The oldest-known car manufactured under the auspices of the Ford Motor Company is set to cross the block at the annual RM Auction in Hershey, Pennsylvania, which takes place October 11th and 12th.
According to Hemmings.com, the 1903 Model A Rear Entry Tonneau was one of a batch of the first three cars manufactured by the automaker, and was purchased by Herbert L. McNary, a butter maker from Britt, Iowa. The red four-seat vehicle is powered by 8hp 100-cu.in. flat two-cylinder engine and sold for $850 at the time.
The car first changed hands fifty years later when it was sold for $400, then went through a number of subsequent owners, the most recent one purchasing it for in 2007 for $693,000 at an RM Auction in Arizona, its rarity driving up the price significantly during the intervening years.
The Model A was last offered for auction in 2010, but bidding failed to meet an undisclosed reserve. This time around, the car has a pre-sale estimate of $300,000 to $500,000, according to RM Auctions.
Kia and Hyundai hope to take advantage of the Google Maps popularity to sell more cars, announcing that they have started working with the Internet search giant for the integration of the application in their new car products, ITProPortal informs.
The Google’s maps service will be available starting 2014 on the Kia Sorento CUV as well as for the cars running on Hyundai Blue Link platform.
In the case of those at Kia, Google Maps integration in the UVO information system (“Your Voice” ro-”Your Voice”) which has many Google features incorporated will allow owners to synchronize their navigation system with the maps, destinations or routes sent from a mobile phone, with the option Send to Car.
For Hyundai, Google Maps incorporation will mean equipping vehicles with the option Send to Car, Points of Interest Search and Local Search by Voice, two very popular services.
Posted on March 12, 2013 in:
Ford
The 2013 Ford Focus ST is a completely new development that, since the halt in production of the old model a couple of years ago, aims to win back ground it has since lost.
It really is all new, sitting on a new chassis and using a new 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged engine in place of the characterful old five-pot in the 2005-2010 model.
Three grades are available, mirroring the original Focus ST range from 2005. ST, ST-2 and ST-3 all share a healthy common core of kit including sublime Recaro seats that offer just about the perfect balance between comfort and support. read more »
Posted on March 12, 2013 in:
Dacia
Dacia Logan remains the best selling car in Romania, with 9.000 units being delivered in 2012, though with 40% less than last year.
BEST SELLING CARS PRODUCED IN ROMANIA:
Dacia Logan – 9.000 cars, down 40% from 2011
Dacia Duster – 5.000 cars, down 27% from 2011
BEST SELLING IMPORT CARS IN ROMANIA:
1. Skoda Octavia
2. Renault Symbol
3. VW Golf
4. Ford Fiesta
BEST SELLING CARS IN EUROPE:
Volkswagen Golf – 408.412 units
Ford Fiesta – 289.533 units
Volkswagen Polo – 269.000 units
Opel Corsa – 249.596 units
Ford Focus – 226.378 units
Posted on March 12, 2013 in:
Dacia
Dacia factory employees from Mioveni will be compelled to take two extra days off for the holidays. Dacia employees will be able to opt for an alternative on the 3rd and 4th of January, when the production is ceased, between receiving 85% of the pay corresponding to the two days or going on annual leave, paid in full, the automaker announced following a protest the company employees.
The Dacia management took this decision after employees have expressed dissatisfaction with the initial decision to go on unpaid leave that the company’s management had taken initially.
Posted on March 12, 2013 in:
Ford
Ford Motor Co. (F) will reduce one of the two shifts at its Craiova Assembly Plant in Romania, which produces the B-Max compact vehicle, Reuters reported Friday.
Ford will transfer about 500 workers to the adjacent engine plant, while planning buyouts for a “limited” number of hourly workers, Reuters reported.
Posted on March 12, 2013 in:
Toyota
Toyota Motor Cop. is testing car safety systems that allow vehicles to communicate with each other and with the roads they are on in a just completed facility in Japan the size of three baseball stadiums.
The cars at the Intelligent Transport System site receive information from sensors and transmitters installed on the streets to minimize the risk of accidents in situations such as missing a red traffic light, cars advancing from blind spots and pedestrians crossing the street. The system also tests cars that transmit such information to each other.
In a test drive for reporters Monday, the presence of a pedestrian triggered a beeping sound in the car and a picture of a person popped up on a screen in front of the driver. A picture of an arrow popped up to indicate an approaching car at an intersection. An electronic female voice said, ‘‘It’s a red light,’’ if the driver was about to ignore a red light. read more »
The entry-level Mercedes-Benz C-Class has long felt like nothing more than, well, just that. Aside from the potent and delicious C63 AMG models, there hasn’t been much to set the C-Class apart in the entry-level luxury/sport segment, leading to the model being regarded by many as “The Cheap Mercedes.” No, it’s certainly not a bad car, but for our money, it hasn’t stood up particularly well to competitors like the BMW 3 Series or Audi A4.
So with the handsome new CLA-Class coming to round off the entry-level end for Mercedes-Benz, big plans are in store for the C-Class. We can see some evidence of that in this latest set of spy shots from our friends at CarPix. According to earlier reports, the new C-Class will be “far more dramatic” in the visuals department, and while the sedan’s sculpting is still covered by camo, the much sleeker headlamp design we see here is, at the very least, a good start. The car’s overall size is expected to grow a bit to further distance itself from the CLA, though thanks to lightweight materials, curb weight isn’t expected to increase. read more »
Posted on March 12, 2013 in:
General
Bloomberg reports China may be set to step up subsidies for hybrid and fuel-efficient new automobiles. The country’s industry minister, Miao Wei, said, “New-energy vehicles are the future. Fuel-efficient cars are now,” while speaking with reporters at the National People’s Congress. So far, the Chinese government hasn’t had much luck talking buyers into fuel-efficient models. Last year, the country forecast total electric vehicle sales to reach 500,000 by 2014, but 2012 only saw 13,000 models sold. Rather than adjust those targets, some analysts believe China will extend incentives to hybrid vehicles as well.
China just concluded a three-year pilot program that gave buyers the equivalent of $9,650 toward the purchase of an EV and $8,045 for plug-in hybrids. Standard hybrids, meanwhile, only saw incentives of $482.73. But that may change as the country moves toward its target of selling a combined five million EV, plug-in and hybrid models by 2020. If China does increase its hybrid incentives, the news may help Toyota more than any other company. Like other Japanese automakers, Toyota has seen sales slide off in the wake of an ongoing territorial dispute between the Chinese and Japanese governments. But stronger incentives may make the Toyota Prius, the world’s most popular hybrid, attractive enough to overcome those hurdles.
It’s taken four years of study, but the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has finally closed the books on its investigation into rollaway accusations surrounding 1.56-million Ford SUV models.
The probe, which centered on the 2002-2005 Ford Explorer, 2002-2005 Mercury Mountaineer and 2003-2005 Lincoln Aviator, ends without the federal agency calling for a recall.
According to The Detroit News, the investigation was closed due to a “low number of complaints” – NHTSA documented 180 such complaints that resulted in 14 crashes and six minor injuries, but the number of incidents have been slowing.
The suspected defect rate for the trucks’ automatic transmissions was found to be 4.4 per 100,000 units, and the brake-shift interlock mechanism failure rate was judged to be even lower at 3.4 per 100k.
