Will Smartphones End the American Love Affair with the Automobile?

The iPhone 5 -- its design as alluring as a new Corvette?

American youth on the whole are simply not as enthralled with the automobile as kids from previous generations. That doesn't mean that there are not young people who love automobiles, new, used, and classic. But the numbers are not large, and that should worry the auto hobby in general, including those collectors with cars that some day will have to be sold.

But then there is the iPhone, seemingly more important than a drivers' license to more than a few teenagers. Why smartphones? Yesterday my son-in-law lost his, as he placed it on the top of a car that I drove off in to get motor oil at Pep-Boys! He just simply called to report it lost and claim insurance for the loss. Today a new phone will be in the mail to him.

Somehow, for these new generation of kids smartphones -- and other mobile devices -- convey status. Like my chronograph watch. The iPhone offers freedom and social reach, but does it really do that like a car? Can you really get away from your parents by using a smartphone? Can you foster a meaningful relationship by communicating electronically the way you can talk to someone in the front seat of a car or during a road trip?

One survey suggests that 46 percent of young people 18 to 24 prefer access to the internet rather than access to their own car. In 1978, 50% of 16 year olds obtained their first drivers' license; in 2008, only 30% did the same.

What this means is that cars increasingly need to come with innovative electrical gadgets, or with communicaton technologies built in. Whoever comes up with a killer app adaptable to the car will further a revolution that goes well beyond hybrid or electric propulsion.

When Life Ends Far Too Soon -- Recent Accidents in the Dayton, Ohio Area

Plenty can be said about young people whose lives end too soon because of an auto accident. A few weeks ago, two Chinese students died on a weekend evening in the suburbs -- they were 18 and 19 years old. According to one source, the car they were traveling in down Mad River Road was going at least 70 in a 40 zone. The older student had just purchased an Eclipse, and then had it hopped up at a speed shop. Near the corner of Jenny Lane and Mad River the car hit a tree, and burned. The bodies of the students so severely that there can be no determination if alcohol was involved in the crash.

Last weekend a drunk driver from Florida was traveling at speeds of around 100 mph and T-boned a car at the intersection of Wilmington and Wayne (See photos above) in the City of Dayton. Two kids in the car that was hit died -- a boy 18 and a girl 20. As you might expect, the drunk driver survived. That intersection had just been improved, and one wonders if making the road better contributed in a very tangential way to this accident.

In a nutshell, and from the very beginning, the car brings with it risks that we usually fail to account for in our everyday lives. After all, we think it will never happen to us. How frail life really is!

Consumer Reports :- Audi A6 on the Top

Consumer Reports :- Audi A6 on the Top

Consumer reports has just finished evaluating four mid sized luxury sedans and the 2012 Audi A6 managed to tie with the infinity M37 for the top the German four door substantial improvements road its way to the success.

In previous evaluation the Audi A6 has managed to score just 80 points on the CR sale. But in this year the score just jumped to 93.

The Audi A6 did not take the top position when its comes to fuel economy the Consumer Reports says that the Mercedes Benz E350 bluetec remains king of that by returning the 26 miles par gallon for more just visit consumerreports.com.

Images Credit:- autoblog

Lexus IS F Circuit Club

Lexus IS F Circuit Club

Lexus has turned its very fast IS F over to the go fast guys at Toyota Racing Development. This model was coming for some time thanks to the 2010 Tokyo Auto Salon Concept and details spouted this summer. 

The Automakers fitted the IS F with a new front spoiler all of which are fabricated from weight saving carbon fiber and also have sizable rear wing a performance damper kit also the part of  the package. The Lexus IS F also equipped with light weight forged aluminium wheels, though magnesium rollers are also available.

The IS F circuit club sport package utilizes a TRD big brake kit at this point i am not sure on how much the package will cost or when it will be available stay visiting.

Images Credit:- autoblog

2013 Lexus GS 250 in Guangzhou

Lexus GS 250

Lexus will launch the 2013 Lexus GS in 350 and 450h variants in the U.S a vehicle that just made its deput at the Guangzhou Motor show in china.

The New 2013 GS have 2.5 liter V6 engine with direct injection producing 208 Horsepower and 187 feet of torque and have six speed automatic transmission with four cylinder running to 60 miles per hour will take 8.8 seconds on its way to a top speed of 142 mph. A Lexus automaker says that they have currently no plans to offer the GS 250 here in the U.S the cars will go on sale in others market in June 2012 when the GS 450h launch.

Images Credits: autoblog

2012 Porsche 911 Carrera S

2012 Porsche 911

Earlier this month Porsche's new icon we are watching that what others say about 911 and 991. The EVO magazine recently took a Carrera S out on the twisty roads of California 

I am unable to got the full review but with a car as good as new Porsche 911 don't expect to hear much in the way of negavity.

Interior

Watch Full Video..

Images Credit :- autoblog

Chevy OK Used Cars and Louis Chevrolet's Signature

Hi folks -- when I was a kid I always noticed the OK used car signs at the dealers' lots. But where did the OK logo come from? I recently saw an ad from 1918 for an American Motors Corporation "American Six." Louis Chevrolet was the Vice President and Chief Engineer of this company, and on the inside dash of each car Chevrolet signed in his own had "O.K. Chevrolet." As the ad copy went on to explain, "Louis Chevrolet's O.K. is a sure guarantee of the sterling qualities that set the AMERICAN SIX apart from other cars."

The Evolution of the Jordan Playboy Advertising Copy

Hi folks -- when I dealt with the importance of Ned Jordan and the Jordan Playboy "Somewhere West of Laramie" ad of 1923, it seems that this copy popped out of nowhere and had little or no antecedents. That is patently false, as Ned Jordan gradually shaped and reshaped his words until the now-famous ad appeared. ONE MIGHT ARGUE THAT THE REAL SHIFT THAT TOOK PLACE IS AS MUCH IN THE IMAGE AS IN THE WORDS -- THAT THE IMAGE EVOKES A SENSE OF MYSTERY AND POWER ABSENT FROM PREVIOUS ADS. Note above Jordan ads, and how the static gives way to the dynamic.
a 1922 ad copy for the Playboy:

A spirited companion for a wonderful girl and a wonderful boy.
It's a shame to call kit a roadster. So full is this brawny,
graceful thing of the vigor of boyhood and morning.
It carries two passengers with a cockpit-swanky seat behind.
It revels along with the wandering wind and roars like a Caproni
biplane. It's a car fora man's man -- that's certain.
Or for the girl who loves the out-of-doors.
It's true -- there's some of the twang of that rare old English ale
that was brewed from the smiles of youth and of old boxing gloves.
How did we happen to think of it?
Why a girl who can swim and paddle and shoot described it to a
boy who loves the roar of the cut-out.
We built one and slipped it away from the quiet zone.
And stepped on it.
And the dogs barked.
And the boys stopped to cheer.
And the people we passed stopped and looked back.
And we were boys again.
The Playboy will be built in limited numbers -- frankly because we
love to do it.

From 1918 ad for the Jordan Sport Marine

The Jordan Sport Marine is the first completely equipped motor car ever offered as a stock model by a manufacturer. It is a custom made car at a stock car price.
The new continental motor, introduced by Jordan, eliminates vibration, accentuates speed, increases power and affords a degree of economy and smoothness that is far in advance of the times. The aluminum body is fifty pounds lighter, free from rumbles and ripples and takes that beautiful velvety finish.
Two optional colors, Briarcliff green and Liberty Blue. Upholstered in special hand buffed, genuine leather, with velvet tonneau rug. Rim wind sport clack and tonneau light empancelled in Honduras mahogany.
Because of its completeness, its ultra comfort, its smartness, the Sport Marine is essentially a woman's car.
It is fashionably low with five 32x4 wire wheels and five Silvertown Cord Tires, special gear ratio, sport windshield, taileored top, traffic bumper, motometer, Macbeth green visor lenses and Lin-Rhubber on running boards as standard equipment. Curtains open with the doors.
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The Most "Bizzaro" automobile anti-theft device ever -- the Bosco "Rubber Man"

As some of you know, I am working on a history of auto theft entitled "Stealing Cars." At night, while watching TV, I love to read auto history material, and especially like the old publications of Floyd Clymer. Last evening I found this description of a rubber man in a Floyd Clymer Auto History Scrapbook published in 1947:

Perhaps the most bizarre, and in retrospect, humorous countermeasure was the Bosco "Collapsible Rubber Driver." Made in Akron, Ohio, ad copy for the rubber man claimed that: "locks may be picked or jimmied. Cars may be stolen in spite of them. But no thief ever attempted to steal a car with a man at the wheel. [It] is so lifelike and terrifying, that nobody a foot away can tell it isn't a real, live man. When Not in use, this marvelous device is simply deflated and put under the seat."[i]

---

[i] Floyd Clymer, Historical Scrapbook No. 4 (Los Angeles: Clymer, 1947), p. 162.

Lotus Esprit V8 Lego New Lotus Project

Lotus V8 Lego 

Lotus is working hard to getting the next Esprit ready for its 2013 production target Lotus is working on its own 4.8 liter V8 that power the mid engine along with the front engine the new V8 engine produce 500 horsepower while the turbo charged would produce 630 Horsepower.

Lotus next generation vehicles will be fully modular front and mid engine platforms will be different but the same basic components holding Esprit together would also be used for Eterne. Lotus is surely working on 4.8 liter V8 engine.

Volkswagen eT Electric Delivery VAN

Volkswagen eT! Electric Delivery VAN

The German Automaker has partnered with the German Post office and with the University of Art to create electric van. The makers says that the van offer zero-emmisions driving and can be operated by a joystick-type device on the passengers side.

Volkswagen says that the eT can be operated semi autonomously the van can follow a delivery person from house to house or return to the driver after being parked currently this vehicle's specifications is not available Volkswagen also says that the eT! is equipped with electronically opening doors.

Volkswagen eT Electric Delivery VAN Interior

Audi A1 Sport-Back Five Door

Audi A1 Sport-Back Five Door

Audi has just announced a new five-door version of Audi A1 that gives European buyers a little more flexibility when its come to moving people. The new model is available in six types of engines including three gasoline mills and with three diesel lumps when its arrives in showrooms the most powerful engine in those is a turbo charged 1.4 liter four cylinder engine that produce 186 horsepower and with six speed manual/automatic transmission.

Inside the car the luggage compartment serves up around 9.5 cubic feet of cargo area and swells to over 32 cubic feet with the rear seats folded down. The new Audi A1 sportback features a loading deck that just a little over 26 inches off the ground.  

Stealing Cars: Data from May-July, 1924, from Buffalo, NY

For example, in Buffalo, New York, between May 15 and July 15, 1924, the following makes of cars (and numbers) were reported stolen:[i]
Make of Motor Vehicle Number Reported Stolen, May 15 to July 15, 1924
Auburn --2
Buick--26
Cadillac--5
Chevrolet--61
Chalmers--1
Chandler--1
Cole --2
Dodge --8
Dort--1
Durant-4
Elcar--1
Essex--1
Ford --172
Franklin--3
Gardner--1
Haynes--4
Holmes--2
Hudson--7
Hupmobile--1
Jewett--2
Jordan--5
Marmon--3
Maxwell--5
Moon--1
Nash--7
Oakland--3
Oldsmobile--3
Overland--15
Packard--2
Paige--1
Peerless--2
Star--1
Stearns-Knight--2
Studebaker--10
Velie--2
Wills St. Claire--5
Willys Knight--5
[i] “Automobile Record Book for 1924,” Buffalo New York, in possession of author.

2012 Nissan NV2500 HD Food Truck

2012 Nissan NV2500 HD Food Truck

Auto Industry lovers/journalists  likes different food alot so if you are automaker and want comfortable food trucks The 2012 Nissan NV2500 is best for you and that you know food trucks becoming popular in those cities like Los Angeles, New York and In all U.S states. 

Nissan Delivered a bit of comfort food to those typing away in the New York Convention Center, One food truck served up grilled sandwiches. Check Nissan's food trucks snaps and be relaxed. 

Nissan NV2500 HD

Nissan NV2500 Ice Cream Truck >

2012 Volvo C70 Inscription

2012 Volvo C70

The new 2012 Volvo C70 is a new trim limited to only 2,000 units worlwide. The inscription will be available in the U.S with Volvo five cylinder turbo producing 230 Horsepower new Volvo have black painted grill with chrome accents, 18 inch alloy rims with black accents, polished aluminium and interior and a leather clad dashboard.

The Volvo C70 also have carpet and a unique handbrake cover. The special edition folding hardtop convertible will be available in 3 colors ice white, black sapphire and black stone. The Volvo C70  inscription arrives in showrooms beginning this month.