We are also excited to announce that a cool, brand new Chevron Car will be out in a matter of days! Check in with this blog and be sure to be subscribed to our Newsletter to be the first to know.

It is commonly believed that an Italian built the first typewriter for a blind Countess in 1808. With a cluster of keys and the paper hidden from the typist, the typewriter wasn't perfect, but it certainly sparked a revolution.

With the need for speed and automation, the typewriter further developed into subsequent versions. The keyboard was improved, typists could see what they were typing, and soon the typewriter was electronic.

Have you ever noticed how the keys spell QWERTY across the top left of your keyboard? It turns out that the keys on the keyboard were arranged in such a manner so as to prevent frequently struck keys from colliding. This became a necessary consideration as the typewriter caught on and people became faster typists.

To learn more, check out the new Learn article, The Evolution of the Typewriter!

We think Abby Ambulance would make great friends with Patty Patrol and Fuller Fire Truck. We also think Abby Ambulance would get along very well with our newest Chevron Car, Devotion, because they're both devoted to helping people out. Together this bunch of Chevron Cars would make sure everyone is happy and safe in their neighborhood!

Marlo is a huge Chevron Cars fan, and we're so excited that she shared her drawing with us. Thanks, Marlo!

Ever since 2001, Chevron has created a Special Edition Chevron Car designed to raise awareness about breast cancer. Devotion joins a proud line of cars, including Hope 2001, Hope 2002, Hope 2003, Faith, Cherish, Promise, Courage and Spirit.

With a radiant ruby exterior, Devotion is an energetic car dedicated to improving the big picture. She's always ready to help out, whether it's cleaning up the house, baking for a bake sale, or rounding-up clothes for the needy.

Devotion believes that good deeds bring good fortune, and we couldn't agree more. With her star-bright smile and big heart, Devotion shows that devoting time and energy to those in need can help in the fight against breast cancer and those whose lives are affected by the disease.

Devotion will be available while supplies last on the ChevronCars.com Toy Store and at select Chevron retail stations starting October 1st, 2009. Chevron and your local dealer are proud to contribute all net proceeds from the sale of this Special Edition car to promote the early detection of breast cancer. Our Special Edition cars tend to sell relatively quickly, so be sure to snag yours as soon as possible!

In addition to the great variety of Cars in his collection, Jesse also owns more than one of many of the individual Cars, including 2 Payton Pizzas, 2 Casey Coupes, 3 Chandler Chips, 3 Summer Scoops, and 2 Fuller Fire Trucks! This collector even owns some of our very first Chevron toy cars, including Sam Sedan, Wendy Wagon, Tony Turbo, Freddy 4-Wheeler and Patty Patrol. Jesse has some other collectibles, too, like his Woody Wagon pin, Fun Club Kit, and Riley Roadster t-shirt.

We love the shelves he has set-up outdoors and the way he has displayed his collection with the larger cars on the bottom and duplicate cars grouped together. We're also impressed that each car is still in its original box--what a dedicated collector!

We noticed Jesse owns Hope 2002, Hope 2003, Faith, Cherish, Courage and Spirit. We hope you're all as excited as we are for the brand new Breast Cancer Awareness car next month! Be sure to sign-up for our newsletter to stay up-to-date with our newest cars.

Thank you Dorothy and Jesse for sharing your collection with us!

Jake took his cars down to a nearby brook and placed his CC Boat on the water. He decided to let his boat float with the current, but not without proper protection--his brother, Drew, was going to stand on a rock to catch the boat if it were to go out too far.

Jake shares the rest of his captivating story:

"So I tried it and right when I put him in the water, I rushed my brother to the rock where he was supposed to catch CC Boat. But the current was very fast there, and Drew wasn't able to catch him! I couldn't go after him, so I watched him float away. Drew got our dad and he saved CC Boat!"

Hooray! It turns out that after capsizing, the boat caught onto a rock with a bunch of floating leaves that were almost the same color as the boat's underside.

Jake remarks, "My dad was lucky to have noticed him!"

Great work! We're relieved you didn't lose your CC Boat!

Jake finishes with:

"Looking forward to when the new Chevron Cars are coming out!"

We're excited, too, about the new Breast Cancer Awareness car and brand new car for the Holiday season. Read more about these cars in our Will there be new cars this Fall? blog entry.

Have you had any adventures with your Chevron Cars lately (remember, always be safe when playing with your cars)? Use our new "Submit a picture" button to give us the scoop!

Top Ten Chevron Cars Games

1. Solitaire
2. Riley's Road Race
3. License to Fly
4. Nando vs. Saguaro
5. Get Dirty 4x4
6. Hank's Desert Dash
7. Fuller's Brickout
8. Rules of the Road
9. Mahjong
10. Rudy's Fruities

With Solitaire being such a classic and popular game, and appealing to a wide range of people, it's no wonder this one is at the very top of our list. License to Fly has remained at the top despite this game being around for years--could this be because it is so challenging? On the flipside, Fuller's Brickout is relatively new and also near the top.

Although it's not a game, we found that our coloring pages ranked very high in popularity. Perhaps the kids who once grew up enjoying this classic childhood source of entertainment are now the generation of kids finding them online. Or perhaps color pages will always be popular, whether found in stores or on the internet.

Have you tried all the Chevron Cars games? Have you guided Riley through his race? Have you helped Fuller Fire Truck extinguish the fire by breaking through the fire bricks with your water ball? How about arranging Rudy's fruities?

Don't forget to check out our brand new Sally Saves a Lot game! Help Sally catch the objects off the bed as they fall increasingly faster. What's your best score?

And as always, we love to hear about your game ideas. What would you like to see on the site?

A new Breast Cancer Awareness car will be released this October. This will be the 9th such car released since 2001, and join a cast that includes Hope 2001, Hope 2002, Hope 2003, Faith, Cherish, Promise, Courage and Spirit. Have any guesses on the new car's name? Let us know! We'll have more information on this brand new car in October.

There will be no Victor E. Vans coming out this year.

A brand new very cool car will be out for this Holiday season. We are very excited about this, because so many of you have asked about it. We assure you it will be a worthy follow-on to Fuller Fire Truck. Be sure to have signed up for our newsletter know the moment it arrives.

We love to hear your creative ideas for new cars and how you maintain your collections.

Take a look at the photo to the right - how can you be certain that the brick wall is behind the car? Could it be possible that the car is behind the wall, and that you are viewing it through a car-shaped hole in the wall? The amazing thing about our visual systems is that we don't even waste time considering that as an option.

Depth perception is our ability to see (or perceive) how far objects are (or their depth). A depth perception cue is a hint to our visual systems that help us see depth.

Back to the car photo- we can thank our visual systems for the depth perception cue of occlusion. The fact that part of the wall is occluded, or out of sight, by the car lets you know that the car is closer to you than the wall.

Let's look at another example of a depth perception cue and examine this photo of a traffic jam in Los Angeles. With the texture gradient depth perception cue, our visual systems recognize that textures change as the recede, such that they become smaller and are change color. Because there are so many cars in this photo, we can think of this as a 'texture' - just as a sandy texture is composed of thousands of sand granules. Can you see how the cars get smaller the further away they are? And that it is more difficult to tell the color of each car the further back you look?

To learn more about depth perception cues, check out our recent Learn article, Depth Perception: Monocular Cues.

Our active Chevron Cars Blog fan, Frankie, has expanded his 35-car collection since we met him back in 2006. Three years later, Frankie now owns a whopping 53 Chevron Cars, which he calls his "MEGA" collection. Frankie writes us:

"I've been working my way upwards since 2004, now it's 2009, & this collection is almost complete! I just need to find Davey Driver, Taylor Taxi, Hope 01, 02 & 03. That's going to make my awesome collection complete!"

Sounds like you've been working hard and searching around to build your collection. Thanks for the update on your collection, Frankie!

Has your Chevron Cars collection grown quite a bit since we last featured you on the Chevron Cars Blog? Send us a picture and let us know how your collecting is coming along!

Give the new Sally Saves a Lot a try and let us know what you think! Got any tips?

We are delighted to bring you another new game at ChevronCars.com! This one dates back to the days when pinball arcades dotted America.

Pinball Party is an online version of the classic pinball arcade game, featuring your favorite Chevron Cars. It has all the parts of a real pinball game - a plunger, bumpers and flippers - and all the twists and surprises that make pinball games so much fun to play. There's even a boat you can ride if you get the ball in the right spot! You never quite know where the pinball will go, but need to stay on your toes (or keys!) to make sure it does not slip away.

If you can't get enough of this game, take a look at our Learn article, The Pinball Machine, to discover the history of this classic game.

Play Pinball Party, and post your tips and tricks by posting a comment below.

Arranged by size, Isaiah has displayed his favorite Chevron toys cars for us. He enjoys playing with his cars with his family. With so many cars, playing around must take up quite a bit of space!

Isaiah thinks that the best car is Zachary Zoomer. As you may know, Zachary Zoomer has always gotten the most joy out of being a kid, so we're glad to see that Isaiah is doing that as well. We especially love how he has 3 little pigs from Maddie Mudster leading the pack -- we wonder, have those three little pigs ever met the big bad wolf?

Isaiah tells us, "Some day I hope to have collected every Chevron toy car ever made." Well, Isaiah, there are two more cars coming out this year, so you'll soon have more to collect. Keep up the great work!

Here is another fine collection, courtesy of Cliff. He has been a collector for a long time. "My first car was Wendy Wagon. My Dad gave it to me."

He continues "I JUST got Taylor Taxi through eBay. I love it." There are over 50 cars in this collection, and 65 have been built so far. Can you identify any of the missing ones (hint, one them is really large!).

Thank-you Cliff for sharing your enthusiasm with thousands of other collectors. And before you ask - yes, there will be new cars coming out later this year. Stay tuned - you won't be disappointed!

Why Paul? According to Frankie, it was first to be called Perry Prius, "but since I have Paul McCartney's LIVE 2002 concert coming soon, I changed the name." Sorry Perry, but Sir Paul is one up on you!

Hybrids are clever. They take energy generated by gasoline and braking and store it in large batteries that are under the engine's hood or in the boot. When there is enough energy in the battery, it is used to run the car. This works well at short distances and low speeds. Once the battery runs out of power, and gasoline is used again, the battery is charged again. The whole cycle is controlled by complex computer calculations which enable higher miles per gallons than most regular gasoline cars. According to car owners, one of the nicest things about running on battery power is that the car's engine becomes so quiet.

Thank-you Frankie for sharing such a contemporary and far-sighted vision with our readers.