I’m truckin’… like the doodah man.

You may recall David Allen’s earlier coverage of Same Lane, the company that allows you to make live phone calls from one car to the another vehicle in front of you. A recent article by VroomVroomVroom introduces a related technology called PL8SCAN which allows you to text-message registered users by calling their license plate number as they drive past. I’m not exactly sure of the logistics of the technology, as I imagine that texting while driving isn’t the safest way to go. (Even where justified, when someone who just cut you off and “needs a lesson” in manners). But if you have passsengers, they could be the ones to text message. (Also check out the website Platewire, which lets you report the license plates of bad/rude drivers.)

In addition to PL8SCAN, the geek’s driving logistics article covers another 25 resources and applications, some web 2.0, all of which contribute to planning a great road trip. Vroom’s article will provide those of you with a lust for the road with a lot of new planning tools to help you shave time off your trip and enjoy yourself to the fullest.

The most impressive small car to ever hit the streets is due to return later on in the year, the Fiat 500 ridiculed by some and loved by others has been given the Fiat treatment, and it has to said is looking good.

Way back in the fifties the very first Fiat 500 was produced, this little Italian became an icon for style, chic and most importantly fun, designed by the mighty FIAT at their centre in Turin, the original Fiat 500 was first put on show on the 4^th July 1957, the all new Fiat 500 will also be put on show for the first in Turin on the 4^th July 2007, exactly fifty years to the day, what a way to celebrate an anniversary.

The new Fiat 500 will of course be slightly different to its predecessor, the car will be powered by three different engines, the 1.3-litre Multi jet turbo diesel engine with 75 ps, the 1.2 8v engine with 69 ps and the 1.4 16v engine with 100 ps. All will be coupled with 5 or 6-speed manual gearboxes. But being Fiat they just could not produce a new car without the addition of a sporty Abarth version, and true to form there will be an Abarth version of the Fiat 500, but there is no news of what will power it, however by looking at the current range of Fiat model it is not hard to see which engine would be the favourite, the Bravo 1.4 engine which once been given the Abarth treatment would produce some pretty impressive power results.

Once this car has been shown at the motor shows and there are a few on the road, I think it fair to say that the new Fiat 500 is going to take some beating, it is fun and it is very stylish typically Fiat which will probably secure the company’s domination of the small car market for some time to come.

Source [Fiat 500]

Having just got used to the Mark V VW Golf, which has been around for some months in Europe, but has only recently begun to arrive in the US, VW are already planning the Mark VI which it is thought to be a substantially different to the current model and in fact the whole Golf ideal, but is this a good thing? VW had virtually created the “hot hatch” marketplace when they introduced the VW Golf GTI Mark One, so is it wise to mess with something that has really established the Golf as a mid sized car that appeals to so many different car buyers simply because of the range of choice, at the moment there are seven models starting with the “S” (£12K or $23K) and leading up to the top of the range “R32” (£26K or $50K) which gives the Golf a range of customers that come from across the board.

In an attempt the cut production costs, VW will probably reduce the amount of choice in models and in engines, this will help production and save money at the save time as they will not need to develop to many new systems and lose out on production simply because they are making to many different models which in turn will reduce the amount of cars in each category they can make. The new designs will mainly focus on slight body modifications, and the integration of more technology into the car dashboard, like the possibility of an iPod jack and communications such as Bluetooth and Satellite Navigations systems, these are the most desirable extras now days, so it is only practical to include them into the buying package.

It is believed that the new VW Golf Mark VI will be designed, built and ready for the open road by the third quarter of 2008, which in car terms is well ahead of the schedule expected considering that they have only just started arriving in the states, it would appear that VW have been forced to move their plans forward maybe by a couple of years, for some reason or other, but there has been much speculation about the future of VW over the past year or so, which would account for them bringing forward this model in order to save money and therefore make the whole company stronger for years to come.

Source [Automobile Mag]

Hyundai have for a long time been moving along the outside edges of the prestige car market, with the Equus they have some measured success, but nothing much to shout out about. After going back to the drawing board those clever designers in Korea have been working hard and they have come up with the BH, this is going to be Hyundai answer to Lexus.

The company are going to have a seriously hard time trying to convince die hard Mercedes, Lexus and BMW fans to not only switch over to driving a Hyundai, but to also pay out the estimated $30,000+ for the trouble. The guys at Hyundai find themselves in a very similar situation to Toyota and Nissan (Datsun) found themselves in the 1970’s and 1980’s but now the companies and their products are well established within the automotive industry.

The BH is expected to be officially launched in April at the New York Motor Show, and will sport two types of engine, the entry level is a 3.8 Liter V6, this is expected to be around the price of $30K and the 4.6 liter V8, which will have the price tag of around $40K, forgetting the European cars for the moment, the main target for the BH has to be the Lexus, which is still a lot more expensive, but the Lexus has the added benefit of being around for a while, people have got used to the name and in some cases probably do not even associate it with Toyota any more, Hyundai on the other hand have a ground to make up and a lot of convincing to do, it is going to be extremely hard to establish the BH into the marketplace which is dominated by Mercedes, BMW, Lexus and other popular makes.

Source [GM Inside News]

As if there are not enough distractions when driving, a company called Same Lane have developed a system that will enable people to talk to each other while out driving, nothing new in that! No there isn’t but imagine being able to pick up the phone and call up anyone that you want to, maybe the is a nice looking blonde in the Porsche in front, or perhaps there is an elderly chap driving at 20 mph, you could in theory call him up and tell him to get a move on or pull over. This may seem to be extreme or even a bit over the top, maybe it is but as the social disease known as road rage is on the increase this may be just another tool to the road ragers armoury.

Same Lane, has developed this software for what they call “Casual Socialising” which is the same sort of thing as talking to a stranger while sitting on a train, bus or plane, which is fine, but begin in a car on your own and getting a phone call from a perfect stranger is slightly different and can be threatening.

What happens is a user signs up for the service, they get a sticker that has the Same Lane phone number on it, this can then be placed some where prominent like the back window, another driver can then call the number, give Same Lane the number plate of the car being driven by the person that you would to speak to and then you get through to the driver of the car in front, it is that simple, no sign up is necessary, you only need to register with Same Lane if you wish to receive calls, not to make them. The company insist that the phone numbers are kept private, because they user pseudo phone numbers for the connection. Calls are free to receive and are charged at $1.99 per minute to make a call to a Same Lane member.

Product Page [Same Lane]

The unofficial Gatwick airport car parking firm Pink, Greet and Meet, have lost three of their clients cars a £50,000 Range Rover, a £30,000 Mercedes and a £25,000 Alfa Romeo, the vehicle owners who are believed to be still abroad are expecting upon their return to pick up their keys and drive off home, unfortunately this will not be the case and they have no idea. This matter has only come to light simply because the car parking company, Pink, Meet and Greet have actually gone out of business and the first thing that anyone knew of this was when a box containing all the keys to their customers cars was dumped at the offices of BAA the airports owners, who are in the process of tracking down the owners of the vehicles and reuniting them with their keys and cars. However there have been problems, because people have been contacting the car parking firm brought in by BAA to sort the mess out, only to find that there are no records of their car ever being with Pink, Meet and Greet.

Further to this, there are some other serious concerns, many people leave their home keys on the same key ring as their cars, so there is an added worry for people who return from being away, and who feel that they have left their cars in safe hands, only to return to find that their car is missing and that their home may have been at risk too. The Police are now involved in the case of the three missing vehicles and they are being treated as being stolen, however this just goes to show that by shopping around to save a few pounds is a great thing but people need to weigh up the pros and cons of the deal that they are getting, Pink, Greet and Meet were an unofficial airport car parking service, the company which has now ceased trading, recently featured on the BBC’s Watchdog program where the car that they handed over to them was tracked and driven around at high speeds and parked in the street, so it does pay to research thoroughly, as there are always signs to look for.

Source [LSE]

Aston Martin has over the years been on a roller coaster, there were times when it was feared that the high performance luxury car would not survive, especially in the bad times when they were only producing forty odd cars in a year, yet since American car giant ford bought the majority holding in the company twenty years ago, there has been a remarkable turnaround and now from its ultra hi tech plant based at a former airbase in Warwickshire, where the production has increased to around seven thousand cars a year.

Ford who have to be credited with the turn around have been looking to sell their stake in Aston Martin for a while now, and as to be expected there have been many suggestions of who may be in the frame for buying the company and what it would mean for the company, the car and the employees. Ford appear to be looking towards their home market, especially after suffering a huge $12 bn loss last year, which is the largest in the companies history.

The main contender that has emerged is Pro-Drive a company created around twenty years ago by motor sport entrepreneur David Richards, who just happens to run the Aston Martin racing team and who is due to enter a team into Formula One for the season of 2008. David Richards is heading up a consortium of investors from around the world, so with the right financial backing and the knowledge and experience of David Richards and his team, the future for Aston Martin would look very secure indeed.

Although there has been no formal acknowledgement that there is a deal in the pipeline, it is believed that there have been several meetings and that there will be an announcement any time soon, meaning either today or sometime over the weekend. This would be a great time to make the announcement for Pro-Drive as the following weekend is the start of the 2007 Formula One season in Melbourne, Australia. So there will be plenty of talk around the paddock as to the make up of the new team that Pro-Drive will be putting together for next season.

Product Page [Ford]

Product Page [Aston Martin]

Product Page [Pro-Drive]

There have been many pictures of totalled high performance cars, but they were only of Lambos, Ferraris and Porsches, so it comes as no big surprise that when a £850K about ($1.5M) car has an accident on a nice quiet country road in England, that it becomes a national news headline.

The car a Bugatti Veyron is reputably the fastest and of course most expensive production car on the roads today, it has a top speed of around 225 mph (James May on Top Gear proved that one) and has a price tag which starts at around £850,000 or $1,500,000 depending on where your bank account is located.

This particular Bugatti was actually hired, just to make it even more interesting, and despite what the initial stories said, the car was being driven by a woman. She had hired it for the day at a cost of around £20,000 nearly $40,000, the car was being driven at about 100 mph, when it hit a Vauxhall Astra, a pregnant woman who was in the Astra, was admitted to hospital for tests but has been allowed home.

The Bugatti Veyron is named after the French racing driver Pierre Veyron, who won the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1939 for the original Bugatti company.

The Bugatti Veyron 16.4 specification.

Manufacturer Bugatti Automobiles SAS

Production 2006 – 300 cars

Predecessor Bugatti EB110

Class Supercar

Body style 2-door Mid-4WD coupé

Engine 8.0 L quad-turbo W16

Transmission 7-speed dual clutch sequential manual

Wheelbase 2710 mm (106.3 in)

Length 4462 mm (175.8 in)

Width 1998 mm (78.7 in)

Height 1206 mm (47.5 in)

Curb weight 1888 kg (4162 lb)

Similar Koenigsegg CCX, Pagani Zonda, Enzo Ferrari, Saleen S7, Edonis

Top Speed 253.2 mph.

Product Page [Bugatti Cars]

Source [United Press]

The world famous Abarth company which was formed by Carlo Abarth way back in 1949, developed sports classics from the Fiat range and ran highly successful race teams that competed both in track and rally events around the world, famous for its scorpion logo the team became legendary and were faithful to the logo, small and deadly fast. The Abarth name had disappeared for a while, like many brands the company faded away. But now Italy’s most famous small car company has decided that the is right to bring the marque back out of retirement and let them do their stuff on the new Fiat Grande Punto Abarth, which will be unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show this week.

Not only that it would appear that Abarth will be running its own racing teams once again, competing in both track and rally events, and will be preparing racing and rally cars for customer teams to use in the many different racing series, one make series and rally events worldwide. Plus there is the potential for the merchandising operation to begin with a wide range of products as the other teams do, so this is not just a revamp for the sake of it, this is a major marketing push, backed by Fiat who know a thing or two about motor sport and marketing.

The Fiat Grande Punto Abarth, will be powered by a 1.4 ltr Turbo charged engine, which will give up to 150 bhp, however there is the potential for more power with the addition of a booster kit which will increase the power output to around 180 bhp, for comparison the an early version of the car, was the Fiat 500 which in its time, 1957, would offer just a mere 13 bhp at nearly 4000 rpm, with a top speed of 53 mph, yet after the Abarth treatment the car had a massive 20 bhp at 5000 rpm and reached the dizzy heights of almost 73 mph, so it is very clear to see the difference that the Abarth treatment can have on a car, we can only wait and see what the final specifications will be and how many races the teams will be entering in 2007/2008.

Source [Auto Express]

There is formula around that governs sales, it determines how we will buy, what we will buy, and most crucially how much we will be paying for it, unfortunately it appears that nearly always the only person who knows this is the salesperson, why? Well it is simple really, anybody who has contemplated a career in sales would know that before a salesperson is allowed to get within a mile of a customer, they need to undergo sales training, this involves manipulating potential customers into customers who have bought the complete package, like car, insurance, finance, number plates and warranty etc., in most cases the customer would have spent twice as much as they expected to, so what are the eight most common mistakes, that car buyers make?

Well according to Marshall Loeb, former editor of Fortune, Money, and The Columbia Journalism Review, writes “Your Dollars” exclusively for Market Watch.

The eight biggest mistakes that car buyers make are;

Being pressured to act. It’s OK to move at your own pace — don’t let yourself get bullied into buying before you’re ready. When you do put down a deposit, use a credit card instead of writing a check. You’ll have more protection if there is something fishy with the dealer.

Taking dealers at their word. Are you offered free oil changes or other perks? Get them in writing. Don’t settle on just a verbal agreement — have it written into the contract.

Financing for longer than 48 months. If you settle for a long-term loan, you’re likely going to pay a higher interest rate. And if the car is stolen, wrecked or you just want to trade it in early, you’ll probably owe more than it’s worth.

Buying unnecessary extras. You’ll be offered all sorts of “important” extras such as VIN glass etching, fabric protection or extended service. They can get expensive and you probably won’t even need or use them.

Opting for dealer financing without shopping around. Don’t just go for the dealer’s rate. Do some research on the current loan rates and look for good offers from banks, on-line sources or credit unions.

Not negotiating a lease price. You can bargain for a lease price just as you would if you were buying the car.

Leasing because you can’t afford to buy. It’s true that you’ll have a lower monthly payment, but you’ll probably pay a much higher finance charge. At the end of the lease period, you won’t even own the car. If you are strapped for cash, consider buying a used car instead.

Talking about trade-ins early in the process. Wait to mention your old car trade-in until after you’ve completed your negotiations on the new one.

Read [Market Watch]