My favorite illustrator, John Cox, came up with this illustration last year that echoes, I think, public sentiment, especially during these trying economic times. Many believe we are abandoning our nation’s manufacturing roots in favor of becoming a country that makes nothing and buys everything from abroad but likes to think we’ll be dominant in the development of technology (with any related manufacturing, of course, being outsourced offshore.) Whew! Long sentence!

I think we’re deluding ourselves. We could regain our dominance in manufacturing if we simply uncoupled ourselves from labor unions. Why can’t we compete in auto manufacturing, even against Japanese auto makers who manufacture cars right here in the U.S.A.? Because the Japanese car makers are exempt from our trade unions (and aren’t financially hamstrung trying to support a bottom heavy legacy pension plan, but that’s another issue for another day). Hardly a level playing field, is it. But what are we doing about it? Nothing.

Anyway, I thought John’s illustration was particularly poignant at this time of year when we’re concerned about our economy and vanishing manufacturing roots. Fisher-Price, Mattel - many of this country’s major toy manufacturers - have outsourced the manufacturing of their toys to China, and quality and safety have suffered. Not too many years ago, Americans wouldn’t have accepted poor quality. But we’ve become a nation of “sheeple,” too fat and lazy to do anything about it. I hope we rediscover our cajones before it’s too late.

This Sunday marks the 58th anniversary of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance – the world’s premier celebration of the automobile. It’s held each August at the Lodge, on what is often called the best finishing hole in golf, the 18th green at Pebble Beach overlooking Monterey Bay. I haven’t been the last few years, but this used to be an event I rarely missed.

Only 175 of the most prized collector cars in the world are invited to participate in this very competitive event, and to win in its class is an affirmation that the car is the best example of its breed.

The featured marques for the 2008 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance will be the Lancia, Lamborghini and the General Motors centennial. Of special interest will be the return of a 1934 Packard V12 Convertible Victoria. In 1955, San Francisco police officer Marvin Zukor drove the car 100 miles down the California coast to participate in the third Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. On August 17th, fifty three years later, Zukor and his Packard will compete again in the Concours!

Tickets and information about the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance - and the events leading up to it - are available here and on their website. To buy one of these rare automobiles, start here. I like the 2009 Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport. (Hey, window shopping is free!)

Oil prices are at record highs. The overwhelming dependence of our cars and trucks on oil strains family budgets, threatens our national security and contributes to global warming. Plug-in electric vehicles have the potential to significantly reduce the United States’ dependence on oil. Yet can this potential be realized? If so, how? Is there a national interest in putting millions of plug-in vehicles on the road soon? How should policymakers in Washington, D.C., respond?

On June 11 and 12, the Brookings Institution and Google.org hosted a conference titled “Plug-in Electric Vehicles 2008: What Role for Washington?” The conference placed a spotlight on plug-in electric vehicles, examining their potential, their viability, and the pros and cons of different federal policies to promote them.

Transcripts and videos will be posted on the site soon. Meanwhile, I’ve been checking into available electric cars as a possible replacement for my gas guzzling Range Rover. Honda’s Civic Hybrid delivers an estimated 45 mpg, but with a gallon of gasoline approaching $5, it’s not as attractive to me as it might have been when a gallon ran a mere $3.25. There are several concept electrics in the pipeline, but none seem quite ready for prime time. However, I think I’ve settled on this one…

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No matter how high local gas prices climb, there will always be some place where they’re higher. For example, here’s a shot taken last week in San Francisco, and you can bet it’s higher this week…

There now. Feel better?

Here’s a first look at the Quaranta solar-assisted hybrid supercar concept that Italdesign Giugiaro will be taking to the Geneva Motor Show. In an article for Wired, Chuck Squatriglia writes, “Cover it back up, please.”

Personally, I kind of like it. I see it as futuristic and suspect that, like most edgy automobile designs, it will take some getting used to if, in fact, it ever makes it into production. More important, I think, are the performance specs: a mid-engined all-wheel-drive hybrid that accelerates from zero to 62 mph (100 kph) in 4.05 seconds and tops out at 155 mph. As Squatriglia is quick to acknowledge, “That’s Tesla Roadster and Porsche 911 GT3 kind of acceleration…”

“The Quaranta borrows its hybrid powertrain from the Toyota Highlander Hybrid and the Lexus RX400h: a 3.3-liter V-6 and the Hybrid Synergy Drive system with a combined output of 268 horsepower and 213 pound-feet of torque. Italdesign claims the car will return a city/highway average of 33 mpg, and a pair of fuel tanks that together hold about sixteen gallons of gasoline provide a 620-mile range. ‘E-Four’ is, in fact, a fancy name for Toyota’s part-time all-wheel drive system (called ‘4WD-i’ in the Highlander Hybrid), which uses a separate, 68-horsepower electric motor at the rear wheels that kicks in during acceleration or when slippage is detected.”

Suddenly hybrids are looking a lot more attractive, yes?

The Sacramento Autorama, billed as the largest and second oldest running indoor car show in the world, returned to Cal Expo for its 58th annual exhibition February 8-10. Dawn and I, along with friends Michael and Sisko, went to see the 350 or so custom cars, hot rods, classics, motorcycles, and specialty vehicles from around the county and weren’t disappointed, although we somehow missed Henry Winkler and a couple other “Happy Days” actors that were apparently on hand. I took a camera and my “walk around” lens and snapped some photos.

Photographing an indoor car show, with all its chrome and bright lighting (and crowds!) always presents unique photographic challenges. I think next time I’ll bite the bullet and schlep a tripod and faster lenses. I’m thinking long exposures without flash might yield better results. These images were, in most cases, made using flash, all hand held. Also, here’s a list of show winners.

Movie audiences gasped when Roger Moore’s 007 took his white Lotus Esprit for a surprise dip to evade the enemy in the film The Spy Who Loved Me. The famous scene, shot using a model, triggered the imagination of countless gadget-lovers, who wondered if such a car could be made.

Well, it can and it has been. Rinspeed will present its new sQuba, the worlds first diving car, at the Geneva Motor Show March 6-16. The car is not only able to drive on roads autonomously (without a driver, passenger or further assistance) with a push of a button, it can also transform into an amphibious vehicle which can be submerged in water up to 33 feet (10 meters). An electric motor with powerful torque drives the rear wheels, while the propulsion on the water is ensured by two propellers in the stern and two powerful jet drives in the bow propelling the vehicle under water while diving. When underwater, the driver and passenger are enclosed in the vehicle thanks to light weight body components made of futuristic Carbon Nano Tubes and are supplied with fresh breathing air by the self-contained on-board system.

Q would have been proud - 30 years after James Bond disappeared under the waves in his specially adapted Lotus, car designers have done it for real! More…

Apparently aimed at indulgent parents with money to burn, Bergtoys offers the Ferrari FXX Racer pedal car. Priced at $725 (€499), the basic version of the Ferrari-inspired, uh, toy comes equipped with a seven-speed transmission, an on-board processor, disc brakes and semi-slick tires. But parents for whom only the best will do for Junior will likely opt for the $2175 (€1,499) supped up “Exclusive” model equipped with a first-class fast bucket seat with four-point harness, a leather steering wheel, larger alloy wheels and an aero body kit.

I’m sorry, but is this not insane?

Al Gore has convinced me I should do my part to help save the world from the perils of man-made global warming climate change. So I’ll be ordering this bio-fuel car when (and if) it becomes available in California.

Gee, I feel greener already!

Labeled as the 430 Spider Bio Fuel, the roadster runs on the familiar mix of 85% natural ethanol and 15% gasoline, which reports suggest yield a modest 2% increase in power. That’s enough to bring the 4.3-liter V8’s output up to 500 from the standard 490 with torque rising 4% and fuel economy improving by 5%… More

Thanks Frank!

The Lexus LF-A Roadster concept, unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show, is a stunner! Mid-front mounted 500 hp V10, speed adaptive rear wing and a carbon fiber and aluminum body add up to a top speed over 200 mph. Photos

At the nexus of MacWorld and the Detoit Auto Show is the iPhone dock for the Land Rover LRX concept car. When docked, the iPhone would upload your music, seat settings, steering wheel settings, and all the information for the car’s “transfigurable displays,” even provide a secure “start” button. The dock (iPhone or otherwise) could be offered as a “premium pack” in near-term cars…

Via engadget

This post is the second of a two part series. Part 1 was posted October 13.

To refresh your memories, Dawn and I, along with friends Michael & Sisko and Doug & Candy, had jetted off to Las Vegas over the Columbus Day weekend to help Sisko live her long-time dream of racing an Indy-style race car. To bring her fantasy to life, Michael had given her just such a gift for last year’s birthday - the chance to attend the Mario Andretti Racing School program and race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway!

I photographed the event and had intended to post the images along with those in Part 1. But I wanted to give Sisko a photographic memory, an album, of her big day and didn’t want her to see the images online before she’d received it. I gave her the album as a birthday gift Saturday night and have posted a few of the images in an online album.

For those of you unfamiliar with Indy-style racing, these are 600+ horsepower, open-wheel, open cockpit race cars. In this abbreviated Andretti Racing School program, drivers are allowed to drive up to 145 mph - Sisko clocked 143 mph and, as you’ll see in the photos, waved for the camera!

It was a once in a lifetime experience for Sisko and we all enjoyed sharing in it.

I received this the other day as a statement stuffer from my home alarm service alerting me to a potential auto theft vulnerability:

Pretty alarming, yes? So I checked it out in all the usual places. What I learned put me a little more at ease. According to an article on snopes, car thieves have and still can steal cars this way but it’s less common than the above article might lead you to believe. Still, a little 3X5 card over your windshield VIN plate can’t hurt, especially if you’re driving a fancy luxury car that might attract car thieves.

Personally, I’m a believer in LoJack. These days, you can’t be too careful.

In 1962, my then wife and I drove a newly acquired but well used Simca Plein Ciel from Miami, Florida, to Sacramento, California. We had allotted just four days for the trip having already used up most of my military travel time visiting my parents. It was yet another in a string of poor choices I take full credit for during that time of my life, but that’s another story for another day.

Now, for those of you unfamiliar with French auto maker Simca, the Plein Ciel (translated “Full Sky”) was a somewhat under-powered two-seater coupe produced from 1958-62 when Simca was apparently attempting to strengthen their brand by capitalizing on the growing popularity of sports cars. Powered by a 2.4 liter, 84 h.p. engine with a four-speed transmission, it reached a top speed of 88 mph. Hardly a speedster, it was nonetheless a sports car and I was still reeling from my failed Volvo P1800 partnership ftasco.

To make a long story a little shorter, by the time we reached Tallahassee, the little Simca had used more oil than gasoline and I realized we were in serious trouble. I pulled into a busy downtown intersection around noon and asked the traffic cop where I might find an auto repair shop. Without hesitation, he directed me to one nearby that specialized in European sports cars.

I don’t remember the name of the shop but I do remember the owner’s name - It was Jim Giles and he agreed to look under the hood. In short order, they had removed the first piston, or what was left of it, and I braced myself for the worst. In the end, four pistons, along with complete rings and valves, needed replacement. To make matters worse, he didn’t have the parts!

Jim huddled with his four employees, made a telephone call, then told us that his father, the Deputy Commander of Maintenance at Turner AFB in Albany, Georgia, would pick up the necessary parts and drive them down to Tallahassee that evening. On top of that, his four employees would stay after hours to install them!

While we waited for the parts to arrive, my wife and I eventually fell asleep in the car and were awakened at midnight by Jim. His father had delivered the parts, he and his employees had repaired the car while we slept and it was ready to drive! Hesitantly, I asked how much I owed, hoping against hope that I had enough money to cover what I was certain would be an astronomical bill. To my complete amazement, he said that he wouldn’t charge for his labor, that his employees would accept nothing more than $5.00 for some beer, and that he would charge only his cost for the parts! I couldn’t believe my ears! I thanked him profusely and promised to call him from Sacramento to let him know how the little car had held up.

I learned a lesson that day, that there are kind, caring people, angels really, that occasionally enter our lives when we need them most and help us on our way. I also learned, first hand, what it meant to “pay it forward”, something I’ve never forgotten.