Automotive Blogger

Halloween may not be til Wednesday, but this is Halloween weekend. What better time to rent a stack of cheesy auto-related horror movies, light a fire, and curl up on the sofa with popcorn? Need some suggestions? Here are five horror movies involving cars or trucks. (Vampires on motorcycles, we saved for another occasion.)

1. 
   The Car: “There’s nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, no way to stop… THE CAR.” Released in 1977, and starring James Brolin, this is about a possessed car that stalks and kills its victims.
2. 
   Christine: “How do you kill something that can’t possibly be alive?” Released in 1983, directed by John Carpenter, based on the novel by Stephen King, and the classic car-related horror film
3. 
   Duel: “A duel is about to begin between a man, a truck, and an open road. Where a simple battle of wits is now a matter of life and death.” Steven Spielberg’s first directorial outing - years before Jaws, and way more scary. Released in 1971.
4. 
   The Hitcher: “Never pick up strangers.” Originally released in 1986, remade in January 2007, and scary either way. The truck in this movie isn’t so much a character as an instrument of torture. Twilight Zone-esque plot twists, and much gore.
5. 
   Maximum Overdrive: “Who Made Who?” Released in 1986, and based on Stephen King’s short story, “Trucks,” this is a movie about a group of trucks that come to life and become homicidal.

Not every woman on wheels is racecar driver, biker chick, or automotive executive. Sometimes a woman on wheels is the woman who drives your cab. For this week’s Women on Wheels, we introduce you to a pioneering group of women cabbies…in Senegal.

It’s a common misconception that the ban on women drivers in conservative, presominantly Muslim countries is because of religious law, but last month, a new program launched in Senegal proved that to be a fallacy. How? Well they’ve started a new program called “Taxi Sister,” which was inspired by President Abdoulaye Wayde.

Taxi-Sister, which is regarded as the first such program to be offered in any country with a 95% Muslim population, was the result of a deal between a local car retailer, and a government fund to help female entrepreneurs get their starts.

According to Senegalese local paper Le Soleil, the First Lady Vivian Wade presented the ten brand new cars to their new drivers, the first of what will ultimately be 2,000 female taxi drivers by 2008. The women have been put through martial arts training in preparation for any difficult clients, and will only work during daylight hours (7 AM - 7PM local time), to ensure their safety. They will also wear an official uniform of yellow shirts and red pants, making them easy to spot in any crowd.

The cars will be supplied by Espace-Auto. Their managing director, Serigne Mboup, told Le Soleil, “”(Male-female) parity should not be just a slogan, it must be applied in the economic sphere. Women must go on to attack male-dominated professions,”

And what do the actual drivers think? Sophie Diouck, one of the first Taxi Sisters, told reporters, “”The task will be difficult in the sense that we are young women. But we will give it our best to rise to the challenges.”

It seems like the news from Detroit these days is nothing but bad. GM and the UAW went through a strike just a few weeks ago, while Chrysler is still in negotiations, and sales of American cars are slumping at the same time American auto workers are asking for better job stability and benefits, among other things.

GM, specifically, has announced that with sales of the Buick Lucerne down 15.3 percent, and the Cadillac DTS down 14.4 percent, they will be halting production of those front-wheel drive behemoths at it’s Detroit-Hamtramck plant for two weeks beginning on December 14th, with subsequent plans to completely drop a shift, and lay off 767 hourly workers.

The Lucerne and the DTS were originally put into production to replace the classic Buick LeSabre and Cadillac Deville. GM’s numbers say that the Lucerne’s whole market segment is down 19.1 percent through September, while the DTS is still leading it’s segment, but also has numbers that are off, down 5.5 percent in the first nine months of 2007.

The Buick Lucerne is one of only two remaining Buicks in production today.

It’s got four wheels, looks like an alien face merged with some kind of insect, and is one of the Chinese offerings to the world of green motoring, but no one knows quite how to pronounce it.

It’s the “Ecooter,” and it’s an electric commuter vehicle, designed to hold one person, and meant to be used solely for short commutes. More a powered bike than a true car, the Ecooter will be on display at next month’s EICMA International Cycling Exposition in Milan.

If you happen to be in Milan, check it out.

The Honda Accord is one of the icons of mid-sized sedans, and one of those cars that you buy because they last forever, get good gas mileage, and are as easy on the wallet as they are to park.

For this week’s Media Monday, we offer this video, courtesy of YouTube and MotorWeek:

For this week’s Women on Wheels, we’re waxing nostalgic, and reminding you of American cultural icon Rosie the Riveter, who represents the six million women who worked in manufacturing plants producing everything from munitions to jeeps and tanks during World War II.

Most people think of Rosie as a fictional character created for advertising posters, with her flexed muscle and WE CAN DO IT cheer urging patriotism, and standing for the American war effort, as well as feminist sensibilities, but there was actually a real Rosie.

Her name was Ms. Rose Will Monroe, and she was born in Pulaski County, Kentucky in 1920, moving to Michigan during the war. She worked as a riveter at the Willow Run Aircraft Factory in Ypsilanti, MI, building B-24 and B-29 bombers.

As well, Monroe starred in a promotional film about the war effort, and was featured in a poster campaign.

Today, women work beside men on factory floors, as well as in design studios, though they are still underrepresented in the boardroom. Spare them a thought the next time you’re sitting in your 2008 Ford Mustang, spare a thought for some of the first women to ever work at a Ford plant…and for Rosie the Riveter, one of our most famous women on wheels.

We all know that a poor driving record - things like multiple accident claims and DUI convictions - makes you a candidate for high risk insurance rates, but sometimes, it’s not about you (the driver) at all. It’s about the car.

If a car is extremely expensive, has a large engine, or is rare, it costs more to insure and insurance may be harder to obtain. Numbers for the 2007 model year haven’t been released yet, but here’s a list of the top ten most expensive cars - insurance wise - for the 2006 model year.

1. Mercedes-Benz SL65
2. Lincoln Town Car BPS
3. BMW 760Li
4. Audi A8L W12
5. Mercedes-Benz G55 AMG
6. Volkswagen Phaeton W12
7. BMW M5
8. Jaguar XJ8 Super V8
9. Porsche Cayenne Turbo
10. Land Rover Range Rover Supercharged

MotorTrendOnline is reporting that Changfeng Motor Group and Geely International Corporation will be making a return to the 2008 Detroit Auto Show, with BYD Auto, Chamco, and Li Shi Guang Ming going along for the ride. This means that China’s presence at the auto show will be more than double what it was in 2007.

Last year, Changfeng brought over the Rhombus concept car, which sported three wheels and a carved bamboo interior, and bragged about their Hunan Province (the birthplace of Mao Tse-Tung) headquarters, neither of which impressed the US public or audience, though they did sell around 200,000 trucks and SUVs worldwide.

MotorTrend’s assessment of the Chinese company’s plan to market here in the States was less than favorable, referring to translation issues and poor planning, but it still bears mentioning that these makers are showing up.

Chamco, on the other hand, has Steven Saleen guiding them toward a successful launch into the American Market, where they hope to offer their SUV’s and trucks by 2008. They have a trial run set for Mexico first, and expect their Chinese-built vehicles to do well, but when it comes to Chinese automakers, great expectations don’t always lead to great success. In fact, so far the number of Chinese auto manufacturers to successfully enter the US market is approximately ZERO.

Still, the Korean manufacturers had successful entrees with Kia and Daiwoo, so maybe it’s good for the Chinese companies to dream.

After all, big dreams are what the US is all about.

It’s usually the high-end marques like BMW and Mercedes-Benz that pioneer vehicle safety, but recently Nissan’s jumped into the game, with new safety innovations and nifty gadgets. Examples include the new “pop-up” engine hood on this year’s Skyline, and the just-announced “slip-hazard warning system” which hasn’t yet been released, but will supposedly detect slippery road conditions and alert the driver using an interactive voice system.

The technology involves a relay of information from the ABS through the proprietary “Intelligent Transport System,” a new feature that links your car with third-party data gathered from the local police, other drivers, and records that detail “the slippery points” along your route.

Testing is currently underway in Japan.

We’ve been doing a lot of writing about racing in our non-blog work, so for this week’s Women on Wheels Wednesday, we want to talk to you about Stephanie Mockler, who was presented with the 2007 Kara Hendrick award in July’s “Women in the Winner’s Circle” celebration. It was presented to her by USAC president and CEO Rollie Helmling.

Mockler hails from Westfield, Indiana, and is the daughter of USAC racing veteran Warren Mockler, who was one of a scant few drivers to win both the Turkey Night Grand Prix and the Hut Hundred Midget classics during his own career, but she’s carved a niche all her own, with a career that includes three victories in the Regional Midget competition, and two in the Ford Focus series. The only other female driver with five career wins in the USAC is Audra Sasselli, of Fresno, CA.

Stephanie’s other career highlights include a 2005 runner-up finish in USAC’s Midwest Ford Focus Midget Series and, in August of that year, leading Alison MacLeod and Erica Santos past the checkered flag at the Indianapolis Speedrome Ford Focus feature, making it an all-female podium sweep. In 2006, in her second National Midget Series start, she finished third at the Indianapolis, IN O’Reilly Raceway Park’s “Night before the 500″ classic.

Ms. Mockler was only one in a star-studded array of female drivers from various branches of motorsports who were honored at July’s luncheon, and her award honors the memory of one of USAC’s most accomplished female drivers, Kara Hendrick.

Recently, a friend of mine blogged about the fact that she had never learned to change the oil on her car. At first I was shocked, because I grew up in a family where men and women all learned this skill - it’s one of the essential things you should know how to do on your car, after all, right up there with changing spark plugs and changing a tire - but in this day and age, I guess it’s really not that surprising. After all, even though I know how to change motor oil, I generally pay the nice folks at Jiffy Lube and use the time not taking apart my car and cleaning up the driveway to catch up on hobbies, or play some fantasy football. It costs a few more dollars than changing it myself, of course, but without a NASCAR pit crew at my disposal, it’s the best I can do.

For this week’s Tips on Tuesday, then, we offer this video we found on YouTube that shows you how to change your motor oil (we apologize for the poor spelling the videographers used - we only found it, we didn’t make it):

If you decide to change your own oil, a few tips that bear repeating:
1) Use the right tools. You can strip threads if you force screws, nuts or bolts with the wrong tools.
2) Gloves are your friends, especially when dealing with hot motor oil.
3) ALWAYS let the engine cool before you start working on it.
4) Be sure to safely and legally dispose of old oil and used filters.
5) Change your oil every 3,000 miles.

Happy October!
Coming at you today we have news of two different recalls, one from Volkswagen and one from Toyota - we’ll be adding both to our safety files.

Toyota Motor Sales, USA is recalling their all-weather floor mats that can jam the gas pedal in some Toyota and Lexus models. It’s a direct response to a federal investigation of “unintended acceleration incidents,” and about 55,000 drivers should receive letters.

Toyota owners were already warned about issues with all-weather mats earlier this month, when they were cautioned to use mat retaining hooks, and not to layer all-weather mats with regular ones. Replacements are not yet available, so owners will get a second letter about that at a later date.

Affected models are the 2007 and 2008 Toyota Camry and Lexus ES 350, but even if you’re driving the cool new 2008 Toyota FJ Cruiser you should probably make sure that your floor mats are secure.

The Volkswagen Recall is a little more serious, involving Volkswagen 340,000 Jetta and Rabbit models that were manufactured in Mexico, and sold in the United States, and have mis-constructed head lights.

According to spokespeople at VW, some of the head lamps on affected vehicles are missing legally-required rubber caps that are supposed to be installed in some of the screw-sockets. While VW says there’s no danger caused by the missing caps, owners are urged to bring their car in to their local dealer to have the caps installed.

Looks like VW’s hands on approach may need a little refinement.