The Chiron-Sanders Effect
Posted on Mar 23, 2022 in Editorials | 3 comments
How about that new Bugatti Chiron? It looks pretty good to me. Better than the last one, anyway. I always got the impression that its predecessor, the Veyron, wasn’t styled so much as it was excreted. There was just something unpleasant about it; I think the term used in modern architecture is “Brutalist,” and it describes objects that are designed to force...
Read MoreSowing Seeds: A handful of Arizona auto shop students receive the lesson of a lifetime
Posted on Mar 20, 2022 in Featured | 2 comments
By his best reckoning, 17-year-old Daniel Gamboa has only driven a stick-shift car about eight or nine times in his life. But he shows no reticence in inching closer to the wheel of Brad Phillips’s 1983 Ferrari 308 GTS QV. Phillips has owned this car for exactly 24 hours before volunteering it for Hagerty’s Driving Experience, a program designed to expose young...
Read MoreWhat’s Right: Right or Left Braking?
Posted on Mar 19, 2022 in Safety | Comments Off on What’s Right: Right or Left Braking?
When does braking feel like hitting a brick wall? When you try to apply the brakes using the wrong foot. For those of us with decades of experience using our right feet to slow down, our left feet might as well be attached to our hips with wet noodles. There’s just no control when it comes to using them to stop a motor vehicle. The debate about driving with two...
Read MoreThird Age Suit Points to Greater Safety Technology Needs
Posted on Mar 17, 2022 in Safety | Comments Off on Third Age Suit Points to Greater Safety Technology Needs
Normally driving a 2015 Lexus RC 350 is an exercise in automotive enjoyment. On one hot day recently, I found it extremely difficult. I had trouble seeing. My movements were largely restricted, and my hand was shaking. I was less confident in my ability to safely drive. While it sounds like I was drunk, I wasn’t. I was encased in Ford’s Third Age Suit. It is...
Read MoreDigging Out? Get Your Car Ready for Spring!
Posted on Mar 16, 2022 in Safety | Comments Off on Digging Out? Get Your Car Ready for Spring!
I love snow. I’m honestly a little jealous that a good majority of the country got buried this winter while I sat and watched my local ski hill warm up and close for the season by February. If you live anywhere other than the West Coast, odds are good that you, and your car, experienced record snowfall. If you’re one of the many car owners who simply gave up...
Read MoreClutch Friction Materials Explained
Posted on Mar 7, 2022 in Technology | 1 comment
Many times, car enthusiasts are simply overwhelmed with choices. As the weather gets colder here in Michigan and across many areas of the United States, a lot of my gear head friends are turning wrenches in their garage. This is the time they focus on getting their “baby” ready for spring. One such modification comes in the way of a replacement clutch. And it’s...
Read MoreThe Ultimate American Used Car: 1967 Ford GT40
Posted on Feb 28, 2022 in Racing | 1 comment
America’s first real supercar. One of America’s favorite big-screen auto-racing heroes. The most expensive American car ever sold. Thanks to some history with the one and only Steve McQueen, a 1967 Ford GT40 has sold for $11 million, making it the most expensive car ever built here in the land of recliners and football. At the 2012 Pebble Beach Concours...
Read MoreEPA: Race cars have always required factory emissions equipment; SEMA: shenanigans
Posted on Feb 15, 2022 in Featured | 2 comments
In response to an outcry over the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal to require intact factory emission control devices on race cars, the EPA maintained that has always been the rule, prompting the automotive aftermarket to call foul and take action to block the proposal. Included in a 629-page EPA/NHTSA proposal to regulate CO2 emissions and fuel...
Read MoreHere’s Your Chance to Sell Your Truck Back to the Automaker
Posted on Feb 14, 2022 in Safety | Comments Off on Here’s Your Chance to Sell Your Truck Back to the Automaker
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has flexed its muscle and leveled Italian-American automaker Fiat Chrysler Automobiles with a massive fine and buyback program, in addition to requiring strict oversight of future recalls. A fine of up to $105 million is the result of a settlement between the government and FCA over allegations of misconduct in...
Read MoreBest Winter Maintenance Tips for Your Vehicle
Posted on Feb 14, 2022 in Technology | 1 comment
Those of us who live in the northern half of the United States are accustomed to the drill: every year, the approach of winter means the possibility of driving in treacherous weather conditions (we can hear you Floridians smirk). Deep down, you know there are preventative maintenance items your daily driver needs, but the exact list of things to look after...
Read MoreHave You Ever Had a Car Stolen?
Posted on Feb 13, 2022 in Safety | Comments Off on Have You Ever Had a Car Stolen?
If you’re one of the unfortunate people to have experienced an auto theft, you’re familiar with how invasive and unsettling it is to know someone has your car. At first you think you just can’t remember where you parked. You spin in circles, visually scouring the parking lot for any sign of your car. Then you replay the events in your mind of where you parked...
Read More10+ parts and task management list tips to help with your project
Posted on Jan 25, 2022 in Featured | 2 comments
Here is an example of my Microsoft Excel engine compartment worksheet for my Buick shown on the desktop along with a couple of in-process car restoration photos just to make it more interesting to look at for the blog. My columns are broken down by “Work Type,” “Task,” “Parts Location” at my house and/or box number, “Status or Completion Date,” “Notes” and...
Read MoreChrysler 200 Demand Dries Up As FCA Tries To Clear 200 Inventory Glut
Posted on Jan 24, 2022 in Editorials | 1 comment
The plan was straightforward. With demand for conventional midsize cars gradually decreasing and buyers in Fiat Chrysler’s U.S. showrooms increasingly turning to flexible Jeep SUVs, Chrysler 200 production would be temporarily shut down. Inventory was piling up. Inventory needed to be cleared out. Rather than build more sedans, which would simply be piled up on...
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