Autoerotica, Detailed Photos Of

The silver SUV apparently backed out into the street so fast that it struck and flipped the blue car, then mounted it. Nobody appears to have been seriously hurt, so we all have a guilt-free pass to mock the, um, compromising situation.
Found in Paula Wirth’s photo stream.

2002 Honda Civic iPod/iPhone Install

Last weekend, while I was putting an iPod interface into my Scion I did the same thing for my 2002 Honda Civic. Using Ben Johnson’s story as a guide, I bought a PIE HON98-AUX interface and dove in.
Aside from tools (screwdrivers and 8 and 10mm sockets), you’ll need:

The interface adapter
Audio wiring — I used a [...]

2004 Scion xB iPod/iPhone Install

Based on this story about an iPod interface install I purchased a PIE TOY03-AUX aux input adapter so I could finally listen to my iPhone without using the lousy FM transmitter. Sure, I coulda bought a new car, as the manufacturers seem to have finally come to their senses and started including such inputs, but [...]

Smashitup Smashitup Smashitup!

After all my agitating for small, cheap, fuel efficient cars (and automotive metaphors), I figured I had to post this picture (and a few others) from the demolition derby at the Hopkinton Fair a couple weeks ago. My video of the four-cylinder event is at YouTube.
Extra: I don’t know where it fits in your stereotype [...]

Small Is Beautiful

Will found this on the side of the road, and after he told me about it I begged him to show me.
It’s tiny, rusty, and a little older than I expected. Like a very, very small VW Bus, it has a rear-mounted engine. I think it’s a Subaru Sambar, but that’s mostly based on [...]

I Want A Cheap Fuel Efficient Car

I’m looking for a new car, but I’m finding that the market for cheap and fuel efficient cars is no better now than it was in 2005.
I drive about 140 miles round trip to work (all highway), so I’m looking for the best available highway fuel economy. I can drive a standard, but Sandee can’t, [...]

Are We There Yet? Still Waiting For Decent iPod Car Integration

Even Bob Borchers, Apple’s senior director of iPod worldwide product marketing, calls most iPod car setups an “inelegant mess of cassette adaptors and wires.” Indeed, while Apple aparently doesn’t want to get into the car audio business, they do want to improve the in-car iPod experience:
What Apple really wants you to buy is a [...]

DeLoreans Are Back In This Future

If the DeLorean looks at all like a Lotus Esprit, it should. Both of them were designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, and much of the engineering work was done by Lotus founder Colin–to add speed, add lightness–Chapman. Amusingly, John De Lorean also owned a company that manufactured snowcats under the DMC name.
Owners and wannabes can join [...]

…It’s How You Use It

Not A Pretty Librarian has kicked things off well with a first post titled “It Is Not A Tool,” covering an argument about which has more value to a teenager: a car or a computer.
On one side is the notion that “She can’t drive herself to work with a computer.” While, on the other side [...]

Rocket Cars Make Better Fireworks

I pointed out this Jet Turbine Powered Toyota MR2 a year ago, but now I’ve discovered Ron Patrick’s Jet Powered VW Beatle. The story is well told in a San Francisco Gate article from April (with bonus video), which describes the builder:
Patrick is a 48-year-old Stanford-trained (Ph.D.) engineer who owns ECM (Engine Control and Monitoring), [...]