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Detroit, 6:06 AM
Mon Nov 23
11 posts in the last 24 hours

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  • posts about #prototype more →

    GreenGT Electric LeMans: Design And Eco-Mobility Madness

    Get Ready For The Future Of Vehicle Steering, 1965 Style: Ford's Wrist Twist

    Citroën Karin Concept Car Should Have Made The 80s The Trapezoidal Decade

    Italian Style With Hollywood Pedigree: 1966 Ghia 450SS Could Be Yours!

    Aston Martin Bringing Lola B08/60 LMP1 To Le Mans

    Mitsubishi Joining Sportback Crowd: Lancer Prototype S

    Corbin Raven Prototype Drives, Burns Eyes

    What Might Have Been: Ford Fiesta Corrida

    Ploof: A Yamaha Scooter Prototype

    Glickenhaus Ferrari P4/5: Test-Drive Video
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    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of dwegmull comments for the purpose of obscurity dwegmull comments for the purpose of obscurity
    05/18/09

    In reply to GreenGT Electric LeMans: Design And Eco-Mobility Madness
    24 hour race? I hope the batteries can be swapped in and out in a matter of seconds...
     Reply
    dwegmull comments for the purpose of obscurity was starred dwegmull comments for the purpose of obscurity was unstarred
    Image of engineerd engineerd
    05/18/09

    In reply to GreenGT Electric LeMans: Design And Eco-Mobility Madness
    Engineers from GreenGT have run a computer study of possible performance figures based on a set of 1,475 lb-ft of torque electric motors. 0-60 mph could be possible under 4 seconds with a terminal velocity of 171mph.


    Is this the same computer model Elon Musk uses to "predict" the performance of the Tesla Model S?

     Reply
    engineerd was starred engineerd was unstarred
    Image of OldeEnglishD OldeEnglishD
    05/18/09

    In reply to GreenGT Electric LeMans: Design And Eco-Mobility Madness
    Stormtrooper mobile, sweet!
     Reply
    OldeEnglishD was starred OldeEnglishD was unstarred
    Image of wrx-tyrannosaurusWrx wrx-tyrannosaurusWrx
    05/18/09

    In reply to GreenGT Electric LeMans: Design And Eco-Mobility Madness
    It looks cool as shit. Should I wake up my jet-lagged and massively cranky girlfriend to show it to her? Just to sarcastically show her the car and jab her for being "eco-friendly. Its mostly just to piss her off.
     Reply
    wrx-tyrannosaurusWrx was starred wrx-tyrannosaurusWrx was unstarred
    Image of SirNotAppearing SirNotAppearing
    05/18/09

    In reply to GreenGT Electric LeMans: Design And Eco-Mobility Madness
    I see a little R8 in it. And exposed rivets are due for a comeback.
     Reply
    SirNotAppearing was starred SirNotAppearing was unstarred
    Image of poxpopulus poxpopulus
    05/18/09

    In reply to GreenGT Electric LeMans: Design And Eco-Mobility Madness
    24 Hours of Le Ohms
     Reply
    poxpopulus was starred poxpopulus was unstarred
    Image of engineerd engineerd
    05/18/09

    @poxpopulus: Well done, my new friend.
     Reply
    engineerd was starred engineerd was unstarred
    Image of .357 .357
    05/18/09

    In reply to GreenGT Electric LeMans: Design And Eco-Mobility Madness
    Paint it black, and Batman is officially green.
     Reply
    .357 was starred .357 was unstarred
    Image of Miscellanea Miscellanea
    05/18/09

    In reply to Get Ready For The Future Of Vehicle Steering, 1965 Style: Ford's Wrist Twist
    Man, I can't wait for the next season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia!
     Reply
    Miscellanea was starred Miscellanea was unstarred
    Image of 1991Brougham 1991Brougham
    05/17/09

    In reply to Get Ready For The Future Of Vehicle Steering, 1965 Style: Ford's Wrist Twist
    Back then the power steering was effortless. I rather liked that when it was time to park!


    If you like seeing Fords, Mercs and Lincolns from the Sixties, go get a DVD set of the TV show "The Invaders".

     Reply
    1991Brougham was starred 1991Brougham was unstarred
    Image of A strolling player A strolling player
    05/17/09

    @1991Brougham: I guess it depends on your definition of the word "effortless".


    The power steering in the '65 Studebaker I was driving a couple months ago was a total bitch, yelling any time I turned at low speed and forcing the car to stall on average three times during any parallel parking manoeuvre. When the belt snapped later in the week it was a godsend. I'd rather use man-force on that huge wheel and get parked without abusing the starter, thanks.

     Reply
    A strolling player was starred A strolling player was unstarred
    Image of mdensch mdensch
    05/17/09

    @1991Brougham:" If you like seeing Fords, Mercs and Lincolns from the Sixties, go get a DVD set of the TV show "The Invaders"."


    Or The Fugitive, The FBI, etc. They were all Quinn-Martin productions and all of them used Ford products exclusively. [Watch episodes of The Invaders and The Fugitive back-to-back and you'll swear they're basically the same show.]

     Reply
    mdensch was starred mdensch was unstarred
    Image of A strolling player A strolling player
    05/17/09

    @mdensch: I am obliged to also suggest CHiPs as an excellent and hilarious way to see some old iron. You begin to notice that there are a total of maybe forty cars used as traffic in the entire series. Erik Estrada's dreamy smile doesn't hurt, either...!
     Reply
    A strolling player was starred A strolling player was unstarred
    Image of MushyHeirloom MushyHeirloom
    05/17/09

    @A stʁolling playeʁ: The power steering in my Volvo occasionally plays that game, too. Full lock at idle requires me to give it a bit of gas. This is especially fun when the damn thing stalls in the middle of a parallel-parking operation.
     Reply
    MushyHeirloom was starred MushyHeirloom was unstarred
    Image of yowen yowen
    05/17/09

    In reply to Get Ready For The Future Of Vehicle Steering, 1965 Style: Ford's Wrist Twist
    it'd be hilarious if the knobs controlled individual tires.
     Reply
    yowen was starred yowen was unstarred
    Image of Novaload Novaload
    05/17/09

    @yowen: I actually wondered about that for a moment when I first saw the set up...
     Reply
    Novaload was starred Novaload was unstarred
    Image of ummagumma82 ummagumma82
    05/17/09

    In reply to Get Ready For The Future Of Vehicle Steering, 1965 Style: Ford's Wrist Twist
    I have an old Popular Mechanics magazine somewhere with an article about this very thing. One of the staffers drove it and said it was surprisingly nice, but also noted that a broken belt or a stalled engine would make the car almost impossible to control. Kind of a deal-breaker, that.


    A couple more gems I've come across in 50s/60s magazines:


    - Bolt seatbelts into your wife's car-- she might feel more connected to the car if she's strapped into it, therefore making her a better driver (I'm not making that up).


    - When boating, punch a hole in the bottom of food or beverage cans so they sink more quickly after you chuck 'em overboard.


    - Some car review (mid-50s Buick, IIRC) said it handled "like a fat matron trying to get out of a slippery bathtub".


    I highly recommend picking up any magazines of that era you come across. The insane inventions and complete lack of political correctness make them absolutely brilliant.

     Reply
    ummagumma82 was starred ummagumma82 was unstarred
    Image of MushyHeirloom MushyHeirloom
    05/17/09

    @ummagumma82: After those quips, I may have to.
     Reply
    MushyHeirloom was starred MushyHeirloom was unstarred
    Image of bygeorge bygeorge
    05/17/09

    @ummagumma82: I would bet all I own (not much, really) that the "fat matron" comment came from Tom McCahill. He is the ur-auto - journalist-extraordinaire.


    He once described the AC Cobra as "hairier than a Borneo gorilla in a raccoon suit", and proclaimed the ride of a 1957 Pontiac to be as "smooth as a prom queen's thighs".


    Read more at [en.wikipedia.org] (where I found the other two quotes above)

     Reply
    bygeorge was starred bygeorge was unstarred
    Image of A strolling player A strolling player
    05/17/09

    @bygeorge: So this guy was basically an American proto-Clarkson, then. They seem to have similar penchants for perfect metaphor. I think I'm going to read his entire Wikiquote page.
     Reply
    A strolling player was starred A strolling player was unstarred
    Image of mdensch mdensch
    05/17/09

    @bygeorge: McCahill was the most honest, straight forward auto journo who ever lived. He would never survive in today's market.
     Reply
    mdensch was starred mdensch was unstarred
    Image of MushyHeirloom MushyHeirloom
    05/17/09

    @mdensch: A couple of the guys who write for Automobile are close (though they're no McCahill or Clarkson, surely). Sam Smith, for example, once said that the Audi RS4 sounded "like an angry, drunken bear being shot from a cannon", while Jason Cammisa writes that the BMW 850i's "robust starter engages with the metallic ring of an All-Clad saucepan being struck with a wooden spoon."
     Reply
    MushyHeirloom was starred MushyHeirloom was unstarred
    Image of Ralph Wiley Is Poised Ralph Wiley Is Poised
    05/17/09

    @A stʁolling playeʁ: Uncle Tom in a promotional film for Chrysler.



    + Watch video



    _from=PL&index=1


    Richard Langworth wrote a bio of McCahill for Collectible Automobile around 2002 that included pages of Unk's similes organized by car and year.
     Reply
    Ralph Wiley Is Poised was starred Ralph Wiley Is Poised was unstarred
    Image of Charles_Barrett - Now with Variable-Valve Timing Charles_Barrett - Now with Variable-Valve Timing
    05/17/09

    @LucidRalphWiley:

    So the Imperial takes corners "as flat as a bookkeeper's chest"...? Wow, Jezebel would grind Uncle Tom into shark chum.
     Reply
    Charles_Barrett - Now with Variable-Valve Timing was starred Charles_Barrett - Now with Variable-Valve Timing was unstarred
    Image of ummagumma82 ummagumma82
    05/17/09

    @FstrPssycw: No need to hunt 'em down anymore-- as tonyola mentioned above, they're now all in Google Book Search. It's awesome.


    @bygeorge: I can't remember where I found the article so I can't check, but I'm almost certain it was Tom McCahill too.


    @A stʁolling playeʁ: Exactly. Speaking of which, I recently came across a video of Jeremy Clarkson driving an 80s Town Car. It's the funniest damn review I've ever heard (his description of the ride quality is sublime):

     Reply
    ummagumma82 was starred ummagumma82 was unstarred
    Image of A strolling player A strolling player
    05/17/09

    @ummagumma82: Oh. My. God. I need more old Clarkson in my life. I've seen all the modern format Top Gear episodes at least twice (some at least 20 times), but I really need to get into the old stuff.
     Reply
    A strolling player was starred A strolling player was unstarred
    Image of A strolling player A strolling player
    05/17/09

    @LucidRalphWiley: Notice there aren't any Studebakers in that test. I can tell you right now they'd have beaten the crap out of everyone, yes?
     Reply
    A strolling player was starred A strolling player was unstarred
    Image of Elhigh Elhigh
    05/18/09

    @Charles_Barrett - Now with Variable-Valve Timing: Talking about a male bookkeeper. Everybody knows women can't do math.


    Aaiieee! Careful with the Birkenstocks!!

     Reply
    Elhigh was starred Elhigh was unstarred
    Image of .357 .357
    05/17/09

    In reply to Get Ready For The Future Of Vehicle Steering, 1965 Style: Ford's Wrist Twist
    Who needs safety?
     Reply
    .357 was starred .357 was unstarred
    Image of Uncle Bo Uncle Bo
    05/17/09

    In reply to Get Ready For The Future Of Vehicle Steering, 1965 Style: Ford's Wrist Twist
    Ol' Doris Day there can give me a twist with her wrist any ol' time.
     Reply
    Uncle Bo was starred Uncle Bo was unstarred
    Image of MushyHeirloom MushyHeirloom
    05/17/09

    In reply to Get Ready For The Future Of Vehicle Steering, 1965 Style: Ford's Wrist Twist
    Man, that'd be something! Sneeze on the freeway without bracing the wheel against both knees, and you'd roll the car right over.
     Reply
    MushyHeirloom was starred MushyHeirloom was unstarred
    Image of Six Flags Over Tomsk Six Flags Over Tomsk
    05/11/09

    In reply to Citroën Karin Concept Car Should Have Made The 80s The Trapezoidal Decade


    Mhgheg ghj jpgjprgge fhfrheghe....


    KARIN!!!!

     Reply
    Six Flags Over Tomsk was starred Six Flags Over Tomsk was unstarred
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