News Service

Controversial JFK death ambulance auctioned for $132,000

Nearly 47 years after his death, controversial still surrounds the shooting of President John F. Kennedy — even the sale of the 1963 Pontiac Bonneville ambulance that transported the president after he was killed. The ambulance that took the president from Air Force One to the Capitol after his death sold at auction last weekend for $132,000 — about 13 times more than a “regular” 1963 Pontiac ambulance is worth. Yet, the hopeful selling price was estimated to approach $1 million until a car conservator society questioned the car’s authenticity. McKeel Hagerty, CEO of specialty car insurer, Hagerty Insurance Agency, told Forbes.com: “There’s always something with those celebrity cars…the art world has the same problems. Even if the car is

Jaguar history celebration set for Rolex Monterey Reunion

Jaguar will be the featured marque of the 2011 Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion. Few automakers are as synonymous with sports car racing as Jaguar, and the reunion will highlight the 50th anniversary of the iconic Jaguar E-Type and 60th anniversary of the remarkable Jaguar C-Type’s win in the 1951 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, August 19-21 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, will host approximately 550 authentic and historic race cars from nearly every decade of motorsports history. The cars are divided into 17 groups according to age, engine size and must be period-correct in their presentation For Sir William Lyons, founder of Swallow Sidecar and Coach Building Company which evolved into Jaguar, winning Le Mans

Golden Globe Awards: Chrysler shines with black & white ad

Chrysler has promoted its cars in recent years with several innovative commercials. It may have outdone itself with the primarily black-and-white commercial broadcast during the 68th Golden Globe Awards. The commercial is called “Whatever Happened to Style?” and it showcases numerous classic cars through different decades. The text begins with the words: “Whatever happened to style? Where has the glamour gone? Wasn’t too long ago. America had it. Looking and feeling like a million bucks. “It was practically a birth rite. We didn’t race from A to B. We cruised. Going for a drive was a big deal. And when we arrived . . we arrived in style.” The music accommodating the commercial is “One Million Miles Away” by the

Nissan Leaf, Tesla Roadster top 2011 'gas' mileage honors

The influx of hybrid vehicles and intensified competition among manufacturers has shuffled the annual listing of most efficient cars. For 2011, some cars are familiar, but there are a few surprises. Compiled by editors of the web site, thedailygreen.com and published on Huffington Post.com, the Nissan Leaf, the first standard production, all-electric car on the road in the United States, shares the best “gas” of any car in the country, the equivalent of 99 mpg, with the Tesla Roadster, the limited production electric sports car. Here’s the description of the Leaf and the list of the top-15 cars for 2011 with the best gas mileage averages: “The first all-electric car on the road in the U.S. is the Nissan Leaf,

California company debuts circular Bluetooth headset

Maverick Lifestyle, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based manufacturer of hands-free mobile phone solutions, has introduced the Nica Sunrise Bluetooth headset at Amazon.com and select Apple Stores and Best Buy Mobile Specialty Stores. A reinvention of the Bluetooth headset, Nica Sunrise features a light-weight, open-air and clean circular design that can be worn comfortably for extended periods of time. Nica Sunrise is a departure from unattractive bar-shaped headsets, stemming from Maverick’s goal to counteract the negative stigma associated with wearing an awkward, protruding earpiece. With an unobtrusive shape, it resembles an audio headphone. Mobile phone users can say goodbye to Bluetooth fatigue in-ear syndrome. The Nica Sunrise’s open-air acoustics allow the headset to be worn comfortably for longer periods because there is

Honda Fit Shuttle images leaked for new stretched wagon

Honda is plenty busy at the North American Auto Show in Detroit showcasing new innovation for the U.S. market. But it appears the Japanese carmaker has another surprise for its global markets — the Honda Fit Shuttle. The website CarScoop.com is reporting a leak of brochure images showing a wagon-like version of the Honda Fit called the Fit Shuttle. One image, featuring Japanese characters across the bottom, showcases a vehicle with an extended body, taller roofline and a resigned rear. The Fit is called the Jazz in Europe, Australia, Asia and in other international markets. Other images and brochure information, according to the website, detail the Fit Shuttle will be offered in two versions: a hybrid powered by the same

Audi achieves historic first: one million sales in 2010

For the first time the since its debut vehicle, the Type A Sport-Phaeton, was produced 1910, Audi has sold more than a million cars per year, according to CEO Rupert Stadler. Audi sold 1.092 million cars worldwide in 2010, Stadler, a keynote speaker, told reporters at the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Audi sold 229,100 units in Germany in 2010, its home turf and biggest volume seller by country. But 227,900 Audi vehicles sold in China last year, the second most by country and the projected world leader in Audi sales in 2011. Audi has also unveiled it would begin production by the end of 2012 of two plug-in vehicles that were previously concept cars, the A1 e-tron

GM will debut compact Buick Verano at Detroit Auto Show

General Motors will introduce its new compact Buick, the Verano, in mid-January at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show and debut the car for sale in the United States toward the end of this year. The Verano will be offered with a 177-horsepower 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine and a six-speed automatic transmission. The car is expected to get 31 miles per gallon in highway driving, according to GM. “It is a smart choice that delivers unexpected luxury in a compact sedan — and it will compete head-to-head with competitors from Audi and Lexus.” John Schwegman, vice president of Buick marketing, said in a GM press release. The Verano, designed to compete against the Audi A3 and Lexus IS 250, looks similar to

OnStar safety program soon ready for non-GM vehicles

The OnStar in-vehicle safety system has been available on select General Motors brands since 1996. But the technology, now in its ninth generation, will soon be available to a wider range of vehicles, GM or not. Within a few months, consumer electronics retailers will begin selling a standalone version of OnStar. It’s replacement rear-view mirror that can be installed in most “top-selling” vehicles from major manufacturers. Best Buy will be OnStar’s the first U.S. retail partner. The retail version on OnStar will offer the core features including the noted “blue button,” turn-by-turn navigation services, stolen vehicle location assistance, automatic crash response and one-touch access to roadside and emergency services. The device will also offer hands-free calling via Bluetooth. The replacement

Honda, Ford surpass Toyota as most reliable cars in 2010

Massive recalls severely hurt Toyota sales in the past 18 months and thus relinquished the country’s former most reliable automaker to third place behind Honda and Ford, according to Consumer Reports. Honda rank in first place with 25 percent of car owners participating in the magazine’s survey naming the manufacturer with the best quality. Ford finished second with 23 percent, while Toyota finished third at 19 percent, 11 percent less than last year. Toyota‘s reputation plummeted in 2009 and 2010 and it paid nearly $50 million in fines last year to federal safety regulators for failing to promptly inform regulators of defects in its vehicles and delaying recalls. Chevrolet (19 percent) placed fourth in reliability while Mercedes-Benz (15 percent) was

Ford F-Series top 2010 seller, extends reign to 34 years

The Ford F-Series pick-up, the country’s best-selling vehicle every year for more than three decades, continued its commanding position in 2010 with an increase of more than 27 percent in sales from 2009. The Ford F-Series trucks, one of two Ford products on the top-10 list for 2010, had sales of 528,349, more than 150,000 more than the second-best seller, the Chevrolet Silverado. It was the country’s top-seller for the 34th straight year. Honda had three cars among the top-10 sellers for 2010, the Accord, Civic and CR-V. Toyota (Camry and Corolla) and Ford (F-Series and Fusion) had two vehicles on the list. Despite the third and fifth positions on the top-10 list, the Camry and Corolla were the only

Owen Wilson back as Lightning McQueen in Cars 2

Owen Wilson will reprise his voice over role as the character Lightning McQueen whose niche for racing leads him to find himself in adventurous moments the movie Cars 2 scheduled for release June 24, 2011. Jason Isaacs and Emily Mortimer have also joined the cast of the second installment of the animation film that began in 2006 with Cars According to the official press release, “Star racecar Lightning McQueen and the incomparable tow truck Mater take their friendship to exciting new places in Cars 2 when they head overseas to compete in the first-ever World Grand Prix to determine the world’s fastest car. “But the road to the championship is filled with plenty of potholes, detours and hilarious surprises when

Ferrari, Aston Martin, VW top NY Times' 2010 best cars

Ferrari, Aston Martin and the Volkswagen GTI top the New York Times automotive critics’ 2010 top-10 Cars of the Year list. Lawrence Ulrich, one several journalists who regularly report on the automotive industry for the newspaper, was direct in his top pick for the year, the Ferrari 458 Italia. “The world’s best sports car, a racing video game come to life in three gorgeous, thrilling dimensions. This is the car I would buy tomorrow if I inherited $250,000 today.” Jerry Garrett selected the Aston Martin Rapide: “The exquisitely executed Rapide is, like the sleek Jaguar XJ, a product of Ian Callum, designer extraordinaire. A sedan is a new offering for Aston, a tiny builder of British sports cars, as is

Honda, Lexus, Chevrolet dominate Kiplinger's/Yahoo Cars of the Decade list

The Toyota Prius and Chevrolet Corvette couldn’t be more different. And likewise, there’s nothing similar between a BMW 3 Series and a Honda Odyssey. Unless, of course, Kiplinger’s magazine and Yahoo.com happen to be compiling a list of the cars of the decade. With a vast number of vehicles from which to choose in the past decade, how could the publications possible select the top-10 cars of the decade. The Prius, for example, was selected with the following description: “When the Prius made its U.S. debut in 2001, it barely registered a blip in the auto industry. But then the Hollywood green crowd adopted the little gas-electric hybrid as a symbol of saving the planet. “Ten years and two redesigns

Audi, Ford, Lexus on The Weekly Driver's 2010 Best List

Recall was likely the most used word in the automotive industry in 2010. Toyota topped the list of manufacturers’ whose cars were retrieved by the millions with myriad issues. Regardless, of the 20 million recalls. it was another remarkable year for cars. The Hyundai Sonata for the first time in some monthly totals outsold the Honda Accord. The Chevy Camaro returned in 2009 as a 2010 model. Honda introduced the attention-grabbing Crosstour and discontinued the Element. The Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf made their public debuts amid an enormous public relations joust and with the future of hybrid and electric vehicles still largely unclear. The specialty car market was constantly in the news. Premium prices were dished out at auctions

Ten great cars not for sale in the United States

Plenty of great choices, sedans to sports cars, hardtop convertibles to pick-up trucks abound for car buyers in the United States. But there’s also a good selection of vehicles, the Chery A5 to the Wiesmann Roadster MF3, available in various part of the world — but not in the U.S. Business Week.com has compiled a diverse list of cars it deems worthy and that may one day be available in the United States. It’s just that you can’t purchase any of cars now in the U.S. Consider the HSU Maloo R8. The Guinness World Records book clocked the Maloo at 169 mph in 2006, making it the world’s fastest pickup truck. Since the early 1990s it has been built by