No matter what circuit the Formula One circus visits they are nearly always greeted by a sea of red. The “Tifosi” are the real die hard fans who follow the prancing horse no matter who drives for them or whatever the results, although winning is preferable to coming in second or third!

To reward the fans and also to celebrate their fantastic 1st and 2nd places in the Turkish Grand Prix last weekend, the team have released through the Ferrari Store, a limited amount of signed Ferrari F1 baseball caps, which have been signed by both drivers Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen.

For those who have the urge to buy this special limited edition, the cap will be delivered in a bright red Ferrari box and comes with a certificate of authenticity, just so you can prove to your friends that the item is real, and not just a $10 cap that you have signed yourself, (Now that’s an idea!) and all this for around $600.

The signed baseball cap and box etc will be limited to only 50, so for real Ferrari F1 fans time may be as limited as the caps themselves, whether this could count as an investment or not is very debatable, even a limited edition of 50 may not be worth much more than the price paid, however the “Tifosi” would no doubt disagree.

To view the official page and the only pace to buy the caps visit the Ferrari Store.

Source [Auto Blog]

If anyone needed a reason to give up smoking, then this has to be up there with the best of them, as it could have resulted in some very serious consequences.

The car owner, Shane Reas of Fort Worth in Texas had a shock while sitting in the car he reached over and picked up the lighter, whether he tried to light it or not, is unclear, but all of a sudden it exploded in his hand, causing him to drop it and no doubt get out of the car pretty quick.

However the car was not so lucky and subsequently continued to burn, resulting in the car virtually being totally destroyed and really lucky for all concerned that was the only damage, clearly this could have been more serious.

According to the Forth Worth Fire Department, this sort of event is not totally unheard of, as the disposable lighters are made of plastic and if it is in direct sunlight the gas can actually begin to reach its boiling point and you can just imagine how dangerous that is. If you must keep one in the car, it should be either in the glove compartment or somewhere else that does not get direct sun.

This has to be a wake up call for all smokers who drive, imagine what would happened if the car owner was driving along the freeway at the time of the incident!

Source [Snafu-ed]

http://snafu-ed.blogspot.com/2007/08/car-burns-after-cigarette-lighter.html

The search for the VW diesel with the highest mileage is over. Syl Schmid the owner of a 1986 VW Jetta Turbo Diesel, from Blue Rock, Ohio has been declared the winner by VW, the car has done a mere 562,000 miles according to the odometer and the cars records too.

Mr Schmid wins a six month lease of a VW Touareg V10 Tdi, if he takes the Jetta back at the end of the six months, do you think would notice?

PRESS RELEASE:

VOLKSWAGEN DIESEL HERITAGE SEARCH FINDS HIGHEST MILEAGE DIESEL IN OHIO

1986 Volkswagen Jetta Has 562,000 Miles On The Original Engine

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – Volkswagen of America, Inc. announced that, as part of its Diesel Heritage Search, it has located the highest mileage Volkswagen diesel vehicle in the United States, a 1986 Jetta Turbo Diesel owned by Syl Schmid of Blue Rock, Ohio with over 562,000 miles.

The Jetta’s mileage was recently verified by Volkswagen of America, Inc. and Byers Imports, a Columbus, Ohio-based Volkswagen dealer. Fuel and mileage records presented by Schmid show the Jetta frequently delivered fuel economy over fifty miles per gallon.

“Mr. Schmid has a story that is like so many of our diesel owners; he loves the longevity of the engine and fuel economy that his diesel Volkswagen has delivered these last twenty years,” said Steve Keyes, Volkswagen Public Relations Director. “Throughout all of entries that we received for our Diesel Heritage Search, we found many VW owners who were passionate about their cars and the economic benefits of the diesel engine.”

Schmid originally leased the Jetta for three years and decided to purchase the vehicle at the end of that period. After twenty years, and over a half million miles, he is especially proud of the original drivetrain and muffler. In recognition of owning the highest mileage Volkswagen diesel in the U.S., Volkswagen has provided Schmid with a Touareg V10 TDI to drive for six-months.

Volkswagen announced their Diesel Heritage Search in March 2007 and received more than 200 entries for the highest mileage and oldest operating U.S. diesel Volkswagen vehicles. Volkswagen recently recognized a 1977 Rabbit owned by Clint Wilson of Tehachapi, Calif. as the oldest diesel Volkswagen.

Volkswagen is a leader in the U.S. diesel passenger car market with over 815,000 diesel vehicles sold since the introduction of the 1977 Rabbit, the first U.S. Volkswagen diesel. In addition to the currently available diesel Touareg V10 TDI, Volkswagen has previously announced that the 2009 Jetta and Jetta SportWagen, which will be available late first quarter 2008, will feature a Clean Diesel TDI engine option.

Founded in 1955, Volkswagen of America, Inc. is headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is a subsidiary of Volkswagen AG, headquartered in Wolfsburg, Germany. Volkswagen is one of the world’s largest producers of passenger cars and Europe’s largest automaker. Volkswagen sells the Rabbit, New Beetle, New Beetle convertible, GTI, Jetta, GLI, Passat, Passat wagon, Eos, and Touareg through approximately 600 independent U.S. dealers. Visit Volkswagen of America online at vw.com.

Source [Auto Blog]

http://www.autoblog.com/2007/08/23/vw-finds-highest-mileage-diesel-in-ohio/

Well it would seem quite a lot if the name happens to be Daimler! A name that has been associated with Jaguar since the early sixties, after Jaguar acquired the rights to use the name. During which time Daimler always represented the top of the range Jaguar model, in fact the Daimler XJ6 Vanden Plas, was the premier car to come out of the Jaguar factory in the series two days.

However the name never appeared on any models that went stateside, for some reason, maybe because they found it hard enough in those days to sell the one car, let alone confusing things with various models too.

The problem is that Daimler Chrysler is a stand alone company, while Ford own Jaguar, also own the rights to use the name Daimler, which could result in some serious problems and confusion for consumers, if a Ford owned Jaguar came out with a Daimler badge and at the same time Daimler Chrysler were trying to sell a high end car, well its just crazy or is it?

It would appear that the two auto giants have come to some sort of an arrangement, that will see both companies using the Daimler name, now as mentioned earlier is that not going to be confusing for people? Exactly what the arrangement is remains a secret for now, so we shall have to wait and see.

Source [Auto Blog]

Imagine buying car with so much sophistication that it almost drives itself, but when it actually gets down to doing the business the technology has a little glitch in system that means that all of hi tech extras, does not actually work. In fact the car is so reliant on technology that without it, the car is almost undrivable and in some cases dangerous.

Due a bug in some software, means that the Maserati Quattroporte saloon, the Duoselect and the new Automatica may have such a glitch in the system. This may affect the traction control, and the stability control system, the ABS braking system is also controlled through the Maserati Stability Program (MSP) but it is believed that the ABS is not affected by the software bug.

The company has issued a recall for these models, but owners should not panic as the company states that the car will not all of a sudden become unstable to drive, rather the traction and stability controls would just switch off which would be indicated by a warning light on the dash board. Even with this warning, the car can still be driven, but it is advisable to either get the car to the dealer or home.

It would appear that the trigger for the failure is a low level battery, this may cause the system trip and that is when the system shuts down.

Whatever the reason this is not the sort publicity that Maserati needs.

Source [Motor Authority]

Forget about interest rates and investments, the only way to really hurt the wealthy is to steal their Bentleys! Well that is what has been happening in Moscow over the summer, with seven going missing. Now seven cars being stolen is not normally headline news, but when the car has around a $300,000 price tag then it does begin to send signals out.

Apparently Moscow’s nouveaux riches circles the Bentley is the vehicle of choice, but not the high end models they are just over the top, the Arnage and the Continental GT are the favourites. It is said that there is supposed to be around 300 of the cars in Moscow, but the figure is reducing slightly, especially as they appear to be disappearing.

The latest theft was that of a Continental GT, which had been parked at the home of an unemployed 25 year old woman! Unemployed and driving a $330,000 car what a shame even the unemployed are having their cars stolen.

This mini crime wave has the police and insurance companies baffled, premiums are set to rise in order to cover the cost of replacing the stolen cars, and are said to be introducing even more anti theft device requirements such as an upgraded satellite tracking system etc. Maybe they should forget the technology and look out for a Bentley being driven into a shipping container! Or maybe the owners just forgot where they left their cars.

Source [The Moscow Times]

According to the Power Information Network retained values for new cars appear to have been hijacked by imported models, which is strange, as you would have thought that home grown vehicles would lead the challenge.

With Hummer being the only real US challenge to the top ten, it comes in only at eighth place, the other nine being all imports.

Brands with the highest retained value included:

1. Scion, 69.8 percent

2. Honda, 68 percent

3. Mini, 66.8 percent

4. Acura, 65.8 percent

5. Toyota, 65.7 percent

6. Lexus, 64 percent

7. Subaru, 63.9 percent

8. Hummer, 63 percent

9. Nissan, 62.4 percent

10. BMW 61.2 percent

Nameplates showing the most retained-value improvement from the same time last year included:

1. Isuzu: up 6.90 percent to 56.9 percent

2. Acura: up 4.41 percent to 65.8 percent

3. Dodge: up 4.41 percent to 56.8 percent

4. Hummer: up 3.75 percent to 63 percent

5. Saturn: up 3.23 percent to 57.6 percent

6. GMC: up 2.39 percent to 59 percent

7. Chevrolet: up 2.35 percent to 58.2 percent

8. Ford: up 1.79 percent to 57.6 percent

9. Lexus: up 1.44 percent to 64 percent

10. Infiniti: up 0.83 percent to 60.9 percent

These figures represent the resale value of the cars after three years, naturally there would be additional costs to be considered too, like finance costs. But also there are always the expectations to the rule, some individual models may differ from the list.

Source [Auto Blog]

From 2009 all new cars registered in Europe will need to be fitted with an eCall system, which is programmed to call for assistance in the event of an accident.

There are some systems around already like the one being fitted into new Volvos, but making this statutory has some adverse effects, like malfunctions and the pressure that this will put the emergency services under.

However from safety aspect the system will make drivers feel safer especially in rural areas and for lone drivers.

The system works when the airbags are deployed after an impact, where a signal will be sent off to the nearest rescue center along with data from the GPS system, this will allow the rescue center to get a location for the accident.

There will then be a voice link to the occupant of the car, if there is no reply, then the emergency services will be contacted.

In Europe the figures for road deaths is around 40,000 per year, and the European Union believe that this system will save between 2,500 and 7,000 of the fatalities. All because the emergency services getting to the accident faster.

As expected the system is not going to be cheap, the Volvo system already costs €1,800, while BMW’s Bluetooth enabled SOS system is priced at around €4,000.

One thing is for sure, these systems could save lives, but at what cost? Naturally it is impossible to put a price on safety, but surely this should be a matter of choice rather than being compulsory!

Source [Digital Journal]

In Canada the fight against road racing is reaching new heights, as a video circulating the net shows. Owners of high performance and very expensive cars, such as Ferrari and Lamborghini. The video shows four of these cars racing down the province of Alberta’s highways at speeds of over 200 mph.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have received numerous complaints from residents. The video has been produced by Zahir Rana who owns and runs ZR Auto who happen to specialize in selling Ferrari and Lamborghini sports cars. It shows several of these cars doing in excess of 210 mpg as the camera takes in the speedo as well as the road. But later Zahir Rana stated that the video was faked, and that it was just a viral marketing campaign.

The Alberta RCMP did arrest four drivers of high performance cars one of whom just happened to be Zahir Rana of ZR Auto, yet so far there have been no charges made by the police, who say that the case is still under investigation and is not over yet. Because they are not sure whether the video is real or a fake, the outcome of the investigation will no doubt help the police to decide which charges are applicable to this or if no charges should be brought about at all.

One thing is for sure, whether the video is fake or real, its all good for ZR Auto!

Source [CBC]

Despite being told that the new Lotus would not be built outside of the UK, it transpires that Proton, Lotus’s parent company have entered into an agreement with a company that builds buses. The Jinhua Neoplan Vehicle Co will be building the new car at their plant in Jinhua, China. If you believe what is written in the Chinese press.

The Lotus will be the one of two cars that will be built in China; the other is a four door Proton.

It is believed that once the plant is up and running they should be able to produce around 150,000 Lotus Europa’s per year, initially they will be sold in China, but as the stock increases then they will be available for export and the target marketplace will be the USA.

Yet from the UK, Lotus Cars still denies that the car will be built in China, in an email to staff, Lotus Chairman, Mike Kimberley has reassured them that there are no plans to build Lotus Cars outside of the UK plant at Hethal.

Clearly this is just another one of those stories that spring up every now and then, yes there is truth in the fact that Proton have agreed to build a new four door car in China, as for Lotus they say no cars will be built outside of the UK. Mind you China can get around that by just renaming one of their cities to “UK”!

Source [Left Lane News]