Faster than a speeding bullet? More powerful than a locomotive? Well, not necessarily, but the piston in your car’s internal combustion engine is an impressive piece of technology. And you probably don’t know much more. Contributing editor Jeff Zurschmiede came up with these surprising facts.
It took a lot to finally get Detroit to finally embrace small cars — but domestic automakers were well aware of what was coming. Uninformed reporting countered what Detroit executives were really up to back in 1958.This week’s Past Lane report looks at what was really happening back then.
Nissan has again shaken up its top management team, this time appointing Ivan Espinosa as its new CEO. He replaces Makoto Uchida who, critics said, failed to reverse the ongoing decline of Japan’s second-largest automaker. The automaker’s chairman warned the new chief executive will face a “challenging start” during a Tokyo news conference that also revealed a number of other senior management changes.
Barring a last-minute change of mind, the White House has signaled Pres. Donald Trump will announce new tariffs targeting America’s largest trading partners, Canada and Mexico, on Tuesday. The move is expected to increase the cost of many common goods substantially, including not only fully assembled vehicles imported from America’s nearest neighbors but other cars, trucks and crossovers assembled in the U.S. That’s because virtually all of those models rely on at least some Mexican and Canadian parts, components and raw materials.
When Tadge Juechter, the long-time chief engineer for the Corvette program, left nearly a year ago it seemed like just a normal retirement. But severalother members of the sports car’s team have now left – and not voluntarily. That has many observers wondering: what’s going on at Corvette?
If you’ve got the floor all to yourself, why not do things with flair? That’s what Ford clearly had in mind when it crafted the Mustang GTD Spirit of American prototype that it unveiled ahead of the annual Detroit Auto Show on Thursday night. The red-white-and-blue exotic celebrates the achievement of Craig Breedlove, the one-time aerospace engineer who set an array of land speed records in a series of jet-powered racers.
This week in 2011, the final Mercury automobile rolls off the line at Ford Motor Company’s St. Thomas Assembly Plant in Ontario, Canada. The last Mercury, a Grand Marquis, is the dying vestige of a marque championed by Edsel Ford to fill the cavernous price gap between the Ford and Lincoln. Introduced in 1938, Ford sold more than 21 million Mercury vehicles during its 71-year lifetime. Being the middle child, it rarely had a distinct image, although it did have a handful of memorable models.
Jean Jennings was a gifted storyteller who became one of the go-to authorities about the auto industry. Unfortunately, she was silenced by Alzheimer’s Disease, passing away this week at the age of 70. Headlight.News takes a look at her life.
Workers at Volkswagen’s German operations walked off the job Monday. The 120,000 members of trade union IG Metall took to the streets to protest the automaker’s plans to pair back its home market operations, a move that could see it shutter as many as three assembly lines.
Despite the pictures of Jaguar’s Type 00 concept leaking before the debut, the all-electric vision provided the iconic British brand with a chance to make a statement. And while Jaguar officials seem confident about this new direction, it’s clear it will take others longer to share that confidence. Get details at Headlight.News.
It’s an iconic part of the Detroit skyline but, with General Motors moving its headquarters to a downsized alternative the fate of the massive Renaissance Center complex has been uncertain, some calling for its demolition, others hoping to find an alternative use. Now, GM is looking at a solution that’s a bit of both as it proposes a massive new “waterfront destination.”
After seven decades, Chevrolet’s second V-8 is an engineering and performance icon. And the bowtie brand’s very survival is tied to that small block engine.