Car News Articles

The Associated Press reported Wednesday that Roush Fenway Racing won’t appeal the penalties imposed by NASCAR against Carl Edwards after his winning No. 99 Ford Fusion failed post-race inspection after the UAW-Dodge 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Edwards was docked 100 points and stripped of the 10 bonus points he earned for the March 2 victory when NASCAR discovered the cover was off the oil tank in his car. Edwards has tumbled considerably in the standings since his Las Vegas win. He was first before the penalty and dropped to seventh after losing the 100 points. He is 17th after a 42nd-place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday. Read more about Roush’s decision to not appeal here.
Sprint Cup standings are here.

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I had to chuckle when I read the story of the “Meanest Mom on the Planet” — you know, the woman who placed an ad to sell her son’s car after she found alcohol in it. I read recently that the car had sold, which reminded me of something: We are all flying by the seat of our pants in this parenting job.

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I am far from an expert on high end European cars (mainly because I am a poor sap), but I found this interesting take on on the Mercedes C219 CLS by Elite Sports/Vorbild in Japan. This car is fully tuned using all Vorbild parts and was originally displayed at the Tokyo Special Import Car Show last year.

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According to KHOU, police in Colleyville have printed up “Stop Thief!” signs to battle car thieves. The signs, designed to hang from a cars’ rear view mirror, tell would-be thieves there are no “valuables, money, computers, purses or briefcases in this vehicle.” (Ah, but are there?) Chief Tommy Ingram admits the signs won’t actually discourage thieves; they’ll remind drivers to hide their valuables. KHOU also reports that back in Washington D.C., Transportation Secretary Mary Peters is urging Congress to allow Mexican trucks to continue driving into the U.S., ’cause halting the trucks would hurt agribusiness. (Opponents fear U.S. job losses and safety issues.) And good news if you’re a Texas car dealer. The state’s Vehicle Repair Assistance, Retrofit, and Accelerated Vehicle Retirement Program (VRARAVRP) is a hit! The Star-Telegram reports that The North Central Texas Council of Governments, which administers the program locally, is adding extra phone lines and personnel to deal with the flood of interest since the state kicked-in additional money (up to $3500 towards a new car). Texas taxes hard at work.

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I forgot to upload the podcast. Sorry Justin. In my own defense, I never thought TTAC’s blog would take off like this. When we started, it was just Frank and me and sometimes Glenn. We struggled to make ten posts a day. Now we’re nearasdammit outblogging the other guys, via regular snarks from Jonny, eco-actualities from Donal, new car buzz from Justin and occasional shots from Samir, William C and Sajeev. Oh, and Edward Niedermeyer, who’s a friggin’ blogging machine (and the only writer I know who has more snidely whiplash than me). And like the good brand that we are, TTAC has grown organically in this, dare I say it, comms post. For the first time in this history of the world (ever) we crested 600k unique visitors (that’s you) per month, ascending to 1.8m page views. Equally heartening, we’re e-fly paper; visitors hang around the site for an average for 4:16. The ad guys are talking about a demographic survey, and that’s great– given that we haven’t heard hide nor hair of them in the last six months. Anyway and meanwhile, I promise you more of the same. Fair enough?

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WTLV reports that Georgia state inspectors discovered that all three gas stations at the Camden County Cisco Travel Plazas (off of I-95) have been shortchanging their customers for the last eight years. A superior court judge ordered an attorney (yes, a lawyer) to take over the stations’ management and seize any profits. District Attorney Stephen Kelley says the dramatic steps were taken “without warning- so no one could spend it away or hide it.” While Kelley admits that “juries might have to decide who’s innocent and who’s not,” he points out that one of the former station owners has a history of rolling back odometers. Another former owner, yet to be located, “missed a court appearance in Missouri this week.” If the state finds that the stations cheated customers, Kelley hopes the seized assets can be converted into “massive” refunds. And if not?

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With air quality so toxic that Olympic athletes plan to train outside the city, with its international reputation for peace, love and harmony on show for the entire world, Beijing knows it has to clean up its act. The Beijing News (via the New York Times) reports that city officials want to de-smog the world’s most polluted urban atmos by cutting its motorized traffic in half. (That’s up from the one-third target that TTAC’s Adrian Imonti reported back in August.) To that end, the government is considering implementing the number plate restrictions trialled last summer. The move should take about 1.65m vehicles off Beijing’s roads each day during the Games. As you might expect from a military dictatorship, the Powers that Be in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) are contemplating other, equally draconian corrective measures. The Old Gray lady reports that the PRC may also shut down factories throughout northern China during the Games. Paycheck? What paycheck? Gone, in the name of Citius, Altius, Fortius.

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A few days back we asked “Does God Hate Chrysler?” We’re beginning to think that was more than just a rhetorical question. Regardless of your theological beliefs, it’s obvious Chrysler has pissed off someone on a higher plain of existence. Hot on the heels of broken equipment, bankrupt suppliers and assembly plant fires, a “mechanical problem” forced Chrysler to shut down their main office in Windsor, Ontario. Mlive doesn’t identify the culprit, but they revealed that the utility company has cut off the building’s water and power. Chrysler hasn’t said how long it’ll be before their Canadian HQ is back in operation. Farago thinks there may be a terrorist/disgruntled employee lurking behind the scenes. I’m thinking Bob Nardelli needs to hire an exorcist.

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The Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Renewable Energy Technologies Grants Program is forking-over $1.5m of residents’ hard-earned tax dollars to an incipient E85 producer making ethanol from sweet sorghum juice– rather than corn squeezins. Discounting all the Starbuckian Fair Trade blather– the Renergie company wants to build small local plants, give farmers a royalty from [theoretical] E85 sales, etc.– sorghum’s advantages over corn include less pesticides and water requirements, higher yield (4700 to 7500 liters per hectare), rapid growth and the ability to grow marginal soil. Yes, well, as Checkbiotech reports, the song remains the same: subsidies! “Once state approval is received, Renergie’s variable blending pumps will be able to offer the consumer a choice of E10, E20, E30 and E85. Via use of the Blender’s Tax Credit, Renergie will be able to ensure that gas station owners are adequately compensated for each gallon of fuel-grade ethanol that is sold via Renergie’s variable blending pumps at their gas stations.” 

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Since you TopGear.com acolytes hail from all over the planet, what daft/ancient/hilarious police cars patrol your streets? We know about the Italian’s Polizia’s Lamborghini Gallardo, and the Met’s Caparo T1. But we want sillier cars. Laughable cars.

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