While GM and Ford’s stocks are plummeting to the bottom(the worst since 1950), GM states that “bankruptcy is not an option” as they still have billions of cash in hand. (which is washing away rather quickly)

Here’s an excerpt from LA Times:

“We face unprecedented challenges related to uncertainty in the financial markets globally and weakening economic fundamentals in many key markets,” Renee Rashid-Merem, a GM spokeswoman, told Bloomberg News on Thursday. “But bankruptcy is not an option GM is considering.”

According to Clark, a bankruptcy filing would probably have terrible effects on the residual value of cars and their warranties, making it even harder to sell new cars as consumers gravitate to other, more stable carmakers. That, he said, means that carmakers would choose to stay out of bankruptcy far longer than companies that might normally see it as a way out of untenable financial straits.

I think it’s a good thing that GM is trying to outlast this economic disaster, but I wouldn’t want to see any of my tax dollars going to fix their problems. As a owner of a GM car, I am sure my replacement parts and warranties would really be gone into the thin air, but this shouldn’t be a reason why Uncle Sam should help the big car companies.

My thoughts are still clear that business financials should not be paid for my U.S. citizens. It’s an outrage when that happens as I too, should be getting my expenses paid by the government.

I don’t think helping the car companies will do a great deal other than keeping them alive little bit longer (in case we happen to see Depression-era here in the U.S.).  Better way would be to let them go bankrupt, let’s focus our attention on the other 90% of U.S. economy and all the people who have lost jobs as of lately.

GM should help others before they ask the government for help, otherwise, it’s a bad business anyways.

Do you want to pay $20 billion to auto-makers out of your tax dollars?  Heck no, I worked too hard for the last couple years paying those ridiculous taxes that went into wars because of Bush.  Yes, I do deserve money before those big corporations, don’t you?

via autoblog

Here’s a cool DIY showing you how to turn a 1978 Corvette into a Batmobile.  I think you could probably also do this with older Stingray Corvettes too.

Q: What is the original car that this was made from?
A: A brought-back-from-the-dead 1978 Corvette (most likely the limited edition pace car model).

Q: Did you make this from a kit? Where can I get it?
A: No, this is not a kit car. This was handmade using high density foam, fiberglass and a variety of classified materials. A 1989 Kenner toy car was used as the base model for which the modifications were made.

via hacknmod, DIY Page

As a resident of San Francisco, I can say how much I hate tow trucks since they towed my car without warning. It just happens that tow trucks “wait” around parking lots to tow cars.

Okay, that said, here’s a cool DIY air suspension system made for tow trucks, I hope it doesn’t make it to the market, I really don’t like technology improvements for tow trucks. I think people in tow trucks are one of the “lowest” grade jobs out there along with parking meter people. Don’t get me wrong, tow trucks are just really “bad” in San Francisco.  If they start doing things more “legally”, I’d have to change my mind though, but that’s not going to happen in this bad economy-era.

Gadget Freak James Kinney was looking for a way to take the pressure off the back end of a tow truck when it’s carrying a heavy load. If you can equalize the pressure of the truck bed so all the weight is not on the back end, there will be less stress to the truck’s suspension system. Kinney developed the air suspension system, called the Mechatronic Microcontroller, in his mechatronics’ class at Colorado State University. The gadget uses a resistive touchscreen from an electronic Sudoku game to select the ride height of the tow truck’s bed to make it level, thus spreading the stress of the towing weight evenly across the truck’s suspension.

via make

Ghostbusters Cadillac Ecto is for sale on eBay.  Current bid is at $45,000 but I think it will go well over $100,000 for this authentic Hollywood classic.

In August of 2006 I purchased the original Universal Studios Ecto-1. The car was stripped of all the Ghost busting equipment and sold as an ambulance and with a little negotiation I was able to get all of the roof rack parts and the original light bars. This car was used at the park for over fifteen years for the Ghostbusters Experience, parades and display inside the Florida park. This car is one of three Sony/MGM authorized Ghostbusters 1959 Cadillac Miller Meteor Ecto-1. There are the two original cars used in the films and this one built exclusively for the Universal Studios Theme parks. This car has a rich history and thousands of fans have been photographed with this car. The only major change made to this car was the roof rack. We modified the roof rack to resemble the screen used Sony Ecto-1 original car. Other upgrades are cosmetic and mechanically it’s very sound.

via neatorama, ebay

I used to grow up watching Flintstones (while I didn’t know English back then) and although I didn’t understand a damn word, I did enjoy it thoroughly.

Here’s how to hack a toddler’s Flintstones Car for your young children.

I have a 20 month old grandaughter and a 14 month old grandson who are dressing up as Pebbles and Bambam for Halloween. I decided they needed a Flintstone Car to complete the look. This is how I made it…

via instructables

Click Here to View in Full Screen Mode

Wow, check out this mini RC V12 engine that runs like a real V12 engine, except 10 times smaller. (but still loud)

“12-cylinder-4-stroke V-engine with two camshafts below, mixed lubrication and air cooling. * 21 mm bore stroke 21 mm Displacement 87 cm ³ engine capacity to 7,25 cc per cylinder. * Compression ratio of 1:10 weight ca 4800 g speed of 950 - 5000 1/min”

via hackedgadgets

Well, Ford has decided to add a new Parental Control to their cars by having a Smart Key with a chip that can limit how fast your teenage daughter/son drives, how loud the stereo is played, and other features that can help your child stay out of trouble.

I think this is a really good idea and it won’t cost the car manufacturer another dime since most of that is already controlled by a car-resident computer.  The only money they will really have to spend is on the chips inside the key but that still should cost less than a quarter per chip as mass production.

I think this is fantasy of movies coming to life as now we are really trying to control how a person drives.  There will be negatives like when you are trying to get away from a serial killer, a 80MPH speed limit won’t help.  But I am sure people will find a way to hack this too, maybe it is pointless for smarter teenagers but we will get the rest of them.

In addition to implementing a speed limit, the key can be used to limit the volume of the car stereo system and emit a chime for six seconds every five minutes until the driver puts on a seatbelt.

MyKey can also be programmed to chime once each time the car reaches 45 mph, 55 mph, and 65 mph to alert young drivers about their acceleration.

Another feature, useful to anyone who fails to notice when the fuel light goes on, chimes when the car is 75 miles from empty. (The light on a Ford usually goes on at 50 miles to empty.)

via cnet

Our President Bush, the most miserable failure in history of the United States, decides to sign another bill that will allow automakers to borrow $25 Billion, adding to the national deficit of $700 billion.(or is it $800 billion)

Whatever the case is, this is kind of an outrageous stuff because I would have never voted for this bill to pass.  I don’t see how pumping more money into the auto industry will help our economy, maybe create more factory jobs.

While the U.S. banking industry is still waiting for Congress to give it a $700 billion hand, President Bush signed into law last night the spending bill that gives U.S. automakers $25 billion in loans to get their collective act together.

But unlike when a bank deems you worthy of their money, the Big Three won’t be getting any cash for some time. Despite the companys’ CEOs saying repeatedly how they were desperate for help and how automotive life as they know it would end if they didn’t get financial help, there’s at least a 60-day delay until they can cash this check.

This is exactly the reason why our economy is failing and getting worse.  Can someone please give George Bush a blowjob tomorrow so we can impeach the day after that?  Another miserable failure act from the worst President in history who has his name more associated with the sewer plant in San Francisco than any kind of brains.

via autoblog

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Check out this DIY on how to use your tow hook as a digital camera mount.  This will be good for those of you speed racers out there who can’t get enough digital footage of your own car.

Now, I’d like to see someone put this on a Tow Hook on a SUV to get some backdoor footage too.

What this is good for: autox, backroads, a camera you don’t care that much about.
What is it not good for: on the track (you need the tow hook operational duh!), in the dirt (might work, but the camera might die), snow (see dirt).

Warning: Some people have claimed that in an accident the tow hook will prevent the airbags from deploying properly. I haven’t tested this, be warned that this may or may not be the case and there is some risk involved with this.

via make, DIY Page