Our Fuel Economy Standards and Tradeoffs

Posted on Apr 14, 2017 in Safety | 2 comments

Honda CRX: the next economy car? As fuel economy becomes a top concern of car buyers, confusion predominates over how it’s measured and how best to achieve it. I don’t know a way through this morass (who does?), but a return to some basic principles of physics in auto design might help. The EPA over time has developed a complex set of rules and testing...

Chrysler’s “Customer Driveaway” Tag

Posted on Apr 14, 2017 in Featured | 2 comments

Eccentricities regarding our vintage cars make them all the more interesting to discuss. Once you have thoroughly gone over the color combination, trim, drivetrain equipment, options, documentation and overall condition, little things like unique tags and markings keep the adventure alive. This came to mind when I photographed and wrote a drive report on a 1954...

GM Offers Remedy to Chevrolet Volt Post-Crash Fire Threat

Posted on Apr 9, 2017 in Technology | 1 comment

As one of the most important auto shows of the year takes place in Detroit, the need for brands to create a meaningful impression on the forward-thinking automotive market is paramount. For at least one company, their work in acquainting customers to once advanced producted started a week earlier. Prior to showcasing this year’s automotive innovations, General...

Massachusetts Miracle

Posted on Mar 31, 2017 in Antique | Comments Off on Massachusetts Miracle

“And this is good old Boston, the home of the bean and the cod, where the Lowells talk only to Cabots, and the Cabots talk only to God. – John Collins Bossidy Many of my readers will know I live in the United States, but less will know that I am from Massachusetts. My state is a smaller, but important one on the East Coast, affectionately called “The Hub of the...

LEDs: Lights of the Future or Just Another Driving Distraction?

Posted on Mar 15, 2017 in Safety | 1 comment

The image that started the LED revolution Audi changed the automotive world. It didn’t do it with a revolutionary new engine or by using a new lighter-than-steel chassis. It did it with light. A glaring, menacing light that etched its way into our psyches after emerging from a darkened room on an Audi R8. From the instant those LED strips lit up, the...

There’s only one original Mad Max Interceptor and it’s not in Australia

Posted on Mar 10, 2017 in Featured | 2 comments

With Mad Max: Fury Road opening at theaters everywhere this weekend, we thought it appropriate to run a piece on the real star of the first two movies. This article comes to us from Myles Kornblatt, curator, Miami Auto Museum at the Dezer Collection. Myles contributes to multiple publications as well as AutoMinded.com. “She the last of the V-8s. She sucks...

The Three Best Car Videos of the Week

Posted on Mar 2, 2017 in Racing | Comments Off on The Three Best Car Videos of the Week

Koenigsegg Trevita CCXR Jay Leno, or “Perma-Denim Jay” as I like to call him, is one lucky man. He only needs one outfit, and he has a garage full of some of the most sought-after cars in the world. What a life! He even gets to drive supercars he doesn’t own on segments of his show. I’m not talkin’ The Tonight Show here, I’m talkin’ the infinitely more...

You Get One Guess As To Where ‘TEXAS EDITION’ Badges Come From — And I’m Going To Give You One Of Them

Posted on Feb 21, 2017 in Editorials | 1 comment

If loving Texas is Rong, I don’t want to be right. I’m referring, of course, to my pal Blake Z. Rong, who currently lives in, and sort of loves, the Lone Star State. One of the best (or worst) parts of living in Texas is the unhealthy codependency between the people who live there and the trucks they can barely afford and never use for trucky things but insist...

A Pack of Packard

Posted on Feb 18, 2017 in Antique | Comments Off on A Pack of Packard

“Some people think luxury is the opposite of poverty. It is not, it is the opposite of vulgarity.” – Coco Chanel It is strangely ironic that one of the most desirable cars for the Concours scene is also one of the most forgotten by the public at large. Those swanky competitions at Amelia Island and Pebble Beach are generally awash with Packard motorcars, while...

Racing Heroes – Junior Johnson

Posted on Feb 17, 2017 in Featured | 2 comments

Junior Johnson at the Riverside 500 in 1965. Photos courtesy Ford Motorsport, unless otherwise indicated. Editor’s note: This piece comes to us from new Hemmings contributor Steve Thomas. Ripping down a barely-paved county road in the mountains of North Carolina with revenue agents closing in isn’t what you’d typically think of as training for one of American...

GE Wattstation EV Charger Now Selling on Amazon

Posted on Feb 13, 2017 in Technology | 2 comments

Saddled with the high upfront costs currently attached to the early electric production cars, the new driving lifestyle will drastically affect the refueling environment for consumers. Whether a full EV (electric vehicle or a plug-in hybrid model, charging of a vehicle’s battery pack will see private parking lots or garage become an active hub for the...

Keyless Entry: Convenience or Invitation to Hackers?

Posted on Feb 8, 2017 in Safety | Comments Off on Keyless Entry: Convenience or Invitation to Hackers?

The following thoughts are occasioned by a recent trip to Boston, during which I drove my nephew’s Mazda CX-9. Beautiful car, with all the goodies, including keyless entry and auto-start. My first thought was how hackable that thing was. Hacking keyless entry to unlock and start cars has become all the rage, even in Africa. A rash ofcar thefts in Rustenburg,...

Former Studebaker assembly plant begins $17 million transformation into high-tech center

Posted on Jan 22, 2017 in Featured | 2 comments

Renderings by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture. As early as this fall, new tenants could start moving into the last remaining Studebaker assembly building in South Bend, and though the new resident may not have anything at all to do with the auto industry, the owner of the massive building has said he plans to keep its history in mind during its...