The cars taking part are prototypes that combine technologies such as electric motors, batteries, solar energy and, in one case, hydrogen fuel cells, says Jordaan.
Three South African teams are taking part, two are from India and one is from Japan. A hydrogen-fuel-cell motorbike built by a Malaysian team is also racing.

(Source iol.co.za)

It has been a hard fought battle to stage the race, and several teams did in fact have to drop out due to a lack of funding. The main idea behind the race was to highlight the talents of engineers, as well as to build interest in alternative fuel source vehicles. The route the vehicles will travel will take them from Cape Town to Ermelo with many city stops along the way.

The race seems like a great way to showcase new car ideas, and it should be interesting to watch these cars transport themselves around the country. Who knows what great ideas might come from this race?

The auction disposed of part of the collection of car fancier Richard Paine Jr. of Seal Cove, Maine, who died last year. The 1910 Mercedes and the 1913 Rolls-Royce were the top-priced items, and a half-dozen other cars sold for more than $250,000 each. Proceeds of the auction go to an endowment for the Seal Cove Auto Museum, which houses the core of Paine’s collection.

(Source AP)

It looks like a lot of car shippers and auto transporters will be hitting the roads after this auction to bring this cars to their new homes!

Higher level employees are the ones likely to suffer from the new round of layoffs. Much like it’s parent company Ford, Volvo is looking to cut cost by closing down plants on specific shift hours. Volvo in fact already announced plans in June to cut 2,000 jobs and reduce plant hours. Volvo has also estimated that it would need to cut 900 more jobs next year.

I was actually surprised to learn that Ford was Volvo’s parent company. I wonder if another Jaguar deal might be in the works, do you recall when Ford sold Jaguar to an Indian company for a significant loss in recent years? Much of Volvo’s decline has been linked to poor sales.

Much of the new work is expected to be done in a new plant in Flint, Michigan that has a focus on production of small car engines. The factory cost nearly 250 million dollars and is expected to provide about 300 jobs to local workers.

This all comes on the heels of the government bailout of the auto industry, a 25 billion dollar check to the big three. GM, Chrysler, and Ford are always behind on the times and these changes really should have been taking place years ago, but this may be a case of better late then never…or at least I hope it is. With any luck they will have the auto transport industry booming with new electric and fuel efficient cars in the near future.

Racing was big among young Hollywood when Newman was up and coming. Another actor with whom he competed for rolls with, James Dean, was a successful racer in his own right. Newman said that he came to enjoy racing while filming the movie Winning Newman went on to race in Le Mans in 1979 finishing second behind Porsche Kremer Racing.

Newman went on to race with Bob Sharp Racing team, and even ended up on part of the winning team in the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1995. (source wikipedia) Newman was part of several other racing teams, and it was obviously one of the major passions of his life.

The lights are intended to promote better visibility to other drivers and have lower then normal electricity consumption. The lights go on with the engine but then turn off when the normal night time lights are switched on. The legislation applies to new models only rather then on all preexisting models, this to alleviate any undo burden on the auto manufacturers, basically to make it easy on them.

Under the plans, all new types of passenger cars and small delivery vans will have to be equipped with the daytime safety lights from February 7, 2011. Trucks and buses will have to do the same 18 months later, in August 2012. (Source newsinfo.inquirer.net)

One major upside that I see, no pun intended, to mandatory day time running lights is that in inclement weather you will have greater visibility of others on the road. It always bothers me to drive in fog or heavy rain because I know that there are some people that just refuse to turn their lights on in these situations, adding to an already increased danger during these periods. I wonder if it will apply to things like dump trucks and car shippers?

An increase in the number of complaints of motorists speeding through school zones has led to an increase in police traffic enforcement efforts by the police, according to the Carlsbad Police Department. Those efforts, in turn, are reflected in an increased number of school zone citations passing through the city’s municipal court.
Recently, the week between Sept. 3 and Sept. 10 saw 15 citations heard in court, with each guilty finding translating to a $128 fine for the motorist and mandatory time spent in Defensive Driving School.

The next article I read: Kardashian Ticketed for Speeding in School Zone. Even thought it wasn’t in New Mexico, Kim Kardashian, of pornography fame, was cited for speeding in a school zone. It just goes to show that even celebrities might get a ticket if they are in danger of running over a kid. In all seriousness though, I notice people flying through school zones constantly, and it is obviously just a bad idea. Let off the gas and coast through people.

Southbendtribune.com is chronicling one such company, Lapeer Metal Stamping. It seems that four factories owned and operated by Lapeer are going under due to lack of business from Ford and GM. The company is now making half of what it has in the past, $60 million in stead of $120 to be exact, and apparently has become unprofitable. According to Southbendtribune.com a recent company notice reads:

“Due to sudden, dramatic and unexpected deteriorating circumstances in the automotive industry and in Lapeer’s financial and economic condition, its management has been compelled to sell its book of business and permanently close its operations.”

Another casualty of America’s declining auto industry, but auto transport of imports always seems to be doing well. It’s just a shame the Big Three didn’t revamp their companies years ago.

Guardian.co.uk is reporting that:

There are three musical strips in central and northern Japan - one of which plays the tune of a Japanese pop song. Notice of an impending musical interlude, which lasts for about 30 seconds, is highlighted by coloured musical notes painted on to the road. According to reports, the system was the brainchild of Shizuo Shinoda, who accidentally scraped some markings into a road with a bulldozer before driving over them and realizing that they helped to produce a variety of tones.

The idea sounds cute and all, but if I’m doing some auto transportation, that last thing I really want is a song vibrating up from out of no-where. The series of events goes like this as I see it: the song plays, I freak out, I veer off the road and slam head on into a school bus full of nuns. Do you really want that Shizuo Shinoda? …also, I don’t like Japanese pop music.