Jalopnik: patent

Ferrari Says Screw Gullwings, Designs Crazy New Door

Wes Siler — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST

Lamborghini is known for scissor doors, Mercedes for gullwings, Koenigsegg for dihedral syncro-helixes. Ferrari wants to outdo them all, patenting a door design that lifts part of the fender too.

These patents, sketched on an Aston Martin DB7 to throw people off, were uncovered by Autocar and reveal a system that, to us, appears to hinge at the base of the windscreen, allowing almost the entire side of the car to hinge upwards for unprecedentedly good access. While the system will work on cars with any engine configuration it looks like it'd be best located on a mid-engined car, curing the difficulty typically involved with entering and exiting one. The patents say such a system will be "easy and cost-effective to make" compared to competitor's fancy doors. [via Autocar]

ABC Radio, For The Record, GM Still Owns The Rights To Oldsmobile

Matt Hardigree — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 11:20:00 EDT

Mark Twain once said "a lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes." Thanks to radio and the web, it can now travel all the way around the world. Remember that list of automotive April Fools' Day jokes? Remember that C&D and Automobile joke about Toyota securing Olds' naming rights? Someone took it to be the truth. And that person was Ron Chapman, filling in for Paul Harvey on his extremely popular ABC Radio show. Ugh. In case you were curious, the appropriate Trademarks are here and here, and they are both owned by GM and good until 2011 according to the US Patent and Trademark Office. The crappy urban legend in the making below the jump.

VMSoA Broadcast Transcript
Date April 02, 2008
Time 11:45 AM - 12:00 PM
Station Syndicated Radio
Location Network
Program Paul Harvey

RON CHAPMAN, anchor:

And remember about four years ago, General Motors
discontinued their car line known as Oldsmobile. I saw
this story yesterday and I kind of thought it was an April
Fools'. It turns out it's not.

General Motors stopped manufacturing Oldsmobiles, stopped
making them in 2004. David Gluckman of Automobile Magazine
says they apparently also stopped paying any attention to
the name Oldsmobile as well and the copyright on the
Oldsmobile name ran out and nobody at General Motors
noticed. But one person in the US Copyright Office did,
saw the name was freely available, called a relative who
worked for Toyota.

So, as of this day, the name Oldsmobile belongs not to GM
but to Toyota. And they're thinking of using it on a new
mid-level luxury model to be marketed where? Right here in
the United States.

Once again. TOYOTA DOES NOT OWN THE RIGHTS TO PRODUCE OLDSMOBILE. Nor are they stupid enough to try and resurrect that brand. (h/t to good ol' Phil).

[Source: Video Monitoring Services of America]

Oh Noes: Pontiac Fiero Coming Back?

Mike Spinelli — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 08:36:56 EDT

Arguably, GM killed the Pontiac Fiero just as it was getting all the kinks worked out — the fires, the Chevette front suspension (and Chevy Citation rear), the Revellesque build quality. By the last year of production, 1988, the plastic wonder was actually a decent driver that barely ever burst into flames. But could it be coming back? The Left Laneers did some rooting around the US patent office yesterday and came up with this bit. It seems GM reregistered the Fiero name earlier this year. LLN speculates it could be used for the on-again-off-again Pontiac Solstice coupe, though we have out doubts. No matter. Something may or may not be in the works, and we'll be paying attention. Oh, and Pontiac's in the process of re-upping "Firebird," just in case you thought that was the more important story.

Trademarks: Pontiac Firebird, Fiero set to return? [Left Lane News]

Related:
The 1988 Pontiac Fiero; A Collectable? [internal]