Today’s question comes from Bruce. We’ve been trading e-mails on this subject and he’d like to open it up for suggestions from other WINDING ROAD readers.
Let me preface the question by saying that I’m looking for a third vehicle to complete a portfolio.
With three young kids we have a Land Rover LR3 to get them around and my DD is a Porsche Boxster S. So the third vehicle needs to cart a few children, and to counter the very thirsty and very heavy LR3 it needs to be light and fuel efficient. If it’s sporty that’s cool, but with the Boxster at home I have that base covered.
So question of the day: What is the lightest vehicle on the market today that can reasonably seat a small family?
Let us know if you have any suggestions in the comments. Keep in mind that Bruce has three children ranging in age from one to four years and all of them currently require some type of car seat.
If you’ve got an idea for Question of the Day, a funny photo for Caption It, or just want to share a news tip, let us know at windingroadtips@gmail.com
It’s generally difficult to ascribe the word “tough” to a motorcycle with an engine measuring just 160cc of displacement, but tough is exactly what this Rokon Ranger from eBay Motors is.
Just look at it. Standing only about three feet high, with huge knobby tires, and a frame that could’ve been sourced from an unfortunate John Deere accident, the Rokon is all business. The little bike was purpose built for brutal, if slow, off-roading, and the bare-bones sidecar only adds to its rustic charm.
We can’t think of a bike we’d rather take into the wild, preferably with an old dog and a cooler full of cold beverages. Neither can the seller apparently, as he’s unwilling to ship this little beast, and seems particularly gruff in response to questions. We wouldn’t want to sell it either.
If you’ve got an idea for Question of the Day, a funny photo for Caption It, or just want to share a news tip, let us know at windingroadtips@gmail.com
Stateside, Robbie Williams is your run-of-the-mill music star, pumping out a couple of Top-40 hits a record, selling out small stadiums. You know, massively popular, but he’s no iconic pop-god like, say, Justin Timberlake.
Over in England, however, Robbie Williams is the second-coming – or, at least was. He has sold more albums (over 70 million worldwide) in the UK than any other British solo artist. His last album Rudebox didn’t fare as well – although it went platinum several times. However, that’s not the point. The point is; record conglomerate EMI expected to sell millions more copies of the record, but hasn’t.
So, the company announced that with the over 1 million leftover copies, it would crush the records and send them to China to be used in road resurfacing – according to Contact Music. EMI started the recycling initiative to reduce spending as it – like other record companies – is suffering from financial difficulties.
We remain squarely in the honeymoon phase of the new Aston Martin, but so far things appear to be positively glowing with action items showering down over the Cotswolds.
When we spoke with the Aston people during their DBS drive event last October, the subject of the new design studio came up only by accident, and it felt more like a yurt raising among villagers than a major extravaganza for the foreign press. They were unsure whether or not they would even celebrate the opening of the facility, saying they would probably have a small party and we could come if we found our own way there. When we later followed up on the status of it all, this scrape-it-together wee party had ballooned into the largest gala event Gaydon’s horsey set will ever see.
More automotive companies are planning to air ads during this weekend’s Super Bowl. The usual suspects General Motors, Ford, and Toyota will be joined this year by Audi and Hyundai – who are spending $2.7 million for 30-second spots, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Advertising experts told the Free Press that the ads aren’t designed to send the typical Super Bowl viewer off to the dealership, but for the consumer to remember that company next time they are out shopping for a new car.
Arthur Kover, an emeritus professor at Fordham University, said, “Car ads are like throwing seeds in the field and hoping that one of them will take hold at just the right moment.”
A developer wants to build a 16-mile tunnel under the Long Island Sound. The projected $10 billion project would be the longest highway tunnel in the world and would cost taxpayers nothing – that is unless they use the tunnel.
Developer Vincent Polimeni plans to fund the tunnel build with private money and recoup its costs by charging $25 to cross the bridge each way and with advertising (presumably inside the tunnel).
He told the Associated Press that the tunnel between Oyster Bay and Rye would allow travelers to avoid New York City’s dreadful traffic and free up congestion in the city. The tunnel would consist of three tubes; two carrying three lanes of traffic each direction and a third for maintenance purposes. The tunnel’s plan is being viewed by the State and if approved could be completed by 2025.
However, the plan is getting major resistance from the towns. Rye’s Mayor Steven Otis said, “We cannot in Westchester (County) absorb the additional traffic that this tunnel would bring to our roads. It simply would make our roads nonfunctional.”
Want a tunnel under the Long Island Sound? Let us know in the comments.
Legal battles, particularly those rooted in family or financial squabbles, can get ugly - and quickly so. Therefore, we don’t blame Domenico Reviglio for saying nient’altro, and ending his pursuit of purchasing Italian coachbuilder Carrozzeria Bertone
Reviglio, who had looked to add Bertone to his Keplero consortium, told Automotive News Europe that he had “no intention at all in being involved in legal battles.”
(Click through for more on how Bertone’s deal fell through)
As attractive as the new CLC may be, there’s arguably no Mercedes-Benz coupe more breathtaking than the experimental C-111 coupes of 1968 and 1970. As testbeds for experimental rotary engines, the slippery gullwing coupes were the playthings of Mercedes’ engineering staffs, briefly shown here tinkering on the car via vintage computers.
We imagine a considerable amount of work went into these wundercars, but after hearing the roar of the four-rotor, we can’t help but wish we were engineers in Stuttgart four decades ago. Can you blame us?
Tom Cruise is the first person to receive Ducati’s new $72,500 Desmosedici RR superbike. The red and white motorcycle is a Moto GP Racing replica fitted with lightweight titanium, magnesium, and carbon fiber parts and tops out at 200 mph. Only 1,500 of the superbikes will be made.
Cruise is expected to receive delivery of the bike sometime this week. In a statement Chief of Cupertino-based Ducati North America Michael Lock said, “We are delighted to be able to deliver the world’s first production unit here in the USA to Tom Cruise, who is a well-known Ducati enthusiast.”
If you’ve got an idea for Question of the Day, a funny photo for Caption It, or just want to share a news tip, let us know at windingroadtips@gmail.com
Once upon a time, companies desiring to offer custom parts for a particular car bought one for themselves, took it apart, and determined how to make their stuff fit properly. The automobile manufacturers were fairly ambivalent about the entire aftermarket industry for a long time. None offered help, some were hostile. But somewhere over the years they began to notice that modified cars drew attention to the brand.
The Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) grew from those hot rodding roots and today works closely with many of the global automobile manufacturers to facilitate the agendas of both manufacturers and aftermarket companies. Now the list of parts available to modify any of the American “Big Three” vehicles makes the New York phone book look like a short story. The Japanese machines followed more than a decade ago and that list of options has exploded.
(Click through to read more about how the automakers allow aftermarket companies to measure vehicles.)
Although much of our collegiate economics class escapes us, we do remember the effect of demand exceeding supply: Markups, and huge ones, at that. With Nissan allocating only around 1500 GT-Rs to come to the United States each year, it’s obvious some price increases will come by means of the dealer, but we weren’t expecting these figures. The folks at Exhaustnote.com did some leg work, and after calling Nissan dealers all over the country, figured the markup for the new sports coupe will run up to $60,000.
That’s an extra $60,000 over the GT-R’s base price of $69,000, effectively requiring $129,000 in order to get behind the wheel. Granted, that’s the high end of what Exhaustnote found; most dealers they phoned claimed the average would be between $20- to $35 grand extra. Even at $30,000 over sticker, the GT-R suddenly is in the price territory of BMW’s M6 coupe.
(Click through for more on the GT-R’s imminent markups)
Volvo has been found guilty of manslaughter after a French court ruled that the company’s faulty brakes caused a fatal accident in 1999 – which killed two children.
Catherine Kohtz lost control of her Volvo 850 TDI in eastern France and struck the two children, resulting in their deaths. Kohtz received a six-month suspended jail sentence, was fined $446, and her license was suspended for a year. Volvo received a 200,000 euro ($295,640) fine.
A company spokesman told BBC that they were not at fault, saying, “This is a tragic incident for everyone involved. There was no problem with the brakes.”
If you’ve got an idea for Question of the Day, a funny photo for Caption It, or just want to share a news tip, let us know at windingroadtips@gmail.com
Cadillac CTS-V Laps Nurburgring in Sedan Record 7:59:32
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First Look At Possible New MG TF
So Long Super Aguri: Financial Woes Cause Formula One Team to Call it A Day
