After early forays into building single-seater for Formula Junior and Formula 2, Alejandro de Tomaso joined the ranks of Italian sports car builders back in 1963. The first offering was the mid-engined Vallelunga which used a backbone chassis to which was bolted a 1600 cc Ford Cortina engine; this took all the rear suspension loads via arms on the transaxle bell housing. The theme was extended at the 1965 Turin Show with a sports racing car using a bigger backbone which carried a 271 bhp Ford Mustang engine; never raced, this formed the basis of the Mangusta using body styling by Giugiaro while he was working at Ghia.

Production started in 1967, the year that de Tomaso acquired Ghia – Ghia built the bodies in Turin and de Tomaso fitted the power train in Modena. The same year saw Ghia in production with the Giugiaro designed Maserati Ghibli. Meanwhile, Ford of America, having tried to buy Ferrari in the early ‘sixties, were still on the look-out for an Italian supercar to add to the Lincoln range.

(more…)

This Year’s IIHS Booster Seat Evaluation

The Insurance Institute For Highway Safety has made an evaluation for this year’s round of booster seats. This is very good for you parents with children from 4-8 years old. Why you might ask? They may have grown out of their car seat but that does not necessarily mean they are ready to go to a straight seat belt.

While seatbelt work great for full-grown adults they are not meant for anyone under 4’ 9” and your 4 year probably isn’t quite there yet. So what do you do then? Use a booster seat. Now if you are looking to give your kid the best safety possible, which I’m guessing you are because you are buying a booster seat in the first place and reading this article, You need to search carefully for the proper booster seat for your child. Not all of them do quite as good of a job as the manufacturers would like you to think they do.

You might say well that’s easy, I’ll just look for the most expensive or a name brand booster seat. Sorry, to tell you that won’t work either. The best rated booster seats range from anywhere from $20-$250 and guess what, so do the booster seats that were given a bad rating. So if price and looks don’t tell you how good a booster seat is, how do you pick a good one. This article will tell you how to pick a booster seat that works best for your child and also show you some of the best rated booster seats. (more…)

In 2004 the General Motors introduced the world’s first full sized hybrid pickups which were the ½ ton Silverado /Sierra. These hybrids did not use electric energy for propulsion like the successive models by GM. Then in 2005 the Opel Astra which was a diesel hybrid concept vehicle was introduced. Then came 2006 and the introduction of Saturn Vue Line which was the first passenger vehicle from GM is also a mild design

Currently, the GM is offering two types of hybrid systems the first was used in the Saturn vue and Saturn astra which is called the BAS hybrid system which is a type of hybrid canceled in 2009. Then the GM together with BMW and Daimler AG co-developed a Two- Mode Hybrid which is currently used on the Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC’s Yukon

(more…)

For many years the Corvette was American’s only sports car and it has entirely been the most consistent while others have come and gone; and it has remained essentially Americans, despite the steady inward flow of Italian exotica. In a land where speed limits have applied for many years, outsight top speed has been less important than accelerative ability and the Corvette has long supplied that, with its top range option.

None more so than the ZR-1, the first to have a European engine; it was designed by Lotus at the time the company was owned by General Motors, although it derived from a previous project for the still born Lotus Etna. The first Corvette rolled off the line in 1953, a pioneering glass fiber body on well tried mechanical components with a 3.8 liter six cylinder engine developed to produce 150 bhp.

(more…)

It’s a new year and it’s time to start lining up the Northern California Car shows again!. Last year was a great year for car shows. Our list started in February last year with 3 great shows one in Sacramento: the Autorama and two in San Francisco: Wekfest and the Rod, Custom & Motorcycle show.

This year is shaping up to be another great year! January started off with the Silicon Valley International Auto Show on January 7-10 and will once again have the Autorama, Wekfest, and Rod, custom & Motorcycle shows in February.

What made our list great last year were the many shows that sent in information and pictures so we could add them to the list. We hope to get another awesome showing this year!. If you know of any Northern California car shows that didn’t make it to our list last year, contact the organizer and remind them to send us their information.

In addition to Northern California Car Shows, this year we are starting a new list of Southern California Car Shows. So if you’re in the southern part of the state be sure to chick it out.

Undeniably sleek and sporting, the Giugiaro designed M1 is thus far unique in BMW history of its mid engined layout; the six cylinder 3.5 liter 277 bhp unit, featuring twin overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder, sits in line behind the cockpit, driving the rear wheels through a ZF transaxle.

Its purpose was to take part in the Group 4 and Group 5 categories of international sports car racing. Where Porsche had dominated with the competition 911 Turbo, the 934 and 935. for, this at least 400 examples had to be produced over a 2 years period; in competition tune the M1 engine could be made to produce 470 bhp, so it had a theoretical chance against the 934, and the mid engine layout gave it potentially better roadholding. The turbocharged versions, with up to 850 bhp, could challenge for outright victory.

(more…)

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood Announces Intensive Holiday Drunk & Impaired Driving Crackdown & Advertising Blitz

New Data Show States with Best & Worst Improvement in Drunk Driving Fatality Rates

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and R. Gil Kerlikowske, Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, today kicked off the “Over the Limit. Under Arrest” national drunk and impaired driving crackdown involving thousands of law enforcement agencies during the holiday season. In addition, Secretary LaHood announced new data showing states with the best – and worst – improvement over the last year in addressing drunk driving behavior.
(more…)

The only problem with the Nissan GT-R is the lengthy period of metal recalibration required when we have finished driving it and climbed into something less capable, which is just about everything else here. I am not the hero, you mumble to yourself as you make your way across the paddock to a mere Porsche or a Mercedes or a BMW.

The car is the hero’ perhaps Nissan ought to print that on the back on the sun visor, so you can flip it down for your last couple of laps or final five minutes on the road in the GT-R. Because if you forget, and try to do in other cars the things you can do in this one, you are not going to prosper.

It is a sign of the GT-R segment-busting abilities that we could have put it in any of four groups; it matches the M3 on price, the blown, four wheel drive Japanese saloon on philosophy and the 2+2 layout it suits this group best, but whichever group it wound up in it would always have some attribute that didn’t fit. In this case it is the lap of time; its 1min 0.6 sec is 2.6sec quicker than Porsche.

(more…)

Honda yet again released another model of the perfect sedan the Civic. The legacy has been kept up and the grace and pride of the civic trademark returns.

The Honda Civic 2009 has been a wonder for the whole automotive market. The designing and detailing of the car has been done so perfectly that one can literally not resist the temptation of getting the car. Now we all know that Honda holds the key to a great car and it has been releasing bit by bit of the ultimate car and supremacy definitely a reflection of the Honda Civic 2009.

The cars details have been changed a lot than the previous models of the Civic. The front fender, which was a very elegant round fender, has been changed to a more retro looking fender. The front side of the car now features air intakes too which have been integrated with a sporty fender to finish the look of the great car.

Power of Dream

The Civic now has changed the “Eye” shaped front lights too. Now the front lights of the car look more of what is a katana sword. The light basically is a lamp light shaped accordingly. Along with the primary lights Honda has strategically placed LEDs beside the lamp lights too making the lights look very nice in the dark.

(more…)

Reports from BMW: the firm is forecast a front-wheel drive comes up with the ancestors of urban vehicles. The ultra-frugal variety should also include an enclosed, two seater scooters, and efficiency replacing the unsuccessful C1 that died in 2003.

Project ‘’I’’ has the assistance of BMW chairman Norbert Reithofer, who has prearranged a small team of engineers to bring the series to fruition around 2012. Led by the French Eichiner, head of group and brand development, the team has the authority to tap into any area of the company’s engineers resources to develop these ‘’ i-vechicles’’. BMW hopes they will be as innovative as ‘’Apple iPod and ibooks’’.

In the evolution of the motor car, the combustion engine is about as advance as manual typewriter. The hybrid engine corresponds at the best to the electric typewriter. To make real headway, this industry must conceive a true equivalent to the PC. Big talk, but the initial plan for the ‘’i-car’’ is hardly radical aside from it being a front wheel drive BMW. It will measure about 4100mm long (so 25% longer than Toyota i-Q) and have four wheels. The i-series will continue as more as a luxurious, rear drive car, because the i-model will be more spacious and much lighter to make it a fuel miser. Power will come from 1.2 liter petrol and diesel engine boxer. Expect some of the component sharing with the next generation Mini.

(more…)