Tooling Up For Tomorrow's Clever Cars

Cars are becoming more complex, with a range of advanced features we could hardly have imagined a few years ago made possible by sophisticated software-driven electronics. The downside is, with more to go wrong, more is going wrong, but European researchers have developed an antidote: a new computer language.

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Chrysler loss pegged at $2.7B

Chrysler LLC lost about $2.7 billion in the two months after Daimler AG sold controlling interest in the U.S. automaker to a New York private equity firm, Daimler said in its annual report Wednesday.

The figure, for the period from Aug. 4, 2007 to Sept. 30, was calculated under international financial reporting standards used in Europe and not under U.S. accounting standards, Daimler said.

The net loss also includes about $466 million in expenses incurred in the fourth quarter of last year, including Chrysler restructuring costs and costs related to a new four-year contract with the United Auto Workers, Daimler said in its report, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Daimler reported that for the full year in 2007, Chrysler lost 870 million euros, or roughly $1.2 billion when converted at the euro-to-dollar exchange rate that Daimler reported for the third quarter.


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Consumer Reports: Honda makes the best cars

The best cars you can buy in the United States are made by Honda, according to Consumer Reports. The is the second year in a row the Japanese automaker has been given the distinction.

Honda (HMA) cars and trucks scored an overage of 78 out of a possible 100 points in Consumer Reports' various tests. Toyota (TM) came in second with 75 points followed by BMW, Mazda, Nissan and Volkswagen. (After rounding, Nissan and Volkswagen tied with 71 points.)

"Honda earned the top score because it builds cars that are well-rounded, have excellent reliability and perform very well," the magazine, published by the not-for-profit Consumers Union, said in an announcement.

The overall score for each carmaker is based on the average score of all its vehicles tested by the magazine, and average predicted reliability scores based on the magazine's annual surveys.


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RACE RETRO CELEBRATES 100 YEARS OF ICONIC RACING CARS

This year's Race Retro, the international historic motorsport show, will celebrate 100 years of iconic racing cars, with exciting and interesting vehicles spanning the years from 1908 to present day.

Held at Stoneleigh Park from 14th to 16th March, racing cars on show range from a 100-year-old Panhard Levassor Grand Prix car on the Vintage Sports Car Club stand, to a 2007 Aston Martin V8 Vantage N24, courtesy of the Aston Martin Owners Club, which has been purpose-built to compete in events in 2008.

Iconic cars include a 1960 Ferrari 246 Dino, shown by the Historic Grand Prix Car Association; a 1965 Lotus 26R on the Grand Prix de L'Age d'Or stand; and a 1991 Reynard 913 from the Monoposto Racing Club. Dawn Treader Performance Ltd will display a newly-restored 1986 Lotus 98T Formula 1 car, while Ecurie Bertelli will showcase a 1938 ex-works Brooklands speed model Aston Martin.


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Tata Motors to cut prices of small cars, busses

New Delhi, Feb 29 (UNI) Tata Motors today said it will reduce the prices of its small cars and commercial vehicles (including buses, bus chassis and bus body), in view of the reduction of excise duties from 16 per cent to 12 per cent announced in the Union Budget by Finance Minister P Chidambaram.

The new applicable prices will be announced in the next few days, after the it has studied the details of the policy changes, a company statement said.



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Club spins wheels, spreads enthusiasm over tiny cars

Former Edgemere resident James Goolsbee has about 20,000 cars parked around his Essex house.Thankfully, each vehicle is only a few inches long."I started collecting Hot Wheels after I graduated from high school [in 1993 from Sparrows Point], Goolsbee said Monday.Goolsbee is a co-founder of the Hot Wheels Club of Maryland, which meets at Edgemere Elementary School on the first Saturday of every month.

"Anyone is welcome," Goolsbee said. "I mean, we get together and play with toys, right? So kids are always welcome."At the meetings, 25 to 35 members hold downhill gravity races on a 17-foot-long track and custom design competitions, according to Goolsbee."It's mostly a get-together of people who share the same passion," he said. "My son loves it."Membership, which is free, is open to anyone who loves tiny, die-cast vehicles, not just of the Hot Wheels variety, Goolsbee said."We have people who collect Matchbox and Ertl [brand] cars," he said.


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Airborne truck lands on cars

No injuries were reported in the crash, but four vehicles were severely damaged.

No one was injured Friday morning in a two-car accident on Belmont Street that sent a pickup truck airborne and onto two parked cars.

Patrolman Sean Lynch said police were called at 10:28 a.m. to the plaza at 111 Belmont St., just west of the entrance to Stonehill College.

Lynch said the accident occurred when a Toyota Forerunner being driven toward Easton by Kristen Walsh, 35, of 45 Brookside Ave., Brockton, was attempting to turn left into the plaza, which houses several businesses.

Walsh's vehicle collided with a Ford F150 pickup truck driven by Albert MacSwain, 50, of 268 Birchbark Drive, Hanson. MacSwain was traveling in the opposite direction on Belmont Street, heading toward Brockton.


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