Nutson's Nuggets: Last Week's (July 16-21, 2012) Automotive News In Case You Were Dozing

Auto Central Louisville, KY July 22, 2012; Each week Larry Nutson, The Auto Channel's Chicago Bureau Chief, along with Steve Purdy and Thom Cannell from The Auto Channel Michigan Bureau give you easy to digest nuggets of the past week's automotive news you may have missed.

If you are a car nut like we all are, you can easily "catch up" on these stories as well as the past 16 years 1,346,176 automotive stories, articles, reviews, rants and raves by just searching for the subject you are interested in The Auto Channel's Automotive News Archive. Hey South Florida viewers, get out of the sun watch TACH-TV on channel 44.1 and 9.1 and let us know what you think! See you next week, LN

Automotive News July 16-22 2012:

* Going on the auction block next week at the RM Auction, part of the Concours of America at St. John's (formerly Meadow Brook), is Al Capone's armored 1928 Cadillac V8 Town Sedan. With 3,000 pounds of steel armor under the body panels and portholes for gun barrels it is one of the earliest known armored vehicles. It is expected to bring up to a half million dollars.

* Rick Schostek, senior VP of Honda North America Manufacturing, told the Automotive Press Association this week that they will add capacity in their U.S. plants and increase exports from the U.S. to other markets. Honda's Marysville, Ohio plant was the first Asian auto assembly facility when it launched in 1982. Honda has 7 plants in North America and all are running full steam.

* The famous Italian motorcycle maker, Ducati, is now part of Audi. The German automaker just purchased Ducati for about $1.1 billion making it the 11th brand now part of the Audi fold.

* Ford announced a recall on the recently redesigned Escape as a result of a defective high-pressure fuel line that could fail resulting in an engine fire. The recall effects vehicles with the 1.6-liter engines only. The owners of the 11,500 affected Escapes were told to immediately not drive their cars and they would be brought a temporary loaner to drive.

* Another recall this week effects over 300,000 Honda CR-V and Acura ILX vehicles worldwide resulting from a problem with bad front door latches. Both models were newly redesigned last year. No accidents or injuries have been reported from the defect but the door could open unexpectedly.

* We learned this week of Chevy's plan for a 60th Anniversary Special Edition Corvette for 2013 featuring the Z06, 7-liter (427 cubic-inch), 505 hp engine and the aerodynamic tricks of the slick ZR1. The head-up display will show both your speed and G-forces. The next generation C7 Corvette is expected for the 2014 model year. * This weekend's German Grand Prix will go on as scheduled but the famed Nurburgring race track is about to go belly-up. The race track and its associated entertainment complex is "effectively bankrupt" according to a story in AutoWeek. They are looking to the European Commission for some government aid.

* The NHTSA is investigating complaints that accelerator throttles can stick on Ford Escape and identical Mazda Tribute SUVs. The investigation includes 730,000 Escapes and Tributes from the 2001-2004 model years with six-cylinder engines.

* General Motors' nearly 6 million OnStar subscribers will be able to rent their GM vehicles through the car-sharing business RelayRides and avoid the hassle of meeting renters in person to give them keys. The partnership allows owners of GM vehicles to rent their cars or trucks to other people for extra cash. OnStar gave RelayRides permission to develop technology that allows renters to unlock OnStar-equipped vehicles through smartphone or by replying to text messages.

* Nissan is recalling about 11,000 of its 2012 Juke crossovers because the rear seat could come unlatched in a crash. Porsche is recalling 270 vehicles from the 2011-12 model years in the United States for a fire hazard. The Porsche recall covers the 2012 Panamera Turbo S, the 2011-12 Panamera Turbo and the 2012 Cayenne Turbo.

* The U.S. House of Representatives voted down an amendment that would have prevented the military from sponsorships of NASCAR (and other motorsports) teams in the future. The National Guard has a big sponsorship, reportedly $26.5 million, with Dale Earnhardt, Jr and also with JR Hildebrand in IndyCar. However, the Army will stick by its ending of the $8.4 million sponsorship of Ryan Newman's car in NASCAR.