54.5 OR WHAT?
PITY THE HARD-WORKING automotive engineer. Or, should we decry the shortsightedness of people buying new vehicles? Or what about blaming government regulation for the current and approaching conundrums? Since 2012, … Continue reading
RIFFS FROM BECK AND LUTZ
JEFF BECK, rock guitarist of Yardbirds fame, and Bob Lutz, auto executive extraordinaire, have more in common than I might have thought. Both are elder statesmen: Beck, 72; Lutz, 84. … Continue reading
REDI- (SET) GO
WIFE DOTTIE ONCE said of a car that was cheap in all ways, “No one should have to take poverty this seriously.” On the other hand, if one’s family of … Continue reading
DRIVING THROUGH A BRUSSELS LOOPHOLE
THE SOOT CONTINUES to accumulate around diesel cars finagled to run clean in official testing, though not necessarily otherwise. “VW’s Diesel Scam” made news last year when the International Council … Continue reading
AIRBOATS—REAL AND VIRTUAL
ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL did more than patent the first practical telephone in 1876 (not to say later giving actor Don Ameche such an iconic movie role that the device was … Continue reading
UNINTENDED ACCELERATION OF FINES
THE FEDERAL CIVIL Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 doesn’t just sound redundant, it’s causing havoc among automakers. As with many laws, there’s rationality and a spirit of … Continue reading
CHEAP GAS—2016
THE U.S. CONTINUES to have the cheapest gasoline anywhere in the world I’d want to live. On July 18, 2016, Bloomberg.com offered “Gasoline Prices Around the World: The Real Cost … Continue reading
AUTOS BY THE NUMBERS
TWO STATISTICAL STUDIES described in Automotive News, July 4, 2016, caught my eye. One has to do with new car quality; the other, with a car’s country of origin. This … Continue reading
FOX DOES HEIDI
SO THERE I WAS this past weekend, enjoying Mobil 1 Radio Le Mans. Initially, I used the Internet to listen to these engaging and knowledgeable Brits reporting from the circuit’s … Continue reading
ACO BoP
THIS TITLE stands for Auto Club de l’Ouest Balance of Performance. The ACO is the sanctioning organization of the Le Mans 24-hour endurance race, taking place as I write this. … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 