Jamie

I can't argue with that. In early 2001, as an experiment, I took an Amtrak train from Olympia WA to Berkeley CA instead of driving or flying. Never again. The "21 hour" trip took 24 hours ... more than twice as long as it takes me to drive between the same points, and the train ticket cost me twice as much as an airline ticket between Seattle and Oakland.

Peter Brock's death is a far bigger thing in Australia than the loss of the Crocodile Hunter.While I realise that outside Australia the Crocodile Hunter is a lot more famous, over here, he was considered to be nothing more than an embarrassment and a publicity seeking fool who's death would be caught on film while doing something dangerous (or foolhardy) with a wild animal. On the other hand, Peter Brock has been an icon and a legend for over 30 years, and has been a firm part of the motor racing landscape and a big contributor to road safety initiatives. For many years he was Holden's top racing driver, and was known as Peter Perfect for his (usually) flawless driving. He was the last person that you'd expect to be killed in a lightweight event like the Targa West rally.

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. I took these back in October 2004 (Spring) while testing my new camera (Fuji FinePix S5500/S5100). All the thumbnails should link to a web page with full sized (2272x1704 pixel) images. The shots were mostly taken in the South Bank Parklands area of Brisbane. This part of the downtown area was cleared back in the early 80's to create space to set up the 1988 World Expo. After the Expo, the land was reworked into a public parkland and dining area. The free public access swimming pool/lagoon is open year round and features a sand beach and salt water chlorination. A major feature of the city is the river that winds through the city, and high speed catamaran ferries (limited to about 40 km/hr to prevent damage to the river banks) have turned the river into a very useful transport corridor. Brisbane River from South Bank Parklands The Treasury (Casino) South Bank Parklands - CityCat Terminal South Bank Parklands South Bank Parklands South Bank Parklands South Bank Parklands South Bank Parklands Queensland Maritime Museum - HMAS Diamantina Queensland Maritime Museum - SS Forceful CityCat - Goodwill Bridge The Mansions - George Street Queen Street Mall The Breakfast Creek Hotel Newstead House

I like driving. I think nothing of a 12 hour drive, and in most cases, for anything less than a trip of 700 miles or so, I'd rather drive than deal with airlines and airport security. I'm currently located in Manitoba. Last weekend I took my wife and her two kids to a Science Fiction Convention in Atlanta. We flew into Winnipeg airport from northern Manitoba (my wife works for a regional airline company so the cost of those tickets was negligible), but the best price we could find for airline tickets for four people from Winnipeg to Atlanta for the labor day weekend was a little over double the cost of renting a Buick Allure (Buick LaCrosse) from Budget for a week, plus the cost of the gas needed to drive 1600 miles each way, and paying for 4 night's parking at the Marriott in Atlanta. We could have bought tickets to Atlanta at the airline employee rates (for 4 people it's a little less than the cost of the car rental + gas), but those category of airline tickets place you at a lower seat allocation/boarding priority than normal stand-by passengers. With the chronic overbooking of flights within North America, we'd still have been waiting for seats for a flight to Atlanta by the time we had driven back to Winnipeg in the car. With 2 drivers, it was only a 25 hour on the road (plus meal/fuel breaks) straight through run, and for the just over 3200 miles (5169 km) that we covered in 3 days on the road, we achieved a fuel average of a shade under 30 mpg (around 108 gals of gas).

Australian motor racing legend Peter Brock has been killed in an accident while taking part in the Targa West rally in Western Australia. news.com.au Sydney Morning Herald

It's not just any Ute ... That's a HSV Maloo R8.

Vehicle and powerplant rented from Clissmann Horse Caravans.

There are stories circulating that the Efijy is soon to hit the US Auto Show circuit.

That's the reason I posted it. Once we know for sure, it probably wouldn't hurt to post an update in the Pontiac or News section.

Local car producer Holden has recalled more than 120,000 cars to fix a problem with the side airbag system. Holden today said the recall involved 89,167 cars sold in the domestic market and 34,552 export vehicles built in Australia between April 2003 and December 2005. The list included Commodore, Statesman, Caprice, Monaro and Crewman models sold in Australia and similar vehicles sold in various countries, badged as other brands and models. Holden said the recall only affected cars fitted with a side airbag system as a standard feature or an optional extra. The full story

From the Holden Web site: THE VERY LAST MONARO TO SHINE IN EMERALD The country Queensland businessman who bought the very last current generation Monaro in a global auction will today see his historic coupe for the first time. Darryl Mattingley, from Emerald in Queensland , was the highest bidder when the unique coupe was auctioned on eBay.com.au from 9 to 19 February. His last minute bid of $AUD 187,600 was three times that of a standard CV8 Monaro, which has a recommended retail price of $60,490. Ironically, he outbid another buyer from Emerald keen to secure the piece of Australian automotive history. Mr Mattingley today received the keys to the very last Monaro, which Holden auctioned with all proceeds directed to long time Holden charity partner, the Leukaemia Foundation. Mr Mattingley is a life-long car enthusiast, who has bought and restored a number of cars. He doesn’t plan to drive the car, but will instead ensure it appreciates by keeping it in ‘cold storage’. “I think, being the last in the line, it will be a great investment. I also wanted to buy the car because the money is going to such a good cause.” The Leukaemia Foundation was also present at the handover event, to receive the proceeds of the auction. Adrian Collins, CEO of the Leukaemia Foundation, was delighted with the result. “ The Leukaemia Foundation is thrilled to have been chosen to receive the proceeds of the last Monaro sold and we sincerely thank both Holden and the Mattingleys for their overwhelming generosity. The incredible $187,600 donated will ensure the 11 Holden patient cars can continue to provide this vital service to patients and families for the next two years. In 2005, Holden's contribution assisted more than 3000 patients and families and covered more than 250,000 kilometres." The last Monaro was one of eBay’s most successful auctions. The amount bid has set a new Australian record for an item sold on eBay.com.au. eBay spokesperson Angie Cursley said, “The last Holden Monaro makes a true Australian icon the most expensive item sold on eBay.com.au and it’s fantastic that it’s sale has raised so much money for charity.” The auction on eBay.com.au was viewed by more than 300,000 Australians and more than 160,000 people looked at the car specifications on the “About me” page. The last Monaro was also the most watched item on eBay.com.au throughout the auction with more than 10,000 watchers. This auction was verified by trading assistant GoingGone, helping charities raise money on eBay.

The Captiva goes on sale in Australia with Holden badges in the second half of 2006. There's a strong Australian influence due to the involvement of former GM Holden designers Mike Simcoe (Monaro/GTO designer) and Max Wolff. Have a look at the similarity between the Captiva instrument panel and dash layout with the Holden designed interior that the GTO inherited. The engine in the top of the line model will be a Holden-sourced Alloytec 3.2-litre V6 engine (HFV6) producing 168kW at 6000rpm and 302Nm at 3500rpm. The Captiva has had extensive testing around Australia and at Holden’s Lang Lang proving ground in Victoria.

The Last Monaro was bought by an Australian car collector (actually a Ford fanatic). As soon as he receives it, the car will be sealed in a controlled climate plastic cocoon and then stored with the his collection of Fords.

The Wikipedia article on Le Mans explains the Le Mans start and specifically mentions the Porsche ignition switch.

Specifically engineered for Le Mans starts. It allows simultaneous starting and gear selection. It's something that drives me nuts when I drive in the US. Over here, the ignition switch is on the right and you shift with your left hand ... you can start a car and select a gear simultaneously.

What, no options in the poll for push buttons in the center of the steering wheel, or an auto shifter that pokes out of the dashboard ... Who gives a rats where it's located ... It's an autotomatic!. It's not as if it was a transmission that you'd purposely put in a driver's car.

eBay Australia listing With just under 6 days to go, the highest bid is currently at AUD$180,000 (USD$132,656.28).

As far as importing it into the US, as the car is more than 25 years old, the importation is a lot simpler, as the compliance requirements for cars of that age are a lot less stringent. Have a look at the web site of Mad Max Cars. They don't have any stock at the moment, but they specialize in importing 25+ year old Australian muscle cars into the US.

The basic idea for this design of two-stroke diesel (innovations such as the unit injector, uniflow scavenging and welded-block construction) was developed by the Winton Engine Corporation, in conjunction with General Motors Corporation's research division. They developed the Winton 201A for use in railroad locomotives. The design of the very successful Detroit Diesel 71 series engine, the Winton 201A and its Cleveland Diesel successors, and the EMD 567, were all developed by a group of engineers who worked with the GM Research Laboratory. This is the primary reason all of these engines share certain "family" design similarities. Here's a time line. 1930: General Motors Corporation acquired Winton Engine Corporation in June and then purchases Winton's chief customer, Electro-Motive Company of Cleveland on December 31. These two new GM Divisions play a key role in the GM Research and Development efforts of Charles F. Kettering's two-cycle lightweight diesel engine project. 1933: GM Research Lab produces the first two prototype two-cycle diesel engines. These 8-cylinder 201 series engines power the Chevrolet assembly plant exhibit at the Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago. 1935: Electro-Motive Division is established and a plant is built at La Grange, Illinois, to produce diesel locomotives. 1937: Winton Engine Manufacturing Corporation is renamed GM Cleveland Diesel Engine Division and the Detroit Diesel Engine Division is organized for production of small diesel engines. 1938: Electro-Motive begins production of its own engine, generators and motors at the LaGrange plant. The new series diesel engine -- the 567 2-stroke diesel is specially designed for locomotive service.

All our Detroits ran governed at 1500 RPM to generate 3 phase 50Hz power. The 16V149T ran 4 turbochargers, and I suspect that the 20V149T runs 4 slightly larger turbochargers. A neat engine combo was the DD Quad pack consisting of four 6-71 engines mated to a 4 into 1 gearbox with a single output shaft. There are MP3s of DD engines here.

A balanced V3 is possible ... but to achieve that you need a crankshaft that enables a cylinder to fire every 120 degrees for a 2 stroke (or 240 degrees for a 4 stroke). Easy enough to achieve in an inline with three evenly spaced throws, but in a V engine, you'd need either a block with a 120 degrees angle between the banks (short but wide) or a split throw crank (or one crank journal for each cylinder). Once you have those restrictions, a V3 DD becomes a packaging nightmare. It is far simpler to do a 3 cylinder DD as an inline. The inline 371s we had at work powered mobile generators, and we had a number of 16V92Ts (with 4 turbochargers feeding into a pair of 8V92 type crankcase superchargers) as standby power generators in critical building complexes. The BIG engines were the 110 series (only available as an inline 6 cylinder 6-110) and the 149 series (only available in V configuration - 8V149, 12V149, 16V149, and 20V149) that were generally found powering generators or as marine propulsion engines. Detroit Diesels are often referred to as "Detroit 2 Smokes" or "The Green Grenade" and renowned for their ability to go from cold to full-load without a warm-up period, but they are also well known for their noise and smoke (especially when lightly loaded). "A 2-cycle Detroit Diesel is one of the most efficient devices known to man for turning #2 diesel fuel into noise and smoke." anon

8V92 = 8 cylinders in V with 92 cubic inches per cylinder 3V53 - AFAIK does not exist ... V3? 353 = inline 3 cylinder with 53 cu in per cylinder 6V71 = V6 with 71 cu in per cylinder 671 = inline 6 with 71 cu in per cylinder There are other letters used in the designation 16V92T = V16, 92 cu in per cylinder, Turbocharged 16V92AT = V16, 92 cu in per cylinder, Turbocharged with Aftercooler (Detroit Diesel's name for an intercooler) The famous Jimmy 671 supercharger that was used on early Drag Cars was the crankcase supercharger (needed for the 2 stroke GMC/Detroit Diesel engines) from a 6 cylinder 71 cu in per cylinder engine.

A.R. Is putting it mildly. Ever wonder why Japanese vehicles have a 3 year warranty. The warranty lasts until the first "Shakensho" is needed on a new car in Japan.The first "Shakensho" is at the 3 year point, and is expensive (starts at about 100,000 yen/USD$850 just for the inspection), and from then on a new one is needed needed every 2 years. It's a white glove inspection, and as the place that does the inspection will pretty much demand to do the repair work that's needed, they find every little problem. If you have a modified car, many of the inspection centers will have a supply of stock parts that they will rent to you (plus the cost for removing your illegal parts, installing the legal parts and the reverse process after inspection) so you can pass the "Shakensho". Many Japanese don't even bother getting their cars inspected, and when the inspection is due, they just drive them to a recycling center, or a company that specializes in exporting used Japanese vehicles. There are practically no classic cars in Japan. A few years ago, a Japanese team that wanted to compete in car rally for 60's vintage vehicles built a Honda S600/S800 out of parts from Honda's spare parts catalog, because none were available in Japan. A Japanese car collector that had a 1966 Lamborghini Miura lifted by helicopter into his penthouse apartment, has to have it returned to the street every 2 years for inspection.

1976 Mazda Roadpacer Note, the prices on the web site are in AUD not USD. The Mazda RoadPacer, was a 1976 Holden Premier model, assembled by Mazda in Japan, and powered by a Mazda 13B rotary engine. Even when they were new, these things were rare (and most of them were sold to the Japanese government), but with Japan's strict vehicle testing regime, the availability of a 30 year old Japanese-market-only vehicle in Japan is nothing short of amazing. Although Mazda and Ford had a financial tie, back in the mid 70's GM was doing rotary engine research, and had bought some technology from Mazda. As part (possibly full) payment for the technology transfer, GM arranged for a number of engineless and transmissionless CKD (Completely Knocked Down) Holden Premier kits to shipped to Mazda for assembly with a Mazda rotary engine and matching transmission. While it was being produced, the car was Mazda's domestic market, top of the line model.

I just read the article in Wired, and found it to be fascinating. OK, after you get the DeLorean, you'll need to find a Krups 'Coffina' Model 223 Coffee Grinder ...