Thursday, December 2, 2010

GM’s EN-V Envisions Future of Personal Mobility

From GM's press release today...
Rapid urbanization, aging populations and more demand for personal mobility globally present challenges today’s vehicles will be hard-pressed to meet. Envisioning what that future will need gave birth to the Electric Networked Vehicle, or EN-V.

















 Click here to see video of EN-V in action

“Building more and wider roads is expensive and doesn't really solve all of the problems, meaning that smarter solutions are needed,” he says. “Public transportation is important, but with so many people going from point to point in different directions, some personal transport is needed as well.”
Following completion of the Chevrolet Sequel fuel cell vehicle program in 2007, Borroni-Bird began working on what became the EN-V program. The first concepts debuted at the recent 2010 Expo Shanghai, where they wowed crowds and collected awards.
 “One step is to reduce the physical footprint of vehicles, especially since so many only carry one or two occupants anyway,” he says. “By shrinking EN-V down to just two wheels and two upright seats, several of these vehicles can fit in the same physical space as one traditional car. Electric propulsion in short-range urban commuter vehicles will allow air quality in megacities to be vastly improved.”















The EN-V concepts take advantage of enabling technologies developed within GM, including powertrain electrification, sensing, automation and Telematics.
Combining vehicle-to-infrastructure communications technology pioneered by OnStar and vehicle-to-vehicle communications, EN-V users could benefit from real-time rerouting to avoid congestion while advanced sensing technology could allow autonomous operation privately or as part of vehicle-sharing programs. 
As part of a public sharing network, a user could summon an autonomous vehicle to his or her location using a smartphone application and then sit back and relax while they are whisked off to a destination. Without the need to drive, passengers are able to take advantage of OnStar communications technology to work or play while safely riding.
The sensing technology, derived from the winning vehicle in the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge allows EN-V to detect other vehicles, obstacles and pedestrians, virtually eliminating crashes.
For those that prefer to drive, the light and nimble, fun-to-drive EN-V offers full manual control while its autonomous mode can provide a new degree of independence to the young, old and physically challenged.
 “EN-V represents another major step forward in GM’s leadership in the development of advanced vehicle technology,” says Borroni-Bird. “By creating a new automobile DNA through the convergence of electrification and connectivity, EN-V offers the promise of eliminating traffic congestion, crashes and vehicle emissions in tomorrow’s urban communities.”

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Big Mike Harrah's next outrageous Hot Rod

Here's the motor for Big Mike Harrah's next outrageous Hot Rod...



...Amazing!

Mike also has what must be the longest Blastolene Brothers creation, powered by a PT Boat engine...























Thursday, October 7, 2010

OC Auto Show

Thanks to the Orange County Register you can get free tickets to the Orange County Auto Show and a free subscription to Motor Trend! This is available to California residents only and the free tickets are only good Thursday & Friday October 7th & 8th, so hurry. Just click here for the form to fill out.

The free ticket offer and free subscription offer have now expired, look for a Motor Trend show in your area for the same deals.



 Click on the pic above to see the slideshow or click here to see the individual pics.

SoCalCarCulture - THE place to find out what is happening in Southern California's Car Culture!

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

This will put a smile on your face!

Micro cars always make me smile and this one is no exception. Usually they are stationary at a car show but this guy was demonstrating how much fun they can be to his smiling passenger - see for yourselves...



















See all the pics here

SoCalCarCulture - THE place to find out what is happening in Southern California's Car Culture!

Monday, May 31, 2010

Memorial Day - A time for reflection

While uploading this pic from a recent show to one of my albums today, I stopped and thought about those who gave their lives defending our right to display this flag. Thank you!





Saturday, March 20, 2010

5th Annual Spring Festival of LXs

I stopped by the 5th Annual Spring Festival of LXs which was being held in Irvine today. This is all about Chrysler LX platform cars, Chrysler 300s, Dodge Chargers, Magnums and Challengers. One car that caught my eye was a Hurst Challenger convertible, no, Dodge doesn't make a Challenger convertible but there are aftermarket companies converting them.














































Now I think the Challenger looks good as a convertible, and there was another black one out in the rows of Challengers...
















...I kept thinking these looked good and wondering what they looked like with the top up...
















...well, be careful what you wish for, I walked by this one again and the top was up. That was the ugliest top I've seen lately on a convertible - too bad!

There were a lot of cars there this year, representing 25+ states, Canada and Mexico, this will give you an idea...































See all the pics here

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Saw this New Retro Vette last night!

I saw this new Retro Vette last night at the Fuddrucker's Cruise on El Toro Rd. This is being produced by an Iowa company called Karl Kustom Corvettes. This one is for sale by an Irvine auto broker by the name of Tim Scaglione, so if you have to be the first in Orange County to have this see him at Orange County Auto Wholesale. This design incorporates a lot of design clues from a mid-year Corvette and is based on a C6 platform. Some of it works for me but there are some obvious misses in the angled openings for hood and trunk, the trunk line is more obvious on the fastback. Take a look at my pics and their website and feel free to leave your comments.















Here's a stock original that happened to be there too..





























































Oh yeah,in case you're wondering,  the headlight doors are fake - the headlights are hidden behind doors in the grille. See all the pics here.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum

Last month I found myself in McMinnville, Oregon with a couple hours of free time so I decided to visit the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum, home of the Spruce Goose. This is a fabulous facility with three main buildings at this time, one for the Spruce Goose and the Aviation and Firearms collections, one for the Space collection and an IMAX  theater in the third building. The property also has various planes and armored vehicles scattered around including a 747 that will sit on top of the new building that will house a water park. Grape vineyards surround the back side of this complex and you can buy grape juice from the grapes in their gift shops.















































Next time I'm in Oregon and have spare time I'll be going back to explore this place more, for now you can see what I saw here, enjoy!

Friday, March 5, 2010

Lyon Air Museum

Lyon Air Museum, located across the runway from the passenger terminal at John Wayne Airport, SNA, in Santa Ana, CA. This is part of the private collection of General William Lyon. The Lyon Air Museum exhibit is comprised of authentic aircraft, rare vehicles, all in working condition, and related memorabilia, with the emphasis on World War II era exhibits.

 
  
The planes exhibited are an A-25, B-17, B-25, C-47 and a DC-3, again all in flying condition! There are also military vehicles from Germany, Japan and the U.S. plus war era classics from the General's vast collection. There is also a Helm's bakery van parked next to the DC-3 as if it were provisioning the next flight. Check out this fascinating collection at the Lyon Air Museum next time you're near John Wayne Airport and see the rest of the pictures here.

Friday, January 22, 2010

...more from Russo & Steele - Drew Alcazar interviewed...

...hear what Drew has to say about this tragedy...

Russo & Steele Auction blown away last night!

The Russo & Steele Collector Car auction in Scottsdale, AZ was hit by one of the storms that passed through SoCal this week. The intense winds blew two tents off the cars, exposing them to the elements and leaving support poles, tent material and other debris laying on the cars.

The Russo & Steele site says no one was injured but the fire authorities have taken control of the site until it is deemed safe for the car owners to return and assess the damage. Check the Russo & Steele site for updates and take a look at the videos for more...




Monday, January 18, 2010

'70 Barracuda vs. Enzo at 200mph

Legendary Motorcar Company built a custom "Super Cuda" with a twin-turbo V10 Viper engine. After nearly 7,000 hours of hard work to build the car, they wanted to put it to the test. So, they headed out to the Chrysler Proving Grounds in Chelsea Michigan to break the 200 mph barrier and brought along an Enzo Ferrari as a benchmark.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Cruise night returns to Van Nuys Boulevard - latimes.com

Cruise night returns to Van Nuys Boulevard - latimes.com

Great article in today's Times about Cruising on Van Nuys Blvd as it exists today thanks to a dedicated few - also a mention of SoCalCarCulture.com  - click on the link in the first sentence to read the article!

Posted using ShareThis

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Traditional Speed & Kustom issue #7 is out!



Check out the latest issue of Traditional Speed & Kustom today, it's free, so what are you waiting for?

While you're there be sure to look at The Garage, that's where their forums are, check it out it's a fun, relaxed atmosphere over there. While you're there I'm sure you'll run across the name Jim Aust, you may recognize Jim's name from his previous gigs at the Goodguys Gazette or Rod & Custom. Jim now owns So Cal Speed Shop Los Angeles, call him today for anything you need!

Vendetta to Debut at Grand National Roadster Show January 29-31


Over 8000 hours of labor, parts from a dozen differet vehicles and one boat, Vendetta is one radical custom pickup! From it's chopped top to it's full belly pan, Vendetta will surely offer many visual treats when it Debuts at the Grand National Roadster Show January 29-31, 2010. Don't miss your chance to see it.


Click here to see more in progress photos.