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Land-Locked Swiss Invent Underwater Car

GENEVA -- A Swiss design company has invented a car that runs on land and underwater, according to the Associated Press.

It's called the "sQuba," and conjures up memories of James Bond's amphibious Lotus Esprit from "The Spy Who Loved Me."

The concept car - which unlike Bond's is not armed - was developed by Swiss designer Rinspeed Inc. and is set to make a splash at the Geneva Auto Show next month.

The sQuba can plow through the water at a depth of 30 feet and has electrical motors to turn the underwater screw. For safety reasons, car has an open top, meaning that the two passengers have to wear wetsuits

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 4:09 PM to Fun | Permalink | Comments 0

Nascar’s Screech and Slam? It’s All Aerodynamics

To prepare the drivers for the “Car of Tomorrow” being introduced at the 50th running of the Daytona 500 this Sunday — billed with characteristic stock car understatement as “the Most Anticipated Event in Racing History” — the racing teams’ engineers have spent the winter testing their versions of the new car in wind tunnels and running huge computer simulations called C.F.D.’s (for computational fluid dynamics).

To understand what is happening on the track and in the garage here at Daytona, you need either a crash course in aerodynamics or the guidance of Dr. Leslie-Pelecky and her new book, “The Physics of Nascar," according to The New York Times.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 10:43 AM to Racing | Permalink | Comments 0

Repo lots overflow with reclaimed cars

So many vehicles are being snatched from owners who stop making payments that some repo operators and auto auctioneers say lots are overflowing, according to USA Today.

Car and truck repossessions this year are headed for the highest level in at least a decade, thanks to easy credit and a faltering economy, said Thomas Webb, chief economist for a unit of Atlanta-based Manheim, one of the largest wholesale auto auction services.

This year's predicted 10% rise in vehicle repos to 1.6 million would be a third higher than 10 years ago, he said. The increase comes atop a 10% rise in repos last year.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 10:24 AM to Sales | Permalink | Comments 0

Back Seat Driver: Seven-year car loans smell of huckterism

One of my father’s favorite expressions was ‘Nothing in this world is free.’

Wise words that reflect proverbial wisdom going back centuries. And words we love to forget.

Take the recent development of automakers offering car loans spread over seven years or longer. Yes, the payments are lower but as James Healey points out in USA Today, vehicles lose half their value in three years and trading one in at that time on a seven-year loan means significant debt is still outstanding.

That means people will either hold off on buying new cars or take on more debt.

Option 1 is not good for future sales and Option 2 just adds more debt onto consumers already saddled with high levels of credit card and mortgage debt.

I mean, help me out here. Are we not in the middle of a financial meltdown due in large part to “sub-prime mortgages” going belly up? Those are the house loans made to folks who were not eligible to take on the financial responsibility they signed up for.

But they did not buy the mortgages in a vacuum. They were sold the mortgages by people who in many cases knew the loans could go bad. Indeed, many of the loans were structured to take advantage of ill-informed people who signed up for low initial payments only to be hit be massive increases a few years down the road.

There is another word for this type of seling: hucksterism. And huckstering is a fine American tradition. Indeed, some of the funniest passages in “Huckleberry Finn” describe the shenanigans of two hilarious hucksters – the duke and the king - who try to take advantage of country folk by pretending to be European royalty.

And it seems to me that with seven-year car loans we have yet another example of hucksterism - in this case, of presenting debt as affordable and pain free.

So long as you don’t look at it too closely and the implications down the road.

- Peter C. T. Elsworth

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 11:46 AM to commentary | Permalink | Comments 0

GM's strides not enough

Despite a historic new labor agreement, a garage full of new products and $9 billion in cost-cutting over the last two years, General Motors' release of its worst-ever annual financial results Tuesday shows that its North America division is still struggling to post the profits that Wall Street expects, according to The Detroit Free Press.

GM Chief Financial Officer Fritz Henderson acknowledged "there are still a number of near-term challenges," but overall he seemed positive about the progress GM has been making.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 11:43 AM to GM | Permalink | Comments 0

Back Seat Driver: Tough times for auto industry

No doubt about it, these are very tough times for the auto industry.

Especially the domestics.

Take General Motors which today announced a loss of $722 million for the fourth quarter – but that was peanuts compared to the $39 billion loss it reported in the third quarter for unused tax credits. It also announced a buyout program to all its 74,000 workers.

For the year, the company reported a loss of $38.7 billion and does not see making any serious money until 2010.

Meanwhile, newly private Chrysler is in the midst of a massive restructuring that includes buying out workers, consolidating its dealerships and cutting the number of its models.

Ford is also buying out workers and consolidating the number of its dealerships as well as negotiating the sale of its Jaguar and Land Rover brands to Tata Motors of India. And it is reported to be interested in selling its Volvo brand.

All this against a backdrop of January sales that stunk – 15.8 million vehicles versus 16.3 million last January. Indeed, out of the six largest auto makers, only GM had higher sales (up 2.6 percent), according to Automotive News.

All the rest were down; Chrysler -12.1 percent, Ford -3.9 percent, Honda -2.3 percent, Nissan -7.3 percent and Toyota – 2.3 percent.

Automakers are hoping the recent cuts in interest rates and the tax rebates from the economic stimulus package will come to the rescue. Let’s hope they do.

- Peter C. T. Elsworth

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 6:05 PM to Auto industry | Permalink | Comments 0

High-Tech Invitations Take Your Mind Off Road

Motorists have always engaged in risky behavior, whether it is eating a sandwich, arguing with a spouse, applying makeup or studying a map while speeding down the interstate.

But safety experts say the influx of electronics is turning cars into sometimes chaotic — and distracting — moving family rooms, according to The New York Times.

Talking on cellphones and typing text messages while driving has already led to bans in many states. But now auto companies, likening their latest models to living rooms on the road, are turning cars into cocoons of communication systems and high-tech entertainment.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 2:58 PM to Safety | Permalink | Comments 0

Thieves targeting catalytic converters in Rhode Island

Catalytic converter thefts, once unheard of, are happening with regularity across Rhode Island, and the nation, according to The Providence Journal.

Platinum and other precious metals coat the composite materials inside catalytic converters, which make gases such as carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide less harmful. The devices are a required exhaust-system component for the majority of SUVs, trucks and automobiles on the road.

With metal prices spiking this winter, some scrap yards will buy a converter for as much as $150. And victims can pay as much as $1,000 in parts and labor to replace the device.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 1:25 PM to crime | Permalink | Comments 0

Gas prices in Rhode Island on the decline

For the first time since November, the average price of gasoline in Rhode Island has dipped below $3 a gallon. But the reprieve may be temporary with oil prices rising the past few days and the annual spring run-up just around the corner, according to The Providence Journal.

The average price of regular, self-serve gasoline was $2.999 a gallon yesterday, down 4 cents from last week, according to a survey of local dealers by the state’s Office of Energy Resources.

The average price has fallen 16 cents from its most recent peak of $3.159 a gallon on Jan. 7.

Home-heating oil rose 2 cents a gallon to $3.329 a gallon, according to the Office of Energy Resources, 10 cents below the all-time high of $3.429 a gallon, also on Jan. 7.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 9:58 AM to Gas prices | Permalink | Comments 0

Video: The Tata Nano from India

Check out this Associated Press video of the world's cheapest car, the Tata Nano from India.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 2:02 PM to India | Permalink | Comments 0

Back Seat Driver: "Goldfinger" is a showcase for 1960s cars

Hey, guess what I watched this weekend? That old chestnut James Bond movie “Goldfinger” which I first saw in 1965 (when I was 15) and which is a great movie if you are interested in cars from that era.

Of course, everyone is familiar with the silver Aston Martin DB5, armed to the teeth and the most famous of Bond cars. Equally famous is the yellow and black 1937 Rolls Royce Phantom III Sedance de Ville which Goldfinger has fabricated in gold and then driven to Switzerland to have melted down.

But how about the white 1965 Ford Mustang convertible which gets in a driving duel with Bond in his DB5 on alpine roads with hairpin turns? It was Mustang’s debut on the silver screen. Or the white 1964 Ford Thunderbird which CIA agent Felix Leiter and his partner drive around?

Watching the Bond movies now, as I have occasionally with my 14-year old stepson Pat, they seem more quaint than cutting edge, more comic book than real.

But to an adolescent then (and now), it was mesmerizing.

The success of the Bond movies, especially the first three – “Dr. No,” “From Russia With Love,” and “Goldfinger” were partly due to the inimitable Sean Connery who, as a Scot from the wrong side of the railroad tracks is the only Bond who seems to have been able to give and take a beating, and partly due to the exotic locales – Jamaica, Istanbul (where Bond has figs and yoghurt for breakfast, foods no one had heard of back in the 1960s), Venice, Miami Beach, Switzerland and Kentucky.

Other gorgeous vehicles in Goldfinger include a red 1964 Ford Country Squire station wagon and a 1964 Lincoln Continental convertible sedan.

Then there is the Lincoln Continental sedan that Oddjob uses to drive a mobster to “the airport.” Instead he shoots him and delivers the body and car to a scrap yard which proceeds to crush the car into a cube. The cube is then deposited onto the flatbed of a green 1964 Ford Ranchero – which in real life would have been crushed by the load!

And in the background all through the movie, all sorts of cars and trucks so remote from today they might as well be horse-drawn carriages.

- Peter C. T. Elsworth

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 11:21 AM to commentary | Permalink | Comments 0

Tasca makes it to second round of NHRA Winternationals

POMONA, Calif., – It may not have been a race win for Bob Tasca III and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Shelby Mustang team on Sunday, but qualifying for the race and advancing to the second round of the NHRA Winternationals was a victory for the entire team, according to a news statement from Tasca.

“It’s a huge win for us,” said Tasca of his first NHRA Nitro Funny Car weekend. “To qualify at the Winternationals and to win in the first round and go out there and make a strong pass in the second round is just awesome.”

Tasca faced Ashley Force in the second round of competition and put together a 4.955 second, 310.63 mph run, but reached the finish line just .082 of a second behind Force.

“Our second run was just a little bit too conservative for what we thought the race track would hold, but it was awesome to race against such a great competitor like Ashley Force.”

Tasca was the No. 14 qualifier for the race, which put him alongside fellow rookie, Melanie Troxel, in the first round. The 2008 Rookie-of-the-Year contender earned his spot in the second round after posting a 5.235 second, 225.97 mph winning run against Troxel.

“That was exciting,” said Tasca after his first round win. “To qualify for Pomona and to win the first round is just amazing. We spun the tires up at the top end and I didn’t see her, so I pedaled it and it we made it through. This is just so incredible for our team and for Motorcraft and Quick Lane.”

Tasca’s rise into the nitro ranks after running in the Top Alcohol Funny Car class has been a quick one, having earned his license just over a week ago.

“To come here after only starting this program in November and to struggle the way that we did in Phoenix, is just such a credit to my team. There were a lot of question marks on our team and I’m sure a lot of people probably didn’t give us too much of a chance.

"I’m just real proud of the whole program and my two crew chiefs Mike [Kloeber] and Chris [Cunningham] and all the guys that work 15 hours a day to get this thing to go up and down that track. It’s quite an accomplishment for our team.”

“It takes the top 10 drivers to run for the championship, and that’s our goal’ said Tasca. “With these guys behind me, anything is possible.”

Tasca returns to the site where he earned his nitro license as the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series heads to Firebird International Raceway Feb. 22-24 for round two of the 2008 season.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 10:38 AM to Racing | Permalink | Comments 0