There are times when I really feel stressed out… those times when I have to settle several other things aside from just marketing Isuzu oxygen sensor online. Sometimes, I just imagine myself cruising across the seas with my car, having no worries about anything… to loosen up myself and get rid of the stress.

So, yesterday, I tried to search for a car that could go across waters. Fortunately, I found one… and, it is the Panda Terramare.

By fact, the Terramare is an experimental amphibious vehicle prototype designed and produced by Maurizio Zanisi, a Milanese engineer who bought and converted a Fiat Panda 4x4 independently.

Last July 21st, Zanisi and his Terramare marked the London Motor Show as they cross the Channel starting from Folkestone in Kent and reaching the opposite shore at Cap Gris Nez in northern France. It was a trip that lasted for 6 hours and 15 minutes.

As you might initially observe through the picture, the Panda Terramare is almost no different from its conventional counterpart. But, Zanisi made a couple of changes. He welded the doors, opened the roof and pared the interior to the essential.

Zanisi added up an inflatable belt that could be blown up in a few minutes with the use of a compressor. That belt girdles the car.

There is also a large support at the rear of the car that holds up the hydro jet power unit.

The success was proven by several outings where Zanisi and his Panda Terramre have taken to the water. It includes the Lakes Como and Maggiore, the River Po, the Sardinian sea and the route from Naples to Capri. So far, the 25 mile Channel crossing is the vehicle’s most ambitious enterprise.

Ohhh… I wish I would be able to drive such vehicle some time. I think it would really be fun and exciting.

Well, for today, let me talk about this weird vehicle I found in htlounge.net.

At first, I thought it is a big rig truck from the future, considering the size of its front end and the height of the seat. The only difference is that it doesn’t have trailer at its back. And, look at that tiny wheels under its formidable body; it says, “I’m no truck here”.

Surprisingly, Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s largest automaker, is attempting to market this Hi-CT as edgy and youth-oriented vehicle.

The Hi-CT has an actual fascinating, yet strange, design, with an “over exaggerated beltline and short overhangs”. They say that the rear deck could be possibly used as a cargo area or space for “a pair of seats while longing on the beach”… That makes it interesting.

Since it is a Toyota, it would not be a surprise to know that it’s a hybrid and that it has plug-in capability.

I guess they are planning to sell it to the market of the people buying the Scion xB and other boxy-clever vehicles.

Unfortunately, the complete detail has not been revealed yet. So, we should not give any judgment for now as with its exact scale, considering its awkward dimensions.  Oh, well… For that, we have to wait.

Meanwhile, if you’re in the market for BMW cylinder head, just click the link.

The Venturi Astrolab looks unique. There is absolutely no trace of Lexus vent visor or any kind of exterior car accessory found on typical cars. But it has left me impressed regarding its power as it can go 74 mph.

The Astrolab in fact, has been considered as the first commercially available solar electric hybrid car in the world. It has a range of 68 miles, which is long enough for most commutes.

However, if you have or you want to go for long commutes, it would be best if you leave this vehicle parked out under the sun for it to be all charged up and eventually become ready for you when get back home.

Some people may think that the Astrolab is somewhat a concept car only. But, we should all realize that it is definitely already for production. In fact, Venturi, its maker, plans to ship such type of vehicle this coming January. Though it will cost $117,000, the Astrolab will most likely gain the desire of enthusiasts as they could see the potential amount of money one could save on gas for the vehicle.

Oh… In that case, if only I have that much cash, I might just take one home.

That vehicle in the picture is one of the participants in the Panasonic World Solar Challenge in Australia, which started last week.  It was fun to see all the 41 solar-powered cars with unique different designs, in the event. They raced through 1,870 miles across the country’s rugged Northern Territory, trying to win the 20th running of the event.

According to Panasonic’s race Web site, the average speed of the solar cars were from 42 MPH in 1987 to a top speed of 65 MPH in the most recent race.

The past 20 years turned the challenge into a test arena for all sorts of vehicle design from aerodynamics to tires. The race tested the vehicles’ most efficient solar cell arrays, new types of car battery systems, including the latest Lithium ion packs, along with testing the efficiency of the mechanisms for recharging batteries.

The cars in the race were divided into three classes: two classes for solar cars (the Challenge Class and Adventure Class) and one for the vehicles demonstrating fuel-efficient technologies like low-car bon fuels (the Greenfleet Technology Class), which also run on Ethanol and canola oil.

The US teams from the University of Michigan and Oregon State University will race under the Challenge Class. On the other hand, Stanford University and the Houston Solar Car Race Team will be under the Adventure Class.

The Challenge had three main restrictions: vehicle dimensions, daily traveling times (8am to 5pm) and that vehicle propulsion may be derived only from direct global solar radiation.

There has been a dynamic Route map system that showed the locations of teams as they make the trek.

Among the large car manufactures who participated were Ford, Honda and Toyota.

Here are some other cool facts regarding the Panasonic World Solar Challenge, featured in networkworld.com:

The organizers are planning to bring solar car racing back to North America by next year. They have decided that the 2008 North American Solar Challenge will be covering 2,400 miles as its heads north from Dallas, Texas to its end point in Calgary, Alberta.They even already set July 13th as start of the race in Dallas and July 21st as the end in Calgary. Currently, there are 20 university teams enlisted which will be participating in the race. It includes 15 teams from the United States and 5 teams from Canada. Sounds like it would be more thrilling.

 

Meanwhile for quality BMW cold air intake, check out the link.

Yesterday, I found a site that features a big BMW, a medium 206, a small Smarts and perhaps even a plain Ford Ranger with big Ford ranger performance parts.

What I found featured in the Smart ForFun2 in Stephanos Attard version, which in my thought looks unusual as the car is small, yet the wheels are seriously huge.

The Stephanos Attard version is powered by 3 cylinders suprex turbo engine, which is placed in the back along with air cooler. With such engine, the vehicle obtains a total output of 54 kW at 5200 rpm. The fuel consumption is from 4.6 to 6.5 liters for every 100 km.

I suppose some of you already know Stephanos Attard and still some don’t. So, for those who are interested, he is a Greek racer and a champion of a serial 4x4 Rally Races. He was also the one who came up with the idea on creating a monster truck in a cloth Smart. At first, one might think it is a crazy idea. But well, it is possible.

In no time, Attard was able to create the unique car with the help of Daimler Chrysler. It doesn’t show much of its real off-road characteristics; instead, flaunts features that made it a comfort private car.

Like the Unimog 406, the Smart ForFun2 has its complete chassis used along with a complete mechanics and wheels with the diameter of 1.4 meters.

The ForFun2’s main drive unit was also adapted from Unimog 406. The vehicle is 5.7 liters turbodiesel with an output of 64 hp (61 kW). Such is an old 6 speed manual gear box that is comprised with two grades for the rear drive.

Usually, we get the most possible lowering of a car for tuning. But, as with the ForFun2, it the opposiite. It rides 65 cm over the ground (between chassis and the ground), making it 3.7 meters in height, which is about 2.2 meters more than the classic Smart ForTwo.

Well, would you want a ride and feel the most of its comfort and fun?

Frogs aren’t exactly the most loved creatures in the planet. We like to have dogs, cats, even some reptiles around but not often do we hear people gushing about how much they love their pet frogs. Sure we have beautiful princesses kissing frogs in fairy tales but in real life, the frog is one snubbed, if not totally hated creature.

However, there are people who are inspired by the frog. Take the makers of Kermit the frog for example. And this person who designed a car inspired by our green, often slimy friend.

Here’s what I found in rahul.net:

 

“Frog Car” is its title. They say “Kate B.” built it up and the car won the Second Place Unusual Design award in the 2007 Scooter/Voyager race. That makes it quite more interesting, though I seriously doubt if anyone (in his right mind?) would dare drive around to his office in this car.

Anyway, if you’re looking for an extra BMW ball joint for your regular car, you know where to click.

That’s a picture of an awesome Halloween car I found in forzamotorsport.net. I got really impressed with the great work done by Carbuilder, Little Vixen and Kooltroll. That’s pretty attractive right? But, kids should never dare enter this car or any stranger’s home for a treat.

Kids should also be cautious and watch out for cars along the streets as they run out in excitement. That is to consider that the biggest dangers kids face during the eve are injuries from tripping and falling and pedestrian/car accidents.

Novi Police Chief David Molloy said, “The men and women of the Novi Police Department always strive to partner with out residents to provide the children of Novi with the safest possible environment to celebrate the time honored tradition of trick-or-treating.”

“Unfortunately, children engaged in ‘trick or treat’ activities frequently cross streets at mid-block rather than at corners or crosswalks, putting them at risk for pedestrian injury. Children are likely to choose the shortest rather than the safest route across streets, often darting out between parked cars. Also, many parents overestimate children’s street-crossing skills,” he explained.

To promote safety, Novi police department recommended these safety rules for children, which are definitely not found in your Lexus repair manuals but recently featured in hometownlife.com:

Let me also share with you the top 10 tips to ensure a fun, safe and happy Halloween for all trick or treaters from Debra Holtzman, a safety and health expert. She is also the best-selling author of “The Safe Baby: A Do-It-Yourself Guide to Home Safety”, where she said “Halloween may be scary but it doesn’t have to be dangerous.” So, I hope you would allow yourselves to be guided by these following tips I found in expertclick.com:

Be safe and enjoy the Halloween!!!

Yesterday, I found this picture of a cool cat car at funny-cat.blogspot.com as I was holding my cat at home. Actually, there were six cat cars featured. There is a gray cat car with tail up in black Rock Desert in Nevada, an unusual cat car driven in New York City, a cat car stopped by a police officer, a yellow polar cat car, a pink cute cat car, and a cat car inside a house (the one posted above).

I take the one with a police officer as the most interesting, as I could feel his surprise as he saw such unique car being actually driven along the street. It made me interested to search for some info regarding cat cars. But so far, all I found is about “The Hot Rot Dogs and Cool Car Cars” in wikipedia.org.

Well, I got nothing else to do but read it, as I had no other choice of topics for today. But, there isn’t so much about it. I just learned that it is a cartoon series, not in my awareness aired between 1995 and 1996. It was about “anthropomorphic” machines that bore resemblances to cats being females and dogs being males.

For those interested, the main characters - which were named Hot Rod, Carbs, Dogon, Benz, and Gus – were freedom fighters trying to save their homeworld of Autopia from The Crusher, the villain together with Scarhood and Choppers/Gridlockers. Few other characters include Baby Bumper, Spare Parts and Jag.

I won’t be posting the characters’ individual roles as I was not actually aware of the existence of the cartoon series.

So, what more could I say? Maybe, I would just wish to own one Volkswagen Passat cat car with its exterior Volkswagen Passat parts full of cat fur. Can you imagine that? That would probably look cute, right? Hmmm… Sounds like I need to try having one if I would have spare time and money.

In the past few hours, I have been looking for a unique Mitsubishi car with quality Mitsubishi oxygen sensor. But, it turns out to be quite a hard job finding even just one. Well, that proves that unique cars are indeed rare. Sometimes, I even feel that I run out of topics to discuss.

But then… let me share with you the unique 1963 Ford Thunderbird “Italien” concept car about to be sold at an auction with No Reserve. Barrett-Jackson recently proclaimed that the rare sale would be part of the company’s 37th Annual Collector Car Event, which will be held on January 2008.

Craig Jackson, Chairman/CEO of the Barrett-Jackson Auction Company, said, “It’s rare for such a classic concept to be offered at auction.”

“The ‘Italien’ features design cues that were virtually nonexistent in the United States during its time of production. This could be the most sought after and significant Thunderbird to ever cross the block at Barrett-Jackson,” he added.

Looking back in the vehicle’s history, the “Italien” was designed and built by Vince Gardner at the Dearborn Steel Tubing Company, an outsourcing contractor responsible for various non-assembly line Ford concepts, including the 1964 Ford Thunderbolt and Mercury Super Cyclone, according to an article at gizmag.com. The vehicle was showcased in Ford’s 1962-63 “Custom Car Caravan”, numerous Autoramas across the country and in the 1964 New York World Fair’s “Cavalcade of Custom Cars”.

Most Ford concept cars are likely destroyed after their world tours. Fortunately, the “Italien” survived and was rescued by actor Dale Robertson of TV’s “Tales of Wells Fargo,” “Wagon Train” and “JJ Starbuck.”

In January 2006, Tom Maruska purchased the concept car from a prominent Ford collector Don Chambers. By then, the vehicle was restored to its original specifications.

The coming event will the vehicle’s first documented public appearance, counting from the World’s Fair in 1964.

For me, the car looks more than just a collectible. So, I guess, collectors would love it much more than I do.

I missed some of the recent events since I was quite busy looking for quality Dodge stealth parts. So, what could I feature today? Hmmm…

Who’s going to see the Australian International Motor Show? I heard there would be four unique Ferrari’s that is to be displayed, which will demonstrate the depth and breadth of Carrozzeria Scaglietti, the Ferrati personalization programme.

Kevin Wall, General Manager for Ferrari in Australia and New Zealand, said, “For nearly two years Ferrari has not built the same car twice, such is the ability to personalize every Ferrari.”

“So, in a very real sense each of the four cars on our stand at the Australian International Motor Show is unique. Indeed, with these four cars, they are amongst the most highly specified Ferraris ever seen in Australia, as we have used them to illustrate to prospective owners the many possibilities that are open to them when ordering their own Ferrari,” he explained.

Considering that Ferrari is the supreme maker of super cars, Ferrari vehicles are defnitely unique. According to legend, Enzo Ferarri only built road cars to fund his success in Grand Prix racing. By then, people were only lucky enough to be permitted in buying a Ferrari and take the cars as produced in the Maranello factory.

Currently, Ferrari provides equipment and features that allow its owners to fully examine the abilities of their cars in a race track.

Well, enough said. Let us now check the four models in the show, details thanks to fullboost.com:

Now, which of these magnificent beasts is your best pick?