Russia invaded Ukraine this week, and the geopolitical situation is making it difficult to hold international sporting events in Russia, for reasons that should be obvious.
This means that the Russian Grand Prix has been dumped from the 2022 slate.
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Fans of all things traditional doffed their tweed caps in celebration yesterday when Morgan rolled out a new version of their three-wheeled car. This time, it’s called the Super 3 – and it’s powered by a Ford-sourced three-banger.
There’s a general understanding amongst gearheads that no matter how big one’s garage or storage space, it’ll eventually fill up. A two car garage will be just as full as a single, while that 40’ x 40′ unit your neighbor is building will be filled to capacity by year’s end. It’s just the natural order of things.
And before you get yer knickers in a knot, we’ll be doing a separate post about storage cabinets and workbenches. This list is simply about shelves – and trust us, you need more of them than you think. Your author is partial to shelves that hang from the ceiling to keep floor space free, but those that rise from floor to ceiling have their place as well. It’s always a good idea to mount these securely – especially the ones hanging from the rafters.
Just make sure to sell that box full of parts in the corner which fit a car you haven’t owned in a decade, ok?
Speculators on Wall Street (where else?) have been yammering about the possibility of Ford Motor Company creating a second company for its moving-at-light-speed EV business. To that end, CEO Jim Farley had one thing to say on Wednesday:
“We have no plans to spin off our electric business or our ICE business,” he told people assembled on a finance call.
If any readers have a certain spec of Blue Oval workhorse in their fleet, they best pay attention to a recent recall from Ford. The company is recalling 223,628 Super Duty pickups to deal with an issue of faulty powertrain components. At fault are driveshafts that can apparently fracture under a specific set of conditions.
On Wednesday, American truckers commenced a cross-country drive from California to Washington, D.C., to petition governments (local, state, and especially federal) to end all COVID-19 mandates. Known as The People’s Convoy, the group was inspired by the Canadian Freedom Convoy that was broken up over the weekend and effectively serves to spread its message within the United States.
The goal is to arrive in the capital early in March to pressure the Biden Administration into ending any formal federal emergencies pertaining to the pandemic. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has approved a request from the District of Columbia government and the U.S. Capitol police for 700 National Guard troops, widespread fencing, and 50 armored vehicles in anticipation. Read More >
We ran a giveaway of Lithium Auto Care products recently and now, we have a winner.
And the winner is…
By the early Eighties Chrysler was deep into its product partnership with Mitsubishi, which in North America was most visible via the mutually beneficial Colt. A lineup of rebadged Mitsubishis, the Colt expanded from its rear-drive beginnings in 1971, morphing into a rear- and front-drive mix by the end of the Seventies. In the earliest part of the Eighties, the line was consolidated into a single front-drive hatchback model. Around the middle of the decade, it was time for a fifth-generation Colt and some more lineup expansion. But this time, Dodge and Plymouth dealers wouldn’t be the only ones selling a Colt.
Not much of the driving advice doled out by my long-suffering father has been retained by your author’s increasingly foggy brain. Gripping the wheel at ten-and-two has been replaced by nine-and-three, although dad’s exhortation that my preferred wheel grip of twelve-and-nothing was absolute bollocks brings a smile to my face even now. Read More >
With dealers having spent the last 12 months placing egregious markups on automobiles, it has become a seller’s market, to say the least. New vehicle transactions are currently averaging $6,000 more than they would have been in the previous annum. But prices had already climbed by $3,000 (year-over-year) in 2020 due to production shortfalls, encouraging fleet managers to scoop up every used vehicle they could find until secondhand cars became likewise overpriced.
It’s an abysmal situation for consumers and automakers have begun to realize they’ll be getting blamed if something isn’t done. As a result, we’ve started to see manufacturers publicly chiding showrooms for placing lofty “market adjustments” on new automobiles. Ford Motor Co. and General Motors have both made formal declarations that they’ll be penalizing dealers who issue ludicrous markups on products wearing their emblems, with Hyundai Motor Group issuing similar threats to greedy retailers this week. Read More >
We pick up the Stutz story once again today, at a turning point in the brand’s history. Though its foundation as Ideal Motor Car Company was only a few years prior in 1911, by 1919 big changes were afoot at the company. Disenchanted that he’d lost control of his company when he sought outside investment capital, Harry C. Stutz departed his own firm in July of that year. He took with him the other remaining founder, Henry Campbell. Control of Stutz Motor Cars fell to its primary investor; the man who’d been running the company since the IPO in 1916: Allan A. Ryan.
On occasion, it must seem like the architects of this series think danger and the nation’s criminals lurk around every corner. We’ve brought you Club-style theft prevention, bumper guards, and now wheel locks. Good job we balance it out with the likes of work gloves, tire shine, and floor jacks.
Wheel locks are sold by the aftermarket and every single new car dealership in which your author has ever stepped foot. When asked for a pricing breakdown of a new car, there is invariably a ridiculous line item reading ‘wheel locks’ or something similar, ranging in price from $50 to in excess of a c-note.
Bin that and get yer own, we say. Most options of on this list are less than half the price of what the Junior in the business office is trying to sell you. Just be sure you’re buying ones that are of the correct overall length and proper thread size. We’ve thrown in a few parking-style wheel locks for good measure as well but do note that none of these things guarantee security. If someone’s bent on taking your wheels, they probably will.
The upcoming Acura Integra is slated to be available with the company’s Super Handling All-Wheel Drive (SH-AWD), according to a report circulating on one of the forums managed by our corporate parents.
This 2022 model year marks the introduction of a fifth-generation WRX – that all-wheel-drive hooligan that some of us first discovered on the screens of a PlayStation. The car has gone through several permutations over the years, including some ill-advised styling choices, but has never left the psyche of most gearheads as one of the preferred turbocharged tools for sliding around a dirt-covered back road.
For 2022, the WRX adds a new top-of-the-line GT trim, featuring electronically controlled dampers that can tailor the dynamic performance to the driver’s preferences. But – hang on a minute; according to the bumf, that trim is only available with a CVT!
The humanity.
Volkswagen Group is apparently in talks with Porsche Automobil Holding SE about a potential initial public offering (IPO) for the Porsche luxury/sports brand. According to a statement from VW, the duo has already negotiated the agreed-upon frameworks and is in final discussions as to when they want to move forward.
Weeks of rumor preceded corporate confirmation, making it seem like the proposed deal was already a shoo-in. But any final decisions will still need to be approved by the management and supervisory boards — something Volkswagen Group said has yet to happen. Read More >
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