This article talks about the way streets used to be in the 1910s and 20s and how it all changed. Quite interesting.
Category Archives: Automotive News
A Word from Motorcyclists
In Today’s Automotive News
Ha Ha! Made you look.
Na Na Na (way to many nas…) Batman
So what am I talking about, anyway? I was reading the Pennysaver (a local once a week publication) and it had a small clip about the Batmobile. According to them, and confirmed a bit by Wiki and CNN money, Ford designed a car called the Lincoln Futura in 1955. It was had crafted in Turin, Italy for the cost of $250,000 (2.2 million) and it never made it into production.
Ten years later George Barris of Barris Kustom City bought it from Ford for one dollar. (Really? One dollar? Did some CEO get kicked out of his apartment and have to move right now?) He made the modifications and added fresh paint and WALLA! Adam West had a car to drive while he made an idiot out of himself for the latter part of the 1960s.
Sorry about the quality of the pics, but the video I wanted wouldn’t imbed. According to CNN, the car then sold for 4.6 million dollars at Barret Jackson in early 2013. The link is below. Not a bad profit margin for something that was picked up for a dollar.
http://money.cnn.com/2013/01/20/autos/batmobile-sold/index.html
Interestingly enough, the Ford Futura was produced between 1962 and 2008 for sale in Australia. Quite a difference in design from over the years, seeing that this one is a 2001, but if someone made it into a Batmobile? I donno.
This was an old post I wanted to revisit because of The Possibility of Batman post.
New GTO?
This is from Jim Olsen via Facebook Car Show.
I swear, EVERY week there’s something new in the automotive universe popping up claiming some old model/brand is being resurrected, etc……and I’m here to say, if you believe any of these, I have a unicorn for sale.
Bottom Line: Don’t Be Fooled – Never Happening!
I am not usually a huge fan of new cars, but damn. I want it! As long as it comes in another color besides green. 🙂
1985 Pontiac Trans Am Kammback
Now, I understand the whole dare to be different thing and I have often embraced it. But a Trans Am station wagon is a bit much, even if it was a real GM concept car and not something wielded together out of three cars.
Na Na Na (way to many nas…) Batman
So what am I talking about, anyway? I was reading the Pennysaver (a local once a week publication) and it had a small clip about the Batmobile. According to them, and confirmed a bit by Wiki and CNN money, Ford designed a car called the Lincoln Futura in 1955. It was had crafted in Turin, Italy for the cost of $250,000 (2.2 million) and it never made it into production.
Ten years later George Barris of Barris Kustom City bought it from Ford for one dollar. (Really? One dollar? Did some CEO get kicked out of his apartment and have to move right now?) He made the modifications and added fresh paint and WALLA! Adam West had a car to drive while he made an idiot out of himself for the latter part of the 1960s.
Sorry about the quality of the pics, but the video I wanted wouldn’t imbed. According to CNN, the car then sold for 4.6 million dollars at Barret Jackson in early 2013. The link is below. Not a bad profit margin for something that was picked up for a dollar.
http://money.cnn.com/2013/01/20/autos/batmobile-sold/index.html
Interestingly enough, the Ford Futura was produced between 1962 and 2008 for sale in Australia. Quite a difference in design from over the years, seeing that this one is a 2001, but if someone made it into a Batmobile? I donno.
Ford EcoBlue Engine Said to be a Game Changer
© Provided by MotorTrend
Ford has unveiled a new 2.0-liter four-cylinder diesel called the EcoBlue, which will be the first of a new range of clean-sheet oil-burners. The EcoBlue 2.0-liter will be the first Ford engine to use modular camshafts, which increase fuel economy by 13 percent. Expect the EcoBlue diesel to power future Ford passenger and commercial vehicles with an output ranging from 98 to 237 hp. The Transit and Transit Custom are slated to be the first models to use the new engine.
Improvements include 20 percent more torque at 1,250 rpm compared to the 2.2-liter design it will replace. The engine will be less noisy thanks to a reduction of 4 decibels in radiated noise at idle. In addition, the new engine architecture in the EcoBlue also has reduced friction and has a clean-burning combustion system. A new after-treatment for exhaust gasses allows the EcoBlue engine to comply with Euro Stage VI standards that will be introduced in September 2016. That standard requires a 55-percent reduction in NOx emissions versus Stage V standards.
Ford Supercar? Oooo…
The all-new Ford GT supercar is officially available to order. Ford announced today that it will begin taking order applications for the GT on www.FORDGT.com, a dedicated website that’ll also allow anyone to configure the Blue Oval’s upcoming supercar.
Ford is only accepting 500 orders, which covers the allocation for two years (250 units each year). Official pricing has yet to be announced, but the automaker estimates a starting price of $400,000 before taxes and destination.
The GT will be powered by a 3.5-liter EcoBoost engine that will make at least 600 hp. It’ll be mated to a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic. A number of Ford GT race cars have been busy testing this past year and four GTs are slated to race at this summer’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.
By Moter Trend, MSN News
The Fastest Street-Legal Electric Car Is a Chevrolet Corvette
It would be easy to assume the Tesla Model S is the fastest electric car in the world. The P90D can, after all, hit 60 mph in less than 2.8 seconds and is limited to a top speed of 155 mph. But no, it doesn’t hold the record as the fastest electric car in the world. That record belongs to an electric Corvette called the Genovation eXtreme Electric, Road and Track said.
The GXE’s motors produce a combined 700 horsepower and 600 pound-feet of torque, allowing it to also hit 60 mph in three seconds flat with a top speed of 186.8 mph. Its 130-mile range on a single charge isn’t too shabby either. Perhaps the craziest thing about this electric Corvette-other than its $335,000 price tag-is the fact it still uses a manual transmission.
Scott Downey 