The Insanity of the Economy
Browsing BoingBoing today I saw this article. I clicked through and looked through the photos posted on the auction website. It’s worth a look. Here’s the story: wikipedia Chrysler’s Newark Assembly plant in Newark, Delaware built tanks between 1951 and 1957, and cars between 1957 and 2009, including LeBarons, Town and Countrys, and most recently Dodge Durangoes. The property and facility was bought by the University of Delaware for $24.25M, as it is adjacent to campus. They plan to re purpose the property for research and future expansion. The sale was made in October 2009, now they are auctioning all the industrial machinery, tooling and fixtures that made the plant run. $24.25 seems like really a pittance for such a facility- 3m sq. ft., chock full of everything needed to run a production car manufacturing operation.
The fragile fabric
Driving back to Albany from Santa Rosa on Sunday I witnessed a pretty gnarly car crash.
Basically- I noticed this aggressive driver in a black Passat with frat letters on the back when they passed me on the right. Drifting around in the lane, uneven acceleration. Decided to give them wide berth. As I followed directly behind them in the left lane, but with 2-300 yards distance I saw them brake suddenly, realized they had failed to slow down with traffic. They then swerved sharply into the right lane, where there was some space. It was a misty day, with moisture on the road but no standing water. The driver then lost control of the car, skidding side to side, then sliding into the embankment on the side of the road, probably at 50+ mph. The car rolled onto the roof. I pulled into the median and crossed the road, helped the driver out of the car through the rear driver side window. The driver’s side front corner of the car was crushed worst, although the airbags didn’t deploy, the driver was lucky not to get more hurt.
In: Cars, Life and Times
Rabbit Diesel
Something strikes me as pretty funny about the car in this picture. Probably because I expect the driving experience in a diesel rabbit has got to be pretty wretched. Hey- I’ve got nothing but respect for terrible econoboxes boldly proclaiming their worst attributes!
Bad Engineering and the Bay Bridge
Photo M. Macor/The Chronicle
On Bad Engineering
On Tuesday (10/27/09) I was driving back from Laney College up to my home in Albany. A ways in advance of where 880 splits off for (I guess) 80E and 80W (Bay Bridge) I realized we were merging out of the left lanes for the Bay Bridge- with flares and cones. No Caltrans trucks, flashing arrow signs, hundreds of cones, just a smattering of flares and dingy cones. And then headlights, coming toward me out of those lanes- wait?? huh? They had apparently rerouted traffic “out the in ramp”. I’m still not sure exactly how it worked- but by the time we got to the Y it was quite clear that something funny was going on with the bridge. Then over the flyover I could see the “parking lot” in the toll plaza everyone has been talking about.
DIY Autocross Magnetic Car Numbers
What do you need if you are going to an autocross event with a racecar that has one number on the side, but you are going to be running two drivers? Well, you need another detachable number! What about if that racecar has beautiful but easily-lifted purple and yellow house paint on it? Well, you need a magnetic number then. Clearly. Ah, but what if that autocross is two days away, and you’re really cheap? Sounds like you’re going to be making your own magnetic car number! But don’t worry, it’s really easy. Check it out:
First, get yourself a pack of these “TWIN DRAFT GUARD” (AS SEEN ON TV) “MAGNETIC VENT COVERS” from your local Bed Bath and Beyond – maybe walmart or target carries this or something similar as well-
In: Little Fixes, Racing
Skateboard Nearing A Good Place
In order to get the Skateboard (Facebreaker) a little less rough I’ve worked on a few things over the last couple weeks. Build process previously documented here and here.
The Electric Mega-Skate-Board AKA “Facebreaker” Rides
If you didn’t see it, take a look at the previous skateboard post for an idea what this is all about- Read the rest of this post »
Long Overdue: EV Miata First Start Video
If you watch the site you will know that I have gotten the electric car registered, driven it in a parade, and that it is entirely functional. But before all that, I had to power it up for the first time ever. That day, I invited friends over and we took video, which is now, finally edited. Enjoy.
Click through for the HD version—
The Rise of Banzai Lemon
In: Art and Design, Racing
Station Wagon Solar Roof and Solar Sub- Self Sufficient Sonic Splendor
Toyota has been advertising the “Solar Roof” option for the new 2010 Prius- it’s basically a solar module integrated into the roof panel that runs the cabin ventilation fan on hot and sunny days. Simple enough- but what they didn’t tell you is that you can have a solar roof on any car- obviously!
In: Life and Times, Little Fixes, Renewable Energy System