car. Much like you see in the German Touring Car series, our design takes the road car and ‘morphs’ it into a racecar. But because of the desired end product (a LMP), our morph is more extreme.
Like the current R10, our design uses a turbo-diesel engine as the primary powerplant. Regenerative braking and other energy recovery systems would be incorporated as they become available. Our design utilizes a hybrid airflow management concept. This concept retains features from the R8/R10 racecars that make sense to carry over such as general fender and rear deck profiles, side air extraction, engine intakes, rear deck treatment and rear wing design. This concept also changes or adds features that are more specific to the R8 road car such as a front radiator, higher rear deck, shorter front fender ‘teardrops’, general greenhouse shape, as well as the general front and rear design layouts including the lights. We have also included one of the R8’s most distinctive features – the ‘brushed aluminum side panels’.\n\nOur design was modeled and rendered entirely in Solid Edge from UGS/Siemens.
Wired into Audi as we are, we note a few other details that might change between now and whenever Audi shows off their next-generation racecar.\n\nFirst, a rumor from deep inside Audi is that a V12 TDI sportscar will come from the company, but would not necessarily be in the form or name of the R8 road car. Our sources suggest the V12 is too long for the current R8 chassis. If the engine is to go inside a sportscar, according to our sources, it would be a longer car and an eventual replacement for the R8. Dubbed R10 perhaps?
If that’s the case, and the LMP cars take more of a basis on a production model, then maybe the next-gen car would be an R10 LMP and be named after a possible R10 road car that would replace the R8 road car.\n\nAlso, don’t expect to see a yellow car. Those of us who remember Frank Biela’s dominant stint in the BTCC may love the color on Audi racecars, but more recent mentions of driver preferences at Audi Sport suggest otherwise. No prototype racer with an Audi badge has ever won a 24 Hours of Le Mans with the yellow accenting, and racecar drivers can be superstitious. \n\nNaming and color aside, this is the most convincing look yet that we’ve seen of the next-generation LMP racer. And, the Segra Group\'s qualifications are certainly very impressive. While the design doesn’t originate from Audi, we’re guessing it’s a strong indicator of what a future Audi LMP will look like.
For now, we do expect Audi to return to racing the R10 next season. How much involvement there will be in the American Le Mans Series and the European Le Mans Endurance Series remains to be seen. Even if Audi pulls from a full season of the ALMS though, it is expected that the company will compete in the 12 Hours of Sebring and the Petit Le Mans at the very least. \n\n RELATED LINKS: The Segra Group\n \n FOURTITUDE INDEPENDENT DESIGN FOCUS SERIES: Audi A1 by Gabriel Rabhi \n Audi R15 TDI Racecar by Kim Stapleton \n The Future of Audi by Larson \n Audi F1 Racecar by Kim Stapleton \n Audi A7 by Gabriel Rabhi \n Audi A1 by Luis Camino \n Audi Moto Concept by Bertrand Bach \n RELATED LINKS: Z-Oxyde.com: Gabriel Rabhi\'s Personal Website\n Gabriel Rabhi Gallery on Fourtitude \n\nFor more discussion on this story, click on the link to our discussion forums to the left.
Just this past weekend, Audi Sport shut the door on the 2007 American Le Mans Series with a nail-biting win over the competition in the series finale at Laguna Seca. Audi Sport boss Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich was coy about the company’s plans for return next year, something that’s been in question due to the rules advantages given to their LMP2 competitors by the American series. What isn’t in question though is the company’s future. Audi will race the R10 next year, and even more interesting is what they might run in 2010 when a new set of rules from the ACO will dictate development of a closed-top car.Several months ago, Fourtitude featured one take on Audi’s next-generation LMP racecar that would abide by the new rules. Put together by an Architect with a passion for Audi and a real talent for CGI, the design offered a first look at what such a future prototype might look like. In this most recent Independent Design feature, we take a look at another vision of the future of the ACO’s top prototype class in the form of an Audi. This new design comes from the Segra Group, a firm that specializes in engineering for the auto racing industry. In as much, it is likely an even more realistic impression of what could come from Audi in just a few short years.Here’s a description of the project from the Segra Group in their own words:
Audi R8/LMP10Segra Group annually engages in a number of design studies for motorsport applications. Our most recent study was to develop a design for a Le Mans Prototype (LMP) that captures the intent of regulation proposed by the ACO for 2010. Based on the information they have released, it appears the ACO wants the prototype category entries to more closely resemble road cars, yet retain the architecture of a true ‘prototype’ much like those seen at Le Mans in 1998.Because of their success at Le Mans so far this century, we chose to base our concept on an Audi platform. Our design, the R8/LMP10, takes its name and design cues from the R8 road car. Much like you see in the German Touring Car series, our design takes the road car and ‘morphs’ it into a racecar. But because of the desired end product (a LMP), our morph is more extreme.
Like the current R10, our design uses a turbo-diesel engine as the primary powerplant. Regenerative braking and other energy recovery systems would be incorporated as they become available. Our design utilizes a hybrid airflow management concept. This concept retains features from the R8/R10 racecars that make sense to carry over such as general fender and rear deck profiles, side air extraction, engine intakes, rear deck treatment and rear wing design. This concept also changes or adds features that are more specific to the R8 road car such as a front radiator, higher rear deck, shorter front fender ‘teardrops’, general greenhouse shape, as well as the general front and rear design layouts including the lights. We have also included one of the R8’s most distinctive features – the ‘brushed aluminum side panels’.
Our design was modeled and rendered entirely in Solid Edge from UGS/Siemens.
Fourtitude Editor’s Comments: Wired into Audi as we are, we note a few other details that might change between now and whenever Audi shows off their next-generation racecar.First, a rumor from deep inside Audi is that a V12 TDI sportscar will come from the company, but would not necessarily be in the form or name of the R8 road car. Our sources suggest the V12 is too long for the current R8 chassis. If the engine is to go inside a sportscar, according to our sources, it would be a longer car and an eventual replacement for the R8. Dubbed R10 perhaps?If that’s the case, and the LMP cars take more of a basis on a production model, then maybe the next-gen car would be an R10 LMP and be named after a possible R10 road car that would replace the R8 road car.Also, don’t expect to see a yellow car. Those of us who remember Frank Biela’s dominant stint in the BTCC may love the color on Audi racecars, but more recent mentions of driver preferences at Audi Sport suggest otherwise. No prototype racer with an Audi badge has ever won a 24 Hours of Le Mans with the yellow accenting, and racecar drivers can be superstitious. Naming and color aside, this is the most convincing look yet that we’ve seen of the next-generation LMP racer. And, the Segra Group's qualifications are certainly very impressive. While the design doesn’t originate from Audi, we’re guessing it’s a strong indicator of what a future Audi LMP will look like.For now, we do expect Audi to return to racing the R10 next season. How much involvement there will be in the American Le Mans Series and the European Le Mans Endurance Series remains to be seen. Even if Audi pulls from a full season of the ALMS though, it is expected that the company will compete in the 12 Hours of Sebring and the Petit Le Mans at the very least.
DUI Suspect Arrested Driving on Laguna Seca With Child In The Car
DUI suspect arrested on Mazda race track Modesto man had his infant son in the car
By VICTOR CALDERON The Salinas Californian
An intoxicated driver caught speeding around the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca track Sunday told officers he was lost and trying to get to his hotel.
A Monterey County sheriff's deputy on patrol at adjacent Laguna Seca Recreational Area spotted a 1980 Porsche on the raceway about 5:20 p.m., and found John Patrick Krukar, 42, of Modesto, at the wheel when he investigated, California Highway Patrol Officer Art Carbonel said Monday.
"The track is so large that things like this can happen, but it's extremely rare," Carbonel said. "The track is for professional drivers only and not for civilians."
He said Krukar was driving under the influence of alcohol at speeds of up to 90 mph on the track, which was closed after the conclusion of the weekend's Monterey Sports Car Championships.
Even more disturbing, Carbonel said, Krukar had his 5-month-old son with him in the car.
Krukar was booked into Monterey County Jail on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol with an enhancement of doing so with a child under the age of 14 in the vehicle. His son was taken into Child Protective Services.
"If (Krukar) meant to race around the track, he was reckless," Carbonel said. "Thankfully, the deputy that stopped him was in the right place at the right time, and everything worked out."
Contact Victor Calderón at vcalderon@thecalifornian.com.
By VICTOR CALDERON The Salinas Californian
An intoxicated driver caught speeding around the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca track Sunday told officers he was lost and trying to get to his hotel.
A Monterey County sheriff's deputy on patrol at adjacent Laguna Seca Recreational Area spotted a 1980 Porsche on the raceway about 5:20 p.m., and found John Patrick Krukar, 42, of Modesto, at the wheel when he investigated, California Highway Patrol Officer Art Carbonel said Monday.
"The track is so large that things like this can happen, but it's extremely rare," Carbonel said. "The track is for professional drivers only and not for civilians."
He said Krukar was driving under the influence of alcohol at speeds of up to 90 mph on the track, which was closed after the conclusion of the weekend's Monterey Sports Car Championships.
Even more disturbing, Carbonel said, Krukar had his 5-month-old son with him in the car.
Krukar was booked into Monterey County Jail on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol with an enhancement of doing so with a child under the age of 14 in the vehicle. His son was taken into Child Protective Services.
"If (Krukar) meant to race around the track, he was reckless," Carbonel said. "Thankfully, the deputy that stopped him was in the right place at the right time, and everything worked out."
Contact Victor Calderón at vcalderon@thecalifornian.com.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Monday, October 1, 2007
NHRA founder Wally Parks, patriarch of drag racing dies at age 94
God bless this wonderful evangelist for the car industry and lifestyle. The world is a far better place because of his existance. We ALL need to take a moment of silence in tribute to this wonderful man who touched the hearts of many. His legacy lives on... Rest in peace Wally and thank you.
Brad
____________________________________________
NHRA founder Wally Parks, patriarch of drag racing dies at age 94
9/28/2007
Wally Parks, 1913-2007Wally Parks, the driving force behind the formation of NHRA, has died at the age of 94. It was Parks' vision, goals and unconditional commitment to the need for speed and side-by-side racing in a safer, more controlled environment that created what is today the world's largest motorsports governing body.
"Today is a sad day in the world of NHRA and the sport of drag racing," said Tom Compton, president of NHRA. "Words simply can't describe the immeasurable impact Wally has had on the sport he created and the millions of people's lives he touched along the way. The name Wally Parks is synonymous with drag racing, and his vision and direction will guide NHRA for years to come. Everyone in drag racing, and the industries formed to service the sport, will forever be indebted to Wally, his vision, his focus and his desire to create, build and grow NHRA."
“Wally spent his lifetime doing what he loved,” said Dallas Gardner, chairman of the NHRA board of directors. “He marked the path and led the way for this incredible industry and the sport of drag racing. Wally was NHRA, and through his dream came a path to follow with lofty goals and ambition. He put the people in place and trusted in them. He has not abandoned us. He has left us with a road map that he knows will be followed.”
Parks, who founded NHRA in 1951, received countless awards in the motorsports world and played a pivotal role in the establishment of an entire industry devoted to speed and automotive aftermarket parts and accessories that today is a multibillion-dollar business. Yet Parks never implied that he did it all himself. His pride and joy, and where he spent most of his time in recent years while still serving on NHRA's board of directors, was The Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum presented by Automobile Club of Southern California at Fairplex in Pomona, Calif.
WALLY PARKS, 1913-2007
NHRA founder
Chairman of NHRA Motorsports Museum
The primary driving force behind the formation of the National Hot Rod Association, Parks was the visionary whose early goals created what today is the world's largest motorsports governing body.
Parks, who founded NHRA in 1951, never implied that he did it all himself. Reflecting on the tremendous growth and success of NHRA, he noted how fortunate he was that so many dedicated people had shared his outlook that almost anything is possible if you believe in it strongly enough. One of the most dedicated was unquestionably his late wife, Barbara Parks, who was regarded as the most influential behind-the-scenes force in the growth of NHRA. Mrs. Parks succumbed to cancer in late January of 2006 after a long battle with the devastating illness.
But without Parks' vision and perseverance, much of what has happened may not have been achieved.
Born in Oklahoma and living in Kansas until age 8, Parks and his family then moved to California, where his automotive interests surfaced. In his high school years, he became active in building stripped-down Model-T Fords and Chevy fours for use on the street and in early speed trials conducted on dry lakebeds in the Mojave Desert, north of Los Angeles.
In 1937, Parks took part in the formation of the Southern California Timing Association (SCTA) – an organization focused on conducting land speed record events – serving as one of its officials until World War II began. In 1946, following military service in the South Pacific, Parks was elected president of the reorganized SCTA. In 1947, after 10 years of employment as a road test driver and process engineer for General Motors, Parks left GM to assume a new role as the SCTA's general manager. It was his concept that produced America's first Hot Rod Show, presented by the SCTA in 1948 at the Los Angeles Exposition Armory.
In 1948, Parks helped co-publishers Bob Petersen and Bob Lindsay in the introduction of Hot Rod magazine, which became one of the world's largest-circulation auto-enthusiast publications, and later was named its first editor. In 1949, Parks organized the campaign that led to the opening of Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats for hot rod speed trials – a still-thriving annual activity.
In 1951, utilizing Hot Rod as a conduit to nationwide readership, Parks formed the NHRA. In 1963, he resigned his position as editorial director for all of Petersen's automotive magazines – Hot Rod, Motor Trend, Car Craft, Sports Car Graphic and Motor Life – to assume full-time administrative duties as president of NHRA.
An early recipient of Car Craft magazine's prestigious Ollie Award for his many contributions to motorsports, Parks was named Man of the Decade, 1962-1972 by Popular Hot Rodding magazine and was recognized as Man of the Year in 1973 by the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA). The American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters Association (AARWBA) honored Parks in 1988 and again in 1994 for his pioneering efforts in motorsports. Parks received his highest honors in 1992 and 1993. He was drag racing's first inductee into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1992 in Talladega, Ala., and in 1993, he was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame in Novi, Mich.
In 1994, the tributes to Parks' legacy continued to pile up. A large bronze statue of Parks was presented at NHRA's Gainesville Raceway, which was eventually moved to its current location in front of the NHRA Motorsports Museum at Fairplex in Pomona, Calif. Later in 1994, Parks and wife Barbara were co-inductees into the Don Garlits International Drag Racing Hall of Fame in Ocala, Fla., for their pioneering efforts, which spearheaded NHRA's success. Parks also was the first recipient of the Don Prudhomme Award, a trophy presented by NHRA to an individual who has made a profound impact on the growth and positive image of the NHRA POWERade Series.
At the 2001 NHRA Awards Ceremony, Parks was presented the prestigious Blaine Johnson Award for his dedication, perseverance and nurturing commitment to the sport throughout the years.
In 2002, Parks again was recognized for his many contributions to the sport of drag racing. He was presented with the inaugural Robert E. Petersen Lifetime Achievement Award at the fourth annual Hot Rod & Performance Trade Show in Indianapolis. The late Petersen, a renowned automotive publisher and creator of multiple automotive magazines, then presented Parks with the all-bronze sculpture which was created to honor the entrepreneurs who have contributed to the history, growth and well-being of the hot rod industry.
In late 2003, Parks received another honor of distinction, as he was named the Dean Batchelor Lifetime Achievement Award winner by the Motor Press Guild in Los Angeles.
Parks remained on NHRA's board of directors and dedicated much of his time to his personal involvement with the cultivation and expansion of The Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum at Fairplex in Pomona, home of the CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals and Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals. Although much of the museum's historical focus is on the evolution of NHRA and drag racing, it also features many other forms of motorsports that relate closely to the formative years of NHRA, including dry lakes, Bonneville, oval track racing, and allied performance industries.
These are elements that appealed most to Wally Parks, a guy who had been there, done that, and enjoyed and appreciated it for decades.Details regarding arrangements and planned events will be released at a later date.
Brad
____________________________________________
NHRA founder Wally Parks, patriarch of drag racing dies at age 94
9/28/2007
Wally Parks, 1913-2007Wally Parks, the driving force behind the formation of NHRA, has died at the age of 94. It was Parks' vision, goals and unconditional commitment to the need for speed and side-by-side racing in a safer, more controlled environment that created what is today the world's largest motorsports governing body.
"Today is a sad day in the world of NHRA and the sport of drag racing," said Tom Compton, president of NHRA. "Words simply can't describe the immeasurable impact Wally has had on the sport he created and the millions of people's lives he touched along the way. The name Wally Parks is synonymous with drag racing, and his vision and direction will guide NHRA for years to come. Everyone in drag racing, and the industries formed to service the sport, will forever be indebted to Wally, his vision, his focus and his desire to create, build and grow NHRA."
“Wally spent his lifetime doing what he loved,” said Dallas Gardner, chairman of the NHRA board of directors. “He marked the path and led the way for this incredible industry and the sport of drag racing. Wally was NHRA, and through his dream came a path to follow with lofty goals and ambition. He put the people in place and trusted in them. He has not abandoned us. He has left us with a road map that he knows will be followed.”
Parks, who founded NHRA in 1951, received countless awards in the motorsports world and played a pivotal role in the establishment of an entire industry devoted to speed and automotive aftermarket parts and accessories that today is a multibillion-dollar business. Yet Parks never implied that he did it all himself. His pride and joy, and where he spent most of his time in recent years while still serving on NHRA's board of directors, was The Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum presented by Automobile Club of Southern California at Fairplex in Pomona, Calif.
WALLY PARKS, 1913-2007
NHRA founder
Chairman of NHRA Motorsports Museum
The primary driving force behind the formation of the National Hot Rod Association, Parks was the visionary whose early goals created what today is the world's largest motorsports governing body.
Parks, who founded NHRA in 1951, never implied that he did it all himself. Reflecting on the tremendous growth and success of NHRA, he noted how fortunate he was that so many dedicated people had shared his outlook that almost anything is possible if you believe in it strongly enough. One of the most dedicated was unquestionably his late wife, Barbara Parks, who was regarded as the most influential behind-the-scenes force in the growth of NHRA. Mrs. Parks succumbed to cancer in late January of 2006 after a long battle with the devastating illness.
But without Parks' vision and perseverance, much of what has happened may not have been achieved.
Born in Oklahoma and living in Kansas until age 8, Parks and his family then moved to California, where his automotive interests surfaced. In his high school years, he became active in building stripped-down Model-T Fords and Chevy fours for use on the street and in early speed trials conducted on dry lakebeds in the Mojave Desert, north of Los Angeles.
In 1937, Parks took part in the formation of the Southern California Timing Association (SCTA) – an organization focused on conducting land speed record events – serving as one of its officials until World War II began. In 1946, following military service in the South Pacific, Parks was elected president of the reorganized SCTA. In 1947, after 10 years of employment as a road test driver and process engineer for General Motors, Parks left GM to assume a new role as the SCTA's general manager. It was his concept that produced America's first Hot Rod Show, presented by the SCTA in 1948 at the Los Angeles Exposition Armory.
In 1948, Parks helped co-publishers Bob Petersen and Bob Lindsay in the introduction of Hot Rod magazine, which became one of the world's largest-circulation auto-enthusiast publications, and later was named its first editor. In 1949, Parks organized the campaign that led to the opening of Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats for hot rod speed trials – a still-thriving annual activity.
In 1951, utilizing Hot Rod as a conduit to nationwide readership, Parks formed the NHRA. In 1963, he resigned his position as editorial director for all of Petersen's automotive magazines – Hot Rod, Motor Trend, Car Craft, Sports Car Graphic and Motor Life – to assume full-time administrative duties as president of NHRA.
An early recipient of Car Craft magazine's prestigious Ollie Award for his many contributions to motorsports, Parks was named Man of the Decade, 1962-1972 by Popular Hot Rodding magazine and was recognized as Man of the Year in 1973 by the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA). The American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters Association (AARWBA) honored Parks in 1988 and again in 1994 for his pioneering efforts in motorsports. Parks received his highest honors in 1992 and 1993. He was drag racing's first inductee into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1992 in Talladega, Ala., and in 1993, he was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame in Novi, Mich.
In 1994, the tributes to Parks' legacy continued to pile up. A large bronze statue of Parks was presented at NHRA's Gainesville Raceway, which was eventually moved to its current location in front of the NHRA Motorsports Museum at Fairplex in Pomona, Calif. Later in 1994, Parks and wife Barbara were co-inductees into the Don Garlits International Drag Racing Hall of Fame in Ocala, Fla., for their pioneering efforts, which spearheaded NHRA's success. Parks also was the first recipient of the Don Prudhomme Award, a trophy presented by NHRA to an individual who has made a profound impact on the growth and positive image of the NHRA POWERade Series.
At the 2001 NHRA Awards Ceremony, Parks was presented the prestigious Blaine Johnson Award for his dedication, perseverance and nurturing commitment to the sport throughout the years.
In 2002, Parks again was recognized for his many contributions to the sport of drag racing. He was presented with the inaugural Robert E. Petersen Lifetime Achievement Award at the fourth annual Hot Rod & Performance Trade Show in Indianapolis. The late Petersen, a renowned automotive publisher and creator of multiple automotive magazines, then presented Parks with the all-bronze sculpture which was created to honor the entrepreneurs who have contributed to the history, growth and well-being of the hot rod industry.
In late 2003, Parks received another honor of distinction, as he was named the Dean Batchelor Lifetime Achievement Award winner by the Motor Press Guild in Los Angeles.
Parks remained on NHRA's board of directors and dedicated much of his time to his personal involvement with the cultivation and expansion of The Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum at Fairplex in Pomona, home of the CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals and Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals. Although much of the museum's historical focus is on the evolution of NHRA and drag racing, it also features many other forms of motorsports that relate closely to the formative years of NHRA, including dry lakes, Bonneville, oval track racing, and allied performance industries.
These are elements that appealed most to Wally Parks, a guy who had been there, done that, and enjoyed and appreciated it for decades.Details regarding arrangements and planned events will be released at a later date.
Jim Press never owned a Toyota, wants to form gang with Chrysler dealers
This is good for a chuckle...
Jim Press never owned a Toyota, wants to form gang with Chrysler dealers
Posted Sep 27th 2007 3:58PM by John NeffFiled under: Chrysler
When the former CEO of Toyota North America (a successful venture, wouldn't you say?) talks, people tend to listen. Press recorded an internal interview that's hosted over at Chrysler's media-only Firehouse blog, which reveals some interesting sides to the man that many hope will be integral in Chrysler's turnaround.
Most media outlets are focusing on his revelation that despite decades on the Toyota payroll, he never once owned a Toyota or Lexus. Currently he owns only a Yamaha motorcycle. That's going to be impractical during a Detroit winter, so he plans to be driving a Chrysler product very soon. Press also makes the strange comment that if he were to ever participate in a bar room brawl, he'd pick Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge dealers to have his back.
We're not sure if Press is expecting fisticuffs at the Firehouse this January, but he seems to be preparing a posse early. That's just ancillary information, though. We want to hear about what Press is going to do to fix Chrysler, and surprisingly he indicated that a lot of what needs to be done is not in his power to do.
Press makes the good point that Chrysler dealers are closer to the customer, and near-term changes have to start with them. His priority appears to be empowering them to make those changes. [Source: Chrysler]
Press also reveals that he thinks Chrysler's product portfolio is strong, or in his words, "The bones of our products are really strong." He goes on to say, "They're emotional, they're fun, they're exciting. They have an appeal that other products don't have." We think he's hit the nail on the head, as Chrysler's been most healthy when it's blazing its own path, offering exciting designs that, while polarizing, were at least talked about. Hopefully with Press sharing the helm, Chrysler will return to those days sooner
Jim Press never owned a Toyota, wants to form gang with Chrysler dealers
Posted Sep 27th 2007 3:58PM by John NeffFiled under: Chrysler
When the former CEO of Toyota North America (a successful venture, wouldn't you say?) talks, people tend to listen. Press recorded an internal interview that's hosted over at Chrysler's media-only Firehouse blog, which reveals some interesting sides to the man that many hope will be integral in Chrysler's turnaround.
Most media outlets are focusing on his revelation that despite decades on the Toyota payroll, he never once owned a Toyota or Lexus. Currently he owns only a Yamaha motorcycle. That's going to be impractical during a Detroit winter, so he plans to be driving a Chrysler product very soon. Press also makes the strange comment that if he were to ever participate in a bar room brawl, he'd pick Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge dealers to have his back.
We're not sure if Press is expecting fisticuffs at the Firehouse this January, but he seems to be preparing a posse early. That's just ancillary information, though. We want to hear about what Press is going to do to fix Chrysler, and surprisingly he indicated that a lot of what needs to be done is not in his power to do.
Press makes the good point that Chrysler dealers are closer to the customer, and near-term changes have to start with them. His priority appears to be empowering them to make those changes. [Source: Chrysler]
Press also reveals that he thinks Chrysler's product portfolio is strong, or in his words, "The bones of our products are really strong." He goes on to say, "They're emotional, they're fun, they're exciting. They have an appeal that other products don't have." We think he's hit the nail on the head, as Chrysler's been most healthy when it's blazing its own path, offering exciting designs that, while polarizing, were at least talked about. Hopefully with Press sharing the helm, Chrysler will return to those days sooner
Chris Bangle Strikes Again!
Hi friends, I couldn't let this one slide by... Bangle has redefined ugly in a politically correct world. This car looks like a modern interpetation of an XK 120 Jaguar... and is as ugly as the modern version of the Morgan.
When is BMW going to figure it out? Bangle is killing this once great company.
I would love to hear your feedback.
Brad
When is BMW going to figure it out? Bangle is killing this once great company.
I would love to hear your feedback.
Brad
Hello Again
Hi Friends:
Sorry for my absense from blogging. I've been bussy getting our carbon fiber manufacturing company Tecnocraft off of the ground. We are on the verge of launching our first line of products for the Lamborghini Gallardo. From what we can see, we have almost no compaetition providing affordable prepreg carbon fiber and carbon Kevlar to the exotic consumer market.
Stand by because we will be launching our web site shortly. Thanks for your patience and I hope that you all have a blessed day.
Brad
Sorry for my absense from blogging. I've been bussy getting our carbon fiber manufacturing company Tecnocraft off of the ground. We are on the verge of launching our first line of products for the Lamborghini Gallardo. From what we can see, we have almost no compaetition providing affordable prepreg carbon fiber and carbon Kevlar to the exotic consumer market.
Stand by because we will be launching our web site shortly. Thanks for your patience and I hope that you all have a blessed day.
Brad
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Paul Wilbur Takes On Leadership Role At Saleen
Saleen names Paul Wilbur new President & CEO
Posted Aug 9th 2007 7:27PM by Frank FilipponioFiled under: Aftermarket, Hirings/Firings, Saleen
Hancock Park Associates, the parent company of Saleen, recently wrapped up its purchase of American Specialty Cars Incorporated (ASC), the specialty roof and body maker based in Southgate, Michigan. As part of the deal, Hancock also got Paul Wilbur, the current President and CEO of ASC.Respecting his leadership in the few years he has been at the helm of ASC, they just announced that he will take over the same duties at Saleen, as well.
There appear to be some significant synergies between these two companies, so it looks like a good move. They are both niche vehicle manufacturers, but in slightly different areas. Together they can now offer OEMs a fuller range of custom systems and services. For now, ASC and Saleen will remain separate entities, although it's easy to foresee a time in the not-too-distant future where the operations can be streamlined. They are already working together on the 2008 Saleens, Ford Harley-Davidson F-150s, and painting all 2008 Dodge Vipers.
The next generation special edition Mustangs and F-150s are also on the drawing boards for the next two years. There's a full press release after the jump.[Source: Saleen]PRESS RELEASE:Paul Wilbur named PRESIDENT & CEO of two companies: Saleen and ASC~ Saleen and ASC Combine Competencies to Build Niche Vehicles ~ IRVINE, CALIF. (August 8, 2007) – Hancock Park Associates, the primary investor in Saleen Incorporated, recently completed the acquisition of assets of American Specialty Cars Incorporated (ASC).
Paul Wilbur, current President and CEO of ASC, was today appointed to the role of President and CEO of Saleen, as well. The strategic alignment of these two niche vehicle manufacturers will create a complete portfolio of products and services for future Saleen vehicles, aftermarket accessories and vehicles created for the world's original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). "Paul is one of the most dynamic automotive executives in the U.S. automotive industry with more than 26 years of industry experience; 21 years with OEMs and five years in the Tier 1 supply business," said Kevin Listen, a Hancock Park Associates partner. "His knowledge of the specialty vehicle business is paramount as he leads Saleen and begins to grow ASC's specialty open air and creative services businesses.
We expect a lot of good things to happen under Paul's leadership." In the near term, both ASC and Saleen will remain as separate companies, although the long term vision is to strategically integrate the two operations. While each company will maintain its unique focus, both companies have common platforms as low volume, specialty vehicle manufacturers.
The combined group will be comprised of OEM, Tier 1 and aftermarket business units. Along with Wilbur, Saleen will also be supported by Chris Theodore, the retired vice president of product development at Ford Motor Company, best known as the "father of the Ford GT program." Theodore will lead new product development for both companies and be its chief technology officer. Marques McCammon will assume the daily responsibilities at Saleen.
With great enthusiasm, the teams are currently working together to launch the 2008 Saleen model line, in addition to equipping all supercharged Ford Harley-Davidson Edition F-150s with Saleen's patented twin-screw supercharger and painting all 2008 Dodge Vipers. The group is especially looking forward to combining its efforts to produce the next generation of Ford Mustang and F-150-derived vehicles due out within the next two years. "The combination of Saleen's powertrain and chassis expertise, along with ASC's body engineering and design capabilities is no accident," says Wilbur. "Moving forward, both companies are excited to develop innovative products for the automotive industry.
Together, the two companies will have the expertise to design, engineer and manufacture amazing new specialty vehicle products. The synergies of the two companies create a clear leader in the niche vehicle business. I am also very excited to join the talented team at Saleen."
ABOUT ASCASC is a supplier of highly engineered and designed roof systems, body systems and other specialty-vehicle systems for the world's automakers. ASC also continues to have strong capabilities in Creative Services with one of the largest vehicle design capabilities found outside the OEM community. The company was founded in 1965 and is headquartered in Southgate, Michigan. For more information, visit www.ascglobal.com.
ABOUT SALEEN
Since the company's inception in 1984, Saleen Incorporated has produced over 12,000 complete and EPA-certified vehicles and is a nine-time Manufacturers' Champion in GT sports car racing. Saleen manufactures the American supercar - the Saleen S7, as well as the S281 Mustang, S331 Sport Truck and the Parnelli Jones Limited Edition Mustang. Saleen also supports OEM partner niche vehicle initiatives, including projects such as the Ford GT, supercharged Harley-Davidson Edition F-150 and the Dodge Viper program. Saleen's manufacturing facilities are located in Irvine, California and Troy, Michigan. For more information, visit www.saleen.com
Posted Aug 9th 2007 7:27PM by Frank FilipponioFiled under: Aftermarket, Hirings/Firings, Saleen
Hancock Park Associates, the parent company of Saleen, recently wrapped up its purchase of American Specialty Cars Incorporated (ASC), the specialty roof and body maker based in Southgate, Michigan. As part of the deal, Hancock also got Paul Wilbur, the current President and CEO of ASC.Respecting his leadership in the few years he has been at the helm of ASC, they just announced that he will take over the same duties at Saleen, as well.
There appear to be some significant synergies between these two companies, so it looks like a good move. They are both niche vehicle manufacturers, but in slightly different areas. Together they can now offer OEMs a fuller range of custom systems and services. For now, ASC and Saleen will remain separate entities, although it's easy to foresee a time in the not-too-distant future where the operations can be streamlined. They are already working together on the 2008 Saleens, Ford Harley-Davidson F-150s, and painting all 2008 Dodge Vipers.
The next generation special edition Mustangs and F-150s are also on the drawing boards for the next two years. There's a full press release after the jump.[Source: Saleen]PRESS RELEASE:Paul Wilbur named PRESIDENT & CEO of two companies: Saleen and ASC~ Saleen and ASC Combine Competencies to Build Niche Vehicles ~ IRVINE, CALIF. (August 8, 2007) – Hancock Park Associates, the primary investor in Saleen Incorporated, recently completed the acquisition of assets of American Specialty Cars Incorporated (ASC).
Paul Wilbur, current President and CEO of ASC, was today appointed to the role of President and CEO of Saleen, as well. The strategic alignment of these two niche vehicle manufacturers will create a complete portfolio of products and services for future Saleen vehicles, aftermarket accessories and vehicles created for the world's original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). "Paul is one of the most dynamic automotive executives in the U.S. automotive industry with more than 26 years of industry experience; 21 years with OEMs and five years in the Tier 1 supply business," said Kevin Listen, a Hancock Park Associates partner. "His knowledge of the specialty vehicle business is paramount as he leads Saleen and begins to grow ASC's specialty open air and creative services businesses.
We expect a lot of good things to happen under Paul's leadership." In the near term, both ASC and Saleen will remain as separate companies, although the long term vision is to strategically integrate the two operations. While each company will maintain its unique focus, both companies have common platforms as low volume, specialty vehicle manufacturers.
The combined group will be comprised of OEM, Tier 1 and aftermarket business units. Along with Wilbur, Saleen will also be supported by Chris Theodore, the retired vice president of product development at Ford Motor Company, best known as the "father of the Ford GT program." Theodore will lead new product development for both companies and be its chief technology officer. Marques McCammon will assume the daily responsibilities at Saleen.
With great enthusiasm, the teams are currently working together to launch the 2008 Saleen model line, in addition to equipping all supercharged Ford Harley-Davidson Edition F-150s with Saleen's patented twin-screw supercharger and painting all 2008 Dodge Vipers. The group is especially looking forward to combining its efforts to produce the next generation of Ford Mustang and F-150-derived vehicles due out within the next two years. "The combination of Saleen's powertrain and chassis expertise, along with ASC's body engineering and design capabilities is no accident," says Wilbur. "Moving forward, both companies are excited to develop innovative products for the automotive industry.
Together, the two companies will have the expertise to design, engineer and manufacture amazing new specialty vehicle products. The synergies of the two companies create a clear leader in the niche vehicle business. I am also very excited to join the talented team at Saleen."
ABOUT ASCASC is a supplier of highly engineered and designed roof systems, body systems and other specialty-vehicle systems for the world's automakers. ASC also continues to have strong capabilities in Creative Services with one of the largest vehicle design capabilities found outside the OEM community. The company was founded in 1965 and is headquartered in Southgate, Michigan. For more information, visit www.ascglobal.com.
ABOUT SALEEN
Since the company's inception in 1984, Saleen Incorporated has produced over 12,000 complete and EPA-certified vehicles and is a nine-time Manufacturers' Champion in GT sports car racing. Saleen manufactures the American supercar - the Saleen S7, as well as the S281 Mustang, S331 Sport Truck and the Parnelli Jones Limited Edition Mustang. Saleen also supports OEM partner niche vehicle initiatives, including projects such as the Ford GT, supercharged Harley-Davidson Edition F-150 and the Dodge Viper program. Saleen's manufacturing facilities are located in Irvine, California and Troy, Michigan. For more information, visit www.saleen.com
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
More on Wolfy Coming Back Home To Chrysler...
Bernhard to become Chrysler chairman
Popular executive makes a comeback, will assist LaSorda, who remains as CEO.
Christine Tierney and David Shepardson / The Detroit News
Wolfgang Bernhard, a senior adviser to Cerberus Capital Management LP and talented former top Chrysler executive, will return to the Auburn Hills automaker as the chairman of its board, people familiar with the situation said Thursday.
Tom LaSorda will remain CEO of Chrysler and will also be president in the new organization after the sale of Chrysler is concluded, they said.
Ever since DaimlerChrysler AG announced on May 14 that it was selling Chrysler to Cerberus, Cerberus executives have said LaSorda would stay on as CEO.
But Bernhard's role was less clear. As an adviser to Cerberus, he is influencing decisions in Auburn Hills, where he has an office. But he keeps a low profile.
His formal return after three years would likely energize Chrysler employees who recall the 46-year-old German executive as a dashing and dynamic figure.
It also represents a big comeback opportunity for Bernhard, who lost two high-profile jobs in four years after fierce boardroom battles.
"This is good news for Chrysler," said Daniel Gorrell, president of AutoStratagem, a research and consulting firm in Tustin, Calif. "He'll interject a sense of product urgency that Chrysler has been lacking -- and product is what Chrysler lives and dies on."
Dealers welcomed the prospect of Bernhard's return. "We need somebody that's strong," said Alan Helfman, vice president of River Oaks Chrysler Jeep in Houston.
"If you've ever been in a room with Wolfgang, vitality just spills out all around him."
A spokesman for DaimlerChrysler AG declined to comment on Bernhard's appointment, which was first reported by the German magazine Manager.
Cerberus issued a guarded denial. "There is no such plan at this time," spokesman Peter Duda said Thursday.
In a recent interview, Cerberus Chairman John Snow said the private-equity firm had been working on the structure of the board but declined to discuss potential members.
Sources close to the situation say there will be a board for Chrysler at the holding-company level, and two boards for the Chrysler automotive and financial services businesses. It was unclear whether Bernhard would head the automotive or holding-company board but he is expected to be the top director, the sources said.
Cerberus is paying $7.4 billion for 80.1 percent of Chrysler, and Stuttgart, Germany-based DaimlerChrysler will retain the rest. The deal is expected to close in the second week of August.
On Wednesday, DaimlerChrysler CEO Dieter Zetsche said he still expected the deal to close on schedule, sometime during the third quarter, despite recent difficulties in arranging some of the financing for Chrysler because of bond market jitters.
Zetsche, former CEO of Chrysler, and Bernhard, its former chief operating officer, arrived in Auburn Hills together in November 2000 to fix the U.S. automaker, which had begun to lose money.
They executed a painful restructuring but also brought excitement and a new sense of confidence to Chrysler.
In 2004, Bernhard was tapped to run DaimlerChrysler's luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz, but he clashed with Mercedes veterans and powerful worker representatives. Days before he was to become head of Mercedes, Bernhard opposed DaimlerChrysler's then-CEO Jürgen Schrempp on whether to bail out the company's Japanese affiliate Mitsubishi Motors Corp. That sealed his fate at DaimlerChrysler.
He was subsequently hired by Volkswagen AG's then-CEO Bernd Pischetsrieder to run the big VW division.
Bernhard tackled VW's bloated costs and improved its lineup. But his position foundered in the fall of 2006 after Pischetsrieder was driven out. Bernhard left VW in January. Still on good terms with Zetsche, he was retained soon afterward by Cerberus, which was drafting its bid for Chrysler.
Gerald Meyers, a business professor at the University of Michigan and former chairman of the AMC automaker, said he would not be surprised if Bernhard were appointed chairman of the board.
"Whether it's formal or not, I think he is going to run the show," Meyers said. "He is either going to be the force behind the scenes or out front clearly. There's nothing passive about Wolfgang."
You can reach Christine Tierney at (313) 222-1463 or ctierney@detnews.com.
Popular executive makes a comeback, will assist LaSorda, who remains as CEO.
Christine Tierney and David Shepardson / The Detroit News
Wolfgang Bernhard, a senior adviser to Cerberus Capital Management LP and talented former top Chrysler executive, will return to the Auburn Hills automaker as the chairman of its board, people familiar with the situation said Thursday.
Tom LaSorda will remain CEO of Chrysler and will also be president in the new organization after the sale of Chrysler is concluded, they said.
Ever since DaimlerChrysler AG announced on May 14 that it was selling Chrysler to Cerberus, Cerberus executives have said LaSorda would stay on as CEO.
But Bernhard's role was less clear. As an adviser to Cerberus, he is influencing decisions in Auburn Hills, where he has an office. But he keeps a low profile.
His formal return after three years would likely energize Chrysler employees who recall the 46-year-old German executive as a dashing and dynamic figure.
It also represents a big comeback opportunity for Bernhard, who lost two high-profile jobs in four years after fierce boardroom battles.
"This is good news for Chrysler," said Daniel Gorrell, president of AutoStratagem, a research and consulting firm in Tustin, Calif. "He'll interject a sense of product urgency that Chrysler has been lacking -- and product is what Chrysler lives and dies on."
Dealers welcomed the prospect of Bernhard's return. "We need somebody that's strong," said Alan Helfman, vice president of River Oaks Chrysler Jeep in Houston.
"If you've ever been in a room with Wolfgang, vitality just spills out all around him."
A spokesman for DaimlerChrysler AG declined to comment on Bernhard's appointment, which was first reported by the German magazine Manager.
Cerberus issued a guarded denial. "There is no such plan at this time," spokesman Peter Duda said Thursday.
In a recent interview, Cerberus Chairman John Snow said the private-equity firm had been working on the structure of the board but declined to discuss potential members.
Sources close to the situation say there will be a board for Chrysler at the holding-company level, and two boards for the Chrysler automotive and financial services businesses. It was unclear whether Bernhard would head the automotive or holding-company board but he is expected to be the top director, the sources said.
Cerberus is paying $7.4 billion for 80.1 percent of Chrysler, and Stuttgart, Germany-based DaimlerChrysler will retain the rest. The deal is expected to close in the second week of August.
On Wednesday, DaimlerChrysler CEO Dieter Zetsche said he still expected the deal to close on schedule, sometime during the third quarter, despite recent difficulties in arranging some of the financing for Chrysler because of bond market jitters.
Zetsche, former CEO of Chrysler, and Bernhard, its former chief operating officer, arrived in Auburn Hills together in November 2000 to fix the U.S. automaker, which had begun to lose money.
They executed a painful restructuring but also brought excitement and a new sense of confidence to Chrysler.
In 2004, Bernhard was tapped to run DaimlerChrysler's luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz, but he clashed with Mercedes veterans and powerful worker representatives. Days before he was to become head of Mercedes, Bernhard opposed DaimlerChrysler's then-CEO Jürgen Schrempp on whether to bail out the company's Japanese affiliate Mitsubishi Motors Corp. That sealed his fate at DaimlerChrysler.
He was subsequently hired by Volkswagen AG's then-CEO Bernd Pischetsrieder to run the big VW division.
Bernhard tackled VW's bloated costs and improved its lineup. But his position foundered in the fall of 2006 after Pischetsrieder was driven out. Bernhard left VW in January. Still on good terms with Zetsche, he was retained soon afterward by Cerberus, which was drafting its bid for Chrysler.
Gerald Meyers, a business professor at the University of Michigan and former chairman of the AMC automaker, said he would not be surprised if Bernhard were appointed chairman of the board.
"Whether it's formal or not, I think he is going to run the show," Meyers said. "He is either going to be the force behind the scenes or out front clearly. There's nothing passive about Wolfgang."
You can reach Christine Tierney at (313) 222-1463 or ctierney@detnews.com.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Bugatti Veyron Spider: Confirmed!
According to Autogespot and their "reliable" sources the Bugatti Veyron Spider has been 100% confirmed!It's said that 80 copies will be build, so you better hurry up for saving your pennies and place your order. These things will be sold out soon!
As previewed in this rendering, the Veyron Targa won’t be a complete convertible but will instead sport a removable roof design similar to the topless versions of the Porsche Carrera GT or Koenigsegg CCX. The Veyron Targa will likely feature a detachable glass roof that has to be stored away from the car before driving, but if the weather turns nasty a fabric cover would be available that can be pulled into place.Without the roof the car will require added reinforcements and underbody changes to maintain torsional rigidity. These changes will come at a minor cost to performance, and top speed is said to be limited to 217mph (350kmh).
Friday, July 13, 2007
Video: Lexus LF-A on the Nurburgring
Posted Jul 12th 2007 8:33PM by Siddharth RajaFiled under: Spy Photos, Videos, Supercars, Lexus
Lexus' upcoming LF-A supercar has been spotted scorching up the pavement at Germany's Nurburgring, the place to be for any respectable prototype these days. This latest video captures the car doing some intense laps of the notorious circuit and reveals the sound of the car's new 5.0L V10 engine.
There have been rumblings that LF-A could be a little "soft", but the sound emanating from its triple stacked tailpipes has a shriek that reminds us of a V10 Formula One car. With an estimated 500hp on tap from its front-mid-engined powerplant, as well as a rear-mounted transaxle, we have no reason to doubt the LF-A will come close to a top speed of 200mph.
Though we get a glimpse of the basic shape of the car in this vid, heavy camo gear still shrouds some of the finer details. All should be revealed soon when officials take off the wraps at October's Tokyo Motor Show, where details about a hybrid version may also be released.[Source: The Passionate Pursuit]
Click here for video
Posted Jul 12th 2007 8:33PM by Siddharth RajaFiled under: Spy Photos, Videos, Supercars, Lexus
Lexus' upcoming LF-A supercar has been spotted scorching up the pavement at Germany's Nurburgring, the place to be for any respectable prototype these days. This latest video captures the car doing some intense laps of the notorious circuit and reveals the sound of the car's new 5.0L V10 engine.
There have been rumblings that LF-A could be a little "soft", but the sound emanating from its triple stacked tailpipes has a shriek that reminds us of a V10 Formula One car. With an estimated 500hp on tap from its front-mid-engined powerplant, as well as a rear-mounted transaxle, we have no reason to doubt the LF-A will come close to a top speed of 200mph.
Though we get a glimpse of the basic shape of the car in this vid, heavy camo gear still shrouds some of the finer details. All should be revealed soon when officials take off the wraps at October's Tokyo Motor Show, where details about a hybrid version may also be released.[Source: The Passionate Pursuit]
Click here for video
U.S. Grand Prix at Indy won't return to the 2008 F1 schedule.
Game Over for USGP
Formula One Will Not Return to Indy
By MAC MORRISON AutoWeek Published 07/12/07, 4:07 pm et
The United States Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway will not be on the 2008 Formula One schedule after eight consecutive events since 2000. IMS set a July 12 deadline for a decision on the race's future during June's USGP race weekend, after F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone made disparaging comments about the event before declining to sign an extension on the spot. "After several discussions, Bernie Ecclestone and I were unable to agree how to keep Formula One in Indianapolis for the near term," IMS CEO Tony George said. "However, we have agreed to leave the door open for a potential future date. "It has been a pleasure having the United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis, and I hope that as we approach our Centennial Era at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, an opportunity might present itself that would allow its return." It is unclear whether the loss of Indy means F1 will not return to the U.S. at all. Ecclestone met recently with billionaire developer Steve Wynn in Las Vegas to discuss the possibility of a Vegas race in 2008. Results of that meeting are unknown.UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX ANNOUNCEMENT TRANSCRIPTThursday, July 12, 2007, Indianapolis Motor SpeedwayTONY GEORGE: Today I want to let everyone know that unfortunately, and to my great disappointment, Formula One will not be back next year, in 2008. And beyond that, Bernie (Ecclestone) and I had several discussions that led us to this decision and announcement, but we did agree it was prudent to try to leave the door open for the future. With that, the near-term communication is that Formula One will not be back next year, but it''s my sincere hope that we'll have the opportunity to bring it back in the not-too-distant future.Q: The decision to bring the (MotoGP) race here (next year), how much flexibility did that allow you to go with a strict number of what you'd be willing to pay, and not necessarily negotiate?GEORGE: The decision to not have a round of the world championship here next year was considered totally independently of any consideration being given to having a motorcycle race here. It was strictly a business decision and there are a lot of factors that weigh into that, but it was a decision that weighed solely on that.
Q: There is precedent for Bernie to not agree to a contract now and then suddenly add an event to the schedule later in the year. Is there a chance a USGP could still happen in 2008 here, or somewhere else in the country?
GEORGE: I wouldn't have any insight as to whether there will be another round scheduled in the U.S. in 2008. I don't believe there will be, but that would be something that was arrived at without my being involved. I know a preliminary schedule had been released with Indianapolis on it. Again, my hope is for the future that we'll be able to bring all of the components that are important to a successful event together so that we can one day bring it back here.
Q: How far off were the two sides on negotiations, and was the city of Indianapolis willing to offer assistance to bring it back here?
GEORGE: There was no discussion to what financial contributions the city of Indianapolis might bring to the relationship. Clearly it's a business decision, one that we have to consider as an event, and one Bernie has to consider as part of their business and opportunity. Money is a factor. It's not the only factor, and it has some bearing on the decision. There are a number of things that I believe need to happen for it to be viable. It's a business opportunity. One, the promoter, in this case Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Formula One, has to provide leadership and a working relationship that includes a national broadcast partner, a title sponsor that will actively embrace and support the event, along with a number of other things. Those are important things that really have been lacking. It's not to say our relationship with Formula One hasn't been good, because it has. Bernie, personally, has been good to work with. In fact, I'm sure it will be a surprise to many, based on the reputation many consider him to have, he's a good guy to work with. I believe he's always been straight-forward and honest with me. I respect him and his decision to do what he has to do for Formula One as a whole.
Q: The manufacturers, Honda, Mercedes, Toyota, they really value being in the United States. It seems like - (AutoWeek Formula One writer) Nigel Roebuck and the boys were hopeful (Ecclestone) would want to be your partner in this race. Was there any kind of discussion that maybe he would partner with you in this?
GEORGE: There was some discussion about that, yes, in the end it's not what he was wanting to do and not the way we'd prefer to do this, but there was discussion about that. I think the manufacturers are another key element to achieving success. There are, I think, six engine manufacturers, five of which the United States is fairly important to their business. It's just a matter of all the elements coming together and being able to support and sustain an event here. In the United States, Formula One is not perceived the same way it is around the world, in central Europe, eastern Europe and Asia, and it's just a tough dynamic. But I think the future will depend on recognizing the fact that the United States is a bit different, and we're going to have to figure out how to make it work.
Q: Tony, you have worked so hard and invested so much in this facility to bring Formula One here. How disappointed are you personally?
GEORGE: Obviously, I am personally disappointed. Eight years ago, it was our intent to host this event on an annual basis. While I still hold hope for the future that we'll be able to bring it back, it's tough to have a hiatus like this, and I view it as such. I'm going to continue to work on this to try to bring it back to the best of my ability as soon as possible.
Q: Do you know if you lost out to another country? Another bid?
GEORGE: No, I think, again, it's a business decision for us, for Formula One. They have a lot of opportunities to consider, and I think they feel like they've made the fair assessment of this situation and the opportunities. If we're not on the schedule, there will probably be 18 races and they can go up to 20 races, so it's not like the music stopped and we didn't have a seat. We'll see, we'll continue to have a dialogue, but it's not fair to us, it's not fair to our customers, the loyal core of Formula One fans, to just go on indefinitely on hold while we try to decide if we're going to have a ticket renewal process, or what, for next year. So we just need to pull back and re-evaluate this situation and see where it goes from here.
Q: (Inaudible)
GEORGE: That's hard for me to say because what we've seen here the last few years is the core of Formula One fans. I think you could throw a lot at them, and they're a resilient lot. The challenge is building on that. We started in 2000 with a very successful inaugural event. The second year we were faced with our first challenge, which was run the race two weeks after 9/11. Since then we have been faced with a number of hurdles, which have contributed to our inability to get the kind of traction we had hoped. We thought it would level off after about three years and then start to build, but in that time we had date changes, controversy about a contrived finish with Ferrari, we had the Michelin situation, we had indecision about the date--another date change--and I don't think it has affected the core. One of the challenges of creating new fans is creating more awareness of Formula One with a consistent, national broadcast exposure is important. I think Speed has always done a great job, and we've had network coverage from year to year. But when you consider Formula One on the whole as a world championship, then you want consistent coverage just like any sport wants. Some of those things--having a title sponsor for a while with SAP and losing that--was a factor. And I think it's important in the future that if we have it, it comes back with a committed title sponsor as part of that.
Q: Some of the things you mentioned in combination with Bernie's ambivalence about being in the United States, how much of that did wear on your patience, to get something done? GEORGE: It didn't really wear on my patience. It's not for me to say whether Formula One having a U.S. round of the world championship is important to the success of Formula One, but certainly it's a huge market for many of the manufacturers and sponsors involved, many of which would like to see a round in the United States. But I'm not sure it's the "be all, end all," so I think a lot of (sponsors) are using Formula One as a platform for their desire to build their European markets and Asian markets. The United States is a factor, but it's not the only thing to consider.
Q: Do you have a timetable for when you will sit down to talk about future events here?GEORGE: No, no timetable at all. We have some time to give it the proper reflection, and I hope to be able to go to another event this year and continue the dialogue between now and the end of the season. Not having the pressure and letting everyone know what the status is now will probably, if anything, help the process along.
Q: Any chance this could be back by 2009, or is that too early to expect?
GEORGE: As I sit here today announcing it won't be back in 2008, that would be my hope. But I think it would be premature to say that, having not had the conversations that need to be take place that it would even be possible in 2009.
Q: Would there ever be a scenario where you'd go to the city to talk to them about paying part of the sanctioning fee?
GEORGE: I don't think so. I think the city is willing to consider how they can help the Motor Speedway continue to attract events like Formula One to Indianapolis, and again that may be part of the due diligence as we pursue, as a necessary step in bringing Formula One back. But direct financial contributions, I don't see that at all. It was interesting, having been involved in the Super Bowl bid process a little bit to see that dynamic, and while it's not all about money, money is a factor. Right now, there are a lot of countries and organizers that want Formula One in a bad way, and as bad as I want it, it has to be a prudent business decision. And as it does, it has to be a business consideration for Formula One. There is no animosity, and certainly I believe a willingness on both sides to begin a dialogue to see if and when we can bring it back.
Q: Just to clarify, has the city ever approached you about assisting financially, or have you approached the city?
GEORGE: No. To clarify, no.
Q: The MotoGP race, is that something that can economically offset the loss of economic impact not having Formula One here?
GEORGE: I don't know. I know, as much as having Formula One has meant to the economic success of this city, I think if we have a motorcycle race, it will substantially be perceived as an international event that bring a diverse audience to this city that it has never seen before. They're considered separately by us; internally, I never considered that a motorcycle race would take the place of Formula One in the event Formula One never came back to the Speedway. Obviously, if we have a motorcycle race, it's because we considered it independently and as a fourth event, not a replacement event. Should that come to be, it will be a great opportunity for the city, a city that can pride itself on world-class motorsports events.
Q: How much of this decision can be attributed to one factor, the personality of Bernie Ecclestone, that it was a business decision?
GEORGE: Bernie really wants to see it stay, uninterrupted, I believe. He is a personality, a character, and he's a businessman and he's basing (this on) his years of experience of being successful. He knows he's got to look at all the opportunities for his business, and this being one of them. A lot of people think of Bernie in a lot of different ways, and I continue to have a great deal of respect for him and don't feel his personality in any way factored into the decision we mutually agreed on.
Q: Do you think you would have had the USGP next if you had just been willing to write a big enough check?
GEORGE: I suppose, but again money's not the only factor. Again, we're interested in growing this, and I don't see all the elements being there for us to do that right now. We don't have a title sponsor in hand, we don't have the commitment of national TV, and there are other things. We could agree on the date, and that would be great; we could agree on money and that would be great, but there are other things to consider.
Q: Tony, this is a business deal, but it is very important for the city, third-largest and brings in a lot of money. How much did that factor in negotiations?
GEORGE: I feel bad for the loss of economic impact for the city, but that wasn't my biggest concern. It's certainly a factor, and I regret the fact we won't have it for 2008, but my hope is we'll be successful in getting that back in the future.
.Q: At the end of the day, how confident do you feel you'll be able to get it back here?
GEORGE: Probably better than the 50/50 that I thought it would be (back here next year). How much more? I don't know, maybe 60/40
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Snow: Cerberus to Make Chrysler Rebound
By TOM KRISHER
It may be a little difficult for the skeptics to believe that Cerberus Capital Management LP can take over the struggling Chrysler Group, keep the same plan and management in place and make enough money to satisfy Cerberus' private equity investors.
Yet that's what Cerberus Chairman, former Treasury Secretary John Snow, repeatedly explained Wednesday during a daylong appearance near Detroit.
"New environment," Snow said when asked by The Associated Press why Cerberus could make the company profitable when its current owner, Germany's DaimlerChrysler AG (nyse: DCX - news - people ), had given up.
Cerberus intends to buy Chrysler in a $7.4 billion transaction that should close sometime this quarter, invest money in Chrysler and take it private. That will allow Chief Executive Tom Lasorda and his management team time to implement their restructuring plan without short-term pressure from Wall Street, Snow said in a speech to the Detroit Economic Club.
"Now they get to run their own show again," he said in the interview afterward with the AP. "Can't ever underestimate that."
Cerberus' business, he said, is to fix companies that are underperforming.
"We have a track record of success at doing those things," he said. "We feel fairly confident that when we've gone through a due diligence process, we know that company and we know the potential. And unless we see the potential fulfilling our investment horizon objectives, we don't buy it."
Snow also said Cerberus plans to keep Chrysler for a long time and has no plans to take the company public again or sell it off once its earnings improve. And he reiterated that no job cuts are planned beyond those already announced by Chrysler.
During the speech, Snow predicted that the U.S. auto industry and Chrysler are poised for a turnaround.
"We want to be there to help the turn and benefit our investors from the turn," he said.
Snow said Cerberus likes LaSorda's recovery plan, which calls for returning to profitability by 2009.
The private equity firm, Snow said, has 150 corporate managers who advise the companies it acquires, including former Volkswagen AG and Chrysler executive Wolfgang Bernhard, who is assigned to Chrysler. But Snow insisted that Bernhard is not running the company.
"They're running the place. They're accountable," he said of LaSorda's team.
DaimlerChrysler - the maker of Mercedes luxury cars - agreed in May to transfer an 80.1 percent stake in its U.S.-based Chrysler unit to New York-based Cerberus.
As part of the deal, Cerberus agreed to invest $6.1 billion in Chrysler and its financing arm and to pay DaimlerChrysler $1.4 billion. DaimlerChrysler would remain liable for certain expenses that could result in it paying Cerberus up to $1.5 billion to complete the transaction.
Cerberus, however, has agreed to take on most of the auto company's $19 billion in long-term retiree health care costs.
On another topic, Snow criticized new fuel economy regulations passed by the U.S. Senate, calling them unattainable under present technology and focused too narrowly on the auto industry as a solution to foreign oil dependence and carbon emissions.
The Senate last month approved legislation requiring the auto industry to meet a combined fuel efficiency standard of 35 miles per gallon for passenger cars and light trucks by 2020. The auto industry vigorously opposed the plan.
In the House, Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., is working to advance a bill that would force automakers to meet the 35 mpg target by 2018, two years earlier than the Senate version.
The auto industry supports a separate proposal that would increase the standards to at least 32 mpg - or up to 35 mpg - by 2022.
Snow said depending on the final version, the standards might force Cerberus to raise more capital to fund Chrysler's turnaround. It also could raise the cost of producing vehicles, he said.
The Senate bill could sink the U.S. auto industry, Snow said. In interview, he said he is most concerned about its mileage requirements and that it fails to separate car and truck mileage.
The measure, he said, would force Chrysler to reduce production of profitable pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles in favor of building cars, on which they make less money.
"It makes it tough to be profitable. It gets the auto companies out of alignment with the consumers," he said.
He added that the marketplace should decide what models the companies build rather than Congress.
The Chrysler purchase would expand Cerberus' automotive holdings, which include a 51 percent stake in GMAC Financial Services. It also owns Guilford Mills, the largest automotive seating supplier in the United States, and Peguform Group, a German-based manufacturer of interior and exterior plastic parts used in autos.
On Wednesday, a federal bankruptcy judge approved the $1 billion sale of auto parts supplier Tower Automotive to Cerberus.
Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed
By TOM KRISHER
It may be a little difficult for the skeptics to believe that Cerberus Capital Management LP can take over the struggling Chrysler Group, keep the same plan and management in place and make enough money to satisfy Cerberus' private equity investors.
Yet that's what Cerberus Chairman, former Treasury Secretary John Snow, repeatedly explained Wednesday during a daylong appearance near Detroit.
"New environment," Snow said when asked by The Associated Press why Cerberus could make the company profitable when its current owner, Germany's DaimlerChrysler AG (nyse: DCX - news - people ), had given up.
Cerberus intends to buy Chrysler in a $7.4 billion transaction that should close sometime this quarter, invest money in Chrysler and take it private. That will allow Chief Executive Tom Lasorda and his management team time to implement their restructuring plan without short-term pressure from Wall Street, Snow said in a speech to the Detroit Economic Club.
"Now they get to run their own show again," he said in the interview afterward with the AP. "Can't ever underestimate that."
Cerberus' business, he said, is to fix companies that are underperforming.
"We have a track record of success at doing those things," he said. "We feel fairly confident that when we've gone through a due diligence process, we know that company and we know the potential. And unless we see the potential fulfilling our investment horizon objectives, we don't buy it."
Snow also said Cerberus plans to keep Chrysler for a long time and has no plans to take the company public again or sell it off once its earnings improve. And he reiterated that no job cuts are planned beyond those already announced by Chrysler.
During the speech, Snow predicted that the U.S. auto industry and Chrysler are poised for a turnaround.
"We want to be there to help the turn and benefit our investors from the turn," he said.
Snow said Cerberus likes LaSorda's recovery plan, which calls for returning to profitability by 2009.
The private equity firm, Snow said, has 150 corporate managers who advise the companies it acquires, including former Volkswagen AG and Chrysler executive Wolfgang Bernhard, who is assigned to Chrysler. But Snow insisted that Bernhard is not running the company.
"They're running the place. They're accountable," he said of LaSorda's team.
DaimlerChrysler - the maker of Mercedes luxury cars - agreed in May to transfer an 80.1 percent stake in its U.S.-based Chrysler unit to New York-based Cerberus.
As part of the deal, Cerberus agreed to invest $6.1 billion in Chrysler and its financing arm and to pay DaimlerChrysler $1.4 billion. DaimlerChrysler would remain liable for certain expenses that could result in it paying Cerberus up to $1.5 billion to complete the transaction.
Cerberus, however, has agreed to take on most of the auto company's $19 billion in long-term retiree health care costs.
On another topic, Snow criticized new fuel economy regulations passed by the U.S. Senate, calling them unattainable under present technology and focused too narrowly on the auto industry as a solution to foreign oil dependence and carbon emissions.
The Senate last month approved legislation requiring the auto industry to meet a combined fuel efficiency standard of 35 miles per gallon for passenger cars and light trucks by 2020. The auto industry vigorously opposed the plan.
In the House, Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., is working to advance a bill that would force automakers to meet the 35 mpg target by 2018, two years earlier than the Senate version.
The auto industry supports a separate proposal that would increase the standards to at least 32 mpg - or up to 35 mpg - by 2022.
Snow said depending on the final version, the standards might force Cerberus to raise more capital to fund Chrysler's turnaround. It also could raise the cost of producing vehicles, he said.
The Senate bill could sink the U.S. auto industry, Snow said. In interview, he said he is most concerned about its mileage requirements and that it fails to separate car and truck mileage.
The measure, he said, would force Chrysler to reduce production of profitable pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles in favor of building cars, on which they make less money.
"It makes it tough to be profitable. It gets the auto companies out of alignment with the consumers," he said.
He added that the marketplace should decide what models the companies build rather than Congress.
The Chrysler purchase would expand Cerberus' automotive holdings, which include a 51 percent stake in GMAC Financial Services. It also owns Guilford Mills, the largest automotive seating supplier in the United States, and Peguform Group, a German-based manufacturer of interior and exterior plastic parts used in autos.
On Wednesday, a federal bankruptcy judge approved the $1 billion sale of auto parts supplier Tower Automotive to Cerberus.
Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed
Cerberus high on Chrysler
Chairman says private equity firm has no plans to sell the automaker and can help its turnaround.
Bill Vlasic and Josee Valcourt / The Detroit News
DETROIT -- The chairman of Cerberus Capital Management said Wednesday that the private-equity giant is committed to restoring Chrysler to profitability and has no plans to sell the U.S. automaker.
In his first Detroit-area speech since finalizing the Chrysler deal in May, Cerberus Chairman John Snow said his firm wants to help Chrysler "realize its full potential" rather than fix it up and sell it off.
"We never think about exit strategy," Snow said in a speech to the Detroit Economic Club in Rochester. "It's not even on the radar screen."
Instead, Snow, a former U.S. Treasury Secretary, vowed to aggressively assist Chrysler management in stabilizing the No. 3 Detroit automaker after its troubled tenure as a division of DaimlerChrysler AG.
He said in a post-speech interview that Chrysler's turnaround plan, which calls for $4.5 billion in financial improvements by 2009, could be accelerated under the new ownership.
"I think we can do better than the plan," he told The Detroit News. "That's the basis, that's the skeleton, but I think we can do better than that."
Snow said Cerberus still expects to close on the acquisition in the third quarter of this year, and left little doubt that the firm is eager to bring its expertise to bear on Chrysler.
"We bring fresh eyes to old problems," he said. "We never buy a company for the financial engineering opportunities. Our calling card is operations."
Cerberus, which controls more than 100 companies with combined annual revenues of $60 billion, beat out several other suitors to acquire Chrysler for $7.4 billion from its German parent company.
The deal stirred speculation that Cerberus would overhaul Chrysler and then put it back on the market. But Snow rejected any suggestion that Cerberus was a short-term owner.
In a speech reflecting his firm's feisty reputation, Snow promised that Cerberus would give Chrysler the resources to succeed and also provide leadership on industry issues such as the brewing battle over fuel-economy legislation.
"What Cerberus does is create an environment where good management teams can do good things," he said.
Snow repeatedly expressed support for Chrysler CEO Tom LaSorda and his management team, saying "there's an intensity" among the executives and staff that bodes well for the automaker's recovery.
He said Cerberus expects to form a board of directors to oversee management, and would dispatch some of its 150 in-house executives to help Chrysler as needed.
But Snow offered few details on the day-to-day involvement of former Chrysler executive Wolfgang Bernhard, who now serves as an adviser to Cerberus.
"(Bernhard) is a well respected automotive executive who has good knowledge of the entire industry, and he had a distinguished career with Chrysler," he said. "But Tom LaSorda and his team are running Chrysler."
People close to Chrysler said Bernhard occupies an office at the automaker's headquarters and has been critiquing its product plans, purchasing arrangements and manufacturing processes.
Snow said Cerberus will scrutinize Chrysler from top to bottom as it does any of the companies it acquires. "What Cerberus does is look at every aspect of a company's operations and say, where can we do better?" he said.
In a radio interview this week, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger offered Cerberus a vote of confidence, saying its acquisition of Chrysler was the best possible outcome given DaimlerChrysler's determination to sell the U.S. automaker. After nine years as a unit of DaimlerChrysler, Auburn Hills-based Chrysler also is ready to become more vocal on industry issues such as federal rules on fuel-economy.
Under a Senate energy bill approved last month, mileage standards for cars and light trucks could be increased substantially to 35 miles per gallon by 2020.
The bill has been attacked by domestic automakers as potentially disastrous because of the additional costs that would be incurred to achieve the new standards.
Snow took aim at the bill on Wednesday, saying that Chrysler and other automakers would be unfairly penalized in the overall drive to reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil and improve the environment.
He said the upcoming battle in Congress could determine the future viability of Chrysler and its domestic rivals, General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co.
"That choice is between reasonable legislation that significantly raises auto fuel economy standards, but gives the industry a fighting chance to survive, versus severe legislation that would certainly cripple the industry, destroy jobs and make auto manufacturers in the U.S. uncompetitive," he said.
Snow's grave assessment was disputed Wednesday by the Union of Concerned Scientists, which released a study asserting that a 35 mpg standard would save consumers $61 billion and stimulate the creation of new jobs in fuel-saving technology.
You can reach Bill Vlasic at (313) 222-2152 or bvlasic@detnews.com.
Chairman says private equity firm has no plans to sell the automaker and can help its turnaround.
Bill Vlasic and Josee Valcourt / The Detroit News
DETROIT -- The chairman of Cerberus Capital Management said Wednesday that the private-equity giant is committed to restoring Chrysler to profitability and has no plans to sell the U.S. automaker.
In his first Detroit-area speech since finalizing the Chrysler deal in May, Cerberus Chairman John Snow said his firm wants to help Chrysler "realize its full potential" rather than fix it up and sell it off.
"We never think about exit strategy," Snow said in a speech to the Detroit Economic Club in Rochester. "It's not even on the radar screen."
Instead, Snow, a former U.S. Treasury Secretary, vowed to aggressively assist Chrysler management in stabilizing the No. 3 Detroit automaker after its troubled tenure as a division of DaimlerChrysler AG.
He said in a post-speech interview that Chrysler's turnaround plan, which calls for $4.5 billion in financial improvements by 2009, could be accelerated under the new ownership.
"I think we can do better than the plan," he told The Detroit News. "That's the basis, that's the skeleton, but I think we can do better than that."
Snow said Cerberus still expects to close on the acquisition in the third quarter of this year, and left little doubt that the firm is eager to bring its expertise to bear on Chrysler.
"We bring fresh eyes to old problems," he said. "We never buy a company for the financial engineering opportunities. Our calling card is operations."
Cerberus, which controls more than 100 companies with combined annual revenues of $60 billion, beat out several other suitors to acquire Chrysler for $7.4 billion from its German parent company.
The deal stirred speculation that Cerberus would overhaul Chrysler and then put it back on the market. But Snow rejected any suggestion that Cerberus was a short-term owner.
In a speech reflecting his firm's feisty reputation, Snow promised that Cerberus would give Chrysler the resources to succeed and also provide leadership on industry issues such as the brewing battle over fuel-economy legislation.
"What Cerberus does is create an environment where good management teams can do good things," he said.
Snow repeatedly expressed support for Chrysler CEO Tom LaSorda and his management team, saying "there's an intensity" among the executives and staff that bodes well for the automaker's recovery.
He said Cerberus expects to form a board of directors to oversee management, and would dispatch some of its 150 in-house executives to help Chrysler as needed.
But Snow offered few details on the day-to-day involvement of former Chrysler executive Wolfgang Bernhard, who now serves as an adviser to Cerberus.
"(Bernhard) is a well respected automotive executive who has good knowledge of the entire industry, and he had a distinguished career with Chrysler," he said. "But Tom LaSorda and his team are running Chrysler."
People close to Chrysler said Bernhard occupies an office at the automaker's headquarters and has been critiquing its product plans, purchasing arrangements and manufacturing processes.
Snow said Cerberus will scrutinize Chrysler from top to bottom as it does any of the companies it acquires. "What Cerberus does is look at every aspect of a company's operations and say, where can we do better?" he said.
In a radio interview this week, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger offered Cerberus a vote of confidence, saying its acquisition of Chrysler was the best possible outcome given DaimlerChrysler's determination to sell the U.S. automaker. After nine years as a unit of DaimlerChrysler, Auburn Hills-based Chrysler also is ready to become more vocal on industry issues such as federal rules on fuel-economy.
Under a Senate energy bill approved last month, mileage standards for cars and light trucks could be increased substantially to 35 miles per gallon by 2020.
The bill has been attacked by domestic automakers as potentially disastrous because of the additional costs that would be incurred to achieve the new standards.
Snow took aim at the bill on Wednesday, saying that Chrysler and other automakers would be unfairly penalized in the overall drive to reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil and improve the environment.
He said the upcoming battle in Congress could determine the future viability of Chrysler and its domestic rivals, General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co.
"That choice is between reasonable legislation that significantly raises auto fuel economy standards, but gives the industry a fighting chance to survive, versus severe legislation that would certainly cripple the industry, destroy jobs and make auto manufacturers in the U.S. uncompetitive," he said.
Snow's grave assessment was disputed Wednesday by the Union of Concerned Scientists, which released a study asserting that a 35 mpg standard would save consumers $61 billion and stimulate the creation of new jobs in fuel-saving technology.
You can reach Bill Vlasic at (313) 222-2152 or bvlasic@detnews.com.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
July 8, 2007
Tesla Roadster
The most fun you can have without fuel
Jay Leno
See the Tesla Roadster picture gallery
People think that if you’re a car enthusiast you have something against electric cars. Not in the least. To me the nice thing about electric vehicles is, if nothing else, they free up the gasoline for our other cars.
I think many car enthusiasts see the future as one where they will use some kind of electric car or hydrogen car during the week and will save their sports cars for the weekend, just as you would play golf or football at the weekend.
What Tesla, an American company that has made an electric version of the very British Lotus Elise, has done is find a way to enjoy a sports car all week long and be green.
The problem with electric cars up to this point is what I call the veggie burger syndrome. When they came out with the veggie burger they made it look like a hamburger, which was disappointing because it doesn’t taste anything like a hamburger. It had been the same with electric cars until this point.
They would take a Volkswagen Golf or some equivalent, rip out the innards and replace it with an electric motor. So you get a car that is not only slower but would not be as safe because most of the safety features were probably taken out of it, it wouldn’t go as far and you’d have something that was less than what you started with.
Tesla is quite smart in that it is reaching the enthusiasts of the market. If you like sports cars and you want to be green, this is the only way to go. The Tesla is a car that you can live with, drive and enjoy as a sports car. I had a brief drive in the car and it was quite impressive. This is an electric car that is fun to drive. Prior to this, most electric cars were driven by people with earth shoes.
I love electric cars. One of the favourites in my garage is my 1909 Baker Electric car. But in the 98 years since that car was made, battery technology and therefore electric car technology has not changed a huge amount.
In the early 1900s Thomas Edison developed an alkaline battery to double or triple the range of the electric car. It didn’t quite do that, but alkaline batteries were neat in that they could be rinsed out and used over and over again. In fact I’m still using the alkaline battery that came with the Baker and was made by Edison himself.
In 1909 a frustrated Edison wrote on a napkin at a dinner and handed it to Henry Ford. On it he’d written: “The electric car is dead.” Almost from that note right up until Tesla, Edison wasn’t far wrong. Not much has been done to progress the battery-powered car since.
Tesla is not the first major manufacturer to have an electric car. GM came out with the EV1 in the early 1990s. I had one for a week and I loved it. It was quick but it only went about 125 miles on a charge. In 80 years it went only 10 miles further that my 1909 Baker Electric, and really a 125-mile range means you only have about a 60-mile range, because you have to come back.
One of the hidden things they don’t tell you about electric cars is that you get good mileage when the temperature is 20C, but when it drops down towards freezing you lose 20-40% because they’re dependent on the ambient temperature. What Tesla has done is put in a cooling/heating system that keeps the battery at a constant temperature.
It’s also built a car that weighs 2,600lb, which is a few pounds heavier than the standard Lotus, whereas most electric cars would be hundreds of pounds heavier. And it handles and drives, for all intents and purposes, like a real sports car.
The difference with this is that it’s faster than a standard Lotus. For something to succeed it has to not only do it as well but better. The Wankel engine was the only brand new engine of the 20th century, but the trouble was it was the equal of the internal combustion engine, it just wasn’t better. So why change? To the average person it’s a case of I’ll stick with what I have.
With this Tesla, you have a Lotus which is faster. The only disadvantage is that you can’t refuel quite as quickly. However, when you do refuel, it’s the equivalent of five cents a gallon, or something similar.
The Tesla handles well. I suppose if you took both it and a Lotus on a racetrack, the standard Elise would win. But for the average person taking it out for a drive, I think you would be really, really impressed. It’s a proper car that meets emission and safety standards. Prior to this, when you saw an electric car in America you didn’t get the airbags and it was sort of a kit car. All you were doing was saving energy. This one meets all federal standards of car production.
Driving the car takes some getting used to. But boy is it quick. It does 0-60mph in 4sec. Like a petrol car, you just put your foot down and go. The real trick with electricity is that it’s alive. You put it in a box and it either escapes or dies. The best way to use power is at the point of generation, which is what hybrids do but then you are back with the problem of having two powerplants and the extra weight. Electricity is the best way to run an automobile in the sense that there is no maintenance of any kind.
I have never done any maintenance on my 1909 Baker Electric, other than maybe greasing the wheel hubs. You don’t do anything. You plug it in, charge it and drive it. The motor is virtually maintenance-free. This is a car made back in 1909 I am talking about, and the Tesla is the same way. There is nothing much to break or wear out in the engine department, with the exception of maybe the battery, which remains to be seen. They are claiming well over 200 miles per charge, which is pretty impressive.
Behind the wheel the power comes on sharply because it’s linear. You have instant torque. The faster you accelerate the faster you go. You’ve got a two-speed transmission so you can actually shift it. It’s a slightly different sensation but I think it’s something you’d get used to quickly. You’ve got air-conditioning and a radio and all the things you would have in a normal car. It’s quiet. But many fast cars now are quiet.
When I drove the EV1 I was amazed at how fast it was. Back in the 1990s it was really quick. Top speed was about 85-90mph, but in the real world most of the fun is between 40mph and 80mph, where you put your foot on it.
In the real world I have a Porsche Carrera GT, I have a McLaren F1, and anybody that tells you they’ve taken those cars to 200mph is a liar. They haven’t. Believe me. I did a couple of hundred laps at Talladega and the fastest I got to was 190mph – on a track. By myself. And it was scary. Nobody does those speeds on a public road. If you do, you should be in prison. The real-world fun of acceleration is between 40mph and 80mph.
I think Colin Chapman, the Lotus founder, would be impressed by the technology in the Tesla. He was always looking at making cars lighter and lighter. Lightness is, of course, what makes a car handle. I would say this is the first electric car that truly handles. I think Chapman would be pleased if his design was chosen as an example of superior handling and dynamics.
If one day they were to start a green racing league that used no petrol of any kind, this car would probably win the race the first year out. It feels like a proper sports car.
Would I buy one? Well yes, I would be interested in it. Right now they’re $100,000, so consequently it’s something rich people would buy. But most new technology starts out with rich people. Antilock brakes started out on the big Cadillacs and Lincolns. They didn’t start out on economy cars. To start with it’s the rich buyers that can absorb the cost. Anybody who buys a Tesla now is making a statement about buying responsibly. It’s a way to make a high performance statement for the new millennium.
If you dropped somebody in from another planet and said, this one with a petrol engine or this one with an electric motor, well, they’d probably say the Tesla. The only downside is the time it takes to charge and that is probably the next step.
The Tesla shows sports cars can be electrifying. The sports car needn’t die once oil runs out. I guess this is the first car that means we as sports car aficionados can see beyond the end of the internal combustion engine.
Vital statistics
Model Tesla Roadster
Engine Electric motor powered by lithium-ion battery
Power 248bhp @ 8000rpm
Torque 200 lb ft @ 0-6000rpm
Transmission Two-speed manual
CO2 n/a
Acceleration 0-60mph: 4sec
Top speed 130mph Price $98,000 (£48,600)
Verdict Electrifying proof there’s life after oil
Tesla Roadster
The most fun you can have without fuel
Jay Leno
See the Tesla Roadster picture gallery
People think that if you’re a car enthusiast you have something against electric cars. Not in the least. To me the nice thing about electric vehicles is, if nothing else, they free up the gasoline for our other cars.
I think many car enthusiasts see the future as one where they will use some kind of electric car or hydrogen car during the week and will save their sports cars for the weekend, just as you would play golf or football at the weekend.
What Tesla, an American company that has made an electric version of the very British Lotus Elise, has done is find a way to enjoy a sports car all week long and be green.
The problem with electric cars up to this point is what I call the veggie burger syndrome. When they came out with the veggie burger they made it look like a hamburger, which was disappointing because it doesn’t taste anything like a hamburger. It had been the same with electric cars until this point.
They would take a Volkswagen Golf or some equivalent, rip out the innards and replace it with an electric motor. So you get a car that is not only slower but would not be as safe because most of the safety features were probably taken out of it, it wouldn’t go as far and you’d have something that was less than what you started with.
Tesla is quite smart in that it is reaching the enthusiasts of the market. If you like sports cars and you want to be green, this is the only way to go. The Tesla is a car that you can live with, drive and enjoy as a sports car. I had a brief drive in the car and it was quite impressive. This is an electric car that is fun to drive. Prior to this, most electric cars were driven by people with earth shoes.
I love electric cars. One of the favourites in my garage is my 1909 Baker Electric car. But in the 98 years since that car was made, battery technology and therefore electric car technology has not changed a huge amount.
In the early 1900s Thomas Edison developed an alkaline battery to double or triple the range of the electric car. It didn’t quite do that, but alkaline batteries were neat in that they could be rinsed out and used over and over again. In fact I’m still using the alkaline battery that came with the Baker and was made by Edison himself.
In 1909 a frustrated Edison wrote on a napkin at a dinner and handed it to Henry Ford. On it he’d written: “The electric car is dead.” Almost from that note right up until Tesla, Edison wasn’t far wrong. Not much has been done to progress the battery-powered car since.
Tesla is not the first major manufacturer to have an electric car. GM came out with the EV1 in the early 1990s. I had one for a week and I loved it. It was quick but it only went about 125 miles on a charge. In 80 years it went only 10 miles further that my 1909 Baker Electric, and really a 125-mile range means you only have about a 60-mile range, because you have to come back.
One of the hidden things they don’t tell you about electric cars is that you get good mileage when the temperature is 20C, but when it drops down towards freezing you lose 20-40% because they’re dependent on the ambient temperature. What Tesla has done is put in a cooling/heating system that keeps the battery at a constant temperature.
It’s also built a car that weighs 2,600lb, which is a few pounds heavier than the standard Lotus, whereas most electric cars would be hundreds of pounds heavier. And it handles and drives, for all intents and purposes, like a real sports car.
The difference with this is that it’s faster than a standard Lotus. For something to succeed it has to not only do it as well but better. The Wankel engine was the only brand new engine of the 20th century, but the trouble was it was the equal of the internal combustion engine, it just wasn’t better. So why change? To the average person it’s a case of I’ll stick with what I have.
With this Tesla, you have a Lotus which is faster. The only disadvantage is that you can’t refuel quite as quickly. However, when you do refuel, it’s the equivalent of five cents a gallon, or something similar.
The Tesla handles well. I suppose if you took both it and a Lotus on a racetrack, the standard Elise would win. But for the average person taking it out for a drive, I think you would be really, really impressed. It’s a proper car that meets emission and safety standards. Prior to this, when you saw an electric car in America you didn’t get the airbags and it was sort of a kit car. All you were doing was saving energy. This one meets all federal standards of car production.
Driving the car takes some getting used to. But boy is it quick. It does 0-60mph in 4sec. Like a petrol car, you just put your foot down and go. The real trick with electricity is that it’s alive. You put it in a box and it either escapes or dies. The best way to use power is at the point of generation, which is what hybrids do but then you are back with the problem of having two powerplants and the extra weight. Electricity is the best way to run an automobile in the sense that there is no maintenance of any kind.
I have never done any maintenance on my 1909 Baker Electric, other than maybe greasing the wheel hubs. You don’t do anything. You plug it in, charge it and drive it. The motor is virtually maintenance-free. This is a car made back in 1909 I am talking about, and the Tesla is the same way. There is nothing much to break or wear out in the engine department, with the exception of maybe the battery, which remains to be seen. They are claiming well over 200 miles per charge, which is pretty impressive.
Behind the wheel the power comes on sharply because it’s linear. You have instant torque. The faster you accelerate the faster you go. You’ve got a two-speed transmission so you can actually shift it. It’s a slightly different sensation but I think it’s something you’d get used to quickly. You’ve got air-conditioning and a radio and all the things you would have in a normal car. It’s quiet. But many fast cars now are quiet.
When I drove the EV1 I was amazed at how fast it was. Back in the 1990s it was really quick. Top speed was about 85-90mph, but in the real world most of the fun is between 40mph and 80mph, where you put your foot on it.
In the real world I have a Porsche Carrera GT, I have a McLaren F1, and anybody that tells you they’ve taken those cars to 200mph is a liar. They haven’t. Believe me. I did a couple of hundred laps at Talladega and the fastest I got to was 190mph – on a track. By myself. And it was scary. Nobody does those speeds on a public road. If you do, you should be in prison. The real-world fun of acceleration is between 40mph and 80mph.
I think Colin Chapman, the Lotus founder, would be impressed by the technology in the Tesla. He was always looking at making cars lighter and lighter. Lightness is, of course, what makes a car handle. I would say this is the first electric car that truly handles. I think Chapman would be pleased if his design was chosen as an example of superior handling and dynamics.
If one day they were to start a green racing league that used no petrol of any kind, this car would probably win the race the first year out. It feels like a proper sports car.
Would I buy one? Well yes, I would be interested in it. Right now they’re $100,000, so consequently it’s something rich people would buy. But most new technology starts out with rich people. Antilock brakes started out on the big Cadillacs and Lincolns. They didn’t start out on economy cars. To start with it’s the rich buyers that can absorb the cost. Anybody who buys a Tesla now is making a statement about buying responsibly. It’s a way to make a high performance statement for the new millennium.
If you dropped somebody in from another planet and said, this one with a petrol engine or this one with an electric motor, well, they’d probably say the Tesla. The only downside is the time it takes to charge and that is probably the next step.
The Tesla shows sports cars can be electrifying. The sports car needn’t die once oil runs out. I guess this is the first car that means we as sports car aficionados can see beyond the end of the internal combustion engine.
Vital statistics
Model Tesla Roadster
Engine Electric motor powered by lithium-ion battery
Power 248bhp @ 8000rpm
Torque 200 lb ft @ 0-6000rpm
Transmission Two-speed manual
CO2 n/a
Acceleration 0-60mph: 4sec
Top speed 130mph Price $98,000 (£48,600)
Verdict Electrifying proof there’s life after oil
Murray unveils plans for new city car
06 July 2007
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Gordan Murray's Type 25
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The designer of the legendary McLaren F1 has announced the first details of his proposed new city car.
Dubbed the Type 25, Gordon Murray's city car is intended to be even smaller than a Smart, sell at around £5000 a copy, go into production within three years at an annual rate of 100,000 units, but still preserve driving pleasure in an increasingly economy-conscious world.
Murray is reluctant to reveal T25’s precise mechanical layout, but describes it as an MPV with up to 14 potential body variants.
It is completely different from all other small cars, even bubble cars, he claims. “You don’t sit normally in it, you don’t get in and out normally, and you don’t load luggage in the normal way,” he says.
Murray’s plan is to keep the details secret — if he can — until the project reaches the prototype stage in about two years’ time, and has hopefully attracted a big-company partner that can manage full-scale production.
First cars will use an economical small-capacity petrol engine, Murray admits, but flexible design ensures that other powerplants — diesel, electric or hybrid — are possible.
When developed, Murray claims the T25 will be so cheap to run compared with conventional cars that it will recoup its £5000 purchase price within four years. Not only that, it will create far less CO2 than conventional cars in the building and recycling phases.
Murray’s T25 is the first project of his newly established, Guildford-based company, Gordon Murray Design.
Caparo T1
Text by Nick Hall June 29, 2007
Revolution at every turn
A Formula One car for the road is about as tired a phrase as you’re likely to hear in the annals of supercar history. Every time I hear the phase only to be presented with a 300bhp, one tonne piece of wishful thinking my teeth grate, a chill heads down my spine and a little part of me dies inside.
With a genuine 3g of lateral force trying to push my face down into the fast moving tarmac beneath like some equally clichéd movie villain, though, before the full-on assault of a sledgehammer blow to the back there was only way to describe the forces at work inside the Caparo T1. It’s like, well, a Formula One car for the road.
This is a revolution at pretty much every turn, a two-seater where the passenger sits slightly behind and slightly to the side, but still in pretty close contact. You’d better be friends to share this car, and it’s no long-distance cruiser. But then it’s designed for getting to the track and then flying round it marginally faster than the private jet that you could probably have taken instead. At £190,000 + local taxes it’s about as pricey as a track car is liable to get, but then it is also the fastest.
It hits 60mph in a near indecent 2.5s and a natural spring will run out of steam before this car. Just bang up the sequential ‘box and keep it nailed and it will burst through 100mph in five seconds and keep going all the way to 205mph, if you can find a straight long enough. With just 575bhp at it’s disposal that’s no mean feat, but then the whole car weighs in at 550kg, giving it a power/weight ratio of 1045bhp tonne, which is double that offered by a Bugatti Veyron.
It’s lighter than an F1 entry, with room for two, so don’t expect too many creature comforts, although the stitching in the cockpit is inevitably superb you can forget boot space and ornate switchgear. And while the car has been paraded with a canopy-style roof that is an optional extra and in most countries in this world requires the addition of an air-conditioning system and 20kg. Now that’s the weight of a few gallons of fuel, but you can almost feel the disdain for additional weight in the designers’ voices.
The car looks like the result of illegal genetic experimentation with F1 and Le Mans cars. It’s built around a carbon-fibre and aluminium honeycomb chassis, which stops short of a full carbon-monocoque, but not by enough that you’ll notice the difference, and there isn’t one piece of unnecessary bodywork – you can virtually see the components, or at least how they’re laid out, and where possible everything serves a dual purpose. That’s why the lights are built into the struts of the rear wing and the front fairing bleeds into a cunning wing mirror.
It’s all designed in the wind-tunnel, unsurprisingly, and form has followed function without a moment’s dissent. That it looks pretty, in its own special way, is either happy coincidence or proof positive that a tool that is fit for purpose is inherently beautiful. And that’s a debate for the Arts section…
The Physics department will be happier to know that the car produces a staggering 800kg of downforce with a combination of Venturi effect underneath the car, that adjustable single-plane rear wing and a twin-plate front. That helps produce that 3g cornering force, which incidentally is double that of the formerly great flyweight the Lotus Exige, and a similar amount when the driver mashes the brake pedal.
So the driver should pass out before the car lets go on high speed bends, and it should feel like barrel-rolling an F-16. In slower corners there’s more than enough power to boot the back end out of line and GT ace and Caparo development driver Rob Schirle worked overtime to keep the car on the straight and narrow, using all the leeway allowed by the limited slip diff and traction control.
Incidentally the T1 relies on steel AP Racing brakes, rather than the ceramics that are becoming de rigeur in the supercar world, which makes you think we might be spending over the odds for a set of yellow callipers that aren’t really necessary – or that the flyweight nature of the T1 taxes the stoppers far less.
The brainchild of Ben Scott-Geddes and Graham Halstead, who both worked on the design team of the legendary McLaren F1, the project has recently gained the backing of Caparo.
This company has a £1 billion turnover every year and their money bought Gordon Murray, the man credited with the McLaren F1 and parting the Red Sea, among other projects. His influence helped take the T1 to another level, and three years after the first sketches we were invited to Goodwood racing circuit to taste the fruits of their efforts. And oh yes, it tastes mighty good.
The 3.5-litre engine that revs to a near dangerous 10,500 is developed in partnership with Menard, in-house, that’s part of Caparo’s philosophy and why they bought AP Racing brakes. They want to supply everything, be it pre-formed steel or a complete car. And while engine development is a risky strategy, as proved by technical glitches on the day, if they get it right then they will have nobody to thank but themselves, and nobody to share credit with for their 205mph missile.
Whereas the McLaren F1 and the Bugatti Veyron are supercars that also perform on the track, the Caparo T1 is a track car that can be driven on the road. There is no matching luggage, no great lifestyle statement, the T1 is purely about blistering speed.
At the expense of road usability, I suspect. Every hack emerged from the car complaining of a painful rear and that was on the glass-smooth tarmac of a race track. Now the T1 comes with five-way adjustable dampers and can be lifted for the drive home, which will help. But this machine is just too stripped, just too basic for a normal drive to the shops – it’s a track car through and through and I’d give up on the road aspirations.
The only question that remains is who will buy one. Caparo went to great pains to outline a suave, successful businessman that was a racer in a former life, who was good enough to make the grade but didn’t. The also talked about corporate experiences offering the ultimate passenger ride, but to be honest I would fire the market researcher.
When a car looks like this and has enough noughts in the price tag to pass for a big company’s telephone number, there will always be a market. Rich Russians, Middle Eastern and American car collectors would have reached for the deposit without even hearing the final spec, that’s the way it has always been.
Click here for photos
Text by Nick Hall June 29, 2007
Revolution at every turn
A Formula One car for the road is about as tired a phrase as you’re likely to hear in the annals of supercar history. Every time I hear the phase only to be presented with a 300bhp, one tonne piece of wishful thinking my teeth grate, a chill heads down my spine and a little part of me dies inside.
With a genuine 3g of lateral force trying to push my face down into the fast moving tarmac beneath like some equally clichéd movie villain, though, before the full-on assault of a sledgehammer blow to the back there was only way to describe the forces at work inside the Caparo T1. It’s like, well, a Formula One car for the road.
This is a revolution at pretty much every turn, a two-seater where the passenger sits slightly behind and slightly to the side, but still in pretty close contact. You’d better be friends to share this car, and it’s no long-distance cruiser. But then it’s designed for getting to the track and then flying round it marginally faster than the private jet that you could probably have taken instead. At £190,000 + local taxes it’s about as pricey as a track car is liable to get, but then it is also the fastest.
It hits 60mph in a near indecent 2.5s and a natural spring will run out of steam before this car. Just bang up the sequential ‘box and keep it nailed and it will burst through 100mph in five seconds and keep going all the way to 205mph, if you can find a straight long enough. With just 575bhp at it’s disposal that’s no mean feat, but then the whole car weighs in at 550kg, giving it a power/weight ratio of 1045bhp tonne, which is double that offered by a Bugatti Veyron.
It’s lighter than an F1 entry, with room for two, so don’t expect too many creature comforts, although the stitching in the cockpit is inevitably superb you can forget boot space and ornate switchgear. And while the car has been paraded with a canopy-style roof that is an optional extra and in most countries in this world requires the addition of an air-conditioning system and 20kg. Now that’s the weight of a few gallons of fuel, but you can almost feel the disdain for additional weight in the designers’ voices.
The car looks like the result of illegal genetic experimentation with F1 and Le Mans cars. It’s built around a carbon-fibre and aluminium honeycomb chassis, which stops short of a full carbon-monocoque, but not by enough that you’ll notice the difference, and there isn’t one piece of unnecessary bodywork – you can virtually see the components, or at least how they’re laid out, and where possible everything serves a dual purpose. That’s why the lights are built into the struts of the rear wing and the front fairing bleeds into a cunning wing mirror.
It’s all designed in the wind-tunnel, unsurprisingly, and form has followed function without a moment’s dissent. That it looks pretty, in its own special way, is either happy coincidence or proof positive that a tool that is fit for purpose is inherently beautiful. And that’s a debate for the Arts section…
The Physics department will be happier to know that the car produces a staggering 800kg of downforce with a combination of Venturi effect underneath the car, that adjustable single-plane rear wing and a twin-plate front. That helps produce that 3g cornering force, which incidentally is double that of the formerly great flyweight the Lotus Exige, and a similar amount when the driver mashes the brake pedal.
So the driver should pass out before the car lets go on high speed bends, and it should feel like barrel-rolling an F-16. In slower corners there’s more than enough power to boot the back end out of line and GT ace and Caparo development driver Rob Schirle worked overtime to keep the car on the straight and narrow, using all the leeway allowed by the limited slip diff and traction control.
Incidentally the T1 relies on steel AP Racing brakes, rather than the ceramics that are becoming de rigeur in the supercar world, which makes you think we might be spending over the odds for a set of yellow callipers that aren’t really necessary – or that the flyweight nature of the T1 taxes the stoppers far less.
The brainchild of Ben Scott-Geddes and Graham Halstead, who both worked on the design team of the legendary McLaren F1, the project has recently gained the backing of Caparo.
This company has a £1 billion turnover every year and their money bought Gordon Murray, the man credited with the McLaren F1 and parting the Red Sea, among other projects. His influence helped take the T1 to another level, and three years after the first sketches we were invited to Goodwood racing circuit to taste the fruits of their efforts. And oh yes, it tastes mighty good.
The 3.5-litre engine that revs to a near dangerous 10,500 is developed in partnership with Menard, in-house, that’s part of Caparo’s philosophy and why they bought AP Racing brakes. They want to supply everything, be it pre-formed steel or a complete car. And while engine development is a risky strategy, as proved by technical glitches on the day, if they get it right then they will have nobody to thank but themselves, and nobody to share credit with for their 205mph missile.
Whereas the McLaren F1 and the Bugatti Veyron are supercars that also perform on the track, the Caparo T1 is a track car that can be driven on the road. There is no matching luggage, no great lifestyle statement, the T1 is purely about blistering speed.
At the expense of road usability, I suspect. Every hack emerged from the car complaining of a painful rear and that was on the glass-smooth tarmac of a race track. Now the T1 comes with five-way adjustable dampers and can be lifted for the drive home, which will help. But this machine is just too stripped, just too basic for a normal drive to the shops – it’s a track car through and through and I’d give up on the road aspirations.
The only question that remains is who will buy one. Caparo went to great pains to outline a suave, successful businessman that was a racer in a former life, who was good enough to make the grade but didn’t. The also talked about corporate experiences offering the ultimate passenger ride, but to be honest I would fire the market researcher.
When a car looks like this and has enough noughts in the price tag to pass for a big company’s telephone number, there will always be a market. Rich Russians, Middle Eastern and American car collectors would have reached for the deposit without even hearing the final spec, that’s the way it has always been.
Click here for photos
Obsession builds perfection at Lexus
Posted Jul 10th 2007 9:05AM by Frank FilipponioFiled under: Plants/Manufacturing, Lexus
That "Relentless Pursuit of Perfection" thing isn't just a slogan at Lexus apparently. According to this Automotive News piece, Lexus really means it. Nowhere is it more evident than at the plant where Toyota builds its flagship Lexus LS600h L. Seeing themselves in an arms race of perfection, Lexus has taken perfection to an obsession. The workers are trained and retrained and re-retrained to focus on perfection. And we're not talking about the way a Formula 1 team might rehearse pitstops. We are talking about stuff like building finger strength with special plastic webbing trainers, arranging lip-gloss containers "to develop an eye for tints and color," developing a feel for five instead of six bolts in the hand, learning the sound of a properly torqued bolt. Amazing.Workers have to go through extensive training, including lectures and computer simulations, in addition to the physical dexterity training. And that training gets tougher and tougher to identify different skill levels. Only 300 current workers at the plant have the highest Level 1 certification. But that doesn't guarantee anything. Every four months the workers have to go through the skills tests all over again. And no matter how good the worker's skills are, there's still that old saying about cleanliness being next to godliness to contend with. Follow the jump to hear more about the whole perfection equation at Lexus.[Source: Automotive News, sub. req.]Signs are posted to remind workers how to dress. Hairnets might make sense in the paintshop, but Lexus even requires them in the engine-assembly plant. Air showers are even used at the engine plant, just like in a semiconductor facility. Although they don't require booties, they do want clean shoes too. Suppliers are even given guidelines that limit dirt and debris from their deliveries. That might seem like overkill in some ways, but the attention pays off apparently.Besides the focus on workers' cleanliness and training, the finished product is also scrutinized like no other. Lexus tests every single car. When they determined that the previous generation LS deviated up to 50 cm over a 100 m path, they went to work and identified areas of unnecessary variables and streamlined the design. The new one cut that variance in half, and every single LS600 hL that leaves the line is given a white glove road test at 56 mph to see that it meets the new standard. The test driver also checks the other mechanicals and build integrity during a full shakedown run.Lexus also employs twice as money inspectors as the typical Toyota plant, which is already among the industry leaders. The combination of the best trained workers working in a clean environment, the end product being inspected by skilled human inspectors using the latest in computerized analysis guarantees that these top-of-the-line Lexi are truly world-class. At $100,000, we expect owners of the LS will appreciate this kind of attention to perfection, even if they don't know what is happening behind the scenes along the assembly line.
Posted Jul 10th 2007 9:05AM by Frank FilipponioFiled under: Plants/Manufacturing, Lexus
That "Relentless Pursuit of Perfection" thing isn't just a slogan at Lexus apparently. According to this Automotive News piece, Lexus really means it. Nowhere is it more evident than at the plant where Toyota builds its flagship Lexus LS600h L. Seeing themselves in an arms race of perfection, Lexus has taken perfection to an obsession. The workers are trained and retrained and re-retrained to focus on perfection. And we're not talking about the way a Formula 1 team might rehearse pitstops. We are talking about stuff like building finger strength with special plastic webbing trainers, arranging lip-gloss containers "to develop an eye for tints and color," developing a feel for five instead of six bolts in the hand, learning the sound of a properly torqued bolt. Amazing.Workers have to go through extensive training, including lectures and computer simulations, in addition to the physical dexterity training. And that training gets tougher and tougher to identify different skill levels. Only 300 current workers at the plant have the highest Level 1 certification. But that doesn't guarantee anything. Every four months the workers have to go through the skills tests all over again. And no matter how good the worker's skills are, there's still that old saying about cleanliness being next to godliness to contend with. Follow the jump to hear more about the whole perfection equation at Lexus.[Source: Automotive News, sub. req.]Signs are posted to remind workers how to dress. Hairnets might make sense in the paintshop, but Lexus even requires them in the engine-assembly plant. Air showers are even used at the engine plant, just like in a semiconductor facility. Although they don't require booties, they do want clean shoes too. Suppliers are even given guidelines that limit dirt and debris from their deliveries. That might seem like overkill in some ways, but the attention pays off apparently.Besides the focus on workers' cleanliness and training, the finished product is also scrutinized like no other. Lexus tests every single car. When they determined that the previous generation LS deviated up to 50 cm over a 100 m path, they went to work and identified areas of unnecessary variables and streamlined the design. The new one cut that variance in half, and every single LS600 hL that leaves the line is given a white glove road test at 56 mph to see that it meets the new standard. The test driver also checks the other mechanicals and build integrity during a full shakedown run.Lexus also employs twice as money inspectors as the typical Toyota plant, which is already among the industry leaders. The combination of the best trained workers working in a clean environment, the end product being inspected by skilled human inspectors using the latest in computerized analysis guarantees that these top-of-the-line Lexi are truly world-class. At $100,000, we expect owners of the LS will appreciate this kind of attention to perfection, even if they don't know what is happening behind the scenes along the assembly line.
Bugatti Hill Climb Video
Click here
VIDEO: Bugatti Veyron at the 2007 Prescott Hill Climb
Posted Jul 10th 2007 11:54AM by Chris ShunkFiled under: Videos, Supercars, Bugatti
The Bugatti Veyron is the Alpha dog in the supercar arena, with its absurd W16 engine equipped with four turbos combining to create 1,000hp for tossing around the 4,100lb beast at will. There aren't many vehicles, at any price, that can go from zero to 100 back to zero again in under 10 seconds, so every time one of the 300 Veyrons is captured on video, it's worth posting.After the jump is a couple minutes of the venerable Veyron tackling the twists and turns at the 2007 Prescott Hill Climb back in May. Watch how the $1.4 million mega-supercar hits the pavement just a few feet from hundreds of onlookers, with some high-end rubber and AWD keeping the blown W16's prodigious power under control. For some reason, whoever put together this flick felt the need to loop the video about 1:25 in, but it's worth seeing twice anyway. Enjoy!.
VIDEO: Bugatti Veyron at the 2007 Prescott Hill Climb
Posted Jul 10th 2007 11:54AM by Chris ShunkFiled under: Videos, Supercars, Bugatti
The Bugatti Veyron is the Alpha dog in the supercar arena, with its absurd W16 engine equipped with four turbos combining to create 1,000hp for tossing around the 4,100lb beast at will. There aren't many vehicles, at any price, that can go from zero to 100 back to zero again in under 10 seconds, so every time one of the 300 Veyrons is captured on video, it's worth posting.After the jump is a couple minutes of the venerable Veyron tackling the twists and turns at the 2007 Prescott Hill Climb back in May. Watch how the $1.4 million mega-supercar hits the pavement just a few feet from hundreds of onlookers, with some high-end rubber and AWD keeping the blown W16's prodigious power under control. For some reason, whoever put together this flick felt the need to loop the video about 1:25 in, but it's worth seeing twice anyway. Enjoy!.
Spy Shots: the Panamera... and it's not exactly pretty
Posted Jul 10th 2007 1:37PM by Jonathon RamseyFiled under: Spy Photos, Sedans/Saloons, Sports/GTs, Porsche
click above image to view more high-res spy shots of the Panamera
It looks like either way it goes, Porsche is about to drop a bomb on the world with the Panamera. Either the car will look like the increasingly unadorned mules -- a rather unsightly melange of Boxster-Cayenne-Cayman cues -- and people will wonder "Um, was ist das?" Or in a reveal worthy of Criss Angel, the car will somehow get unrecognizably elegant by the time the production model is displayed in two years.
KGP Photography has caught a slew of new spy shots showing the car that would lead one to place the bets on the former scenario. Porsche went its own way with the Cayenne styling, and in spite of the howls from Porschephiles, the bet paid off massively. But you can mark us down as shocked if Porsche actually bestows on us a Panamera with styling as... interesting... as what we see here.
[Photos: KGP Photography]
Gallery: Porsche Panamera - spy shots
Posted Jul 10th 2007 1:37PM by Jonathon RamseyFiled under: Spy Photos, Sedans/Saloons, Sports/GTs, Porsche
click above image to view more high-res spy shots of the Panamera
It looks like either way it goes, Porsche is about to drop a bomb on the world with the Panamera. Either the car will look like the increasingly unadorned mules -- a rather unsightly melange of Boxster-Cayenne-Cayman cues -- and people will wonder "Um, was ist das?" Or in a reveal worthy of Criss Angel, the car will somehow get unrecognizably elegant by the time the production model is displayed in two years.
KGP Photography has caught a slew of new spy shots showing the car that would lead one to place the bets on the former scenario. Porsche went its own way with the Cayenne styling, and in spite of the howls from Porschephiles, the bet paid off massively. But you can mark us down as shocked if Porsche actually bestows on us a Panamera with styling as... interesting... as what we see here.
[Photos: KGP Photography]
Gallery: Porsche Panamera - spy shots
Aurora man sues feds after his sports car collides with a plane piloted by FBI agents
Posted by The Oregonian June 21, 2007 14:33PM
Categories: Breaking News, Marion County, Multimedia
Marlowe Treit was driving his dream car -- a flawless 1985 Lamborghini Countach -- on a road through the Aurora Airport last spring when something went horribly wrong.
A Cessna had collided with Treit's black Lamborghini, slicing into the exotic car and badly mangling one side. The front propeller churned up the driver's side of Treit's prized car -- the one he bought in 1998 as a 60th birthday present to himself after spending two years looking for the perfect model.
Treit walked away from the collision without any injuries, but his car hasn't been driven since. He estimates the crash did about $100,000 in damage.
And what about that Cessna? Turns out a trio of FBI agents were in the plane, which was leased by the feds. Two of the federal agents, John Jeffries and Robert Brockmeyer, were co-piloting the plane that day in May 2006, according to federal court filings. The agents were on a "familiarization flight," according to the National Transportation Safety Board's report on the incident.
One of the agents wrote in a report filed with the NTSB that the plane was "moving down the taxiway about to enter our hangar area, moving at about a fast walk and crossing a narrow inner taxiway perpendicular to us when the aircraft crunched to a sudden stop.
"Out the left side window of the aircraft I saw a small black sports car dart from under the prop moving to my left, gushing fluid," the unidentified agent wrote.
Treit, a licensed pilot, says he had the right of way and that the pilot should have spotted him.
Treit, who lives in Aurora and owns a business at the small airport, this month filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government, accusing the pilots of negligence. He is asking for $105,500 in damages. Clickhereto read Treit's lawsuit.
A spokeswoman for the FBI's Portland field office declined to comment about the incident, citing the lawsuit.
The NTSB concluded that Treit and the agents shared blame for the wreck. Investigators said both failed "to maintain an adequate visual lookout and their failure to see and avoid one another."
Treit describes the accident below:
-- Noelle Crombie
Posted by The Oregonian June 21, 2007 14:33PM
Categories: Breaking News, Marion County, Multimedia
Marlowe Treit was driving his dream car -- a flawless 1985 Lamborghini Countach -- on a road through the Aurora Airport last spring when something went horribly wrong.
A Cessna had collided with Treit's black Lamborghini, slicing into the exotic car and badly mangling one side. The front propeller churned up the driver's side of Treit's prized car -- the one he bought in 1998 as a 60th birthday present to himself after spending two years looking for the perfect model.
Treit walked away from the collision without any injuries, but his car hasn't been driven since. He estimates the crash did about $100,000 in damage.
And what about that Cessna? Turns out a trio of FBI agents were in the plane, which was leased by the feds. Two of the federal agents, John Jeffries and Robert Brockmeyer, were co-piloting the plane that day in May 2006, according to federal court filings. The agents were on a "familiarization flight," according to the National Transportation Safety Board's report on the incident.
One of the agents wrote in a report filed with the NTSB that the plane was "moving down the taxiway about to enter our hangar area, moving at about a fast walk and crossing a narrow inner taxiway perpendicular to us when the aircraft crunched to a sudden stop.
"Out the left side window of the aircraft I saw a small black sports car dart from under the prop moving to my left, gushing fluid," the unidentified agent wrote.
Treit, a licensed pilot, says he had the right of way and that the pilot should have spotted him.
Treit, who lives in Aurora and owns a business at the small airport, this month filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government, accusing the pilots of negligence. He is asking for $105,500 in damages. Clickhereto read Treit's lawsuit.
A spokeswoman for the FBI's Portland field office declined to comment about the incident, citing the lawsuit.
The NTSB concluded that Treit and the agents shared blame for the wreck. Investigators said both failed "to maintain an adequate visual lookout and their failure to see and avoid one another."
Treit describes the accident below:
-- Noelle Crombie
Dyno Dino: Baby Ferrari test mule spotted
Posted Jul 11th 2007 1:32PM by Noah JosephFiled under: Spy Photos, Sports/GTs, Ferrari
"We are not developing a cheap Ferrari" is the oft-repeated party line in Maranello. "Just don't look over there," might as well be the next, as spy shots have turned up yet again suggesting that Ferrari is indeed developing an "entry-level" model to slot in the company's line-up below the F430.
The latest photos show a developmental test mule on the dynamometer wearing what appears to be disguised bodywork from the recently launched Maserati GranTurismo. Sources suggest, however, that the baby Ferrari would share more in common with the achingly gorgeous and limited production Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione, but with even more power. When that car was being developed, original speculation suggested it was for Ferrari, but that the project was passed over to Alfa Romeo instead.
So has Ferrari been blatantly lying? A few possibilities could explain the discrepancy. First is that the car spotted is not a Dino as speculated by the motoring press, but actually a test mule for the upcoming new Maserati convertible; however, based as closely as it will be on the existing GranTurismo, extensive drivetrain testing would seem unnecessary. It could, however, be testing a new transmission for the Maserati range. Another explanation about the seeming chasm between what we see and what Ferrari says could be drawn from the example of the original Dinos, which were not badged as Ferraris but as a separate brand. If the photos are accurate, the new model could be front-engined like the 599 GTB instead of mid-engined like the F430 as originally thought. One way or another, we look forward to finding out.
Posted Jul 11th 2007 1:32PM by Noah JosephFiled under: Spy Photos, Sports/GTs, Ferrari
"We are not developing a cheap Ferrari" is the oft-repeated party line in Maranello. "Just don't look over there," might as well be the next, as spy shots have turned up yet again suggesting that Ferrari is indeed developing an "entry-level" model to slot in the company's line-up below the F430.
The latest photos show a developmental test mule on the dynamometer wearing what appears to be disguised bodywork from the recently launched Maserati GranTurismo. Sources suggest, however, that the baby Ferrari would share more in common with the achingly gorgeous and limited production Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione, but with even more power. When that car was being developed, original speculation suggested it was for Ferrari, but that the project was passed over to Alfa Romeo instead.
So has Ferrari been blatantly lying? A few possibilities could explain the discrepancy. First is that the car spotted is not a Dino as speculated by the motoring press, but actually a test mule for the upcoming new Maserati convertible; however, based as closely as it will be on the existing GranTurismo, extensive drivetrain testing would seem unnecessary. It could, however, be testing a new transmission for the Maserati range. Another explanation about the seeming chasm between what we see and what Ferrari says could be drawn from the example of the original Dinos, which were not badged as Ferraris but as a separate brand. If the photos are accurate, the new model could be front-engined like the 599 GTB instead of mid-engined like the F430 as originally thought. One way or another, we look forward to finding out.
Street Legal Indy Car For Sale
Never be late again: Street-legal Dallara Indy Car
Posted Jul 11th 2007 3:43PM by Alex NunezFiled under: Car Buying, Motorsports, Sports/GTs, Infiniti
Click image to enlarge
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/motorsport/Never_be_late_again_Street_legal_Dallara_Indy_Car';
The DuPont Registry is the car shopping guide many of us use for that mission-critical research on what to buy when the good ship Powerball sails into our lives. After all, you can never be too prepared for that sort of thing. The August issue has a real gem nestled among the countless Ferraris, Rolls-Royces, and Lamborghinis you'd normally expect to see in the Registry's glossy pages.
It's even less practical than the most cramped exotic, too. It seats one, and that seat belonged to Eddie Cheever back in 2000. It's a Dallara Indy Car, and yes, it's 100% street legal. Back in its day, a 3.5L methanol-fueled Infiniti V8 sat behind the driver, and while the Infiniti decals still adorn the bodywork, a small-block Chevy provides motivation today.
Wearing its original livery, the car's outfitted with all the required lighting, runs on pump gas, has electric start, a carbon fiber and leather-surrounded cockpit, 5 gauges and launches like a sportbike with its 2.5-second 0-60 time. In an era where the phrase "racer for the street" has become become cliché, this bad boy lives up to the description in every sense.
The car was put up for auction on eBay back in December but didn't meet reserve. The old listing's still up, where you can find additional pics, info and video. [Source: DuPont Registry, August 2007 issue]
Posted Jul 11th 2007 3:43PM by Alex NunezFiled under: Car Buying, Motorsports, Sports/GTs, Infiniti
Click image to enlarge
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/motorsport/Never_be_late_again_Street_legal_Dallara_Indy_Car';
The DuPont Registry is the car shopping guide many of us use for that mission-critical research on what to buy when the good ship Powerball sails into our lives. After all, you can never be too prepared for that sort of thing. The August issue has a real gem nestled among the countless Ferraris, Rolls-Royces, and Lamborghinis you'd normally expect to see in the Registry's glossy pages.
It's even less practical than the most cramped exotic, too. It seats one, and that seat belonged to Eddie Cheever back in 2000. It's a Dallara Indy Car, and yes, it's 100% street legal. Back in its day, a 3.5L methanol-fueled Infiniti V8 sat behind the driver, and while the Infiniti decals still adorn the bodywork, a small-block Chevy provides motivation today.
Wearing its original livery, the car's outfitted with all the required lighting, runs on pump gas, has electric start, a carbon fiber and leather-surrounded cockpit, 5 gauges and launches like a sportbike with its 2.5-second 0-60 time. In an era where the phrase "racer for the street" has become become cliché, this bad boy lives up to the description in every sense.
The car was put up for auction on eBay back in December but didn't meet reserve. The old listing's still up, where you can find additional pics, info and video. [Source: DuPont Registry, August 2007 issue]
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Top Gear Not Environmentally Friendly....
Clarkson 'damages' African ecosystemJohn Higginson -
Monday, July 9, 2007
Jeremy Clarkson: never been in favour with the green lobby
Jeremy Clarkson may have caused 'decades' worth of damage to a delicate African ecosystem by speeding around it in cars for Top Gear environmentalists claim.
The motor head and his fellow co-presenters have been criticised for driving over the Makgadikgadi salt plains in Botswana.
The area has one of the last big zebra migrations in Africa and is the habitat for flamingos and other birds.
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Normally only quad bikes can be used on the salt flats and must travel in single file.
But the Top Gear crew drove cars off road around the area for one of its program.
The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) has worked in Botswana for five years most recently fencing off parts of the salt flats to help conserve wildlife.
Mary Rice, the agency's head of campaigns, said: 'It's a very fragile ecosystem. It's not like if you go to the beach and make tracks in the sand and the waves wash them away; the salt plains are very different. There is a thin crust that falls across the top and when you put vehicle tracks there it doesn't wash away with the rain. It can be there for decades.'
She added: 'We understand that they were approached by guides in the park telling them that they shouldn't be driving off-road and they were ignored.'
There are also fears tourists who come to see the pristine natural environment will be put off by the tyre marks.
Rachel Nobel, of the EIA said: 'Jeremy Clarkson may argue that they are promoting tourism and doing this show is a good thing, but they've damaged the environment that people pay money to go and see, and undermined the whole tourism industry.'
A BBC spokesman said experts were employed to make sure they did not go near any conservation areas.
He said: 'Driving single or double file was an area of debate: our experts suggested single file could leave worse damage as it caused a permanent track if used over and over. There were three normal vehicles and quad bikes were used by the filming crew. We categorically deny that this made any permanent damage to the pans.
'The rainy season is November and will wash away and tracks that remain.'
Monday, July 9, 2007
Jeremy Clarkson: never been in favour with the green lobby
Jeremy Clarkson may have caused 'decades' worth of damage to a delicate African ecosystem by speeding around it in cars for Top Gear environmentalists claim.
The motor head and his fellow co-presenters have been criticised for driving over the Makgadikgadi salt plains in Botswana.
The area has one of the last big zebra migrations in Africa and is the habitat for flamingos and other birds.
RELATED ITEMS
VIDEO: Latest news bulletin
Today's top news headlines
Normally only quad bikes can be used on the salt flats and must travel in single file.
But the Top Gear crew drove cars off road around the area for one of its program.
The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) has worked in Botswana for five years most recently fencing off parts of the salt flats to help conserve wildlife.
Mary Rice, the agency's head of campaigns, said: 'It's a very fragile ecosystem. It's not like if you go to the beach and make tracks in the sand and the waves wash them away; the salt plains are very different. There is a thin crust that falls across the top and when you put vehicle tracks there it doesn't wash away with the rain. It can be there for decades.'
She added: 'We understand that they were approached by guides in the park telling them that they shouldn't be driving off-road and they were ignored.'
There are also fears tourists who come to see the pristine natural environment will be put off by the tyre marks.
Rachel Nobel, of the EIA said: 'Jeremy Clarkson may argue that they are promoting tourism and doing this show is a good thing, but they've damaged the environment that people pay money to go and see, and undermined the whole tourism industry.'
A BBC spokesman said experts were employed to make sure they did not go near any conservation areas.
He said: 'Driving single or double file was an area of debate: our experts suggested single file could leave worse damage as it caused a permanent track if used over and over. There were three normal vehicles and quad bikes were used by the filming crew. We categorically deny that this made any permanent damage to the pans.
'The rainy season is November and will wash away and tracks that remain.'
UA Receives Scholarship Gift from Sale of Rare Ferrari
Darrell Westfaul is creating an endowed scholarship fund for UA students through the sale of his 1950 Ferrari.
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This Italian-built car has the serial number 0046M and a Zagato body. (Chip Coooper)
Download a high-resolution version
The car, which Westfaul bought while a UA student, still bears his 1966-67 student parking decal on the windshield. (Chip Cooper)
Download a high-resolution version
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Alabama has received a gift of more than $1 million from Tuscaloosa resident Darrell Westfaul through a charitable remainder unitrust funded with his 1950 Ferrari. The prized car, with the serial number 0046M and a Zagato body, was sold to a collector who plans to open a museum. The remainder funds in the trust will eventually create the Darrell Oliver Westfaul Endowed Scholarship.
“We are sincerely grateful to Mr. Westfaul for this extraordinary gift,” said Phillip Adcock, assistant vice president for development at UA. “By establishing a charitable remainder trust, Mr. Westfaul is accomplishing his goal of making a substantial gift to UA while retaining income for life. Because property transferred to the trust will be used for charitable purposes in the future, the Internal Revenue Service allows for certain tax advantages providing an added benefit.”
A 1967 graduate of the University, Westfaul bought the car while a student, and it still bears his 1966-67 student parking decal on the windshield. His extensive research and travels have documented the 57-year history of the car, and its racing success makes the speedster an extremely valuable classic to car collectors. Built in Italy, the car traveled through Europe, Africa and the United States before arriving in Tuscaloosa.
“The Ferrari has been like a member of my family for 40 years, and I am sad to see it sold,” said Westfaul. “But, it will be making a difference in the lives of students for many years to come, especially those from Murphy High School in Mobile, who will receive preference for the scholarship made possible through the sale of the car.”
The "Our Students. Our Future." campaign's $500 million goal includes $250 million for student scholarships. The remaining funds are allocated to faculty support, facilities and priority needs.
Darrell Westfaul is creating an endowed scholarship fund for UA students through the sale of his 1950 Ferrari.
Download a high-resolution version
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This Italian-built car has the serial number 0046M and a Zagato body. (Chip Coooper)
Download a high-resolution version
.JPG){kind=link}
The car, which Westfaul bought while a UA student, still bears his 1966-67 student parking decal on the windshield. (Chip Cooper)
Download a high-resolution version
.JPG){kind=link}
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Alabama has received a gift of more than $1 million from Tuscaloosa resident Darrell Westfaul through a charitable remainder unitrust funded with his 1950 Ferrari. The prized car, with the serial number 0046M and a Zagato body, was sold to a collector who plans to open a museum. The remainder funds in the trust will eventually create the Darrell Oliver Westfaul Endowed Scholarship.
“We are sincerely grateful to Mr. Westfaul for this extraordinary gift,” said Phillip Adcock, assistant vice president for development at UA. “By establishing a charitable remainder trust, Mr. Westfaul is accomplishing his goal of making a substantial gift to UA while retaining income for life. Because property transferred to the trust will be used for charitable purposes in the future, the Internal Revenue Service allows for certain tax advantages providing an added benefit.”
A 1967 graduate of the University, Westfaul bought the car while a student, and it still bears his 1966-67 student parking decal on the windshield. His extensive research and travels have documented the 57-year history of the car, and its racing success makes the speedster an extremely valuable classic to car collectors. Built in Italy, the car traveled through Europe, Africa and the United States before arriving in Tuscaloosa.
“The Ferrari has been like a member of my family for 40 years, and I am sad to see it sold,” said Westfaul. “But, it will be making a difference in the lives of students for many years to come, especially those from Murphy High School in Mobile, who will receive preference for the scholarship made possible through the sale of the car.”
The "Our Students. Our Future." campaign's $500 million goal includes $250 million for student scholarships. The remaining funds are allocated to faculty support, facilities and priority needs.
Monday, July 9, 2007
Autoblog Gets Their Hands On An Audi S8
In the Autoblog Garage: 2007 Audi S8
Posted Jul 9th 2007 1:04PM by Alex NunezFiled under: Garage, Sedans/Saloons, Sports/GTs, Audi
This edition of "In the Autoblog Garage" is brought to you by the letter S and the number 8. Alone, each is just another mundane alphanumeric character. When positioned next to each other on a vehicle bearing Audi's interlocking rings, however, they turn into something very special. The character pair becomes shorthand for 5.2 liters, 10 cylinders, 450 horses, 398 ft.-lbs., 4.9 seconds, 155 miles per hour, and $110,000+ in the case of the Daytona Grey Audi S8 tester that had been deposited in my driveway. Yep, it was going to be a pretty good week.
Gallery: 2007 Audi S8 There are times when more simply means more, and others when more means better. The S8 is is the rolling embodiment of both philosophies, cramming in just about every feature Ingolstadt has to offer, while somehow making it seem entirely rational -- appropriate, even -- at the same time. One of the best things about Audi's über-sedan is that to the untrained observer, it's just a standard-wheelbase A8. Why is this good, you ask? Because the S8 is the ultimate sleeper as a result. Those who recognize it for what it is generally make eye contact and nod approvingly, understanding what it is that's before them. They're the ones who know better. Some stoplight denizens are less respectful, tossing sheepish looks at the "rich dude" lined up next to them. They're the ones who rev their engines aggressively, only to be wearing looks of shame as they stare straight ahead at the next stoplight, having been utterly humiliated by a conservative-looking 4,586-pound sedan. Looks, you see, are very deceiving, and the S8 has the means at its disposal to make examples of those who underestimate it. The visual differentiators worn by the S8 are subtle but unmistakable. For starters, red-trimmed S8 badges adorn the trunklid and the grille, whose vertical elements are dressed in chrome. The door handles are also accented with the shiny stuff, and the rearview mirrors are given a satiny metallic finish. The car's nose sports a pair of honeycomb-trimmed intakes under the headlamps and an ever-so-slight lip spoiler finishes off the bottom. Small V10 badges sit aft of the front wheel wells and when you head rearward, quad exhaust tips stick out through the rear bumper cutouts. The S8's standard rolling stock consists of 20" seven-twin-spoke wheels wrapped in 265/35R20 rubber, but our tester was still wearing its winter kicks despite spring being in full swing. The wheel design was the same, but they were 19 inches in diameter, instead. A peek through the spokes reveals the S8 logo on the front brake calipers. The rest of the car's outward appearance is pure A8 -- understated elegance infused with athleticism. Think of an NFL linebacker in an expensive tailored suit and that's the profile the S8 cuts as it drives by: classy, but muscular. Opening the door presents you with a case study in how to design a proper cabin. If you're part of the club that feels Audi has the best interiors going right now, the S8 does absolutely nothing to diminish that belief. To the contrary, it reinforces it. The tester was outfitted with the optional full leather upgrade, meaning just about every conceivable surface was covered in beautifully-stitched hides, including the door panels (which also had Alcantara accents), center console, and the dashboard. Two-tone black-and-silver seating with contrast stitching added some pizazz, and passengers almost unanimously commented favorably on the Alcantara headliner. Speaking of passengers, the S8 is technically a 5-place sedan, but for practical purposes it's a four-seater.
The backseat is set up with a pair of buckets separated by a flip-down armrest containing the car's first aid kit and a pair of cupholders. A fifth passenger can take that middle spot when the armrest is stowed (there's a belt, after all), but it probably wouldn't be fun for any extended period of time, especially having to straddle the transmission tunnel.
After settling into the very comfortable driver's seat, gently pull the door shut and the car's power door close assist (part of the tester's Premium Package) does the rest. A meaty 3-spoke steering wheel with paddle shifters faces the driver, and beyond that, the S8's instrument cluster stands ready with the basics -- speedo, tach, temp, and fuel gauges. The uninterrupted dash is accented with carbon fiber and aluminum inlays, as is the center console.
There's no need to wield the trademark switchblade key, as the Premium Package turns it into a full-fledged keyless fob. Simply hold down the brake, press the engine start button on the center console, and the car comes to life. The gauges light up, and in the middle of the instrument panel, a section of carbon fiber flips open to reveal the S8's LCD screen.
A secondary MMI/information display between the two primary gauges also makes its presence known. A number of buttons populate the center console area, and though they all look similar, the arrangement's logical and they're well-labeled. The linchpin to everything is Audi's MMI, which is given the prime real estate in the middle. Superior to BMW's iDrive, the controller's made up of a dial surrounded by four buttons, each of which corresponds to menu selections shown in the corners of the primary LCD display. It's easy to get the hang of, and menu navigation quickly becomes second nature.
There are nice touches, too, as some features like the radio tuner get popped onto the LCD inside the gauge cluster was well, allowing you to change channels or songs without having to look over at the middle of the IP. The model is repeated on the climate controls. Driver and passenger each get their own thermostat dials, which actually have MMI-type functionality. For example, twisting the dial will change the selected temp by default, but pressing the button with the fan icon changes the dial's focus, and spinning it increases or decreases the fan speed (the LCD screen automatically reflects what your doing, too, making your actions crystal clear). The MMI system is used to control and adjust everything from audio and phone configuration to navigation and suspension settings. While some of you surely have an aversion to these comprehensive in-car GUIs, Audi's is the class of the bunch.
As entertaining as the in-car theatrics at startup are (the B & O tweeters rising from the dash never failed to elicit oohs and ahhs), they're just a sideshow to the main event as the 5.2L V10 growls to life, emitting a techno-metal soundtrack that you never want to turn off. When you succumb to the urge to goose the throttle, baffles in the mufflers snap open, making the the exhaust music even more sonically exciting. For extra fun, pull into the nearest parking garage and do this indoors. You'll give yourself goosebumps.
By now, the car has already adjusted its active suspension in accordance with whatever setting's been chosen. If it's nighttime and you parked facing a wall, the headlights let you see this movement firsthand. After popping the car in reverse to back out and then slipping the Tiptronic's shifter into drive, the S8 shows that it does the luxury car thing exceedingly well, cruising silently along at neighborhood speeds.
The cabin, with all the windows shut and sunroof closed, is as serene as a library staffed by pistol-packing librarians. Breaking the silence is easy thanks to the optional (and expensive) Bang & Olufsen audio system. The 1000-watt fourteen-speaker rig is better-sounding than most home systems, and when combined with the Audi Music Interface, which provides true iPod integration via the MMI, it offers one of the most complete musical experiences of any car on the market. Sliding the shifter down one more notch into Sport mode sets the stage for music of a different sort. Left alone there, the transmission will hold gears longer, waiting to shift until the redline approaches. You can also pick your own shift points with the paddles.
The sound coming from the engine compartment as this goes on is worth turning off the stereo and opening the windows. Turn onto a long highway on-ramp, and the direct-injected, Lamborghini-sourced 5.2L V10 gets going with a snarl that builds into a guttural bellow as mechanical magic happens all they way up to 7,000 rpm. Stay on the throttle and the landscape bordering the roadway becomes a blur, zipping by at a pace as frenetic as the goings-on underhood. Any doubt that the car is capable of reaching its electronically-governed top speed is vaporized as you watch the speedometer needle move clockwise at an unexpectedly rapid and steady clip. The S8 hurtles forward like a bullet train, totally composed, never wanting for power. Traction is not a problem thanks to the quattro AWD, and the car feels very balanced.
In the end, the rational part of you simply takes over and you heel the beast under your right foot. Enlisting the car's massive brakes (15.2" discs in front, 13.2" in back) halts the S8's forward motion quickly and without drama. Big cars like this are supposed to spoil you with comfort, but we never expected it to be so much fun to drive. The torquey, responsive V10 is always ready to play, and the car's gee-whiz air suspension keeps it composed at all times without ever resorting to harshness, even in the dynamic mode.
The S8's a snap to drive, and its features are easy to use thanks to the sensible MMI that ties so many of them together. Other nice touches abound, too, like ambient lighting in the cabin, approach lighting in the door handles and a power rear sunshade. The trunk is just huge, and for all the performance the car dishes out, it still got a completely reasonable 15 mpg over the week it spent with us. The Audi S8 is the whole enchilada: awesome performance, bona-fide luxury, and understated class. At $110,920 as tested, it's worth every single penny.
Posted Jul 9th 2007 1:04PM by Alex NunezFiled under: Garage, Sedans/Saloons, Sports/GTs, Audi
This edition of "In the Autoblog Garage" is brought to you by the letter S and the number 8. Alone, each is just another mundane alphanumeric character. When positioned next to each other on a vehicle bearing Audi's interlocking rings, however, they turn into something very special. The character pair becomes shorthand for 5.2 liters, 10 cylinders, 450 horses, 398 ft.-lbs., 4.9 seconds, 155 miles per hour, and $110,000+ in the case of the Daytona Grey Audi S8 tester that had been deposited in my driveway. Yep, it was going to be a pretty good week.
Gallery: 2007 Audi S8 There are times when more simply means more, and others when more means better. The S8 is is the rolling embodiment of both philosophies, cramming in just about every feature Ingolstadt has to offer, while somehow making it seem entirely rational -- appropriate, even -- at the same time. One of the best things about Audi's über-sedan is that to the untrained observer, it's just a standard-wheelbase A8. Why is this good, you ask? Because the S8 is the ultimate sleeper as a result. Those who recognize it for what it is generally make eye contact and nod approvingly, understanding what it is that's before them. They're the ones who know better. Some stoplight denizens are less respectful, tossing sheepish looks at the "rich dude" lined up next to them. They're the ones who rev their engines aggressively, only to be wearing looks of shame as they stare straight ahead at the next stoplight, having been utterly humiliated by a conservative-looking 4,586-pound sedan. Looks, you see, are very deceiving, and the S8 has the means at its disposal to make examples of those who underestimate it. The visual differentiators worn by the S8 are subtle but unmistakable. For starters, red-trimmed S8 badges adorn the trunklid and the grille, whose vertical elements are dressed in chrome. The door handles are also accented with the shiny stuff, and the rearview mirrors are given a satiny metallic finish. The car's nose sports a pair of honeycomb-trimmed intakes under the headlamps and an ever-so-slight lip spoiler finishes off the bottom. Small V10 badges sit aft of the front wheel wells and when you head rearward, quad exhaust tips stick out through the rear bumper cutouts. The S8's standard rolling stock consists of 20" seven-twin-spoke wheels wrapped in 265/35R20 rubber, but our tester was still wearing its winter kicks despite spring being in full swing. The wheel design was the same, but they were 19 inches in diameter, instead. A peek through the spokes reveals the S8 logo on the front brake calipers. The rest of the car's outward appearance is pure A8 -- understated elegance infused with athleticism. Think of an NFL linebacker in an expensive tailored suit and that's the profile the S8 cuts as it drives by: classy, but muscular. Opening the door presents you with a case study in how to design a proper cabin. If you're part of the club that feels Audi has the best interiors going right now, the S8 does absolutely nothing to diminish that belief. To the contrary, it reinforces it. The tester was outfitted with the optional full leather upgrade, meaning just about every conceivable surface was covered in beautifully-stitched hides, including the door panels (which also had Alcantara accents), center console, and the dashboard. Two-tone black-and-silver seating with contrast stitching added some pizazz, and passengers almost unanimously commented favorably on the Alcantara headliner. Speaking of passengers, the S8 is technically a 5-place sedan, but for practical purposes it's a four-seater.
The backseat is set up with a pair of buckets separated by a flip-down armrest containing the car's first aid kit and a pair of cupholders. A fifth passenger can take that middle spot when the armrest is stowed (there's a belt, after all), but it probably wouldn't be fun for any extended period of time, especially having to straddle the transmission tunnel.
After settling into the very comfortable driver's seat, gently pull the door shut and the car's power door close assist (part of the tester's Premium Package) does the rest. A meaty 3-spoke steering wheel with paddle shifters faces the driver, and beyond that, the S8's instrument cluster stands ready with the basics -- speedo, tach, temp, and fuel gauges. The uninterrupted dash is accented with carbon fiber and aluminum inlays, as is the center console.
There's no need to wield the trademark switchblade key, as the Premium Package turns it into a full-fledged keyless fob. Simply hold down the brake, press the engine start button on the center console, and the car comes to life. The gauges light up, and in the middle of the instrument panel, a section of carbon fiber flips open to reveal the S8's LCD screen.
A secondary MMI/information display between the two primary gauges also makes its presence known. A number of buttons populate the center console area, and though they all look similar, the arrangement's logical and they're well-labeled. The linchpin to everything is Audi's MMI, which is given the prime real estate in the middle. Superior to BMW's iDrive, the controller's made up of a dial surrounded by four buttons, each of which corresponds to menu selections shown in the corners of the primary LCD display. It's easy to get the hang of, and menu navigation quickly becomes second nature.
There are nice touches, too, as some features like the radio tuner get popped onto the LCD inside the gauge cluster was well, allowing you to change channels or songs without having to look over at the middle of the IP. The model is repeated on the climate controls. Driver and passenger each get their own thermostat dials, which actually have MMI-type functionality. For example, twisting the dial will change the selected temp by default, but pressing the button with the fan icon changes the dial's focus, and spinning it increases or decreases the fan speed (the LCD screen automatically reflects what your doing, too, making your actions crystal clear). The MMI system is used to control and adjust everything from audio and phone configuration to navigation and suspension settings. While some of you surely have an aversion to these comprehensive in-car GUIs, Audi's is the class of the bunch.
As entertaining as the in-car theatrics at startup are (the B & O tweeters rising from the dash never failed to elicit oohs and ahhs), they're just a sideshow to the main event as the 5.2L V10 growls to life, emitting a techno-metal soundtrack that you never want to turn off. When you succumb to the urge to goose the throttle, baffles in the mufflers snap open, making the the exhaust music even more sonically exciting. For extra fun, pull into the nearest parking garage and do this indoors. You'll give yourself goosebumps.
By now, the car has already adjusted its active suspension in accordance with whatever setting's been chosen. If it's nighttime and you parked facing a wall, the headlights let you see this movement firsthand. After popping the car in reverse to back out and then slipping the Tiptronic's shifter into drive, the S8 shows that it does the luxury car thing exceedingly well, cruising silently along at neighborhood speeds.
The cabin, with all the windows shut and sunroof closed, is as serene as a library staffed by pistol-packing librarians. Breaking the silence is easy thanks to the optional (and expensive) Bang & Olufsen audio system. The 1000-watt fourteen-speaker rig is better-sounding than most home systems, and when combined with the Audi Music Interface, which provides true iPod integration via the MMI, it offers one of the most complete musical experiences of any car on the market. Sliding the shifter down one more notch into Sport mode sets the stage for music of a different sort. Left alone there, the transmission will hold gears longer, waiting to shift until the redline approaches. You can also pick your own shift points with the paddles.
The sound coming from the engine compartment as this goes on is worth turning off the stereo and opening the windows. Turn onto a long highway on-ramp, and the direct-injected, Lamborghini-sourced 5.2L V10 gets going with a snarl that builds into a guttural bellow as mechanical magic happens all they way up to 7,000 rpm. Stay on the throttle and the landscape bordering the roadway becomes a blur, zipping by at a pace as frenetic as the goings-on underhood. Any doubt that the car is capable of reaching its electronically-governed top speed is vaporized as you watch the speedometer needle move clockwise at an unexpectedly rapid and steady clip. The S8 hurtles forward like a bullet train, totally composed, never wanting for power. Traction is not a problem thanks to the quattro AWD, and the car feels very balanced.
In the end, the rational part of you simply takes over and you heel the beast under your right foot. Enlisting the car's massive brakes (15.2" discs in front, 13.2" in back) halts the S8's forward motion quickly and without drama. Big cars like this are supposed to spoil you with comfort, but we never expected it to be so much fun to drive. The torquey, responsive V10 is always ready to play, and the car's gee-whiz air suspension keeps it composed at all times without ever resorting to harshness, even in the dynamic mode.
The S8's a snap to drive, and its features are easy to use thanks to the sensible MMI that ties so many of them together. Other nice touches abound, too, like ambient lighting in the cabin, approach lighting in the door handles and a power rear sunshade. The trunk is just huge, and for all the performance the car dishes out, it still got a completely reasonable 15 mpg over the week it spent with us. The Audi S8 is the whole enchilada: awesome performance, bona-fide luxury, and understated class. At $110,920 as tested, it's worth every single penny.
Whiz Kid: Four-Year Old Brit Signed To Pro Motorsports Contract
Filed Under: Etc., Europe, Motorsports, Hirings/Firings/Personnel Moves July 6th, 2007 11:03 AM
A four-year old boy has become the youngest professional driver in British motorsport history. The precocious Ben Kasperczack has been signed to four-year contract with Motorsport World, giving him a full ride in 50cc karting that includes: “unlimited testing time” and “full mentoring, with all equipment needed - including the kart and a mechanic.”
An official at Ben’s Rye House karting circuit added: “The way he can judge oversteer and understeer, use such an aggressive driving line and actually know when his tyres need changing, at his young age is remarkable.”
Because of his age, Kasperczack is only allowed to drive on an unoccupied track, but he’s expected to enter full competition at age eight.
Given that he’s already faster than most adults, we’re eager to see how he fares. Having said that, we imagine that in a few years, there will be high expectations for young Kasperczack to perform, and that has us worried for the child racer. Is too much pressure being put on him? Drop us a line in ‘Comments’ with your opinion.
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Ceramic Clutches Article
Jay Leno's Garage - Ceramics Class
BY JAY LENO
Published in the January, 2005 issue.
Pages: 1 2 Next >
SHORT STACK: Jay's amazed by the size of the Porsche's ceramic clutch versus a conventional unit. Photograph by John Lamm
Few limited-production supercars represent real-world technological breakthroughs. Think about it. Most have followed the same old formula with tube frames, lightweight construction, sophisticated, high-horsepower engines, and some even have carbon-fiber brakes. The all-wheel-drive Porsche 959 and the McLaren F1 were arguably the most advanced supercars of the last century, and nobody has done much that's really different since. Lamborghini's Countach was outrageous-looking, but it wasn't a highly advanced car--it didn't even have ABS.
Of course, one myth about supercars is those ludicrously low 0-to-60-mph times. Maybe you can go 0 to 60 in 4 seconds in your Countach if you rev it to six grand and drop the clutch. But if you try that three or four times in a row, your Lamborghini's clutch will probably be history. Then your exotic car will be laid up three to five weeks and it'll cost you more than $5000. So instead, you let the kid in the hopped-up Camaro win the stoplight drag race and you drive your supercar as conservatively as you would a minivan.
I am amazed that there are some people who own supercars and actually brag about how few miles they have on them. The only fun they have with their exotic cars is looking at them in their garages. Maybe it has something to do with how much they think their cars are worth. Or maybe it's those expensive clutches.
Porsches are different. These cars are built to be driven hard and they can take it when you drive them that way. And they've been like that since the beginning. With a rear-mounted, air-cooled four-cylinder opposed engine, and fully independent suspension, they were advanced from the start. The ceramic clutch in the Porsche Carrera GT is a good example of how they think at Porsche. Clutches aren't sexy, but at Porsche they engineer the whole car and they build it to last. I had a new Porsche Carrera GT on loan and I absolutely hammered it. Surprise: Nothing happened to the clutch. Not that I was trying, but I couldn't fry it. You could put the power down cleanly again and again. The clutch in the new Carrera GT is designed to last some 30,000 to 40,000 miles. Look, I drove it hard--I didn't abuse it--but it's meant to be really driven.
Porsche has made a really worthwhile contribution to the supercar genre. The Carrera GT's multiplate clutch is lighter and smaller than any comparable unit. It's patented by Tilton, so there's an American connection and that makes me like it even more. Porsche has been using ceramic-composite brakes for a while, so it was a natural to put this superlight, highly resistant material into service to help transfer the V10's 600-plus horsepower to the pavement. Porsche's Ceramic Composite Clutch is a boon. The clutch-plate diameter is only 6.65 in., which helps the low center of gravity.
NOW WHAT? Leno ponders the order of assembly for the Carrera's complex ceramic clutch pack. Photo By John Lamm
The Carrera GT will sprint to 60 mph in just 3.6 seconds, turn 131.6 mph in the quarter and top out at 205 mph. Your results may vary, of course. But thanks to the ceramic clutch, you can do those 0-to-60 runs over and over again. The Carrera GT costs $440,000, but I wouldn't be surprised to see ceramic clutches on much more affordable production Porsches soon.
Early Porsches looked like upside down bathtubs, but they worked right and went like hell. There's a lot of German pride in their engineering. A few years ago, I was traveling on the high-speed German autobahn. Occasionally I'd get off the highway and drive through a village. It seemed that in each little town there would be two churches, located a few hundred yards apart. And on the hour, the clocks in both their steeples would strike at exactly the same time. Precision is the German way.
Back to clutches. The McLaren F1, which has a BMW V12 engine, is arguably the best sports car of the last century. But the clutch is good for only 4000 to 5000 miles. And, of course, the McLaren clutch is very expensive. By developing a superior clutch, using ceramic materials, Porsche showed they could think outside the box.
I can hear you now, "Performance-car clutches that only last a few thousand miles?" Yep, performance-car clutches that last only a few thousand miles. People who own them say, "You have a supercar, you live with it." To me that's the same flawed logic that killed the British motorcycle industry. The people who built BSAs, Triumphs, Nortons and Velocettes actually thought that their customers liked "decoking" their cylinder heads occasionally--you know, taking them off, scraping away the built-up carbon deposits and grinding the valves. Maybe people got used to doing that dirty, time-consuming maintenance, but that didn't mean they liked it. I remember when my Triumph Bonneville got to the 8000-mile mark. A friend said, "Now that's gonna need a rebuild." When the new Honda 165s and 305s came out, they didn't need that sort of forced-march attention. So bike enthusiasts began buying them in droves. And one by one, all those great British brands--the ones that didn't believe in progress--went out of business.
In the 1950s, people pointed to Ferraris as being highly advanced cars, but they really weren't. People fell in love with Ferraris--the image, the styling, the powerful engines, the sounds. But Enzo Ferrari, the company founder, clung to solid rear axles on his road cars for a long time. He didn't convert his cars to disc brakes until one of his race drivers, Peter Collins, had Dunlop disc brakes installed on his own road-going Ferrari and shamed the old man into making the change. Ferrari always said he remembered the sound of a V12 engine in a Packard, so his cars had V12s. Signor Ferrari also liked to say, "The horse pulls the cart." So when the radical, midengine Lamborghini Miura came out, Ferrari's top of the line 365 GTB/4 Daytona was still a front-engine car.
But the people at Porsche go their own way. Their prevailing logic is, "It doesn't have to be that way." And the ceramic clutch is a good example of how they constantly stretch. Now, if the British motorcycle industry had taken that attitude, maybe we wouldn't be riding Honda Gold Wings today--we'd all be on Velocette Thruxtons.
BY JAY LENO
Published in the January, 2005 issue.
Pages: 1 2 Next >
SHORT STACK: Jay's amazed by the size of the Porsche's ceramic clutch versus a conventional unit. Photograph by John Lamm
Few limited-production supercars represent real-world technological breakthroughs. Think about it. Most have followed the same old formula with tube frames, lightweight construction, sophisticated, high-horsepower engines, and some even have carbon-fiber brakes. The all-wheel-drive Porsche 959 and the McLaren F1 were arguably the most advanced supercars of the last century, and nobody has done much that's really different since. Lamborghini's Countach was outrageous-looking, but it wasn't a highly advanced car--it didn't even have ABS.
Of course, one myth about supercars is those ludicrously low 0-to-60-mph times. Maybe you can go 0 to 60 in 4 seconds in your Countach if you rev it to six grand and drop the clutch. But if you try that three or four times in a row, your Lamborghini's clutch will probably be history. Then your exotic car will be laid up three to five weeks and it'll cost you more than $5000. So instead, you let the kid in the hopped-up Camaro win the stoplight drag race and you drive your supercar as conservatively as you would a minivan.
I am amazed that there are some people who own supercars and actually brag about how few miles they have on them. The only fun they have with their exotic cars is looking at them in their garages. Maybe it has something to do with how much they think their cars are worth. Or maybe it's those expensive clutches.
Porsches are different. These cars are built to be driven hard and they can take it when you drive them that way. And they've been like that since the beginning. With a rear-mounted, air-cooled four-cylinder opposed engine, and fully independent suspension, they were advanced from the start. The ceramic clutch in the Porsche Carrera GT is a good example of how they think at Porsche. Clutches aren't sexy, but at Porsche they engineer the whole car and they build it to last. I had a new Porsche Carrera GT on loan and I absolutely hammered it. Surprise: Nothing happened to the clutch. Not that I was trying, but I couldn't fry it. You could put the power down cleanly again and again. The clutch in the new Carrera GT is designed to last some 30,000 to 40,000 miles. Look, I drove it hard--I didn't abuse it--but it's meant to be really driven.
Porsche has made a really worthwhile contribution to the supercar genre. The Carrera GT's multiplate clutch is lighter and smaller than any comparable unit. It's patented by Tilton, so there's an American connection and that makes me like it even more. Porsche has been using ceramic-composite brakes for a while, so it was a natural to put this superlight, highly resistant material into service to help transfer the V10's 600-plus horsepower to the pavement. Porsche's Ceramic Composite Clutch is a boon. The clutch-plate diameter is only 6.65 in., which helps the low center of gravity.
NOW WHAT? Leno ponders the order of assembly for the Carrera's complex ceramic clutch pack. Photo By John Lamm
The Carrera GT will sprint to 60 mph in just 3.6 seconds, turn 131.6 mph in the quarter and top out at 205 mph. Your results may vary, of course. But thanks to the ceramic clutch, you can do those 0-to-60 runs over and over again. The Carrera GT costs $440,000, but I wouldn't be surprised to see ceramic clutches on much more affordable production Porsches soon.
Early Porsches looked like upside down bathtubs, but they worked right and went like hell. There's a lot of German pride in their engineering. A few years ago, I was traveling on the high-speed German autobahn. Occasionally I'd get off the highway and drive through a village. It seemed that in each little town there would be two churches, located a few hundred yards apart. And on the hour, the clocks in both their steeples would strike at exactly the same time. Precision is the German way.
Back to clutches. The McLaren F1, which has a BMW V12 engine, is arguably the best sports car of the last century. But the clutch is good for only 4000 to 5000 miles. And, of course, the McLaren clutch is very expensive. By developing a superior clutch, using ceramic materials, Porsche showed they could think outside the box.
I can hear you now, "Performance-car clutches that only last a few thousand miles?" Yep, performance-car clutches that last only a few thousand miles. People who own them say, "You have a supercar, you live with it." To me that's the same flawed logic that killed the British motorcycle industry. The people who built BSAs, Triumphs, Nortons and Velocettes actually thought that their customers liked "decoking" their cylinder heads occasionally--you know, taking them off, scraping away the built-up carbon deposits and grinding the valves. Maybe people got used to doing that dirty, time-consuming maintenance, but that didn't mean they liked it. I remember when my Triumph Bonneville got to the 8000-mile mark. A friend said, "Now that's gonna need a rebuild." When the new Honda 165s and 305s came out, they didn't need that sort of forced-march attention. So bike enthusiasts began buying them in droves. And one by one, all those great British brands--the ones that didn't believe in progress--went out of business.
In the 1950s, people pointed to Ferraris as being highly advanced cars, but they really weren't. People fell in love with Ferraris--the image, the styling, the powerful engines, the sounds. But Enzo Ferrari, the company founder, clung to solid rear axles on his road cars for a long time. He didn't convert his cars to disc brakes until one of his race drivers, Peter Collins, had Dunlop disc brakes installed on his own road-going Ferrari and shamed the old man into making the change. Ferrari always said he remembered the sound of a V12 engine in a Packard, so his cars had V12s. Signor Ferrari also liked to say, "The horse pulls the cart." So when the radical, midengine Lamborghini Miura came out, Ferrari's top of the line 365 GTB/4 Daytona was still a front-engine car.
But the people at Porsche go their own way. Their prevailing logic is, "It doesn't have to be that way." And the ceramic clutch is a good example of how they constantly stretch. Now, if the British motorcycle industry had taken that attitude, maybe we wouldn't be riding Honda Gold Wings today--we'd all be on Velocette Thruxtons.
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Road & Track Update on R8 Testing Differences
ROAD & TRACK UPDATE AUDI R8 (AUGUST 07)
YOU MAY BE WONDERING WHY THERE'S A ROAD TEST UPDATE ON A CAR WE RAN NUMBERS ON ONLY THREE MONTHS A GO. ONE REASON IS WE FOUND ACCELERATION DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE CONVENTIONAL MANUAL AND ITS AUTOMATICALLY SHIFTED COUNTERPART. WHILE THE LATTER IN THE R8 , DUBBED R-TRONIC , EXHIBITS LIGHTNING-QUICK GEARCHANGES , IT DOESN'T PROVIDE THE DRIVER WITH THE ULTIMATE CONTROL DURING LAUNCH THAT THE MANUAL DOES . DESPITE BEING EQUIPPED WITH LAUNCH CONTROL , THE AUTOMATIC R8 RESTRICTS THE ENGINE SPEED TO ONLY 5000 RPM WHEN GETTING OFF THE LINE . THE 6-SPEED MANUAL GEARBOX , ON THE OTHER HAND , LETS YOU REV THE 4.2 LITER V-8 ALL THE WAY TO REDLINE (8250 RPM) BEFORE DROPPING THE CLUTCH TO GET THE OPTIMAL AMOUNT OF WHEELSPIN WHILE TAKING OFF.
SO WHEN WE GOT OUR HANDS ON A MANUAL EQUIPPED R8 , WE TOOK IT STRAIGHT TO THE TEST TRACK WHERE THE NUMBERS TOLD THE STORY. FROM ZERO TO 60 MPH , THE MANUAL R8 CLOCKED IN AT 4.0 SECONDS , 0.3 SECONDS QUICKER THAN THE AUTOMATIC . THAT SAID , THE R-TRONIC'S QUICKSHIFTS ALOWED THE AUTOMATIC R8 TO NARROW THE GAP TO 0.1 SECONDS AT THE QUARTER-MILE MARK.
CONTROL AND PERFORMANCE AREN'T THE ONLY REASONS FOR CHOOSING THE MANUAL . NEVERMIND THE R-TRONIC WILL RUN YOU AN EXTRA $9000 , THE MANUAL GEARBOX IN THE R8 IS ONE OF THE SMOOTHEST , SLICKEST UNITS IN THE MARKET PLACE.THE CLUTCH PEDAL IS SURPRISINGLY LIGHT , AND THE SHIFTER SNAPS INTO EACH GEAR WITH A SLIGHT PUSH OR PULL OF THE RIGHT HAND. THE PEDALS ARE SET UP FOR EASY HEEL-AND-TOEING , ALLOWING YOU TO MATCH REVS AND ENTER CORNERS IN A WAY YOU JUST CAN'T EXPERIENCE WITH AN AUTOMATIC. AND THE MANUAL LOOKS BETTER , TOO , THANKS TO THE METAL GATED SHIFT PLATE.
ANOTHER REASON FOR THIS UPDATE IS A MORE PERSONAL ONE: TO RELAY THE FIST IMPRESSIONS OF MORE MEMBERS OF THE R&T STAFF.MOST OF US MARVELED AT THE CIVIL NATURE OF THE CAR , SOME EVEN GOING AS FAR AS LIKENING IT TO A LUXURY SEDAN . "ARE YOU KIDDING ME? THIS THING IS SO SMOOTH , IT'S EASY TO FORGET YOU'RE IN AN EXOTIC SPORTS CAR . THE CAR IS QUIET , AND THE RIDE QUALITY IS SILKY . WITH THE R8 , YOU DON'T NEED A SEPARATE EVERYDAY COMMUTER CAR , THIS AUDI IS AS COMFORTABLE AS VIRTUALLY ANY SPORTS SEDAN OUT THERE," ONE EDITOR COMMENTED.
ANOTHER EDITOR REMARKED: "I REALLY LIKE IT. IT MAY BORDER ON SACRILEGE , BUT THE R8 REMINDS ME OF A GERMAN VERSION OF THE ACURA NXS , WHAT WITH ITS SEWING -MACHINE- LIKE ENGINE BEHIND THE DRIVER. I ALSO LIKE THE LOW COWL AND GENEROUS INTERIOR SPACE."EVERY ENTRY IN THE CAR'S NOTEBOOK CONSISTED OF GLOWING PRAISE FOR THE GERMAN SUPER CAR. AND IF WE HAD ARE WAY , WE'D DO A ROAD TEST UPDATE ON THE R8 EVERY MONTH , JUST SO WE CAN KEEP DRIVING IT.
SAM MITANI (R&T AUGUST 07)
YOU MAY BE WONDERING WHY THERE'S A ROAD TEST UPDATE ON A CAR WE RAN NUMBERS ON ONLY THREE MONTHS A GO. ONE REASON IS WE FOUND ACCELERATION DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE CONVENTIONAL MANUAL AND ITS AUTOMATICALLY SHIFTED COUNTERPART. WHILE THE LATTER IN THE R8 , DUBBED R-TRONIC , EXHIBITS LIGHTNING-QUICK GEARCHANGES , IT DOESN'T PROVIDE THE DRIVER WITH THE ULTIMATE CONTROL DURING LAUNCH THAT THE MANUAL DOES . DESPITE BEING EQUIPPED WITH LAUNCH CONTROL , THE AUTOMATIC R8 RESTRICTS THE ENGINE SPEED TO ONLY 5000 RPM WHEN GETTING OFF THE LINE . THE 6-SPEED MANUAL GEARBOX , ON THE OTHER HAND , LETS YOU REV THE 4.2 LITER V-8 ALL THE WAY TO REDLINE (8250 RPM) BEFORE DROPPING THE CLUTCH TO GET THE OPTIMAL AMOUNT OF WHEELSPIN WHILE TAKING OFF.
SO WHEN WE GOT OUR HANDS ON A MANUAL EQUIPPED R8 , WE TOOK IT STRAIGHT TO THE TEST TRACK WHERE THE NUMBERS TOLD THE STORY. FROM ZERO TO 60 MPH , THE MANUAL R8 CLOCKED IN AT 4.0 SECONDS , 0.3 SECONDS QUICKER THAN THE AUTOMATIC . THAT SAID , THE R-TRONIC'S QUICKSHIFTS ALOWED THE AUTOMATIC R8 TO NARROW THE GAP TO 0.1 SECONDS AT THE QUARTER-MILE MARK.
CONTROL AND PERFORMANCE AREN'T THE ONLY REASONS FOR CHOOSING THE MANUAL . NEVERMIND THE R-TRONIC WILL RUN YOU AN EXTRA $9000 , THE MANUAL GEARBOX IN THE R8 IS ONE OF THE SMOOTHEST , SLICKEST UNITS IN THE MARKET PLACE.THE CLUTCH PEDAL IS SURPRISINGLY LIGHT , AND THE SHIFTER SNAPS INTO EACH GEAR WITH A SLIGHT PUSH OR PULL OF THE RIGHT HAND. THE PEDALS ARE SET UP FOR EASY HEEL-AND-TOEING , ALLOWING YOU TO MATCH REVS AND ENTER CORNERS IN A WAY YOU JUST CAN'T EXPERIENCE WITH AN AUTOMATIC. AND THE MANUAL LOOKS BETTER , TOO , THANKS TO THE METAL GATED SHIFT PLATE.
ANOTHER REASON FOR THIS UPDATE IS A MORE PERSONAL ONE: TO RELAY THE FIST IMPRESSIONS OF MORE MEMBERS OF THE R&T STAFF.MOST OF US MARVELED AT THE CIVIL NATURE OF THE CAR , SOME EVEN GOING AS FAR AS LIKENING IT TO A LUXURY SEDAN . "ARE YOU KIDDING ME? THIS THING IS SO SMOOTH , IT'S EASY TO FORGET YOU'RE IN AN EXOTIC SPORTS CAR . THE CAR IS QUIET , AND THE RIDE QUALITY IS SILKY . WITH THE R8 , YOU DON'T NEED A SEPARATE EVERYDAY COMMUTER CAR , THIS AUDI IS AS COMFORTABLE AS VIRTUALLY ANY SPORTS SEDAN OUT THERE," ONE EDITOR COMMENTED.
ANOTHER EDITOR REMARKED: "I REALLY LIKE IT. IT MAY BORDER ON SACRILEGE , BUT THE R8 REMINDS ME OF A GERMAN VERSION OF THE ACURA NXS , WHAT WITH ITS SEWING -MACHINE- LIKE ENGINE BEHIND THE DRIVER. I ALSO LIKE THE LOW COWL AND GENEROUS INTERIOR SPACE."EVERY ENTRY IN THE CAR'S NOTEBOOK CONSISTED OF GLOWING PRAISE FOR THE GERMAN SUPER CAR. AND IF WE HAD ARE WAY , WE'D DO A ROAD TEST UPDATE ON THE R8 EVERY MONTH , JUST SO WE CAN KEEP DRIVING IT.
SAM MITANI (R&T AUGUST 07)
Friday, June 29, 2007
Caparo T1 Update
Caparo T1: Racing Car for the Street
Taking a Ride in the Latest 200-mph Supercar
By Alistair Weaver, Contributor
Date posted: 06-14-2007
Let's start with some raw numbers, since the Caparo T1 is really all about numbers, and they're especially raw.First, the Caparo T1 offers 575 horsepower and weighs 1,213 pounds. This represents a power-to-weight ratio that's twice as good as the $1 million Bugatti Veyron. From a standing start, the Caparo T1 is expected to sprint to 60 mph in around 2.5 seconds and reach 100 mph in less than 5 seconds. It will cost $378,000.This is, of course, not the first time an unknown company has made outrageous claims for its new supercar. Most such projects end in abject failure quickly followed by financial ruin, but there are at least three good reasons why the Caparo T1 might be different.First, Caparo is a significant player in the manufacture of both steel and vehicle components (largely in India), and it has yearly revenues of more than $1.3 billion. Second, the T1 is the brainchild of Ben Scott-Geddes and Graham Halstead, engineers already known for their work on the 1994 McLaren F1 supercar. And third, we've had a ride in the Caparo T1 at the famed Goodwood Motor Circuit in Britain.The Inspiration"I have no desire to be the next Enzo Ferrari," says Angad Paul, the 37-year-old CEO of Caparo. "The T1 is a showcase, a marketing tool for the brand. It allows us to develop our know-how and demonstrate our technical prowess. This will help us to sell more components."Although Paul says he enjoys vehicles and owns a couple of Ferraris, he is not building the T1 for the sake of vanity. Faced with a desire to expand his steel business into composites production, Paul happened upon the opportunity to build a supercar as a way to demonstrate his company's skills.The project actually started in 2005, when Scott-Geddes and Halstead started up Freestream, a company that would build the T1, very much like the car you see here only powered by a 2.4-liter V8 derived from a Formula 1 design. It quickly became the automotive answer to Paris Hilton in British car magazines, its colorful image splashed across pages of the usual hype and speculation. Freestream was acquired by Caparo in March 2006 and then the Caparo T1 officially debuted at an exotic car show in Monaco in April 2006.The ConceptAlthough Scott-Geddes and Halstead helped develop both the F1 and the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren while working for McLaren Group (well-known for its involvement in Formula 1 racing), they decided from the outset that the T1 should be a very different kind of car. "No one can knock the Bugatti Veyron; it's a fantastic car," says Scott-Geddes. "But it cost billions of [dollars] to develop and VW loses money on every one it sells. I can't see anyone doing another." Instead, he believes the established makers of supercars will become victims of their success, forced to focus on practicality, quality and safety, leaving specialty companies such as Caparo to pursue ultimate performance.While the McLaren F1 had been designed as a road car that could prove equally adept on the racetrack, the Caparo is a road-legal track car. The T1 has been designed so you will be able to drive your car to a track day, complete 50 laps and then drive it home again — in theory, at least."This is an odd project," admits Scott-Geddes. "It is not really like a road car and it's not really like a racecar." He admits that the T1 would fall afoul of most racecar regulations. "To get the maximum performance from as little mass as possible, we basically cheat — we don't have to contend with any of the restrictions facing normal racecar design. You could enter the car into an open formula race, but you'd be so fast that you'd piss off everybody else."The CarThe T1 is reminiscent of a prototype sports car for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, a hand-built, midengine, rear-wheel-drive racing car wearing 200-mph clothes. A racing-style monocoque made from carbon fiber and aluminium honeycomb forms the basic structure of the car and encloses a narrow, two-passenger cockpit. A dedicated impact-absorbing crash structure of carbon composite is attached to the front of the monocque, while a tubular spaceframe at the rear carries the engine and transaxle.Just as with a racing car, the double-wishbone suspension at each corner is fully adjustable, with five-way adjustable dampers and cockpit-adjustable antiroll bars. Track-day enthusiasts will also be able to fiddle with the aerodynamics, including the angle of the sizable rear wing. Just like a racing car, the T1's ride height and rake are crucial for aerodynamic downforce, and the car is designed to afford just 2.8 inches of ground clearance on the track.The T1's wheelbase measures 114.2 inches while the overall length is 160.1 inches and the overall width is 75.1 inches. The tip of the air inlet for the engine is just 42.3 inches off the ground.The Caparo T1's engine comes from Menard, a DOHC 3.5-liter V8 that began life as a Nissan-designed unit for IRL Indycar racing. It's calibrated to produce 575 hp at 10,500 rpm with 310 pound-feet of torque at 9,000 rpm.The racing industry also supplies the T1's gearbox, just as it does many of the car's components. It's a Hewland-designed, non-synchromesh sequential-shift six-speed transmission that's operated pneumatically by shift paddles on the steering wheel. A limited-slip differential is fitted and the production car will feature driver-adjustable electronic traction and launch control.Taking a RideCaparo is adamant that nobody outside the company will drive the T1 before it is finally in production. Instead, we were able to clamber into the passenger seat of a prototype for two laps around the Goodwood Motor Circuit.We take our spot in the passenger seat, just beside and a bit behind the driver, and adopt a reclined posture. It helps to have slim hips to squirm into the seat bucket, but it isn't half as uncomfortable as it looks, and this 6-foot-3 passenger had no trouble finding room. Production cockpits will come dressed in either leather or suedelike upholstery, but the interior is distinctly businesslike, not luxurious. A canopy will be offered for wet weather protection, although Scott-Geddes admits that it gets uncomfortably hot inside the car when the canopy is in place.Noise restrictions at the Goodwood circuit imposed a limit of 7,000 rpm on this largely unmuffled T1 prototype, which is right at the bottom of the engine's power band.Caparo is claiming that a T1 fitted with slick-tread racing tires will exceed 3gs of both cornering grip and braking force. We'll have to reserve judgment on that until we've driven the Caparo ourselves, but this taste of the prototype proves that the T1 feels more like a single-seat racecar than a conventional road-going supercar. The engine noise is angry rather than cultured and the gearshift action feels as rapid as anything we've experienced.If you want to get the most from the Caparo T1, you'll have to have more than a little driving skill, and some courage besides.Is This a Real Car?Scott-Geddes admits that he's surprised that more than 50 percent of customer inquiries have come from the U.S. Chad Mann, the president of Mann Motor Company, has been appointed to import and distribute the car in America, but it remains unclear as to whether the car can be made street legal.Scott-Geddes also admits that his team at Caparo still faces a challenge in making the car reliable. Both the T1 prototypes at Goodwood suffered a series of problems during the day, and the event had to be cut short. Customers in this price bracket will not enjoy the prospect of racecar fragility, even if racecar performance is the reward.What times we live in that so many people are building cars like this.The manufacturer provided Edmunds this vehicle for the purposes of evaluation.
Find this article at: http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Features/articleId=121253?tid=edmunds.il.home.photopanel..1.*#19
Taking a Ride in the Latest 200-mph Supercar
By Alistair Weaver, Contributor
Date posted: 06-14-2007
Let's start with some raw numbers, since the Caparo T1 is really all about numbers, and they're especially raw.First, the Caparo T1 offers 575 horsepower and weighs 1,213 pounds. This represents a power-to-weight ratio that's twice as good as the $1 million Bugatti Veyron. From a standing start, the Caparo T1 is expected to sprint to 60 mph in around 2.5 seconds and reach 100 mph in less than 5 seconds. It will cost $378,000.This is, of course, not the first time an unknown company has made outrageous claims for its new supercar. Most such projects end in abject failure quickly followed by financial ruin, but there are at least three good reasons why the Caparo T1 might be different.First, Caparo is a significant player in the manufacture of both steel and vehicle components (largely in India), and it has yearly revenues of more than $1.3 billion. Second, the T1 is the brainchild of Ben Scott-Geddes and Graham Halstead, engineers already known for their work on the 1994 McLaren F1 supercar. And third, we've had a ride in the Caparo T1 at the famed Goodwood Motor Circuit in Britain.The Inspiration"I have no desire to be the next Enzo Ferrari," says Angad Paul, the 37-year-old CEO of Caparo. "The T1 is a showcase, a marketing tool for the brand. It allows us to develop our know-how and demonstrate our technical prowess. This will help us to sell more components."Although Paul says he enjoys vehicles and owns a couple of Ferraris, he is not building the T1 for the sake of vanity. Faced with a desire to expand his steel business into composites production, Paul happened upon the opportunity to build a supercar as a way to demonstrate his company's skills.The project actually started in 2005, when Scott-Geddes and Halstead started up Freestream, a company that would build the T1, very much like the car you see here only powered by a 2.4-liter V8 derived from a Formula 1 design. It quickly became the automotive answer to Paris Hilton in British car magazines, its colorful image splashed across pages of the usual hype and speculation. Freestream was acquired by Caparo in March 2006 and then the Caparo T1 officially debuted at an exotic car show in Monaco in April 2006.The ConceptAlthough Scott-Geddes and Halstead helped develop both the F1 and the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren while working for McLaren Group (well-known for its involvement in Formula 1 racing), they decided from the outset that the T1 should be a very different kind of car. "No one can knock the Bugatti Veyron; it's a fantastic car," says Scott-Geddes. "But it cost billions of [dollars] to develop and VW loses money on every one it sells. I can't see anyone doing another." Instead, he believes the established makers of supercars will become victims of their success, forced to focus on practicality, quality and safety, leaving specialty companies such as Caparo to pursue ultimate performance.While the McLaren F1 had been designed as a road car that could prove equally adept on the racetrack, the Caparo is a road-legal track car. The T1 has been designed so you will be able to drive your car to a track day, complete 50 laps and then drive it home again — in theory, at least."This is an odd project," admits Scott-Geddes. "It is not really like a road car and it's not really like a racecar." He admits that the T1 would fall afoul of most racecar regulations. "To get the maximum performance from as little mass as possible, we basically cheat — we don't have to contend with any of the restrictions facing normal racecar design. You could enter the car into an open formula race, but you'd be so fast that you'd piss off everybody else."The CarThe T1 is reminiscent of a prototype sports car for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, a hand-built, midengine, rear-wheel-drive racing car wearing 200-mph clothes. A racing-style monocoque made from carbon fiber and aluminium honeycomb forms the basic structure of the car and encloses a narrow, two-passenger cockpit. A dedicated impact-absorbing crash structure of carbon composite is attached to the front of the monocque, while a tubular spaceframe at the rear carries the engine and transaxle.Just as with a racing car, the double-wishbone suspension at each corner is fully adjustable, with five-way adjustable dampers and cockpit-adjustable antiroll bars. Track-day enthusiasts will also be able to fiddle with the aerodynamics, including the angle of the sizable rear wing. Just like a racing car, the T1's ride height and rake are crucial for aerodynamic downforce, and the car is designed to afford just 2.8 inches of ground clearance on the track.The T1's wheelbase measures 114.2 inches while the overall length is 160.1 inches and the overall width is 75.1 inches. The tip of the air inlet for the engine is just 42.3 inches off the ground.The Caparo T1's engine comes from Menard, a DOHC 3.5-liter V8 that began life as a Nissan-designed unit for IRL Indycar racing. It's calibrated to produce 575 hp at 10,500 rpm with 310 pound-feet of torque at 9,000 rpm.The racing industry also supplies the T1's gearbox, just as it does many of the car's components. It's a Hewland-designed, non-synchromesh sequential-shift six-speed transmission that's operated pneumatically by shift paddles on the steering wheel. A limited-slip differential is fitted and the production car will feature driver-adjustable electronic traction and launch control.Taking a RideCaparo is adamant that nobody outside the company will drive the T1 before it is finally in production. Instead, we were able to clamber into the passenger seat of a prototype for two laps around the Goodwood Motor Circuit.We take our spot in the passenger seat, just beside and a bit behind the driver, and adopt a reclined posture. It helps to have slim hips to squirm into the seat bucket, but it isn't half as uncomfortable as it looks, and this 6-foot-3 passenger had no trouble finding room. Production cockpits will come dressed in either leather or suedelike upholstery, but the interior is distinctly businesslike, not luxurious. A canopy will be offered for wet weather protection, although Scott-Geddes admits that it gets uncomfortably hot inside the car when the canopy is in place.Noise restrictions at the Goodwood circuit imposed a limit of 7,000 rpm on this largely unmuffled T1 prototype, which is right at the bottom of the engine's power band.Caparo is claiming that a T1 fitted with slick-tread racing tires will exceed 3gs of both cornering grip and braking force. We'll have to reserve judgment on that until we've driven the Caparo ourselves, but this taste of the prototype proves that the T1 feels more like a single-seat racecar than a conventional road-going supercar. The engine noise is angry rather than cultured and the gearshift action feels as rapid as anything we've experienced.If you want to get the most from the Caparo T1, you'll have to have more than a little driving skill, and some courage besides.Is This a Real Car?Scott-Geddes admits that he's surprised that more than 50 percent of customer inquiries have come from the U.S. Chad Mann, the president of Mann Motor Company, has been appointed to import and distribute the car in America, but it remains unclear as to whether the car can be made street legal.Scott-Geddes also admits that his team at Caparo still faces a challenge in making the car reliable. Both the T1 prototypes at Goodwood suffered a series of problems during the day, and the event had to be cut short. Customers in this price bracket will not enjoy the prospect of racecar fragility, even if racecar performance is the reward.What times we live in that so many people are building cars like this.The manufacturer provided Edmunds this vehicle for the purposes of evaluation.
Find this article at: http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Features/articleId=121253?tid=edmunds.il.home.photopanel..1.*#19
Monday, June 25, 2007
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Gale joins Chrysler reunion Cerberus adds former design chief to team of advisers
AutoWeek.com
Gale joins Chrysler reunionCerberus adds former design chief to team of advisersBy BRADFORD WERNLE AUTOMOTIVE NEWS AutoWeek Updated: 06/19/07, 9:52 am et Revered former Chrysler design guru Tom Gale has joined several other key former executives on the Cerberus advisory team for Chrysler.The team of advisers could serve as a shadow executive team when Cerberus Capital Management LP completes its purchase of the Chrysler group from DaimlerChrysler. The deal is expected to close in late July.
Cerberus officials, headed by founder Stephen Feinberg, met with 17 members of the Chrysler national dealer council June 7 at Cerberus headquarters in New York. During a three-hour meeting, dealers aired their concerns, and the parties began developing a to-do list for Chrysler CEO Tom LaSorda and his team.
A Chrysler reunion
If LaSorda and his team get into a fix, Cerberus has no shortage of experts waiting to offer advice. In fact, the Cerberus adviser list is beginning to look like a former Chrysler executive roster.Attending the dealer meeting were former sales chief Gary Dilts; former Chrysler COO Wolfgang Bernhard; Thomas Gilman, ex-CFO of DaimlerChrysler Services; and Jerry Farrell, former president of Chrysler Financial Corp.
Bernhard is best known as the product whiz who championed the Chrysler 300C during his years at Chrysler headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich. He has been a key adviser to Cerberus in the acquisition, spending a lot of time at Chrysler headquarters.
Gale, who retired in 2002, developed the cab-forward design concept used in the Chrysler 300M and other LH cars. Gale is also known for the PT Cruiser, Dodge Viper, Plymouth Prowler and numerous concepts. In a recent story, Motor Trend magazine described Gale as "the man who helped Motown find its mojo."Dilts was Chrysler's top sales official until he left the company in June 2006 after a dispute with now-departed global sales chief Joe Eberhardt.
During Gale's tenure, Chrysler developed its modern design style: dramatic, rounded passenger cars; muscular pickups and SUVs; and the retro PT Cruiser, a combination minivan and 1930s hot rod. Hot concepts Gale was noted for producing exciting concept vehicles that quickly turned into production models.
In one case, the 1991 concept Neon, the concept was actually displayed after the production version was approved. Gale also showed his love of hot rods with the 1993 Prowler concept, later a production model.Besides the pending Chrysler deal, Cerberus owns the majority stake in GMAC Financial Services. That has raised speculation that the backroom operations of the GM and Chrysler finance units could be merged.
Gilman and Farrell will be key players in assessing that issue.Cerberus retains executives as advisers to help with companies the hedge fund buys. Some of those executives are full-time Cerberus employees.
Others, like Dilts, keep their current jobs. Dilts is senior vice president, U.S. automotive, for J.D. Power and Associates.Homecoming at Chrysler
The growing Cerberus-Chrysler advisory team includes several high-powered Chrysler alumni.Wolfgang Bernhard - Former Chrysler wunderkind, champion of the Chrysler 300C. Perhaps remembered most for thundering into the Detroit auto show on the 10-cylinder Dodge Tomahawk motorcycle. Ran Volkswagen brand before leaving in 2006 management shakeup.
Tom Gale - Innovative designer and author of the cab-forward look that dominated Chrysler cars in the 1980s. Also designed on Gale's watch were the retro PT Cruiser, the muscular Dodge Ram pickup and the Dodge Viper.
Gary Dilts - Sales chief who left Chrysler last summer after butting heads with Joe Eberhardt, ex-global sales and marketing chief. Dilts, who was at Chrysler 30 years, revamped sales and dealer operations. Now senior vice president for U.S. automotive at J.D. Power and Associates.
Jerry Farrell - Former president and COO of Chrysler Financial. Started automotive real estate trust called Kimco AutoFund. Now a Cerberus adviser.
Thomas Gilman - Worked 27 years at Chrysler, including stints as CFO of Chrysler Financial and manager of global dealer credit operations. Gilman served on the Daimler-Benz/Chrysler Corp. integration team after the 1998 merger. After leaving Chrysler, he served as CFO of Asbury Automotive Group, a public dealer chain.
I bet that you forgot just how significant a deigner Tom Gale was...
Eyes on Design honors Chrysler stylist Tom Gayle
By Richard A. Wright
Thomas C. Gale was honored at the 2002 Eyes on Design show at Chrysler Technology Center with an exhibit of concept cars which reflect his styling leadership. He received the 2002 Eyes on Design Lifetime Achievement Award.
Gale is widely credited with playing a key role in strengthening Chrysler when it faced major challenges more than 20 years ago. His creativity and insight are reflected in the wide range of designs from functional K-Car to styling centerpieces such as the Chrysler Concorde and Dodge Intrepid.
Gale joined Chrysler Corp. in 1967 and was elected a vice president in 1985. He retired from his position as a member of the Board of Management, DaimlerChrysler AG, and executive Vice president - Product Development & Design, Chrysler Group, in December, 2000.
Around 1985, with the success of the K-Car behind him and his elevation to vice president, Gale convinced top management to put into effect a "proactive" approach to design by making a third of his staff "advanced product designers". They began to develop a procession of concept cars, many of which found their way into production.
One of the most powerful designs of Tom Gale's leadership was the high-performance Dodge Viper. This is the 1989 prototype Dodge Viper.
One of Gale's team's triumphs was the Dodge Viper. While low-volume, it established Chrysler Corp. as a player in the "super car" game and was an important image enhancement.
"The Chrysler PT Cruiser took the rule book and threw it away," Gale said of the highly successful vehicle with retro styling cues and modern functional design.
Gale says good design is good business. "It's as simple as that, although good design is not simple. Design is a corporate strength. It is a strategic weapon."
Gale has been an active participant in Eyes on Design since its creation 15 years ago. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Center for Creative Studies and is a charter member of the National Advisory Council of the Michigan State University College of Arts and Letters.
The first of Chrysler's so-called retro designs was this 1993 Prowler concept car evoking the street rods built on '30s roadsters, which went into production as the Plymouth Prowler.
Richard A. Wright is a Detroit-area free-lance writer. He can be contacted via e-mail at ac8328@wayne.edu
By Richard A. Wright
Thomas C. Gale was honored at the 2002 Eyes on Design show at Chrysler Technology Center with an exhibit of concept cars which reflect his styling leadership. He received the 2002 Eyes on Design Lifetime Achievement Award.
Gale is widely credited with playing a key role in strengthening Chrysler when it faced major challenges more than 20 years ago. His creativity and insight are reflected in the wide range of designs from functional K-Car to styling centerpieces such as the Chrysler Concorde and Dodge Intrepid.
Gale joined Chrysler Corp. in 1967 and was elected a vice president in 1985. He retired from his position as a member of the Board of Management, DaimlerChrysler AG, and executive Vice president - Product Development & Design, Chrysler Group, in December, 2000.
Around 1985, with the success of the K-Car behind him and his elevation to vice president, Gale convinced top management to put into effect a "proactive" approach to design by making a third of his staff "advanced product designers". They began to develop a procession of concept cars, many of which found their way into production.
One of the most powerful designs of Tom Gale's leadership was the high-performance Dodge Viper. This is the 1989 prototype Dodge Viper.
One of Gale's team's triumphs was the Dodge Viper. While low-volume, it established Chrysler Corp. as a player in the "super car" game and was an important image enhancement.
"The Chrysler PT Cruiser took the rule book and threw it away," Gale said of the highly successful vehicle with retro styling cues and modern functional design.
Gale says good design is good business. "It's as simple as that, although good design is not simple. Design is a corporate strength. It is a strategic weapon."
Gale has been an active participant in Eyes on Design since its creation 15 years ago. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Center for Creative Studies and is a charter member of the National Advisory Council of the Michigan State University College of Arts and Letters.
The first of Chrysler's so-called retro designs was this 1993 Prowler concept car evoking the street rods built on '30s roadsters, which went into production as the Plymouth Prowler.
Richard A. Wright is a Detroit-area free-lance writer. He can be contacted via e-mail at ac8328@wayne.edu
Fortune magazine: Cerebus Signs Ex-Chrysler Design Chief Tom Gale
Fortune magazine: Cerberus Signs on Ex-Chrysler Design Chief Tom Gale
June 05, 2007
Former Chrysler Design Chief Tom Gale, reportedly has signed on as one of the many expert advisors by Cerberus Capital Management that is buying Chrysler, according to a profile on Cerberus in the June 18 issue of Fortune magazine.
Adding Gale to the growing roster of automotive experts suggests Cerberus is serious about turning Chrysler around and gets what needs to be done: get Chrysler's styling mojo back!
One of Chrysler’s major problems of late –- which under Gale had been its major strength –- is styling. Chrysler hasn't had a major design hit since the Chrysler 300, now long in the tooth.
Rumors have been rampant, even before the Cerberus purchase, that current Chrysler design chief Trevor Creed is on his way out. The betting is he’ll depart when the Cerberus deal is inked this summer.
Word on the street also is that Chrysler is trying to recruit hot designers from its competitors, particularly for interior design, a particularly weak area for Chrysler at the moment.
Cerberus already has signed on former Chrysler-VW exec Wolfgang Bernhard, with whom Gale worked. Chrysler CEO Tom LaSorda insists Bernhard will not be an employee of Chrysler, no one believes that. Some speculation has Bernhard replacing LaSorda at some point in the future. Bernhard has been spending a lot of time at Chrysler and reportedly is house-shopping in Detroit.
Ex-Ford executive David Thursfield heads Cerberus’ auto unit.
Gale's Pedigree
Despite his retirement from Chrysler, Gale has remained extremely active in the automotive design community. He plays a major role in the Eyes on Design, a classic car show held on at the Edsel Ford estate every Father's Day to raise money for eye research.
Gale, in his early 60s, has a son who is a designer at Chrysler.
Gale graduated from Michigan State University with an engineering degree, worked summers at General Motors and was hired at Chrysler in 1967, during the age of Barracudas and Chargers.
Throughout Chrysler's roller coaster history, Gale played a major role. He was promoted to design chief at age 42 in 1985, a particularly dreary styling period of K-car-based cars at Chrysler.
Gale personally designed the Plymouth Prowler hot rod and led the industry's change for the way it uses concept cars -- no longer a fantasy but as a development and marketing tool.
Under Gale's leadership, Chrysler unveiled industry-significant concept cars including: the 1987 Portofino that embodied cab-forward design; the 1991 300 concept, the first of many concepts that hearkened to past Chrysler icons; the 1992 Cirrus that hinted at Chrysler's upcoming midsize cars; and the 1992 Viper.
As part of the Bob Lutz team, Gale oversaw development of the cab-forward LH cars (Concorde, Intrepid), the bold Dodge Ram pickup and the retro PT Cruiser, vehicles that helped Chrysler turn around.
June 05, 2007
Former Chrysler Design Chief Tom Gale, reportedly has signed on as one of the many expert advisors by Cerberus Capital Management that is buying Chrysler, according to a profile on Cerberus in the June 18 issue of Fortune magazine.
Adding Gale to the growing roster of automotive experts suggests Cerberus is serious about turning Chrysler around and gets what needs to be done: get Chrysler's styling mojo back!
One of Chrysler’s major problems of late –- which under Gale had been its major strength –- is styling. Chrysler hasn't had a major design hit since the Chrysler 300, now long in the tooth.
Rumors have been rampant, even before the Cerberus purchase, that current Chrysler design chief Trevor Creed is on his way out. The betting is he’ll depart when the Cerberus deal is inked this summer.
Word on the street also is that Chrysler is trying to recruit hot designers from its competitors, particularly for interior design, a particularly weak area for Chrysler at the moment.
Cerberus already has signed on former Chrysler-VW exec Wolfgang Bernhard, with whom Gale worked. Chrysler CEO Tom LaSorda insists Bernhard will not be an employee of Chrysler, no one believes that. Some speculation has Bernhard replacing LaSorda at some point in the future. Bernhard has been spending a lot of time at Chrysler and reportedly is house-shopping in Detroit.
Ex-Ford executive David Thursfield heads Cerberus’ auto unit.
Gale's Pedigree
Despite his retirement from Chrysler, Gale has remained extremely active in the automotive design community. He plays a major role in the Eyes on Design, a classic car show held on at the Edsel Ford estate every Father's Day to raise money for eye research.
Gale, in his early 60s, has a son who is a designer at Chrysler.
Gale graduated from Michigan State University with an engineering degree, worked summers at General Motors and was hired at Chrysler in 1967, during the age of Barracudas and Chargers.
Throughout Chrysler's roller coaster history, Gale played a major role. He was promoted to design chief at age 42 in 1985, a particularly dreary styling period of K-car-based cars at Chrysler.
Gale personally designed the Plymouth Prowler hot rod and led the industry's change for the way it uses concept cars -- no longer a fantasy but as a development and marketing tool.
Under Gale's leadership, Chrysler unveiled industry-significant concept cars including: the 1987 Portofino that embodied cab-forward design; the 1991 300 concept, the first of many concepts that hearkened to past Chrysler icons; the 1992 Cirrus that hinted at Chrysler's upcoming midsize cars; and the 1992 Viper.
As part of the Bob Lutz team, Gale oversaw development of the cab-forward LH cars (Concorde, Intrepid), the bold Dodge Ram pickup and the retro PT Cruiser, vehicles that helped Chrysler turn around.
This IS The Best News From Cerebus-Chrysler!
Former Chrysler design god Tom Gale joins Cerberus advisory team
Posted Jun 18th 2007 8:03PM by Chris TutorFiled under: Hirings/Firings, Chrysler
Looks like Cerberus is getting the Chrysler band back together. Automotive News reports (sub. required) that the latest former Chrysler exec to come back is Tom Gale. You probably remember Gale as the force behind Chrysler's design revival in the 90s. Motor Trend recently called Gale "The man who helped Motown find its Mojo," which is hard to argue with when Gale is credited with bringing to life the Viper, Prowler, PT Cruiser and 300M. This should be big news for anyone doubting the buyout by Cerberus. Gale is no bean counter brought in to cut the company to the bone. Gale is one of us. He's a car guy and hot rodder who started at Chrysler in 1968 as an engineer then moved into design. This is a very good sign for the new Chrysler and points to the possibility of amazing products in its future.In fact, in Motor Trend's article (which is definitely worth a read, btw), Gale has a seemingly prescient quote."When you get the opportunity to be head of design, you should always try to get your company to the point where you're being proactive and the others have to react to what you're doing. That gets you design leadership. It's not something you can just proclaim; it's something you have to earn." Welcome back, Tom. We can't wait to see what's up your sleeve.
Posted Jun 18th 2007 8:03PM by Chris TutorFiled under: Hirings/Firings, Chrysler
Looks like Cerberus is getting the Chrysler band back together. Automotive News reports (sub. required) that the latest former Chrysler exec to come back is Tom Gale. You probably remember Gale as the force behind Chrysler's design revival in the 90s. Motor Trend recently called Gale "The man who helped Motown find its Mojo," which is hard to argue with when Gale is credited with bringing to life the Viper, Prowler, PT Cruiser and 300M. This should be big news for anyone doubting the buyout by Cerberus. Gale is no bean counter brought in to cut the company to the bone. Gale is one of us. He's a car guy and hot rodder who started at Chrysler in 1968 as an engineer then moved into design. This is a very good sign for the new Chrysler and points to the possibility of amazing products in its future.In fact, in Motor Trend's article (which is definitely worth a read, btw), Gale has a seemingly prescient quote."When you get the opportunity to be head of design, you should always try to get your company to the point where you're being proactive and the others have to react to what you're doing. That gets you design leadership. It's not something you can just proclaim; it's something you have to earn." Welcome back, Tom. We can't wait to see what's up your sleeve.
Driver Survives A 75G Crash
Kubica's crash data disclosed
By Mathias Brunner and Pablo Elizalde
Wednesday, June 20th 2007, 11:27 GMT
Data from the Robert Kubica's horrific accident during the Canadian Grand Prix has been disclosed, showing the Pole survived a 75-G impact.
Kubica made contact with Toyota's Jarno Trulli when trying to pass the Italian, the BMW Sauber driver losing his front wing and going off track.
Data showed the Pole impacted against the wall at 230 km/h, and the G-forces on Kubica peaked at around 75 G in a millisecond.
The onboard accident data recorder (ADR) is built in the BMW Sauber car, placed behind the driver below the fuel tank. The device, roughly 15 by 15 centimetres big, is capable of logging data from the whole race.
The data was studied at Indianapolis by former Lotus engineer Peter Wright, now head of the FIA safety commission, together with his colleagues Andy Mellor and Hubert Gramling.
A report by them came to the conclusion that all the safety measures - survival cell, enhanced crash boxes, HANS device, cockpit head rest and helmet - worked perfectly.
"While we were completely shocked about the violence of the accident, we were over the moon to see Robert relatively unharmed and were very content about the behaviour of the chassis as survival cell," said BMW Sauber's technical director Willy Rampf.
"We are never doing any compromises regarding the chassis, never going nearly to the limit regarding weight for instance. We stay always on the safe side and that payed off.
"One must not forget that such a cell is quite complex, consisting of over 1,000 parts of carbon fibre, Kevlar, honeycomb structures and metal."
By Mathias Brunner and Pablo Elizalde
Wednesday, June 20th 2007, 11:27 GMT
Data from the Robert Kubica's horrific accident during the Canadian Grand Prix has been disclosed, showing the Pole survived a 75-G impact.
Kubica made contact with Toyota's Jarno Trulli when trying to pass the Italian, the BMW Sauber driver losing his front wing and going off track.
Data showed the Pole impacted against the wall at 230 km/h, and the G-forces on Kubica peaked at around 75 G in a millisecond.
The onboard accident data recorder (ADR) is built in the BMW Sauber car, placed behind the driver below the fuel tank. The device, roughly 15 by 15 centimetres big, is capable of logging data from the whole race.
The data was studied at Indianapolis by former Lotus engineer Peter Wright, now head of the FIA safety commission, together with his colleagues Andy Mellor and Hubert Gramling.
A report by them came to the conclusion that all the safety measures - survival cell, enhanced crash boxes, HANS device, cockpit head rest and helmet - worked perfectly.
"While we were completely shocked about the violence of the accident, we were over the moon to see Robert relatively unharmed and were very content about the behaviour of the chassis as survival cell," said BMW Sauber's technical director Willy Rampf.
"We are never doing any compromises regarding the chassis, never going nearly to the limit regarding weight for instance. We stay always on the safe side and that payed off.
"One must not forget that such a cell is quite complex, consisting of over 1,000 parts of carbon fibre, Kevlar, honeycomb structures and metal."
Wolfy Is Back At Chrysler... and Tom Gale Isn't Far Behind
A Familiar Face Back at Chrysler
How Cerberus Will Employ Bernhard's Strong Hand in Chrysler Turnaround
By GINA CHON May 31, 2007; Page A10
Early this month, as speculation about who would buy DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group intensified, some Chrysler employees spotted a familiar figure striding through the main lobby at the Auburn Hills, Mich., headquarters. Wolfgang Bernhard was back.
In the days since the announcement that Cerberus Capital Management LLP would take an 80.1% stake in Chrysler, Mr. Bernhard, the former No. 2 executive at Chrysler and now a Cerberus adviser, has taken an increasingly visible role at his old employer.
The day after DaimlerChrysler announced its plan to sell a majority stake in Chrysler to Cerberus, Mr. Bernhard was at a meeting with Chrysler Chief Executive Tom LaSorda. The same day, Mr. Bernhard, who was Chrysler's chief operating officer during its turnaround effort earlier in the decade, attended crucial meetings with Chrysler's union leaders, along with Mr. LaSorda and Cerberus founder Stephen Feinberg.
Mr. Bernhard, 46 years old, is making the rounds at Chrysler's design studios, pointing out in detail what he likes and what he doesn't like and doling out assignments to employees the way he used to when he was No. 2 at Chrysler to Dieter Zetsche, now Daimler's chief executive, people familiar with the matter said.
Company officials have stressed that Mr. LaSorda will remain chief executive. Mr. Bernhard, however, is poised to have a prominent role, as well. A person familiar with the matter says he will answer to Mr. Feinberg, not Mr. LaSorda, on Chrysler's performance. Mr. Bernhard already has an office on the executive floor at Chrysler's headquarters.
RIDING SHOTGUN?
• Familiar Face: Chrysler alumnus Wolfgang Bernhard, now a Cerberus adviser, has a key role at Chrysler.
• At the Top: Officials stress that Tom LaSorda will remain CEO, but he will work closely with Mr. Bernhard.
• Getting Along: Observers say two executives in lead roles could be a challenge, but their skills may also complement each other.
Mr. Bernhard isn't a "background kind of guy," says Canadian Auto Workers union President Buzz Hargrove, who praises Mr. Bernhard as straightforward, bright and tough. "He was always good to deal with because you could always hold him to his word and if he said a problem would be solved, it would get solved," Mr. Hargrove said.
Many at Chrysler, including Mr. LaSorda, who worked under Mr. Bernhard in the past, say they welcome his return. Whether the smooth sailing will last remains to be seen, especially if Mr. LaSorda's restructuring plan fails to deliver better financial results fast enough. Chrysler had a $1.48 billion operating loss last year as it grappled with a consumer shift to more-fuel-efficient cars and high costs in North America, and it projects it will return 2.5% profit on sales by 2009, which Mr. LaSorda has acknowledged is a modest goal.
Messrs. Bernhard and LaSorda weren't available for comment for this article.
Cerberus and Chrysler have made it a point to emphasize that Mr. LaSorda is in charge at Chrysler, trying to quash speculation that Mr. Bernhard could take over his job. Mr. Bernhard won't be a part of Chrysler's executive team, the company says.
Cerberus is known for expecting fast turnarounds, and a person familiar with the matter said Mr. Bernhard will help keep the pressure on Mr. LaSorda and other Chrysler executives to bring Chrysler back in the black.
Catherine Madden, a senior auto analyst with research company Global Insight, said Messrs. LaSorda and Bernhard may establish a nontraditional relationship at Chrysler, which could work to their advantage. She noted that at General Motors Corp., Vice Chairman Bob Lutz is in the media spotlight as often as Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner. But the roles of Mr. Lutz and Mr. Wagoner are clear, with one being a product guru and the other a finance man.
Messrs. LaSorda and Bernhard also have complementary attributes, with Mr. LaSorda having a strong manufacturing background and Mr. Bernhard having a knack for products.
Ms. Madden said if it appears the two men share leadership roles, it would present a challenge, as employees need to know who is in charge and have confidence in that person. The situation must not deteriorate "into a challenge between the two people. Only time will tell if this can last."
Mr. LaSorda said this month that he and Mr. Bernhard are close friends and it would be "crazy not to tap him," given his experience and talents when it comes to product development, cost cutting and operations. Mr. LaSorda also said he doesn't have an ego when it comes to asking for help when it is needed, and he will look to Mr. Bernhard when he wants his assistance.
"I've got a great bench at my disposal," Mr. LaSorda said.
Mr. Bernhard was hired by Cerberus this year following a turbulent three-year period during which he sought to lead wrenching overhauls at two storied auto makers, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen, only to be forced out after clashes with his superiors.
In 2004, DaimlerChrysler named Mr. Bernhard head of Mercedes. The company rescinded the appointment three months later, after Mr. Bernhard clashed with then-CEO Jürgen Schrempp over corporate strategy. Mr. Bernhard left the company later that year.
Mr. Bernhard then went to Volkswagen AG to eventually become head of the core Volkswagen brand. At Volkswagen, Mr. Bernhard persuaded the company's powerful German union to accept a 20% wage cut for some workers by threatening to shift production of a planned sport-utility vehicle outside Germany. VW Chief Executive Bernd Pischetsrieder, who had backed Mr. Bernhard, was pushed out late last year, and Mr. Bernhard followed in January.
Now, Mr. Bernhard could get an opportunity to prove himself again, albeit in a different role. When Mr. Bernhard was at Chrysler the first time, he and Mr. Zetsche helped lead a turnaround that for a time appeared to prove that a big Detroit auto maker could overcome the handicaps of high-cost labor and weak brands with a combination of aggressive cost cutting and smart, stylish vehicles. The Chrysler 300 sedan, brought out on Mr. Zetsche's and Mr. Bernhard's watch, was a runaway hit.
The success proved fleeting, and the company was back in the red in 2003 and again in 2006.
This month, Mr. LaSorda acknowledged that the pressure is on to produce a durable, sustainable recovery at Chrysler, a challenge that has eluded leaders of the company since Lee Iacocca. Mr. LaSorda says he and Cerberus have faith in his restructuring plan that calls for 13,000 job cuts and a $3 billion investment in engine systems. Mr. LaSorda has also said he knows his job could be in danger if he doesn't produce results, but he said that would be the case no matter who owned Chrysler.
"They [Cerberus] have deep pockets, but we've got to deliver," Mr. LaSorda said at a news conference.
Write to Gina Chon at gina.chon@wsj.com1
URL for this article:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118057383970719451.html
Hyperlinks in this Article:(1) mailto:gina.chon@wsj.com
How Cerberus Will Employ Bernhard's Strong Hand in Chrysler Turnaround
By GINA CHON May 31, 2007; Page A10
Early this month, as speculation about who would buy DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group intensified, some Chrysler employees spotted a familiar figure striding through the main lobby at the Auburn Hills, Mich., headquarters. Wolfgang Bernhard was back.
In the days since the announcement that Cerberus Capital Management LLP would take an 80.1% stake in Chrysler, Mr. Bernhard, the former No. 2 executive at Chrysler and now a Cerberus adviser, has taken an increasingly visible role at his old employer.
The day after DaimlerChrysler announced its plan to sell a majority stake in Chrysler to Cerberus, Mr. Bernhard was at a meeting with Chrysler Chief Executive Tom LaSorda. The same day, Mr. Bernhard, who was Chrysler's chief operating officer during its turnaround effort earlier in the decade, attended crucial meetings with Chrysler's union leaders, along with Mr. LaSorda and Cerberus founder Stephen Feinberg.
Mr. Bernhard, 46 years old, is making the rounds at Chrysler's design studios, pointing out in detail what he likes and what he doesn't like and doling out assignments to employees the way he used to when he was No. 2 at Chrysler to Dieter Zetsche, now Daimler's chief executive, people familiar with the matter said.
Company officials have stressed that Mr. LaSorda will remain chief executive. Mr. Bernhard, however, is poised to have a prominent role, as well. A person familiar with the matter says he will answer to Mr. Feinberg, not Mr. LaSorda, on Chrysler's performance. Mr. Bernhard already has an office on the executive floor at Chrysler's headquarters.
RIDING SHOTGUN?
• Familiar Face: Chrysler alumnus Wolfgang Bernhard, now a Cerberus adviser, has a key role at Chrysler.
• At the Top: Officials stress that Tom LaSorda will remain CEO, but he will work closely with Mr. Bernhard.
• Getting Along: Observers say two executives in lead roles could be a challenge, but their skills may also complement each other.
Mr. Bernhard isn't a "background kind of guy," says Canadian Auto Workers union President Buzz Hargrove, who praises Mr. Bernhard as straightforward, bright and tough. "He was always good to deal with because you could always hold him to his word and if he said a problem would be solved, it would get solved," Mr. Hargrove said.
Many at Chrysler, including Mr. LaSorda, who worked under Mr. Bernhard in the past, say they welcome his return. Whether the smooth sailing will last remains to be seen, especially if Mr. LaSorda's restructuring plan fails to deliver better financial results fast enough. Chrysler had a $1.48 billion operating loss last year as it grappled with a consumer shift to more-fuel-efficient cars and high costs in North America, and it projects it will return 2.5% profit on sales by 2009, which Mr. LaSorda has acknowledged is a modest goal.
Messrs. Bernhard and LaSorda weren't available for comment for this article.
Cerberus and Chrysler have made it a point to emphasize that Mr. LaSorda is in charge at Chrysler, trying to quash speculation that Mr. Bernhard could take over his job. Mr. Bernhard won't be a part of Chrysler's executive team, the company says.
Cerberus is known for expecting fast turnarounds, and a person familiar with the matter said Mr. Bernhard will help keep the pressure on Mr. LaSorda and other Chrysler executives to bring Chrysler back in the black.
Catherine Madden, a senior auto analyst with research company Global Insight, said Messrs. LaSorda and Bernhard may establish a nontraditional relationship at Chrysler, which could work to their advantage. She noted that at General Motors Corp., Vice Chairman Bob Lutz is in the media spotlight as often as Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner. But the roles of Mr. Lutz and Mr. Wagoner are clear, with one being a product guru and the other a finance man.
Messrs. LaSorda and Bernhard also have complementary attributes, with Mr. LaSorda having a strong manufacturing background and Mr. Bernhard having a knack for products.
Ms. Madden said if it appears the two men share leadership roles, it would present a challenge, as employees need to know who is in charge and have confidence in that person. The situation must not deteriorate "into a challenge between the two people. Only time will tell if this can last."
Mr. LaSorda said this month that he and Mr. Bernhard are close friends and it would be "crazy not to tap him," given his experience and talents when it comes to product development, cost cutting and operations. Mr. LaSorda also said he doesn't have an ego when it comes to asking for help when it is needed, and he will look to Mr. Bernhard when he wants his assistance.
"I've got a great bench at my disposal," Mr. LaSorda said.
Mr. Bernhard was hired by Cerberus this year following a turbulent three-year period during which he sought to lead wrenching overhauls at two storied auto makers, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen, only to be forced out after clashes with his superiors.
In 2004, DaimlerChrysler named Mr. Bernhard head of Mercedes. The company rescinded the appointment three months later, after Mr. Bernhard clashed with then-CEO Jürgen Schrempp over corporate strategy. Mr. Bernhard left the company later that year.
Mr. Bernhard then went to Volkswagen AG to eventually become head of the core Volkswagen brand. At Volkswagen, Mr. Bernhard persuaded the company's powerful German union to accept a 20% wage cut for some workers by threatening to shift production of a planned sport-utility vehicle outside Germany. VW Chief Executive Bernd Pischetsrieder, who had backed Mr. Bernhard, was pushed out late last year, and Mr. Bernhard followed in January.
Now, Mr. Bernhard could get an opportunity to prove himself again, albeit in a different role. When Mr. Bernhard was at Chrysler the first time, he and Mr. Zetsche helped lead a turnaround that for a time appeared to prove that a big Detroit auto maker could overcome the handicaps of high-cost labor and weak brands with a combination of aggressive cost cutting and smart, stylish vehicles. The Chrysler 300 sedan, brought out on Mr. Zetsche's and Mr. Bernhard's watch, was a runaway hit.
The success proved fleeting, and the company was back in the red in 2003 and again in 2006.
This month, Mr. LaSorda acknowledged that the pressure is on to produce a durable, sustainable recovery at Chrysler, a challenge that has eluded leaders of the company since Lee Iacocca. Mr. LaSorda says he and Cerberus have faith in his restructuring plan that calls for 13,000 job cuts and a $3 billion investment in engine systems. Mr. LaSorda has also said he knows his job could be in danger if he doesn't produce results, but he said that would be the case no matter who owned Chrysler.
"They [Cerberus] have deep pockets, but we've got to deliver," Mr. LaSorda said at a news conference.
Write to Gina Chon at gina.chon@wsj.com1
URL for this article:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118057383970719451.html
Hyperlinks in this Article:(1) mailto:gina.chon@wsj.com
Viper Owner Loses Car For Speeding Violation
Good bye baby: Speeder pays ultimate price, loses Viper
Posted Jun 23rd 2007 9:34AM by Chris ShunkFiled under: Convertibles, Coupes, Government/Legal, Supercars, Dodge
If you're going to wrecklessly disregard traffic laws in the state of Illinois, make sure to do it in a Dodge Stratus.
The driver of a black 2000 Dodge Viper learned this lesson the hard way when he was clocked doing 127 MPH in a 35 zone. The clueless motorist was caught red-handed, but he decided that his 450 HP beast was quick enough to evade the long arm of the law. The driver then hid in a parking lot where he was later captured. The local law enforcement knows a compromising situation when they see one, so the fuzz decided to keep the pricey snake for their own as a promotional vehicle for D.A.R.E.
This is no doubt an extremely steep price to pay for a moving violation, but since the driver of the Viper disregarded the lives of others during the chase, the consequences could've been far worse.
[Source: Motor Authority]
Posted Jun 23rd 2007 9:34AM by Chris ShunkFiled under: Convertibles, Coupes, Government/Legal, Supercars, Dodge
If you're going to wrecklessly disregard traffic laws in the state of Illinois, make sure to do it in a Dodge Stratus.
The driver of a black 2000 Dodge Viper learned this lesson the hard way when he was clocked doing 127 MPH in a 35 zone. The clueless motorist was caught red-handed, but he decided that his 450 HP beast was quick enough to evade the long arm of the law. The driver then hid in a parking lot where he was later captured. The local law enforcement knows a compromising situation when they see one, so the fuzz decided to keep the pricey snake for their own as a promotional vehicle for D.A.R.E.
This is no doubt an extremely steep price to pay for a moving violation, but since the driver of the Viper disregarded the lives of others during the chase, the consequences could've been far worse.
[Source: Motor Authority]