Odds and ends

  • Ford launches new website aimed at performance fans

    Ford and its motorsports division have launched a new website aimed at connecting performance enthusiasts with the scores of enthusiast clubs around the world as well as providing a forum for the latest information on aftermarket accessories. The site is also geared up to get enthusiasts from all walks of life, including past, present and future fans, to interact with each other. Regular updates include information about Ford-based clubs and members, new events and products as well as archived details including history information and images on hundreds of past Fords. The site will also be...

  • Beijing bans car painting and repairs ahead of Olympics
    Beijing bans car painting and repairs ahead of Olympics

    Already athletes around the world with gold medal hopes are wondering if their stay in Beijing will permanently damage their respiratory systems. The intensely polluted Chinese city is aware of the concerns about its air quality, and is taking every step it can to reduce the problem before the...

  • Italian man builds his own supercar
    Italian man builds his own supercar

    A new supercar has emerged out of Northern Italy that was singlehandedly built by a car enthusiast by the name of Filandri Moreno. Dubbed the Uragano (Italian for Hurricane), the car has taken up every spare hour of the 47-year-old's time for the past four years. The entire car is fabricated from...

  • Report: China overtakes USA as world's biggest polluter
    Report: China overtakes USA as world's biggest polluter

    China’s rapidly expanding vehicle fleet, increasing manufacturing industry and rising energy demand has pushed the country to the top of the list of world’s biggest polluters, according to research conducted by the University of California. Researchers also claim previous emissions...

  • BMW guide to driving the Nordschleife line
    BMW guide to driving the Nordschleife line

    Germany’s Nurburgring Nordschleife (Northern Loop) is one of the most demanding, exhilarating and treacherous racing tracks in the world, earning the reputation of being one of the best benchmark circuits for any serious performance driver. Each gruelling lap stretches more than 20km and...

  • GM trials drive-in fitting room
    GM trials drive-in fitting room

    Most of us can admit to checking out our reflection in passing shop windows whilst in the car but for those drivers that can’t bear to see themselves behind the wheel GM has come up with a solution to avoid the problem. To help car buyers make the right purchasing decision, GM is trialing a...

  • 200,000 British drivers could get refund on speeding fine

    Anyone that has been caught by a speed-camera knows the angst felt at the thought of paying a fine and losing points on your license (depending where you're from), but the sad fact is that most of us just take it on the chin and move on. But one man, a Brit by the name of Simon Grills, has fought the system and come out on top. His case now leaves the floodgates for victims of ‘Britain's most profitable speed camera’ to contest their fines and points back as well. The case involved a speed camera posted at a point on the M11 motorway where the speed limit drops from 70mph to...

  • Update: 40% of UK drivers welcome 20mph speed limit
    Update: 40% of UK drivers welcome 20mph speed limit

    Update: As strange as it sounds more than 12 million people in the UK, roughly two out of every five drivers, would welcome a 20mph speed limit on their city’s streets according to the results of a new survey run by leading dealer network Motorpoint. A number of cities in the UK have already...

  • Update: New York State blocks congestion charge
    Update: New York State blocks congestion charge

    Update: Despite passing a City Council vote earlier this month, New York’s proposed $8 congestion charged has been axed after it was voted against by state legislators yesterday. Assembly speaker Sheldon Silver in Albany announced the plan wouldn’t be taken up because it was deemed an...

  • Mumbai holds 'No Honking Day'
    Mumbai holds 'No Honking Day'

    A trip through India's city of Mumbai for any tourist is often a cacophony of noise - especially on the road, where horns are used liberally to say the least. Over 1.5 million vehicles crowd the streets of Mumbai each day, ranging from bicycles, rickshaws, semi-trailers and hatchbacks, and just...

  • Study finds blue lighting keeps drivers awake
    Study finds blue lighting keeps drivers awake

    The usual methods of winding down the window or turning up the stereo to stay awake on long journeys are mediocre at best, but carmakers are working hard to develop new safety features to prevent motorists from falling asleep behind the wheel. Mercedes-Benz is testing a system that uses...

  • $200,000 Rolls Royce hood ornament
    $200,000 Rolls Royce hood ornament

    Destined to be one of the most outrageous and expensive car accessories of all time, a Manhattan luxury dealership has commissioned a one-of-a-kind Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament comprised of diamonds, platinum and other rare metals. The asking price for the jeweled mascot? $200,000 or about half...

  • Oldsmobile voted most popular discontinued car brand

    Four years after being discontinued the Oldsmobile name still carries some cachet as evidenced by a new survey, which quizzed respondents on the brands they most wanted to see revived. Oldsmobile ending up beating a number of other deceased car brands to take out sixth place overall in the results. Other American car brands Studebaker and Plymouth also made the list, taking out the 11th and 14th spots respectively. The results of the BrandJunkie survey were a little skewed as the age of respondents had a major effect on the answers provide. Younger generations answered that they hadn’t...

  • Parking tickets rise 500% over five years in UK
    Parking tickets rise 500% over five years in UK

    Just when you thought owning a car in the UK couldn’t get any more expensive, what with all the congestion charges and registration taxes, a new report has found parking a car for free in some areas is becoming near impossible. In just six years, the number of drivers issued with a parking...

  • Odd spot: Samoa planning switch to RHD vehicles
    Odd spot: Samoa planning switch to RHD vehicles

    South Pacific nation Samoa plans to switch from driving on the right-hand side of the road to the left as most of its visitors and migrants come from RHD markets like New Zealand and Australia. Located on the Samoan Islands archipelago, along with American Samoa, the Samoans have been using LHD...

  • Unique Performance victims sue Carroll Shelby
    Unique Performance victims sue Carroll Shelby

    Just days after the liquidation of the shady car customizer's assets, Carroll Shelby has been served with a suit brought by the former customers of Unique Performance, the Texas company that engaged in title-washing and other scandalous behavior that eventually led to its bankruptcy and criminal...

  • Video: BMW's ConnectedDrive in action
    Video: BMW's ConnectedDrive in action

    Chrysler may end up being the first to market with an in-car internet solution, but BMW's ConnectedDrive, announced in advance of this year's Geneva Motor Show, is the first to bring us video of the system in action. An interesting point covered in the videos is that the internet service is routed...

  • Toyota shopping mall opens in Japan
    Toyota shopping mall opens in Japan

    In what may lead to a new trend among carmakers, the cash-rich ones at least, Toyota has opened a new shopping mall aimed at selling and promoting its cars. The new site is located in Yokohama, Japan, and features the usual assortment of restaurants and specialty stores you would find in any...

  • World’s tallest man gets custom car

    At 2.58m (8ft 5in) tall, Ukrainian born Leonid Stadnyk, the world’s tallest man, will find it tough getting behind the wheel of almost any vehicle. That’s why the Ukrainian government, at the request of its President Viktor Yushchenko, has delivered to Stadnyk a custom Chevrolet minivan capable of accommodating his extraordinary size. A lack of suitable vehicles meant Stadnyk was never able to apply for a driver’s license but after years of walking the 37-year old giant decided to finally write to President Yushchenko to help find a car. Yushchenko then enlisted a team of...

  • U.S. military working on next-gen Humvee
    U.S. military working on next-gen Humvee

    The current M998 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (Humvee for short), the truck that spawned the Hummer H1, has been in use by the military for more than 20 years, but a successor could be just around the corner. Earlier this month military officials issued a ‘Request for...

  • Sirius-XM merger approved by DOJ
    Sirius-XM merger approved by DOJ

    The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) approved the merger of satellite radio providers Sirius and XM. The merger has been in the works since last February, and now that the government's antitrust division has given the all-clear, the final hurdle is the FCC. Initial rumors about the deal popped up...

  • Most expensive states for car ownership
    Most expensive states for car ownership

    There’s nothing surprising about the fact that the actual cost of owning car, basic taxes and insurance costs that everybody has to pay, can vary across all 50 U.S. states. What comes as a bit surprise is that this variance can top roughly $10,000 between some states over a five year period...

  • Majority of Londoners support £25 emissions charge
    Majority of Londoners support £25 emissions charge

    In the latest round of the battle between London Mayor Ken Livingstone and Porsche over the UK capital’s new congestion charge, a survey has found that most of the city’s residents are in favor of the scheme. According to the results, 61% of Londoners support the updated scheme, which...

  • Update: Insurance company sponsors 100MPG X Prize challenge
    Update: Insurance company sponsors 100MPG X Prize challenge

    Updated: The Automotive X Prize challenge has officially started with the announcement today of a title sponsor at the New York Auto Show. Progressive Casualty Insurance will front the $10 million cash prize for the first team to successfully build and race a commercially viable 100mpg vehicle. The...

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