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HANGING WITH CARROLL SHELBY, JAMES GARNER AND PARNELLI JONES INTO THE NIGHT

JUST HANGING WITH JAMES GARNER, CARROLL SHELBY AND PARNELLI JONES ONE NIGHT AT LOS ANGELES' PETERSEN AUTOMOTIVE MUSEUM

Written February, 2003, for Gannett Newspapers

      Buick. Chevrolet. Oldsmobile. Ford. Rolls-Royce. Toyota. Peugeot. Chrysler. Honda. Mercedes-Benz. Bentley.
    And there are more. All great car companies bearing the names of their founders or important figures in their history.

     Why doesn’t that happen anymore? A social event we attended in Los Angeles recently got me thinking about it.
     We were visiting the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. The gala that evening was a tribute to a short-lived race team which was owned by actor James Garner, organized in the late 1960s after he filmed the feature movie “Grand Prix”, which, along with Steve McQueen’s “LeMans”, are considered the two best racing movies of all time.
   In “Grand Prix”, Garner portrayed an American racer driving for a Japanese car company just getting started in Formula 1, or Grand Prix, racing. The story was borrowed from the true-life exploits of American F1 racer Richie Ginther and his association with the (at that time) fledgling Honda F1 race team. Yves Montand played another F1 driver, Toshiro Mifune’s character (Mifune his first big English-speaking movie) was modeled after the founder Honda, and Eva Marie Saint played the always-necessary “love interest” shared between Garner and Montand.

     Also in the film were race drivers Richie Ginther, Bob Bondurant, Jim Clark, Bruce McLaren, American F1 World Champion Phil Hill and Brit racer Graham Hill, “Black Jack” Brabham and Dan Gurney. The 1966 movie, directed by John Frankenheimer, contains some of the most fantastic racing scenes ever recorded, featuring all the drivers mentioned above in their F1 race cars of the time.

     Garner was at the Petersen Museum event, and there was a showing of a 1969 documentary produced and starring Garner called “The Racing Scene”, which was directed by Andy Sidaris, who headed up ABC-TV’s “Wide World of Sports”  racing coverage for many years. Sidaris spoke at the event and introduced the film, which chronicled Garner’s road racing and more successful off-road exploits.
     We spoke with Garner and also with Indy 500 winner Parnelli Jones and legendary racer/race car builder/promoter Carroll Shelby.

     It’s all fine and well to speak with some of the past stars and heroes of the automotive world, but when it comes to accomplishing some of the feats these men did (and there were, unfortunately, not many women in the auto business at that time), who are the future great stars? Where are the Shelby’s, Jones’s, Iacocca’s and DeLorean’s, even the James Garner’s, of tomorrow?

     The sad truth is, they are few and far between.

     Today’s worldwide auto industry is one of committees and stockholders, not individuals. Carroll Shelby told me years ago that what he had accomplished would never be done again, simply because no one person or even medium-sized company has the money and equipment to develop a vehicle from scratch. Even if they did, the costs involved with building and then crash-testing test cars or trucks and then meeting the safety, fuel and emissions requirements of countries around the world is prohibitive for any company except the largest.

     Think about it….when was the last time anyone started a car company under their own name? There have been a few sporadic attempts over the years, and the DeLorean project got a lot of press because of the overall fiasco it turned out to be (all that interest about a not-very-good car), but today’s automotive all-stars tend to be people like Carlos Ghosn, the head of Renault, which bought Nissan a few years ago and has managed to turn the company into a money-maker.

     One of  the last of the “old-timers” still working in the business is 72 year old Bob Lutz, now essentially in charge of cars and trucks for General Motors in North America. Lutz, when he was a top executive at Chrysler, before Daimler took them over, gave the go-ahead for wildly successful and sexy projects like the Viper, Prowler and PT Cruiser. A former Marine fighter pilot who collects, restores and flies European fighter jets as a hobby, is just about the final executive at a major car company who has the authority to make far-ranging decisions and is willing to live with their consequences.

     (Interesting aside: The “merger of equals” which Daimler claimed their relationship with Chrysler would be when they bought-out the perennially-struggling automaker a few years has turned into anything but that. In fact, on the new-look DaimlerChrysler Board of Directors, there is but a single American left. Daimler, a notoriously conservative company, now loses almost any American-style zest it may have had. One executive once told me that “casual day” at Daimler in Germany meant taking your suit jacket off during lunch.)

     The auto world moved more and more towards being run by “the bean counters” in the late 1960s, when government regulations and the prospect of oil shortages hit the industry hard. Suddenly, egos were out the door (one of the prime reasons DeLorean never became president of General Motors), and executives not taking responsibility became an art form.   A degree from the Wharton School of Business is now a ticket to the top of the management heap at any car company worldwide, where in the past an engineer, stylist, race car driver or slick promoter could carry a car from concept to production.

Another prime reason for this sad bureaucratic state of affairs is the sheer complexity of modern cars and trucks themselves. No one person, companies believe, can master all the knowledge necessary to bring a project to market, and therefore a committee-upon-committee system is used to create today’s vehicles. And you know the old joke about a camel being a horse designed by a committee. Think about that the next time you see, say, a Pontiac Aztek!

If Bob Lutz achieves a great degree of success at GM, perhaps the pendulum will swing back towards the power of the individual in the automotive world. But the days of John DeLorean meeting casually Saturday mornings with his engineering staff at Pontiac, taking a 389 cubic inch engine from their big Bonneville and putting it into their small LeMans and calling it a GTO, and doing it all on a lark, as sort of a “neat idea at the time”, well, those days are over.

It’s a shame, too, as I am sure we can all agree. What we can do now is learn about our automotive history, appreciate the characters who populated it and turned it into the greatest and most important industrial movement the world has ever seen. And if we’re lucky enough, sometimes sit at the feet of those who had a hand in it, as we did recently at the Petersen Museum, and --- just listen.

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WINTER DRIVING IS SEVERE --- EVEN IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA'S DESERTS!

SEVERE WEATHER DRIVING --- WINTER IS THE TIME TO SLOW DOWN!

Written December, 2002, for Gannett Newspapers

     Those of us who moved here (to the Southern California desert) for the “temperate” climate get a rude awakening very November when our version of “winter” hits. This season seems particularly harsh, by desert standards. It seems we’ve had more rain since Thanksgiving than we had all last year!

     When the weather changes, our driving habits must change, too. Every year we provide you with information about winter and summer driving and how to adjust for the seasons, and every year we’re reminded (by the number of weather-related accidents throughout the Coachella Valley) that these columns, rather then being redundant, do serve a purpose.

     First, some of us are among the most poorly-trained drivers in the world. This country does not value driving ability. It’s the rare American school district which still has Driver’s Ed courses in their curriculum. There’s lots to be said for after-school clubs of all types and band and music appreciation classes. But I’ve always thought that teaching young people the basic skills needed to pilot 2-ton or more pieces of glass, metal and plastic at speeds above triple digits is a good idea, too. Intensive, professional driving instruction for young and old alike is common in many other nations, and it should be here, too.

But back to our local and sometimes odd weather.

The first rule for any kind of unusual happening on the highway is --- slow down! There are those of us who revel in driving down Fred Waring Drive at 70 miles per hour just because we can. A wet roadway is dangerous enough in the daytime. At night and early morning, you’ll find it can be icy. Late night temperatures throughout the Valley during winter can get into the high 30s, or even below, and that’s plenty cold enough to freeze small patches of water.

You must assume that while driving here during the wee hours, there is ice on the road. Treat your driving with that possibility in mind.

Wet roads aren’t the only winter driving hazard in our part of the world. Wind is another.

Winds strong enough to topple a semi-tractor weighing 60 tons are more than enough to force your car or truck into another lane.

There’s another wind-related danger which is unique to the desert --- blowing dirt and sand.

Many of us have been in sandstorms so bad that visibility is worse than any fog, rain or snow. It’s downright scary, especially when you’re on the I-10 and you can’t see more than 50 feet in front of your windshield.

Not only does blowing sand obscure your vision, but it also makes the roads slippery. Keep in mind than when on a dusty, dirty or sandy road surface, your braking and steering are going to be compromised. Again --- slow down!

You only have to travel about 25 miles up Highway 74 to encounter real snow and ice. Carey and me went to visit her mom in Garner Valley on Christmas day, and while the air was crisp and clear and smell of pine trees was in the air, there was plenty of snow and ice on the ground. We were driving a Subaru Impreza with all-wheel drive for an extra amount of safety, but I still adjusted my generally too-fast driving to the conditions. It was fun, though, sliding through some of the corners!

Besides slowing down, check your tires and windshield wipers. Many folks discover upon the first heavy rain that the summer sun has rotted their wipers beyond all usefulness. Check their condition BEFORE things get wet! Our brutal summer sun also rots the rubber on your tires, so keep that in mind, too.

Make sure you have a liquid cleaning solution for the wipers which has some anti-freeze-type element. Then, when you do hit freezing weather, you can keep the windshield clear by using your spray washers and keep the washer nozzles from freezing up.

Tires need to have their pressure checked regularly (once a month should be fine). Even more important in the winter, the tread depth needs to be inspected to make sure they do their job of displacing roadway water, snow and ice. Tires are the most ignored and one of the most important parts of any car --- at any given time, only about one square foot of rubber is touching the ground.

These are simple steps to help improve safety for all of us on the roads during the next few months. Our Valley is wonderful because we can be at the beach in 2 hours, in the mountains skiing in less than that time, and bounding through the desert right outside our back doors. But we must be responsible drivers under all conditions, and that means being aware of our constantly changing local road conditions.

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RESTO-MODS AND RETRO-CARS!

EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN!

Written March, 2004 for ALASKA AIRLINES’ in-flight magazine.

      Call it retro, call it nostalgia, heck, call it mid-life crisis. There’s just no doubt that the styles, horsepower and even the names of cars from the ‘50s and ‘60s are finding their way back into new car showrooms.

   And what better way to wake up buyers to an automotive brand than by relying on that greatest sense of all: Our memories.

   Horsepower. Squealing, slick, Redline tires. The rumble of open exhaust pipes. Sports cars which could be ordered with a “radio/heater delete” option, “adding lightness” for drivers heading for the race track on the weekend. Eight track tape decks.

   All these, our automotive memories of the ‘60s and ‘70s, of unrepentant musclecars, two girls for every boy in Surf City (even if you grew up in Cleveland) and fun, fun, fun ‘til her daddy took the T-Bird away. It’s all been resurrected for the same generation which first experienced all of it 40 years ago. For folks of a certain age, it’s Disneyland’s Autopia come to life!

   To be honest, it is disconcerting to walk into a great car museum and see cars and motorcycles I test-drove for magazines when they were new, now on display as historic classics.

   Yet, like most things historic, museum curators and other experts in the field have determined exactly when the hot car/Beach Blanket Bingo era began: With the introduction of Pontiac’s 1964 GTO, considered now to be the original musclecar.

   By shoe-horning a big car engine (Bonneville) into a small car body (LeMans), John DeLorean, then the company’s chief engineer, and his happy little performance henchmen at Pontiac created an only-in-America automotive icon.

   In 1969, to freshen up the GTO’s image in the public mind, and to answer Plymouth’s fun and outrageous Road Runner (with the Chuck Jones-styled cartoon character emblazoned on the rear), the GTO Judge was brought to market (see lead photo above).

   Named (also by DeLorean) for a comedy bit called “Here Come De Judge” which ran on NBC-TV’s “Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In”, Judge was available with big engines (the Ram Air V was

most desirable), outrageous paint combinations and as a convertible.

   About 12,000 Judge models were made during 1969 through 1971, the convertibles being the most rare of them all, their numbers in 1971 alone being under 500 cars. Yet some experts will tell you that many more than 500 GTO Judges are registered in the country today.

   How can this happen? Here’s the Dark Side of automotive restoration and collecting ... and auctions.

   These days, it is possible to build a brand-new old car from the ground up, and sell it to buyers searching the country for just such a car, checkbooks in hand.

   Just as some very talented contemporary artists churn out copies of originals and pass them off as the real thing, so there are crooks engaged in manufacturing old/new cars all over the world.

   Sellers working for “Midnight Auto” offer vehicles with original Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) plates, so a careful buyer might even bring in a licensed appraiser and still be fooled.

   Of course, if an original VIN plate does not exist, there are folks who will make one for  you, for the right price. Usually the car will be advertised (quietly, in collector’s circles) as one which was destroyed in a wreck just after it left the factory and thus was never registered, or came upon some other horrible end which, somehow, never quite makes sense.

   But for someone desperate to own a certain car, the crooks’ offers are hard to refuse.

   By the way, these people also know the secret locations on every vehicle where VIN plates

and stamps are attached. Most of these copies could even fool the average cop.

   But the manufacturers are making it possible to have a bit of history in a new car, honestly, without having to resort to such illegalities.

  For the enthusiast who remembers the ‘60s and ‘70s like they were yesterday, the guy (and occasional lady) who still wears Hawaiian shirts to the office, and not just on Casual Friday, some of the names and models of their youth are in new car showrooms, and industry analysts think they’ll sell very well.

   There are few Asian or Euro car-makers at this table, yet Mazda deserves an honored place

for their MX-5, known in the US as the Miata. Miata (photo), which first hit our shores in 1989, was an instant success. That first year, Japanese customers bought 9,307 copies of the cute little sports car. Americans saw things another way, ponying up to take home 23,052 Miatas.

   What was the “retro-ness” of Miata? It harkened right back to the first MGs, Triumphs and Jensens which American GI’s started bringing home from Europe in the 1950s, as there were no similar cars made or sold in the USA.

   Miata was an MG which started every morning, nothing more or less, and that alone was plenty.

   A relatively inexpensive, somewhat underpowered and tiny convertible with a stick shift, great steering, good brakes, even a “dead pedal” to rest the left foot when it wasn’t on the clutch, Miata single-handedly brought the two seat sports car back to the American market --- just as Pontiac was getting rid of their ill-fated Fiero.

    And Miata’s reliability would have the driver doing things they’d never try in a Triumph --- like drive more than 100 or so miles at a clip without having to stop and fix something (as a former Spitfire owner, I know whereof I speak).

   Some of the more recent, and some soon-to-be-here, cars with that certain retro flair hit

close to the heart of the enthusiast.

   Perhaps no car has been so highly awaited by the original Beach Boy/Drag Strip set as the latest iteration of that original musclecar, the Pontiac GTO.

   While the 1964 model was a option package available on the Tempest LeMans (GTO didn’t become its own model until the next year), 2004’s GTO price of almost $40,000, with all the options, is a bit more than the $3,200 or so which an original would have set back a buyer.

   Today, that original, with its “three deuces and a four-speed and a 389”, as the song, “GTO”, by Ronnie and the Daytonas intoned, would be worth about $50,000 in pristine shape.

  The new GTO (photo) has as its basis a popular car built in Australia by GM’s Holden Division, called Monaro. With rear-wheel drive, comfortable seating for four, the two-door coupe uses the Corvette’s 5.7 liter V8 mated with either a six-speed stick shift or an automatic for motivation.

   It all works pretty well, and the current “Goat” seems worlds-away from the original when it comes to noise, vibration and harshness (what the engineers call NVH). The ’64 Pontiac was full of all three, and of course that made for much of the fun.

   But at our age, who needs all that?

   The truth is that the 1964 car would go well in a straight line, but ask it to stop or turn and you had problems; older American performance cars were built for the drag strip, not the road course. Today’s GTO, however, would be right at home on the curviest, twistiest sections of road one might find. And over 300 horsepower almost guarantees the fun quotient.

   Is it as fun as the original? The honest answer is no, but it is safer, faster, quieter and certainly gets better mileage, blows out way fewer emissions and is much more reliable. But be forewarned: Opt for the automatic tranny, and you’ll be paying a $1,000 Federal Gas Guzzler Tax (didn’t know they had one of those, did you?). The stick-equipped model is exempt from that particular surcharge, but is an almost-$700 option. They get you either way ...

   General Motors’ Chevrolet Division is using the wonderful, old Impala and Malibu names this year on somewhat boring family cars. But it’s Chevy’s SSR which is catching everyone’s attention.

   A new name for a retro-styled truck, SSR is equipped with a 5.3 liter Vortec V8 engine, driving some 300 horsepower to the rear wheels via an automatic transmission. Modeled after the Chevy pickups of the late ‘40s and early ‘50s, SSR is mounted atop the same frame which serves as the basis of the contemporary TrailBlazer SUV.

   Though it looks good enough with the top up, SSR takes on a new appearance by lowering its retractable hard convertible top with the push of a single button. Yep, this is the world’s first convertible pickup, according the General Motors. And why would they lie to us about something so important?

SSR (Super Sports Roadster) had a short run of vehicles in 2003, but the 2004 trucks offer more colors. A test truck we drove was base-priced at just over $41,000. Chevy says they’ll make 5-7,000 SSRs a year for the next five years or so, to help keep the value up for customers who might wait several months to get their hands on one.

   SSR is built at a special “Craft Centre” in Flint, MI, where other GM specialty cars which get extra attention are made.

   Ford has a few new cars quite fitting of the nostalgia theme.

   First, the least exciting, but probably most important to Ford in terms of sales, is the all-new “500”, due in 2005. A larger-than-Taurus family sedan, Ford needs this car to become their “bread and butter” family value machine, replacing the Taurus, which spent years as one of the top three best-selling cars in America, swapping places with Toyota’s Camry and Honda’s Accord. Both those cars now seem permanently cemented in either first or second place.

   A front-driver with only a V6, the new 500 (which was a popular Ford model name in the ‘60s, ala “Galaxie 500”) is one of those rare cars which sounds dull even on paper! However, Ford has received enough input from consumer clinics and magazine editors, all of whom are said to be rooting for “more power and better styling”, that when the car finally makes its public debut next year, Ford will have something to be proud of in their showroom.

   Two cars of which our favorite Dearborn, MI company can definitely be proud are the 2005 Mustang and the 2004 GT.

   The new Mustang, which has been an absolute hit at recent car shows, combines enough interior and exterior styling “cues” from the original car to catch everyone’s eye. Mustang went on-sale in mid-1964, and started setting sales records from that day on. Mustang sold one million models faster than any other car in history (for comparison, while GTO was a fast seller, it sold just under 1 million copies in ten years of production and is still considered a huge success).

   The most exciting news is that Ford tells us the price for their 300 or so horsepower V8 GT model will be somewhat under $30,000, utilizing their 4.6 liter V8 engine to make the thunder. No news yet on a supercharged Cobra high-performance Mustang, but we expect one will be offered towards the end of the first year of new Mustang sales.

   One Ford machine guaranteed to get the blood boiling is their GT (photo), the official celebration car in this, the company’s 100th anniversary year.

   Closely modeled after the GT40 models which won the 24 Hours of LeMans four times between 1966 and 1969, these low-slung cars were the racers which brought Ford Motor Company, Carroll Shelby and big money all together for the first time.

Henry Ford II, intent on winning the LeMans event, still the most prestigious endurance race in the world, even tried to buy Ferrari from Enzo Ferrari himself, until, legend has it, Signore Ferrari threw Henry the Deuce (Henry II, get it?) out of his Maranello, Italy office.

Ford hired Shelby for the 1965 season, gave him a basically unlimited budget (rumored to be around $40 million) and Shelby’s team replied with those four victories, making the GT40 (the name came from the car’s 40 inch height) the first American-made car to win the World’s Sportscar Championship, in 1966.

   The GT is back now (one of the car’s original suppliers owned the name “GT40” and wanted millions from Ford to allow them to use it again) and with 550 supercharged V8 horsepower and a price tag a bit over $139,000, it is a force of nature to be reckoned with. The 5.4 liter engine is mated to a six-speed stick shift transmission which should have little problem moving the all-aluminum engine/body package up to triple digits in a hurry.

   An instant classic, Ford GT is being hand-built in very limited numbers, perhaps as few as 500 annually for only a few years. Ford specialists Roush Racing (who build Ford’s winningest NASCAR racers), Saleen Automobiles (makers of custom Mustangs and the fabulous S7 sports car, which sold for over $450,000 at a recent auction) and Mayflower (a British company making the custom body panels) are all combining their cottage-industry, race car-building talents to turn out one of the world’s great supercars, that rare one with a near all-American pedigree.

   And like all the other nostalgia cars making their comeback, Ford’s GT will have traction control, anti-lock brakes, airbags and loads of other safety and convenience features which weren’t dreamt of way, way back in 1964.

   Chrysler was the company which brought the Prowler factory-built hot rod, Viper street/track car and PT Cruiser (that 1930s Ford panel truck look-alike) all to our attention.

   Chrysler, headed throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s by two executives who liked taking a chance, Bob Eaton and Bob Lutz gave the production okays to Viper, Prowler and PT Cruiser, even though all three were initially meant to be nothing more than design exercises to display at auto shows.

   And now that the over-70 Lutz, a former Marine pilot who still flies fighter jets for kicks, is in charge of all future GM product for North America, we could be in for another glut of imaginative vehicles, this time from The General.

   While it’s no secret that since Daimler bought Chrysler the wackiness has gone out of the company (one Chrysler exec told me “Casual Fridays” to the staid Germans means taking their suit coats off during lunch), Daimler’s sheer engineering strengths will help them hit some home runs.

   They have brought back one of the great engines of all time, the Hemi. Named for its hemispherically-shaped combustion chambers (which provide a more efficient explosion when fuel

mixture is ignited by the spark plug), the Hemi remains the #1 choice for professional drag racers in the Top Fuel categories. Today, the legendary Hemi can be found in Dodge trucks and the upcoming Dodge Magnum R/T wagon/sedan “crossover” and the Chrysler 300 sedan. The 5.7 liter V8 Hemi will make 340 horsepower for the rear wheels of 300 and Magnum; all-wheel drive models will be available in another year or so.

   One brand-new model from Chrysler which is built in Germany is the Crossfire. Equipped as it is with Mercedes-Benz underpinnings, from the platform to the 3.2 liter V6 engine, it’s the styling of this car which is the throwback.

  Modeled as it appears to be after the great French boulevard cruisers of the ‘20s and ‘30s, automobiles with names such as Delahaye, Delage and Talbot, Crossfire (photo) will eventually be available as a coupe, convertible, and a performance coupe with the emphasis on power and handling. Prices start at $35,000.

   In a world where Mini and Rolls-Royce are both owned by BMW, and Lamborghini, Bugatti and Audi are all owned by Volkswagen, it’s good to know that some of the best American-bred names and models will never, evidently, go out of style. But 40 years from now, will middle age drivers pine for that minivan which mom drove?

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STILL CRAZY (FAMILY FUN!) AFTER ALL THESE YEARS --- AMERICA'S SOAP BOX DERBY!

SUPPORT A GREAT TRADITION:
OUR ALL-AMERICAN SOAP BOX DERBY!

Written July, 2002 for Gannett's DESERT SUN newspaper.

    
    Right now we are in the middle of the auto racing season, and every weekend race fans are taken with news from around the world, from Formula 1 to CART to IRL to, of course, NASCAR.

     But there was another race held recently which garnered too little attention, an American tradition which seems to have, unfortunately, been forgotten about as big-time racing and the big bucks which come with it captures everyone’s attention.

     Just last weekend, Akron, OH, saw the 65^th running of the All American Soap Box Derby, with two competitors from our own Coachella Valley acquitting themselves well in the face of competition of more than 410 other racers from around the world. (Photo -- The Annual Championships in Akron, OH).

     This past April 20, the Don Berry Greater Coachella Valley Soap Box Derby was held on Avenida Bermudas in La Quinta, the official host city for this year’s event. There were over 40 competitors in two divisions at the La Quinta race.

Though the Coachella Valley event has been run for only the past 8 years, this area has some interesting connections to the national event. 1953 World Champion Fred Mohler, originally from Muncie, IN, is now a Valley resident and supporter of the races. There are many other former local and national Soap Box stars living in the Valley, all of them, whenever possible, encouraging today’s racing kids and even bringing out their old gravity-powered race cars to show us all how they used to make ‘em!

     Soap Box Derby racing is four-wheeled-vehicle competition in its purest, most elemental form. Gravity provides the power, a hill provides the gravity, and the driver provides the racing skill. (Photo -- Kits are shipped to racers in pieces, where they get their "final assembly").

Speeds range from 20 miles per hour top speed at La Quinta to closer to 30 mph at the Akron track, which is surrounded by grandstands holding thousands of spectators on race day.

     Today’s cars are bought in kit form from the national sanctioning body and assembled by the contestants, but for many decades, the cars were built by the racers themselves according to rules issued by the national organizers.

And, as with all forms of racing, money is an important aspect, so local sponsors and volunteers must be found in each town to stage the local event and assure the ability of the winners to travel with their race cars to Akron for the World Championships. Also, sponsors help pay for race cars which some competitors and their families may not be able to afford. The idea is to get as many kids as possible involved, whether they can pay the entry fees or not.

According to local Race Director Lucia Moran, “The best part of the whole program is seeing the kids working one on one with an adult or an older kid, building the car, learning sportsmanship and craftsmanship, and just spending quality time with some sort of mentor”. (Photo -- Three-wide at Akron!).

     Moran, a 29-year Valley resident who was asked 10 years ago to help with the Soap Box due to her experience with fundraising, quickly enlisted the City of La Quinta as the primary civic sponsor and then set her sights on bringing more help into the fold.

While some may think our local race in La Quinta is small-town and even quaint, the championships in Akron are definitely big-time. Competitors spend a full week there, shuttled around town by police escorts, driven in cars supplied free of charge by a local car dealer. The local paper, the Akron Beacon Journal, estimates the Soap Box Derby brings more than $3 million into that city during Derby week.

And for the kids and their friends and families who participate in our local event, La Quinta is as Big Time as the Indy 500. Don’t doubt that for a minute.

Now, this very family-oriented event is growing to enable competitors to race more than just once a year. A series of races around the country called “Rallies”, sanctioned by the All-American Soap Box Derby, will allow racers and their “pit crews” to gain experience year-round. (Photo -- What beats a kid's smile after winning a race?).

Learning new and better driving techniques, picking up tips on how best to (legally) modify the race cars, talking to competitors from other areas and finding out what tricks they are using to go faster --- all this and more, plus the camaraderie of being around other racers and their supporters is, as the commercial says, “priceless”.

I’m getting involved in the event this coming year, guaranteed, any way I can help, and I am calling on all you Coachella Valley Car Nuts to do the same! If you are part of a youth group, have kids from 9 to 16 or would like to mentor one of the participants, please make an effort to help. Maybe you can help in finding a sponsor, or would like to make a contribution so a kid and his or her family without the means can get a Soap Box race car of their own. (Photo -- The Finals draw tens of thousands every year to Akron, OH).

This is a real American tradition, with a 65 year history of helping kids grow up right, get tight with an older mentor and develop a healthy interest in cars and auto racing.

(Reach Steve directly and see more road tests at his website at www.SteveParker.com.)

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RACE CAR DRIVING SCHOOLS --- WORTH THE $$$?

IT’S BACK TO SCHOOL TIME ---
RACE CAR DRIVING SCHOOL, THAT IS

     Written July, 2002 for ALASKA AIRLINES' in-flight magazine.

           In the past few years, commensurate with the phenomenal rise in the interest in auto racing, there’s been huge growth in the number of performance driving schools.

Originally oriented exclusively towards training race car drivers, many of these schools, and their students, discovered that picking up some basic race track skills also created much better drivers for everyday situations. (Photo --- "Bench racing", where the discussion often begins with "And there I was ..." with lots of hand motions. But bench racing with a professional driver giving a student tips on his or her track and street abilities can be a highlight of one's driving life).

     And one other thing: Besides being a cool learning experience, the schools are also pure fun!

If you’ve never driven a car on a race track, where you don’t have to worry about on-coming traffic and other drivers, it’s an experience not to be missed.

Learning new skills, pushing a car (and yourself) to new limits, overcoming fears, learning to work with a pit crew (your instructor) as a team, overcoming that ego and taking direction in what is really a life-and-death undertaking --- it’s a real thrill for man or woman, youngster or mature adult. (Photo -- Attending a driving school might be the only time in someone's driving life they get to pilot an open-wheel, or "Formula", car ... In the school environment, the cars can be "de-tuned" for beginners, so the engine can not achieve its full power).

     Funny thing about men, in particular --- never question their  sexual or driving skills unless you want an argument. But unless you’re Mario Andretti, it’s guaranteed there’s a few things about driving you could stand to learn. As far as that other stuff, that’s not my department (better to ask your partner about that subject).

The manufacturers have gotten into the act. BMW, Porsche, Audi and others sponsor “traveling” driving and racing schools. These schools fit into a few tractor-trailers and travel to race tracks around the country, offering their courses to owners of their particular brand of cars.

     Other car-makers (one being Aston-Martin) will send buyers to a school after they purchase their new car so they can experience the vehicle at high speeds, under the direction of skilled instructors.

Land Rover has been building small off-road tracks at their sales locations so potential buyers can take one of these very capable vehicles into a real dirt and rock environment and test its mettle.

Jeep has organized owner trips down the famed Rubicon Trail near Sacramento, CA for many years, one of off-roading’s toughest challenges, and the experience has grown into a national program of off-road driving schools throughout the nation.

Yes, even off-road driving skills can translate into enhanced on-road abilities.

     The manufacturers have also found that these high-speed experiences fit well into the new notion of “affinity” programs for owners and potential buyers, helping bring new members into the “flock”, and keeping them there for many years. (Photo -- Driving school students will encounter many of the same challenges and problems they'll find on the street while going through the training, but in an open-wheel car, the action happens a lot faster and the overall experience is much more intense, adding to the fun, but also making the lessons learned more memorable for the more common street environment).

Consider: Buying a Porsche is one thing. Sitting in a classroom for a day learning the fundamentals of safe high-speed driving from a world-famous racer, then taking the car on a race track for another day or two and practicing what you’ve learned, is quite another.

     While cars and trucks are safer than ever, virtually nothing has been done on a government level to improve the skills of American drivers. In fact, with budget cutbacks at local school districts forcing the end of most “driver’s ed” programs, the average driver getting his or her license today is probably less skilled and less experienced than at almost anytime in the recent past.

     It’s true that deaths from auto accidents have gone down the past few years, and that’s mostly attributable to the improved safety of the vehicles themselves. Things like higher-quality and longer-lasting tires (when was the last time you had a blow-out?), anti-lock brakes, traction control systems and, especially, airbags, have helped reduce traffic fatalities.

     But there has been no drop in the number of accidents. As car and truck sales rise, so do the incidents of accidents, which tells us that we drivers are not getting any better at our jobs.

     A real “driving school” should not be confused with one of the many “driving experiences” which are sprouting up across the nation. (Photo -- Notice how the car's wheels are turned to the driver's 'right', yet the corner is a left-hander ... Students can learn how to take advantage of "sliding" a car through a corner).

At these businesses, participants can “ride along” in  race cars equipped with passenger seats, offering a race fan the reality of what it’s like to go around an oval track at speeds over 150 miles per hour, or the excitement of taking-on one of the world’s great road courses, such as Watkins Glen in upstate New York or Sears Point in northern California.

For a momentary thrill and a new appreciation of what racing is all about, these “experiences” fit the bill. But there’s no learning involved, nothing the participant can take home with them to make them better, safer drivers.

True driving schools range in length from several hours to several days; in price from a few hundred to several thousand dollars. At some schools, the students learn and practice in their own cars, at others, students use the school’s vehicles (which are often race cars or highly-modified street cars).

Some schools provide driving suits and helmets, some insist the student bring their own. A fire-resistant suit (made out of a material called Nomex) can cost around $1,000. Full-coverage helmets (the only ones we recommend) range from $200 to over $500. (Photos -- TrackTime Driving Schools are located throughout the USA, and offer diving lessons in everything from Formula cars to NASCAR-like stockers).

How to find the right school for you? Enthusiast publications such as AutoWeek and Road & Track regularly list some of the top schools in the nation. The Internet is also a great source of information.

Call the schools, examine their websites, and ask questions. Is the school oriented more towards the professional race driver or the daily commuter who wants improved overall skills? Ask for some phone numbers so you can speak with some alumni and get a third-party opinion of the school’s value.

Ask about the ratio of class time to track time. Sure, track time is the most fun, but without the classroom instruction, much of the track time will be a waste.

Learning the theories before you try them out on the track makes all the difference between just having some fun and learning new skills, experiencing them first-hand, and finally committing them to memory for your future everyday use.

Query the school on their facilities. Will you be spending time on an oval course, which emphasizes top speed control and concentration, or a road racing track, where left and right turns and braking and acceleration sections more accurately reflect real-world driving? Do they offer courses for new or younger drivers? (A trip to driving school is one of the best gifts you could ever give your kids to teach them motoring skills and responsibility).

On my wall is a certificate from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department Emergency Vehicles Operations Center (EVOC), certifying compliance in “pursuit driving”. 

Modeled after the FBI’s fabled driving school in Quantico, VA, EVOC features oval and road courses, as well as a huge skid pad which can be flooded to simulate driving on ice --- all this in the desert of southern California!

However, besides teaching very specific, and sometimes secret, law enforcement driving skills, EVOC is also open to the public, and specializes in courses for teen and newer drivers. This amazing public facility, one of the few of its kind in the world, is paying back to the community by offering low-cost instruction with some of the most highly-skilled drivers in the country serving as instructors.

Before you pick any driving school, check and see if something like EVOC exists in your local area. Also talk to friends who are racing enthusiasts and check the website of groups like the Sports Car Club of America (www.scca.org) to search for nearby schools of which you might not be aware.

Once you’re satisfied as to your choice of school, what are some of the classroom topics you can expect to be covered? Robust health and physical and mental fitness is a top one.

Professional race drivers, at least the best ones, are in highly-polished physical condition. Most of the top drivers in everything from CART to IRL to F1 and NASCAR have chefs, physical therapists and exercise specialists which travel worldwide with their team.

Danny McKeever, 61, has been running the FastLane driving school at Willow Springs Raceway in the Upper Desert of southern California for the past 25 years.

     Being physically fit is a key element of McKeever's curriculum.

     "If people think racing is not strenuous, consider that the average competitive racer loses 5 to 10 pounds of weight during the average race, just in water," says McKeever.

     "That's why staying properly hydrated, for instance, is a key factor in driving any car. Dehydration can first show itself as lightheadedness, and other symptoms include cramps and severe pain in your legs. These are things which can turn a routine car trip around town into a disaster.”

     McKeever points out that while driving a modern car "doesn't take brute strength, for a man or woman", there are areas of your body to work on which will help anyone be a better driver.

     "It's important for your hands to be flexible, but very sensitive at the same time, able to translate feedback from the steering wheel into information you can really use to help control the vehicle", he told us.

     This is the kind of information which your state’s Department of Motor Vehicles probably doesn’t have in their handbooks for new drivers, but typical of the small though  important tips a driving instructor offers at a serious school.

     Many countries around the world have driving standards so tough that most of us Americans would not be able to get a license on the first attempt.

Germany and the northern European nations in particular are places where driving skills are highly revered and respected. There are still sections of the fabled Autobahn where speed limits are an afterthought, and drivers traveling along at 120 miles per hour are “blinked” with high beam lights to the slow lane by overtaking cars.

In Japan, also, driving instruction is a serious and continuing part of every student’s public education.

     Not that drivers in all other “first world” nations are experts compared to us. Anyone who has ever driven in England or Italy, for instance, can attest to the absolute lunacy which takes place on the roadways in those countries. (Photo -- Lay-out of a law enforcement driving school in Michigan. Note the huge skid pad in the center and the "wet track" in the upper right, along with straightaways and road course- and freeway-like curves).

Whether you decide to investigate driving schools for yourself or as a gift, or your company takes advantage of a corporate course which larger schools offer at reduced rates, or want to send your teenager onto the world’s highways with the best possible chance of survival, a top-flight driving school is an experience which can benefit any driver for the rest of their lives.

(Steve Parker is a two-time Emmy Award-winning journalist based in Palm Springs, CA, who specializes in the auto industry. Check out www.SteveParker.com for more.)

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CHINESE CARS AND TRUCKS HITTING THESE SHORES --- NOW!

THE CHINESE ARE COMING,
    THE CHINESE ARE COMING!

Written March, 2006 for Gannett's DESERT SUN newspaper

Hop in the Chery and come on over! Wife got that car? Then fire-up the Great Wall and let’s do lunch! Kid got that one? No problem, the Geely is warmed-up and ready to go! (Photo -- "Brilliance" sedan).

     Never heard those names? Those above-named cars are all made in China, and the companies which make them promise high quality, low prices, extensive warranties and solid resale values. Well, maybe.
     Only a few years ago, made-in-Korea Hyundai cars bore out what many American consumers expected as far as that nation’s industrial product quality. A TV or radio from there was one thing; cars another altogether.

Hyundai’s original 1986 model for America, the Excel, was poorly-made and became a popular joke topic for late-night TV comedians.
             But Excel was inexpensive, had a modest warranty and Hyundai dealers were eager to rack up sales. Too eager; Excels were sold to too many people who had trouble sending in payment coupons on-time. In just a few years, it seemed every Hyundai on the road was beat-up, spewing exhaust smoke, with dented body panels, bald tires, a bad paint job, and invariably parked by the side of the road. (Photo -- China's Chery A5).

And those were the good ones.

     So Hyundai, with help from Ford, which by then owned big chunks of both Hyundai and Japan’s Mazda, went on a Japanese-style “quality circle” campaign throughout the gigantic corporation. Hyundai then started making news not as the butt of jokes, but by offering a 10-year, 100,000-mile warranty starting in 1998. The fixes worked and Hyundai set sales records which stand to today.
             In order for any import car company to build models in China, that company must partner with an established Chinese car-builder, many of which share private ownership with a local or the national government.

And that could be good news for quality.
            China is, in effect, importing the quality lessons  learned from companies around the globe, while gearing-up to export their own Chinese-badged cars and trucks worldwide.
           General Motors and Ford are both making money in China, Mercedes-Benz and BMW can’t build cars fast enough for the growing Chinese middle class, Volkswagen has truly become once again “a people’s car” in China, and Ferrari has already opened ten dealerships in the great Middle Kingdom. (Photo -- "Great Wall" pickup truck with cab).

In an automotive sense, China has gone from the 19^th century to the 21^st in a mere decade, so we should expect some major bumps in the road; not insurmountable, but major nonetheless.

A new company formed by automotive entrepreneur Malcolm Bricklin had a chance to be first in the USA to import cars from China.

Bricklin first brought Japan’s Subaru (made by Fuji Heavy Industries) to America and followed-up that winner with the unfortunate Yugo, and also tried to build and market his own gullwing-style sports car (which failed).

He recently formed Visionary Vehicles to import Chinese-made Chevrolets to America. He’s taken many millions of dollars in deposits from established American car dealers hoping to be among the first to sell what Bricklin says will be under-$10,000 cars.

There are many smaller players in the China game, too. According to USA TODAY, David Shelburg, 75, of Scottsdale, Ariz., has signed up dealers in California and Arizona to sell China-made vehicles. But Shelburg has been trying to sell Chinese-built cars in the USA for 10 years and has been sued by unhappy dealers who say they never got vehicles to sell and lost hundreds of thousands of dollars. (Photo -- "Nanjing/MG ZT" sedan).

China has a tremendous opportunity to create a missing under-$10,000 price point for American car-buyers. If quality is part of that purchase, we’ll all be learning a lot of new car and truck names in the near-future.

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SUPER-LUXURY CARS OF THE 21ST CENTURY

                              SUPER LUXURY CARS OF
                     THE 21^ST CENTURY

Written May, 2002 for ALASKA AIRLINES' in-flight magazine

     In spite of the vagaries of the worldwide automotive marketplace, there is one segment which continues to grow no matter the world political or economic situation. (Photo above -- Maybach 62).

     These are the stratospherically-priced executive autos which command the attention of everyone lucky enough to get a glimpse of them in action. Those who have had the experience of driving them know that there is indeed more than a bit of truth to the famed phrase, "The rich are different from you and me".

Super luxury cars have been with us since soon after Karl Benz got that first patent for a motorwagen in Germany in January of 1886. Even while the industry was in its infancy, names such as Rolls-Royce and Bugatti in Europe, and Cadillac, Mercer and Duesenberg in the USA, were on the lips and in the dreams of even the earliest enthusiasts.

Today, premium Mercedes-Benz and BMW cars contain features which even Karl Benz and Henry Ford might never have imagined, but the basic concept of the super luxury car remains the same: For the price, the buyer can have a car so advanced, so beautiful, so rare, so powerful and so prestigious that it sets its owner apart from the crowd.

In fact, buyers needing armoring and bullet-proofing services can now order large Mercedes and BMW sedans direct from their dealers equipped with those features.

     Today's super luxury autos are being made in greater  numbers than ever before. Every manufacturer involved in producing these fantastic conveyances reports their best sales ever. As the world economy grows, as democracy and the free marketplace spreads to more nations, sales of these cars are growing at a phenomenal rate. Both Ferrari and Rolls-Royce now have planned factory-authorized dealerships in China. (Photo -- Rolls-Royce "drophead" coupe).

There have been some big changes involving some of the best-known super luxury marques, and some of the best-known names of the past are returning.

The most interesting and far-reaching change in the arena might be those having to do with Rolls-Royce and their longtime partner, Bentley. In fact, since 1946, Bentleys have been built alongside Rolls-Royce cars at Crewe, UK.
            In 1998, Volkswagen purchased Rolls-Royce and Bentley motorcars and the Crewe facility, while BMW, through some very Byzantine negotiations, ended up owning the name Rolls-Royce, starting with January 1, 2003.
           The latest Rolls vehicles are already using BMW engines, and VW has made a huge commitment to expanding the Bentley line-up starting next year, as well.

In fact, VW says that Bentley production will increase from today's 1,400 cars annually to nearly 9,000 being sold worldwide. They'll accomplish this by using existing VW technology and translating it into the classic British tense. (Photo -- Bentley concept).

For instance, VW plans on using what they call their "Super Passatt" platform, outfitting it with a 12-cylinder or even a 16-cylinder engine (in a "W", not a "V" configuration) and surrounding it all with the luxury interior and sporting ride Bentley has always been known for, and pricing it right around $100,000 --- quite a bit less than any of today's Bentley models.

W.O. Bentley, the company's founder, and his group of racing "Bentley Boys", were well-known for their domination of the "24 Hours of LeMans" endurance race in the 1920s. To honor that, and to renew the marque's name with a brand-new generation, VW brought Bentley back to LeMans this year and the team managed an 8^th place finish, fairly amazing for a first-time (in a long time) entrant. (Photo -- Bentley coupe).

BMW is building a brand-new factory in the UK, on the grounds of Lord March's massive Goodwood estate. Goodwood is where the annual "Festival of Speed" is held, bringing top race cars and racing stars from years past to Lord March's "driveway", where vintage racing takes place. Formula 1 race fans may remember the March F1 team from years past, owned by Lord March. Lord March, the son of the Duke of Richmond, is the owner of the 12,000-acre Goodwood Estate in West Sussex, UK.
           The factory will be in operation by January, 2003. The modern facility will focus on keeping the Rolls legend alive while making cars relevant to the 21^st century. BMW promises continued traditional R-R quality and attention to detail, mated with their smooth, monster engines turning out huge gobs of horsepower and low-end torque.

Volkswagen has other tricks up their super luxury sleeve.

     Lamborghini, now also owned by VW, has introduced their Murcielago, a 2-seater, 2-door coupe (with the now familiar gull-wing doors) based on the traditional Lamborghini layout: mid-mounted V12 engine, typical Lamborghini transmission with the gearbox mounted in front of the engine and the rear differential integrated into the engine unit, permanent four-wheel drive with central viscous coupler. It's a combination which has worked well for Lambo for more than 30 years.

       considered the finest of the large touring sedans. Mercedes-Benz is bringing back the name for an all-new car. The Murcielago's engine is a 12-cylinder 60 degree V with a displacement of 6192 cc, made entirely from aluminum alloy and designed for unleaded fuel, producing 571 hp at 7500 rpm and 479 lb/ft of torque at 5400 rpm.

     Speed? Over 220 miles an hour. Price? $273,000. (Photo -- Lamborghini Murcielago).

VW is also bringing back the fabled Bugatti name.

A 1930s Bugatti Royale sold for over $11 million at auction in recent years, making it the world's most expensive car.

VW's new Bugattis may not command that high a price, but the EB 16-4 (EB standing for company founder Ettore Bugatti) is a wildly futuristic-looking car with an output of --- sit down --- 1001 horsepower. The W16 engine (there's that "W" again from VW) has no less than four turbochargers, and this model comes with the world's first non-racing 7-speed gearbox and Michelin's all-new PAX tire system, which allows the car to run for about 70 miles at 50 miles an hour with four flat tires.

No price set as yet for the Bugatti, which could appear in 2005, but it'll be in excess of the Lamborghini Murcielago.

Maybach was the top car in Germany in the 1920s and '30s,  Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach had enjoyed a close friendship long before the first car rolled over the bumpy roads in 1886. Referred to subsequently by a French rival as the "King of Designers," Wilhelm Maybach was instrumental in the development of the Daimler gasoline engine. (Photo -- Bugatti Veyron).

Though the Maybach's topline Zeppelin model has not been resurrected, Maybach as a marque is back for 2003, and only certain Mercedes-Benz dealers will handle sales and service for these super-tourers. In fact, company executives will be responsible for each car during its lifetime, keeping track of the car and its owners and all their motoring needs as long as they are Maybach owners.

Priced in excess of $280,000 (with short- and long-wheelbase models available) the Maybach will have the ultimate in telematics, active suspension and overall safety, but the heart of any auto is its engine. In this regard, Maybach lives up to its storied reputation.

The Mercedes-Benz Maybach is powered by a high-torque V12 engine just under six liters. Made from magnesium/aluminum, the engine greatly profits from an extremely lightweight design which helps to cut fuel consumption. Extremely efficient three-valve technology with dual ignition forms the basis on which the engine achieves optimum performance with low fuel consumption. (Feuling Advanced Technologies, an automotive engineering design firm in Ventura, California, has filed suit against DaimlerChrysler A G, and Mercedes-Benz USA Inc., a suit based on which company developed this specific three-valve technology. Company principal James Feuling passed away, but apparently the battle goes on). (Photo -- Wilhelm Maybach).
Italy's Ferrari continues their winning ways, but this year, for the first time in over a decade, Americans can buy a Maserati at selected Ferrari dealers. Maseratis start at around $90,000 and are essentially Ferraris without the "prancing horse" badge, sort of a "poor man's Ferrari", if there could really be such a thing.
            Ferrari itself is in its best financial shape ever, making around 4,000 cars a year, and holding the majority of World Driving Championship titles in the past decade in Formula 1 racing.

But what of America?
           Cadillac is leading the way for the return of super luxury models to the USA. And that's appropriate. The traditional technology, safety, and performance leader of General Motors is getting their act together and developing an all-new model called XLR, based on the new C6 Corvette platform, to challenge cars in the Mercedes SL class. Look for it late in 2004.
            The Cadillac Cien concept car seen at auto shows this past season gives a hint of what the XLR might produce if equipped with a V12 engine. The car has a 7.5-liter V12 that kicks out 750 horsepower and 450 pound-feet of torque. The concept engine is dubbed Northstar XV12. Odds are that the production version of the XLR, though, will get a highly-modified and more powerful version of the Corvette V8 engine. (Photo -- Cadillac Cien concept).

From Ford, look for an updated version of the famed GT40 which raced at LeMans for the company in the 1960s. Much like their recent Bullitt Mustang and Thunderbird, the GT40 will focus on the original's classic lines built over a machine outfitted with the latest in safety, performance and electronics.

Price for the two-seater will be in excess of $100,000, with the car built on a special assembly-line manned by experts from both Steve Saleen's and Jack Roush's companies, both of which focus on high-performance Ford cars and trucks; some raced on the tracks of the world (Roush known especially for his NASCAR teams and engines for the Panoz cars from Georgia, Saleen for his modified Mustangs), some sold at Ford dealers.

Production of these types of cars is usually in the hundreds and sometimes in the low thousands, they are nowhere near what it takes to keep a large car company going. For instance, the most popular cars sold in
America, the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord, each sell well over 400,000 copies annually. The total USA market is over 16 million. (Photo -- Ford GT).

Finally, back at General Motors, that company's new vice president, 70 year old Bob Lutz, the man who gave the "thumbs up" for the Viper, Prowler and PT Cruiser when a top exec at Chrysler, has convinced the American auto giant to invest in a small Connecticut company called Cunningham Motors.

Run by relatives of sportsman Briggs Swift Cunningham, the America's Cup yachting prize winner who ran Cadillac-powered cars at Le Mans in the 1950s, Cunningham is planning to build a V12-powered all-American sports/luxury touring car, and perhaps even add a motorcycle to the line if things go well. With GM's involvement and Bob Lutz's blessings, the company well could make a go of it. In fact, that Northstar XV12  which Cadillac is talking about for their Cien roadster might ultimately be the powerplant for the Cunningham. Prices will definitely be over $200,000. (Photo -- Cunningham concept).
            While the sales volumes of these super luxury cars are But their prestige is important for  whoever makes them, and even more important for those who buy them. It still matters, even in today's cookie-cutter world, to make a product different from all others and maybe even better than anything else on the road.

     (Steve Parker is a two-time Emmy Award-winning automotive journalist based in Palm Springs, CA. Reach him directly through his website, www.SteveParker.com).

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FLY-BY-WIRE JETS BECOMING DRIVE-BY-WIRE CARS

SHOCKING NEWS ABOUT
YOUR NEW CAR!

Written for ALASKA AIRLINES' in-flight magazine, April, 2002

     Your vehicle’s satellite radio, GPS navigation system and set-and-forget air conditioning are all very visible (and fun!) examples of the wonders of 21^st century automotive electronics. But the electronic revolution going on in places you’ll never see on your car and truck is where the real excitement is for car nuts. (Photos --- Some of are a Citroen "Drive-By-Wire" family-sized auto developed for further research and development by the gigantic French company).

     It’s called “Drive By Wire” (DBW), and these electronic systems will eventually replace almost every mechanical system in your vehicle. Developed originally for aircraft, DBW is making its way into even the least-expensive models on your dealer’s lot, and it’s something you’ll want to ask about when you go shopping for your next car or truck.

     What’s it all about?

     It’s said that in 1921, the Duesenberg was the first production car to have hydraulic brakes. Using hydraulic fluid pressurized by a master cylinder, the system exerted extreme pressure to activate and expand the drums in traditional drum brake systems, and the piston calipers, on modern disc brakes.

More than 80 years later, even with the addition of anti-lock brakes and computers and all other sorts of electronic whiz-bangs, brakes have remained pretty much the same as those introduced by the Duesenberg Brothers in Indiana all those years ago.
            Until now.

With the 2003 Mercedes-Benz SL (arguably the Duesenberg  of our time), the fifth-generation of the fabled SL line, hydraulics take a back seat to “Brake By Wire”, what Mercedes dubs “Sensotronic Brake Control”.

As they have been so often in the past, Mercedes is the first to bring this new technology to the mass market (if you consider a car which starts at $86,655 to be “mass market”). We’ll tell you how it works later.

Soon, though, electronic systems are going to replace many, if not most, of the mechanical systems on cars and trucks. Yes, it’s going to be yet another challenge to technicians to keep these systems running right, and it means shade-tree mechanics will be able to do little if anything to repair them.

But cars and trucks with these “by wire” electronics will be safer, lighter, faster reacting and more fun to drive than anything on the road today.

What these DBW systems do is replace the ubiquitous mechanical linkages strewn throughout cars and trucks with wires, solenoids and small engines and pumps.

One of the simplest ways to illustrate how this works is by looking at HVAC systems, heating, ventilation and air conditioning.

Remember the “old days”? If you wanted outside air to come into the car, you pulled a lever or twisted a knob to let the air in the car. Same with controlling the heating and on newer cars, air conditioning. It was all done mechanically. Pull, push, twist and turn and eventually you’d end up with something close to a comfortable interior temperature and maybe even be able to clear the mist off the windshield (rear window defoggers were a luxury for only the most expensive cars).

And all this took a constant amount of adjustment from the operator. If you wanted heat, you got heat, until things got too hot inside the car. Same thing with outside cooling air or the air conditioning (if you could afford that luxury). Once it got too cold inside the car, you had to make more manual (mechanical) adjustments.

The 1970s saw the advent of the electric rear window defogger. A grid of heating wires was embedded in the rear window (or “backlite”) and simply by pushing a button on the dash, voila, the rear window was suddenly clear! Most of these systems operated on a timer, so the driver was able to push the button and forget about it.

That simple little defogging system was the precursor for today’s and tomorrow’s safety and comfort systems, all driven by electricity rather than metal linkages. More on the HVAC a little later.

Something that’s been with us since before the Duesenberg brothers came up with those amazing hydraulic brakes are mechanical linkages.

These systems, prone to breakdown and needing maintenance and attention through the life of the vehicle, are the basic connections between the driver and the rest of the car.

Press the gas pedal, and there’s a link between the pedal and the carburetor or the fuel injection. Step on the brake and it’s the same between that pedal and the master cylinder. Depress the clutch and change gears with the stick shift, and you’re utilizing several mechanical links between the cockpit and hidden parts of the car. Turn the steering wheel, it’s gears and racks and pinions, all mechanical. Even with an automatic transmission, it’s pulleys and bars and levers and all sorts of contraptions which tell the transmission which gear you’ve picked.

All these systems are going to be replaced, in time, by  electronic connections, doing away with the mechanical linkages. They won’t need any maintenance, and they will be self-diagnosing (and even self-repairing) if problems do develop.

So today’s HVAC systems are fully automatic, thanks to electronics. On many cars and trucks, you can simply set a temperature and forget it. There’s an interior thermostat which reads the temperature and makes system adjustments as necessary, without any input from the driver.

In fact on a lot of vehicles, the driver and front seat passenger can set separate temperatures, a feature which has saved numerous marriages. And more and more, we’ll see rear seat passengers getting to set the temperature for their own private “zone”.

So how does this “brake by wire” on the Mercedes SL work?

They still use a master cylinder of hydraulic fluid, mostly as a back-up for the electronic system. However, in talking with Mercedes execs, I’m told that the “old” system is still on-board more as a dodge against potential lawsuits, which are almost inevitable when a new system goes on a car, even an $86,000 model. Mercedes wants to be sure than no “expert” in court can claim the electronic system failed, thereby causing a crash or an injury; that the “old” hydraulic system was still in operation.

The Sensotronic Brake Control does lack in the “feel” you expect of a sports car, but the SL is really a high-tech touring machine, not a Porsche-fighter.  (Cutaway -- Mercedes-Benz AMG SL55).

The pedal is supposed to provide “normal” pedal feel. But it doesn’t. That’s because under normal operation the pedal acts as a potentiometer, like the volume dial on a radio. It sends electronic signals to a microcomputer that then divides hydraulic pressure to each of the four disc brakes according to how much it decides each disc needs. This makes braking in corners more stable and panic stops more efficient.

But it’s a fantastic step forward, and you must have respect for a company which takes the chance of trying something brand-new (for cars) for the first time.

The SL also features the latest current production use of a “full active suspension”. This does away with springs and shock absorbers and replaces them with four hydraulic servos drawing from a hydraulic reservoir with 2840 psi of pressure. It can instantaneously raise or lower each of the car’s four corners under the direction of two separate computers and 13 different sensors. Cornering can be  almost flat and adjusted from the cockpit.

And it’s all done “on the fly” without much mechanical operation at all. Without “by wire” technology, it would be quite impossible to make the system work reliably.

     In fact, Nissan was the first company to come out with a “full active” suspension on a mass-produced car, on their Infiniti Q45A in 1990. Although up to 90 per cent of all Q45s sold in Japan were ordered with the system, the system was sold on barely 5 per cent of USA models. Japanese seem more open to ordering the latest “gimmicks”, but those early systems, because of their reliance on mechanical systems, were prone to breakdown and were very expensive to repair.

        The full active on the SL appears much more advanced than that offered on the Q. In fact, it’s an update of a what’s available on the latest Mercedes CL500 and S-Class sedans. But it’s also another big step in replacing mechanical systems with electronics in a way so seamless that the driver need do nothing to activate the system; it comes to life only when needed.

     Many driving purists, me among them, object to the car making so many decisions for the driver. For the next few years we’ll watch the pendulum swing towards total computer-control by the car, then things will swing back towards the driver having more input. We hope.

     When it comes to electronic advances in shifting gears, no one beats Ferrari. Their $155,000 2002 Modena F1 model has a “semi-automatic” 6-speed gearbox.

     An aptly named auto is this Modena F1, as Ferrari developed the shift system specifically for their World Championship Formula One race car piloted by Michael Schumacher, the world’s highest-paid athlete.

     For the price of admission, you can utilize some of the  world’s most advanced and exotic automotive electronics to shift between gears via two levers on the Modena’s steering wheel, just like the world’s top racing pros.
     The super-fast electronics and tiny motors and servos control the clutch and the transmission in perfect coordination, a magnificent ballet of gears, shafts and clutch plates working in unison with a 12-cylinder  engine revving as fast as 10,000 rpm. It’s all really pretty amazing.

The system never allows the engine to be over-revved, preventing any potential damage from a driver’s ill-conceived downshift, and works much faster and accurately than any driver could shift gears using a conventional mechanical clutch.

Mercedes and Ferrari will license their systems to other car companies, and automakers the world over are busy developing their own “by wire” systems for steering and acceleration as well as for braking, shifting and suspension.

Existing all-wheel drive systems and the coming all-wheel steering systems (like full active suspension, something tried in the ‘80s, but lacking the best technology) will benefit greatly from DBW.

And of course, as hybrid gas/electric and full electric fuel cell-powered cars and trucks become a more common part of our automotive landscape, these systems will be more fully developed and be right at home in the high-tech cars of the near-future.

One change we’ll see on all vehicles in the next few years will be the advent of 42-volt electric systems to handle all this power, rather than the now-standard 14-volt output systems. One industry report says liquid-cooled, $5000 42-volt alternators will be in the majority of vehicles sold by 2008. (Photo -- Michael Schumacher in his Ferrari F1 race car).

Whether or not the next car or truck you buy has any “drive by wire” systems on it may not matter to you, but drivers into playing with the latest technology will have plenty of chance in coming years to see DBW in action on virtually every part of their car or truck.

(Steve Parker is a two-time Emmy Award-winning automotive journalist based in Palm Springs, CA. Reach him directly through his website, www.SteveParker.com).

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FROM THE MOON TO THE FREEWAY -- FUEL CELL TUTORIAL

FROM THE MOON TO THE FREEWAY

Written January, 2002 for the ALASKA AIRLINES’ in-flight magazine

Electric cars will soon be here, thanks to NASA’s fuel cells

Mr. Bush, don’t be so nice to Saudi Arabia. You oil companies with appetites whet to drill off the California coast, go for a relaxing swim. Sierra Clubbers, take a hike. Whoever is calling for oil platforms in the Alaska wilderness, chill out. Just wait a little while. Things are not as bad as they sometimes seem.

As a nation, as an entire world, we are well on our way to breaking free of the chains placed on society by an economy based on oil. Bold, irresponsible statement? No. Wall Street, Tokyo, Frankfurt and Detroit are all backing me up.

Last January at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, General Motors displayed the most far-reaching look at the technology which is changing the world, in a concept vehicle called “Autonomy” (Great name!). Autonomy’s team engineers pretended cars had never been invented. And, given current technology, asked to create the car today, what would it be? Autonomy is the answer. Its basis is a Batmobile-looking narrow platform about 10 feet long, four feet wide and one foot thick with an electric motor powering a wheel at each of its four corners.

Depending on mood and need, Autonomy’s owner can attach all sorts of different cabins on top of Autonomy, from sports car to sport/utility. These cabins hook-up to the platform via common connectors, making it easy to switch from one to another. Emissions from Autonomy consist of some heat and a bit of water vapor. The vehicle is what is called “zero-emissions”.

It’s inside Autonomy, the parts you never see, that makes the magic possible. They’re called fuel cells.

First developed in 1839, scientists conjectured that one might be able to create electricity by combining specific elements. Today, thanks to NASA, fuel cells have come of age. Late in the 1950’s, with manned space flights on the drawing boards, NASA scientists had to develop a method of making electricity in outer space. Small nuclear power plants were tried, but were dangerous and not dependable. Batteries in 1959 had the same problems they have today: They are heavy, poisonous, bulky and have short lives. Solar-power was also considered, but the available systems were more expensive than anyone imagined and too large and cumbersome. So NASA funded more than 200 research projects looking into fuel cells.

In 1959, Allis-Chalmers demonstrated a 20-horsepower fuel cell-powered tractor which would be all the rage even today. The studies were paying off. Fuel cells worked, amazingly well in fact, combining parts of hydrogen and oxygen to make electricity, and became the power plants for space ships from the Mercury capsules of the ‘60s right up to today’s Shuttles.

And if you can make ‘em work “up there”, driving around by using them as fuel “down here” should be really no big deal. So it’s not just Tang, freeze-dried ice cream and Velcro which our tens of billions in the space program developed!

In the very long run, fuel cells may go down in history as Legacy Number One of the folks who took us to the moon and back. But we had plenty of gasoline, we thought, a virtually never-ending supply. Fuel cells for cars? Never and unnecessary, to most people in the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s. But we’re ahead of ourselves. Fuel cell-powered cars and trucks won’t be widely available until later this decade.

DaimlerChrysler and Nissan both say they they’ll have them on the road by 2004, on the way to mass production, and certainly by that time other manufacturers will be making them as well. (They’re already building them in their research and development facilities). Batteries seem a simple way to power electric motors on cars. GM thought so, too. So a few years ago General Motors came out with another concept car which captured everyone’s attention, like Autonomy has, but the timing was all wrong. The EV1 was an all-electric two-seater leased (never sold) through their Saturn Division. Only about 400 were ever made, and they never became popular for all the same reasons batteries were not chosen for the space program almost 40 years earlier. Plus the public now knew batteries are basically tiny Superfund pollution sites. A crash involving 1000 pounds of lead-acid batteries would not be a pretty (or healthy) sight. Plus, the electricity to charge the batteries was being made in some power plant, creating pollution.

EV1 made you feel good when you drove it, but someone, somewhere was getting the polluting effects of the electric re-charge. GM got a lot of great publicity out of their ill-fated EV1 adventure. The company did learn a lot about producing electric-powered vehicles and they deserve a huge round of applause for being the first to try this on a somewhat large scale. But futurists (and auto industry analysts with common sense) knew EV1 would never work on a large scale. We Americans want to go at least 300 miles on a tank of fuel, and refill conveniently in pit-stop time when we run out.

In fact, some say GM developed EV1 to purposely sour the public on all-electric vehicles. But that hasn’t happened. The state of California is holding to their demands of zero-emissions vehicles available by the 2003 model year, the public wants them, the car companies are fighting it tooth and nail, but the writing is on the wall. Democracy and a free market with reasonable government controls is working exactly how it is supposed to. Zero-emissions vehicles are going to be on-sale nationwide relatively soon.

Larger fuel cells are already being used to power homes, factories and as back-up emergency generators around the world.

Which brings us to hybrids.

Hybrid powerplants have been around a long time. They make a lot of sense. Diesel-electric locomotives (and submarines) are hybrids. They use big diesel engines for power, which run on an oily sort of gasoline, while they at the same time re-charge electric storage batteries. The batteries can be used to give a “supercharge” boost to the locomotive diesels, or to run a submarine when it is under water and can not access the air necessary to run the diesels (that’s why non-nuclear submarines, such as WW II models, had to surface quite often).

A few years ago I was at a test track in Tochigi, Japan, when the Honda engineers there asked me to drive a normal-looking car around their course. There was nothing strange about the car, except it was missing the instruments on the control panel. The car was fine, nothing odd about it. Ran as well as any Honda. When I finished the short test drive (accompanied by a quiet and severe-looking Honda engineer) and pulled into the staging area, the engineers surrounded me and questioned me at length about the car, how it ran, how it felt.

After we talked, they opened the hood. The car was a “mule”, a normal-looking body with a unique drivetrain under the sheetmetal. It was a priceless hand-made prototype of what would eventually be sold as the “Insight”, the two-seat gas-electric hybrid currently the highest-rated fuel efficient car sold in the US. Toyota sells their “Prius” hybrid in Japan and the US, a five-seater more like a traditional American sedan than the sporty Insight. Both Prius and Insight use gas-electric hybrid drivetrains with “continuously variable transmissions”, a one-gear transmission which feels like an automatic yet does not shift. It takes some getting used to the smooth feeling! So impressive are both cars that dealers are waiting months to fill orders.

Toyota sells a minivan hybrid in Japan called Estima and Honda just started selling their Civic hybrid in the US. In fact, our family is the proud owner of a Prius (for which we waited five months!). Forty miles per gallon is just the starting point for Prius and Insight. Fifty to sixty mpg is not unheard of, in cars offering real comfort, all the power doo-dads and gizmos we expect, and it runs on gasoline, easily available on any street corner. American drivers like them!

Hybrids are the natural and so-far successful stop-gaps between gasoline and fuel cell-powered, zero-emissions vehicles. They combine the best elements of electric motors and gasoline engines. Fuel cells, which create electricity by combining hydrogen ions and oxygen atoms, have long lives and can be “stacked” to create more horsepower.

Hot rodders out there, do not fear: Companies are already developing ways to get race car-performance out of these modest, environment-friendly devices. The cells themselves can be “shaped” and “molded” into configurations spread throughout a vehicle, allowing for car and truck designs which have not yet been dreamed. Gone will be the heavy, bulky “lump” of the internal combustion engine with which car stylists have traditionally been forced to contend.

Scientists now are developing the best fuels for the cell systems. Gasoline and methanol need on-board “reformers” to separate the hydrogen from those fuels to make use of it. Pure hydrogen is difficult to store, though mass-transit vehicles like buses are running in test fleets, with the hydrogen stored in large tanks underneath and on the vehicle’s roof.

So, things are not that bad. It sometimes seems as if we’ll never get over our oil addiction, but we’re already in the midst of the “program” which will release us from our terrible, expensive and dangerous habit. Now is the time to stop waving that flag on your 12-mile per gallon SUV to demonstrate your patriotism. Buy a hybrid and start studying fuel cells to really make a statement about American freedom. As a car nut, I’m proud to watch this industry lead the way to a secure economic world future.

(Steve Parker is a two-time Emmy Award-winning automotive journalist based in Palm Springs, CA. Reach him directly through his website, www.SteveParker.com). -30-

CAR COLLECTING FOR THE REST OF US

CAR COLLECTING FOR ALL OF US --- MY KINGDOM FOR A CAR?

Written December, 2001 for ALASKA AIRLINE’S in-flight magazine

                                            

Recently, after a week-long test drive, I was thinking about how the “all-new” 2002 Jaguar X-Type is really a very nice car.

But I had to honestly ask myself: Is it truly a Jaguar?

After all, it’s built on the same basic platform as the humble 2001 Ford Mondeo which is sold throughout Europe. Can the addition of some interior leather and woodgrain paneling turn a Ford into a Jaguar?

When I grew up, the Jaguar imprimatur represented something. A self-reward after a lifetime of working to attain a certain status and position. (Photo - Ralph Lauren's award-winning Bugatti at the Concours d'Elegance at Pebble Beach).

So I started thinking how nice it would be to have my own great old Jaguar, with the legendary Jag personality built right into its heart.

Maybe a 1972 272 horsepower V12 E-Type, which fable says was designed in the middle of the night by elves, fairies and leprechauns, sent by the gods to save the company from bankruptcy (which it did).

Now that’s a “real” Jag! Some quick research tells me a top condition roadster can be had for about $85,000. I know some folks at the Jaguar club. I can call my friends who work for Jaguar in their PR department. I have a connection who deals in Jaguar literature. My wife recently started making more money in her job. Hmmm…I could even…

Wait a minute! Am I crazy? I know guys who have lost virtually everything collecting cars, as sure as they might have shoved their money up their nose on daily cocaine binges!

I also know fabulously successful men who own hundreds of cars, have built private museums which they occasionally open to the public to show-off their acquisitions, and thoroughly enjoy their old-car obsession.

These are people who spend much of their time travelling the world (first class, or by private conveyance) in search of that legendary car or this fabled head badge, that single piece of extant literature on a particular model, or to spend time with the one surviving mechanic who “wrenched” for a specific Formula 1 race team in Argentina in 1957.

Sure, the best way to get into all the fun is with an unlimited back account. But as renaissance man Steve Martin (whose addiction is modern art) says in answer to the question “How can one become a multi-millionaire?”: “First, get a million dollars”.

And this old ironic joke rings true, too:

Q- How do you build a small fortune in car collecting?

A- Start out with a large fortune.

For potential collectors, there are three important and basic rules which we’ll examine here to keep yourself (and your marriage, family and bank account) safe, sane and intact.

The good news is that even the average man or woman of rational mind and moderate means can join what is known by aficionados as simply “the hobby”, and begin a wonderful life-long experience.

If they’re careful.

First and foremost, set your sights only on those vehicles which personally interest you.

No matter the vehicle, there is some aspect of it which is collectible, regardless of your budget.

It must be Ferrari, but you have VW money? Trust me, you’re not the Lone Ranger.

There are scale models, literature of all sorts, brochures, window stickers, photos of the various Ferrari race teams, books about Ferrari (the man and the machine), inexpensive gifts given away by dealers to customers. The list is long and fun.

And that same list applies to just about any car, truck or motorcycle ever made.

Almost anything having to do with cars can be found in a general grab-bag category called “automobilia”.

The items can still be pricey, but you’ll find it easier to pace yourself and your checking account if you seek only very specific collectibles, never spending more than a pre-determined amount (just like when you go to Las Vegas) and remember the two cardinal rules of all successful collecting, no matter the items: Research until you drop, and, as much as you can, keep emotion out of it. These should not be impulse buys.

The next inviolable rule, #2, is also simple.

Once you decide the make of vehicle you’re interested in, find a like-minded group of people and start friendly relationships.

Other folks who love these cars the way you do are much less likely to rip you off, and are much more likely to offer you serious, priceless help in starting your own collection.

And many of these relationships will last the rest of your life. There’s an entire world to explore here, at one end populated by the super-wealthy. But the collecting middle-class is just as important to the hobby.

Sure, Tonight Show host Jay Leno owns over 100 cars and motorcycles, some of them priceless. But for every Leno, there are ten, or a hundred, or a thousand guys like me. To us, owning and displaying even a $10 keepsake related to the brand we love is as important to Leno as getting his next Duesenberg. And the excitement of the hunt for the item, and finally getting it, is just as satisfying.

These days, with the Internet, finding the “right” people is easier than ever. If you’re computer savvy, using one of the search engines and typing in, for instance,  “Ferrari car clubs”, will garner you over 169 places to check out (I know this for a fact. I just tried it on Google.).

That’s a lot of places, but a car which is particularly “hot” among younger people can produce amazing results.

For instance, type in “Nissan Skyline”, a “cult” car not well-known in the USA, and you’ll find an astonishing 52,000 websites dedicated to this single car! The Skyline will be sold in the USA sometime in the next 2-3 years, and you’ll be hearing plenty about it then. So the time to find out about this car, if you’re thinking of collecting anything having to do with it, and maybe eventually turn a profit on some of it, is now.

In other words, and here’s our Third Important Basic Car Collecting Rule: Think ahead.

Which cars being sold now will command attention in 10, 20 or 30 years?

Don’t expect a huge collectible interest in, say, Chrysler Minivans. There are millions of them and older examples will be in beat-up condition, anyway.

But just because a car is made in limited quantities, like all Ferraris, doesn’t guarantee it’ll be worth anything in the future.

Two good examples of this apparent contradiction came from Porsche.

Their 914 and 928 models were never accepted by the world’s Porsche-philes for a variety of reasons, and their values are nowhere near those of other more famous Porsches.

However, for someone whose heart is set on either one of these cars, or just on owning an older Porsche, the 914 and 928 are bargains.

So the person with his or her heart set on owning a Porsche can have their cake (or drive their marque) and eat it, too (acquire one in very good condition for a reasonable price).

Quick lesson: Maserati has not sold cars in the USA in over 10 years. But, now owned by Fiat and a division of Ferrari, they’re coming back with a 2002 model. Which will make all Maseratis and Maserati-related automobilia more valuable in this country, because the awareness of the cars and the marque’s fabled history about to rise tremendously.

These three rules are just some first baby steps for you to take in the collector car marketplace.

Don’t be afraid, after you gain some knowledge, to take a chance on a contemporary vehicle which might not currently be drawing any attention in the hobby. It’s a gamble, sure, but if the car, truck or motorcycle is inexpensive enough, it might be a very reasonable gamble.

For instance: The new 2002 Ford Thunderbird has been greeted positively, with its throwback styling to the original T-Birds of the ‘50s.

But underneath the sheetmetal, it’s the same basic car as the Jaguar S-Type and the Lincoln LS. Which means the new T-Bird, even being built in the small amount of 20,000 per year, will never have a great collectible future.

Why? Add in those Lincoln and Jag numbers and there will be a lot of those V8 drivetrains running around. Plus, with the cars sharing those major components, the cache’ of “exclusivity” doesn’t exist to add collector value.

So when it comes down to brass tacks, this “all-new” T-Bird is really nothing more than a marketing exercise, not an honest attempt by a manufacturer to build a really special, unique, high-performance automobile.

However, several hundred T-Birds made way back in 1957 were equipped with supercharged engines (the so-called “F” models).

Someone with the foresight (and the guts and confidence) to add one of those F-models to his or her collection sometime in the past 45 years finds themselves today with a car which looks almost exactly like every other 1957 T-Bird --- but is worth, in excellent condition, over $100,000.

A pristine non-supercharged model of the same vintage is worth about half that amount.

Begin your car collecting odyssey using rules, and you could be the person who, sometime in the near future, adds the 21^st century equivalent of that 1957 F-model T-Bird to your collection.

And no matter the financial the outcome, if you really enjoy the car, you’ll have years and years of driving pleasure in front of you --- and perhaps a big pay-off, too!

(Steve Parker is a two-time Emmy Award-winning journalist who covers the auto industry. Visit his website and contact him directly at www.SteveParker.com)

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CVT TRANSMISSIONS --- INEXPENSIVE FUEL-SAVERS

SHIFTLESS? CVT TRANSMISSIONS HIT THE MARKETPLACE

Written September, 2002 For GANNETT Publications

    If you’ve been watching the commercials for the new cars and trucks, a new term is entering the automotive lexicon: Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT). (Artwork --- Simple diagram of a CVT unit).

Available this year on the new Audi A4, the Toyota Prius and Honda Civic hybrids and the Saturn VUE SUV, CVTs were first patented in Europe in the 19^th century, but are just now coming into their own in a big way in the American marketplace.
     Various cars have used CVTs in Europe and Japan throughout the years, including models from Subaru, Volvo and DAF models (DAF is a small Dutch car company which has had more than its share of technical innovations over the years).
        Subaru developed the first electronically-controlled CVT for use in some of their Japan-market cars in 1984, and in 1987 started selling it in this country in a small car called Justy. Honda also used a CVT in their Civic HF fuel-mileage leader for several years.

     A CVT relies on a flexible metal belt and pulleys to constantly shift gear ratios, boosting fuel economy as much as 10 percent. They are also smaller, lighter, cheaper and easier to build and install than traditional stick-shift or automatic transmissions. For all these reasons, CVTs are starting to get a lot of attention from car-makers worldwide, as they continuously look for ways to help their cars and trucks get better mileage, and be lighter, less expensive to build and easier to repair.

In 1940, Oldsmobile rocked the automotive world with the introduction of Hydra-Matic, the first completely automatic shifting transmission. Gone were the clutch pedals and the gear stick shift. Now almost anyone could drive a car, with no training required on how to shift gears. Hydra-Matic opened the exciting world of motoring to untold more millions of drivers.

The trend of automatic transmissions in America has grown to the point where well more than 90 percent of the cars and trucks sold in this country are equipped with automatics.
       “Standard”, or stick-shifts, are still the transmission of choice in most other countries. This is because traditional stick shifts provide a bit more fuel mileage, can give the driver more control over the vehicle on rough or hilly terrain and on unimproved roads, are less expensive to build and install and, perhaps most importantly in second- and third-world countries, they are much simpler to maintain, repair and replace than automatics. (Photo -- CVT installed in a 2001 Honda Insight).

Transmissions have traditionally been some of the most complicated pieces of equipment on any car or truck. Standard stick shifts are fairly straightforward, but automatics are extremely difficult to build, diagnose and repair. The old joke about “you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand this…” does not hold true with automatic trannys. You practically DO need to be a rocket scientist to get to heart of these things.

Since their introduction, automatic transmissions have been the bane of consumers, and tales of repair shops taking advantage of uninformed automatic tranny owners are legendary.

Enter the CVT, with many of the positive simplistic aspects of a stick shift, but also with the “automatic” aspects most of we American drivers enjoy.

Until recently, the biggest drawback to a CVT was that they were not able to handle a lot of engine torque, or low-end power. That meant CVT usage was limited to small displacement powerplants, the ones most popular in Europe and Asia and the southern hemispheres. Only in the USA and Canada, where the V8 reigned supreme, were CVT’s essentially locked out of the marketplace.
          But engineers, as is their wont, have managed to develop the CVT to the point where it can now be used with modestly-powerful engines. In fact, the US government is working on a project to develop a CVT for large Class 8 trucks (the big 18-wheelers) which, claims say, can save so much fuel that within 300,000 miles (low mileage for a Class 8) the unit pays for itself.

GM has CVTs available in the Saturn VUE, and is buying up to 50,000 engines and transmissions from Honda this year and next for their Saturn line-up, and some of those could come CVT-equipped. Ford has a large CVT program underway, planning to use the units in many of their cars and trucks in the next five years. Ford’s British subsidiary, Torotrak, is heading-up their CVT development. DaimlerChrysler has been using CVT for years in some of their smaller European-market models, and most every Asian manufacturer already uses CVTs in a big way or has plans to do so.

I’ve driven CVT-equipped cars and trucks and they take some getting used to. There’s a “whiny” noise to many of them. It’s disconcerting to accelerate (or to slow) and not feel the transmission shift “up” or “down” --- the feel of the CVT remains constant.

However, at highway speeds, the CVT is smooth and quiet and allows the engine to run at the optimum speed for the speed being traveled. The simple mechanism does this more efficiently than an automatic transmission, and this is where the fuel-savings come into play. It’s just that getting up to those speeds feels and sounds a lot different than what a driver may have experienced with a traditional automatic transmission.

CVT is a technology whose time has come, which is here to stay, and which will only grow in use in the future. As the race to make cars and trucks lighter, cheaper to build and simpler to repair continues, relatively low-tech items such as the CVT will grow in popularity.

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DANGERS OF AUTO RACING

THE PERSONAL AND POTENTIAL DANGERS OF AUTO RACING

Written November, 2002, For Gannett Publications

     Please allow me a few words about race car drivers and the dangers of knowing them too well.
    (Photos --- Jason Priestly, Alex Zanardi and Jeff Krosnoff, all people we knew off the track, and all who suffered due to their participation in auto racing. Find out about the Krossnoff Scholarship fund by clicking anywhere on this line).

It was an accident during practice for an Infiniti Pro Series race at Kentucky Speedway this week which brought it all back home to me.

When I heard about actor/race driver Jason Priestly’s crash this past Sunday morning (I was in the car on the way to do my radio show), I got chills.

     Jason had been a guest several times on both my radio and TV shows in Los Angeles in the ‘90s, so while we were not close friends, we are certainly acquaintances with a  shared interest in cars and racing.
     He’s a really nice guy, was always on the set or at the studio early, ready to talk about his favorite subjects --- his cars and his burgeoning racing career. He’s a pleasure to know, that rare actor with very little ego showing (which is typical of the show business people I have met in racing and the car world, ranging from Paul Newman to Jay Leno, Jerry Seinfeld to Marsha Mason to David Letterman).

     The first news from the race track was not good. Priestly hit the wall at over 180 miles per hour, head-on. Early reports from the hospital, where he had been airlifted, said he had head injuries, a broken back and was breathing with the aid of a ventilator. All very bad signs, pointing to the dreaded “closed head and basil spine injuries”, which so often result in a driver’s death.

     Thankfully, the news got much better later in the day and Priestly should recover with no lasting effects (except maybe a new and healthy fear of concrete walls! Race driver/car builder Steve Saleen once told me his one health problem was “an allergy to concrete”).

     One of the problems with knowing race car drivers is that, sometimes, they get hurt and even die.   
     My wife, Carey, and I had been friends with Jeff Krosnoff, a CART racer who died in a horrific racing accident in Toronto in 1996.
     We saw the crash on live TV, and seeing our friend killed on live television right in front of our eyes (and it was obvious from the first moments of the wreck that Jeff didn’t stand a chance) was something we never wanted to ever re-experience.

We vowed to never become too friendly with any racer, ever again. Of course, racing drivers being who they are (exciting, skilled, carefree and devil-may-care), it’s hard not to like them and get close. These are, for the most part, attractive people in many ways, and of course it is a thrilling, sexy, money-soaked sport. Once exposed to it, it’s tough to stay away.

Carey then became a huge fan of Alex Zanardi, who took the CART world by storm and won two national championships in 1997 and ’98 for Target/Chip Ganassi Racing. The exciting and very personable Italian moved into Formula One racing where his luck was not so good, then returned to CART in 2001.

When I was at Twin Ring Motegi race track in Japan in 1997, Alex was also there meeting with his Honda team and to visit the Tokyo Motor Show. Alex and I had lunch together, and when I kidded him about my wife being his “biggest” fan, he insisted I turn on my video camera. He proceeded to perform a personal and heartfelt several-minute long completely off-the-cuff Italo-English thanks and greeting for Carey which I showed her when I got home to the States --- and you can imagine her amazed reaction when she saw that! But that is how Alex is with his fans.
     In September of 2001, Carey and I were at the radio station on a Sunday morning as I prepared for The Car Nut Show. It was late in the day already in Germany, where CART was racing on a new oval track for the first time. Minutes before I went on the air, the radio news reported that Zanardi had been horribly injured in a wreck at the event, a race he had been leading. It was hard to do the radio show that day.

Zanardi almost died from blood loss. He ended up losing both his legs. He has made a fantastic recovery, and is even driving his own personal car again, living in Monte Carlo and enjoying life with his wife and young son and his new yacht.
       But once again, the dangers of racing were brought terribly close to home. Carey and me vowed to not even watch racing on TV anymore after that (to this day we have not seen Zanardi’s crash), but of course we enjoy the sport and love its people too much to stay away.

We’ve been friendly, too, with Max Papis, another CART veteran. Scion of a wealthy Italian family in the clothing business, Papis is the quintessential European racing playboy, a throwback to much more innocent times in racing, where fun, thrills and advancing the sport and science of cars were the main purposes of organized racing, not attracting sponsors and selling corn flakes (or whatever the product may be). Papis has a fabulous sense of humor to match his ebullient personality.

But we’ve held our breath many times as Max has occasionally crashed his race cars, though thankfully those times have been few and far between.

So while there is a lot of criticism of some forms of racing, particularly those who say NASCAR  may sometimes be more scripted than spontaneous, and those who rant and rave about the IRL/CART split in American racing and the “boring” world of Formula One, those are real, live people on the track (and in the pits), putting their very lives on the line every time they go out on the track.

They’re people with families, hopes and dreams, willingly engaged in a very tough and physical sport, a sport whose attraction can be so complex that even the participants can’t explain their attraction to it.

Next time you watch a race on TV or read about one in the newspaper, try to keep that in mind, and you’ll develop an entirely new appreciation for auto racing.

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MONTEREY HISTORIC AUTO RACES AND THE PEBBLE BEACH CONCOURS D'ELEGANCE

THE WORLD COMES TO CALIFORNIA'S CENTRAL; COAST ---

THE MONTEREY SPORTS CAR RACES AND PEBBLE BEACH CONCOURS D'ELEGANCE

Written for GANNETT NEWSPAPERS in August, 2002

           In the past decade, events on the Monterey Peninsula the third weekend of August have been of major importance to everyone who works with and loves cars.

          The Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance classic car show, the Vintage Races at Laguna Seca Raceway, the burgeoning number of classic auto auctions bringing multi-million dollar prices, the new-but-growing Concours Italiano and any number of other shows, parties and get-togethers all now serve as background for major car companies making important announcements and introducing new models.

Stroll down any street in Carmel or Monterey during this week and rub shoulders with GM’s Chairman of the Board, celebs like Jay Leno, legendary racers like Phil Hill, designers like Sergio Pinninfarina, or a member of the Toyota family.
             It is, in every possible respect, automotive overkill.

And for a car nut of any color or stripe, it is thrilling. The Super Bowl, the Rose Parade, Monaco Grand Prix, Indy 500 and Disney World all wrapped-up in one.

Cadillac’s 2004 XLR is going to be on the cover of the next Neiman-Marcus catalogue. It was shown for the first time at Pebble Beach. It’s a two-seat, V8-powered roadster with a five-speed automatic transmission and a retractable hardtop convertible roof, rear-wheel drive and all the electronic bells and whistles. Sounds a lot like the new $86,000 Mercedes-Benz SL? Well, that’s the target car and audience for the XLR.
           There will be 101 2004 XLR’s available through Neiman-Marcus, and they should sell-out in a few hours after the catalogue goes public (if you’re interested, give Neiman’s a call now and see if you can get on a list). Public sales (with summer, 2003 deliveries) begin after that. Price tag between $75,000 and $100,000.

Cadillac also announced development of an entirely new line of cars and trucks to be known as "V-Series" products, all high-performance, world-class vehicles. The first will be a V8-version of the popular rear-drive CTS, to be called the CTSi, currently being finalized by GM engineers in Europe and Detroit and to be introduced sometime before the XLR. (The 50th anniversary of Corvette was also celebrated at Monterey, another major GM event).

Jaguar took advantage of the gathered press and well-heeled car nuts to display their new 390 horsepower 2003 XK models.

But when you’re introducing a car at Pebble Beach, and you’re Jaguar, and you’re owned by Ford and have a few bucks to spend, you don’t just pull the cover off the car and say, “Here it is!”
             No, Jaguar hired Sir Stirling Moss, one of racing’s (and Jaguar’s) all-time heroes, to pull the cover off the car.

Moss chatted a bit about the new six-speed transmissions coming in the XK series, the race-car Brembo brakes, along with two new 4.2 liter V8 engines and something called Dynamic Stability Control.

Heck, Moss could have been reading the San Jose phone book, and the gathering would still have been enthralled. A knighted gentleman racer and all that. He’s got that kind of very special charisma.
             He won his first major race --- the 1950 TT --- in a privately-owned Jaguar racer, and got a factory sponsorship for the next season.

Moss was the development driver for Jaguar and Dunlop, inventing disc brakes for race cars in the ‘50s. His victory in the 12 Hours of Reims (France) was the first win ever for a race car equipped with disc brakes, so when Moss talks, people listen. Still.
            (After Ford bought Jaguar and Aston-Martin, the pits at Laguna Seca Raceway were converted, for a Monterey weekend, into a replica of the 1960’s pits and garage area at LeMans, to celebrate Aston’s domination of that era. Aston founder David Brown was even on hand for that, which incidentally was the first Monterey Weekend I had ever attended.
            Of course, at that time, I spent that weekend’s nights sleeping in my photographer’s 1972 Mazda RX-2 in the parking lot of some Monterey hotel, where we could afford to share a salad for lunch.)
             DaimlerChrysler brought out prototypes of their near-future PT Cruiser models, which look edgier and just a little more modern than the current car/truck, but still retain the classicism of the original’s styling. They showed the much-needed 215 horsepower turbocharged PT Cruiser which will be on-sale soon, as well as two-door, convertible and panel truck versions of the wildly popular PT.

Weekend wrap-up? Best in Show at the Concours went to a 1934 Voisin C-15 ETS Saliot Roadster. A 1962 Ferrari Testa Rossa (Red Head) sold for $5.9 million at the RM Auction, highest auction price paid for a vehicle since just after the stock market crash of 1987 had investors looking for new places to park their cash. And Jay Leno displayed his Bugatti, the only one ever made with American coachwork (built by Murphy of Pasadena).

VALET OR NOT? SURVIVING THE PARKING LOT

VALET OR NOT? SURVIVING THE PARKING LOT

Written May, 2002 for Gannett's DESERT MAGAZINE

     A few years ago, when Carey and I went to Hawaii for our wedding, we picked up our rental car at Honolulu Airport and drove towards Diamond Head and our hotel.

      Arriving at the valet stand, the attendant told me to leave the keys in the ignition and go into the hotel lobby to check-in. He would, he said, take care of everything from there.

     While standing in line at the registration desk, that same valet came up to Carey and asked, “Hey, did you guys move your car?”

     I overheard that question and knew right then and there: Our car had been stolen right out from under the attendant’s (supposedly) watchful eyes and our wedding week was about to become a real adventure.

     More on that activity in a future column.

     This month, we’re going to tell you how to make sure what happened to the Car Nut’s car doesn’t happen to you!

     Valet parking is an inescapable part of southern California and desert life. Not only restaurants and hotels, but shopping malls, movie theaters and even hospitals and clinics feature valet parking in our part of the world.

     The vast majority of valet companies and their employees are honest, hard-working folks. But, as in any business, there are some bad apples. Palm Springs Police told us that while complaints about valets exist, they are not considered a major problem.

     On the other hand, KCBS/TV2 Los Angeles reporter Joel Grover recently did an “undercover” series on valet parking scams at some of the most expensive and best-known restaurants in LA.

     The bottom line is this: Be prudent before turning over your car to anyone you don’t know.

     Visually check your car before you turn it over to a valet so you know its condition. Then, when you pick the car up, quickly check it again. If there are scratches or dents that weren’t there earlier, call the manager and make a report and even make a police report for your insurance company.

Valet companies usually rent their spaces from the restaurant or hotel and have no affiliation with that establishment. It’s hard to get anyone to take any responsibility if something happens (take it from me, Mr. Hawaii Wedding Experience), so make as much noise and as many reports as you can to document any damage done to your car or possessions.

Only give the valet the key they need to operate the car and lock the doors. Most new cars have a separate “valet key” for just this purpose. Some cars, like the Corvette, have a “valet switch” which the owner engages before turning the car over which cuts about half the engine horsepower, so Mr. or Ms. Valet won’t be doing any burn-outs or donuts in the parking lot while you’re chowing down.

Never put identifying information on your key chain. Never put your full name, address, home telephone, license plate, or Vehicle Identification Number on your key chain. If a thief finds your key chain, he will have access to and know where to steal your vehicle or burglarize your house.

If you must leave your keys, always remove all other unnecessary keys. While you are eating or watching the show, a dishonest valet parker can copy your keys and later burglarize your home or business.

Avoid leaving valuables, packages, luggage, cell phones, pagers, garage door openers, mail or documents in view inside your vehicle. Never leave your vehicle's title or registration information in your vehicle. Keep the title in a safe place, such as a safe deposit box. Carry the registration in your purse or wallet. Don't make it easy for a dishonest valet parker or car washer to know your name and address.

We spoke with some friends in Phoenix, who told us of a valet scam popular in that desert city.

It's quite common to see someone standing curbside in a tie and red vest when you visit a nice restaurant. A sign nearby says "Valet Parking." So you pull up, hand him your keys and the valet parking fee, take a parking stub and proceed inside to enjoy a meal. 

Upon exiting, you notice that the valet is nowhere to be seen. You wait a couple of minutes, figuring he's probably retrieving someone else's car. A few more minutes pass, and you grow impatient. "Where's the valet?" you ask the restaurant manager. You get a sinking feeling in your stomach when she answers, "We don't have valet parking."

There are some things you can do to protect yourself against even the possibility of being conned out of your car:

1.     Call ahead and ask if the restaurant offers valet parking.

2.     A red vest and black tie do not a valet make, so look for signs of authenticity around the valet stand. Are there valets handing keys back to customers? Do they wear name tags with the restaurant's logo? Are the claim stubs official-looking, or just scraps of paper with numbers jotted down?

3.     Notice how close the valet stand is to the establishment. If it's legitimate, it will be right outside the entrance.

         The odds are that you’ll never have a problem with valet parking, but taking the steps above increase those positive odds even further.

Oh, the Honolulu Police eventually found our car, some of our possessions and arrested the thief who stole the vehicle.

Our story had a happy ending, but if we had read a story like this before our trip, we could have taken precautions which would have prevented the theft from happening in the first place!

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CAR RENTAL OVERSEAS: DO YOUR HOMEWORK!

CAR RENTAL OVERSEAS: DO YOUR HOMEWORK!

Written November 2004 for Gannett's DESERT SUN newspaper

    

     Those who have had the good fortune to travel know that having one’s own car on-hand can be a tremendous joy.

Nothing wrong with using buses and trains and guided group tours, especially for first-timers. But after a few days or weeks of traveling with the same tourist-y, English-speaking group, you’ll look forward to the day when you can return to that new land and rent your own vehicle, and go where you want, when you please.

Let’s look at overseas rentals --- and European new car delivery.

OVERSEAS RENTALS

First off, even if you’re driving only within North America, it’s a good idea to have an International Driver’s Permit (IDP) and a valid US passport. Call the local auto club office to get the details on getting the IDP; you’ll need to provide your current valid driver’s license and two passport-size photos. The AAA has been providing these permits for decades and knows all the rules. Overseas, the IDP is a must.

In many countries, you don’t ”rent” a vehicle, you “hire” one. Know the local lingo. Get on the Internet and do research well before you go. Apart from that, the AAA and your insurance agent are good sources of basic info.

     Know the local costs, too. It’s easy to arrange a rental through one of the big national rental firms in the US, but be aware: If you pick up the car at the airport, it will almost always be more expensive than if you get it in town or at your hotel.

         So arrange an airport pick-up and at least one in town, too. When you get to your destination, even though you’re probably beat from your flight, make some calls to town and check on that day’s prices. If you get a better deal in town or at your hotel, take a bus or the train to town and get your car the next day (after recovering a little from jet lag!). There’s no charge for canceling a reservation.

You can pay for the rental up-front before you leave in American dollars or pay in local currency when you get to your destination or when you turn in the car. It’s almost always better to pay at the end of the rental period.

Ask the AAA about getting your driving record before you go on your trip, and be prepared to show it at the rental counter. Like many agencies in the US, European companies may also want to check your driving record before renting anyone a car. Generally, the more information you have with you at the rental desk, the easier the whole transaction will be for everyone.

Insurance is perhaps even more important overseas than here at home. If something happens and you don’t have proof of insurance, in many countries you can wind up in big trouble, perhaps even going to jail (which can happen in Mexico, as many southern Californians know).

Your US insurance will probably not cover you in any other nation. Check it all out before you go and add the proper “riders” to your policy.

As far as collision damage waiver (the dread CDW) which is often covered by your credit card in the US, you’ll probably have to buy it in a foreign nation. Check with your credit card company and the AAA on this one for specifics.

Also, your credit card will probably be billed and “frozen” a much higher amount until you turn-in the vehicle. Many tourists get the rude surprise of finding themselves over their credit limit in a foreign country because of their car rental. If possible, use one credit card just for the car rental and other cards for hotels, shopping, etc. Check with your credit card company and the rental firm to find out how long the “hold” lasts after you return the car.

Make sure of the make and model you are ordering. In Asia and Europe there are many different models we’ve never heard of, usually much smaller than any car we’ve ever driven in the US.

Also, most rentals overseas are going to have stick shifts and not automatic transmissions, and air conditioning is not standard on most overseas rentals. Check all this out when you are making your reservations to get the car which is going to suit your needs.

And make sure you really want to drive in the country you’re visiting. Driving in third-world countries and even in some areas of Europe is like competing in the Long Beach Grand Prix.

Trivia note: The reason Japan has vehicles on the “wrong” side of the road is because the first cars imported to Japan were British models. To this day, they haven’t changed things.

OVERSEAS DELIVERY

     Volvo, Saab, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz and BMW all offer factory delivery of some of their new car models to overseas customers. This is a great opportunity to pick up a US-spec car right at the factory where it was built, and then tour Europe in your own new car.

       Very often the delivery includes putting the buyer up for a night or two at a hotel near the factory, some meals, a factory and museum tour and the shipment to the US of your car from several available European ports.

     To take advantage of all this, you need to be prepared to buy a new car. Laying out all the down payment money, getting the loan and doing everything else involved in getting a new car has to be planned for well before your trip. And obviously this doesn’t work with leasing!

     But for those who decide to try this tack, it’s a good deal, and it is true that the money saved on taking delivery at the factory can pay for a nice road trip throughout Europe. Information is available at the respective car-makers websites, which I’d recommend potential buyers investigate before talking to a local dealer.   

Remember that all the rules of getting an international permit, having the proper insurance and being aware of all the local laws apply for European delivery customers as it does for renters.

     Travel and cars --- they just go together!

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SATELLITE RADIO IS COMING!

SATELLITE RADIO ---

WE HAVE A WINNER!

Written March 2002 for Gannett's DESERT SUN newspaper

I’ve been testing new cars and trucks for over 25 years, from the days before anti-lock brakes and airbags to today, when there’s a new high-tech gimmick introduced every week. So it takes something special to get me excited about any new automotive plaything.

After a week in a 2002 Cadillac Deville equipped with an XM satellite radio receiver, I can say this: I would not now consider ordering a new car or truck without a satellite radio system. I have been duly impressed.

     Satellite radio has been in development for several years. Two companies, XM and Sirius, received the broadcast licenses, and the money was raised to put a total of five satellites (so far) into earth orbit. Both companies are stock-selling public corporations.

And now it is ready for the marketplace, and all of us.

XM radios can be ordered right now as optional equipment on a few GM cars and trucks, but that number will grow as the months go on. XM also has contracts with Honda and Toyota. The Sirius system will be available, starting this summer, as an option on all DaimlerChrysler vehicles (including Mercedes-Benz), the entire Ford family of cars and trucks (which these days also means Volvo, Land Rover, Jaguar, Mazda and Mitsubishi and more) and BMW and Porsche.

The price for the XM radio option our test Deville was $295. It’s a nice unit, incorporating the AM and FM bands with the XM into the standard Bose radio, which is a great stereo system to begin with.

Electronics retailers now sell aftermarket receivers which can be fit into your car or truck. Let the pros install it for you, because the proper wiring and placement of the antennae is critical. Prices start around $300.

There’s a monthly XM subscription charge of $9.95, and Sirius says they’ll be charging $12.95 a month. Trust me, if you’re into audio at all, you won’t mind paying the monthly fee. Only a few of the news/talk channels have any commercials, and none of the music channels run ads.

In another year or so you’ll be able to order from the carmakers and buy as aftermarket units receivers which pick up both XM and Sirius. And home units are just around the corner.

In a week of cruising between here and Los Angeles, up and down Highway 74, on the I-10 and the I-60, the only place I did not get a fantastic XM signal was, quite ironically, in the parking lot at KPSI radio when I was there to do my show Sunday morning! The Deville was parked under a carport made of corrugated sheetmetal and that seemed to block the satellite signal.

You tune the satellite radio just like a “regular” radio, except the display panel offers more information, such as the name of the song and the artist, and maybe something extra like the year it was recorded.

Want comedy? XM has three comedy channels. Rhythm and blues? About 5 channels. Rock music? Not only are there channels for each decade, starting with the ‘50s, but more specific channels for hard rock, soft rock, country rock --- you get the idea. And there’s a passel of country stations, everything from traditional banjo/fiddle bluegrass to the latest Nashville hits. Plenty of all types of jazz. “Frank’s Place” features Sinatra and friends 24 hours a day, and there are my favorites, a World Music channel, several reggae outlets and an African music channel. Opera, classical and gospel, too. Name it and they have it.

News/talk selections include everything from the BBC (“This is London!”) to ABC, CNN, USA Today, History, Discovery, Fox and all the rest. Even a NASCAR channel. (Sirius will feature Speed Channel, where I’ll have a daily national version of my Car Nut show).

Sound quality? Fantastic. Coverage area? About every square inch of the contiguous 48 states (except that KPSI parking lot!). Set the pre-sets (just once) and cruise from the desert to San Diego, or from LA to Miami Beach, and never hit a station re-set button.

As for local radio, we’ll still need to tune-in to get local news and weather and traffic. And the flavor which only local hosts can provide. Honestly, after the first five days using the XM, I was also listening to local outlets about as much as usual. I needed that local “fix”.

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SUMMERTIME TUNE-UP FOR YOU AND YOUR CAR

TUNE UP YOUR CAR (AND YOU!) FOR SUMMER!

Written March, 2002, for Gannett's DESERT MAGAZINE

     It’s been a year since I wrote a column about prepping your car or truck for the brutal summer months here in the Coachella Valley, home to Palm Springs and about 450,000 full-time resdients. A lot has changed since then. The name of this magazine for instance! The radio station I’m on locally (we’re on KPSI Sunday mornings --- shameless plug) and even the weather seems to have made a cosmic change.

      For instance --- what the heck happened to winter this year? As I write this piece the first week of March, we’ve had virtually no rain in the Valley and it doesn’t look as if this coming month is going to bring any downpour of biblical proportions.

     In a sense, this is good for all us vehicle owners. Our recent moderate winter means we can be a bit more at ease about the internal state of our sports cars, minivans and SUVs.

What’s truly treacherous for vehicles are rapid and big changes in temperature and humidity. These changes affect parts of your car we don’t normally think about (all the rubber belts and hoses, for instance). But with our very temperate conditions these past few months, and the lack of rain, we still to be on-guard for problems, but might find we’re replacing fewer parts than usual after a tougher winter.

But there are still several critical things we need to check before summer gets here in all its blazing glory.

First, your vehicle’s battery. I don’t care how long the warranty is on your battery or how long the guy at the store told you it would last. In the desert, cut that time in half. A mechanic at any big gas station, repair shop or dealership can test your battery with a special instrument in just a few minutes. If you need a new one, buy one, and do not cheap out on this purchase.

As mentioned, all rubber belts and hoses in the engine bay need to be checked by a technician. Rubber tends to rot from the inside out, so it’s difficult for a novice to tell if a hose is about to blow. If you’ve got more than 40,000 miles or three years or so on your vehicle’s belts and hoses and they’ve been through that many desert summers, do not cheap out on this test and replace (if necessary) either.

This next one is easy: Replace your air filter. Remember those winds we had the last week of February? How you woke up with sand in your teeth the next morning? Imagine what that same dirt and sand does to your vehicle’s air filter. You may not want to, but I like to replace the stock air filter element with a filter from a company called K&N. Their filters are easily removed and cleaned whenever you feel like doing it (like right after a wind or dust storm) and they’ll last the life of your car with regular cleaning.

Maintaining the air, oil and gasoline filters clean and like-new are the easiest ways to keep your modern car or truck in tip-top running condition, offering the best performance, mileage and lowest emissions.

We should all have our vehicles professionally cleaned and detailed, inside and out, once a year. This is the time of year to do just that. A moderately good detailing should cost about $50. If you want to just visit the local car wash, try to find one which uses rags, not brushes, and concentrates on handwork, not machines, to prep, clean and maintain the surface.

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GARAGES GROW UP --- Written 11-04

Garages Grow Up

     Written for Gannett's DESERT SUN newspaper

     As more Coachella Valley homes are being built to take up every square inch of property on a lot, it only stands to reason that some people are going to want a slightly larger garage than what many of us would consider “normal”.

     For many years, southern California, and the desert specifically, were considered the ideal places to store cars, exotic or not. Heck, they store entire airplanes out at Mojave Airport, so why not cars?

     But outdoor storage, even covered outdoor storage, for a car is one thing when the car might be worth $2000. Today, when a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air can sell for upwards of $100,000, outdoor storage is not going to do the trick.

     Today’s collector cars need to be cared for in climate-controlled, vault-like, humidity-monitored establishments, hardened sites not unlike those used to house ICBM missiles, fine wines and Cuban cigars, sometimes underground, with alarm systems rivaling those of any moderately-good art store on El Paseo.

     And while there are plenty of folks willing to spend that 100 grand on a 45 year old Chevy, those same people have the wherewithal to build a proper shrine in which to house their prized rolling stock.

     There was the fellow in Pasadena, Don Ricardo, who had been conductor of the NBC Radio Orchestra in the ‘30s and ‘40s. Don bought a beautiful house on the Arroyo with a small, three car garage well before World War II, and lived there until his death, just two years ago at over 90.

     Ricardo was also a master machinist (he worked at Cal Tech on the Manhattan Project which developed the atom bomb) and was a certified Car Nut. If one of his cars needed a part that wasn’t made anymore, he would make it himself.

Ricardo, unknown to his neighbors and the Pasadena City Fathers, kept expanding his garage until he was able to fit about 15 cars and all his metal-working equipment in it. Ricardo eventually was known as the premier collector of Mercedes-Benz cars in the United States. Without that great, secret garage he built into the hillside next to his home, he never would have kept the cars in his collection. And once he bought a car, he never sold it.

     Sometimes these private garages get a bit out of hand and become, well, private museums.

An acquaintance of mine in Beverly Hills, a fellow who actually owns a large swath of Beverly Hills’ business district, has a 3000 square foot garage in his backyard housing a car and “automobilia” collection (that’s what they call expensive car-related stuff) worth well over one million dollars. Auto insiders from around the world make the pilgrimage to his garage whenever they are in the LA area. They visit the house, too, but mostly the garage.

     TV celebs David Letterman and Jerry Seinfeld house their car collections in buildings near Santa Monica Airport. Seinfeld has one of the world’s greatest private collections of Porsches.

     Then there’s Jay Leno. When I first met Leno in the mid-‘80s, he and wife Mavis were living in a canyon home in the Hollywood Hills, and Leno’s collection of motorcycles were kept in an old barn-like garage on the property. It was not just any barn, though; it was spotless, and Leno did all the mechanical work on the bikes himself.

     As Leno prospered, he started acquiring some of the world’s most desirable collector cars. He then got the job hosting the Tonight Show and moved to an estate-like property in Beverly Hills. Leno figured it would be better to keep his now-large car and motorcycle collection away from the house, lest his snootier neighbors object to those midnight engine-tuning sessions.

     So Leno’s garage today is in an industrial park near Burbank Airport, no more than 10 minutes from his workplace at NBC Studios on Alameda Avenue in that same town. It’s several thousand square feet of cars, parts, posters, neon signs from dealerships, everything from his Stanley Steamer to his Stutz Bearcat to his super-rare Brough (pronounce: Bruff) and Vincent Black Shadow and Black Knight motorcycles.

     All of Leno’s machines run. And he still does a lot of the mechanical work himself.

     Then there’s Bob Pond, a Palm Springs local. Some say that Pond has as many as 200 cars on his property. His love of the vehicles and the size of the collection allows him to rotate many of the vehicles through his other passion, the Palm Springs Air Museum.

     And a couple of local businesses offering climate-controlled vehicle storage in unmarked office park buildings have found a large group of clients, especially among those wealthy who spend only a few months a year here in the Valley.

     Perhaps the ultimate garage is The Nethercutt Collection in Sylmar, in the San Fernando Valley. Owned by J. B. Nethercutt, nephew of cosmetics magnate Merle Norman and the man who still runs that company today, The Nethercutt has a Grand Salon modeled after a Packard dealership of the 1930s on New York’s Park Avenue. All glitter and Roman columns and reflective tile floors and mirrored walls and ceilings, the Grand Salon houses that rarest of Duesenbergs, called the “20 Grand”. The car is one of two built specifically for the Chicago World’s Fair, a car which was at the time valued at the outrageous and ungodly amount of --- $20,000!

     Nethercutt has several hundred cars in his collection, and has a staff of 20 fulltime employees who work on restoring and keeping-up all the autos. And JB himself still tries to drive each and every car at least one day a year.

     There’s a huge range of garages in a world where car prices have gone crazy. From private two-car suburban units to Grand Salons open to the public by appointment-only, the specialty garage is starting to catch on in the desert and will only grow in popularity.   

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WILL FUEL CELL VEHICLES SAVE OUR NATION? QUITE POSSIBLY! Written 11-04

WILL FUEL CELL VEHICLES SAVE OUR NATION? QUITE POSSIBLY!

Written November, 2004 for Gannett's DESERT SUN newspaper

     During your Coachella Valley wanderings, you’ve probably noticed a Sunliner bus with strange-looking tanks on the roof and a lot of white smoke coming out of its exhaust pipe. White smoke, not the usual thick black stuff.

     Those tanks hold hydrogen, the most plentiful element in the universe. When mixed with oxygen in something called a fuel cell, electricity is created. The electricity powers motors which move the bus. The white smoke? Steam. The giant vehicle’s only emissions.

     Fuel cell-powered vehicles are here. They’re being built, and they’ll be on-sale in various forms by 2004 (Nissan and DaimlerChrysler look to be among the first).

One especially kooky-looking concept car at the Detroit Auto Show earlier this month was built by General Motors and carried the moniker “Autonomy”.

     Autonomy, and the parts inside it, is going to be a big part of the world’s environmental and financial future.

     Imagine, depending on your mood or need, attaching an SUV body on the Autonomy platform. Or a two-seat convertible body. Or a minivan-like vehicle. How about a traditional Detroit sedan?

You get the idea. You buy one Autonomy platform and add various bodies which can be stored when not in use.

     The Autonomy platform is about 10 feet long, four feet wide and a foot thick. There’s a small electric motor at each of the four corners, where the wheels are mounted.

     But the really important news is what’s going on inside that platform. That’s where the fuel cells are.

More and more “hybrids” are on the road now, combining traditional gasoline engines with motors fueled by electricity stored in lead/acid batteries.

     But hybrids have their drawbacks. Most of the problems have to do with their batteries, 19^th century technology, the same basic system used to motivate Baker Electric Cars in 1911.

We have a hybrid car in our family fleet, purchased at a local dealership. While we are very happy with it, when fuel cell vehicles are available, we’ll be at the head of that line.

The all-electric vehicles currently available, like the GM EV1, have short driving ranges and need a long time to re-charge. And somewhere, the electricity to power those batteries is being made, creating pollution.

     Invented in Europe in 1839, it wasn’t until the 1950s that fuel cell research and development got into high gear. The motivation: NASA, and US government (our) money.

Knowing that humans would be going into space, needing a lot of electrical power, scientists were challenged to make fuel cells reliable.

     So it appears that flash-frozen pork, Velcro and Tang are not the only consumer products to come out of the space program.

     Fuel cells might drastically improve our lives, the world economy and our ecology. Most pleasing of all in these times, they can end our dependence on nations which hold us hostage to their oil supplies.

     Hydrogen and oxygen in, electricity out. A long as the fuels are available, the power will keep coming.

There’s already a fledgling hot rod industry for electric vehicles. A process called “stacking”, placing fuel cells one on top of another (much the same way a bunch of small computers can be combined into a single “super computer”) is being studied as a way to produce more horsepower. Pretty cool, huh?

Here’s another potentially very hip aspect of all fuel cell-powered vehicles: Instead of that heavy lump of metal called an internal combustion engine, electric motors can be placed near each wheel. And the entire fuel cell system can be molded into various shapes and sizes.

And already (as in the new Mercedes SL, in a limited way), mechanical and hydraulic systems necessary for steering, braking and acceleration can all be replaced by tiny motors, solenoids and activators. All this means shapes and sizes of vehicles heretofore not imagined!

Fuel cells? Two “thumbs up” from the Car Nut!

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