If you happen to be in Berkeley, CA you might want to take a drive down Matthews Street and see the Fish House. Made from recycled styrofoam and cement blocks, it is said to be waterproof, fireproof, and resistant to earthquakes and sound.
[Source: Roadside America]
WHAT'S COMING UP?
Avenue of the Giants Weekend Run - Sat. March 23, 2024
Saturday will be a very full day of cruising from Novato up through the Avenue of the Giants and ending at Eel River Brewing in Fortuna. Sun...
The People Who Own This Place Think They're Underwater
This One Has Your Fingerprints All Over It
A chromed Lamborghini Murcielago LP640. Also, don't miss the parked Carrera GT, Lamborghini Murcielago LP670-4 SV and pink Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera in the video.
[Source: TopSpeed]
How Fast Can You Go Before The Parking Ticket Blows Off Your Windshield?
[Source: via Jalopnik]
Bumper Sticker Comes With MINI Bought Under Cash For Clunkers
These stickers have been given to MINI dealers to give their Cash for Clunkers customers.
[Source: Jalopnik]
Looking To Buy A Navigation System?
Automobile Magazine compares the TomTom XL 340S, Magellan Maestro 4350, Garmin nĂ¼vi 765T and the Rightway Spotter Dale, Jr. Edition. We don't know which is best but we do like that the Rightway Spotter Dale, Jr. Edition gives voice commands in Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s southern drawl.
Tired? Retire To The Tire Lounger
MINI JCW Clubman Review
August 15 Skyline Run With Emphasis On Sky (updated 8-4-09)
Don't miss this beautiful NorCal MINIs' run that starts off at the Denny's at Serra Monte Shopping Center in Daly City at 9:30 a.m., takes us to Duarte's at 11:30 in Pescadero for a bite (mmmmm! Artichoke Soup); then down Highway 85 to Skyline Boulevard and on to Highway 92 all the way to the aviation museum in San Carlos (admission $10 adult $6 seniors and children).
Make sure to bring your school supplies for the big NorCal MINIs' School Supply Collection.
Sign up by responding to your email invitation or, if you don't get one, by emailing us at info@norcalminis.com.
New Zipcar Street Theatre Advertisements
Zipcar gave out mock parking tickets to pedestrians who passed their radar speed display.
[Source: psfk]
Matchstick Mini
[Source: 3news.co.nz]
Now That's A Demolition Derby
Hope They Make A MINI Toolbox
[Source: via AutoMotto]
First Motor Vehicle Sales Advertisement
[Source: Wired]
No Church For Me
This Would Get Me To Take The Car To The Shop
"Classic Cars" 1999 (Minis On Men & Motors)
Driving Like A Jerk Has Its Place
We doubt this study because there continue to be traffic jams in the Bay Area.
[Source: via Slashdot]
BTS Statistics To Ponder
The Bureau of Transportation Statistics has issued its 2008 State Transportation Statistics Report. Interesting statistics to ponder include:
California Road Conditions (2007)
Very good - 1,800
Good - 7,958
Fair - 22,865
Mediocre - 11,805
Poor - 9,810
Not reported - 212
California Road Bridge Conditions (2008)
All Bridges - 24,412
Structurally deficient - 3,199
Functionally obsolete - 3,886
Percentage of state bridges structurally deficient - 13% (Worst state: Pennsylvania 27%) (Nationwide average: 12%)
Percentage of state bridges functionally obsolete - 16% (Worst state: Massachusetts 39%) (Nationwide average: 13%)
California highway fatality rate per 100,000 population - 11 (Nationwide average: 14)
California safety belt use - 95% (Worst state: New Hampshire: 64%) (Nationwide: 82%)
California mean travel time to get to work - 27.3 minutes (Worst state: New York - 31.5 minutes) (Best state: North Dakota - 16.1 minutes)(Nationwide: 25.3 minutes)
California vehicle miles traveled per capita (2007) - 8,982 (Most: Wyoming - 17,914) (Natonwide average - 10,045)
In 2005 4 out of the top 10 urban areas with the most traffic congestion were in California. No. 1 is Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA. San Francisco-Oakland, CA was No. 5 and San Jose, CA was No. 8.
California gasoline tax rate - 18.00 cents/gallon. (Highest: Washington - 36.00 cents/gallon) (Lowest: Georgia - 7.50 cents/gallon)
Driver Text Message Dictation
[Source: Computerworld and Automotive News via Cnet's cartech blog]
Bye, Bye Sky
[Source: autoblog]
Drink Your Coffee BEFORE You Drive
Anyone Want To Buy 24 Rolls Royces?
Minimalism Carvertising
[Source: Trend Hunter Magazine]
The Rental Car Rally
Basic (entry plus briefcase full of fireworks, smoke bombs, condoms, chaw.)
The Captain Chaos (the above plus exec hotel suite, steak dinner, stripper in your suite.)
The Jason Statham (all the above, plus a syringe of pure human adrenaline.)
Speeding is prohibited and each team must provide photographic evidence of each checkpoint. Scoring is based on three factors: lowest odometer reading, best team style (both costume and vehicle), and freelance “feats of daring-do”.
[Source: via psfk.com]
An Amazing Race For The Clinically Insane
[Source: via autoblog]
Car Built For Blind Drivers
[Source: KickingTires]
MINI's theOpenone.com Is Launched
[Source: MotoringFile]
Wanted: Spellcheck For the WI Dept Of Transportation
[Source: nbc15.com]
No MINI Diesels For The U.S.
Put A Cheetah In Your Car
"has directional camera alerts, Advisory speed limit announcements, GPS speedometer display with discreet compass, and “Rescue ME” GPS co-ordinates announcement. The camera costs $250."
[Source: via buy.com/Uncrate via AutoMotto]
Diamond Encrusted Mercedes
[Source: Auto Repair Help & Car Insurance Questions]
MINI Cooper S Convertible Gets An Interesting South African Review
Besides being totally impractical and damn expensive, the new Mini Cooper S Convertible has a ride hard enough to shake the fillings from your teeth and a body flex that any belly dancer will be proud of - yet it is one of the sexiest, fun-to-drive cars on the road.
There is also this less than stellar analysis:
Alas, the roof might look good, but its very presence is the cause of some irritation. When it's up the visibility is woeful, as Jeremy Clarkson described it so accurately: “It's like sitting in a post-box”.
And, because the roof doesn't fold away completely like in most other modern convertibles, the view out the back doesn't get much better when the canvas is down.
With the roof up, the Convertible tends to shudder and shake. In topless mode this gets even worse and the body also flexes quite a bit.
And if this isn't disconcerting enough the car humps and thumps and the steering shudders something awful on rough roads, thanks to the hard combination of stiff suspension and run-flat tyres.
And while we're muttering, the backseats are for shopping bags or poodles with jewelled collars, not for anything with two legs. There just isn't any space for even a tiny tot's legs between the back of the driver's seat and the back seat.
The boot is about the size of a small wall safe which actually suits the poser owners. And I've actually seen this. Chic chick strolls out of the V&A, Louis Vuitton dress bag over the shoulder and when she gets to the topless car, she simply flops the bag on to the back seat. All in full view, of course and much classier than shoving it into a boot, don't you think?
Yet, the reviewer waxes:
But most of the Convertible's foibles are quickly forgotten and forgiven when you fire up the sporty 1.6-litre engine, blip the throttle to the lovely burbling music from the double-barrel tailpipes and head for the hills.
MINI Cooper S Wins Green Car Award For Second Year In A Row
"The Mini Cooper S is a home-grown hot hatch that's big on performance and style, yet treads far lighter than rivals because of its smaller carbon footprint."
[Source: via timesofmalta.com]
National MINIs For Kids Weekend
MINI Countryman The Result Of BMW Contract Agreement Fulfillment
MotoringFile has published an article that reveals "The Secret History of the MINI R60 Crossover." Apparently, BMW had a contract with Magna Steyr in Austria for construction of two generations of the X3 crossover but BMW moved production to its South Carolina plant. In order to move production it needed to come up with a crossover vehicle for Magna Steyr to build to fulfill the contract. Thus, BMW created the MINI (soon to be called) Countryman. In essence, MotoringFile tells us there was no consumer demand for a MINI crossover. Rather, it was created by BMW to avoid an expensive breach of contract that would have otherwise occurred when BMW decided to move the location of X3 production.
First Known MINI-E Accident
MINI Motoring Graphics Offers Customized Graphics And Wraps
"printed with only the finest vinyl and laminate available [and] are completely removable without damaging, scratching, or otherwise defacing your MINI."
They also offer "wraps."
[Source: Ridelust]
John McDonald A MINI Driver And Maxi Hero
Watch this news video from Southern California about John McDonald who pulled over in his MINI (you can see him do so in the video) and extricated a trapped young girl from a burning car on the San Bernardino Freeway. John, we salute you!
Car And Driver Doesn't Like The 2009 MINI Convertible
"[a]ll its faults aside, the Cooper functions well as a cruising convertible but not much else. Our advice: Forgo the automatic and, if you can afford it, step up to the turbocharged S."
Bad Foods For Kids In The Car
Motherproof.com lists the six foods she you should not have given her kids in the car:
• Cheetos, Doritos or any cheesy snack: Cheesy snacks are so good, but they coat the fingers with a thick, atomic-orange powder that begs to be wiped on car seatbacks.• Ice cream: Some parents make the mistake of allowing a cup of ice cream — “Hey, at least it’s not a cone, right?” — in the car. Rookie move. Even in a cup, that ice cream will be melting into the backseat before you can say “Here’s a napkin.”
• Bagel with cream cheese: One bite and the cream cheese is oozing out of the bagel and onto your child’s shirt. If you’re lucky, it’ll stay on the easy-to-clean shirt and not get on your car’s hard-to-clean upholstery.
• Caramel dipping sauce (for apple slices): Yes, I actually gave this to my son after an emergency trip through a McDonald’s drive-through. Yes, both the boy and the car were sticky. Yes, I might be an idiot.
• Milk: Most first-time moms learn this quickly after leaving a sippy cup of milk in the car for a day or two. Don’t even get me started on how long a sour-milk smell can linger.
• Chocolate: I’ve tried giving my kids M&Ms, thinking it was the safest chocolate for the car, but I was so wrong. While M&Ms don’t melt as quickly as some chocolate — love that candy shell — they do fit perfectly into the cracks and crevices of my car, just waiting for that hot summer day when they can melt into the carpet.
Food in the car has never been a problem for us. You just don't eat, or drink anything but water, in the MINI.
JCW Package Review
Iran's Collector's Cars
Gain 10-20% Better Gas Mileage For Free
[Source: FuelClinic.com via Wired via TheCarConnection.com]
A Delicious Use For Your Dashboard
[Source: Baking Bites via the New York Times]
Velcro These To Your Garage Door And Be The Envy Of Your Neighbors
The UK Mail Onlinewrites about a trend where homeowners affix realistic images printed on plastic sheets on their garage doors. From the MG to the beach these images are weather and fire-resistant and held in place by industrial strength Velcro. More images are available in the article.