Cars! Cars! Cars!

Maude Buys GM

In a very surprising turn of events, sitcom character Maude has purchased all outstanding shares of General Motors and has taken the company private.

In a very brief press conference, Maude popped in an 8-track and played:

Rick Wagoner was an automaker,
He didn't care if anyone bought.
Bob Lutz was a muscle car maker,
He didn't care if the whole world choked.
Gettelfinger was a big work stopper
Ain't ya glad he caved in?
And when the country was falling apart
Obama's got your warranty all sewed up
And then there's Maude
And there goes Saab
And then there's Maude
And there goes HUMMER
And then there's Maude
And there goes Pontiac
And then there's that old, never compromising, so hardly enterprisin' (ever see the Chevy Aveo, oy!) everything includin' tranqualizin' Right on Maude!

Car Billboards

OK, these aren't all car billboards, but the car ones are especially good. Yay for creativity!

The Race of Champions

Finally, a fun car story. We'd so love to be a part of this, but alas we have no:

1. Junker
2. $500 to fix junker up
3. Summer Glau

Anyway, thanks Mr. Alterman. That was a good read.

Referenced Article
NY Times: When Life Hands You Lemons, Race Them

Peetstop!

Sweet!

Sorry if this is old, we just came across it.

Movie About Cars

No, not with Lightning McQueen and good ol' Mater, but a movie about a man and his battles with the auto industry.

About windshield wipers. Really.

Referenced article

Movie trailer for Flash of Genius
Washington Post: Accomplished, Frustrated Inventor Dies

End To No Start

The entire editorial team at Cars! Cars! Cars! wants their new rides to have push button start. Gawd, that's awesome. Yeah, it's another gadgety kinda thing, but it's cool (it's even available in the Versa fer cryin' out loud!)

Which makes us think of more gadgets and more gadgets and more gadgets. At some point, of course, we'd leave something on or plugged in and we'd stuck. Well, maybe Nissan has an answer. Solar, baby, solar.

Think introducing solar to cars this way is a decent idea?

Referenced article

engadget: ICP Solar to integrate solar chargers into Nissans, dead batteries be gone

Full Of Air (Hot or Not)

Man, talk about alternative fuels! Here's a car that runs on compressed air. And, in India anyway, will cost just $2 to fill up.

Compressed air has been talked about before, but this is the first one that we know of that is production ready. As a commenter posted (follow the link below): "And even if it doesn't turn out to be a winner, at least they're trying stuff over there. It would be nice if we'd do the same. Remember when we used to hear about good old American ingenuity?" Right on, brother!

By the way, even NYC tried the whole compressed air system... over 140 years ago. Of course, not only were there technical obstacles to overcome, but there political ones as well. Just like today. ahemoilmeninwhitehouseahem.

Referenced articles
Cogitamus: Want
PBS: The Secret Subway

Turn Off The Radio!

When we find ourselves lost (daily) we have to turn off the radio in order to get our bearings. We're not sure what we'd have to turn off to (cue on the dramatic music) dive on the (start music) The Most Dangerous Roads in the World

For the record, #2 doesn't count. Just because you can drive on it, doesn't make it a road. Otherwise we'da never gotten a ticket for driving over AK's lawn. Mmm, freshly trimmed grass.

Tags

So, the top 100 most influential taglines have been posted (doesn't matter who, just as long as someone made a top X list of something!)... Here are the automotive ones

#26. The Ultimate Driving Machine, BMW
#59. Like a rock, Chevy Trucks
#66. Think small, Volkswagen
#73. Quality is job one, Ford
#74. Drivers Wanted, Volkswagen
#98. It's not your father's Oldsmobile, Oldsmobile

Now let's take a look at what is still valid:

#26, BMW. Yes! Sales are up.
#59, Chevy. If by "like a rock" you falling sales, then yes!
#66, Volkswagen. Eh. We'll give it a yes, but it's not like the Touareg is on the small side.
#73, Ford. No, it's not. Which is why they are in the shape they are in.
#74, Volkswagen. Yes, every review compliments the cars on their driving experience (this is a generalization, but we're OK with that).
#98, Oldsmobile. Awwww, they're dead.

Our made up results say: Feriners, 1. US of A, 0.

Referenced article
TaglineGuru: The 100 Most Influential Taglines Since 1948

Chef Of The Future

Or, you know, car of the future. We give Honda a lot of credit for actually get the FCX on the road, but we're not making bets that hydrogen-based cars will be in our future.

Referenced articles: Newsweek: The Car of the Future