The Hand Crank in Automotive History

What used to require serious muscle power is now just a push of a button: Starting a car engine Security aspects made the ignition key an integral part of the system “33 Extras”: Exhibits of motoring culture at the Mercedes-Benz Museum Stuttgart. 160 vehicles and a total of 1500 exhibits are presented in the varied permanent exhibition of the Mercedes-Benz Museum. The “33 Extras” are a particular highlight: they can bring the history of personal mobility and motoring culture to life using details that are often surprising. The Mercedes-Benz Museum Inside newsletter 1 – Starting procedure: The hand crank was used to start a combustion engine by hand. Switch on the ignition – turn the crank – the engine starts. The underlying technical principle is simple and, interestingly enough, pioneers Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz, who developed their motorcars almost simultaneously, chose two very different starting variants for their first vehicles: Benz initially had a horizontally mounted flywheel while Daimler used a hand crank. But the procedure was by no means a simple matter. Crank-starting a car looks easy, but it is, in reality, really heavy work. Turning over an engine requires considerable physical effort. In addition, the motorist must be prepared for a possible backfire, to avoid arm injuries such as the dreaded “chauffeur’s fracture”. 2 – Security level: Around the year 1910, the procedure began to change a bit. Cars began to be fitted with a key switch, which completed the circuit for the ignition system and, at the same time, protected against theft of the vehicle. However, this system was still far removed from an ignition key because after switching on the ignition, the engine still had to be cranked. 3 – Electrically powered assistants: Because cranking a car engine was dangerous and awkward, the electric starter became more and more common around this time, beginning with high-performance models. A permanently mounted, compact electric motor started the engine reliably. The motor was powered by a battery. The driver closed the ignition circuit and briefly turned on the starter. This improved simplicity helped motorcars with internal combustion engines to achieve a breakthrough. However, the hand crank was often still included with a car’s tool kit even into the 1950s – just in case it did not start with the starter motor. 4 – A turn for the better: From the 1920s onwards, the combined ignition and starter switch became increasingly popular; at that time it was considered a high-tech product. By turning the key, the driver closed the circuit and ran the starter motor in one go. In addition, the ignition-start switch was another anti-theft feature because after the key was removed, the steering wheel locked in a fixed position. In addition, now that increasing numbers of cars had closed bodies, their doors could also be locked with a separate key. 5 – Two into one does go: The ignition-start switch was standard for many decades. Through to the 1960s, it remained common practice to have several keys for the car. It was a real step forward when the keys for the doors and the ignition lock were merged into a single combination key. 6 – Symbol of mobility: The ignition key is an expression of mobility as it symbolises both access to the car and a certain independence. Sometimes there are special keys for special cars: Queen Soraya of Persia was presented with an ignition key made of solid gold when she took delivery of her Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing (W 198). 7 – Additional functionality: The next step was the central locking system. From 1963, Mercedes-Benz offered this system as a pneumatic version in the representative 600 (W 100). It had already been available as an optional extra in the 300 SE LWB (W 112) and, from 1972, it was available for the S-Class (model series 116). The need to walk right round the car to check that the doors were locked and pushing the buttons inside to lock them was a thing of the past. In the 1990s, the car key with built-in electronic circuitry could even be used as a remote control transmitter: unlocking or locking the car was a simple matter of pushing a button. 8 – Open sesame: In 1999, Mercedes-Benz introduced the KEYLESS-GO system in the S-Class. The doors could be opened as soon as one stood beside the vehicle and the state-of-the-art key stayed in one’s pocket. A start-stop button replaced the ignition lock, and the engine was started and stopped with a finger tip. And that was not all, because the motorcar had generally become more complex: that push of a button was the start signal that initiated all the underlying electronic systems in the background. 9 – Shaping up for the future: Over the decades, the ignition key not only lost its bit – it also changed its appearance as a whole and became, for example, credit card shaped. Today, there are compact smart keys – and smartphones can replace them completely. In the latter case, a virtual key is stored on the mobile device, which sensors in the car recognise as being a key and allow access to the vehicle. 10 – Motorsport: Starting the engine in racing cars has undergone a similar development. In the early years they were also started with a hand crank. Starting in the 1930s, the Silver Arrows were equipped with an external starter motor that was only used for starting the car and was then removed and stored in the pits. This is because a permanently installed starter would increase the vehicle weight unnecessarily. The external starting device is still standard in motorsport today. Before it is applied, the mechanics use their laptops to monitor whether all systems are “go”. Understandably, these cars do not need conventional anti-theft protection.

Kettering Cruise-In, July 25, 2020: 1958 Edsel Station Wagon

A color revolution took place in the 1950s, and the car pictured below typifies that. Beautiful pastel shade! Rare wagon -- note the push-button shifter located in the steering wheel hub. A pretty car.

Kettering Cruise-In: 1948 Dodge

I have always had a fondness for late 1940s Chrysler products, perhaps because my aunt had one when I was very young.  The dashes on these cars were special, although the bodies and engines were not. These were reliable transportation with a flair inside!

Kettering Cruise-In, July 25, 2020: 1959 Thunderbird

A hot evening for a cruise-in, but one of the few going on in Ohio right now. This is a lady's car, and a good one. I loved the color. You can get a glimpse of he owner throughout the glass on the third photo! I was too shy to ask her name this time around, but if I see her again I will definitely ask!

California or Bust! A Three wagon Train in Hinton, West Virginia Headed to California for Jesus, 1959

Note in the photograph below that in addition to the three-wagon train headed for California there are several 1950s cars: a 1957 Olds; 1957 DeSoto; 1955 Mercury; 1955 Chevy; 1958 Ford (?).

See below for an explanation of the wagon train!

John, in 1959 when I was 11 years old there was an evangelist in my hometown of Hinton by the name of Harry Payton.  Mr. Payton got this bright idea to conduct a "wagon train" to take Jesus all the way to California.  I am not making this up (see photo here).  I do not know how many months it took but apparently one of the three horse drawn wagons made it all the way.  I suspect many people were converted along the way although one suspects that California folks rejected Christ.   

In this photo the wagon train is getting ready to go, leaving from the main street through Hinton.  Note the Western Auto Associate store,  the place where I bought all of my bicycle repair parts including a new Sturmy-Archer "transmission" for my English bike

John J. Mooney, an Inventor of a Motor Vehicle Catalytic Convertor, Dies

From the NYT Obituaries.

John J. Mooney, an inventor of the catalytic converter, the small and ubiquitous device that makes the engines that power everything from cars to lawn mowers less polluting and more fuel efficient, died on June 16 at his home in Wyckoff, N.J. He was 90.

The cause was complications of a stroke, his daughter Elizabeth Mooney Convery said.

Mr. Mooney was a high school graduate working as a clerk at a gas company when his colleagues encouraged him to pursue a college education. After earning a bachelor’s degree and two master’s degrees, he went on to receive 17 patents during his 43-year career with the Engelhard Corporation in Iselin, N.J. (now the Catalyst Division of the German chemical manufacturer BASF).

Among them was the three-way catalytic converter, which has been described by the Society of Automotive Engineers as among the 10 most important innovations in the history of the automobile.

The Environmental Protection Agency has estimated that tailpipe emissions from the newest passenger cars, sport utility vehicles, trucks and buses generate about 99 percent less smog-producing exhaust and soot than those from the 1970 models did.

 Development of catalytic converters was spurred by federal regulations that mandated the production of gasoline without lead, which greatly impaired the effectiveness of existing antipollution devices. While early converters were able to reduce emissions of carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons, the 1970 Clean Air Act imposed limits on another pollutant, nitrogen oxides.Mr. Mooney and Carl D. Keith, a chemist, collaborating with their Engelhard colleagues Antonio Eleazar and Phillip Messina, successfully experimented on a 1973 Volvo station wagon to create a catalytic converter that reduced all three kinds of emission.

Simply put, the device filtered the exhaust through tiny passages in a ceramic honeycomb coated with a combination of various oxides, platinum and rhodium. It was introduced on assembly lines in 1976.

Installing a computerized feedback link to the converter resulted in fuel savings upward of 12 percent. Similar technology was later applied to an array of devices, including mining equipment, motorcycles and wood stoves.

Mr. Mooney’s most recent patent, in 1993, was awarded for a converter that reduced emissions from chain saws and leaf blowers by up to 40 percent while improving fuel efficiency.

 

John Joseph Mooney was born on April 6, 1930, in Paterson, N.J., to Denis Mooney, a lineman for Public Service Electric & Gas, and Mary (Hegarty) Mooney, a nurse.

He went to work for PSE & G after high school (“I was basically a clerk,” he said) but then enrolled in Seton Hall University, where he earned a bachelor of science degree in chemistry.

After serving in the Army at the Enewetak Atoll atomic testing site in the Pacific, he earned a master’s in chemical engineering from the Newark College of Engineering (now the New Jersey Institute of Technology) and, later, a master’s in marketing from Fairleigh Dickinson University.

“Although I liked my chemistry courses well enough, I’ve always had a practical bent,” he once said. “I like to make things happen, and that’s what engineers do — they take the basic science and make things happen.”

In 1960 he joined Engelhard, where he initiated a process to produce hydrogen from liquid ammonia, which enabled the Air Force to inflate weather balloons more efficiently.

 

In 2002, Mr. Mooney and Mr. Keith received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation from President George W. Bush for their “incredible impact in curbing smog and eliminating some of the most damaging side effects of the internal combustion engine on the environment and on human life.” In 2014, Mr. Mooney was awarded the Science and Technology Medal by the Research & Development Council of New Jersey.

As president of the Environmental and Energy Technology and Policy Institute, Mr. Mooney worked with the United Nations to encourage African countries to ban leaded gasoline.

He retired from Engelhard in 2003.

In addition to his daughter Elizabeth, Mr. Mooney is survived by his wife, Claire (Ververs) Mooney; his son, John D. Mooney; three other daughters, Marybeth Stachowiak, Noreen Dominguez and Kathleen Mooney; 14 grandchildren; and his sister, Kathleen Heintz.

“He is one of a very few individuals that can claim to have made contributions to the automotive industry that led to saving the lives of millions and extending the lives of countless more with cleaner air around the world,” Rasto Brezny, executive director of the Manufacturers of Emission Controls Association, which Mr. Mooney once headed, said by email.

Mr. Mooney had, his daughter Elizabeth said, “an engineering mind.”

“He would say, ‘If you don’t think there’s a solution, then you just haven’t asked the right questions.’”

Correction: June 29, 2020

FCA - Waymo Collaboration: More Self-Driving Delivery Vehicles on Their Way?

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Waymo are moving well beyond developing self-driving minivans together.

In a dramatic expansion of their four-year-old partnership, FCA and Waymo, once known as Google's Self-Driving Car Project, plan to fit Ram ProMaster Vans with Waymo Driver, the autonomous brains behind the hundreds of Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans in Waymo's ride-hailing fleet. Developing self-driving technology for light commercial vehicles, such as the ProMaster Van, highlights the growing importance companies see in delivery services, particularly since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

But perhaps more significant for the long term in the announcement early Wednesday (late Tuesday on the West Coast) is news that Waymo is now slated to become the "exclusive, strategic partner" for higher-level self-driving technology across FCA's fleet.

No financial terms for the deal were released, and no timeline has been provided.

The moves come as FCA has stopped working with Amazon-backed Aurora Innovation. The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding in June 2019 "to investigate the development and deployment of self-driving commercial vehicles," but the decision was "made to discontinue discussions," according to a statement provided by FCA spokesman Nick Cappa.

Highlighting the strides from the original FCA/Waymo deal, FCA CEO Mike Manley noted that the Waymo-equipped Pacificas operating in the Phoenix area represent a partnership deploying autonomous technology "in the real world, on public roads."

"Our partnership is setting the pace for the safe and sustainable mobility solutions that will help define the automotive world in the years and decades to come," Manley said in a news release, referencing level 4, which would be one level below self-driving technology able to manage all roads and conditions.

Self-driving technology development has continued to move forward in recent years, although many of the rosy early projections about the deployment pace for robocars have not materialized. A fatal crash in 2018 involving a self-driving Volvo operated by Uber boosted public scrutiny considerably.  

Much of the development that has come to pass involves driver-assistance technology now available in many models. Waymo, however, has continued its self-driving push and is clearly one of the leaders.  

Waymo CEO John Krafcik noted some milestones for the partnership with FCA to date, saying the Pacificas in Waymo's fleet have "safely and reliably driven more fully autonomous miles than any other vehicle." 

According to Waymo, its vehicles have driven more than 20 million miles autonomously on public roads in 25 U.S. cities, with 15 billion miles of simulation testing.

Together, we’ll introduce the Waymo Driver throughout the FCA brand portfolio, opening up new frontiers for ride-hailing, commercial delivery and personal-use vehicles around the world,” Krafcik said in the release.

FCA's brands include Jeep, Ram, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Lancia and Maserati.

The Ram ProMaster is built at FCA's Saltillo Van Assembly Plant in the Mexican state of Coahuila. It's based on the Fiat Ducato, which the company builds through a partnership with Peugeot maker PSA Group. FCA and PSA Group are working toward a merger, which would create the world's fourth-largest automaker. They recently announced that the new company would be called Stellantis.

The proposed merger's possible impact on reducing competition in the commercial van sector is an area of concern for European regulators, who last month announced a more in-depth investigation of the companies' plans. 

European Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager said in posted remarks that commercial vans are an "increasingly important market in a digital economy where private consumers rely more than ever on delivery services."

The commission noted in a news release that either FCA or PSA Group is the market leader in light commercial vehicles in many countries, and a merger "would remove one of the main competitors."  

Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @_ericdlawrence.

 

 

Will the Tesla Bubble Burst? I think so, sooner rather than later!

Below is an article that was published today on the Reuters website. Yesterday, I had an extended conversation with a writer from the "Financial Times" on the same subject. The discussion was about traditional auto manufacturers as being categorized as hardware assemblers, while Tesla as a software firm. And consequently, Tesla serves as the leading edge for an automotive revolution the likes we have not seen.

My opinion is that while Tesla cars are the real deal, they are the real deal only for a small niche upscale market. Americans are for the most part traditional in their so consumer habits and resistant to change. Witness the controversy over face masks. Or the fact that what Americans want are large vehicles, SUVs like the Tahoe and Escalade. Analysts seem to not give enough credit to the hardwire manufacturers from Germany, Japan, and yes, even the USA. These firms move slow because they understand consumer fickleness and risk.  Remember that a considerable amount of revenue coming to Tesla is due to credits paid to them by other manufacturers because their fleets do not have enough zero emission vehicles. Once the competition from Germany, Japan, and the US go more green, those payments will be reduced substantially.

So much of Musk's Tesla future lies with petroleum prices and better technology and supply lines. This bubble will burst, once the uncertain economic future crystallizes in more certain forms.

Tesla's best chance resides with the election of Joe Biden, and his vision for a new Green Economy. A dramatic cultural shift is necessary for electric cars to proliferate during the next ten years. If the global economy falters, and the USA retrenches, then Tesla's brightness might gradually fade, like a slowly dying star.

FRANKFURT/BEIJING/DETROIT (Reuters) - Tesla Inc’s (TSLA.O) rapid rise to become the world’s most valuable carmaker could mark the start of a new era for the global auto industry, defined by a Silicon Valley approach to software that is overtaking old-school manufacturing know-how.

 

Tesla’s ascent took many investors by surprise. But executives at Daimler AG (DAIGn.DE), the parent company of Mercedes-Benz, had a close-up view starting in 2009 of how Tesla and its chief executive Elon Musk were taking a new approach to building vehicles that challenged the established system. 

Daimler, which bears the name of the man who invented the modern car 134 years ago, bought a nearly 10% Tesla stake in May 2009 in a deal which provided a $50 million lifeline for the struggling start-up.   

That investment gave Mercedes engineers an inside view of how Musk was willing to launch technology that wasn’t perfect, and then repeatedly upgrade it, using smartphone style over-the-air updates, paying little regard to early profitability. 

Mercedes engineers helped Tesla develop its Model S luxury sedan in exchange for access to Tesla’s partially hand-assembled battery packs, but in 2014 Daimler decided to sell their stake amid doubts Tesla’s approach could be industrialized at scale. 

Tesla would go on to pioneer new approaches in manufacturing, designs in software and electronic architecture which enable it to introduce innovations faster than rivals, leaving analysts to draw comparisons with Apple (AAPL.O). 

Three people directly involved with the Mercedes side of the collaboration said the brief partnership highlighted the collision of old and new engineering cultures: the German obsession with long-term safety and control, which rewarded evolution, and the Silicon Valley carmaker’s experimental approach which embraced radical thinking and fast innovation. 

“Elon Musk has been walking on the edge of a razorblade in terms of the aggression with which he pushes some technologies,” said a former Mercedes engineer who worked on the partnership.

By contrast, Mercedes and other established automakers are still not comfortable about releasing a new technology, such as partially automated driving, without years of testing. 

Tesla did not respond to requests for comment. 

Investors favor the Tesla model, in an industry undergoing fundamental and dizzying change even though the U.S. carmaker will face an onslaught of competing electric vehicles from established automakers during the next few years. 

They are putting their money on Musk and his company, even though Mercedes-Benz alone sold 935,089 cars in the first half of 2020, dwarfing the 179,050 delivered by Tesla in the same period. 

Today, Tesla is worth nearly $304.6 billion, more than six times Daimler’s 41.5-billion-euro ($47.7 billion) market capitalization. 

The New Ford Bronco

Workers at Ford's Michigan Assembly plant see the Bronco they'll build up close

On Tuesday, Ford displayed a two-door version of the 2021 Bronco in Cyber Orange and a four-door model in Cactus Gray, in front of the plant. The automaker wanted the 2,900 workers there who will build those models to see them live and up close for the first time. 

 

The small Bronco Sport SUV, which Ford will build at its Hermosillo Assembly Plant in Mexico, will be in showrooms later this year.

But the two-door and four-door Bronco will be assembled at Michigan Assembly. The Broncos go on sale in the spring of 2021. 

"We have some more tooling in the plant that will be going on the last two weeks of August and first week of September when we're on shutdown," said Erik Williams, plant manager. "Then we'll be ready to start making trial vehicles in November."

The workers' anticipation is mounting, he said. Even his daughter, who Williams said works for "a competitor," has asked him when she can get her Bronco.

The two-door 2021 Bronco begins at $29,995, including destination fees. The four-door model starts at $34,695 including fees. 

"It's in a class all its own with the styling and so many other attributes. It's what people want," Williams said, admiring the SUVs in the sunlight. "It's an honor to build one of the most iconic brands in our legacy."

Indeed, the Bronco does have a cult following. Ford made it from 1966 to 1996 and it has become so legendary that vintage models command high prices from collectors. Used models are nearly nonexistent.

"My son and I have been looking for a used one to buy, but they are really hard to find," said Kristin Fitch, 49, a key programmer at Michigan Assembly. 

But when Fitch eyed the two new models in front of Michigan Assembly, where she has worked 20 years, she said she and her son will buy a new one, if they can agree on a color: She likes gray and her son prefers orange.

The trucks aren't just pretty faces though, they are tough too, designed for off-roading. They offer 35-inch off-road tires, standard all-wheel drive, 270-hp four-cylinder or 310-hp V6 turbocharged engine and a 10-speed automatic transmission or seven-speed manual with first gear crawl ratio.

Bringing a dream to life

Overseeing the display Tuesday was Ford's Ryan Olsson, lead interior designer on the Bronco. He wanted to meet the workers who'll bring his drawings to life. 

"Once a design leaves my hands, it's just a sketch," Olsson said. "This is chance to meet some of the people who will make my dream a reality."

At age 36, Olsson remembers the Bronco of the 1990s. He said some of his childhood associations of it influenced his interior touches, especially those around the nostalgia of camping and the outdoors. 

Here are his five favorite features he designed for the interior:

·  Modular grab handles on the center console and instrument panel. These help people get in and out of the vehicle. And, Olsson said, "If you're going over heavy terrain, they're gold."

·  Hero switches: A row of buttons on top of the instrument panel accessible to both the driver and passenger or "co-pilot" of sorts when off-roading, Olsson said. 

·  Accessory rail on the top of the instrument panel to plug in items.

·  Removable top and doors: "I really like the open-air experience," he said. 

·  Bronco bolts: "BRONCO" is stamped on the head of all the bolts in the vehicle.

·       The Bronco bolts are a nod to the truck's heritage, Olsson said, when in the past the word was stamped on some of the bolt heads. 

·       "I had a sketch on the wall, a zoomed-in shot of this area," Olsson said, pointing to the corner grab handle on the dashboard. "I drew BRONCO on the sketch of the bolt just to add texture. Now it's proliferated across the vehicle. It'll delight the customer when they find it."

·       Contact Jamie L. LaReau: 313-222-2149 or jlareau@freepress.com.

 

Malcolm Bricklin's First Big Automotive Venture: The Subaru 360

 You can see one at Wagner Subaru just north of Dayton. In 1969 Malcolm Bricklin envisioned it as a solution to smog and safety problems (really?). It was a micro car, and with a market for these vehicles saturated in Japan, why not bring it into the United Sates on a loophole. It would solve parking congestion and garage space.

It had a small 2-stroke engine two cylinder engine, 360 cc. Its 4 speed transmission was non-synchro in first gear, and had to handle a mere 25 horsepower. You would think it got great gas mileage, but Road & Track was surprised to get only 28.9 mpg. 

Top speed was 56 mph and it took forever to get there. 

Subaru stayed with the American market and you can see where it got them. Moral of the story -- "all's well that ends well!" 

I wonder how many of the van and truck survive in the US today?

Interview about Coronavirus and Economic Recovery with Mary Barra, June 18, 2020

Interview by Tom Krisher, in Detroit Free Press, June 18, 2020

The auto business used to be pretty simple. Crank out vehicles that people want to buy and collect profits.

It’s gotten a whole lot more complicated since Mary Barra took over as CEO of General Motors in 2014.

She has cut costs and streamlined management, closed factories and sold off money-losing operations in Europe, partly in preparation for the next downturn.

Thanks to the coronavirus, it’s here. Barra talked with The Associated Press about steering GM through the crisis. Answers are edited for length and clarity.

Q: Coronavirus cases are rising, and you’re going to cancel the third shift at a factory in Wentzville, Missouri, because you don't have enough workers. Are you worried that factories could be shut down again?

A: If you step back to March, and even before then, we had a lot of learnings from China, from Korea and the United States. We believe we do a very good job of keeping people safe by reducing the possibility that someone with COVID can enter our plants. And then all the work we do within the facilities to prevent the spread. We took time and we trained everybody. People understood that we’re working hard to keep the environment safe for them. One of the things we’re trying to do now is really encourage people to use those same protocols when they’re not at work. They’re wearing masks, they’re handwashing, hand sanitizer and that they’re social distancing. We feel that we’ve got a safe environment at work. At Wentzville, one of the things we do is screen. We are taking the precaution to say that you need to quarantine until we know that you don’t have the virus. I’ve been at 10 plants since we started back up, and I’m continuing to go to plants. When I talk to people, they understand the protocol. To a person, they tell me I feel safer here than I do at the grocery store Q: Does it concern you that states might go back to stay-home orders?

A: We are watching everything very carefully. The conversation I’ve had with many different officials is they understand with the protocols that people are safe at work. I think we’re seeing steps being taken across many of these areas with lessons learned about maybe what worked well in reopenings and what didn’t. In Michigan now you see the requirement that people wear masks. I think you’re seeing steps being taken in more places. That allows the numbers to go back down and we start on the road back to normal anytime soon, in the U.S. and globally?

A: We are seeing a recovery. We think it’s going to be a relatively short-lived recession. But we have a long way to go because we went to a pretty low base. The new outbreaks do pose potential setbacks, but we’re hopeful that the U.S. economy will be back to 90% of pre-pandemic levels early next year. There’s a lot of uncertainty.

Q: After George Floyd’s death, you took a strong stance to fight racism. Usually companies don’t do this. In today’s politically charged atmosphere, are you worried about alienating some customers?

A: We felt it warranted a very strong statement, but more than words: actions. That’s why we formed the Inclusion Advisory Board. And we’ll have our first meeting yet this month. I’m very proud of General Motors' leadership in supplier diversity, dealer diversity. We have over a dozen employee resource groups. And so we look at all the work we’ve done, what we want to do now is build on that. We want to create an inclusive environment where everybody can bring their true self to work, because we believe that is what really empowers people and leads to the most engaged workforce. It’s hard to argue against wanting to create an environment where everybody can be themselves.

Q: Tesla has said it has 400 miles of battery range on some of its vehicles. Is that within reach for for General Motors?

A: A lot of the customer research we’ve done, we know 300 mile range is a sweet spot. With the flexibility of the Ultium platform, we have the capability to go higher than 300. We’ll be looking at what the value equation is for the customer.

The Isotta Fraschini as a Star in Sunset Blvd

It was a pivotal moment in the 1950 Billy Wilder film "Sunset Boulevard." Silent film star Norma Desmond, played by actress Gloria Swanson mistakes the studio's interest for her 1929 Isotta Fraschini for her. After all, in her won words, it was "Not one of those cheap things made of chromium and spit but Isotta Fraschini. Have you ever heard of Isotta Fraschini? All and-made. It cost me twenty eight thousand dollars."

The car was a product of Fabbrica Automobile Isotta Fraschini, founded in 1900. In its first decade it was a technological pioneer with 4-wheel brakes (1909), direct-acting overhead camshafts (1908), 100 hp engines (1910) and V-8 aircraft engines.

It was in the prosperous 1920s that Isotta Fraschini enjoyed its greatest success and prestige. The type 8A was introduced in 1925 to compete with its arch-rival, Hispano-Suiza. The bore was enlarged, twin carburetors were fitted, and horsepower climbed to 120. Mechanical; brakes were given a vacuum-servo to lower pedal effort and the car's heavy steering was improved. About 1350 Type 8 and 8As were built to 1931.

The great depression destroyed many of the fortunes that made cars like the Isotta Fraschini possible. During WWII the country supported the country's war effort by producing aircraft and truck engines In 1947 automobile production restarted with a type 8C Monterosa, a rear-engined, aerodynamic sedan with a single overhead cam 90 degree V-8 developing 125 horsepower. The model enjoyed little success, and in 1949 Isotta Fraschini went into bankruptcy.

When Dayton, Ohio Became a General Motors Town

Ed pulled these Dayton Daily News pages from a newspaper database.  Note that these pages capture precisely the time and the key people involved in the move of Dayton from local industries (albeit quite significant regionally and nationally) to being organizationally a part of General Motors. It is clear who the real players were -- Kettering, Deeds, Grant, Talbot. 1919 was  the year Dayton emerged as one of the most important GM cities world-wide, second only to Flint, Michigan.  That relationship would gradually end, culminating in 2008 with the closing of the truck factory in Moraine, Ohio. But the slide began in 1958, with the death of Charles Franklin Kettering, the man who did. so much to make Dayton dynamic.

45 years of the Porsche 911 Turbo: A new 911 Turbo version available on July 16, 2020

Thanks to their 427 kW (580 PS; 911 Turbo: Fuel consumption combined 11.1 l/100 km, CO₂ emissions combined 254 g/km; 911 Turbo Cabriolet: Fuel consumption combined 11.3 l/100 km, CO₂ emissions combined 257 g/km) engines, 30 kW (40 PS) more than their predecessors, both model variants dip under the magic three second 0-100 km/h mark with a time of 2.8 seconds (0.2 seconds faster). 750 newton metres of torque (up 40 Nm), now without an overboost time limit, make quick sprints even more spontaneous and effortless.

Acceleration, power output and torque of the new 911 Turbo therefore all match those of the previous generation 911 Turbo S. Power transmission is performed by an eight-speed PDK gearbox with a Turbo-specific set-up while its top speed remains unchanged at 320 km/h. Options such as the Sports and Lightweight Design packages, sports chassis and sports exhaust system are available for the 911 Turbo for the first time. As a result, customers will be able to adapt their vehicle even more to their individual tastes.

Options such as the Sports and Lightweight Design packages, sports chassis and sports exhaust system are available for the new 911 Turbo for the first time

The new sports cars are following in prestigious footsteps as the 911 Turbo has been synonymous with luxury and performance since 1975. Each generation has continued to live up to the claim of being a global benchmark for high-performance sports cars. The 911 Turbo combines sportiness with everyday usability, emotive dynamism with reliability and exhilarating performance with efficiency. The latest generation of the two-plus-two seater is more than twice as powerful as the original Turbo, which was powered by a three-litre, single-turbocharged, 260 PS flat six. While the 911 Turbo may have become faster, larger and more comfortable over the years, it has always retained its fundamental characteristics.

Improved responsiveness and performance

The new 911 Turbo’s 3,745 cm³ six-cylinder boxer engine boasts an increased output of 580 PS (911 Turbo: Fuel consumption combined 11.1 l/100 km, CO₂ emissions combined 254 g/km; 911 Turbo Cabriolet: Fuel consumption combined 11.3 l/100 km, CO₂ emissions combined 257 g/km) and now features symmetrical VTG turbochargers with electrically controlled bypass valves. In conjunction with its redesigned charge air cooling system and the use of piezo injectors, this improves responsiveness, performance, torque characteristics and its ability to rev freely. The chassis and body have become wider. The front axle now steers even more precisely thanks to an additional 42 millimetres of front track width and new 20-inch 255/35 tyres.

The chassis and body of the new 911 Turbo have become wider

The active all-wheel control PTM is now able to transfer even more power to the front wheels while traction at the actively steered rear axle is increased by a 10 mm-wider track as well as 315/30 tyres on 21-inch wheels – one inch more than on the front axle. The revamped braking system is even more powerful and can be recognised by its red fixed callipers that are fitted as standard. The grey cast iron brake discs at the front now measure 408 mm in diameter (28 mm more than before) and are 36 mm thick (two millimetres more). The rear axle features 30 mm-thick brake discs with a diameter of 380 mm.

Two different chassis variants

A sports exhaust system is optionally available on the 911 Turbo for the very first time. Two different chassis variants are also new: while the standard PASM chassis offers a greater spread between sportiness and comfort, the significantly firmer, electrically controlled 10 mm-lower sports suspension benefits the agility of the new 911 Turbo. Its set-up is aimed at enhancing the car’s dynamics and provides even more stability in high-speed driving, such as when the vehicle is used on race circuits. The optional PDCC hydraulic active anti-roll stabilisation and PCCB ceramic brake system with ten-piston fixed callipers at the front refine the new model’s driving dynamics yet further.