And now Jeremy Clarkson chimes in with his own take on things.
Clarkson on the battery issue:
“We never said once that the car had run out of power. The car had to be pushed into the warehouse because you are not allowed to drive cars into a building. We calculated that it would have run out of power after 53 miles but they can’t argue with that because that is a fact.”
And Clarkson on the brake failure:
“Nobody gives a flying **** how the brakes failed. Whether it was a blown fuse or not, they were still not working.”
With the world gone mad over the auto bailout and gas prices finally coming back down to earth, some whackjob environmentally minded congressmen are pushing for more stringent fuel economy standards and for the requirement of the auto companies to build all hybrids within a few years time. Yeah let’s make it harder financially on these failing companies by forcing impossible and ridiculous goals upon them. Well Darryl Siry says cheap gas be damned, and in his latest blog suggests that Congress should either tax the crap out of gas until it hits the $5-6/gallon range, which in turn would piss off enough Americans to demand more efficient/green vehicles, or kiss CAFE goodbye altogether. He is half right. Congress should give up on CAFE and it’s asinine standards when they are not willing to do the necessary thing and completely rework the countries power infrastructure in order to provide the means for these standards to succeed. Otherwise the only thing CAFE will continue to do is drive up the additional costs for manufactures, resulting in nothing more than destroying the industry entirely.
Float Will Kick off Rose Parade and Company’s 50th Year in the U.S.
Rose Parade Pace Car to be Hydrogen-Powered Fuel Cell Vehicle for First Time
Today Honda (http://www.honda.com) tested its unique Rose Parade float as part of a rehearsal of the parade’s opening show, conducted for media and invited guests in Pasadena, Calif., revealing the float design and giving parade fans a glimpse of this year’s event. Honda’s Rose Parade float, a 49-foot replica of Honda’s ASIMO humanoid robot, and the parade’s first-ever hydrogen-powered fuel cell pace car, the Honda FCX Clarity, will lead the 120th Rose Parade as well as kick off Honda’s 50th anniversary of U.S. operations.
In front of the millions of viewers watching from around the world on Jan. 1, 2009, Honda’s float will evolve from an opening ceremony stage into an animated replica of Honda’s ASIMO (Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility), standing about 12 times the height of the actual ASIMO humanoid robot. Honda’s float creation called “Hats Off in Celebration” will be completed with natural materials like lettuce seed, rice, carnations and strawflower. The float will be joined by the Prairie View A&M University Marching Band, a past participant in the Honda Battle of the Bands which features the music programs of Historically Black Colleges and Universities. A few members of the band will ride on the float, which will be immediately followed by the entire marching band. In addition, during the parade the FCX Clarity pace car will be accompanied by the Honda Super Cub motorcycle, the first model sold in the United States.
“Honda always brings a great amount of innovation to the Rose Parade and what a fantastic way for the company to kick off their 50th anniversary in the U.S.,” said Bill Flinn, chief operating officer, Tournament of Roses.
The Honda float includes a variety of flowers, plants and seeds that will later be ground up for mulch after the parade activities are concluded. The surface of ASIMO will be covered with super fine ground white rice and super fine ground everlasting; it is accented by fine cut blue statice and fine cut red statice as well as silverleaf to create accents and “shadows.” Fine cut everlasting, whole red carnations and white chrysanthemums will bring vivid color to Honda’s 50th anniversary logos, which will be decorated by Honda associates (employees) on December 27.
“We’re honored to be celebrating our first 50 years in America by continuing our participation in the Rose Parade,” said Stephan Morikawa of American Honda Community Relations. “We’re thankful that so many customers have placed their trust in our products and services, and we are looking forward to surpassing their expectations during the next 50 years.”
Honda is one of the parade’s longest-running corporate sponsors, and its Rose Parade entries have captured major awards in 13 out of the last 14 years. Honda is the official Tournament of Roses vehicle. This year, the company will provide 115 vehicles, including the Honda FCX Clarity pace car; 166 Metropolitan scooters; and, 12 generators for use by Tournament of Roses personnel. The 120th Rose Parade, themed “Hats off to Entertainment,” will take place Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2009 at 8 a.m. (PST).
A 1959 Cadillac, worth $133,000, once owned by Steve McQueen and one time guest star on “MacGuyver” was recovered when a car theft ring was busted in Colorado. Headed by Jeffrey Earle Piper, the thieves would steal expensive rental cars and after changing the VIN numbers they would sell them. However the scam did not stop there. The new owner would be in on the deal and report his car as stolen, to then collect from his insurance.
In years past car design student’s would be snatched up left and right during the Pasadena’s Art Center College of Design’s senior showcase by various automotive manufactures for some pretty prestigious careers. But as the industry suffers from financial woes, graduating students too are feeling the crunch as job opportunities are becoming more and more scarce. Some student’s who can not find a job as an auto designer normally would fall back upon working for a supplier but now are resorting to looking for job’s designing such things like cell phones.
SOURCE: LA Times PHOTOCREDIT: “Doggydogg” @ E90Post.com
Toyota will debut its 2010 Toyota Tundra Work Truck Package at this year’s San Diego Auto Show (Dec. 31, 2008 to Jan. 4, 2009). Basically Toyota is filling a void in their lineup with a dressed down, no frills, strictly business version of their Tundra. All the chrome on the Tundra’s exterior has been replaced with black plastic, including the front and rear bumpers and grille, the side view mirrors are adjusted manually, the bench seat is upholstered in washable vinyl, the dash is all black plastic and the floor is rubber. Other features that Toyota has done away with are the remote keyless entry and cruise control. It will however still be available in either regular or access cab models and your choice of V6 or V8. But make sure that you really are using this only for work, and probably just want this version for your employees to beat up without your caring because the net savings is only between $550-665; an insignificant savings not worth giving up the luxury features if you are looking for a daily ride not used for dirty jobs.
With less than a week left and the days ticking away fast, it is doubtful that Aptera will begin to deliver it’s electric vehicle, the Typ-1, to customer’s who have pre-ordered one by the end of 2008 as originally planned. Some customer’s who have already placed deposits on a Typ-1 have received emails saying that the customer service department has gone home until the new year, which has many members of the Aptera forum wondering if the entire company has broke for the year rendering delivery impossible. However rumors are that Steve Fambro, the man behind the Aptera project, may soon partake in a symbolic ceremony where he will receive the keys to a “production” Aptera.
Round 1: Top Gear reviewed the Tesla Roadster and among other things they show the crew having to push the car into the garage because the batteries reportedly died.
Round 2: Tesla fired back saying that the car never ran out of power.
Which brings us to round 3. The BBC has now released a statement admitting that Clarkson’s test car still had power left and the scene was filmed to show what would happen if the battery had actually been depleted. Regardless, “Top Gear stands by the findings in this film and is content that it offers a fair representation of the Tesla’s performance on the day it was tested.”
Hmm, what “would” happen if it did run out of power huh? So glad Top Gear fairly demonstrated what “would” happen. I wonder what would happen if a gas powered vehicle ran out of gas? Perhaps Top Gear will enlighten us on an upcoming episode.
As if being driven by Paris Hilton wasn’t bad enough, with her impressive driving record and all, Paris decided to further shame this poor Continental GT by having it painted pink. As a Christamas gift to herself, the walking dead purchased the $200,000 vehicle and had it customized West Coast Customs, infamous for “pimpin’” people’s rides; apparently “pimpin’” is code for make crappy looking. It was here at this LA based slaughterhouse that the Bentley was given it’s new shade of cherry blossom pink, it’s pink grill, gawdy pink wheels and of course no custom monstrosity is complete without a blinged up badged where the “Flying B” is now replaced with “Flying PH.” Not even the interior was safe; hey why stop at vandalizing only half the car?
Explaining her reason for customising her car pink, Hilton said:
“I love pink so I met up with Ryan (Friedlinghaus) and brought him this pink clock from the Disney store and got him to make this exact colour and we just designed it all together. I love it, its so pretty. I’ve just always wanted a pink car. I think when you’re a little girl and you have the Barbie corvette you’re like, ‘I wish I had a car like this one.’ So I think just being a fan of Barbie for so long.”
I know that this didn’t take place in SoCal but every now and then we venture outside the area to cover stories when they are just too good to pass up and considering that it’s the day of Christmas Eve this seems to be perfect. I know I got a good laugh, although the actions of these people can not be condoned.
The following video surfaced on YouTube Monday. It shows four people dressed as Santa Claus covering three speed and red light enforcement cameras in Tempe, Arizona. Two are covered with boxes - one decorated with Christmas wrap - and the third is blocked with what appears to be a red sheet. One can only assume that Tempe law enforcement might be forced to say “bah humbug” to these gifts from Santa to Tempe motorists.
