DeLorean And Tesla Launch New Models

                                                                             

Always dreamed about owning a DeLorean? The iconic car immortalised by the Back to the Future franchise might be making a comeback.

The DeLorean Motor Company has been given the green light for low-volume production, after the US Government passed additions to the federal highway bill in December.
The cars will not be modern takes on the classic design — the company hopes to reproduce the 1982 DeLorean model.

Chief executive Stephen Wynne told local media he estimated he had enough new old stock parts — original parts that were never used or sold — to make about 300 replica cars.
"There's no reason to change the appearance of the car. As we go into the program, we'll decide what areas need to be freshened up," Mr Wynne said.
Mr Wynne said he hoped to have the first car completed by 2017, but that a "number of hurdles" had to be overcome before production could begin, according to a statement from the company.

All going to plan, Mr Wynne said he hoped to sell the new cars for less than $US100,000, depending on the engine chosen for the cars.

The company, based in Humble, Texas, holds dozens of old DeLoreans at their facility — some pre-owned models owned by the company, and some shipped from owners around the world to be refurbished.

It was formed in 1995 by Mr Wynne and is separate to the original DeLorean Motor Company founded by John DeLorean in 1975.

The Texas company soon after acquired the DMC logo trademark as well as the leftover parts inventory from the original company.

However, only a limited number of the gull-wing sports cars are planned for production.
With many thanks to ABC 

The Tesla Model S
                                                                    

                                                                   

As both the ultimate eco-friendly luxury car and an absurdly fast sports sedan, we simply love the Model S. With an aptly named “Ludicrous Mode,” the top-spec, all-wheel-drive P90D hits 60 mph in 2.8 seconds.


And yes, the optional Autopilot can do the driving for you in certain situations. The other trim levels offer varying performance and range as you move down the lineup, but all offer a classy cabin and electrifying driving experience. We gave the 70 and 70D a 10Best award for 2016. Instrumented Test – 2015 Tesla Model S P90D

View Features and Specs

Tesla made history with the introduction of its Model S sports sedan two-plus years ago, prompting approbation from car critics far and wide. This was the breakthrough electric car the world had seemingly been waiting for, offering attractive design, a remarkable interior, and entertaining performance. The price—starting at about $60,000 before the $7500 federal kickback—was far beyond the average household’s reach, and range anxiety will always be a concern for any pure electric, but the S was a refreshing interpretation of just how super a modern supersedan could be. 

The recent expansion of the lineup to provide four distinct Model S, er, models warrants an award grander than the 10Best Cars recognition we bestowed upon the S earlier this year: our nomination for “Car of the 21st Century” honors. Combining the aforementioned virtues with significant new features and a modest increase in price makes the Tesla Model S 70D reviewed here the new ultimate in four-door sedan engineering and technology. It’s worth noting that the 70D replaces the Model S 60 that picked up our 10Best accolade as the entry-level version. “D” signifies dual-motor all-wheel drive; the only RWD Model S available now is the 85.

The 70D Rundown

As with the rest of its Model S lineup mates, the 70D has mostly aluminum body and chassis construction, a battery pack built into the floor, comfortable seating for five (or up to seven with the optional jump seats), and attractive interior and exterior design. The huge, 17-inch touch screen providing navigation, entertainment, and car information and control functionality still smiles congenially from the center of the dash. 

The big news here is a pair of 257-hp (Tesla’s before-the-transmission rating, the post-gearbox rating is 329 combined horsepower) AC motors driving all four wheels and a base price of $76,200 before federal tax credits. A 70-kWh battery provides an EPA-rated 240-mile driving range; your results will vary. 

Compared with the Signature Performance (P85) rear-driver we tested more than two years ago, the new 70D is 177 pounds lighter and delivers slightly poorer accelerating, braking, and cornering performance. That said, it consumed less energy, achieved a higher top speed, and is a bit quieter during acceleration and cruising. A major plus is the extra confidence in adverse weather conditions provided by the 70D’s all-wheel drive. (It improves in nearly all areas save for weight versus the now-defunct, rear-drive Model S 60 we tested.) 

Much more here.

                                                                    

The Genius of Nicola Tesla 


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Janis Joplin’s Porsche Fetches $2.45m At Sotheby’s Auction

                                                                

Janis Joplin, the pop star famous for singing about wanting to own a Mercedes Benz car, would have been astonished to know what her actual car was worth now.

At an auction in New York this weekend, her 1965 Porsche 356c 1600 Cabriolet fetched $US1.76 million ($2.45m).

She bought the car secondhand for $3500 in 1968, and paid road manager Dave Roberts $500 to paint it with distinctive 1960s-era imagery.

She died two years later of a drug overdose, aged 27.

The car was acquired by her family. For the past 20 years, it has been on display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio.

The auction was expected to yield about $US400,000. However, the vehicle headed to the auction block at Sotheby’s New York on Thursday where it sold for more than three times the expected amount of $US400,000.

Motoring columnist John Connolly last month wrote about the colourful car’s imagery, saying
Roberts was a carpenter, sculptor and self-taught tattoo artiste whose work was influenced by cult cartoonist Robert Crumb.

“Dave spent 30 days painting butterflies, meandering meadows, the eye of god, Capricorn (Janis’s star sign) and other colourful things that could have come to him only while examining the inner recesses of his mind to create what he called, modestly, ‘The history of the universe’.”

CNN Money reports the price is a record for a Porsche 356 at auction. The price was attributed to the fact that the car was so closely associated with Joplin, who drove it everywhere. Joplin’s siblings were planning to give the money to social programs, CNN said.

                                                                    

                                                                    

With many thanks to The Australian


                                                                      

 
Above: Picture via Twitter with thanks to @HistoryToLearn
The painting depicts the history of the Universe.


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I don't need much of an excuse to mention "The King Of Cool" - Steve McQueen.

Truly a Hollywood legend!

                                                                

                                                                   

Welcome to the 2015 Hollywood edition of The Weekend AustralianMotoring, in which we reveal the top five movie cars of all time, and what it will cost you to look like Steve McQueen or hop in Herbie.

This is the most authoritative top five list ever published mainly because we’ve cobbled it together from everyone else’s lists and added a few thoughts of our own.

No 1 has to be the silver birch, James Bond-owned, 1964 Aston Martin DB5. While the Aston wasn’t the first Bond car (that was a Sunbeam Alpine) it is the most famous of all the 25 car brands, three aeroplane and boat brands, one bus and buggy brand that Jimmy drove, flew and submerged. Nine years ago you could have bought a DB5 from the movie for $2 million. Today you’d pay about $7m.

                                                                  

Next is the 1973 Ford Falcon XB GT coupe or V8 Interceptor from Mad Max. In the greatest line in a script since Sam Beckett penned, “Dance first. Think later. It’s the natural order”, Australian actor and Mad Max: Fury Road writer Nick Lathouris utters those immortal words: “She’s the last of the V-8s. She sucks nitro.”

Producers George Miller and Byron Kennedy sank $380,000 into the movie, which was actually more money than they had. Not being able to pay all their bills, they gave the car to a creditor. Suddenly Mad Max made $100m and they bought the car back. Still unwanted, it was shipped to a British motor museum in 1992. The Miami Auto Museum bought it four years ago, where it remains.

Keeping on Fords, No 3 is the 1968 Mustang GT 390 driven by McQueen in the movie Bullitt. Ford built two cars for the drive around San Francisco. One was destroyed and the other was sold to a studio employee, then to a detective and finally an owner who has stored it in a barn in Kentucky.

Of course the best part of the movie was that the car chases and most other action in the movie was real. The high-speed scenes at the airport and hospitals were filmed with real doctors, nurses, people and very scared passengers in 707s.

Next is another 1968 car, the Mini Cooper S from The Italian Job. The producers used 16 Minis to make the movie and left them all in Italy. David Morton from Newcastle in England bought three boxes of leftover parts and restored and remade them to three as-new cars. You’d probably pay about $150,000 each.

Equal No 5 are the 1968 Mini Moke from that classic Sammy Davis and Peter Crawford Bond send-up Salt & Pepper. Naturally our own Mark Southcott nominated this. And no list of top movie (and television) cars would be complete without the Ford Falcon ute from Tomorrow, When the War Began, not to mention A Country Practice, Water Rats and other short-form international hits.

If you want a deeper movie experience you could have bought McQueen’s race suit from last month’s Bonhams auction. For $620,000 you got a cream-coloured race suit with orange and blue stripes, Gulf, Firestone and Chronograph Heuer patches, and “Michael Delaney” on the right breast. Best of all, it is fireproof. A really good buy if your name is Mick Delaney.

The buy of the year was Herbie, the 1963 VW used in the movie of the same name. Now we could talk about Jimmy’s DB5, Burt’s Pontiac Trans-Am and Steve’s Mustang, but none of these is a love bug and none can run around South Yarra with the driver hidden in the back invisible to all.

What fun you could have in the McDonald’s drive-through, picking up your plus one from their parents’ place or when you’re pulled over by the fun police. Only $120,000.

By John Connolly

With thanks to The Australian

                                                                                                                                        
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The long wait for Mustang fans is about to end, with the first ­shipment of cars docking in Melbourne early today.

But the shipment of more than 170 made-in-the-US Mustangs will go only so far in filling a backlog of 3000 orders piled up since the car was revealed two years ago.
The Michigan factory began right-hand-drive production in September, making the Mustang a world car for the first time since its mid-1960s debut.

Australian enthusiasts were some of the most eager to put down deposits and for many it will be just the newest car in a garage of classics ’Stangs.

Building consultant Bob Lorich, 60, placed his order 14 months ago. He has been an enthusiast for more than 40 years.

“Ever since I saw Allan Moffat race in 1969-70 at Sandown I’ve been caught up with Mustangs,” he said. “I’ve been accumulating them ever since.”

He pursued his dream by buying and restoring a classic 15 years ago and since he has bought and sold about a dozen.

One of his earliest purchases, an orange 1970 Boss 302 Fastback, remains his favourite.
His collection also includes a 1969 replica of Moffat’s No 9 Coca-Cola race-car and a 1969 convertible.

As members of the Mustang owners club, Bob and wife Anne regularly drive the cars in classic races and rallies.

When Bob realised the next generation would reach Australia, it didn’t take long to decide. “Anne needed a new car and I thought it would be perfect.”

They decided on a top-of-the-range black automatic convertible, with a 303kW 5.0-litre V8, which starts at $63,990.

Fastback coupe V8s with manual transmission cost $54,990 while a turbocharged 2.3-litre four-cylinder starts the line-up at $44,990.

The new Mustang is already a hit in left-hand-drive markets, with 76,124 bought over the first half of 2015, making it the most popular sports car on the planet.

Local Ford boss Graeme Whickman said he believed it would be as welcome here as it was in the US.

“We are so excited to launch Mustang in Australia and see how people respond to its iconic, magical looks and performance,” he said. “Just like in America, we are seeing great early demand for the V8 GT models.”

Bob and Anne’s V8 GT is in the first batch, but they will need a ­little more patience after ordering through a fellow enthusiast who has a Ford dealership in South Australia.
Bob looks forward to collecting the car and driving home to Melbourne.

“There’s nothing like jumping in a modern car … and it’s still got the same mystique about it.”

It will be his first taste of the new generation, but he already ­believes it’s a bargain next to ­classics.

“To convert a later model Mustang to right-hand-drive is $35,000, plus you’ve got to buy the car in America,’’ he said. “The new one is great value for money.”

By Philip King

With many thanks to The Australian

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DeLorean And Tesla Launch New Models






          

Back To The Future:A Self-Driving Electric DeLorean

                                                                  

Engineers from Stanford University have marked Back to the Future day by releasing footage of MARTY, a self-driving, electric DeLorean.

Developed as part of research into ways autonomous vehicles can be equipped to handle even the most dangerous and dramatic of driving situations, MARTY, short for Multiple Actuator Research Testbed for Yaw control, looks at how autonomous vehicles can trade stability for fluid driving.

Most modern cars, including self-driving models, use Electronic Stability Control (ESC) to keep their handling stable by, for example, automatically applying brakes or even cutting engine power to improve stability in risky situations. However, Stanford Professor Chris Gerdes said that "in our work developing autonomous driving algorithms, we've found that sometimes you need to sacrifice stability to turn sharply and avoid accidents".

MARTY has been created to act without such stability controls and instead mimic rally car drivers by "sacrificing stability [to] use all of the car's capabilities to avoid obstacles and negotiate tight turns at speed". By doing this, the team hopes to create self-driving systems that can control a car safely in any situation.

MARTY has been created to act without such stability controls and instead mimic rally car drivers by "sacrificing stability [to] use all of the car's capabilities to avoid obstacles and negotiate tight turns at speed". By doing this, the team hopes to create self-driving systems that can control a car safely in any situation.

In addition to its automated driving capabilities, MARTY has been upgraded with an electric supercar engine made by Renovo. The engine delivers 4,000 pound-feet from on-motor gearboxes to the rear wheels in a fraction of a second, giving MARTY the kind of precise control required for manoeuvres such as drifting.

MARTY can already drift in perfect circles, but that's only the beginning. The team hopes the self-driving car will ultimately be able to participate in a drifting competition with a human driver, where two vehicles compete to match and better each other's stunts while avoiding collisions.

"A drift competition is the perfect blend of our two most important research questions -- how to control the car precisely and how to design automated vehicles that interact with humans," Gerdes said.

Mechanical engineer Jonathan Goh, who designed MARTY's drifting capabilities, summed up the project by saying that "the sublime awesomeness of riding in a DeLorean that does perfect, smoke-filled doughnuts by itself is a mind-bending experience that helps you appreciate that we really are living in the future".

21 October 2015 is Back to the Future Day, the date that Marty McFly and Doc Brown travel forward to in the 1989 film Back to the Future II. People who grew up in the '80s -- particularly those who work in marketing -- are very excited about this.           

By K.G. Orphanides

                                                                

With many thanks to Wired UK                      

                                                      

                                                                    


                                                                 

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Are These The Top 10 Songs Named After Famous People?





                                  

The Model T Ford

                                                                            

For the first time car ownership became a reality for average American workers, not just the wealthy. More than 15 million Model Ts were built in Detroit and Highland Park, Michigan, and the automobile was also assembled at a Ford plant in Manchester, England, and at plants in continental Europe.

The Model T was an automobile built by the Ford Motor Company from 1908 until 1927. 

Conceived by Henry Ford as practical, affordable transportation for the common man, it quickly became prized for its low cost, durability, versatility, and ease of maintenance. Assembly-line production allowed the price of the touring car version to be lowered from $850 in 1908 to less than $300 in 1925. 

At such prices the Model T at times comprised as much as 40 percent of all cars sold in the United States. Even before it lost favour to larger, more powerful, and more luxurious cars, the Model T, known popularly as the “Tin Lizzie” or the “flivver,” had become an American folkloric symbol, essentially realizing Ford’s goal to “democratize the automobile.”

The Model T was offered in several body styles, including a five-seat touring car, a two-seat runabout, and a seven-seat town car. All bodies were mounted on a uniform 100-inch-wheelbase chassis. A choice of colors was originally available, but from 1913 to 1925 the car was mass-produced in only one color—black. The engine was simple and efficient, with all four cylinders cast in a single block and the cylinder head detachable for easy access and repair. 

The engine generated 20 horsepower and propelled the car to modest top speeds of 40–45 miles per hour (65–70 km/h). In most models the engine was started by a hand crank, which activated a magneto connected to the flywheel, but after 1920 some models were equipped with battery-powered starters. The transmission, consisting of two forward gears and one reverse, was of the planetary type, controlled by foot pedals rather than the more common hand lever used in sliding-gear transmissions. 

Spark and throttle were controlled by a hand lever on the steering column. The 10-gallon fuel tank was located under the front seat. Because gasoline was fed to the engine only by gravity, and also because the reverse gear offered more power than the forward gears, the Model T frequently had to be driven up a steep hill backward. 

Such deficiencies, along with its homely appearance, less-than-comfortable ride at top speeds, and incessant rattling, made the Model T the butt of much affectionate humour in innumerable jokes, songs, poems, and stories.

Picture Credit Ford: Muscle Car Club

                                                                     

With Many thanks to History.Com

Cars have come a long way since then. 

Luxurious, more expensive and still status symbols.

Picture credit for Ferrari: NDTV 

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