Monday, September 30, 2013

Why The Made In America Nissan Leaf Isn't All American insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

Written By Unknown; About: Why The Made In America Nissan Leaf Isn't All American insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com on Monday, September 30, 2013

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® Why The Made In America Nissan Leaf Isn't All American

Welcome to Must Read, where we single out the best stories from around the automotive universe and beyond. Today we have reports from Green Car Reports, University Herald, and the Hemmings.


Why The Made In America Nissan Leaf Isn't All American S


Great little explanation from our friend John Voelcker over at Green Car Reports.



The 2013 Nissan Leaf electric car is assembled in Smyrna, Tennessee, for North American sales.


In fact, Nissan got a low-interest loan for $1.6 billion from the U.S. Department of Energy to make that possible.


So why does every 2013 Leaf carry a window sticker saying that its U.S. and Canadian content is just 15 percent—while 80 percent of its parts content comes from Japan?



Why The Made In America Nissan Leaf Isn't All American S


It might be lost, but the Allante is far from forgotten. It's always at the front of my mind.



In the early 1980s, General Motors came to the conclusion that it needed a halo car for its Cadillac brand, something that could stand toe to toe with the likes of the Mercedes-Benz SL. Such a luxury convertible would feature comfort without sacrificing handling, would wear a European-styled skin and, perhaps most significant of all, would attract younger buyers into Cadillac showrooms. Initial dialogue with design firm Pininfarina took place in 1982, and General Motors soon gave approval to a project code-named “Callisto.” In 1987, the car jointly developed between Cadillac and Pininfarina would debut as the Cadillac Allante, and it would go on to have a profound effect on both Cadillac and General Motors.



Why The Made In America Nissan Leaf Isn't All American S


Now this is interesting stuff.



For many decades, we have been relying on fossil resources to produce liquid fuels such as gasoline, diesel, and many industrial and consumer chemicals for daily use. However, increasing strains on natural resources as well as environmental issues including global warming have triggered a strong interest in developing sustainable ways to obtain fuels and chemicals.



Have a story we absolutely have to read? Send it to tips at jalopnik dot com with the subject line "Must Read."


Why The Made In America Nissan Leaf Isn't All American

'The 2010 Bentley Continental Supersports Is A Big Ben' insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® 'The 2010 Bentley Continental Supersports Is A Big Ben'

How super is the new Continental Supersports? Really super? Very super? Kinda super? Let's have John Davis and co. explain.


Well, it's more powerful and has a nearly telepathic gearshift. It's also ONLY 4,900 pounds.


And man is it fast, a wonderful velvet hammer that gets to 60 in 3.9 seconds. Around a corner it looks like a boat, but a boat with a nice suspension. Otherwise, inside it isn't the Bentley opulence you'd expect, but lightly padded seats.


This big Ben is more of a big bad Ben, if you ask me!


'The 2010 Bentley Continental Supersports Is A Big Ben'

Why Monster Trucks And Jet Cars Are Awesome insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® Why Monster Trucks And Jet Cars Are Awesome

It's easy to understand why people like monster trucks and jet cars: they're big, they're loud, and they're fast. But there's something deeper, and it's remarkably simple.


Not everyone is into monster trucks and jet cars. That's also understandable. They're pretty much absolutely pointless, good for no practical application whatsoever. That's something that UKPDXWRX touched on when we saw a monster truck v. jet car drag race today.



Jet cars are fun but a bit silly in that they have nothing to do with drag "racing", just drag "cool shit." You design them not to be too fast, as in theory if you have the money, you can build a jet car that does a 1/4 mile in a span of time approaching 0 seconds as you add thrust. The constraint is that you are at a drag strip and you're not allowed to kill yourself and everyone else.


I mean you could, in theory, strap two surplus J79's with original afterburner equipment to a tube frame chassis and run those things at full wet thrust. The problem at that point is not winning a race, it's avoiding takeoff. Wheels are just baubles on the tree in a vehicle that has something like four pounds of thrust for every pound of weight



That's when Leadbull explained exactly why these machines are so fantastic.



That's why jet cars have "exhibitions", not races. Sometimes it's great to be insane for absolutely no reason other than being insane.



There are moments when all that you want is insanity for insanity's sake. It's in those moments when you look to monster trucks and jet cars, because nothing else will do.


Photo Credits: Eric Savage, BenFrantzDale


Why Monster Trucks And Jet Cars Are Awesome

Drunk Driver Blows Up His Car To Get On TV Show About Lowlifes insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® Drunk Driver Blows Up His Car To Get On TV Show About Lowlifes

According to one LiveLeak poster, the Australian comedy show about down under yobbos was filming in Tasmania yesterday. According to the police, one drunk driver literally blew up his car to get on camera.


In an official Facebook post on September 29th, the Tasmania Police state that a man aged around 50 years old was arrested for "committing numerous driving offences then setting fire to his vehicle in a vacant block." The police further stated that a film crew was "filming a documentary and the man was attempting to become involved."


LiveLeak poster xr6tblue, however, states that the film crew was for the comedy show Housos about the fictional parody of Australians living in public housing.


Police state that the driver had a blood alcohol content of 0.185 and was charged with drunk driving and hooning, which is a crime in Australia.


Drunk Driver Blows Up His Car To Get On TV Show About Lowlifes

Pretty Sure This Guy Won Grand Theft Auto V insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® Pretty Sure This Guy Won Grand Theft Auto V

Pretty Sure This Guy Won Grand Theft Auto V


The last time I played any Grand Theft Auto Anything was GTA III, so I'm not sure if you can "win" GTA V. But I'm pretty sure this guy won GTA V.


This was posted on Reddit r/GrandTheftAutoV by Niller25 under the title "Escaping from the cops." Niller25 claims no cheats were on, which is believable since he's driving the game's version of the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport.


Here's the full video:


And here are some more interesting moments from Kotaku.


Pretty Sure This Guy Won Grand Theft Auto V

ESPN Fires Longtime Motorsports Announcer After One Gaffe Too Many insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® ESPN Fires Longtime Motorsports Announcer After One Gaffe Too Many

Marty Reid has been calling racing on ESPN for 31 years, but he's out of a job after the network announced it's pulling him off the Nationwide Series.


ESPN only says it's "going in a different direction," but Reid's racked up a series of high-profile mistakes, culminating in the Sept. 21 Nationwide race at Kentucky. In the video above, Reid announced Ryan Blaney as the winner despite there still being a lap to go. ("One more lap to finish it off, buddy," his poor partner interjects.)


It's not an isolated incident—YouTube is lousy with Marty Reid lowlight compilations.


Reid didn't even get to finish off the schedule. He was replaced for Saturday's race at Dover by Allen Bestwick, who will call the rest of the year's races. Reid was also ESPN's lead IndyCar announcer, and had called the Indy 500 for ABC since 2006.


[ESPN]


ESPN Fires Longtime Motorsports Announcer After One Gaffe Too Many

Take A Tour Of The Best Vintage Japanese Cars In The United States insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® Take A Tour Of The Best Vintage Japanese Cars In The United States

One of the great things about living on the West Coast is how established the Japanese classic car community is. In many parts of the US, there's still people who laugh at the idea of a Japanese classic car show, but out in Long Beach this past weekend it was clear that Japanese 'nostalgic' cars are serious business indeed.


The turnout of vintage Japanese cars was quite spectacular, with lots of rare, interesting stuff you almost never see on the roads anymore — and, here on the US, you almost never saw on the roads, period. So come along with me, have a weird rainbow sno-cone that rapidly melts into a brown slush lump, and join me on a quick tour of all this great old Japanese iron:


Take A Tour Of The Best Vintage Japanese Cars In The United States S


There were a number of very-well maintined Mazda RX-2s. What really struck me about many of them were these huge, lavishly chromed turbo setups many of them had. Rotaries sure are odd looking under the hood.


Take A Tour Of The Best Vintage Japanese Cars In The United States S


Also fascinating was something I've never seen before: a vinyl trunk. Mazda took the American vinyl roof affectation to its utmost extreme, allowing that luxuriant vinyl to cascade all the way down onto the trunk lid. It's sort of like an automotive mullet.


Take A Tour Of The Best Vintage Japanese Cars In The United States S


Mazda's rotary-powered pickup trucks are real unicorns nowadays, so seeing one in this pristine condition is really something special. Plus, has there ever been better, more confusing to the layman text painted on a tailgate than "ROTARY POWER?"


Take A Tour Of The Best Vintage Japanese Cars In The United States S


Those are some lovely Fairlady rear ends. Be careful describing this picture verbally if you're in an office.


Take A Tour Of The Best Vintage Japanese Cars In The United States S


This may be the nicest captive-import Mitsubishi I've seen since I time-travelled to my job as an early '80s Dodge salesman.


Take A Tour Of The Best Vintage Japanese Cars In The United States S


The second-nicest Dodge Colt I've ever seen was right next to it, and I finally really looked at that badge, and realized how it could easily have been the alternate-universe Mustang badge.


Take A Tour Of The Best Vintage Japanese Cars In The United States S


I've always admired the way Japanese men seem secure in their masculinity and aren't afraid to challenge it a bit. For example, there's no way in hell you could have sold a sports car to men in the US with the name "Fairlady," written on the car in wedding-invitation script.


Take A Tour Of The Best Vintage Japanese Cars In The United States S


This was a really incredibly clean example of a very novel, innovative, and often overlooked car. Those taillights are so '80s they're cool again, and that swappable-tailgate thing is great. Plus, it's a T-top shooting brake! What's not to like?


Take A Tour Of The Best Vintage Japanese Cars In The United States S


Of course there were some fantastic old Skylines. I liked this classy brute an awful lot.


Take A Tour Of The Best Vintage Japanese Cars In The United States S


Stick a fish-mouth grille and some vivid red paint on a 240z and all of a sudden you've got some odd, forgotten Ferrari.


Take A Tour Of The Best Vintage Japanese Cars In The United States S


Early Japanese cars took a lot of styling influence from British cars, and this rally-prepped Prince 2000/Skyline sure has a lot of Cortina in it. Look at those taillights.


Take A Tour Of The Best Vintage Japanese Cars In The United States S


How did this old Cressida wagon survive in such amazing condition? These cars were cheap family cars, and almost all of them met their dooms at the sweaty hands of the 16 year olds they were passed down to. This little wood-applique'd beauty is a great example of American design detailing filtered through a Japanese lens.


Take A Tour Of The Best Vintage Japanese Cars In The United States S


And, of course, there were a few Toyota 2000GTs. These are genuinely stunning, and are now officially million-dollar cars.


Take A Tour Of The Best Vintage Japanese Cars In The United States S


No Japanese car show can be complete without my favorite Japanese contribution to motoring, the Really Really Tiny Van. This Subaru Sambar was in perfect shape, and had some kind of exciting goings-on in the engine bay. Based on that massive exhaust capable of shooting Ikea meatballs and the exposed air cleaners, I bet this baby is putting out at least a massive 30 HP or so. Maybe 40.


Take A Tour Of The Best Vintage Japanese Cars In The United States S


Honda sure wasn't afraid of color for the little Z Coupe. These things are a blast.


Take A Tour Of The Best Vintage Japanese Cars In The United States S


The Z Coupe's more responsible brother is the Honda N600, which is sort of Honda's 2-cylinder answer to the Mini. Great little cars that got Honda's first foothold in the US.


Take A Tour Of The Best Vintage Japanese Cars In The United States S


They really should have had a dropcloth around this one, just to catch all the messiness from all the blown minds this thing was causing. It's a 1993 Mazda Eunos Cosmo, and I've never seen one of these anywhere near this side of the Pacific. It's a 3 rotor, 255 HP (the maximum allowed in Japan at the time) twin-sequential turbo executive coupe with so much crisp Japan-market handsome classiness that it makes me want to spit expensive brown liquors.


Take A Tour Of The Best Vintage Japanese Cars In The United States S


Any car show with Japanese rotaries needs to pay respects to the granddaddy of them all, the Mazda Cosmo Sport. I've always loved the look of these early Cosmos.


Take A Tour Of The Best Vintage Japanese Cars In The United States S


What a refreshingly minty little Datsun. These things were so narrow.


Take A Tour Of The Best Vintage Japanese Cars In The United States S


This GT-R's straight-six was so clean and purposeful-looking.


Take A Tour Of The Best Vintage Japanese Cars In The United States S


I really feel old when cars I grew up with are now in "classic" car shows. My mom drove one of these Accords (well, an '80 — this is a '79) for most of my childhood, and one peek in the window put me back in a Boy Scout uniform, sitting in the back seat and giggling because my sister's pants made sounds like a fart.


Take A Tour Of The Best Vintage Japanese Cars In The United States S


Some of these early Datsuns feel like what you'd get if a Volvo Amazon and a Dauphine made sweet, sweet love in an old Packard plant.


Take A Tour Of The Best Vintage Japanese Cars In The United States S


This is still very close to the hypothetical little classic truck that lives in my brain-garage.


Take A Tour Of The Best Vintage Japanese Cars In The United States S


What a great little wagon— contrasting-color roof, whitewalls, swamp cooler — there's no way you could have a bad day in that thing.


Take A Tour Of The Best Vintage Japanese Cars In The United States S


For years these were just math teacher's cars, and most people never thought much about them. Now, in this context, it's easy to appreciate how clever and simple these things were. It'd be fun to have a nice, early-gen Civic.


Take A Tour Of The Best Vintage Japanese Cars In The United States S


I'd never seen these old Toyota Stout trucks before, but I really like them. I especially like the strangely prominent turn indicators built into the hood there. These feel sort of like scaled-down '60s Ford trucks.


Take A Tour Of The Best Vintage Japanese Cars In The United States S


I've also never encountered the pickup version of the classic Land Cruiser. It's like Japan's Jeep Scrambler!


Take A Tour Of The Best Vintage Japanese Cars In The United States S


A pair of rugged little early HiLuxes, showing Japan's strange obsession with oversized turn indicators that look like fog lamps. Old Civics had similar ones. Any idea why?


Take A Tour Of The Best Vintage Japanese Cars In The United States S


And finally, a telling study in how much of a difference clear headlight covers and a tapered nose can make for making a Datsun look Italian.


Take A Tour Of The Best Vintage Japanese Cars In The United States

What Modern Car Should Be Available as a Plug-in EV? insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® What Modern Car Should Be Available as a Plug-in EV?

A lot of automakers are slowly joining the green bandwagon by building electric vehicles of their own. However, a lot of them didn't turn out too well, like the Leaf, Prius, and Volt. How can we encourage automakers to make their future EVs exciting?


The answer is simply this: add an electrified version of their current petrol and diesel cars to the lineup. Therefore it'll give people more options to choose from, thus boosting the market and exempting people from the continuing inevitable petrol price hikes. Yes, this includes electric sports cars and supercars; some people are willing to sacrifice performance to save money.


What Modern Car Should Be Available as a Plug-in EV?


Ford needs to add an electrified version of Ford Ranger to its lineup. Ford Ranger has been making the headlines for its Toyota Corolla defeat, and for being the best selling ute (pickup truck) for several months in a row, at least in New Zealand. It's likely Ford Ranger EV won't be used for heavy duty tasks, but we never know as battery technology continues to progress and discover innovation. Ford Ranger EV would be very popular among the environmentalists who like big utes.


What car should be electrified and added to the current lineup?


What Modern Car Should Be Available as a Plug-in EV?

What Lorde's Royals Can Teach Us About Cadillac's Global Prospects insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® What Lorde's Royals Can Teach Us About Cadillac's Global Prospects

Should the fact that Cadillacs aren't really sold in Lorde's home country of New Zealand completely discredit the song "Royals" or is it a sign that the world thinks higher of Cadillac than some Americans?


I didn't watch the video for "Royals" when it was a Traffic Jam because I'd already heard the song a dozen times on the radio. By chance, I saw it this morning on VH1. Much to my disappointment, there were no tigers on gold leashes in this video.


There were no Cadillacs, either. But ever since this girl came on the scene, everyone's all "is she the new Adele?" And then people were all, "she can't be Adele because Adele's English and Lorde's Kiwi" and then I'm thinking "wait, can Kiwis even buy Cadillacs?"


So then I checked. First, I pulled out my most recent Ward's sales yearbook, which tracks auto sales worldwide. General Motors sold 8,014 vehicles in New Zealand in 2011. But it's not clear how many of those were, say, delivery trucks. But more importantly, it didn't say whether they were Holden, Chevrolet or any other brand.


The best-selling car manufacturer in New Zealand, however, is Toyota; they sold 18,020 vehicles there in 2011. So either there are a bunch of people driving Corollas or maybe there are a bunch of Lexus drivers.


I wanted a legit source before I hit up Google, but I broke down and Googled anyway since my yearbook didn't give me what I needed. "Cadillac in New Zealand" turned up a few results, including:



  • There's a lingerie bar ("the only one in the South Island") called The Cadillac Club that has something called "strip-o-grams." Well, then. It uses the Cadillac cursive script.

  • There's a Cadillac owners' club dedicated to the history and preservation of classic Caddys, which is obviously fantastic.

  • But there are these tidbits from the CTS' Wikipedia page and the New Zealand Times Herald: The CTS was chosen to relaunch Cadillac in New Zealand (which points to a significant absence in the country) and that when very few models of the CTS were sold there, it sold like hotcakes. That was 2008-09. Those plans quickly dissolved because... I don't have to tell you what happened to GM in 2009, do I?


This leads me back to Lorde, who's 16 and dreaming of Cadillacs. Is she dreaming of the CTS that was sold for like a year when she was 11? Or have Western mindsets about aspiring to own a Cadillac reached all the way to New Zealand, and I just didn't know it?


Lorde told VH1 that the inspiration for "Royals" came from watching a Kansas City Royals (aha!) baseball player signing autographs and a general "fascination with aristocracy." But if we're talking British aristocracy, wouldn't the car of Lorde's dreams be something in line with a Rolls-Royce or Bentley? I doubt Queen Elizabeth would be caught dead in a lowly Cadillac.


Overanalyzing much? Yes, I'll admit this. But I'm intrigued by the first theory about what the name "Cadillac" means across the world. If people in New Zealand are thinking of Cadillacs that much, then maybe GM should give this country another try.


Related

Lorde -- 'Royals'

Traffic sucks, so why not start your morning off with some music? You provide the toast and we'll provide the jams. Read…




What Lorde's Royals Can Teach Us About Cadillac's Global Prospects

Jay Leno Finds Batman's Tumbler Is More Of A Real Car Than You Think insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® Jay Leno Finds Batman's Tumbler Is More Of A Real Car Than You Think

Everyone on the Internet was up in arms over the Tumbler when photos of it hit the web back in 2004 or 2005 before Batman Begins came out. Now, after three movies of jumping rooftops, blowing stuff up and pancaking cop cars, it's considered one of the best Batmobiles ever.


Noted car and denim enthusiast Jay Leno thinks so too. He recently got the only currently-running Tumbler in his garage on loan from Warner Bros., and marveled not only at its nasty, militaristic looks but also at how it's an actual working car that did up to 90 mph during filming. It has windshield wipers, too! Lucius Fox thinks of everything.


In this video, Jay takes the Suburban-sized, Chevy V8-powered Tumbler for a spin around town. It's a lot more raw inside than the interior used for filming in the Batman movies, but it gets the job done and proves to be surprisingly fast and fun to drive.


He should have a go in The Bat next time. I know that wasn't real, but maybe we could put him in it and let him pretend.


Jay Leno Finds Batman's Tumbler Is More Of A Real Car Than You Think

Here’s Why Monaco Is The Automotive Holy Land insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® Here’s Why Monaco Is The Automotive Holy Land

I write to you today from Monaco. You’d already know this if you followed me on Twitter, where I’ve been posting pictures of all the exotic cars I’ve seen in Monaco, only to get replies such as: Look at that Citroen C5 in the background!


The reason I’m here is simple: I’m taking a much-needed vacation from my grueling schedule of a) posting articles on Jalopnik, and b) sitting around the house and scratching myself. So instead of writing something new, I’m leaving you with a story from my book.


Speaking of the book, it’s now available on the iTunes Bookstore and in paperback. That means you have no excuse not to buy it, unless of course you’re one of the people who read my Tail of the Dragon story and e-mailed me to say you would hunt me down and kill me, right after you finished your Miller Lite. Anyway, here goes:


The Search for the Automotive Holy Land


Our topic today is holy lands. I know what you’re thinking: He’s going to offend someone! But this isn’t my plan. (Now you’re thinking: Then why am I reading this?) Instead, I’m simply going to discuss the automotive holy land. We need one, you see – an automotive sacred place, like the Muslims have Mecca, and the mountain climbers have Everest, and the American Indoor Tanning Association has suburban New Jersey.


So where, exactly, is the automotive holy land? An easy answer is Indianapolis. That’s where they hold the Indy 500, which is undoubtedly the world’s most famous car race, based on the number of questions I get about it from people who otherwise couldn’t tell the difference between a Honda Civic and a rural post office. (“Yo man, you like cars… what’s up with that chick who’s racing at the Indy 500?”)


But aside from the race, Indianapolis doesn’t really have a car culture. I know this because I went there to pick up my E63 wagon, and I distinctly remember what every single local was driving: a Chevy Malibu whose list of features consisted entirely of federally mandated safety equipment.


There is, of course, Detroit, which is America’s motor city. Or maybe Stuttgart, which is Germany’s. But these aren’t holy places, unless “holy” translates to: “underpaid auto workers driving whichever one of their employer’s products isn’t selling.” Also, the weather isn’t good enough. In an automotive holy land, we should be able to drive hairy-chested sports cars year round, completely free from prosecution and also Chevrolet’s lineup from approximately 1971 until about two years ago.


Which brings us to Dubai. (Official motto: “You build the cars, we finish them in chrome.”) But Dubai isn’t about cars: it’s all million-dollar license plates and bored sheiks driving G-wagens over sand dunes. Plus: any place caught hosting the Sex and the City movie is officially out as a potential automotive holy land.


So now we have a problem: I’ve pissed off everyone from Indianapolis, Detroit, Stuttgart, and Dubai. And yet we still don’t have a holy land. That’s why, after considerable thought (read: browsing Facebook), I’ve decided on Monaco.


I’ve been to Monaco five times. This, by the way, is the single most pretentious thing a human being can say out loud, possibly rivaled only by the question “So, where do you summer?” But it’s precisely because I’ve been five times that I’m certain Monaco is the automotive holy land.


A little background: Monaco is the richest country in the world and also the best educated, though these feats are easy to achieve considering it’s roughly the size of a Days Inn. Wealthy European elites have visited it for decades to partake in a highly relaxing activity known in wealthy European elite circles as: Sitting On A Large Yacht Near The Harbor.


But there’s also an entirely different reason to visit Monaco: the cars. And I’m not even talking about the Formula 1 race, which is reason enough to consider Monaco the automotive holy land. The Grand Prix involves glamorous celebrities, enormous boats, and 78 laps of racing where two to four vehicles actually pass one another.


But Monaco is a haven for car enthusiasts even when Formula 1 isn’t in town. Allow me to walk you through a typical day.


8 AM: Wake up. By this point, your hotel room has already cost around €100 and you haven’t even gotten out of bed. Fortunately, they have monogrammed towels. You go to the bathroom, wash your face with one of the towels, and stuff it in your bag.


9 AM: Eat breakfast. If this is done outside, your food will be eaten by seagulls which understand the words “No!” and “Go away!” about as well as Italian men.


10 AM: Walk to the Casino Monte Carlo. Even though it’s only 10am, there is already a Maybach 62 with Russian plates in front. Presumably, it was left there last night after the owner drunkenly decided to sleep on the casino floor in his fur coat. While you’re looking at the Maybach, an Audi R8 pulls up. The driver leaves it idling outside and walks in without even looking at the valet.


12 Noon: Walk to the harbor. Dozens of young men are meticulously washing a yacht the size of an apartment building. It’s owned by an 80-year-old Swiss billionaire who hasn’t actually seen the boat in nine weeks. The men are wearing matching polos. You’re about to remark on how stupid this looks when a Porsche Cayenne drives by towing a Ferrari on an open trailer.


1 PM: If you haven’t had lunch, now’s the time. Go to the casino and eat at one of its restaurants overlooking the Mediterranean. Prepare to pay €11 for water, €50 for a sandwich, and €24 for a napkin. Also prepare for dirty looks from restaurant staff even if you are, in fact, the Prince of Monaco.


3 PM: Walk to the other side of the harbor. Along the way, you see an Aston-Martin DB AR1 and a Mercedes SLS cross paths. In the US, this would only happen at Cars and Coffee Irvine. In Monaco, it’s a daily occurrence. Neither driver acknowledges one another. No one in Monaco acknowledges anyone else, really.


5 PM: Walk the length of the F1 circuit. Two types of vehicles pass you: rented Peugeots and Porsche 911 GT3s. Occasionally, a Range Rover goes by, presumably because Hermes bags don’t fit in a Ferrari 458 Spider.


6 PM: Walk to old town Monaco. There aren’t any cars here – but that doesn’t stop every single business from selling Ferrari memorabilia. This includes dentists’ offices.


7 PM: Walk back to Monte Carlo, where the casino is located. By now, your legs hurt. But not as much as the legs of the guy who’s been driving around all day in his Testarossa, pumping his clutch and craning his neck to see who is watching. No one is: they’re all focused on the Bugattis.


8 PM: Dinnertime. During dinner, a Ferrari F40 goes by. You chase after it to snap a picture, and the driver parks at the casino. He’s bald, short, fat, and in his mid-70s. His passenger is a tall blonde woman in her 20s. The valet doesn’t even park the car up front. Those spots are reserved for a Phantom Drophead and a Koenigsegg.


11 PM: Time for bed. You leave the window open in your hotel room to catch some of the Mediterranean breeze. As you lay in bed, you hear the noises of downshifting Ferraris and Lamborghinis echoing between the tall buildings on Monaco’s narrow streets. These sounds go on all night. This, you think, is much better for falling asleep than those “whale sounds” CDs.


Admittedly, Monaco may have a few issues preventing it from being the automotive holy land. For example: you can’t drive more than 40 miles per hour in the entire country. And it’s so jaded by exotic cars that the only way something with wheels could possibly turn heads there is if it was a Boeing 747 landing on Avenue Princess Grace.


But Monaco is the greatest place on earth if you want to see – and hear – all those cars you only read about in magazines. I should know. I’ve been there five times.


@DougDeMuro is the author of Plays With Cars. He operates PlaysWithCars.com and writes for The Truth About Cars. He owned an E63 AMG wagon and once tried to evade police at the Tail of the Dragon using a pontoon boat. (It didn't work.) He worked as a manager for Porsche Cars North America before quitting to become a writer, largely because it meant he no longer had to wear pants. Also, he wrote this entire bio himself in the third person.


Here’s Why Monaco Is The Automotive Holy Land

Woman Killed, Man Loses Legs After Having Sex On Train Tracks insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® Woman Killed, Man Loses Legs After Having Sex On Train Tracks

A woman was killed and a man lost his legs after getting hit by a train while having sex on train tracks in Ukraine.


The couple "failed to overcome their natural passion when walking home … and wanted to experience an extreme sensation near the railroad tracks," states the Ministry of Internal Affairs Ukraine as translated by RIA Novosti. They were run over by a switching train in the city of Zaporozhye. The woman in her thirties died on the spot and the 41-year-old man had his legs amputated in a hospital.


A criminal investigation for safety on the train tracks is ongoing.


(Hat tip to Dennis)


Photo Credit: Ministry of Internal Affairs Ukraine (scene of incident pictured)


Woman Killed, Man Loses Legs After Having Sex On Train Tracks

Tell Everyone You Know To Go See RUSH… Or Else insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® Tell Everyone You Know To Go See RUSH… Or Else

The automotive media — especially this site — has done all we can to get people to see Ron Howard's Formula One drama RUSH. Why? Ron Howard has done more than make an F1 film, he's made an F1 film worth watching. Now you have to get everyone you know to go see it or else we're probably going to have to wait another decade for more good car films.


Despite getting the Jalopnik Film Festival bump, RUSH had a relatively mediocre launch this weekend as everyone went to see a sequel about Italian chef/meteorologists and Howard's flick did only $10.3 million.


That's not terrible but that's not great. Here's what EW had to say:



That said, Ron Howard’s Formula One racing drama Rush raced off with a rather lackluster $10.3 million in its expansion from five theaters into 2,297 locations. The Universal-distributed film, which stars Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Brühl, marks a major decrease from Howard’s last sports drama, Cinderella Man, which punched up $18.3 million in its 2005 debut. For Hemsworth, Rush (obviously) started off slower than both Thor and The Avengers, but it also under-performed compared to his non-superhero vehicles The Cabin in the Woods ($14.7 million) and Red Dawn ($14.3 million). The film will need great word of mouth to drive it to profitability, and given its strong “A-” CinemaScore, it may achieve that. Also working in Rush‘s favor? Its relatively low $38 million budget.



See, it's a good film. People like it. It wasn't that expensive to make. All it needs is a little push and, hopefully, an expansion to more theaters (the two films that did better were in 4,001 and 3,290 theaters).


If RUSH can have a decent run in the U.S. it'll be good for Formula One on this continent as it does a nice job explaining why F1 can be exciting. It might also make a business case for car films that aren't terrible.


As much as I enjoy a Fast And Furious movie, I'd rather see more RUSH-like films than Getaways or Need For Speeds.


RUSH, no matter how much you may love Vin Diesel, is better than those films. The directing gives you a reason to care about F1, the writing nicely follows the Senna playbook of focusing on two drivers, and Daniel Brühl gives one of the best performances I've seen this year.


It's important to support a car film that isn't just explosions, sex, and car pom (although this film has plenty of it), so if you saw the movie and loved it, go tell people. If you haven't seen it, skip work and take your friends.


(Full Disclosure: I've seen a few RUSH ads on this site, but I'm not sure if they're just Google ads or from Microsoft or someone else. I don't care. You should go see the movie.)


Tell Everyone You Know To Go See RUSH… Or Else

SmartWater Booby Trap Secretly Turns Thieves Green for Weeks insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® SmartWater Booby Trap Secretly Turns Thieves Green for Weeks

If you're planning on stealing anything from the London Borough of Brent, you might want to think twice—or at least hope you look good in green. The Brent Police Department has a crazy new secret weapon that covers crooks head to toe in a semipermanent emerald, ultraviolet glow. And they have no idea until it's too late.


Currently being tested by the Brent Police throughout the area, an odorless, invisible, and damn-near unwashable chemical called SmartWater (no relation) has already managed to catch at least one car thief. The unlucky burglar, Yafet Askale, fell for the police department's booby-trapped car, which sprayed Askale with a fine mist of the stuff as soon as it detected an intrusion.


SmartWater Booby Trap Secretly Turns Thieves Green for Weeks S


So once police hunted him down, ultraviolet scans showed that his face and jacket were covered in SmartWater's signature glow, and despite a plea of not guilty, he was convicted of theft and sentenced accordingly.


The SmartWater systems have been implemented on cars and houses in the area as a means of deterring thieves and catching the ones that strike anyway—and looks like they're on to something. Ever since the police handed out free SmartWater kits to locals to mark their valuables, street robbery has decreased a total of 40 percent with burglary going down a whopping 80 percent. But if that wasn't clear enough, the Brent Police, speaking to The Daily Mail, made sure to spell things out for any would-be-crooks:



Don't come to Brent - our trap cars and trap houses are waiting for you.



So if that doesn't make any potential Brent burglars green-around-the-gills, they will be soon—whether they like it or not. [The Daily Mail]


SmartWater Booby Trap Secretly Turns Thieves Green for Weeks S


SmartWater Booby Trap Secretly Turns Thieves Green for Weeks

This Thing Is The Pace Car Of The Zombie Apocalypse insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® This Thing Is The Pace Car Of The Zombie Apocalypse

The Volkswagen Type 181 was sold as the Kurierwagen in Germany but used the name Thing for the US Market - making the answer to "what is that thing?" a simple "yes." The Thing used a Karmann-Ghia floorpan and various parts from the Beetle, Transporter, etc, but this one was rebuilt with steel, rope and madness.


This Thing Is The Pace Car Of The Zombie Apocalypse


In the genre of horror movies, there are films that disgust, disturb and surprise the audience with fantastic creatures and skin crawling special effects, but the movies that are arguably the best are those that hide information from the viewer and allow imagination to take over. John Carpenter's 1982 remake of The Thing was a decent expression of this idea, but it pales in comparison to the original The Thing, a 1951 Howard Hawks epic, shot in magnificent black and white.


The original Thing is played by James Arness, and is a giant outer world Frankenstein-esque creature who regenerates limbs like a plant and terrorizes an arctic outpost of scientists (and a few wise cracking '50s babes). Viewers are barely shown the beast and brief glimpses only help to generate more uncertainty, anxiety, etc —if you haven't seen it go pick up a copy from your local video store...wait, do they still have video stores? I haven't left my house since I saw John Carpenter's The Thing in 1982 — it was a really scary film. Today's feature 1974 Volkswagen Thing is the polar opposite of the movie Thing as it beats a viewer over the head with a rusty cudgel of gruesome horror. Find it in Greensboro, GA currently bidding on ebay for $9,000 with 4 days to go.


This Thing Is The Pace Car Of The Zombie Apocalypse S


The Thing was only planned to be a short term stop gap production vehicle until the NATO shared Europa Jeep was developed. How anyone could expect a bunch of people who routinely riot and stab each other over rival neighborhood soccer games to be able to cooperate to design a mass production light military vehicle is a mystery to me and needless to say the Europa Jeep was a stillborn catastrophe and as a result, more than 50,000 Things were released from the factory.


This Thing Is The Pace Car Of The Zombie Apocalypse S


This type 181 would have originally come with some sort of misery inducing aircooled flat-four designed to incapacitate the enemy with hysterical fits of laughter, suffocate them with oil smoke & drive them mad with its droning exhaust note - truly the modern day equivalent of a Scottish bagpipe brigade. Thankfully this flat-4 was used as campfire fodder at burning-man (magnesium crankcase) and the seller replaced it with a 2.5 liter watercooled flat-4 from a Subaru Legacy that he claims now makes 220 horsepower (stock it makes 175 hp).


The interior is something built specifically for a masochist... or car magazine photo shoot. It certainly looks cool, but the first time you try and put a parking receipt on that webbed dash, you are going to wonder what the builder was thinking. Comfort on the Queen Mary-to-Titanic scale is going to be pegged firmly at 14 April, 1912. The twin fans pointing upward are indeed functional , they cool the radiators, but the external swamp cooler seems a bit silly in a vehicle without windows.


See a better Horrorod to kickoff the 2013 Halloween season? email us here: tips@dailyturismo.com


Originally posted as 10k: Kurierwagen Kustom: 1974 Volkswagen Thing Type 181, Horrorod on Daily Turismo.


Image credits: ebay, zerode.worldpress.com


This Thing Is The Pace Car Of The Zombie Apocalypse

Watch The First Customer-Owned 2014 Corvette Obliterate The Drag Strip insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® Watch The First Customer-Owned 2014 Corvette Obliterate The Drag Strip

Here's a 2014 Corvette that was delivered to the guys at Hennessey. Here it is getting in some quality time at the drag strip and getting down the quarter in 12.23 seconds.


Yes, this is an automatic. A lot of you will be mad about that because it's personally offensive. But it also lets the Corvette be a smooth monster on the drag strip.


I've driven on Hennessey's Lone Star Dragway on a windy, slick day in a new Viper, and laid down a 12.12 at 125 MPH. I thought that was a pretty good time for the conditions. But just watch the Vette. It makes the run a tick slower with a 12.23 at 114.88 without any drama. At all.


Now just imagine how quick it'll be when it has the inevitable 1,000 horsepower upgrade...


Related


This just happened thanks to Hennessey's drag strip. Yes, it was as fun as you think it was. Read…




Watch The First Customer-Owned 2014 Corvette Obliterate The Drag Strip

Are You The 2015 Lexus RC F? insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® Are You The 2015 Lexus RC F?

We've known for a while now that the coupe version of the new Lexus IS will be called the Lexus RC. Now Japanese magazine Best Car has published what could be the hopped-up F version of that coupe. Is this it?


It's hard to tell from these photos. They could very well be renders or Photoshops, so take them with a grain of wasabi until the actual car supposedly debuts at the Tokyo Auto Show in November. But it does look very much like a coupe version of the new IS, and it has the quad tailpipes the old IS F was famous for. Those fender flares are pretty sweet, too.


I was quite impressed when I drove the 2014 Lexus IS 350 F Sport, and the last IS F was a real hellraiser. Both lead me to think the RC F could be a first-rate M4 fighter. GT Spirit claims the car will have a 5.0-liter V8 with 455 horsepower.


Sounds like fun to me. More hot rod Lexuses and Toyotas, please.


Photo credit Best Car


Are You The 2015 Lexus RC F?

These Vintage Photos Capture Life In Britain's Strangest Police Force insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com

insuranceinstantonline.blogspot.com ® These Vintage Photos Capture Life In Britain's Strangest Police Force

The Northern Constabulary was the territorial police force responsible for Northern Scotland from 1975 until this year. It was the agency responsibly for covering the largest geographical area in the UK, equivalent to the size of Belgium, but was one of the smallest in terms of officers, with about 715 personnel.


Flickr user Dave Conner got some slides showcasing the fleet of this adventurous bunch:



At the outset in May 1975, at the creation of Northern Constabulary, there was no definitive livery set in respect of the force’s marked vehicle fleet.


PERIOD 1 (1975-1980) plain era (CC: Henderson)

Traffic patrol vehicles, and - over time – various other vehicles most likely to patrol major roads and/or attend incidents thereon, were fitted with a broad reflective orange stripe, edged with blue tape. Other GP (= General Purpose) vehicles were plain white (or also in the case of some vans - blue, whether navy, royal or light according to what were available for purchase). A white on blue plate, or blue reflective lettering (red on rear) was applied to the front and rear of all vehicles. All marked vehicles had only a single blue rotating beacon at that time, unless twin-beacons came as part of a roof box.


These Vintage Photos Capture Life In Britain's Strangest Police Force S


PERIOD 2 (1980-1995) roundel era (CC: Henderson/MacMillan)

During 1979 Superintendent George Henderson designed a Force Badge, which was taken into use at the beginning of 1980. As well as use as epaulette insignia and on official stationery, the circular design was printed in black on white reflective material and applied to the driver’s and front passenger doors of all marked vehicles in the Force. Traffic and other “trunk road” vehicles continued to bear the orange stripe along their length. The first issue decal was of 12 inch diameter and was intended to be sited right in the centre of the door panel. As vehicle design evolved however , and door/wing protective strips became part and parcel of vehicles, so it was found that the large door decal could no longer be fitted appropriately without cutting the design. Accordingly a revised version of the decal was produced, of 8 inch diameter, and would if necessary be applied over the orange reflective stripe to ensure the decal was proud of the door protective strip.



These Vintage Photos Capture Life In Britain's Strangest Police Force S



Ford Escort Dog Van first registered September 1981 with PC Gall and K9. believed at Fort William circa 1982. (The roundel on the door is just visible behind the officer).



These Vintage Photos Capture Life In Britain's Strangest Police Force S



Ford Escort 1.3 A88RAS on the beach at Island of Barra circa 1985.


"Photograph taken circa summer of 1985 or thereabouts, when I was on one of many relief duties on the isle of Barra, Western Isles. It shows the Ford Escort 1.3 beat car we had at the time and the photo is taken at Barra Airport."



These Vintage Photos Capture Life In Britain's Strangest Police Force S


These Vintage Photos Capture Life In Britain's Strangest Police Force S



Morris/BL Ital van (first registered September 1981)- FORT WILLIAM circa 1982.



These Vintage Photos Capture Life In Britain's Strangest Police Force S



FORT WILLIAM Police Station front car park circa 1982. (I can't ever recall it being so empty!!)



These Vintage Photos Capture Life In Britain's Strangest Police Force S



FORT WILLIAM police Station circa 1982. Vehicle registration mark is EAS ??? X (First registered circa October 1981)



These Vintage Photos Capture Life In Britain's Strangest Police Force S



The FORT WILLIAM area circa 1985. B32UST was first registered on 1st February 1985.



These Vintage Photos Capture Life In Britain's Strangest Police Force S



Land Rover (first registered July 1982 - and possibly written off in 1987 as unlicensed since then) believed on A82 near Fort William circa 1983.



These Vintage Photos Capture Life In Britain's Strangest Police Force S



Range Rover (first registered May 1980) believed on A82 near Fort William circa 1983. Note it is one of earliest vehicles in the force to be fitted with a lightbar.



These Vintage Photos Capture Life In Britain's Strangest Police Force S



The Brora Section Range Rover (Tango 24) which was worked hard in the winters on snow patrol of the Ord of Caithness, borth of Helmsdale. It was amazing in the snow - nothing to beat it. This would have been the second RR, provided in 1984.



These Vintage Photos Capture Life In Britain's Strangest Police Force S



An officer uses the fire extinguisher on the Snow-Trac's smouldering engine compartment on Ben Nevis in 1981 while en route to the CIC Hut to replace the radio battery.



These Vintage Photos Capture Life In Britain's Strangest Police Force S



The Snow-Trac below the Douglas Boulder and Tower Ridge on one of the battery replacement excursions in 1981.



These Vintage Photos Capture Life In Britain's Strangest Police Force S



Police officer delivering animal feed at Glencoe during bad snow in 1984.


In 1982 the force replaced the Snow Trac with a Garron – officially ‘Highland Garron’, a tracked ATV formerly marketed by James Jones & sons of Larbert, Stirlingshire – which was bright orange in colour and proudly displayed the recently-introduced Force roundel badge on both sides.



These Vintage Photos Capture Life In Britain's Strangest Police Force S



Garron in place with mountain rescue and medical equipment at Half Way Lochan on Ben Nevis duering the Ben Race on 4.9.82. It had been driven up there the previous day - much easier than MRTs having to carry all that equipment with them.



These Vintage Photos Capture Life In Britain's Strangest Police Force S


Don't forget, these great Scotsman saved lives with Lucas electronics in their cars!


Photo credit and source: Dave Conner and Wikipedia


These Vintage Photos Capture Life In Britain's Strangest Police Force