The Auto Channel
The Largest Independent Automotive Research Resource
The Largest Independent Automotive Research Resource
Official Website of the New Car Buyer

Nutson's Nuggets: Last Week's (August 13-19, 2012) Automotive News In Case You were Dozing


PHOTO

Auto Central Louisville, KY August 19, 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 1,348,275 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 TV viewers, I know you are enjoying watching The Auto Channel's TACH-TV on channel 44 WHDT-TV Palm Beach (Cable 17 and 438, channel 9 Miami and channel 32 Fort Meyers-Naples, and thanks for the poisitive feedback...See you next week, LN

Automotive News August 13-19, 2012

* This is the week for the most prestigious classic and collector car show in the U.S., the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance near Monterey, California. The week is filled with vintage races, classic car auctions, tours, peripheral car shows and the annual show for the Automotive Fine Art Society. Tickets for the Sunday Concours are pricey and hard to get but just hanging around the area you'll be immersed in the classic car culture.

* Also at Pebble Beach BMW will be presenting their new Zagato concept car and they'll show for the first time in North America the new 7-Series with 540-hp engine. It's sounding more like one of the major new car shows. BMW is the focus of the Legends of the Autobahn where they will also show the new M5 and M6, the classic M1 mid-engine super car from 1979 and for the first time in the U.S. the legendary M8 Prototype.

*And also this week is the epic annual gathering of old car and car culture lovers known as the Woodward Dream Cruise near Detroit. This reenactment of "cruising" Woodward, what all young men did in the 1950s and 1960s, has grown into one of the largest automotive events in the world with over a million people lining the boulevard for nearly 20 miles watching every conceivable kind of automobile cruise by.

* Automotive News reports that this is a good time to buy an exotic Italian car. With Italy suffering its fourth recession since 2001 they've had to export the vast majority of their expensive cars. They've nearly tripled the number of used Ferraris and Maseratis since the first of the year. * General Motors is recalling more than 38,000 Chevrolet Impala police cars in the U.S. and Canada because a part in the front suspension can crack and cause a crash. The recall affects police cars from the 2008 through 2012 model years.

* And, General Motors is also recalling more than 10,000 full-size vans in the U.S. and Canada because the fuel filler pipes can rust, leak and cause fires. The recall covers Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana vans from the 2003 and 2004 model years with left-side cargo doors. In the U.S., the vans were sold in 20 states where salt and chemicals are used to clear snow from roads.

* The Pikes Peak Hill Climb finally took place after being delayed for a month by forest fires. Rhys Millen set a new world record, scaling the mountain on the now all-tarmac course in his modified Hyundai Genesis Coupe in just 9minutes 46.164 seconds. Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. (MMNA) saw its 2012 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC) electric vehicle racing team achieve an impressive debut on the difficult 12.42 mile long, 156 corner mountainside race course by recording a second-place finish in the Electric Vehicle class with its Mitsubishi i-MiEV Evolution with a lap time of 10 minutes, 30.850 seconds. Additionally, the lap time was good enough to finish in 8th place overall from the 170 vehicles entered in this year's Pikes Peak event.

* Fisker Automotive engineers are examining a Karma plug-in hybrid that burst into flames in a parking lot in California. The evidence suggests the fire was not caused by problems with the vehicle's lithium-ion battery pack, new technology components or exhaust routing, Fisker said.

* The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) praised a ruling from the United States Court of Appeals in Washington DC on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) approval of E15 blends. (A blend of gasoline mixed with 15 percent ethanol).

The court ruled that the petroleum, engine, and grocery trade associations who were hoping to appeal the EPA’s approval had no proof that any engine has been or would be damaged by E15, and therefore had no legal standing to bring forward an appeal in court. The legal petition was dismissed for a lack of jurisdiction.

* The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said the results of a new test are expected to prompt new engineering by many manufacturers. The new, small overlap test is meant to simulate the results of a crash in which the front corner of a vehicle collides with another vehicle or a stationary object like a tree or utility pole. Only two of the 11 midsize luxury and near-luxury models tested, all from the 2012 model year, earned the highest rating of Good in the new regimen.