State officials can punish an individual for driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI), even if they are unable to prove the accused was ever behind the wheel, the West Virginia Supreme Court ruled Thursday. The decision came in the case of Eric R. Cain who was found lying passed out on in front of his car on Route 19 by Marion County Sheriff’s Deputy Todd Cole at around 2:30am on June 2, 2007. The car had been safely parked and there was no key in the ignition.
Ford’s first hybrid models for European customers will be built in Valencia Spain. Valencia was the logical choice.
Valencia had been picked in 2009 as the European single source for all versions of the “compact multi-activity model” Ford C-MAX and Grand C-MAX . Powered by EcoBoost gasoline and Duratorq TDCi diesel engines, they will launch later this year. A gasoline-powered seven-seat version of the C-MAX model for North America will go into production in Valencia in late 2011. Read More >
U.S. Transport Secretary Ray LaHood is in Japan today. He’s looking at trainsets. Japan is bidding on the U.S.A.’s (long in the) future high speed rail network. So is everybody else in the world, including the Chinese. Good luck to both of them. While in Japan, LaHood personally inspected Toyota’s safety facilities in Toyota City to see whether they are up to snuff. You think Mr. “Feet to the Fire” LaHood gave Toyota a clean bill of health? Think again. Read More >
The long awaited Polo GTI is not long awaited anymore. Except if you live in the U.S.A. Then you can wait until the proverbial cows come home. Or until someone at VeeDub has an epiphany and sends the thing stateside. (I still remember how long it took them to introduce the original Golf GTI to the U.S. Forever. We begged them. “There is a 55 mph speed limit,” they said. “They buy Porsches,” we said. “That’s something else,” they said. “They buy muscle cars,” we said. “Stop bugging us,” they said. And how long did it take them to decide to bring a civilian version of Polo to the U.S.? What, 35 years?)
The textbook example of engine downsizing that gets 180 hp out of its twincharged (turbo and supercharger) pintsized (1.4 liter) TSI engine, while making owners of gas stations increase their anti-depression medication with a 40 mpg US rating (estimated) is being officially launched today in Germany. In style: At the Nürburgring.
Let’s try something a bit different here. This interior shot means that google is not going to be your friend. On the other hand, anyone who’s ever had one will probably recognize it instantly.
The ’81 Cougar grille kept things hopping. One close answer: KitaIkki said “Cougar”. That covers a lot of territory, but he certainly deserves some recognition.
Just what every Mother would want: a color-coordinated magenta Miata to go along with her purple irises and yellow tulips. Read More >
Hyundai is riding high. They’re being thought of in the same vein as Honda in terms of quality, the same as Ford in terms of value and the same as Toyota in terms of reliability. So what could be left for Hyundai to do? They want you to think of them as a … Read More >
As we were walking home through the Lane Events Center parking lot, where a Tattoo Convention was in high gear, I noticed the 1970 Caddy in the distance, and as soon as I saw the big dubs, I kept walking. They generally just don’t do it for me. But then I thought, what the hell, it might mike a good Outtake. And as I walked around the other side of it and raised my camera, I realized I’d stumbled into another two-fer. With matching dubs, no less. Read More >
Bumper stickers are a controversial subject, quite apart from the often-divisive sentiments they express. Most of us are either pro-bumper sticker or anti, and once we’ve decided which we are, there’s little chance of ever going back. Personally, I fall into the “anti” camp. You might think that someone who spends his time writing about the intersection of cars, culture and politics might embrace the bumper sticker medium, but I’ve never been a big fan. Perhaps the limitations of the format are what bothers me: not only does it require broadcasting deeply-held beliefs in ultra-condensed, often over-simplified messages, but it also requires a long-term commitment to the cause in question. Perhaps my political and personal views have changed too often to justify dedicating my mobile real estate to any particular opinion. In any case, this is the kind of bumper sticker I can absolutely get behind: timeless, true and a winking critique of the “flex fuel,” biodiesel and other pious stickers advertising alternative-energy-derived moral superiority. Deep down, perhaps we’re all pro-bumper sticker… some of us just haven’t found the right one yet.
Like cars, or even more so, the quest to find fuel efficiency in RVs has come and gone with the price of fuel. In the early eighties, when gas was around $4.00 in today’s dollars, the RV business crashed and desperately looked for a radical solution. One could say that the Winnebago LeSharo was the equivalent of the 1985 Cadillac DeVille: downsized to the extreme. Winnebago desperately searched for the solution, and found it in…France. LeSharo: the LeCar of RVs. Read More >
It might be hard to live down to that exact headline billing. And this Mini-based Wildgoose RV is certainly bigger than the human-powered RV we covered here. But of you’ve ever been around an original Mini, you’ll be able to appreciate the scale of this rig. Read More >
The weather is getting nice and the yen to explore America’s great outdoors is rising. It’s just a question of what the right size and cost of vehicle to take. If you work at Goldman Sachs, here’s a little number to consider for a quick weekend getaway. Is it the world’s biggest RV? If not, it sure gets a good grade for effort. Pop-outs on both sides on the first floor. The second floor lifts up from its bridge-safe position. And there’s even an optional third-floor patio-deck! Read More >
Give up? The answer is that they’re giving South Korea a headache. OK, let’s go back a bit. The Korea Times reports that something funny is happening to the South Korean car market. Effectively, for years, the South Korean car market used to be closed off to foreign competition, thus, keeping domestic production and sales high. The market for foreign was only for the exclusively rich who didn’t mind paying the tariffs. But now, even the proletariat is getting in on the act. In spite of a global slump in the market, the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association (KAIDA) reports that foreign imports rose, month on month, by 51.1 percent, to 7,208 units in April. Still a drop in the water: Korea makes 3.5m cars in a good year, of which 2.5m are exported. But it’s a start. Read More >
Toyota still hasn’t announced its final numbers for the 2009 fiscal year that ended on March 31. And the musings continue. Previously, a loss was assumed as certainty. Come on, how can a car company the size of Toyota escape carmageddon and pedal-gate unscathed? Then, there were speculations that Toyota would report a slight gain, of say, $500m. Now, there are people who think it will be more … Read More >
Is good old machismo dying in Brazil? On the eve of Women’s International Day (May 8), women are now held responsible for buying up to 40 percent of brand new cars in Brazil, and are said to influence over 80 percent of purchases. According to well-known Brazilian news site Globo, those are the numbers. But what motivates a woman to buy a car in Brazil? Read More >
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