Fisker Establishes Dealer Network

March 30 - Moving yet another step closer to delivery, Premium green automaker Fisker Automotive has appointed its first group of North American retailers to market and service its luxury plug-in hybrid vehicles, beginning with the $87,900, 100mpg Karma sedan later this year. Thirty-two award-winning retailers have confirmed their intent to carry the Fisker marque.

All Fisker retailers are well-established operations familiar with premium brands, new technology and discerning clientele. Many are family-owned, each is active in giving back to their communities, and all understand the need to offer premium customers a vehicle that reduces environmental impact.

By keeping startup costs low and not requiring floor-planning beyond demonstrator and display cars, Fisker is able to attract new franchises even in tough economic times. President Obama's recent pledge of $2.4B to support development of plug-in hybrid vehicles and battery technology is added incentive.

Fisker showrooms will reflect the company's concern for the environment and their vehicles' emission free capabilities. "They will be Eco-facilities, not Ego-facilities," Fisker Board member Vic Doolan said. Architecture calls for natural and sustainable materials like wood and textiles. An available solar-powered car port can keep demonstrators clean, dry, fully charged and ready to go.

Rolls Takes Pole Position at Goodwood

March 26 - Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has loaned the Goodwood Motor Circuit a Phantom Coupe for use as the official course car at this year's Festival of Speed. The car will additionally be used by the Track Stewards Team to lead parade laps and other circuit duties at Goodwood.

The Phantom Coupe is finished in Darkest Tungsten with 21 inch forged alloy wheels. The interior features Smoke Grey Mono leather and Rosewood veneer and is complemented by a Starlight Headliner. The car has been fitted with special LED warning lights to allow it to be used as a course car.

"The Phantom Coupe is the most driver orientated car in the Phantom range and was therefore the natural choice for the Goodwood Motor Circuit," said Tom Purves, Chief Executive Officer. "The loan is a natural extension of the association between Rolls-Royce Motor Cars and the Goodwood Estate."

Phantom Coupe is the fourth Phantom model since the launch of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars in 2003, following Phantom, Phantom Extended Wheelbase and Phantom Drophead Coupé. Production began at Goodwood in July 2008. The model includes tuned suspension and modifications to gearbox, steering and brake settings.

The Goodwood Festival of Speed runs July 3-5 and the Goodwood Revival, September 18-20.

Indy Centennial Approaches

March 25 - Needing a test facility for Indianapolis' burgeoning automobile industry, Carl Fisher and three other investors purchased 325 acres of land in 1909. They built a 2.5-mile racetrack and dubbed it Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

"The Brickyard" -- a nickname coming about later that year when 3.2 million bricks were used to pave the track -- is the world's largest sports venue, with the ability to seat about 400,000 spectators.

One hundred years after the first of more than 300 races at the speedway, it remains home of the world-famous Indianapolis 500, as well as NASCAR's Brickyard 400, and some motorcycle and Formula One events.

The 93rd Indy 500 on May 24, 2009, is being billed as the first race in the track's "Centennial Era" of 2009-2011. Friday, March 20, 2009 was the 100th anniversary of the signing of the company's articles of incorporation by its four founding fathers.

As part of the celebrations, a Balloon Festival will take place May 1-3 at IMS with a full schedule of evening balloon glows and daytime ascensions. The event will commemorate the first competitive event ever at the Speedway, a gas-filled balloon race June 5, 1909.

For additional information, visit the IMS web site.

More Bad News for H2 Drivers

March 23 - As if increased gas prices weren't enough to make a lot of Hummer owners park their ride for the duration, Yahoo is reporting
that the leviathan off road vehicle also tops the list of most-ticketed vehicles.

Based on a survey conducted by ISO Quality Planning, H2 drivers emerged as the top ticket collectors in the country.

Other vehicles on the most naughty list included the Scion tC, Scion xB, Mercedes Benz CLK63 AMG, Toyota Solara Coupe, Mercedes Benz CLS63 AMG, Scion xA, Subaru Outback, Audi A4 and Toyota Matrix.

The "nice" side of the list was topped by the Jaguar XJ, followed in order by the Chevy Suburban, Chevy Tahoe, Chevy Silverado, Buick Park Avenue, Mazda 6, Buick Rainier, Olds Silhouette, Buick Lucerne and GMC Sierra 1500.

Making conclusions based solely on observed data is a practice filled with error. Are H2 drivers inherently more dangerous? Are they being profiled or targeted? Such conclusions are about equivalent to those from using a Ouija board.

Why? Here's an example of a conclusion based on this practice. "All electical appliances run on blue smoke. When you get a leak and all the blue smoke is lost, the device no longer works." Is that the kind of thinking that runs our insurance companies?

Drifting Heads Mainstream

March 13 - D1GP USA has announced that it has finalized a deal with GPI Content Corporation and The FOX Television Station Group to air
each of the D1GP USA Championship Points Series events in an estimated 45 million homes on FOX owned TV stations.

Each event, slated as a one hour special, is anticipated to be broadcast adjacent to high-profile sporting events during the fall 2009 season. The FOX owned and operated broadcast TV stations provide content to nearly 40 percent of the nation's households and nearly 44 percent of the nation's Hispanic households, assuring that D1GP USA viewers will be the largest U.S. audience ever to witness drifting.

Rich Goodwin, president of D1GP USA, commented "Not only will die-hard fans be able to catch all of the action, but millions of people who have never been exposed to drifting will have a chance to see the best drivers in the world going head to head - all in spectacular high-definition TV."

Weekly coverage of the D1GP USA Championship Points Series will commence this spring on the weekly syndicated motorsports show Steel Dreams TV, seen in more than 150 U.S. television markets and covering some 70 million households.

Transmission of The Future

March 11 - During the seventh International Car Training Institute (CTI) Symposium for Innovative Automotive Transmissions in Berlin, over 40% of participants responding to an on-site survey predicted dual-clutch technology will be the leading transmission by the year 2020.

Other transmission technologies, including conventional step-ratio automatic, continuously variable, manual/automated manual, and completely new systems only rated 10% - 15% each among participants. Approximately 1,000 transmission experts from around the world participated in the symposium.

Interest in dual-clutch transmissions is particularly strong among OEMs in Europe and major growth markets in Asia. Worldwide, BorgWarner projects production of dual-clutch transmissions to grow an average of 42% year-over-year, from approximately 600,000 transmissions in 2008 to five million in 2014. BorgWarner also expects to supply DualTronic controls technology, dual-clutch technology or both in over 80% of the dual-clutch transmissions produced worldwide in the next six years.

Organized by Germany's highly regarded Car Training Institute, the symposium gathered transmission experts from Europe, Asia and the United States to discuss how new vehicle and drive concepts, increasing energy costs and consumer purchasing power will influence transmission development.

American 'Crown Jewel' Up for Auction

March 9 - This 1965 Shelby Daytona Cobra was one of six cars built by Carroll Shelby to compete against Ferrari, who were dominating the F.I.A. (Federation Internationale de l'Automobile) World Manufacturers Championship GT race class.

An experimental coupe body designed by Pete Brock was built on an existing Cobra chassis, immediately increasing the top speed by 25 mph. That car won its first race, the 1964 Daytona Continental -- prompting Shelby to adopt the name -- and five more coupes were built, including CSX2601.

After competing at Daytona, Monza, Spa and Nurburgring, CSX2601 made history when it clinched the 1965 World Manufacturers Championship for the United States and Shelby American on July 4 in Reims, France.

Driving the car - and America - to victory on that fateful July afternoon was legendary driver Bob Bondurant.

"I won a lot of races with this Daytona Cobra Coupe, but when I crossed the finish line at the Reims race track I yelled 'Yes!' It was a fantastic feeling," Bondurant shared. "I always wanted to race in Europe against the world's best drivers. Winning that World Championship was the crowning achievement of my career. I think it's wonderful that the car is being showcased 40 years later."

Now fully restored and wearing its famous Reims livery, the Shelby Daytona Cobra CSX2601 headlines the 22nd Dana Mecum Original Spring Classic Auction taking place May 13-17, 2009, in Indianapolis, Ind.

Consignment, Bidder, event and accommodation information is available online at http://www.mecum.com/ or by calling 815.568.8888

Meet Natalia

March 9 - Progress is being made in the development of the world's first hand-built, $2 million, sixteen-cylinder production automobile - The Natalia.

Alfred DiMora, the founder of DiMora Motorcar, based in Palm Springs, California, is known for his expertise in designing high-end luxury cars such as the Clenet and Sceptre. He was also the founder of Starbridge Systems, Inc. where he developed the world's fastest FPGA supercomputer.

Recently announced, ProMetal RCT will provide an integrated product and process team will use the their digital 3D printing technology to produce castings for the 1200-horsepower Volcano V16 engine without the need for patterns or tooling. The ProMetal RCT equipment automatically builds sand molds and cores for casting metal directly from CAD data.

Dan Maas, Director of Business Development for ProMetal, says "This revolutionary process allows design freedoms, heretofore never available to the casting designer or the foundry. Removing the requirements for parting lines, draft angles and providing undercuts is just the tip of the iceberg."

Previously announced, the 2000-hp engine will utilise a proprietary coating for the cylinder walls to eliminate the need for seperate steel liners. The NiCom coating from U.S. Chrome is a nickel metal matrix with dispersed silicon carbide particles.

Insurance Myths & Legends

March 4 - If you believe that red sports cars are the most difficult to insure, you're way off base, according to the industry.

Roughly 25 percent of drivers surveyed by Progressive Insurance believe that the color of their car is a factor in determining their
insurance rate.

"The idea that the color of a car enters into what you’re going to pay for insurance is a myth that’s been around for a long time," said Jeff McCollum, spokesperson for State Farm Insurance. "I wouldn’t be surprised if it came from the fact that people with red sports cars have the image of being wild and reckless, but it certainly isn’t based on any type of reality."

Your own experience might support the idea that drivers of sports cars get more tickets and thus pay higher insurance premiums, but that's not generally the case.

According to a study by Quality Planning Corp., leading the pack with the most violations are drivers of the Hummer H2 and H3. Hummer drivers have almost five times the number of violations compared to the average. Drivers of three different Scion models (tC, XB Station, XA) also made the Top 10 'Bad Boy' list. Others on the list include drivers of two models of the Mercedes-Benz (CLK63 AMG, CLS63 AMG), two Toyotas (Solara, Matrix) and the Subaru Outback Station Wagon and Audi A4.