Following an accident that involved a truck carrying up to 12 million swarming –and apparently pissed off- bees, Californian authorities were forced to close an area of Highway 99 that’s near Via: kcra
Showing posts with label Offbeat News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Offbeat News. Show all posts
Thursday, March 17, 2011
12 Million Out-Of-Control Bees Close Californian Highway
Following an accident that involved a truck carrying up to 12 million swarming –and apparently pissed off- bees, Californian authorities were forced to close an area of Highway 99 that’s near Via: kcra
Monday, March 14, 2011
Video: French Devise Innovative Alternative to Spare Tires
They say necessity is the mother of invention, but we doubt that’s the case with these fun-loving Frenchmen who decided to attach a little board on wheels on the rear tire of their Citroen Saxo. -Video after the jump
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Tatra 903 Fuel Cell Concept
Tatra, not to be confused with the Indian carmaker Tata, is a Czech vehicle manufacturer founded in 1850 that produced its first motor car in 1897 and the last one, in 1999 (it continues to build trucks today). Though the company has no official plans to create a new car, Czech magazine AutoDesign&Styling summoned designer Mike Jelinek to draw up a concept of a futuristic Tatra model. Jelinek came up with the Tatra 903 Concept, a fuel-cell powered 4door-coupe. -ContinuedHere’s what Jelinek had to say about his creation:
“The water drop shaped back refers to one of the most characteristic values of Tatra, the aerodynamics – same as covered rear wheels. It may look retro, but in the term of aerodynamic optimization it has its own purpose,” said Jelinek.
"The A-pillar has moved in the axis of the car – again, not just a quotation of split screen theme pointing back to the original models, but certainly a safety factor designed to offer a better view from the car. I didn’t want to refer to any model from the history of this legendary manufacturer, but I tried to catch something like the spirit of Tatra cars and bring it to aesthetics of the 21st century.” added Jelinek.
Source: AutoDesign&Styling , Via: Carbodydesign
Monday, June 30, 2008
Roush Presents Bespoke... One-Horse Power Training Vehicle!
We won’t lie and tell you that we didn’t double check this story. Though it would have been cool if someone (re)invented a one-horse powered car that would solve our energy problems, this bespoke vehicle was created by the Roush Technologies for Turkish-based, Kurt Systems that specializes in racehorse and camel training equipment. 
In a nutshell, the ground-up, turnkey project will be used as a high-tech machinery for the continuous monitoring of animals at speeds of up to 60km/h or 37mph. The yet unnamed vehicle effectively provides a moving enclosure similar to a starting stall, in which the animal can walk, trot or full gallop freely in a controlled environment, whilst being monitored and trained to optimise race performance. -Continued
Weighing in at around 4 tonnes, the training vehicle uses a cross-braced frame, with suspension derived from a Ford F150 series truck. Power is provided by a Volvo 2.4litre, 5-cylinder turbodiesel matted to an automatic gearbox.
The training vehcile’s cabin, which is mounted rearward of the horse, includes a centrally mounted driver’s seat, plus additional seats for a trainer and a veterinary specialist. Onboard systems include 12-volt and 240-volt electrical supplies, to power systems such as computerised heart, blood, oxygen and fitness monitoring.
As for the open fronted stall section of the vehicle, it features an independent hydraulic steering, combined with electronically controlled reins, to steer the horse in the same direction as the vehicle. The reins are enclosed within two forward curving booms on the body structure, controlled by the driver.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Aston Martin Presents “Tailor” Made V8 Vantage Coupe
Who said that only Lamborghini gets the designer treatment? So does Aston Martin that teamed up with design house Kilgour of Savile Row to present a haute couture bespoke V8 Vantage Coupe at Kilgour’s first-ever fashion show in 
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Aspid: Caterham-esque Sportscar with up to 400Hp Coming to London Show
The never ending saga of small firms popping up from nowhere continues with the Aspid that will make its world debut at the British International Motor Show in late July. The Aspid (Spanish name for the snake that killed Cleopatra) has been developed by the automotive engineering consultancy IFR Automotive that was founded by automotive engineer Ignacio Fernández Rodriquez who has worked in the past for Prodrive and the Mitsubishi World Rally Championship team.IFR Automotive supports that the Aspid is the only car in the world to meet both FIA safety requirements and European homologation standards. Initial prototypes feature a 2.0-litre engine; either naturally aspirated to deliver 270Hp or supercharged to 400Hp with power delivered in both cases to the rear wheels via a 6-speed manual gearbox and limited-slip differential. -Continued
The lightweight aluminium and carbon structure of the car, which has a mass of just 700kg (1,550lb) and the resulting 570Hp-per-tonne (1.75kg/Hp) power-to-weight ratio give awe-inspiring performance figures with the Aspid accelerating from zero to 62mph (100km/h) in just 2.8 seconds and 100mph (160km/h) in a mouth dropping 5.9 seconds. Maximum speed is restricted to 155mph (250km/
The Aspid braking performance is equally impressive with IFR Automotive supporting that the sportscar can come to a complete halt from 100mph (160km/h) in a mere 3.0 seconds. When cornering, the car has been said to generate an intense 1.6g of lateral acceleration.
IFR Automotive says that journalists will have the opportunity to drive the first production models later this year, with the first cars being delivered to customers in summer 2009. Prices are set to start at £75,000 (€95,000) with fully loaded models expected to cost twice as much. (Pic edited by Carscoop)
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
How Many People Can Fit in a Smart ForTwo?
And you thought that the Smart ForTwo was good enough for only two passengers –driver included. Well, if there’s no need to drive, and the way gas prices are raising this may be a reality in a few years, the ForTwo can actually fit 13 people. This was proven during the annual Smart Destination Brooklands event held at Mercedes-Benz World at Weybridge in the With more than 1,200 Smarts attending the event, there was no shortage of participants but the winning team was the ‘smart car-tortionists’, a group of body-bending specialists chosen for their gymnastic feats. The flexible ‘smart car-tortionists’ managed to squeeze 13 people. Just for the record, there were more women than men in the team. -One more pic after the jump
Maserati Quattroporte “ala” Burberry
What a horrid fate for such a beautiful vehicle; well before Maserati even dreamt about redesigning the Quattroporte, this Saudi Arabian owner of the Italian sports sedan decided to perform a facelift of his own by (w)rapping the entire vehicle in what seems to be some sort of Burberry themed perforated plastic cover. This thing is beyond tasteless… -More images after the jump
Via: Cardomain
Disney’s Cars Coming to London Show
If you’re planning to visit next month’s British International Motor Show with your offsprings, you’ll be happy (or unhappy…) to know that Disney/Pixar’s Cars will make their 
Sunday, June 22, 2008
It’s too low Stooooop! Skodas Get Low-Rider Treatment
A lorry carrying nine brand new Skoda vehicles on its back hit a skywalk connecting two buildings somewhere in the 
Source: Skodaoctavia , Via: Autoblog.nl
Friday, June 20, 2008
Man Robs a Bank While Performing a Test Drive!
A 40-year-old man has been accused by Police of robbing a bank while test-driving a used truck! What makes the story even more intriguing is that Marcel Perrot was accompanied by the used car lots salesman when he stopped at a bank near When Perrot finished his job at the bank he drove away with the salesman, saying he wanted to show the truck to a friend before buying it. However, the salesman knew something suspicious went on in the bank so when Perrot stopped to put some gas in the car, he took the truck's keys and called 911. However, the suspect realized what the salesman had done and ran away.
Via: Jalopnik , Source:
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Car Repairs: Don’t Always Trust The Mechanic...
If you’re a car buff who likes to take a personal interest in the well-being of your vehicle, then this is probably a familiar story to you. Last night a friend told me that his E39 BMW 528i’s A/C system stopped working and that according to his mechanic (independent service shop) the blower fan was at fault. 
The mechanic said that in order to replace the blower fan he’d have to take out the whole dashboard. Leaving aside the “why are there spare parts left” factor, we’re talking about 6 hours of labor plus the cost of the blower fan (we reckon a total somewhere in the range of $600 to 800).
To make a long story short, we googled the problem to see what bimmer enthusiasts had to say about it on the forum boards. As anticipated, forum members advised E39 owners to check out the fuse box first. Easier said than done as the blower fan fuse on the E39 is located separately behind the glovebox. Following the use of foul language on German engineering, we discovered that the fuses weren’t to blame. -Continued
Next thing to check according to the helpful guys at “Bimmerfest” and “Unitedbimmer”, the number one suspect for E39 A/C problems: the blower motor resistor, a small part half the size of a packet of cigarettes located at an accessible point on the passenger’s side of the center tunnel. With this knowledge in hand my friend ordered the spare part and took it the mechanic. Turns out –surprise, surprise- that the $65 blower motor resistor was the culprit. While he could of done it by himself, he preferred to pay the mechanic another $100 to change the part.
We’re not saying that all car-related problems are as simple as this, but it doesn’t hurt to surf the internet for half an hour to see what other fellow vehicle owners on specialized forums have to say about it. Who knows, you might get as lucky as my friend…
Out-of-Gas Emergency Calls in Texas up by 53% this Year
Now here’s a good one; according to Allstate Motor Club, the number of Texan drivers who have been stranded on the highway with an empty gas tank has risen 53% during the first five months of 2008 compared to last year. In all, from January through May 2008, 506 Texan drivers have called the motor club to deliver them gas. The worst month was by far May with a record 140 out-of-gas calls across the state!"We can't directly correlate this rise in the number of people running out of gas to the rise in prices at the pump, but we know that consumers are trying hard to stretch their dollar and sometimes that means stretching fuel into fumes," said Evelyn Murphy, an Allstate Exclusive Agent in
We can’t agree more. You’re better off paying a few more bucks at the petrol station than paying who knows what if knock on wood, something happens on the highway…
Pic: Carscoop
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
DIY: Paper Cut Yamaha YZF-R1 Replica
Apart from creating real-life superbikes like the awesome 2007 YZF-R1, Yamaha has also created a series of realistic paper cut models for the less (money-wise) fortunate people like ourselves. All you need to is to check out the detailed instructions and download the pictures after the jump to your pc and print them on strong, thick paper. That and plenty of free time in your hands as the 2007 YZF-R1 paper cut consists of 312 parts in all. -ContinuedPaper Cuts (Scroll Down For Instructions)
Assembly Instructions
Source: Yamaha
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