Ooh, shiny AND toxic
I’ve been busy lately planning for a trip next week but I came across these and thought I’d share. Conspicuous consumption meets garishly bad taste in chrome and sterling silver, respectively:
Of course, if what really revs your engine in auto luxury is that nauseous “new car” smell you might be interested to hear that it’s really just glue mixed with formaldehyde. It kills brain cells, something that may be lots of fun on a Friday night but is really bad behind the wheel. Plus it gives me a monster headache. For more about the “new car” smell and its alleged links to cancer, read this article from TreeHugger.
(Thanks to Motor Authority and this strange site for the pictures)
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Automotive emoticons
Ever wanted to say something to someone following you on the road but felt restricted by the normal options: the polite wave, the “go-around” hand out the window, and flipping the bird? Well here it is. This LED device sold by Think Geek displays one of 5 different emoticons (smileys): smiley, frowny, dubious, thanks, and back-off.
Thanks Jeff.
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Time your child's birth right and you could win a Sebring
Perennially for sale car company Chrysler has come up with one of the weirder marketing gimicks I’ve seen in a while. In most ways, this is a normal win-a-car auction except for one catch, the only way to qualify to enter the contest is if you have a baby born at 2:03:04 on 05/06/07. I’m not sure whether they’re trying to say that their cars are good for new families, or that they just they like a good number joke, but this is something to keep in mind if you are due to deliver sometime in the next week. Stall.
(Via Winding Road)
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Mahogany car
Normally reserved for high-class furniture, mahogany is an especially strong slow-growing African hardwood. No wonder it was the material of choice to make this all-wood car, the Tryane II. The three-wheeled car can reach a top speed of 101 mph and can apparently get 55-70 miles per gallon. Like many home-built cars, the Tryane II is built on the classic Citroen 2CV engine. Enjoy the picture and if you want to know more, check out this article from the Daily Mail newspaper.
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Another problem with Ethanol
I’ve never been a big fan of ethanol-fueled cars because our system of growing commodity corn, the source of all ethanol, is so drenched in petroleum-based fertilizers and herbicides that I don’t think it actually changes our dependence on oil. As it turns out, there are other reasons to not immediately embrace ethanol, it makes our air less clean. According to a recent study out of Stanford, the air pollution effects of ethanol vs. gasoline emissions are actually worse and would cause more smog-related illnesses and deaths. There’s more on this here or you can just read the report (PDF).
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X Prize for auto efficiency
The X Prize Foundation has announced a new competition to achieve automotive efficiency. Arguing that competition breeds success and citing Lindbergh’s prize-winning trans-Atlantic flight, the X Prize foundation shocked the world with the original Ansari X Prize for space flight by making space tourism a reality. Now it seems the group’s target is more terrestrial with the multi-million dollar prize going to the first group that can make a car that, among many other things, gets 100 miles per gallon. Read the full list of guidelines if you’re interested.
Originally found through this article at World Changing
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Homemade Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
42 year-old Constable Nick Pointing might just be the perfect husband. His wife Carolyn has absolutely loved the story of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang for years and now thanks to four years of hard work and a lot of skill, she has one of her own. Nick and Carolyn built this road-legal (although not flight-worthy) replica of the famous flying car out of an old Land Rover.
Photo credit and original story at the Daily Mail
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