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Article source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/driveon/2013/06/16/mini-rail/2424759/

Becoming a bounty hunter may soon get a lot easier.

SpotSquad is a mobile phone application in the works that allows users to report illegally parked cars and get a cut of the fine paid as a reward.

Created by a technology startup in Winnipeg, Canada, the app aims to crowdsource parking enforcement at privately run lots and potentially on public streets.

The reporting process is as simple as taking a photo of the car, which is GPS tagged while optical character recognition reads and records the license plate number, then choosing from a list the type of infraction observed — everything from expired meters to unauthorized parking in a handicapped spot.

Based on the location of the vehicle, the report is automatically sent to the operator of the lot, or local law enforcement if it’s on public property. Then personnel is dispatched to issue a notice, ticket or have it towed.

Company co-founder Chris Johnson tells FoxNews.com that last point is important, as the photos and reports themselves will not be submitted as evidence in court, at least not at this stage.

Down the road, if the system proves to be effective, he thinks it’s possible that laws could be written to allow it to be directly involved in issuing citations, but for now is intended to be used more along the lines of a smartphone-based Crime Stoppers program for these minor offenses.

SpotSquad is in talks with several parking lot management companies, and hopes to have a pilot program up and running in Winnipeg by July, according to Johnson.

Details are still being worked out, but the proposed business model would see the company take a percentage of the fine paid, which it will then split with the reporting user on an increasing scale, depending on the number of successful reports they’ve filed. Ranks ranging from Private to General bring a gaming aspect to the experience.

Although SpotSquad is currently focused on the Canadian market, Johnson definitely sees an opportunity to expand into the United States, where there are approximately 10 times as many drivers as in its neighbor to the north.

As for people who might take issue with it, he says “just read the signs, follow the rules and you won’t have a problem.”

Article source: http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2013/06/17/app-pays-to-spot-illegally-parked-cars/

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Article source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2013/06/17/ford-myford-touch-infotainment-sync/2432489/

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Article source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2013/06/16/fast-and-furious-car-chases/2424741/

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We round up and update a bunch of favorites this episode, including a look at the Tesla Model S that, since our first look in Fall of 2012 has gone on to become about the most celebrated
car in the world.

We have also updated our Top 5 Electric Cars list with two cars getting bumped by new entrants in the market and 6 months from now we’ll do it again as more solid EVs are in the wings. It’s a busy sector, but largely because California requires carmakers to offer a certain number of zero emission vehicles and EVs are coming to market there as what are called “compliance cars”. Don’t let the number of models make you think there is similar growth in sales, there is not and electric cars are still very much out with the jury.

We got a lot of email about self-parking tech from one of our very first episodes you may have missed so its back and self-parking tech has only become more common and affordable in the interim. In fact, it is showing up a lot these days as part of driver assist packages which means a lot of people will sample it and tell a friend. It really works and is a Godsend for those millions who can’t park.

No XCar video this week, they are back with us in Episode 21 with a look at the latest VW Golf and the history of that longtime favorite of car people everywhere.

As always, e-mail me your thoughts, suggestions, and comments.

Article source: http://cnettv.cnet.com/8301-34133_53-57589418-314/tesla-model-s-and-the-top-5-electric-cars-cnet-on-cars-episode-20/

Automakers are coming under
increasing pressure to sell zero-emission vehicles to U.S.
consumers who haven’t shown much interest in them, with more
states following California’s lead in setting sales targets.

Nine states, including New York and New Jersey, have
adopted versions of California’s goal of having electric, plug-in hybrid and hydrogen-powered models reach 15 percent of its
new-car purchases by 2025. Automakers face fines and potentially
restrictions on sales for not reaching the targets.

One model made to meet the standards, Honda Motor Co. (7267)’s
plug-in electric Fit, had total U.S. sales of 83 through May,
according to market-researcher Autodata Corp.

“They are essentially forcing vehicles to be built and
delivered to dealers who are forced to sell them,” said Bailey
Wood, legislative director of the National Automobile Dealers
Association, based in McLean, Virginia.

Honda had set a goal of delivering 1,100 electric Fits over
two years. With a two-year supply sitting on dealer lots, the
carmaker this month cut its lease rate by about one-third, to
$259 a month, for new and existing customers. Three days ago,
the company said some customers now have to wait for more EVs to
be produced before they can get one.

Its decision followed similar moves by General Motors Co. (GM)
and Nissan Motor Co. (7201) for the Chevrolet Volt and all-electric
Leaf. The Leaf and Volt, unlike the electric Fit, are available
in the whole U.S. market. Niche electric-car makers Fisker
Automotive Inc. and Coda Automotive stopped making vehicles last
year.

‘Inherently Risky’

Requiring minimum numbers of plug-in vehicle sales is
“inherently a risky strategy,” said Edward Cohen, Honda vice
president for government and industry affairs. The mandate
“directs manufacturers to offer consumers technology options
along a pre-determined time frame and with specified numbers
notwithstanding whether the technology and market are ready.”

About one-third of 1 percent of the 6.4 million new
vehicles sold in the first five months of the year were zero-emission vehicles, according to the dealers group.

U.S. regulators, who require automakers to raise to 54.5
miles (88 kilometers) per gallon by 2025 the average fuel-economy of the vehicle fleets they sell in the country, say
getting to that goal will require 1 percent to 3 percent of
vehicles sold to be electrics.

“An electric car is the lowest hanging fruit on the tree
requiring the least amount of change from the consumer of
anything we can do to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” Steve
Crolius, transportation director for the Clinton Climate
Initiative, said at a fuel-efficiency forum June 13 at Consumer
Reports magazine’s headquarters in Yonkers, New York. The group
is part of the William J. Clinton Foundation, established by the
former president.

Consumer Driven

The lower-priced electric Fit is still more expensive than
the internal-combustion engine-powered version, which leases for
$169 a month with $1,999 down.

At the end of May, there was a 162-day inventory of Volts,
according to Ward’s Automotive Group. That compares with a 50-day inventory for the top-selling Toyota Motor Corp. (7203) Camry.

“ There are only a select number of income brackets that
can afford them,” Wood said. “The Chevy Volt in terms of price
tag is equivalent to a fairly equipped BMW 3 Series. At the end
of the day, we are a consumer-driven economy, particularly in
the auto industry.”

Charging Stations

U.S. regulators and policymakers want to reduce the extra
expense of electric cars so more consumers can afford them, Ann
Schlenker, director of Argonne National Laboratory’s Center for
Transportation Research, said at the Consumer Reports forum.

She cited Energy Department figures showing it takes about
five years of driving an electric vehicle to make up the extra
upfront costs in fuel savings. That compares with a year and a
half for a hybrid vehicle, she said.

“The attempt is to get to a three-year payback period”
for plug-in electrics, she said.

The availability of charging stations and the time it takes
to recharge are other hurdles to wider consumer acceptance. New
York is among states spending money to promote and develop
electric-vehicle technology, Patrick Bolton, New York State
Energy Research and Development Authority senior project
manager, said at the Consumer Reports event.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has a program, also funded
with private-sector money, to install more than 80 charging
stations throughout the state. The first of those was unveiled
last month at a Homewood Suites hotel in Colonie, New York.

Early Adopters

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, whose members
include GM and Toyota, was one of two Washington-based
automotive trade groups that in March filed a petition with the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last month to block
California’s sales targets.

“The sales data tell the story of what consumers want,”
said Gloria Bergquist, a spokeswoman for the Alliance. “The
early adopters have purchased plug-in electric vehicles but
mainstream consumers have not followed yet.”

The state mandates are separate from the U.S. fuel-economy
standards set by federal regulators.

U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator David Strickland said the fuel-economy standards are “technology
neutral.”

“States can make the decision in terms of their own
particular needs,” he said at the Consumer Reports panel.
“That was a policy decision they chose to make, but from a
federal perspective, we want to remain technology neutral.”

GM, Honda

California’s mandate, which accounts for about one-third of
U.S. electric-vehicle sales, is part of the state’s effort to
reduce emissions from vehicles, power plants and oil refineries.

“Both a market push and market pull are needed, and they
need to be in sync,” said Roland Hwang, the San Francisco-based
transportation program director for the Natural Resources
Defense Council and a supporter of the California mandate. “We
need both a long-term, stable signal for automakers to produce
electric cars and a robust, growing consumer market.”

Sales won’t be helped if reluctant automakers sandbag
sales, he said.

“Who killed the electric car, part three?” Hwang asked.
“Some automakers are more committed than others to the clean
car market. And it may surprise some that the industry doesn’t
follow the past patterns. We now have GM as one of the biggest
champions of electrification and Honda as one of the biggest
skeptics.”

To contact the reporter on this story:
Angela Greiling Keane in Washington at
agreilingkea@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Bernard Kohn at
bkohn2@bloomberg.net

Enlarge image

Automakers Pressed to Sell No-Emission Cars to Reluctant Buyers

Daniel Acker/Bloomberg

Sales professional Scott Watkins opens the hood of a 2012 General Motors Co. Chevrolet Volt vehicle at Green car dealership in Peoria, Illinois.

Sales professional Scott Watkins opens the hood of a 2012 General Motors Co. Chevrolet Volt vehicle at Green car dealership in Peoria, Illinois. Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg

Enlarge image

Automakers Pressed to Sell No-Emission Cars to Reluctant Buyers

Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

Honda Motor Co.’s plug-in electric Fit had total U.S. sales of 83 through May, according to market-researcher Autodata Corp.

Honda Motor Co.’s plug-in electric Fit had total U.S. sales of 83 through May, according to market-researcher Autodata Corp. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

Article source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-17/automakers-pressed-to-sell-no-emission-cars-to-reluctant-buyers.html

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Article source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2013/06/15/nissan-versa-note-cheap/2424639/

They had no technical training or financial backing at first, but they built some of the fastest racecars of their time, dragsters of the 1950s and jet-propelled cars that set world speed records on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah in the 1960s.

When Walt Arfons died of pneumonia in Akron on June 4 at 96, six years after his brother’s death, he was remembered for designing, building and racing the first jet-powered dragster and for adopting drogue parachutes, previously used in aircraft, to act as racecar brakes.

But a troubling part of the brothers’ lives was recalled as well. They had become enemies in a rivalry so intense that they rarely spoke to each other.

“I like Arthur,” Walt Arfons told Sports Illustrated in November 1965. “I want to be his friend. But I’m even afraid to go over and talk to him now. Being that he give me the cold shoulder so many times, I don’t want to be turned down.”

Art Arfons felt equally aggrieved. “If someone stops at his garage and wants to know where my garage is, he don’t know where it is, even though it’s next door,” he said. “He don’t know what my phone number is or nothing.”

Walt Arfons introduced jet-powered dragsters when he obtained a Westinghouse J46 turbojet engine that had been designed to power Navy aircraft and raced with it for the first time in August 1960.

His more advanced jet-propelled car, Wingfoot Express — named for the symbol of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company of Akron, which was sponsoring him, and driven by Tom Green of Wheaton, Ill. — set a world land-speed record of 413.2 miles an hour at Bonneville on Oct. 2, 1964. Mr. Arfons had sustained a heart attack while watching another driver crash his car during testing. Mr. Green was an engineer with limited race-driving experience, but he had helped Mr. Arfons rebuild the car.

Three days later, Art Arfons, who was sponsored by Firestone, a major competitor to Goodyear also based in Akron, broke that record in a car powered by a General Electric J79 turbojet aircraft engine, clocking 434.03 m.p.h. About a week after that, Craig Breedlove, a California hot-rodder, surpassed that mark in his jet-powered Spirit of America car. Then Art Arfons and Mr. Breedlove took turns breaking each other’s records.

Walt Arfons built the first rocket-propelled racecar, a redesigned Wingfoot Express, in an unsuccessful effort to regain the world land-speed record in 1965. The car, driven by Bobby Tatroe and resembling a wingless airplane, used solid-fuel rocket bottles to provide added thrust. But Mr. Arfons concluded afterward that it may have been too heavy as a result of enhanced safety equipment he installed.

Walt Arfons was born Walter Charles Stroud on Dec. 10, 1916, in Muncie, Ind., but grew up in Akron. When his mother, Bessie, was married for a second time, he took the name of his stepfather, Tom Arfons. Walt Arfons was 10 when his half brother was born.

Walt Arfons, who entered the Navy in the 1930s with a 10th-grade education, and Art Arfons, who later saw Navy service, embarked on their mechanical wizardry in 1946, assembling motorcycles and a homemade airplane before turning to dragsters.

They began drag racing for prize money in 1952 with a three-wheel hot rod powered by a prewar Oldsmobile engine. Its rear portion came from a Packard, and it used an airplane landing gear for the front wheel. They splashed green tractor paint on it that one track announcer found so ugly that he called the car a green monster. The name stuck.

Later using airplane piston engines to power their dragsters, the Arfonses jointly built a series of cars that retained the name Green Monster.

The brothers split their earnings when they competed in the same event, but Walt Arfons maintained that by the mid-1950s his brother was consumed with clocking the faster times of the two, placing himself and his cars in danger. The enmity that developed led them to build future Green Monster models separately and continued through the competition at Bonneville.

Art Arfons retired from motor sports in 1971 after a racecar he was driving blew a tire and crashed through a guardrail, killing three people. He later competed in professional tractor-pulling events. Walt Arfons retired in the 1970s as well and lived in Bradenton, Fla., until returning to Akron in his last years.

Dr. Mark Stiff, a grandson of Walt Arfons’s, said in an interview on Wednesday that the brothers spoke from time to time after their retirement from racing. “It was a strained relationship, but it was civil,” he said.

Walt Arfons, whose death was announced by his family, is survived by his wife, Gertrude; a son, Terry; a daughter, Patricia Stiff; a sister, Lou Wolfe; eight grandchildren; and 19 great-grandchildren.

Another son, Craig, carried on a family obsession. He was attempting to break a speed record on water in 1989 when his jet-powered hydroplane broke up on Lake Jackson in Sebring, Fla., killing him. Walt and his wife were in the crowd.

Dr. Stiff, who visited his grandfather’s shop when he was growing up, recalled how “he took stuff out of junkyards and made a racecar” and “could just about fix anything.”

And he remembered how his grandfather liked to say, “There’s nothing like sitting in a car and feeling the afterburners.”

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/16/sports/autoracing/walt-arfons-a-pioneer-with-cars-using-jet-engines-dies-at-96.html

TV dads have, for the most part, had pretty conservative taste in cars. While it would have been fun to imagine Ward Cleaver in a fuel-injected ’57 Corvette, it just didn’t project the image of a stable, practical family-friendly 1950s dad. Here are some of our favorites from some classic and some more recent TV shows:

1. Ward Cleaver (“Leave it to Beaver”), 1959, 1960 and 1963 Plymouth Fury: Ward Cleaver (played by Hugh Beaumont) was the classic 1950s TV dad — a law-abiding, middle-class, white-collar guy with a briefcase, suit and a hat. For the majority of its run, “Leave it to Beaver” was a Chrysler-sponsored show and Ward generally drove a Plymouth Fury four-door sedan. 
2. Mike Brady (“The Brady Bunch”), 1971 Plymouth Barracuda convertible: Mike Brady (played by Robert Reid) was a slightly cooler, hipper version of Ward Cleaver (witness the hair, sideburns and watch bands), and we had more of a clue as to his occupation (architect). Like “Leave it to Beaver,”  “The Brady Bunch” was sponsored by the Chrysler Corporation for most of the series. As a result, Mike drove some sort of Dodge or Plymouth until the last season, and our hands-down favorite was the ’71 Barracuda convertible. It was the closest any TV dad got to something a little bit edgy.
3. Tony Soprano (“The Sopranos”),Cadillac Escalade: You could say that Tony Soprano (played by James Gandolfini) is exactly what Ward Cleaver would have been if he had hung out at Mayfield’s local gentleman’s club plotting with his crew to whack Fred Rutherford. Perhaps not.  Although Tony originally drove a humble Chevy Suburban, he eventually upgraded to driving far flashier Cadillac Escalades of varying years.
4. Howard Cunningham (“Happy Days”), 1948 DeSoto Deluxe Suburban: Howard Cunningham (played by Tom Bosley) was another classic dad from the Ward Cleaver, Ozzie Nelson school of TV dads.  The ’48 DeSoto with a roof rack was an unusual choice, since it would have been nearly 10 years old for the show’s setting, but it seemed to fit Howard’s personality perfectly.
5. Robert Crawley (“Downton Abbey”), 1911 Renault Type CB Landaulette: The Earl of Grantham, Robert Crawley (played by Hugh Bonneville), didn’t actually have a driver’s license. That is, after all, what the help is for.  The 1911 Renault got the majority of its screen time in the first two seasons of the popular English period drama being driven by several chauffeurs (including the one who ran off with his youngest daughter).  A similar 1912 car went down with the Titanic and a non-sunken version is actually seen being loaded onto the ship in the 1997 movie of the same name.

Click here for more Classic Car articles from Hagerty, or here to sign up for our Classic Car Emails.

Article source: http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2013/06/16/five-famous-tv-dad-cars/

Consumers spent freely on cars and building supplies in May, but a drop in restaurant sales raised questions about whether this year’s tax increases are affecting consumers’ confidence and crimping their spending.

Overall, retail sales beat expectations, rising 0.6% in May, the Census Bureau reported Wednesday.

Leading the charge: A 1.8% jump in sales of cars and parts, which were also 8.5% higher than this time last year. Building materials and supplies gained 0.9%.

But the newest weak spot was a 0.4% drop at restaurants and bars, which had been among the biggest gainers in April, the bureau reported.

Economists watch restaurant sales for signs of how consumers are handling discretionary income. When restaurant sales held up last year, that was seen as a sign that then-surging gasoline prices wouldn’t slow the economy. Their strength in early 2013 was taken as evidence that the impact of the tax hikes was turning out to be smaller than expected, and the latest news doesn’t immediately change that, economists said.

“You can’t draw conclusions based on one month,” said Bernard Baumohl, chief global economist at the Economic Outlook Group. “Year-over-year, it’s still up about 4%.”

The industry has already been dealing with cash-strapped middle-income consumers, said Bryan Elliott, restaurant analyst at stock-brokerage firm Raymond James. Personal income fell for families around the $50,000-a-year national median during the recession and hasn’t yet recovered, he said.

“That segment has lost considerable purchasing power over the last few years, and lost more in January,” when payroll taxes went up by 2 percentage points, reversing a cut in 2010. “Restaurants are the first places consumers cut when they are tight for money.”

Restaurants are being managed to boost profits on sales growth of less than 5% a year, he said. A handful of fast-growing brands such as Panera and Chipotle have been exceptions, he said.

A small number of companies, including Red Lobster owner Darden Restaurants, blamed soft sales earlier this year on the tax increase. Darden spokesman Rich Jeffers declined to comment Thursday.

The impact of higher taxes may show up in more demands for discounting and price promotion, said Robin Lee Allen, executive editor of trade journal Nation’s Restaurant News. She pointed to a promotion by Subway for a $4 sandwich-and-soda lunch that launched this month. McDonald’s said June 11 that discounting drove its May gain in same-store sales.

Excluding autos, retail sales rose 0.3% in May, the Commerce Department reported.

The overall retail sales number beat the 0.5% median forecast of 83 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.

Any weakness in restaurant spending is likely to be short-lived, said Andrew Wilkinson, economic strategist at Miller Tabak in New York. Restaurants and bars added 38,000 jobs in May, a sign that owners think sales will hold up, he said.

Article source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/06/13/may-retail-sales/2416995/