http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/04/tesla-model-s-electric-car-david-letterman-new-york-city-plaza.php

Tesla founder and CEO, Elon Musk, recently announced that the Model S electric car will be on display in New York City on April 30th and May 1st at the Plaza Hotel, 5th Avenue at Central Park South, New York, NY 10019. "Tesla sales representatives will be at The Plaza Hotel to answer questions and take reservations. Eventually we will have a Model S in all of our showrooms and at major auto shows. In the upcoming months, we'll bring the Model S to Chicago, Seattle, Miami and Washington as we prepare to open regional sales and service centers in those locations." The Model S will also appear on TV soon...
Elon Mush will be a guest on the Late Show with David Letterman on April 29th, and he'll be bringing the Model S electric sedan with him. Here's the TV Guide listing.

This is an excellent opportunity to introduce electric cars to even more people (the buzz has been really good on the internet, but you'd be surprised at how many people "out there" who still don't know that these kinds of electric cars are possible).

http://www.autospectator.com/cars/proton/0039980-2008-proton-persona-brings-fresh-new-face-improved-quality-australia

The 2008 Proton Persona shares only its name with the previous Proton Persona model, a car that was sold in Australia between 1995 and 2005. The new model however is based on the Proton designed and developed GEN.2 platform and uses an improved version of Proton's own Campro 1.6 litre twin cam engine.
New Proton Persona delivers fresh styling, improved build quality and better performance in an economical and low cost package.
Brunei, 8 April– PROTON revved up its export optimisation plans with the launch of Persona in Brunei. The sedan was launched by the High Commissioner of Malaysia to Brunei Darussalam, Dato Ku’ Jaafar Ku Shaari.

The PROTON Persona, which has been driving sales in the domestic market with over 35,000 bookings since its launch on 16 July 2007, was first exported to Singapore in October last year and is expected to be a key factor in PROTON’s export optimisation drive.

Brunei has been a good market for PROTON and the company sees it as a potentially strong growth market and is confident of Persona’s performance in the country.

PROTON to Launch Special Edition Model

Car buyers seeking an economical and well priced car in the current climate of rising fuel costs will receive an added bonus if they buy a 2008 Proton Satria Neo during May with $1200 worth of fuel thrown in at no extra cost.
Already a frugal yet sporty three door hatch buyers will have the equivalent of 55 percent of their average annual fuel costs covered during the first year with twelve Caltex $100 fuel cards included with every Satria Neo sold during May.

Proton buyers will receive a $1200 fuel bonus when they purchase a Satria Neo during the month of May.

The new Proton Persona is amongst the greenest cars on Australian roads, earning a 4 star rating in the 2008 Government Green Vehicle Guide. The four star rating is based on both the fuel efficiency and the low level of emissions the new Persona achieves from its 1.6litre Campro twin cam 16 valve engine.

Renault Megane Coupe Concept stuns Geneva

It might seem just a concept and for now that’s exactely what it is but Renault Megane Coupe will be a production model.The concept shows us the overall lines of the new model and the new range actually.The actual production model will debut at the Paris Auto Show and will most probabily replace the current model next year.
What stikes me is the resemblance with the new Laguna.The Gulwing doors are there just to impress and to give the car a futuristic feel.The interior is also from the future and nowone can imagine it in a production model(at least not for the next 10 years anyway)
The back reminds us that the current Megane hatchback isn’t dead yet but it shows its age.

Even though the actual car will be more down to Earth,this concept is a great feat of engineering and the guys over at Renault proved that even if they’re French,that doesn’t mean that they have to make nice and cudly cars.Good for them and I hope they keep it up

The Fiat 500: the first Fiat car to be made by Chrysler?The Fiat 500: the first Fiat car to be made by Chrysler?

One of the first Fiats to make it to the United States via Chrysler will be the diminutive Fiat 500, introduced in 2007, with an exterior design meant to recall the original Fiat 500, the ubiquitous Italian car of the 1950s and 1960s (a Fiat 500 was one of the tire sellers in Cars). Power comes via several SOHC in-line four cylinder engines, displacing just 1.2 liters with horsepower ranging from 68 to 74 hp; but for the United States, the base powerplant is expected to be a 100-horsepower 1.4 liter engine, with the optional Abarth turbo version going up to 175 hp (similar in output to the 2.2 Turbo II sold by Chrysler in the 1980s). Like the New Beetle, the 500 is based on a more conventional design — that of the Fiat Panda, which has completely different interior and exterior styling, but essentially the same chassis and components.

Roberto Giolito, head of Fiat-brand styling and designer of the popular 500, says Chrysler will build four versions of the mini-car beginning in 2011. The lineup will include the standard 500 hatchback, a convertible, a station wagon and a sporty “tuner” hatch based on the Abarth version of the 500. According to Fiat, an all-wheel-drive CUV is a possibility. All the versions will be sold as Fiats. Production may be at a plant in the U.S. or at Chrysler’s Toluca, Mexico assembly facility.

The tiny Fiat 500 coupe was crowned “best compact car” by Japanese Internet users in 2008, against the equally small Toyota IQ (also coming to America) and Peugeot 308. In Japan, though, people tend to accept small cars more readily; micro cars – powered by engines of just 600 cubic-centimeters (.6 liters) – have been street legal for years.

Fiat had considered building the 500 for the American market at its Case New Holland tractor factories, before tying in with Chrysler. Its goal was to repeat the success of BMW's Mini, which proved that, while Americans generally don't care for small cars, sometimes they make an exception. Automotive history is littered with nameplates that tried to establish a footing in America with small cars and achieved only marginal success, until they faded away: Crosley, Nash Metropolitan, Studebaker Lark, and Geo.

The World's Ugliest Cars

A recent survey selects the worst designed cars of all time. The top pick? The AMC Pacer
By Chris Palmeri

Car geeks are generally an outspoken group. But they really put the pedal to the metal when Hagerty Insurance, a specialist in collector cars, surveyed its policyholders for their picks of the worst car designs of all time.

Here's what one connoisseur had to say the about the top pick, American Motors' Pacer: "0 to 60 in four-and-a-half hours. AMC's only conceivable excuse for this stylistic horror would be if their design crew was tripping on massive quantities of acid...and even then...it wouldn't be a good excuse."

McKeel Hagerty, CEO of the company, ordered up the survey after noticing that several of what he calls "nerd cars" were increasing in value. He says he was surprised when the Pacer-a notorious dud from the days of disco-topped the list. Hagerty bought himself a dark green 1976 Pacer three years ago for $2,300. "If anyone thinks I'm picking on Pacer owners, guess what-I am one," he says.

Here are the top 10 worst design picks, with comments, from the nearly 2,500 Hagerty customers who participated.

Tesladownunders Car Theft Protection

Above shows setup and testing. I wonder if I should have taught my kids CPR? In the 4th photo, note the elevated Tesla coil with the rotating connection above the ladder about 11 ft (3.3 m) off the ground. In the last 3 photos, my chain mail butchers glove is grounded both to the plate I am standing on (wet to improve conductivity), and to an earthed point nearby.
Next just add the Driza-Bone stockman's riding coat, a hired dreadlocks wig, army surplus boots and you have the effect at the top. I am also wearing the chain mail glove and some cycling gloves over that so the sparks can jump onto my outstretched hand.

My wooden counterweight is on fire here at the top of the coil. It's quite safe to be in the car although my son was apprehensive. This was a Hyundai Getz hire car (as I don't own one) and it still works. I did get extra insurance "in case". Of course a Tesla Roadster from Tesla Motors would be the ideal car for this or a De Lorean.

There is a rod projecting out the top of the TC and the sparks will come from the tip of the rod. If that rod is bent so that it nearly touches the ground it will spark to ground. If you rotate the rod around the car it will form sparks as it traces out a circle. If you take a long exposure then the sparks will all be on one photo giving a ring of sparks.

Again, lots of comments and links on hundreds of blogs and sites including Digg, humorous caption comments on Autoblog, Russian (with 377 comments), and Japanese sites. In total 200,000 website hits and perhaps 1,000,000 people have seen this on other sites