Magneto What?

Posted on Feb 2, 2016 in Technology | 2 comments

That was the first thought I had when my husband and I were having a conversation the other night about the 2012 Chevy Camaro ZL1 and he told me about the Magnetorheological shocks. So, before I could even begin to look at the mechanics of the shocks, I had to learn how to say it. I watched the test track video about the shocks numerous times before...

Breadvan ‘Bird: Remembering Pontiac’s Firebird Type K

Posted on Jan 22, 2016 in Featured | 2 comments

The Pontiac-built 1977 Firebird Type K. Fifty-eight years after production ended, Chevrolet’s two-door wagon, the Nomad, remains sought-after by collectors. In the decades since, GM has tried on at least three occasions to revive the idea, using the F-body platform to create midsize two-door wagons based upon the Chevrolet Camaro or the Pontiac Firebird. None...

Florida, New York, Detroit, Stuttgart, and Pfaffenhausen

Posted on Jan 19, 2016 in Racing | 2 comments

The state of Florida came up with a good way to spend its DOE stimulus money ($500,000), but only one company (A123Systems) will be the beneficiary. The state is offering $5,000 rebates toToyota Prius owners to convert their plain-jane hybrids into plug-ins using that company’s Hymotion conversion kits. The rebate just about cuts in half the cost of the 5-kwh...

Mid-Engine Corvette Closer Than Ever

Posted on Jan 15, 2016 in Editorials | 2 comments

It is no secret that GM has flirted with mid-engine Corvettes for decades. Until now, the company has lacked the motivation, consensus, and/or resources to move to a mid-engine layout. However, this is the new GM. The feds are no longer calling the shots and the General has been upstaged by Ford for too long. GM now possesses the financial wherewithal, control,...

Hindustan Ambassador, Good Design Since 1948

Posted on Jan 8, 2016 in Antique | Comments Off on Hindustan Ambassador, Good Design Since 1948

Make a list of the best car designs in automotive history and I bet it will include the VW Beetle, the Land Rover and the Jaguar E-Type. One car that would be missing is the subject of today’s discussion, and it will be very familiar to our readers from India. The Hindustan Ambassador was introduced in 1948 before India’s independence and remains in production...

HID Headlights: Positives and Negatives to Consider Before Installing

Posted on Jan 6, 2016 in Technology | 1 comment

High Intensity Discharge headlights, popularly known as HIDs, have become all the rage amongst car enthusiasts, and for good reason. HIDs have plenty of substantial performance and style benefits that many drivers can take easy advantage of, but at the same time, these headlight upgrades certainly aren’t for everyone. To help you decide whether an HID...

Bad Driving and What, If Anything, to Do About It

Posted on Jan 4, 2016 in Safety | 1 comment

Oh boy, another lecture on distracted driving and texting. Well, this one’s a little bit different. I want to talk about how bad driving is part of the culture in most every country—and suggest that there’s only one way to fix it. Texting and cell phone use in cars seem to be slightly on the decline in the U.S., and maybe that’s due to all the publicity, maybe...

Only one lost wheelcover and one attempt on my life so far…

Posted on Dec 18, 2015 in Featured | 2 comments

While the AMX has occupied hallowed ground in one half of my garage since I bought my house, the other half has seen a rotating cast of assorted projects—an MG Midget, a Crosley, a mystery streamliner, an AMC Eagle station wagon—that might have kept our daily drivers out in the rain and snow but ultimately never panned out. My latest acquisition, though,...

The World in Cars: Volvo, Yugo and Schumacher

Posted on Dec 13, 2015 in Racing | Comments Off on The World in Cars: Volvo, Yugo and Schumacher

Volvo C70I’m consistently struck by how globally oriented the auto industry has become. Reading the news this morning was a further education in that trend, with stories about: Ford and Geely coming to agreement on the sale of Volvo, Fiat taking over the old Yugo factory in Serbia, and of course Michael Schumachercoming out of retirement to race again (this one...

For Garmin GPS, Jedi Master Yoda Voice App is Prepared!

Posted on Dec 12, 2015 in Technology | 1 comment

Living in a wonderful era where even the most basic piece of technology can be tailored to capture personality, part of this expression has included a growing series of celebrity and character voices available for in-car GPS devices from TomTom and Garmin. For the Garmin devices, the superiority of the electronic navigation marketplace was thrown to the path of...

Burnt Benzes in Berlin; Unrepaired Cars Here

Posted on Dec 8, 2015 in Safety | 1 comment

We haven’t had real protests in this country since the Vietnam War days. Other countries are much quicker to take their political discontents to the streets. In Berlin, symbols of Fat Cat wealth—mostly Mercedes, BMWs and Audis—have been going up in flames. This year alone, some 138 have been burnt, double last year’s number. In the 2009 recession, 221 cars were...

Car Design as Art, Figoni & Falaschi

Posted on Dec 7, 2015 in Antique | Comments Off on Car Design as Art, Figoni & Falaschi

I have always considered the “Golden Age” of car design to be the period of the 1920’s and 30’s. Sure, the 1950’s were great, with the introduction of the fin, huge chrome grilles and the beginning of the rocket age look, but true custom car design was at its peak during the time of the great coachbuilders, and the most flamboyant of the lot were the French....

The Accord at Thirty (Thousand Miles)

Posted on Nov 30, 2015 in Editorials | 1 comment

Twenty-three months ago, your humble author did what virtually nobody in this auto-journo game does — I went out and paid my own money for a thoroughly mass-market, middle-of-the-road vehicle. In just seven months, my 2014 Accord V6 Coupe 6MT and I made it to twelve thousand miles. Starting this spring, the pace at which I put miles on the big Honda slackened...