Micheal Lamm has worn a lot of hats in the automotive media world, including stints as editor and publisher at a number of respected publications (besides siring the man who gave the world the 24 Hrs of LeMons series). In addition to wearing a lot of hats, Mike has also owned a lot of cars including about 80 collectible and special interest automobiles over the past 62 years. Most of them he loved, others he grew to hate.
In early 2011, New York Consumer Protection law firm, Schlanger & Schlanger, LLP, together with national class action firm Roddy, Klein & Ryan of Boston, MA and Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, LLP filed a class action lawsuit against Porsche Cars North America, Inc. (“Porsche”), regarding defective coolant pipes in Porsche Cayenne model vehicles. The lawsuits allege, generally, that Porsche knowingly manufactured Cayenne models with plastic coolant tubes that degrade and fracture causing engine coolant to leak into the engine, leading to significant engine damage, and hid its knowledge of the defect from Cayenne owners. When the plastic coolant tubes fail, Cayenne owners are forced to purchase and install a costly “update kit” from Porsche which contains aluminum coolant pipes.
So says one of the many attorneys jumping onto this particular bandwagon. And now it looks like a settlement is imminent…
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It’s the kind of thing that makes you want to join the dark (blue) side. Every year, the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department runs the newest crop of donut-holders around Fontana Speedway. With no significantly new entries available, it’s no surprise that the results are fundamentally the same as they were last year.
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The Datsun 810 wagon was a fairly common sight on the streets of Northern California during the Middle and Late Malaise Eras, sort of the semi-sporty wagon choice for families who wanted a family hauler with a bit of 280Z in its genes. The Datsun 810 became the Datsun Maxima by the early 1980s and the Nissan Maxima by 1984, and all of the rear-drive members of this family have become rare finds these days. We’ve seen this ’82 Maxima and this ’78 810 wagon so far in this series; those two cars and today’s 810 were all shot during trips to California wrecking yards. I don’t know if they even existed outside of a 50-mile radius from San Francisco. (Read More…)
Oil changes.
Should they be done every 3000 miles? 5000 miles? 10,000 miles?
Or should you pay a premium and go for that ultra-long marathon of 15,000 miles with the right oil and filter combination?
Those of us who drive our cars for quite a while are usually focused on mileage above all else. But what about those vehicles that we rarely drive?
Should the Sunday drivers and infrequent haulers of rubbish be given the same regimen?
What about using time as a yardstick instead? 6 months… 1 year… 2 years?
Everyone thinks the answer is different. But for most vehicles, it’s the same.
What originally started for amusement as a car that would blog as it was driven has morphed into some of the most cutting edge technology at the Performance Racing Industry show. The hardware and software derived from the comical car, Race Capture, takes into account today’s online generation and offers a data logging system that is Cloud based for the 21st century. It provides for real time data recovery and analysis from everything from a speed over time curve to throttle position. The innovative software appeals to the most dedicated and data driven race teams, who are able to utilize instantaneous coaching , not just from the passenger seat or pit wall, but from anywhere with an internet connection. They can also monitor crucial car health indicators such as oil temperature and pressure.
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Ford Racing quietly began offering its advanced, 2.0 liter Ecoboost turbocharged 4 cylinder crate engine earlier this year, without much fanfare. All that changed at the 2013 PRI Show in Indianapolis, however, with Ford’s Ecoboost powered 2015 Mustang twirling away on a giant lazy Susan directly under the giant “Ford Racing” banner mere steps away from the small crate engine, displayed proudly with its (relatively hefty) $8,000 price tag.
Prior to stepping down as CEO of General Motors, Dan Akerson made a few mentions about an EV similar to the Volt that would possess a 200-mile range on a single charge with an on-board generator that could run on gas, diesel or natural gas. He also hoped the car would sell for around $30,000.
Norwood Jewell, a nominee to become a UAW vice-president, said that the autoworkers want to eliminate the two-tier wage system that pays new hires at a lower rate than higher seniority workers. The wage system was agreed to by the union to help the domestic automakers as they went through financial troubles when the economy turned down in 2007. New workers are paid slightly more than half of what veteran autoworkers earn.
“The international executive board hates two-tiers,” Jewell told Automotive News at a General Motors Co plant in Flint, Mich. as the automaker was announcing $1.3 billion in investments in some of its plants in the U.S. midwest, mostly in Michigan. Jewell is currently director of UAW’s Flint region. “We didn’t do two tiers because it’s a wonderful thing,” he said, explaining that the financial circumstances six years ago more or less forced the two tier wages on the union. “We hate them. We intend to eliminate them over time.” (Read More…)
GM Korea design center
Now that General Motors is withdrawing the Chevrolet brand from the European market, it plans to reduce salaried employee rolls at GM Korea, which has been assembling most of the Chevy branded vehicles sold in Europe. Reuters reports that Sergio Rocha, GM Korea CEO, said that GM’s Korean subsidiary will offer a “voluntary retirement” plan to its 6,000 salaried workers, including research and design staff. Some of the product development responsibilities have already been shifted out of Korea, like the design of the current Chevy Cruze. The previous generation of the Cruze was designed in Korea. So far the reductions are aimed at salaried workers as Rocha said the company has no plans to eliminate production jobs. (Read More…)
Nissan last sold a car branded as a Datsun in 1981, but it’s bring the brand back for emerging markets like Indonesia, India, Russia and South Africa. The low cost brand will be launching in April in Russia with a starting price below RUB400,000 ($12,100) and go on sale there in late summer or early fall. Nissan is hoping that the new/old brand will attract consumers that had been considering used cars.
“The main objective (in Russia) is to be a serious alternative to the used car market – this is where we want to compete,” Jerome Saigot, director of Datsun’s operations in Russia, told Reuters. (Read More…)
Though Toyota and Nissan may be leading the charge to a hybrid plug-in future, it’s Mazda who, once again, leads the Environmental Protection Agency’s fuel economy list for the 2013 model year with an average of 27.5 mpg.
I was there when Ford debuted its new-for-1999 Mustang Cobra with its “revolutionary” new independent rear suspension. The IRS was a first for the Ford Mustang, and it was a move that Ford’s brass believed would allow the “new edge” Cobra to compete with cars like the BMW M3 for supremacy in the budget super car market. I also remember the very first question that was asked: Will a Ford 9″ bolt in? It was the first question, right out of the box … and it seems like someone at Ford remembers. The new-for-2015 Mustang is going to hit dealers with a new independent rear suspension late next year, and it seems like Ford Racing will have a 9″ live axle option ready.
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John Hennessey, high-performance impresario and creator of many entertaining ViperClub comment threads, has done it again.
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“Things they teach you in the classroom don’t matter until you have a chance to apply them.” So says Julia Cline, an incredibly bright and impressive woman. And for the past three years, Julia has been doing quite a bit of applying.
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