Salon.com > Cars

Mobile Entertainment: 9 Amazing Drive-In Movie Theaters Still Standing

Tue, 07 May 2013 18:39:00 +0000

As roadside relics of Americana long thought extinct, a handful of drive-in movie theaters have, much like the films they (double) feature to this day, stood the test of time.

Good luck finding them, however.

Nostalgic audiences jaded with the spectacle of IMAX screens, inflated ticket prices and sticky flooring, luckily, can still sniff out these surviving time capsules, and we’re here to help. See where you can motor on over to catch current and classic films alike, all from the comfort of your own car.

Because the only thing cooler than an air-conditioned auditorium is watching “Back to the Future” from your own DeLorean. (Also just having a DeLorean, generally speaking.)

Ingenious Craigslist ad goes viral, then mysteriously disappears

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 20:58:00 +0000

It's up and then it's down, and then it's up again and then it's down forever.

Nate Walsh wants to sell his 1999 Toyota Camry, lovingly nicknamed "The Tanry." Craigslist won't let him.

Walsh, a St. Louis-based copywriter with a knack for DIY art projects, popped into the national spotlight last week when his Craigslist advertisement for a $1,500 Camry redefined what was possible in the world of online classifieds.

The listing, which is entirely outrageous and looks like it could have been put together by South Park's Trey Parker and Matt Stone, got attention from such outlets as AdWeek and Jim Romenesko before being flagged and unceremoniously removed from Craigslist altogether. Walsh told the Daily Dot that the site offered no explanation outside of a reference to its robust Terms of Use page, which didn't help Walsh one bit.

EPA hopes to tighten emissions standards on cars

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 13:02:00 +0000

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration will unveil a proposal Friday to clean up gasoline and automobile emissions, a step that officials say will result in cleaner air across the U.S. and slightly higher prices at the pump.

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that the rule to reduce sulfur in gasoline and tighten emissions standards on cars beginning in 2017 could increase gas prices by less than a penny per gallon and add $130 to the cost of a vehicle in 2025.

But the agency says it will yield billions of dollars in health benefits by slashing smog- and soot-forming pollution come 2030.

The oil industry, Republicans and some Democrats had pressed the EPA to delay the rule, citing higher costs. An oil industry study says the rule could increase gasoline prices by 6 to 9 cents per gallon.

The so-called Tier 3 standards would reduce sulfur in gasoline by more than 60 percent and reduce nitrogen oxides by 80 percent, by expanding across the country a standard already in place in California. For states, the regulation will make it easier to comply with health-based standards for the main ingredient in smog and soot. For automakers, the regulation allows them to sell the same autos in all 50 states.

Toyota recalls 1.29m cars over faults

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 17:43:00 +0000

TOKYO (AP) — Toyota is recalling over one million cars around the world for faulty air bags and defective windshield wipers.

The move comes just days after Toyota regained its spot as the world's No. 1 automaker from U.S. rival General Motors Co., with global vehicle sales that climbed to a record 9.748 million vehicles. The company is now recalling 907,000 cars, mostly Corollas, due to air bags that can improperly inflate when the vehicle's electronic signals damage a chip in the part that controls the air bags. It also is recalling 385,000 Lexus IS luxury cars with wipers that can get stuck if there is heavy snowfall.

Initially, the Japanese automaker had said there were no accidents related to either problem, but Toyota Motor Corp. spokesman Naoto Fuse said Wednesday that two crashes were reported in the U.S. related to the air bag problem. Toyota had not been able to confirm them and Fuse said it is unclear whether anyone was injured in the two crashes. Toyota has confirmed 18 cases in the U.S. of abrasion-type injuries from the air bag problem, he said. In total, the automaker has received 46 reports of problems involving the air bags from North America, and one from Japan, and 25 reports of problems related to the windshield wipers.

Bikes share space with cars at Detroit auto show

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 19:45:00 +0000

DETROIT (AP) — Transportation of the two-wheeled variety is sharing the floor at the Detroit auto show with the latest cars, trucks and concept vehicles, a nod to the potential marketing boost that bikes may offer for automakers.

Some, such as those at Subaru's display, are shown just as accessories on vehicles. Subaru has bikes with its Outback wagon, which is aimed at outdoor enthusiasts. Others, such as the electric-powered bicycle displayed by minicar maker Smart display, are for sale.

Bikes weren't the focus of presentations during this week's media previews at the North American International Auto Show, but they're often used in marketing cars.

"Consumers that may be not that active or may not even have bicycles themselves are going to associate that with an active lifestyle, an outdoor lifestyle, a healthy lifestyle," said Jeremy Anwyl, vice chairman of the Edmunds.com auto website.

Other prominent bike displays in Detroit this year include the Prius X Parlee concept bicycle among Toyota's vehicles. And at Hyundai's spot on the show floor during media preview days, a bike was perched out the rear and rooftop of a Veloster coupe.

Hybrid cars: Silent but deadly?

Tue, 08 Jan 2013 18:15:00 +0000

Silence is golden. Except, says the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, when it comes to cars.

The latest crop of hybrid and electric vehicles on the market are so quiet that pedestrians and bicyclists just can't hear them coming. As a result, the administration wants to pass a rule requiring car companies to make them noisier.

The new rule would require cars to make noise at low speeds, and that sound could be customizable, says Jamie Kitman, the New York bureau chief of Automobile magazine. As he told Marketplace Morning Edition, "There's no reason your car couldn't sound like Rush Limbaugh or Rachel Maddow or Led Zeppelin."

But for those who don't want Limbaugh to bark at you every time you hit the road, car companies will most likely choose something that sounds like a traditional car engine.

Toyota to payout $1b over car faults

Thu, 27 Dec 2012 12:37:00 +0000

Toyota Motor announced Wednesday that it would pay out an historic $1 billion to settle a class-action lawsuit over its cars' unintended acceleration problems. According to the New York Times, "the class-action case was the largest legal action related to economic losses by vehicle owners" and the proposed settlement would be the largest in U.S. history involving car defects.

The settlement -- which still must be approved by a federal judge -- follows a four-year legal battle over claims by drivers that their cars would unexpectedly speed up. The defect allegedly caused numerous accidents and four deaths. However, Toyota's settlement involves no admission of fault. While the class-action complaint contended that the unintended acceleration was caused by problems with the cars' electronics, the Japanese firm has argued that driver error, faulty floor mats and stuck accelerator. Via the NYT:

U.S. gas sales declining

Thu, 27 Dec 2012 11:54:00 +0000

A note by Doug Short at AdvisorPerspectives.com shows that per capita gas sales have declined steeply over the last few years. According to the latest available numbers from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the 12-month moving average for gas sales dropped to about 350 million gallons per day, down 7.7 percent since August 2005.

"Some of the shrinkage in sales can be attributed to more fuel-efficient cars," Short writes. "But that presumably would be minor over shorter time frames and would be offset to some extent by population growth." He also notes that this list of top 10 best-selling vehicles has its share of gas guzzling pickups and SUVs.

And the sales drop has taken place at a time when the population has grown. Short finds that per-capita gas sales have declined almost 20 percent since March 1989.

What's going on here? Short sees several factors at work: 1) Urban populations have climbed, 2) Fewer people in the aging population have to get to work and 3) More young people are able to work from home or, due to social media, are less interested in leaving the house. We've become a nation less demographically inclined to drive.

h't Quartz

Cop posts his “drunk” joyride on Facebook

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 22:47:00 +0000

In an incriminating video posted publicly on his Facebook page, a San Francisco cop boasted of drinking and driving at 100 mph in a car filled well beyond capacity. On September 9th, Sgt. Carl T posted the video of himself (and nine others, according to the tags) rocketing down a tunnel in a Lamborghini, with the caption: “It's roomier than you think. Plus we were all drunk.” The video earned 31 Facebook "likes" and a number of comments from friends and fellow SFPD officers, including one who wrote: “Only 100?” Another comment, from fellow officer Ben Mcalister, says: “Used to do it regularly on the solos going home off the 1900-0300 watch." Since surfacing in the news yesterday, the video has since been taken down, and Carl T. (who changed his name legally from Tannenbaum to fit better on his badge) has disabled his Facebook account. He has since backpedaled from the claims in the initial posting, telling San Francisco Weekly that there were actually only three people in the car, and he wasn't driving or filming. He also claims the 100 mph was an exaggeration, and the drunkenness was a joke. "There was no drunkenness," he says. "I've done some crazy stuff, but I'm not that stupid."

Toyota recalls over 7 million cars

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 17:39:00 +0000

Toyota is pulling 7.4 million cars off the road worldwide because of a fire hazard found in faulty power windows. The recall, reported Reuters, is the biggest "since Ford pulled 8 million vehicles off the road in 1996 to replace defective ignition switches that could have caused engine fires." Reuters noted:

The recall will include 2.47 million vehicles in the United States, 1.4 million in China and 1.39 million in Europe, the company said. No accidents, injuries or deaths have been reported as a result of the problem, though there is a possibility the malfunctioning switches could emit smoke.

All recalled cars can be fixed with a swift 40-minute repair job, but the dent to Japan's biggest car maker may last far longer. The company has been plagued by a series of incidents in recent years including past recalls involving over 10 million vehicles and "crippled supply chains from last year's earthquake and tsunami in Japan and floods in Thailand."

Can cellphones save us from car accidents?

Sun, 26 Aug 2012 13:00:00 +0000

People have gotten good at multitasking, but sometimes this skill is taken too far, and the result can be deadly. Texting while driving a car is a prime example. Laws prohibit it, but many people still find it impossible to resist. Ideally, there would be a way to eliminate the temptation altogether, through safeguards on the cell phone itself. At the moment that’s not possible, but it may soon be.

Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) are studying how software on a cell phone could analyze keystrokes to determine when that phone’s user is distracted while composing and sending text messages. This doesn’t necessarily mean the person is driving, of course, but combined with GPS and other data, it may be possible to determine when a texter is behind the wheel. In that case, the phone could shut off texting functions automatically. Such a feature could take the form of a mobile app for any phone—independent of the manufacturer, operating system and wireless service provider.

Carmaggedon is coming!

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 15:35:00 +0000

Everybody gets a car! Everybody gets a car! No, really -- everyone, God help us, is about to get a car.

Last month, the Carnegie Endowment published a report arguing that you can estimate the size of developing countries' middle classes by counting their cars, that ultimate symbol of having "made it." If the notion is to be believed, these places have a long way to go in terms of economic development: In Brazil, there are fewer than 200 passenger vehicles per 1,000 people. China has a mere 34. India has 12.

Compare that to the U.S., which has about 900 vehicles per 1,000 people. And then consider the fact that these countries are striving hard to match the American lifestyle. Once their middle classes really start to blossom, the developing world's car-buying frenzy will be spectacular, and a true carmageddon for its cities, which seem thoroughly unprepared.