Dr. Ford May Soon Monitor Your Health While Driving

Posted on Oct 2, 2014 in Safety | 1 comment

Ford is studying in-car health monitoring with apps to keep track of allergens in the area, for instance, and roll up the windows. There is no provision to automatically dispense Kleenex and wipe your nose. In combination with the Sync system, the company is figuring out ways to monitor blood glucose levels and possibly recommend a snack for diabetics. “Eat the...

In-Car WiFi Coming Soon to Ford Focus

Posted on Sep 25, 2014 in Safety | 3 comments

Ford Focus: WiFi hotspot I freely admit, I get kinda twitchy when I’m away from the Internet. Between my at-home service, the wireless hotspots at Starbucks and my beloved WiFi iPod Touch, it’s not often that the World Wide Web eludes me. The one place WiFi has yet to infiltrate my life is in the car, which only recently became glaringly apparent when my online...

Midweek Matinee: Corvair in Action, 1960

Posted on Sep 21, 2014 in Featured | 2 comments

The 1960 Corvair, in all its initial release glory. The Chevrolet Corvair was named Motor Trend’s Car of the Year for 1960, due in part to its air-cooled, OHV, 139.6 cu.in., horizontally opposed six, featuring an aluminum alloy crankcase and heads and detachable ferrous alloy cylinders, fed by dual single-barrel Rochester carbs—all of which resulted in 80 hp...

German Rockmeister Produces Inspirational Audi Song

Posted on Sep 18, 2014 in Racing | Comments Off on German Rockmeister Produces Inspirational Audi Song

Big whoop, you say? Well, Leslie Madoki (left) is no small potatoes in Germany. He’s a big-deal music producer and, as such, was asked by Audi to produce an inspiring tribute to the team which will race in the DTM, a big-deal German modified touring car championship race beginning tomorrow in Hockenheim. This is serious stuff. So, let’s not be too sarcastic...

Win a Free Purolator Oil Filter

Posted on Sep 10, 2014 in Technology | Comments Off on Win a Free Purolator Oil Filter

Not all of us put a lot of thought into the type of oil filters we put on our cars, and just leave it up to the mechanic who changes our oil. But guess what they use – the cheapest possible filter they can find. Many oil filters are made with cardboard end caps and media, and filters out particles just enough to be deemed safe. Purolator oil filters are made...

High Mileage, Low Maintenance Camaro?

Posted on Sep 1, 2014 in Editorials | 2 comments

Casey writes: Hello Sajeev, I have another question for you. My wife has wanted a Camaro and lately I have been thinking about surprising her with one for her birthday or maybe Christmas, so I have been searching the listings for a nice used example. First thing I noticed is these cars sure seem to hold their value! I found a Craigslist ad for a very nice...

Revolutionary, Nazi Killer, Hitler’s other People’s Car

Posted on Aug 26, 2014 in Antique | Comments Off on Revolutionary, Nazi Killer, Hitler’s other People’s Car

Adolph Hitler and Dr. Ferdinand Porsche are usually credited with the development of the Volkswagen Beetle. But there is another designer who shares in the credit, one who is not only forgotten, but was only recognized for his achievement after he sued Porsche, and won. That designer is Hans Ledwinka, and he was an automotive designer responsible for many...

Driver Distraction, One More Time

Posted on Aug 25, 2014 in Safety | 1 comment

On a recent trip to New York City, I had a typical cab ride with the driver yammering on his cell phone for most of the trip—and driving pretty well nonetheless. But his doing this irritated the hell out of me, and like most people, I was too polite (read, intimidated) to speak up and start a possible argument. Despite lower national numbers for auto accidents...

I Bet You Thought Vespa Only Made Scooters: The Vespa 400 Car

Posted on Aug 18, 2014 in Editorials | 1 comment

Our friend Mr. Baruth is on a bit of a motorcycle kick lately and, while he’s not quite ready to cruise the interstate highways on a Honda Gold Wing, he recently described the Wing as “one of those brilliant products that both defines a market segment and then comes to utterly dominate it.” The same could be said for another two-wheeler, though one that...

Setting up a home garage

Posted on Aug 13, 2014 in Featured | 2 comments

Richard’s column on setting up a home garage, which previously ran in the August 2005 issue of Hemmings Motor News and the December 2007 issue of Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car, includes such good advice, we thought it worth running it yet again. Setting up a garage for your old car restoration needs is the single-most important phase of your car’s...

Go Ahead, Steal My Car

Posted on Jul 21, 2014 in Safety | 1 comment

Car thefts are going up again, after a year’s decline. In Chicago, crime overall was down 10.6 percent, but car thefts went up 21.8 percent, compared to January 2010. Las Vegas has 20.3 motor vehicle thefts per 1,000 residents; the U.S. average is 3.15. Well, why not? A lot of folks have bad nights at the craps table. “The key is under the seat, Frank.” The...

Is Electric Really Better?

Posted on Jul 20, 2014 in Technology | 2 comments

Before you all freak out on me because you think I’m just going to smash and trash electric vehicles, hear me out. I’m not poo-pooing them because I think they’re too slow or ugly looking. I have valid arguments that I want to bring to everyone’s attention. And now that you haven’t read that and don’t care anyways, I’ll continue. I think electric cars are...

A look back at the Camaro, through the eyes of contemporary Chevy designers

Posted on Jul 19, 2014 in Featured | 2 comments

First-generation Camaro analysis by Ed Welburn. With a new Chevrolet Camaro poised for introduction in the coming months, GM wants to keep the model fresh in the eyes of consumers until the sixth-generation car takes its bow. One innovative way to do so is to look back at five generations of Camaro, as seen through Chevrolet’s current design executives. Ed...