Consumer Reports Names Most Economical Cars

Consumer Reports has named it’s most economical vehicles for 2009.  In a sad note for US automakers, they are not represented be even a single car on the list.  That’s 0 for 41 for those of you counting.  Not to break off into a different subject, but this could be part of the reason that US car companies struggle!  When not a single car that you make is viewed as economical you are going to struggle to move units, but I digress…
The car that came in at the top spot of most economical vehicles is the Toyota Prius Touring.  Even Read the Rest…

Cars Frozen to Street in Detroit

Here’s a story that you can bet the insurance companies are taking some interest in.  It appears that a leaky faucet at a nearby house has spilled out onto the street literally freezing cars to the road.  According to http://www.msnbc.msn.com/ car owners feel helpless and have no real recourse at the moment:

“NewsChannel5’s Detroit sister station, city crews are using a shovel and a pick to try to pry the vehicles frozen in place in the neighborhood of Whitaker and Green on Detroit’s southwest side. And the owners of the cars don’t know what to do.
Officials said a faucet from a house Read the Rest…

13 Year-Old Steals Bus…Destroys Everything in Sight

For the life of me I don’t know what is getting into kids these days.  Recently we reported on a story involving a young boy who decided to drive himself to school by stealing his parents car, eventually wrecking out before he could get the school breakfast he was so eager to consume.  That child was a big fan of the game Grand Theft Auto, but a new story coming oout of China can not be explained by our children’s desire to play violent driving games.  Apparently a 13 year old Chinese boy decided to drive a bus crashing it into Read the Rest…

Central Park Sees String of Car Fires

Something is on fire in New York Cities Central Park?  You don’t say!  Well this time instead of the fire coming from homeless people standing around a 60 gallon oil drum warming their hands, the source is instead cars that have been set ablaze.  According to http://www.nytimes.com/ they aren’t even sure if the fires are related:
“Four cars have caught on fire near Central Park in the past two weeks and fire officials are investigating whether the blazes may be related, the authorities said on Wednesday.”
That’s what I love about New York City.  Four cars catch fire in two weeks and Read the Rest…

It’s Not the Jetson’s Car, but it’s Close

Aptera is a little known auto producer that is looking to make a big splash in the electric car market with their new design.  The car looks a little something like a space ship or, failing that, it at least looks like it could take off and fly you to your destination.  Aptera is banking on gas prices rising to the point where their vehicle will look ever more attractive, according to uk.reuters.com:
“It doesn’t matter if gasoline is $2 or $4 a gallon, you are still going to be buying a lot less when you buy our vehicle,” Wilbur said.
Read the Rest…

You Are Running Out of Options

I remember hearing years ago that certain high end performance cars, like the Ferrari, for whatever reason had little or no options on the inside.  Rumors of string used to open doors abounded and certainly nothing to be said for cup holders.  Whether there is any validity to this claim I cannot say as Ferrari’s are a bit out of my price range (and my tastes.)  That said, thought it may not be true for super performance cars, it may be true soon enough for that Ford Mustang you were thinking about buying.
It seems that US automakers are taking a Read the Rest…

Tesla To Build Factory in CA

It seems that Tesla motor company will, or perhaps I should say “might”, be building a new car factory in California to produce electric cars and batteries.  I say”might” because the new factory is dependant upon a  450 million dollar “loan” from the United States government.  The “loan” would be part of the new energy plan and but can also be seen as part of of the auto bailout.  The connection to the regular auto bailout are the batteries which I suspect could serve the needs of GM, Ford and Chrysler as well as Tesla.  For their part Tesla motor’s seem Read the Rest…

Bently Driver Commits Suicide During Police Chase

A man by the name of (as best I can tell) Mustafa Mustafa hailing from Chicago lead Los Angeles police on a three hour chase commited suicide when the chase came to a conclusion.  Mustafa was driving a white Bently and had owned a business renting out luxury cars to wealthy customers, but Mustafa’s business was hit hard by the economy and was forced to close its doors.  Apparently Mustafa became distraught at the notion of loosing his business.  The specifics are summed up at http://latimesblogs.latimes.com:
“Police sources said Mustafa was suspected of assault with a deadly weapon on his girlfriend. Read the Rest…

Rodney Settles…Class Act

Rodney Settles held the position of chairman of the trustee board of First Corinthian Baptist Church in Philadelphia.  Now he holds the position of inmate.  The reason for the switch is directly tied to Mr. Settles alleged use of church funds to make a few unauthorized purchases.  Mr. Settles allegedly opened up several accounts in the churches name without first giving the chruch notice and asking their consent.  Mr. Settles then decided to make some large purchases with church funds, namely, according to http://www.myfoxphilly.com/ two cars, one for him and one for his girlfriend:
“Further investigation identified Settles as the person who had purchased the vehicles Read the Rest…

Woman Hits 6 Cars, Two Buildings

Perhaps I am a sick person for taking some enjoyment out of the following story, but I can’t help it…I really got a kick out of this.  It seems that Mary Feeney, 80, was leaving a hair salon (no word on whether it was a “blue hair” salon *rimshot) when she hit 6 cars and 2 houses all without batting an eye.  According to http://www.msnbc.msn.com/ it seems that Ms. Feeney tore a path of destruction that was quite impressive:

“IFD says Feeney was leaving a hair salon when she veered back towards the salon building, shearing the gas meter and striking Read the Rest…