Danase Detailing Supply Blog

First we loose one of motorcycles biggest icons with the passing of Evel Kenievel and now we lost one of the biggest hot rod icons….

It’s a sad day to have to report the passing of 63 year old hot rod legend Boyd Coddington.  Mr. Coddington built a fabulous reputation as one of the worlds best hot rod builders.  He gave a lot of people their start in the automotive industry and did a lot of good for the industry as well.

 You’ll be missed Boyd!

Drive your car to death, save $31,000

(CNNMoney.com) — By keeping your car for 15 years, or 225,000 miles of driving, you could save nearly $31,000, according to Consumer Reports magazine. That’s compared to the cost of buying an identical model every five years, which is roughly the rate at which most car owners trade in their vehicles. In its annual national auto survey, the magazine found 6,769 readers who had logged more than 200,000 miles on their cars. Their cars included a 1990 Lexus LS400 with 332,000 miles and a 1994 Ford Ranger pick-up that had gone 488,000 miles. Honda Civic Consumer Reports calls the Honda Civic a “Good bet” to make it to 200,000 miles. Calculating the costs involved in buying a new Honda Civic EX every five years for 15 years - including depreciation, taxes, fees and insurance - the magazine estimated it would cost $20,500 more than it would have cost to simply maintain one car for the same period.  Added to that, the magazine factored in $10,300 in interest that could have been earned on that money, assuming a five percent interest rate and a three percent inflation rate, over that time. The magazine found similar savings with other models. To have much hope of making it to 200,000 miles, a car has to be well maintained, of course. The magazine recommends several steps to help your car see it through. * Follow the maintenance guide in your owner’s manual and make needed repairs promptly. * Use only the recommended types of fluids, including oil and transmission fluids. * Check under the hood regularly. Listen for strange sounds, sniff for odd smells and look for fraying or bulges in pipes or belts. Also, get a vehicle service manual. They’re available at most auto parts stores or your dealership. * Clean the car carefully inside and out. This not only helps the car’s appearance but can prevent premature rust. Vacuuming the inside also prevents premature carpet wear from sand and grit. * Buy a safe, reliable car. Buying a car with the latest safety equipment makes it more likely you’ll feel as safe in your aging car as a newer model. The magazine recommends several cars that have the best shot at reaching the 200,000 mile mark and a few that, according to its data, aren’t likely to make it. All the cars in the magazine’s “Good bets” list are manufactured by Honda  and Toyota. (One extreme example was not enough to get the Ford Ranger onto the list.) The “Bad bets” are a mixture of European models and two Nissans.

Consumer Reports’ “Good bets” for making 200,000 miles: Honda Civic, Honda CR-V, Honda Element, Lexus ES, Lexus LS, Toyota 4Runner, Toyota Highlander, Toyota Land Cruiser, Toyota Prius, Toyota RAV4

Consumer Reports’ “Bad bets” for making 200,000 miles: BMW 7-series, Infiniti QX56, Jaguar X-type, V8-powered Mercedes-Benz M-class, Mercedes-Benz SL, Nissan Armada, Nissan Titan, Volkswagen Touareg, V6-powered Volvo XC90.

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By Bruce Martin, Special to SI.com

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Thursday could be one of the most important days in IndyCar racing history as a resolution that would bring Champ Car teams into the IndyCar Series is nearing completion and could become official in two days.

The deal has not been completed as of late Tuesday afternoon, however, because IndyCar founder Tony George is in Orlando, Fla. at a meeting for ACCUS, the arm of the FIA which rules all international motorsports. Champ Car principle Kevin Kalkhoven is in London for a family anniversary and is not expected to return until Thursday.

“Discussions are ongoing,” said IndyCar Series vice president of public relations John Griffin. “There is still an agreement that needs to be completed.

“We’re confident but discussions are ongoing.”

Drafts of an agreement between the two sides were exchanged on Tuesday, according to sources.

This would end the 13-year war that began when Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Tony George announced the creation of a new racing series on March 20, 1994. At that time, most of the teams that competed in the Indianapolis 500 were in CART, a series that went bankrupt and would later be revived as Champ Car. The series didn’t move toward reality until 1995 and began competition on January 27, 1996.

George’s original intention was to have CART teams participate in what was then known as the Indy Racing League but most of those teams refused, starting a lengthy and divisive battle for supremacy in North American open wheel racing.

Now it appears Champ Car will agree to cease operations, which will allow its teams to accept George’s offer of a free Dallara chassis and free Honda engines to make the transition to IndyCar. In addition, IndyCar is expected to get Champ Car’s race dates for the Long Beach Grand Prix along with street races in Edmonton, Alberta; Surfer’s Paradise Australia. Mexico City and Toronto could be added in 2009.

This would not be a merger of Champ Car and IndyCar because the IndyCar Series will be the only series in competition. And it is not technically an acquisition because IndyCar will not be acquiring all of the assets of Champ Car.

The proper term would be an “amalgamation” which means Champ Car closes up business and its teams join IndyCar.

In recent weeks while George was making his offer to bring the two sides together, Champ Car’s principles which include Kalkhoven, Gerald Forsythe, Paul Gentilozzi and Dan Pettit have considered one last effort to stage the 2008 season or to file bankruptcy.

Either way, the IndyCar Series will now have the opportunity to lead this form of racing into the future with the Indianapolis 500 as its cornerstone event.

But, any agreement does not necessarily mean a large contingent of Champ Car teams will be joining IndyCar this year. Some teams may close up or enter a new form of racing, such as sports cars.

Champ Car teams Walker Racing and Newman-Haas-Lanigan are expected to join the IndyCar Series but some of IndyCar’s current teams, such as Dreyer & Reinbold and Vision Racing, which ironically is owned by George, may have to reduce the number of cars it fields this season.

Dreyer & Reinbold campaigned two cars in IndyCar last season but may run just one car in 2008. Also, Vision Racing has 10 cars in its possession and will be the main source of cars that will be heading to Champ Car teams that decide to join IndyCar.

Larry Curry is the team manager at Vision Racing and will be in charge of not only preparing the cars that will be going to the new teams joining the IndyCar Series, but also his own effort for his drivers.

“I think certainly we’ve anticipated this was in the works and I want to say that we are prepared,” Curry said. “If and when we get the final word that we need to get some of that stuff distributed we’ll be able to answer the bell. It hasn’t been totally defined exactly yet how all of that transpires if and when it becomes official to tell you the truth.

“You’re going to expect more of your people and things of that nature but to me the sooner it’s official the better You want to get done what you need to get done for that and then move on because you are 100 percent right. Vision Racing has had aggressive testing in the offseason and are very well prepared for the upcoming open test. I think the sooner you can get a single focus the better.

“If they announce this thing tomorrow, it’s not too soon for me.”

Curry said his crew at Vision Racing will be working throughout the weekend to get all 10 of its cars prepared for use at next week’s IndyCar Open test at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

“It adds work to the plate for sure,” Curry said. “Even though you have all these cars, they are in a cycle and you have to bring that to the forefront quicker than anticipated. What Vision was doing with all of these cars was the 2008 modifications with the anti-intrusion panels. We’re installing those on all 10 of those cars. That’s a process in itself that is new to us and has added more time to the physical build of the cars.

“We’re going to run two cars full time. Tony George needs to officially announce his driver lineup with that but what we would do beyond that is yet to be determined.”

If the IndyCar Series began racing tomorrow, there would only be 16 cars and that’s assuming Rahal Letterman competes this season along with Marty Roth running two cars.

It remains unclear which Champ Car teams will actually join IndyCar.

“I hope they all come,” Curry said. “If you have eight cars plus the 16 you have and get to 24 that would be pretty damn big. Once we get it and get it done, it’s who all is really going to come? Hopefully, they all do.

“I want to see open-wheel racing gets back to where qualifying actually means something. That would be pretty cool. It hasn’t been that way in a long, long time.”

Curry has been involved in the IndyCar Series since it was called the Indy Racing League in 1996 when he was the team manager at Team Menard and Tony Stewart was one of his drivers.

Prior to the 1996 season when CART and the IRL went separate ways, a case could be made that IndyCar racing was the dominant form of racing in the United States over NASCAR in terms of general, broad-based interest.

That was before NASCAR pulled away from the field.

Now that IndyCar could be one unified group, Curry is hopefully the building process can begin.

“Once this announcement comes down, let’s everyone focus on what needs to be done to make this series the best it could be,” Curry said. “Let’s make a single focus about where we need to take this thing for the future. That’s the only way we are ultimately going to get to where we need to get.

“I want people in open wheel racing to always believe they have the best guys in one series and not in another series.”

Curry believes the addition of the Champ Car drivers will be a very interesting mix to the series.

“The majority of the drivers coming over are all very high level road racers and of course Paul Tracy has the oval background and has won races on ovals,” Curry said. “We have some good road racers on our series, too and we have some guys equally as good road racers. It will be an interesting mix in how all of that works out. On one side it will be a steep learning curve but as Ryan Hunter-Reay proved when he came into our series and got in Rahal’s car, he adapted very easily.”

But as former CART and IndyCar driver Robby Gordon said at last week’s Daytona 500 — “Getting the cars together is the easy part; the hard part was getting the two sides to finally agree to become one.”

The lengthy war for control of open wheel racing in America coincided with NASCAR’s rapid growth to become the premier racing series in the United States.

Even with one unified IndyCar Series, it may be difficult to compete in the racing world with NASCAR’s huge sponsorship, media and fan base advantages.

But at the very least, it will help restore stature to IndyCar’s premier event, the Indianapolis 500.

“I’m extremely relieved just because being in the sport as long as I’ve been in the sport, for once the things that are happening is what is right for the sport,” Curry said. “Hopefully, the two sides coming together and one open-wheel racing series in the United States that corporate America may notice and wanted to jump on board because there will be continuity and direction.

“If you get a series sponsor that will be the beginning of getting sponsors for teams. Our series needs to have a name besides being the IndyCar Series. We need a partner to jump on board and start to really promote the series that you can do when you have that kind of backing.”

America’s Most Miserable Cities
Kurt Badenhausen 01.30.08, 6:00 AM ET 

Imagine living in a city with the country’s highest rate for violent crime and the second-highest unemployment rate. As an added kicker you need more Superfund dollars allocated to your city to clean up contaminated toxic waste sites than just about any other metro. 

Unfortunately, this nightmare is a reality for the residents of Detroit. The Motor City grabs the top spot on Forbes’ inaugural list of America’s Most Miserable Cities. 

Misery is defined as a state of great unhappiness and emotional distress. The economic indicator most often used to measure misery is the Misery Index. The index, created by economist Arthur Okun, adds the unemployment rate to the inflation rate. It has been in the narrow 7-to-9 range for most of the past decade, but was over 20 during the late 1970s. 

There also exists a Misery Score, which is the sum of corporate, personal, employer and sales taxes in different countries. France took the top spot (or perhaps bottom is more appropriate) with a score of 166.8, thanks to a top rate of 51% on personal incomes and 45% for employer Social Security. 

But aren’t there other things that cause Americans misery? Of course. So we decided to expand on the Misery Index and the Misery Score to create our very own Forbes Misery Measure. We’re sticking with unemployment and personal tax rates, but we are adding four more factors that can make people miserable: commute times, weather, crime and that toxic waste dump in your backyard. 

We looked at only the 150 largest metropolitan areas, which meant a minimum population of 371,000. We ranked the cities on the six criteria above and added their ranks together to establish what we call the Misery Measure. The data used in the rankings came from Portland, Ore., researcher Bert Sperling, who last year published the second edition of Cities Ranked & Rated along with Peter Sander. Economic research firm Economy.com, which is owned by Moody’s, also supplied some data. 

Detroit in the top spot, with its sister city Flint ranked third, is probably not a great shock. “If Detroit were a baseball team, we’d say they are mired in a slump,” says Sperling. Both Detroit and Flint have suffered tremendously from the auto industry downturn. Flint’s plight was immortalized in the Michael Moore movie Roger & Me, which chronicles Moore’s attempts to meet with then General Motors (nyse: GM - news - people ) Chief Executive Roger Smith. 

Crime and unemployment are closely linked, according to Sperling. Our three most miserable places bear that out (Stockton, Calif., ranks second). All three are among the eight worst cities in terms of both unemployment and violent crime. 

The United States’ two biggest cities both induce a ton of misery. New York was the fourth most miserable city by our count, while Los Angeles clocked in at sixth. The Big Apple has the longest commute times (36.2 minutes) and the highest tax rates (10.5%) in the country. As the financial capital of the world and home to write-down kings Merrill Lynch (nyse: MER - news - people ) and Citigroup (nyse: C - news - people ), New York appears poised for more misery in 2008. 

The people of La-La Land have some of the best weather in the U.S. (it’s ranked seventh) but scored poorly when it came to commute times, Superfund sites and taxes. And we did not even factor in air quality, where Los Angeles is the worst in the nation by far, according to Sperling. 

The biggest surprise on our list is Charlotte, N.C., which is ranked ninth. Charlotte has undergone tremendous economic growth the past decade, while the population has soared 32%. But the current picture isn’t as bright. Employment growth has not kept up with population growth, meaning unemployment rates are up more than 50% compared with 10 years ago. Charlotte scored in the bottom half of all six categories we examined. It scored the worst on violent crime, ranking 140th. 

So take heart, Detroit, you are not alone. After all, misery loves company.