U.S. electric car company Zap and China Youngman Automotive Group announced a joint venture today in reviving the 100-year old Detroit Electric brand.
The joint venture plans to introduce its first electric cars and buses into the market in 2009. The Zap Alias – which is under development – will also carry the Detroit Electric badge. Zap is planning a Detroit Electric presentation for the National Automobile Dealers Association exhibition this week.
The Detroit Electric brand was an automobile brand produced by Anderson Electric from 1907-1939 – making it the longest running electric car producer in history. The rechargeable lead acid battery cars were utilized by people who could not – or did not – want to use the manual hand crank to start the engine. For $600 extra, an Edison nickel-iron battery was available from 1911-1916.
(More details and the press release after the jump)
Time flies when you’re having fun, but we didn’t realize how quickly a decade can pass. We were perusing Volkswagen’s media site this weekend when we found a release on VW of Mexico’s celebration of the New Beetle’s 10th anniversary.
It seems as if it were only yesterday (or at least 5 years ago) when folks couldn’t get enough of the rotund retro hatch, but after checking our press materials as well as our calendar, it’s been a decade since the New Bug made its debut at the Detroit auto show. Curiously, it’s been nearly 14 years since the Concept 1, the experimental car that started the whole retro-auto craze, shocked journalists gathered in Detroit.
(Click through for more on the New Beetle’s 10th birthday)
Old-time mechanics and nostalgic car aficionados are generally some of the carburetor’s most unflappable allies. Long ago outmoded by high-technology fuel injection and computerized engine control, the carburetor remains the choice for fuel delivery among these individuals. If you’ve never driven a car with an “Engine Starting Instructions” label glued to the driver’s side visor, then you’re probably not a member of this loyal faction. Nonetheless, we will discuss the basics of carburetors for those who wish to know a little about this device that’s been used on vehicles even before the turn of the 20th century.
The carburetor perhaps achieved a renaissance in the late 1960s when General Motors introduced what was, arguably, the most reliable automotive carburetor to date: the Quadrajet. This carburetor was one of the few known for its ability to provide good starting and drivability, even when badly neglected. (Click through to read more about the carburetor and how it works.)
While most of us spent large portions of 2007 wondering just how high gasoline prices could go, and shuddering at reports of no end in sight, parties invested in the fortunes of Exxon Mobil might have had slightly different reactions.
Exxon, the world’s largest publicly traded oil company, shattered records today by announcing a $40.6 billion profit for 2007. That figure represents the largest annual profit ever recorded by a U.S. company. The oil company also broke the record for the largest quarterly profit in history, earning a net income of $11.7 billion during the fourth quarter of last year.
Exxon was merely shadow boxing with the profit records, besting its own marks of $39.5 billion earned in 2006, and $10.71 billion for Q4 in 2005. The company also broke its own record for total sales, amassing more than $404.5 billion in 2007.
If you’ve got an idea for Question of the Day, a funny photo for Caption It, or just want to share a news tip, let us know at windingroadtips@gmail.com
As attractive as the new CLC may be, there’s arguably no Mercedes-Benz coupe more breathtaking than the experimental C-111 coupes of 1968 and 1970. As testbeds for experimental rotary engines, the slippery gullwing coupes were the playthings of Mercedes’ engineering staffs, briefly shown here tinkering on the car via vintage computers.
We imagine a considerable amount of work went into these wundercars, but after hearing the roar of the four-rotor, we can’t help but wish we were engineers in Stuttgart four decades ago. Can you blame us?
Talk about putting the ‘toy’ back in Toyota. YouTube really hit the nail on the head with this vintage MR2 commercial from 1985. It takes us back to a simpler time of Cokes, pinball with our buddies, and jumping for joy.
Which is to say nothing of jumping for Toyota… what a feeling!
If you’ve got an idea for Question of the Day, a funny photo for Caption It, or just want to share a news tip, let us know at windingroadtips@gmail.com
Proof positive that eBay Motors has become the dominant force in the world of classic car sales can be found in this exceptional listing for a 1956 Ferrari 500 Testa Rossa.
The immaculate redhead has got everything a true collector could want for a measly $5 million. According to the listing, this 500 is number one of only twenty examples manufactured, and looks to be in as lovely a condition as the day it was finished, if not slightly higher.
Chassis Tipo 518 also sports a fairly impressive notation in the annals of racing history, being the winning car in the inaugural race at the famed Laguna Seca in 1957. The Ferrari was driven in anger by John Von Neumann, Richie Ginther, and Pete Lovely.
If you’ve got an idea for Question of the Day, a funny photo for Caption It, or just want to share a news tip, let us know at windingroadtips@gmail.com
When Denise McCluggage started racing, she heel-and-toed in tennis shoes. She remembers hers were red Keds with polka dots. Bob Bondurant also wore tennis shoes to race in, and immediately after returning to the United States from his first season in Europe, he found a shoemaker in New York City and had a pair of racing shoes custom made—from the same leather used for baseball gloves.
British entrepreneur Afzal Khan (pictured), owner of tuning company Khan Design, has smashed records by spending £440,625 ($872,525) on license plate number “F1” recently. Khan has plans to display the wildly expensive registration on his £317,000 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren.
Khan’s purchase is just the latest in an escalating bidding war for early or historic number plates in the United Kingdom; his record bested a price of £331,000 paid 18 months ago for plate “M1.” In April of 2006, a Sikh businessman paid £254,000 for the plate “51 NGH,” which spelled out his name, Singh. (Click through the jump to read the rest of the story.)
As we’ve brought you a few interesting Alpine-Renaults that we’ve found on eBay, it’s safe to say that we carry a soft spot in our heart for the French performance specialist. That adoration is the reason we wish we could jet ourselves off to Paris before March rolls around. L’Atelier, Renault’s specialty museum and showroom on the Champs-Élysées (much like Citroen’s C42), is currently holding a massive exhibition of all things Alpine through March 16.
From what we can see in the pictures supplied by Renault, there’s plenty to fascinate over - including an early Alpine (a ‘56 A106) and even some actual race cars, including a ‘69 A210 that competed at LeMans. Better yet, starting in February, Renault’s new F1 car will also grace L’Atelier, making it a motorsports mecca for any Renault fan.
Enjoy the photos of the display in the gallery below, but if you’re interested in planning a trip to L’Atlelier, head up to Renault’s official webpage. Just don’t be surprised if we’re jealous of you upon your return.
Mid America Motorworks – a Corvette parts and accessories retailer in Illinois – has drafted a petition to make June 30 “National Corvette Day” with recognition from the U.S. Government.
The supplier plans to present the petition to Rep. John Shimkus of Illinois, according to Edmund’s Inside Line. June 30 is recognized as the Corvette’s birthday as the first ones rolled off the assembly line on that day in 1953.
Mark Merkel, spokesman for Mid America Motorworks, told Inside Line, “It is a popular piece of Americana and an integral part of American history and the automobile. We thought this would be a good time because this is the 100th anniversary of General Motors.”
The supplier is relying on Corvette enthusiasts across the country to call their congressmen in support of the petition.
Would you celebrate National Corvette Day? Let us know in the comments.
If you’ve got an idea for Question of the Day, a funny photo for Caption It, or just want to share a news tip, let us know at windingroadtips@gmail.com
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