RideLust

Just a few weeks back we gave you a report on the most ticketed vehicles in America, based on data from ISO Quality Planning. Now, The Truth About Cars gives us a new list, this time from QPC, a division of Verisk Analytics. There are a lot of similarities between the lists, but the QPC data does include a few vehicles that the ISO Quality Planning list omitted. Do you drive a “spirited vehicle” (QPC’s term for a high risk car)? Read on to find out:

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ISO Quality Planning, whose research helps insurance companies estimate risk (and therefore determine how expensive your premiums are) has compiled a list of the most and least ticketed vehicles on U.S. roads. We are, of course, talking about speeding tickets here, the kind that come with points on your drivers license and increases to your insurance rates. Like herpes, they’re the gift that keeps on giving.

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We all know how the MTV reality show Jersey Shore has popularized the crap out of the New Jersey Guido. Sure it’s a fun place to go and hang out and to people watch there is probably no better place on earth. The guys and gals that populate this area of the stinky state show up around June 1st and don’t leave until the end of the Labor Day weekend. One aspect of the Jersey shore that some people fail to take into consideration are the cars in which these wonderful individuals showcase themselves in. Just like Los Angeles the Jersey shore is all about show and bling. Sure, most of the beach and club goers live at home in their parents basement in real life, but once the sun comes out it’s all about rolling heavy and showing off. Here is a listing of some of the Jersey Shore’s rolling hardware.
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A white Maybach 57S with 'King of Ohio' plates - I wonder who that could be.

Lebron James has some tough choices ahead of him. The NBA free agent is the darling of the league, and finds himself in the enviable position of being able to play for any team that can afford him. The most current rumors have him headed to Miami, which is just about ground zero for obscenely rich car guys. Even James’ custom Maybach 57 will be just another car on the streets of South Beach. Of course he could fool us all and sign with New York, where even his F430 would blend in with the crowd.

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I’m already having visions of another Toyota lynching, but this time the mob will be out to get GM. Beginning on June 14 GM will be recalling 1.5 million cars and trucks for an issue that was supposed to have been fixed two years ago. Vehicles with heated window washer-fluid systems run a risk of going up in flames due to a faulty circuit board. In 2008 GM recalled 858,000 cars and trucks when reports of fires surfaced. The fix was a fused link inserted by dealers to cure the problem. Interestingly enough GM is not really offering a fix for the problem since the supplier who created the part is no longer in business. With that being said GM’s solution is to simply the disconnect the heater system all together and rob customers of one of the cars options – nice right.

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High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) – there you go. You now know how the Hummer got it’s name. For the last 20+ years Humvee’s have been carrying, transporting and protecting U.S. service men and women in regions around the globe. Their off-road capabilities are legendary and their ability to withstand combat conditions is simply amazing. There are also no less than 17 different configurations and according to Wikipedia they can be set up as the following: Cargo/troop carriers, automatic weapons platforms, ambulances (four litter patients or eight ambulatory patients), M220 TOW missile carriers, M119 howitzer prime movers, M1097 Avenger Pedestal Mounted Stinger platforms, MRQ-12 direct air support vehicles, S250 shelter carriers, and other roles. Not too shabby for a vehicle that has roots derived from the little Willy’s Jeep that first saw service in WWII.

The Shreveport plant in better days.

Hummer was pronounced dead a few months back when the deal to sell the GM brand to Sichuan Tengzhong fell through. The Hummer assembly line workers in Shreveport, Louisiana got a stay of execution when Avis ordered up 849 Hummer H3s for their rental car fleet. The last H3 of this special build rolled off the assembly line earlier this week, and the brand will now fade into the sunset of automotive history, alongside such other GM casualties as Oldsmobile, Pontiac and Saturn.

The Shreveport plant will continue to build Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon pickups (for now), but the workforce will be reduced from 900 to 700. White collar Hummer employees have either been terminated or re-assigned to other GM brands.

Source: Autoblog

Don't you want to do the same thing in the desert with a Jeep?

The basic formula for a Japanese haiku is simple: it’s composed of three lines, the first having five syllables, the second having seven and the third having five again. You don’t get many words, but if you choose them carefully they say a lot.

Bugatti Veyron
Will sell liver for my own
Sadly, no takers
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Just like we told you on Tuesday, GM’s deal to sell Hummer to Sichuan Tengzhong is now deader than Generalissimo Francisco Franco. Before giving the ‘do not resuscitate’ order, GM admitted their disappointment with the deal’s collapse. Plans are to wind down the Hummer business and close the remaining dealerships in an orderly fashion; GM will continue to honor warranties on Hummer vehicles, presumably through GMC Truck dealerships.

Break out the lutefisk, the Spyker deal is done.

First, the good news: Saab is now officially owned by Spyker, so open up the aquavit and turn the freak knob up to 12, Saabophiles.

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