Steve Parker Motoring / The Car Nut

VW TELLS BEIJING: "FURTHER OPEN UP (YOUR) SOCIETY"

Volkswagen, the first foreign automaker to enter the Chinese market and a sponsor of the 2008 Beijing games, urged China's government on Thursday, April 24th, to "embrace the spirit of the Olympic Games". (Photo --- VW's Lavida sedan is the first "China-only" car made by Shanghai Volkswagen, and was debuted at the recent 2008 Beijing Auto Show).

Everyone around the world knows what a fantastic "success" the Beijing Olympic Torch Armored Stampede, uh, Run, has been, at least in those countries where a brutal, militaristic central government can offer the Torch Run the kind of, uh, "encouragement" desired by their like-minded buddies in Beijing. (Photos --- It was protesters versus police in San Francisco; a torch-bearer enjoys his moment in the San Francisco sun).

Places like San Francisco, a city which prides itself on offering "the run of the town" to just about anyone, provided the proper permits are paid and security arrangements made. Didn't anyone wonder why San Francisco was the Torch's only US stop? While we understand San Francisco's desire and need to host their Red Chinese guests in a safe and sane manner, the city nonetheless made itself look ridiculous by playing "Hide the Torch" for several hours, toying with the city's own citizens while "kissing up" to Beijing and their crack security teams guarding the Torch.

Surprisingly, but also happily, Volkswagen has become the first Beijing Games' sponsor to stand-up publicly to China's contributions to murderous, violent, cruel repression and political manipulations not only aimed at their own people, but also in Tibet, Nepal, Darfur and other nations. They did it in a way which, while it might seem timid and weak to the average American, nonetheless attempts to "gets the message across" to their Chinese business partners in an Asian, "face-saving" way.  (Photo --- The 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet has long been a flash-point between the nation which he was forced to escape, in disguise, in 1959, as China began to complete their dominance over the country, Tibet, which had been traditionally led politically and religiously by the Dalai Lama for hundreds, perhaps thousands of years).

Volkswagen is no innocent company. Born in the earliest days of what became WWII, Dr. Ferdinand Porsche sought-out and received a personal commission from Hitler to design and build the "People's Car", what was to eventually be called the Volkswagen. Porsche (the engineering firm Ferdinand founded and led) was involved as were other infamous firms of Nazi Germany, including Daimler-Benz and Bayer, in developing munitions, vehicles and many other war-related products. Today, Volkswagen, Porsche and Audi are all strongly inter-related (by both stock ownership and family) and all, including Daimler, have been involved in the payment of billions of dollars in war reparations to the war's victims and the State of Israel; these companies and many of their top executives and labor leaders, and the German government, have tried to make honest and appropriate amends following WWII, sometimes successfully, sometimes not so. (Photo --- Beijing traffic; the city now averages more than 10,000 new-car registrations per week, a number continuously on the rise).

So it is especially appropriate that the first Beijing Games' sponsor to openly criticize Beijing and try to  push the regime towards more openness should be one which had its own first-hand experience as a member of what was possibly the world's single-most deadly "government;" no one will ever be certain if China killed more people during their "Cultural Revolution" than were killed due to Germany's murderous aggression in WWII.

     As reported by Reuters, "The Olympics offer China and its people a unique opportunity not only to continue their economic development, but above all to further open up their society," Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn told shareholders at the VW annual meeting.
     "We hope and firmly believe that our Chinese partners will seize this unique opportunity."
     The CEO said Volkswagen had stressed this in talks with those responsible in China.
     The second-largest carmaker in China behind U.S. rival General Motors, Volkswagen decided in June 2004 to become a partner of the Beijing games and went so far as to dub the restructuring of its two Chinese joint ventures the "Olympic Programme."
     The Games have turned into a public relations disaster for China after violent crackdowns in Tibet provoked protests in the West and forced runners bearing the Olympic torch around the world to be protected by security forces. (End of Reuters story).

This is the interior of the VW Lavida, "Made in China, Only for China." Around the world, VW interiors are used as styling and quality benchmarks for other car-makers

Click below to read more about Volkswagen criticizing China using "soft diplomacy" and possibly cutting the amount of supplies purchased from Chinese companies!

BIG WILLIE TO BE FEATURED ON NBC-TV SHOW "WHIPNOTIC"

A group of General Motors officials and executives, hosting about a dozen automotive journalists from throughout the Western US, gathered recently in the painfully-hip Huntley Hotel in Santa Monica, CA, for a media introduction of the all-new Pontiac G8 and 2009 Pontiac Vibe. All were pleasantly surprised to find the legendary co-founder of the "National and International Brotherhood of Street Racers," "Big" Willie Robinson, in their midst. He was taking a meeting with a segment producer of the NBC-TV automotive show, Whipnotic. Robinson (on the right in the photo) and Whipnotic's Yon Motskin spoke for well over an hour, doing the necessary initial planning for a Whipnotic segment about Willie, his recently-departed wife of 38 years, Tomiko, the Brotherhood and the hoped-for re-opening of Brotherhood Raceway on Terminal Island in the Los Angeles Harbor area. (Photos by Steve Parker).

Whipnotic, the NBC-TV show, is now in its fourth month of brand-new episodes every week focusing on the Southern California automotive lifestyle each Saturday at 5pm. My guess is that the segment will show sometime in the next 3 to 6 weeks; as soon as we know the exact date, we'll announce it and have it available for viewing right here on this SteveParker.com website and it will also be on the Whipnotic.com website, too.

I have been a consultant to NBC-TV's Whipnotic show,  and also the Whipnotic.com website. We've been working closely with Fred Roggin and Kip Epps, the show's executive producers, on various aspects of the program, and also have been providing material for the Whipnotic.com website since well before the first week both the show and the website went "live" on NBC-TV and the Internet, in mid-January, 2008. We're happy and proud to have been able to have introduced the people behind-the-scenes at Whipnotic to Willie and the Brotherhood and to have some small part in making this segment on the show possible.

Here's the latest on the status of Brotherhood Raceway's re-opening: Land for the track on Terminal Island appears to be available; the concrete barriers, grandstands and other items which have been loaned in the past by the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach to Brotherhood Raceway are again available; Southern California weather is now dry and warm for the next several months, and members of both the LAPD and LA Sheriff's Department are making their support known of the track known publicly. Also, and most unfortunately, many injuries and deaths resulting from illegal street racing keep occurring throughout Southern California and throughout the nation, and gang-related crime including injuries and deaths of gang members and innocent civilians resulting from shootings and other violent crimes continue throughout the City of Los Angeles and the counties of Los Angeles, Ventura, Riverside, San Bernardino, Imperial, San Diego and Orange. The positive results throughout the entire community which came from Brotherhood Raceway's opening after the 1992 Los Angeles "Rodney King Riots" are well-known; many people in all levels of government in the area are saying that "the time is right" for Brotherhood to re-open.

Whipnotic is the first NBC-TV program produced in both English and Spanish. KNBC sportscaster Mario  Solis hosts the English-language version, seen every Saturday at 5pm on KNBC/TV4 Los Angeles, and repeated at 2am Sunday mornings. The program also airs on KNBC’s Digital Channel 4.4 (available on Time Warner Cable) at 8pm on Saturdays. Toni Romero hosts the Spanish-language version on Telemundo's KVEA/TV52 in Los Angeles, which runs each Sunday at 9:30am.

E-mail Big Willie by clicking anywhere on this line. We're doing our best to keep everyone up-to-date of the very latest news concerning Willie and the track's soon-to-come re-opening. Please direct any other Brotherhood members and/or others interested in Big Willie and the track to this SteveParker.com website. And be sure to let us know any related news by e-mailing us directly; just click anywhere on this line to do so. Thank you!

2009 CORVETTE ZR1: 638-HP, 205-MPH! YOWZAH!

"The 2009 Corvette ZR1 produces 638 horsepower." This is one of those stories which tear our automotive conscience and loyalties every which way but loose, to paraphrase the title of a really bad Clint Eastwood movie featuring him and a chimpanzee sharing cross-country driving duties in a big-rig truck. As we all know, all work and no play make Jack and Jill a boring couple. We don't have to preach to you, don't have to tell you about the price of gas, about the embarrassing lack of fuel-efficient cars and trucks made in America or how none of the Detroit Three seems really, truly committed, as yet, to providing high-mileage, low-emissions cars and trucks. And when Audi and BMW, Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz (see a "national" pattern here?) among others, begins selling new-generation turbo-diesel cars and trucks later this year in the US, Detroit will have even more egg on their face. Both Audi and Peugeot have been dominating world sports car endurance racing with 5-Liter, V12 turbo-diesel powerplants in their race cars. The Euro-diesels coming to a showroom near you this fall are fast, quiet, clean and smooth along with having the traditional diesel qualities of high-mileage and engines which, with regular maintenance, start to get "broken-in" at about 500,000 miles. And did we mention enough torque to pull not just a house trailer, but an entire house? (Artwork of ZR1 engine "ghost view" by David Kimble, the world's best).

The bright spot? Chevrolet sells about 35,000 Corvettes a year, almost an inconsequential  number in the American market, which will see about 15,000,000 new cars and trucks sold in 2008. Of those 35,000 'Vettes, about 10%, or 3,500, will be Z06 models. And there will be even fewer of the all-new ZR1 models produced and sold. Just as a reminder, the Z06 is available as a coupe-only and comes with a 505-hp 7.0-liter V8 and mandatory 6-speed manual transmission. It also has specific suspension tuning, tires, and brakes. The 2008 "427 Limited Edition," which is a Z06 with some extra safety and convenience fetaures, is priced at almost $84,000. This means the 2009 ZR1 will base-price for near or over $100,000.

So, all things considered, the ZR1 will be loud, frighteningly fast, have slot-car-like handling, get lousy mileage, produce more emissions than they have a right to make and Chevrolet will probably have to sell 100 Aveos to each ZR1 to keep Chevy legal when it comes to the division's CAFE corporate average fuel requirements) standards. But you know what? With fewer than 3,000 of them planned to be sold, we say: Go for it! At least some people are having some fun out there!

Here's how Chevy described all the excitement, with an occasional note from us here at SteveParker.com: When it was introduced at the Detroit Auto Show earlier this year, the 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1’s power was estimated at 100 horsepower for each of its 6.2 liters of displacement. GM Powertrain has completed SAE certification of the ZR1’s supercharged LS9 V-8 and the results exceed the estimate: 638 horsepower (476 kW) and 604 lb.-ft. of torque (819 Nm).

The LS9’s output is nearly 103 horses per liter, or just about 1.7 horses for each of the engine’s 376 cubic inches. It is unquestionably the most powerful automotive production engine ever manufactured by General Motors and enables the Corvette ZR1 to achieve a top speed of more than 200 mph (322 km/h). In fact, on a GM employee website, Chevy engineers reported the ZR1 achieved almost 205-mph at a company test track in Germany.

The Corvette ZR1 goes on sale this summer. Its 638-hp supercharged engine is complemented in the chassis by heavy-duty components not offered in any other model, including a six-speed manual transmission with race-hardened gears and dual-disc clutch technology that delivers exceptional clamping power and lower inertia, as well as strengthened axle components.

Fuel economy testing has not been completed, but engineers are confident the ZR1 will be the most fuel-efficient 600-plus-horsepower car on the market (and how many of those are there "on the market" anyway?).

The LS9 engine is hand-built by specially trained technicians at GM’s Performance Build Center in Wixom, Mich. It is a unique, small-volume engine production facility that also builds the Chevrolet Corvette Z06’s LS7 engine and other high-performance GM production engines.

The key enabler of the LS9’s performance is the industry’s first production application of a new, positive- displacement Roots-type supercharger that has a unique four-lobe rotor design. Its design promotes quieter and more efficient performance, while the large, 2.3-liter displacement ensures adequate air volume at high rpm. Maximum boost pressure is 10.5 psi (0.72 bar). It is teamed with an integrated charge cooling system that reduces inlet air temperature for maximum performance.

A raised hood provides adequate clearance for the LS9, while a polycarbonate window in the hood provides a view of the engine beneath it.

Click below to read more details about the 638-hp, 604-lb. ft. of torque, 205-mph 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1!

FORD'S FIRST QUARTER LOOKING UP WORLDWIDE; USA REMAINS IN THE RED

Good news from Ford! Well, the company is not yet making a single cent in the US, but worldwide the Blue Oval is doing well. Alan Mulally, the former-Boeing executive who is now running Ford and demanded (and got)  $20 million in cash deposited in his bank account before his first day of work, isn't able to yet demonstrate that Ford's American new-vehicle sales arm can recover from the phenomenal bashing they (and GM and Chrysler) have been through the past 37 years. The improving (for Ford and their stockholders) facts below (and haven't we been telling you to BUYBUYBUY Ford stock? It's easy to find ... it's stock ticker symbol is easy to remember: "F"). (Photo Above --- Ford is predicting 100,000 sales annually for their all-new Flex CUV; you might remember it as the "Fairlane" concept car).

While Ford has some great products which they've developed for (and are building in) many other countries around the world, the company's main method of saving money is going to be through worker attrition, voluntarily or otherwise. Fewer workers using fewer platforms to make more models with much-fewer option packages is the secret to Ford's stabilization in this, their long-time home market. And a Ford connection with Nissan/Renault is not out of the question, though Chrysler seems hellbent on partnering with Nissan before the "Ford question" officially arises. (Photo --- Ford's association with Carroll Shelby has served both parties very, very well; Shelby is seen here with their latest collaboration, the Mustang Shelby GT500KR).

FoMoCo US definitely has some sales winners, but even their popular cars and trucks have greatly suffered the past decade --- and more. Mustang has always been a bright spot, and remains so, but a car which sells "only" 50,000-or-so units a year might not be able to keep a place in the factory line-ups of the future. Ford sold 14,737 Mustangs in the first three months of 2007; this year, 2008, January through March sales were way down, to a total of 10,180. In fact, Mustang sales alone for January through March of last year were almost exactly the same as the total number of all Lincoln-Mercury vehicles so far this year.  But there's some nice news, too, when a week after its 44th anniversary on April 17th, Mustang production (not sales, yet) reached nine million units. That Mustang GT Convertible went to a dealership in Iowa, and we predict that car will be seen this coming January on some TV cable network's coverage of auto auctions. As Ford's longest running nameplate, the Mustang sold over 22,000 units on its first day and more than one million sold in the first two years. Those of you of a "certain age" will remember, as we do, that the Mustang was introduced at the 1964 New York World's Fair Ford Pavilion.

Automotive News also reports that Ford Motor Co. will spend more than $100 million to market the revamped 2009 F-150 pickup, the single best-selling vehicle in the US for more over 50 years. A Ford official told AN that the model-year launch budget is in the same ballpark as the spending allocated when the automaker introduced the current F-150 in 2003. When that redesigned 2004 model went on sale, Ford said they planned to spend more than $100 million on what they called the "biggest launch campaign in Ford's history". The same kind of emphasis is being planned for the re-engineered and restyled 2009 F-150, which goes on sale this fall. Ford's Focus is doing better than last year at this time; Fusion's numbers are tied with last year's, as are the Taurus/500's numbers. Ford's critical Edge started-out strong, but sales have either dropped or remain near-steady each month since mid-2007.

Now, that news which may portend further success for Ford in the US (paraphrasing from Automotive News):

Ford Motor Co. surprised Wall Street today with a first quarter earnings report full of black ink -- saying it posted net income of $100 million on total revenue of $43.5 billion. That's compared with a net loss of $282 million on revenue of $43.0 billion during the same period a year ago.

Ford stock skyrocketed on the news -- closing the day up 88 cents, or 11.7 percent, to $8.40 a share.

Click below to read more about Ford's positive overseas sales numbers and their ongoing attempts to close-the-gap in the USA ... and what they can expect!

INDIANA AUTOMOTIVE SUPPLIER PLANT CLOSES; 138 MORE LOST USA JOBS

More skilled American auto industry jobs are gone. The three major presidential candidates are campaigning in Indiana, leading-up to that state's Democratic and Republican primaries, both slated for May 6, 2008, just two weeks from now. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have both called-for an end to tax deductions for any company which has "off-shored" what used to be US jobs. John McCain, though, using a shuttered factory yesterday as a backdrop for a "media event", promised to "retrain" workers who had lost their jobs due to off-shoring and plant closings while opining that the lost jobs would probably never return to the US. McCain's "event," which had to be one of the worst-planned and "advanced" of any of the campaigns, at least so far, was tantamount to Hillary Clinton holding a press conference on the lawn of AT&T's corporate headquarters and thnaking "her good friends" in the company, or Barack Obama planning a $10,000-a-plate fundraiser in the parking lot of the drug industry's Washington, DC, lobbying offices. Unfortunately for everyone involved, there was more bad news brewing in Indiana just today. (Photo Above --- "Closed" sign at a Buick plant in Flint, MI).

To paraphrase from the auto industry's weekly newspaper, Automotive News, we learn that:

Citation Corp. will idle its aluminum-molding plant in Butler, Indiana, by the end of July, the company said  today. Citation manufactures cast, machined and assembled components for the automotive, heavy-truck and industrial markets. Operations at the plant, including production and equipment, will be shipped to factories owned by Diversified Machine Inc. in Bristol, Ind., and Milwaukee.

"We continue to focus our strategy on opportunities that enable us to meet our long-term business objectives," Citation CEO Doug Grimm said in a statement. " Divesting a noncore business is a logical step in that process and will ensure Citation remains a strong, viable company." (The guy delivering this terrible news is named "Doug Grimm"; now is that some gallows humor or what?) (Photo --- Non-union worker at a bright, clean automotive plant in America; she is helping build Mercedes-Benz vehicles in Alabama).

Interestingly, this website has learned that Grimm joined Citation Corporation very recently, in January 2008, as Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors following various senior management positions in the automotive sector. Previously, Grimm had executive positions at Visteon, where he led that company's $4 billion business relationship with Ford globally, including Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo. And we know what just happened to Jaguar and Land Rover ... They are both now owned by an Indian automotive company called Tata. Grimm also had top positions at Metaldyne, Dana and Chrysler. Grimm certainly has had varied experience in dealing with once-great American manufacturing companies with severe financial problems, and we won't even try to address the possible "chicken and egg" possibilities.

Cutting the 138-person work force will begin next month. The company has not released any information regarding severance packages. Citation Corp., of suburban Detroit, ranked No. 85 on the Automotive News list of the top suppliers to North America, with sales totaling $527 million for the 2006 fiscal year. (end of AN story paraphrasing).

Get that? OVER HALF A BILLION DOLLARS IN 2006 SALES for an American company which employs just 138 people ... And the place is so poorly run by its management that they can't even keep their doors open? Or, the company's owners/stockholders are not satisfied with their earnings and have decided to off-shore the company's jobs to a country where unskilled labor making a few bucks an hour can turn-out shoddy products.

The US auto industry, which came off a 70-year-long bender of worldwide domination beginning in the  1970s, has still not turned-around their industry in a way meaningful enough to keep traditional high-paying American jobs in this country. Now THAT'S something which all the candidates had better address this year, and in a big, realistic and meaningful way.

EARTH DAY! PRESIDENT BUSH LOOKS "GREEN AND MEAN" BEFORE HE'S ESCORTED OUT OF TOWN

US President George W. Bush is eager to appear busy as he marks time until the next president is sworn-in this coming January (and it can't come soon enough, for me or our nation). He has recently included meeting the Pope, appearing on NBC-TV's "DEAL OR NO DEAL" and planning the coming US attack on Iran into his "busy work". On a day when the Democratic candidates fought the latest round of their true Heavyweight Championship, John McCain defended NAFTA to a town-hall-style meeting at Youngstown (Ohio) State University full of union workers that, "Last time I checked, NAFTA was a five-letter word, not four," and was ridiculed by the crowd for doing so, the White House decided to roll-out new Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards (those much talked-about CAFE standards) while, basically, no one was listening. But these new numbers, while tougher than the Detroit Three would like them to be, nevertheless were a little bit stronger than some expected. But, hey! It's Earth Day! (Photo Above --- Well, just write your own caption!)

As reported by McPaper (aka USA TODAY), cars and light trucks would have to be 25% more fuel efficient by 2015 under a proposed rule announced April 22nd, by the Transportation Department. Under the proposal, automakers would have to speed up the timetable for achieving an average fuel-efficiency standard of 35 miles per gallon by 2020. Today's car and truck fleets average about 25 mpg.

The proposal would require each automaker's car fleet to achieve an average of 35.7 mpg by the  2015 model year. Light trucks, which include pickups, SUVs and minivans, would have to meet a 28.6 mpg average by 2015. (Photo Below --- Wonder what the MPG is of the all-new Popemobile? This snazzy new model, with Benedict XVI on his glass-enclosed throne, uh, seat, appears to be built on a Mercedes-Benz M-type or G-type chassis.)

The federal proposal is tougher than the fuel-economy requirements passed by Congress last year, which called for a 3.3% annual increase in gas mileage. The federal plan calls for a 4.5% annual increase from 2011 to 2015. If those increases are achieved, Transportation Department officials said automakers would need to increase fuel economy by only about 2.1% a year from 2016 to 2020.

The CEO of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the lobbying arm of the auto industry, said, "Automakers are prepared to meet that challenge."

In the interest of full disclosure, and your own edification, Alliance members include: BMW Group, Chrysler, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, USA, Mitsubishi Motors, Porsche, Toyota, and Volkswagen of America, Inc.

To us, the Alliance's positive comment about the proposed new standards is a major red light. Whenever the lobbying arm of this nation's auto industry (including Germany's Porsche) agrees so fully and so publicly with any government standards ... fuel types, safety, emissions, mpg, whatever ... Then those standards deserve a long, hard look by all sides involved. Our 35+ years of experience covering the auto industry tells us that only when all sides involved are upset with new or proposed standards that they might possibly be good for everyone involved ... including this country and all its citizens. Right now, with the White House trying to look "tough on the car-makers," it only looks laughable. These proposed standards are still nowhere near where they should be, not even what the car-makers could achieve practically tomorrow with just a few simple re-settings of the CPUs in every car and truck built after 1974 (a lot of vehicles could get these updates by a quick trip to their local factory service center, putting the vehicle online with the factory computers, and having the engines re-set for better mileage and even cleaner emissions in a few micro-seconds).

(Photo Below --- Fuel conservation made history this past week. Danica Patrick became the first woman to win an open-wheel Indycar race, her victory coming April 20th, 2008, in the "Honda 300" at the Twin Ring Motegi race track in Japan. Patrick's win came about through her judicious use of fuel conservation "tricks", including one as simple as slowing her racing speed while her competitors all needed to make a pit stop with only about 10 laps to go to fill their need for fuel; Patrick and her pit crew stayed in-communication via two-way radio all through the race, and her crew chief outsmarted all the competition when it came to being forced to make fuel stops during the race.)

Click below to read more about these new "proposed" White House goals for improving your vehicle's "miles per gallon" and how they might affect us all.

SHE'S THE MAN! DANICA PATRICK WINS "HONDA 300" AT TWIN RING MOTEGI, JAPAN

To paraphrase Richard Nixon, "They won't have Danica Patrick to kick around anymore". And in a nation where women are traditionally held in much lower esteem than men, perhaps a few more women throughout Japan won't have to ask their dads or husbands or oniichan ("cute older brother") for the keys to the car anymore ... Now that Danica Patrick has become the first woman to win an Indycar race, and she did it in Japan. (Be sure to check our left-hand margin for an all-new Photo Album featuring Danica Patrick's historic win at Motegi, or simply click anywhere on this line!)

And, oh yeah ... America's best open-wheel racers will once again be competing in a single series after this weekend, with Motegi the last IRL-only event and Long Beach's street race the final Champ Car event of all time. So, racing history is being made in more than one way this weekend ... And as we watch it all transpire, live and in HD. What a country! (Photos --- Danica Patrick in Victory Circle at Motegi, Japan, and greeting the media following the race).

She's become the first woman to ever win a major open-wheel series racing event, claiming the checkered flag at Twin Ring Motegi, a 1.5-mile D-shaped oval about 70 miles north of Tokyo in a mountainous area of Honshu, Japan's main island. (Photos --- Danica Patrick at speed on the track at Motegi, Japan, and greeting the media following the race).

Patrick ran at a slow, measured pace after taking on the last 22-gallons of fuel in her #7 Andretti Green Racing team car, a Dallara chassis powered by a 650-horsepower Honda engine and shod with Firestone tires. Taking direction from her pit crew, she saved enough fuel to still be running at a fast pace at lap #200, the final lap of the event. (Photo below --- Perhaps some future Danicas arrive at the track).

After the race, Patrick mentioned several times to various microphones that winning "wasn't hard", that it didn't feel any different from running her "regular" race, if the word regular can be used to describe a sport which consists of driving around a race track at nearly 200 miles an hour with competitors of varying degrees of skill. She seemed somewhat surprised by the relative normalcy of it all. Apparently she didn't have to "dig deep" as Indycar announcer Scott Goodyear opined after the race; Patrick learned that she was fine, but that a complete, very serious team effort is what brings a win. (Photo below --- Danica's hand-in-hand work with her pit crew brought her the first victory ever by a woman in a major US-based open-wheel race series).

And her win meant a lot to Michael Andretti, co-owner, with Barry Green, of a four race car team at Motegi  including Patrick. Another team member, Andretti's son, Marco, went into the wall seconds after the green flag dropped and the cars were building-up to high speeds. He probably correctly blamed his maneuver on the relatively cold ambient temperature, about 59 degrees F. As soon as the 650-horsepower Honda engine began putting much of its power to the car's rear wheels, the tires spun and Andretti, who just turned 21, was into the wall, happily with no injuries, other than to the car, which kept him from continuing in the event. This is why Formula 1 race cars use electric tire-warming blankets; to keep the tires at a warm, usable and consistent temperature.

EV = LAWSUIT; TESLA SUES HENRIK FISKER

Ready for an "Only in California" quote? Try this on for size: “I think it’s ironic that Fisker chose to name his car the Karma, when what he’s done is very bad karma,” said Adam C. Belsky, a lawyer at Gross, Belsky & Alonso who represents Tesla. (End of quote) Now, where else would a lawyer representing a car-maker make a bad joke about the word "karma"? (Photos --- Above, Concept drawing of Fisker's "Karma", Below, Tesla's "Roadster").

So, here we go! Here come the lawsuits! It wasn't enough for Tesla to spend the past two years embarrassing themselves in the world's media ... Nope, now they start with the lawsuits. Promising too much, too soon wasn't in these guys' minds ... With all their Silicon Valley billions, they have little real concern for the "rest of us". No, they need to feel important, need to feel they are doing something for humanity. Well, they're wasting a lot of time and money in doing so ... If that's what they are trying to do.

And who are they suing? Henrik Fisker, he with the (some say) solid-gold Aston-Martin/BMW-design pedigree, and whom Tesla apparently hired, and quietly so, sometime last year. Now Tesla is saying that Fisker's Karma show car, seen at auto shows over the past year, and which has gotten tons of media attention, rips-off hybrid technologies which he, Fisker, only learned about from his paid association with Tesla. And that his Karma sedan is nothing more than the (code-named) "White Star" which Tesla told the media they were planning on building in an all-new facility somewhere in ... New Mexico. Tesla says their made-by-Lotus "Roadster" all-electric sporty car is now in production, even with a pasted-together transmission which is able to make use of about 50% of the power developed by the car's electric motors, and with that car out of the way, they now want to get-to-work on their White Star all-EV sedan, somewhere (we guess) in New Mexico. Now, everyone knows that New Mexico is a hotbed of All-American born-and-bred automotive technology, with numerous parts suppliers just off I-10, I-40 and I-25. And don't forget about the state's universities, full of professors with voluminous industry experience and packed with students of all sorts desperate to learn the latest of American car technology. Not. And Tesla says Fisker sold-out for under $1 million. Here's some of the NEW YORK TIMES story about the latest Tesla happenings (and now aren't you really glad you didn't lay-down $100,000, the "100% deposit" required of the Roadster's buyers?):

Tesla Motors, the Silicon Valley maker of electric sports cars, filed suit in San Mateo Superior Court on Monday against a competing company and two of its employees, saying they stole some of Tesla’s design ideas and trade secrets. (Photos --- Below, Fisker's Karma at the Detroit Auto Show, Bottom, California Governor Schwarzenegger met with Tesla officials and rode in the car almost two years ago, garnering the company free, positive media throughout the world).

Tesla, which has generated much interest among fans of cars and technology, recently started shipping a  two-seat electric sports car in limited quantities. Last year it hired Henrik Fisker, a Danish-born designer who is known for his work on high-end exotic sports cars, to do the body design for a four-seat sedan, code-named White Star.

The Tesla lawsuit contends that Fisker and his chief operating officer, Bernhard Koehler, doing business under the name Fisker Coachbuild, fraudulently agreed to take on Tesla’s $875,000 design contract to gain access to confidential design information and trade secrets, then announced a competing vehicle. Last fall Mr. Fisker founded Fisker Automotive, which is backed by the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

The quarrel sheds a light on the insular world of the Valley’s investors in environmentally friendly technologies.Sergei Brin and Larry Page, whose Google search engine was originally backed by Kleiner Perkins, were both early Tesla investors.

Both the planned Tesla sedan and Fisker’s recently announced Karma are meant to be hybrid cars using a small gas engine to power a generator that charges a battery, which in turn powers an electric motor. The design, known as a serial hybrid, is thought to greatly extend the range and efficiency of hybrid vehicles.

The Tesla lawsuit states that before doing the design work for Tesla, Mr. Fisker had no experience with hybrid technology. It says that he did substandard work for Tesla, essentially sabotaging it, and then used the revenue from the design contract to develop his company’s car.

“I think it’s ironic that Fisker chose to name his car the Karma, when what he’s done is very bad karma,” said Adam C. Belsky, a lawyer at Gross, Belsky & Alonso who represents Tesla.

Calls to Fisker Automotive were not returned. A person answering the phone at Finck & Dadras, the San Francisco law firm representing Fisker Coachbuild, said it was the firm’s policy not to comment on litigation.

Click below to continue reading and for more photos.

MV AGUSTA AND CITROËN ITALIA PRESENT THE NEW C2 1587 BRUTALE

In our "Everything Motorcycle" section, we wrote a few weeks ago about a new offering from MV Agusta, their Brutale 910 ... Now Citroen and Agusta have decided to embark on some pretty cool "cooperation". Everyone knows about the rugged and good-looking Ford F-series and Harley-Davidson "special editions" ... It was a smart match for America, a marriage made in marketing heaven. It appears that even with full-size pickup sales sliding because of the economy (including everything wrong with it right now, from the housing downturn to the price of gas), Ford and Harley are both intent on keeping their association together. By the way, if anyone can remember another marketing plan which matched a pickup (or any other vehicle, car or truck) with a motorcycle, please let us know! This "Harley/Ford" hook-up is just the sort of thing which smart car-makers and motorcycle-making outfits can do which can help perhaps, if only just a bit, prove to bring an increase in sales of either a car, truck and/or bike ... And that's good for everyone involved, from the people on the assembly lines making the four- and two-wheel vehicles to the folks in the showroom trying to make a living selling dreams at a time when it's become a pretty expensive proposition. Here's the latest from Europe (with all those fun little phrases and misspellings which, well, I enjoy .... and maybe you do, too):

MV AGUSTA AND CITROËN ITALIA PRESENT THE NEW C2 1587 BRUTALE

At the 6th edition of the My Special Car fair in Rimini (Italy), MV Agusta and Citroën Italia will present the  new C2 1587 Brutale, a show car destined to attract the attention of the qualified public at one of the most important Tuning Trade Fairs, where nothing is standard.

What made this synergy possible is the attention to detail that both brands reserve for their products, a guarantee of quality and reliability.

The car gets its name from the best selling naked bike produced by MV Agusta and inherits the sporty Pearl White/Black colour scheme.

The colour scheme of the concept car has been carefully studied directly by the MV Agusta Style Centre and replicates that of the Brutale 1078RR, possibly the highest performing naked on the market.

The interior underlines the sporty character of the show car; perforated alcantara seats, black leather detail trim with red stitching, Brutale logo on the seats and steering wheel in black alcantara with red stitching. The dashboard and foot plate are carbon fibre effect and complete the aggressive racing-style interior of the C2 1587 BRUTALE.

The C2 1587 BRUTALE is based on the top of the range C2, the VTS, featuring a 1.6 16 valve engine with 125 hp. The racing character is underlined by the Supersprint twin exhaust that gives this sporty car a racing sound that blends-in with its aggressive character.

Citroen
Paris, France

NISSAN MOVES TITAN BUILD TO CHRYSLER MEXICAN PLANT; CHRYSLER TO SELL NISSAN-MADE SMALL CAR

It's both a rare admission by a Japanese "captive import" and a powerful indication of the poor state of the American economy and the American dollar: Nissan announced today that it no longer makes financial sense to single-handedly build a full-size pickup in the current US marketplace, and starting in 2011, they will end production in Canton, Mississippi, of their Titan pickup, and partner with Chrysler, which will build the next-generation Titan at their plant in Saltillo, Mexico. (Photos --- Above, 2007 Nissan Titan, Below, Tata's Nano, being driven by Mr. Tata himself at the car's introduction at the recent Delhi Auto Show in India).

In turn, Nissan will manufacture an all-new, fuel-efficient small car based on a Chrysler concept and design. This model will be sold in North America, Europe and other global markets in 2010 and manufactured at Nissan's Oppama Plant in Japan. Analysts, including this one, think the new small car may be, in part, an answer to the Nano, which just debuted in India, built by that nation's Tata Corporation, which just purchased Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford. Tata is selling the Nano to dealers for about $2,500, so all the website chatter and noise these past few weeks about a "$2,500 car from India" was incorrect; $2,500 is the approximate wholesale cost to dealers, the customers will pay about $3,000 or more, depending on how large the demand is for the cars (and it's expected to be massive) and how much Tata dealers are allowed to add to the "factory sticker price". One thing we know for sure: The new car, designed by Chrysler and built in Japan by Nissan, will not be selling for anywhere near $3,000 in the US.

For several years, Chrysler has been making efforts to produce a "third-world car" similar to the Nano, based on using just a few large plastic pieces which could be bonded together to provide both the car's platform and chassis. However much input Chrysler will have into this all-new Nissan-built vehicle remains to be seen. Nissan recently committed to building a small car for Chrysler based on the Nissan Versa sedan platform, but only, at this time, for "limited distribution" in South American beginning in 2009. (Photos --- 2004 Nissan Titan loaded for bear; Nissan Armada, full-size SUV variant of the Titan).

Nissan also said the production of their massive Armada SUV, which is based on the Titan, will not be affected by this decision to move Titan production, though that is difficult to accept. Nissan also builds their big-selling Altima in Canton, called by industry observers a "radical new assembly plant" ... And it was expensive, costing the #2 Japanese car-maker over $1 billion. The company also said recently that it would discontinue building their seemingly ill-fated Quest minivan and super-deluxe Infiniti QX56 (Infiniti's version of the Armada) in Canton, and begin building light commercial trucks there instead.

Nissan was the first Japanese company to attempt building a full-size pickup in and for America, but  its being available only with a 5.6 Liter V8 and only in King Cab or Crew Cab configurations sealed its fate early on. Nissan had hoped to sell 100,000 Titans annually when they started selling the truck in 2003, and reviews of the truck were generally quite favorable. We know we liked it, and its Armada variant, too. But that big V8 was a massive guzzler, and smacked more of the 1980s than the 21st century. The company struggled, though, to sell just 60,000 a year, and new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) ratings for trucks, in a market which was 2.5-million trucks in 2003 but has shrunk to 2.1-million forced Nissan's hand with their big, powerful --- and pricey --- Titan.

DESIGNERS OF 1970 PLYMOUTH BARRACUDA AND 1967 NSU Ro80, FIRST PRODUCTION SEDAN WITH A WANKEL ROTARY ENGINE, PASS ON

Please check our HALL OF FAME (or click on the highlighted text to the left) section for the life stories of two important automotive designers who recently passed. John Herlitz, 65, was the designer of, among many other well-known Chrysler/Plymouth/Dodge cars and concepts, the 1970 Plymouth Barracuda. Also, the designer of the first production sedan to ever be sold with a Wankel rotary engine, Claus Luthe, died at age 75. The NSU Ro80 broke many engineering barriers; General Motors tried for several years to develop their own Wankel rotary, but could not overcome problems with engine reliability, among other things we write about in Luthe's obituary. (Photo --- 1970 Plymouth Superbird; the Pontiac GTO Judge was GM's "answer" to the Superbird, which started life as a Road Runner with an extended nose ... But the changes to the RR didn't end there).

FORD PLANS FLEX TO SELL 100,000 FIRST YEAR; FORD OF CHINA INTRODUCES NEW RACE CAR FOR CCC SERIES

Let's take a bit of a "time-out" from the (some say) imminent failure of corporate America to be able to keep even the Detroit Three in business, and look at some good news for a change! Ford introduced their all-new Flex as the Fairlane concept in 2005 ... And to be honest, we were not big fans of it at first. Gone from the production Flex are the concept's suicide doors, and the interior's instrument panel has, of necessity, been "calmed-down" quite a bit. It will have the Sync system standard, that new-fangled system which coordinates your no-hands phones (remember, this July 1st it's the LAW in California, cell phone users!), MP3 players and almost anything else which goes "beep!" every once in awhile, for no particular reason. Ford says the Sync system has done its job in bringing to Ford showrooms first-time buyers, current import-owners and, in general, a much younger crowd than you might expect to find hanging-around in the local Ford store. (Photos --- Above, Ford's betting that their 2009 Flex CUV will come out the chute selling 100,000 units in its first year, Center, Ford's 2005 Fairlane concept which begot the Flex, Below, The real thing from Ford, the production Flex).

More good Ford news ... Most people know that China, with its one billion people, is the focus of almost every major player in the world car-producing market. And India is next on the list. But we're here to bear witness to the fact that motor racing is alive-and-well in China, and Ford's Focus race car is being campaigned in the "CCC series" for 2008; Ford won the series in 2007. And while we're telling you about China, we ought to mention that China should take it's filthy hands off Tibet, honor and respect the Dalai Lama and hold meetings with him, and generally --- China needs to just back-off! Okay, got that out of our system ...Now onto Ford planning to sell 100,000 Flex crossovers in its first sales year.

Ford Motor Co. is looking to sell 100,000 units annually of the new Ford Flex crossover. The 100,000 threshold " absolutely" is possible for the 2009 Flex, said Jim Farley, Ford group vice president of marketing and communications. "That's what we're looking at production wise," Farley told reporters at a Las Vegas media event.

Click below to read more of the story and see more photos!

TOYOTA'S 2011 SPORTS CAR WILL HAVE SUBARU ENGINE

Get ready --- An all-new Toyota sports car will hit the US and the rest of the world in 2011, and it will have a Subaru "boxer" engine.

Was it really a dozen years ago, 1986, that Toyota last offered a "real" front-engine, rear-drive sports car? Yes, it was, and I was one of about ten US journalists in Japan in 1985 who drove one of those first Supras on a race track owned by Yamaha in central Japan. The Supra, until that time, had been known as the "Celica Supra", but, given its own name to stand it well-apart from the sporty-yet-family-like "Celica" line, Supra became something of an instant classic. These days, an original Supra in good shape is one of the very few "collectible" Japanese cars from the modern era. (Photos --- Above, Toyota's FT-HS hybrid-powered concept shown at the most-recent Tokyo Motor Show might contain much of the same design cues which we'll find on the just-announced 2011 sports car, Below, Subaru's all-new Impreza WRX-STi was displayed at that same Tokyo show; Fuji Heavy Industries makes the Subaru brand).

To make the new sports car's development possible, Toyota is doubling its ownership stake in Fuji Heavy Industries (parent of Subaru). Fuji will also give up its development of the small, under-660cc "k-cars", which carry favorable tax incentives in Japan, relying on another Toyota partner, Daihatsu, to design and produce those popular small vehicles.

Daihatsu is one of the few Asian makes which did not succeed in the US. It wasn't, however, because of the quality of the cars; rather it was their pricing, which was quite a bit higher than any of the competition at the time. One of my favorite memories of being in Japan was being taken on a tour of a Daihatsu assembly plant in Osaka with a small group of motoring journalists. On the line in front of us we watched as three very different vehicles were being assembled, including two vehicles bound for Europe and one of the Japanese home market. As we watched in some open-mouthed amazement as each robot and each worker appeared to be putting each piece on at the right place at the right time. The fellow standing next to me, editor of a large Detroit-based auto industry publication which name you'd recognize instantly (and not one of the Crain magazines), muttered to no one in particular, but loud enough so we could all hear, "They can't be doing this. This (assembling such very different cars, vans and wagons on the same line) can not be done". I don't know if he thought the gathered Toyota executives were staging a very expensive charade for us all, not that I would not put that beyond them, but, yes, it was being done. But it was being done in Osaka, not Detroit. (Photo --- Daihatsu HSC concept at the October, 2007 Tokyo Motor Show; Daihatsu is taking-over under-660cc car design and production duties from Fuji Heavy, according to this Japanese new mega-deal).

By the way, "Charade" was the name of one of the cars Daihatsu tried to sell in the US during that somewhat abortive attempt in the late-'80s. When I asked one of the company's vice-presidents (a very Japanese fellow who wanted to be called, and I am not kidding, "Elvis") why they choose a name for a car which could easily be taken to mean a "farce" or a "mirage" (no, wait, that's a Mitsubishi), he said to me, in English, in a way which made me feel that he was proud of what he was about to say, "Our president is a very big Audrey Hepburn fan!" Oh, okay. I get it. The movie named "Charade", with Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant! Good movie, good car, as it turned out, too. But a loser in the US. (Photo --- Lexus exhibited the latest version of their "LF-A" supercar at the Tokyo show, the much talked-about NSX-fighter; Will the Toyota/Subaru 2011 sports car look more like this than the Toyota concept seen above?).

Toyota's long-anticipated sports car will arrive in 2011. It will be jointly developed with Subaru and boast a boxer engine. The compact, rear-wheel-drive " affordable" car will be built at a new Japanese plant to be set up by Fuji Heavy Industries, parent of the Subaru brand. Each company will market the car separately and badge it as its own. The model is part of a sweeping expansion of the tie-up between the Japanese companies.

Click below to read more and for more photos!

FIA SETS VOTING DATE ON "L'AFFAIRE MOSLEY"; JUST IN: AAA, ACCUS STATEMENTS

Our requests for statements on the FIA/Max Mosley scandal have been answered by both the American Automobile Association (AAA) and the Automobile Competition Committee for the United States (ACCUS). Both are "member clubs" of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, the FIA, which was founded in 1904. While the FIA is perhaps best known as the governing body of Formula One, it describes itself thusly: "The FIA is a non-profit making association which brings together 222 national motoring organisations from 130 countries on five continents. Its member clubs represent over 100 million motorists and their families. This is a powerful mandate which the FIA is proud to defend. On issues such as safety, mobility, the environment and consumer law the FIA actively promotes the interests of motorists at the United Nations, within the European Union and other international bodies." (Photos --- Above, The FIA sanctions the World Touring Car Championship, sometimes called "the NASCAR of Europe", Below, FIA's "Jewel in the Crown" is the Formula 1 World Championship series).

The FIA has set a date for a meeting open to all member clubs and other members of the organization, in which the membership will decide what actions, if any, will be taken resulting from the expose' of FIA President Max Mosley's "relationship" with five prostitutes while engaged in Nazi-themed sadomasochism. Here is the complete announcement from the FIA, dated April 9th, 2008:

"Senate Decision
09.04.2008    
   
The FIA can confirm that the members of the Senate have unanimously approved the proposal of the President of the FIA, that further to the recent press coverage relating to his private life, an Extraordinary General Assembly should be convened.

The meeting will be held on June 3, 2008, in Paris. The General Assembly will include a vote of confidence by secret ballot." (Photo --- FIA also sanctions the World Rally Championship).

"Extraordinary General Assembly"? Maybe it loses something in the French-to-English translation, but the name reminds me of the old John Belushi movie, "Animal House," and the scene when the university president threatened Belushi's fraternity with "Double Secret Probation".

Anyway, this announcement, issued under the FIA's official letterhead and on their website, seems to say that the FIA, as a body, has already made a tacit, but important, decision and distinction, by referring to "recent press coverage referring to his (Mosley's) private life". As a statement in and of itself, this seems to say that Mosley's actions, which, by the way, he has not in any way denied, bears no relationship to his public and professional actions or responsibilities. Perhaps some in the FIA will see fit to change this wording in the announcement.

Statement from the American Automobile Association:

"Recent events involving the leadership of the FIA have been very distressing and embarrassing. While this matter may be viewed as private by some, the damage to the image of FIA and its constituents is clearly public. For an organization--and its leader--to exercise the moral authority required to represent millions of motorists and sanction the activities of motorsport they must uphold the highest standards of ethical behavior. AAA recognizes that Mr. Mosley has dedicated many years of his life to advancing the interests of mobility and motorsport. However, after careful consideration, AAA has conveyed to Mr. Mosley that it would be in the best interest of all concerned if he were to step down."

The Automobile Competition Committee for the United States, ACCUS, was founded in 1959 and is headquartered in the Denver, CO area. They describe themselves in this way: "The Automobile Competition Committee of the United States (ACCUS) is the National Sporting Authority (ASN) of the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) for the United States.
ACCUS is comprised of the eight major motorsports sanctioning organizations (known at the FIA as "member clubs"): Champ Car, Grand Am, IMSA, Indy Racing League, NASCAR, NHRA, SCCA and USAC, each nominating two directors to its Board. Additionally, a number of independent directors are elected annually. The World Karting Association (WKA) is an associate member."

Here is the statement provided us by ACCUS:

"The FIA has called an Extraordinary General Assembly for June 3 in Paris.  At that time, both the mobility/touring and sports clubs (some 200+ in all) will hear the evidence, cast their votes and render a decision. While many would like to address this earlier, the FIA Statutes govern the notice period."

We appreciate AAA and ACCUS responding so quickly to our requests; they clearly appreciate the critical nature of not only the June 3rd meeting in Paris, but also everything which happens between now and then, in public and private, regarding Mosley. And we'll let you know what we know, just as soon as we know it.

HITLER ATTENDED MOSLEY'S PARENTS WEDDING; AAA, ACCUS, CAA MEMBER? YOU HELPED PAY FOR MOSLEY'S PROSTITUTES!

Max Mosley is president of the International Federation of the Automobile (FIA), the worldwide sanctioning and organizing body for almost 30 major motor racing series, including Formula 1 and World Rally, which lobbies governments for motorists and motor racing and helps set European standards for mileage, emissions and safety among other very serious jobs. Mosley was recently videotaped in the company of five prostitutes, engaging in Nazi-styled sadomasochism. Click anywhere on this line to read the TIME Magazine story on this issue, which has created a worldwide uproar.

What we know now: Adolf Hitler was "a guest of honor", TIME magazine reports, at the wedding of  Max Mosley's parents, held in 1936 at Joseph Goebbels' Berlin home (Goebbels headed the Nazi propaganda machine). By 1936, Jews had already been "purged" from every government and corporate job in Germany and were imprisoned, and, just before the start of the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Romanian "Gypsies" in the Berlin area were arrested and sent to concentration camps. (Photo --- F1 leader Bernie Ecclestone (l) and Max Mosley, president of the FIA).

While the FIA is perhaps best known as the governing body of Formula One, it also serves as a lobby for more than 100 million motorists in 130 countries on five continents through member clubs. The FIA is an international sporting organization, one of the largest and most-powerful lobbying groups in the world. (Photo --- Lewis Hamilton leads the F1 pack in the 2008 season-opener in Melbourne, Australia).

The latest news, from TIME Magazine, is that Mosley's parents, both outspoken Hitler and Nazi supporters and leaders in pre-war UK, were married in 1936 at the Berlin home of Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi propaganda master, and that "a guest of honor ... was none other than Adolf Hitler". (Photo --- That's Max Mosley's dad, front and center; he spent all of WW II in a UK prison for his Nazi-sympathizing, and his wife, Diana Mitford, was a celebrity British Nazi sympathizer in the prewar years).

If you are a member of the Automobile Association of America, or one of its regional groups (for instance,  the Auto Club of Southern California, or ACSC), you may have helped pay for Mad Max's playtime. The AAA is listed on the FIA's website as a "member club" of the FIA.

Also "member clubs" of the FIA are: The American Automobile Touring Alliance of San Jose, CA., and the Automobile Competition Committee for the United States FIA Inc. (ACCUS). The Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) is also a "member club" of the FIA.

LA TIMES RUNS TIMELY, EXCELLENT PIECE ON ELECTRIC VEHICLES

The LOS ANGELES TIMES ran one of the best and most-realistic looks at California's nascent electric vehicle industry in their Saturday, April 5th edition. It's a MUST-READ for all Car Nuts around the world, and just click anywhere this sentence is highlighted to go to the LA Times' website and read this interesting and necessary article --- Finally, a major newspaper  writer who "calls 'em as he sees 'em" when it comes to EVs. (Photos --- Above, a gasoline/electric plug-in hybrid created by Fisker in Souther California. Below, The iconic Bradbury Building in downtown Los Angeles; those who saw the movie "Blade Runner" and remember that "apartment building" where an engineer for Tyrrel Corporation worked, creating his own living, breathing "toys," have seen the remarkable interior of that building. And, yes ... The wrought-iron cage-style elevator is still there and still works; we know because we've ridden in it several times).

Now please permit me, because I've worked for both the LA TIMES and KTLA/TV5 in Los Angeles (first commercial TV station west of the Mississippi) to say a bit about today's LA Times, KTLA and their new owner.

In spite of all the bad things which have befallen the once-venerable Los Angeles Times, their automobile coverage has actually improved a bit. Every Wednesday, the paper normally carries three pieces in their "Highway 1" section; a car road test by Dan Neil, a motorcycle test by Susan Carpenter and some sort of industry news important to LA-area readers, usually written by Ralph Vartabedian, one of the nation's top technical writers. On Saturdays, they've started another "mini-section" called "The Garage". This could contain one lengthy article and a few auto news "tid-bits" and, on occasion, a personality profile. The paper will be a long time in recovering from a profile of Carroll Shelby which ran a few months ago and was nothing but a warmed-over PR promotion for Ol' Shel' ... No surprise there, but this piece was embarassing, and I haven't seen the byline of the freelancer who wrote the piece yet again in the paper ... We also couldn't find the article on the LA Times' search engine. (Photo --- LA's City Hall; there was a law in Los Angeles that no downtown building could be taller than City Hall. A publisher of the LA Times, which has its offices across the street from City Hall, purposely built the Times' latest office tower to be higher than City Hall).

Sure, the "Highway 1" automotive "section" is still only the first 1 1/2-pages of the "classified section", certainly nowhere near, in scope or quality, of the section which I was hired to write for every week when it first appeared, and would for its first few months be anywhere from 10 to 20 pages a week. But the Times' bean-counters eventually got rid of the entire section. And, yes, newspapers have bean-counters, too; they don't exist just to torture car-makers, they like to "spread the love" around. The revelation, at about this same time in the mid-90s, of the paper's involvement in a screwy, definitely unethical and immoral, possibly illegal advertising deal cut between the Times and the then-new Stapels Center (home to the LA Lakers, Kings, Clippers, the Grammy Awards and on and on ...), served to further harm "Highway 1" as the paper cut-off buying stories from any freelancers as Times people at the top off the food chain lost their stomach for dealing with any outside writers and/or photographers. You know how it is: When some of the key people at a company are caught with their hand in the cookie jar, then the whole place suddenly "gets religion."

The NEW YORK TIMES, in their April 7th edition, details the recent purchase of Tribune Corporation, parent of the LA Times, by Sam Zell, a well-known Chicago businessman, corporate raider and ... he's been called a "slumlord", too.  Zell also got their near-25 TV stations covering most of the major cities in the nation, and the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field, both of which Zell has said are on the auction block. Tribune, it is said now, is hanging by a string to being able to pay all their (new) bills. The NY Times says Zell will probably sell-off his newspaper holdings (LA Times, Chicago Tribune, NY Newsday, etc) and keep the electronic media, which produces more cash. All of this is a shame for Tribune employees, because Zell financed the original deal to buy Tribune by giving ownership to the company's employees, and now they're finding out their shares may not be worth much more than pennies on the dollar.

Click anywhere on this line to read the Times' excellent article about the state of the EV industry in California.

TWO HORRIFIC RACING WRECKS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE WORLD; DRIVERS WALK AWAY UNINJURED

NASCAR and Formula One have a lot more in common than their fans might have realized, at least when it comes to driver safety. This was proven not on a Sunday race day, but in qualifying runs for this Sunday's races, April 6th. NASCAR was at the so-very-American 1.5-mile high-banked oval located between Dallas and Ft. Worth, Texas, and Formula 1 was running on a 3.3-mile road course in Bahrain, UAE. Two incredible high-speed wrecks, the kind which, in the not-very-far past, would have caused severe injuries and quite possibly driver deaths, happened at both tracks, but both drivers were able to walk away from their shunts.

People who don't understand motorsports say, "The only reason people watch these races is to see the crashes!" And you know what ... they're right, to a point. There's definitely a minority of fans (don't know how many exactly, but I like to think it is a minority) who somehow "enjoy" the twisting, crashing, smoking hulks of metallic missiles which race cars can become in a split-second or so, after getting airborne and slamming back down to earth, colliding with another car or two or three or simply smashing into a guard rail or wall. And even the most erudite racing observer feels the shot of adrenaline when witnessing one of the horrific scenes; if they say they don't, they're lying. It's the same reason everyone slows to see a wreck off the side of the road. (Photos --- Above, F1 ace Lewis Hamilton extricates himself from his car after he crashed during timed practice, and, Below, Michael McDowell is "along for the ride" as his Sprint Cup car is caught in the middle of no less than eight somersaults which occurred after hitting the wall at 165 miles an hour ... Both drivers escaped serious harm).

Over time, there have been amazing advancements in safety for race cars and passenger cars as well. This racing weekend is not over yet, not for another 24 hours or so, yet we've all been witness to the strength and agility of these cars and their drivers, especially when things go wrong. Also, these two wrecks, one occurring during qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway, the other during Formula One practice on the 3.3-mile road course in Bahrain, showed the excellent physical condition these drivers must be in to not only compete in races two hours and longer, with cockpit temperatures over 130 degrees (although ... believe it or not ... NASCAR drivers have air conditioning in their drivers' suits and power steering to help them along) and to survive these types of breath-taking crashes.

In Bahrain, the high cockpit sides of the McLaren-Mercedes F1 race car protected Lewis Hamilton from serious injury in a shunt which destroyed his car. Being so far from their home base in the UK, the team doesn't have any extra cars on-hand, which they would if they were on the European continent, so they got to work using a lot of spare parts and probably having parts flown by chartered plane from the UK ... if not an entire race car.

Lewis Hamilton was unharmed after crashing out during free practice ahead of this Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix, a session dominated by the Ferraris of Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen. With just over nine minutes of the second practice session at the Sakhir circuit remaining, Hamilton slammed his McLaren sideways into a tire wall.

The 23-year-old McLaren driver said it was his mistake that led to his session ending early and leaving Ferrari to dominate and take pole position.

"I made a mistake. I got caught out by the kerb and it spun me around. That kerb it is quite spiteful," he said. "If you hit the wrong part of it is spits you off. That barrier is quite close to the side of the track. That's racing. It won't happen again."

Hamilton said the accident would not have any negative effects on him, his car or his race this weekend.

"There is no impact on the weekend. There are no bruises to report from me and we completed most of the session, making some good steps forward," he said. "Ferrari look very quick, but you don't know what fuel loads they are on. I'm hoping that fuel corrected it is a lot closer than things seem. Ferrari did a good job in the last race. We just have to focus on our own work. Pace-wise I feel quite comfortable. We saw from Malaysia that we had the pace to run with them in the race."

For the photos and story on Michael McDowell's incredible crash, click on the link below.

FIA's MAX MOSLEY "EXPOSED" AS SEX-CRAZED FASCIST; HE MUST GO, AND NOW!

When an Arab country dis-invites you from their F1 race because of your sado-masochistic Nazi tendencies being made public, then you know things are bad. And that's what the leader of Bahrain did this week in a letter to Max Mosley.

Max Mosley must quit his position as president of the FIA, and do it now. And Bernie Ecclestone, who runs F1 directly, must also take himself out of the sport and the public eye because of his (apparently singular) support of Mosley. And, as pointed out on SPEED's coverage of the F1 event in Bahrain this weekend, Mosley has written --- while claiming this is a "private" matter, but using official FIA letterhead, no less --- of receiving "support" from the world of motor sport. But he didn't mention any names. Instead, he should heed the call of almost every manufacturer involved in F1, including Toyota, Ferrari, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and more, that Mosley seriously consider if staying in his position would benefit the sport. There's a world-level sport to consider here, and the outrageous arrogance of Mosley and Ecclestone show, truly, that F1, and perhaps the FIA itself, have been little more than playthings to the two.

Here's how "News of the World," the UK tabloid which broke the news, and had the tapes, described Mosley's behavior:

"The son of infamous British wartime fascist leader Oswald Mosley is filmed romping with five hookers at a  depraved NAZI-STYLE orgy in a torture dungeon. Mosley— a friend to F1 big names like Bernie Ecclestone and Lewis Hamilton— barks ORDERS in GERMAN as he lashes girls wearing mock DEATH CAMP uniforms and enjoys being whipped until he BLEEDS. (Photo --- Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley).

The multi-millionaire son of Sir Oswald, who was a pal of Adolf Hitler, plays a concentration camp commandant in a FIVE-HOUR torture chamber video.

Mosley—the most powerful man in motor-racing—barks orders in German as he WHIPS two hookers dressed in striped uniforms reminiscent of AUSCHWITZ garb while girls in Nazi uniforms look on.

At one point the wrinkled 67-year-old—who publicly likes to give the impression he has put his father's evil legacy behind him—yells "she needs more of ze punishment!" while brandishing a LEATHER STRAP over a brunette's naked bottom." (end of NOTW report)

According to Canada.com: "Mosley's fall from grace is particularly sensitive because of his real-life links to fascism - his late father, Oswald Mosley, founded the pre-war British Union of Fascists, and Adolf Hitler is reported to have attended his wedding in Joseph Goebbels's home." Oswald Mosley was imprisoned in the UK during WW II for his pro-fascist and pro-Hitler activities. (Photo --- Max Mosley's father, Oswald, front and center in this photo of members of the fascist, pro-Hitler organization he founded in the UK before WW II; Mosley was imprisoned during the War).

While the FIA is perhaps best known as the governing body of Formula One, it also serves as a lobby for more than 100 million motorists in 130 countries on five continents through member clubs. The FIA is an international sporting organization, one of the largest and most-powerful lobbying groups in the world. Even if Mosley's sexual antics were not so outrageous and deplorable as they are, anyone stupid enough to put themselves in the position of having their fantasies taped for all the world to see should not hold office of any import.

Last night on SPEED, during their coverage of the F1 practice sessions from Bahrain, the announcers, including Bob Varsha, David Hobbs, Steve Matchett and Peter Windsor (the one SPEED reporter actually at the events, while the other three sit in a studio in Connecticut watching the same TV and computer info we at home see, yet they all mesh together very well) did themselves proud. But you had to feel for Bob Varsha when he said, for the the purposes of "full disclosure", that SPEED and "News of the World", the UK tabloid which broke the Mosley story, "share ownership", which would be that of "News Corporation" the gigantic worldwide organization controlled by Rupert Murdoch, which also owns "FOX News" in the USA. (Photo --- Sir Jackie Stewart said on SPEED TV that Mosley can not remain head of the FIA, that his position has become "untenable").

And Sir Jackie Stewart, in a short interview, audio-only, with Peter Windsor, proved once again why,   despite his diminutive size, he is still very much the biggest man in world motor racing. He said one word when Windsor asked him how he viewed Mosley's position in the sport given these revelations: "Untenable", said the Knighted Stewart. "If this had been any other sport, any other organization, any other company, he would have already been gone," continued Stewart, as he reminded Windsor and the SPEED audience that motor racing is a worldwide movement which is supposed to "bring people together", not drive them apart, and the sport is able to transcend different cultures, religions and moralities between them because of its inclusive nature. Stewart and others mentioned golf, baseball, football ... and all other major world sports ... and said if Mosley had been in-charge of any of them, he'd be gone. Stewart also brought up the "Governor of New York State, George Pataki" and how his tenure was over within two or three days of the public learning of his liaison with a high-priced hooker.

If Mosley is somehow able to remain in his position, then Ecclestone's departure becomes even more necessary. If Ecclestone is unable to convince the man he has called "his best friend" to resign and leave the FIA and public scrutiny, then Ecclestone's position becomes "untenable" as well. And there are more than a few car-makers who wouldn't mind seeing them both go; this latest "L'affair Mosley" only adds napalm, not gasoline, to the fire over their actions and statements whch have been questioned for many years. (Photo --- Lewis Hamilton, F1's biggest star sensation, is of Black heritage; one must wonder what Mosley thinks of this young man).

Incredibly, many American-based websites which cover the motoring world were very reserved in their criticism of Mosley, if there was any criticism of him at all. Born of the same magazine industry which "never met a car they didn't like," these websites continue a sad tradition with editors and writers who are so meek, so afraid of offending their advertisers, that they do not even have the balls to criticize an outrageous and now self-professed pro-fascist, pro-Nazi like Mosley ... But "twas ever thus". Most Jewish journalists, and the few Jewish executives who have reached the upper levels of the Detroit Three and their affiliated businesses, learned a long time ago that the "restricted country club" culture, whose members controlled the auto industry in the US for so many decades, might officially be gone --- But just a slight scratch of some corporate executives finds anti-Semitic, if not outright pro-fascist and pro-Nazi feelings, which are still there, only slightly under cover.

PLANE CRASH CLAIMS UK RACING GREATS

A plane crash in the UK this past week killed the five people on-board the business flight, and three of those were figures in world motorsports. Two of them, David Leslie and Richard Lloyd, were well-known. Also killed were the craft's pilot and co-pilot and Christopher Allarton, 25, a race team data engineer. With reports culled from several sources, we're able to report this sad story. Although not well-known to most American racing fans, Leslie, Lloyd and Allarton were on their way to test a Jaguar racing car in France when their plane crashed shortly after takeoff on Sunday afternoon, March 30th. The pilot and co-pilot, Mike Chapman and Mike Roberts, were also killed. The house the plane hit was unoccupied as the owners were on vacation; they arrived home just hours after the crash occurred, unaware of the event until they saw their ruined house. (Photos --- Above, Crash site in the UK; Below, Bentley "Speed 8" at the 2003 "24 Hours of LeMans").

Former Grand Prix racing champion Damon Hill knew Leslie and Lloyd for many years through their involvement with motor racing, and described them as "lovely guys".

The twin-engined Cessna Citation I crashed on Sunday at Farnborough, about 25 km (15 miles) southeast of London, and burst into flames. Nobody on the ground was injured as the couple who lived in the house were on holiday.

Mr Leslie was best known for his wins in the British Touring Car Championship at the height of its popularity in the 1990s, and more recently he was working as a racing commentator on Eurosport. The 54-year-old, from Banbury, Oxon, leaves behind a wife, Jane, and two sons.

Mr Lloyd ran the Bentley Le Mans 24-hour team earlier this decade and helped Audi win saloon car and touring car championships in the 1990s.He was also once a former driving partner of Sir Stirling Moss.

The 63-year-old was principal of Apex Motorsport, based in Buckinghamshire, and also once worked for Decca records in the 1960s, managing Cliff Richard and the Shadows. He lived with his wife Philippa, 56, and three daughters close to Silverstone race track in Northamptonshire. (Photo --- From upper left and clockwise, Richard Lloyd, Mike Chapman, Mike Roberts, David Leslie).

NEW LOS ANGELES GADGET AND POSSIBLE LAW/TAX FIT OUR AUTOMOTIVE TIMES

Speaking of Los Angeles legends ... I'm watching the Dodgers beating the Giants at Dodger Stadium, and it's just turned into a rainout. A rainout in LA!? Those usually don't happen until July ... or August. (Photo --- You might recognize Los Angeles City Hall as the "Daily Planet Building" from the old Superman TV series; nothing magical about it, but both interiors and exteriors of it have been seen in hundreds of films and TV shows).

And now, two auto-related news stories out of (where else?) Los Angeles, the world's Capitol of Cars and, also no coincidence, legislation which attempts to manage, control and charge for them all. One story tells of a proven way for California drivers to help pay our way to cleaner air, our second story is about a gadget which reminds the owner when a car payment is due.

Both of these tales of woe are courtesy the Los Angeles Times and KTLA/TV5, the first commercial TV station west of the Mighty Mississippi ... These one-time legends of news and purveyors of sport both suffer from having the same incumbent owner, a slumlord from Chicago called Sam Zell, who created some sort of financial dodge which puts the holdings of the former Tribune Corporation into the hands of the employees, at least the ones left after Zell finishes his corporate slashing and burning. (Photo --- Sam Zell).

But Angelenos, never fear; Zell apparently hates Chi-town as much as he loathes LA ... He's already announced the impending sale of not only the Chicago Cubs (also a former Trib property) but their Wrigley Field, too, where they started playing in 1916. The gum-making Wrigley family, who also owned the team and the stadium at one time, also owned most of Santa Catalina Island, just "26 miles across the sea" from Los Angeles, as the Four Preps sang in 1958, and those very same baseball Cubs wintered for many years on Catalina Island, honing their baseball, uh, skills, we guess you'd call them ... In 1936, Ronald Reagan, as a young radio announcer for WHO in Des Moines, Iowa, traveled to Catalina Island to cover the Cubs during their spring training. While there, he took a screen test and was offered an acting role. How different our world might have been but for the Wrigleys ... But enough of the past! Here's the latest "auto news" from So Cal:

A Riverside County company is cashing in on the subprime credit crunch.

Murrieta-based, Sekurus, sells a device that will disable a driver's car if a payment is missed.

The so-called 'On-Time' device is actually a little box mounted underneath the dashboard that forces high risk car-buyers to make their payments on time.

A light on the plastic box flashes when a payment is due. If the payment isn't made the vehicle won't start. The next step is a visit from the repo man.

Sekurus has sold 250,000 devices at up to $250 each. Most are purchased by finance companies or dealers who cater to car buyers with troubled credit histories.

The privately held Sekurus has grown at a 30% rate in recent years. Revenue goal this year: $20 million.

For the next story, click on the link below:

Steve Parker's "Tokyo Motor Adventure; 2008 Wild & Wacky Vehicles"

Steve Parker's "Tokyo Motor Adventure, Wild & Wacky Vehicles 2008".

A fun collection of photos from the Tokyo Motor Show, available to share with friends, download and enjoy!