Car Show

Will Chrysler take off or crash again under its new 5 year plan?With all of the attention paid to the role of Wall Street in the financial crisis or to the political difficulties surrounding the health care reform bill, it is easy to forget that last year around this time some of the nation’s largest automakers were staring bankruptcy in the beady little eyes, and in some cases submitting to its stigmatizing but forgiving ways. Read more

"Oh please, don't put that red bow on me. Don't I look jolly enough?"

Some people just LOVE to decorate. There are plenty of people out there who fill their yards up year-round with wall-to-wall garden gnomes, pink flamingos, little boys bending over and revealing their underwear, and plenty of other tacky crap. (Not that I’m dissing all of this, really; I have a couple of gnomes—though painted to look more like characters from King Arthur—myself; I’m dissing the ginormous junk pile of it all accumulating in one tiny half-acre lot.)

My husband and I like to call these yards “yard parks,” though I suppose the proper term would be “kitsch vomit.” Read more

<a href="http://www.dropjawmag.com/freak9"target="_blank"><img src="http://www.dropjawmag.com/freak9/fs9frontcopysm.jpg" width="490" height="160" border="0" /></a>
**A Show not to miss!!! Freak Show 9th Annual Oct 15-18 2009 at Lenior County Fairgrounds in Kinston N.C. Last year we had over 1700 show cars 5000+ people! Dont miss out on getting your V.I.P., Club Midway spot or Pre Register, deadline for those is 10/12/09 ! Check out our website
for past years coverage and any Info you may need at www.dropjawmag.com**

The hum of a light saber may have you thinking of Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, but I doubt it conjures images of an idling car.

A team of scientists from the UK have announced that they’ve developed a car ignition system that uses laser beams. In the current spark plug system, the spark plugs are located at the top or bottom of a cylinder, which causes them to fail if the car’s gas isn’t in position upon starting. The lasers are supposed to remedy this by using optical fibers to send power to the car’s battery, which is said to be a straight, surer path to ignite the vehicle through heat. Read more

Biofuels are one of the buzz words that get thrown around whenever politicians or barstool environmentalists talk about how we can solve the issues of global warming and climate change. As defined by Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biofuel), “Biofuel is… solid, liquid or gas fuel derived from recently dead biological material” -so it must be good for the environment- that’s the line of thinking.

Here in not the time or place to delve into the truth and/or shadows of those claims. It is enough to know that biofuel is less destructive in general to the Earth than digging up and burning fossil fuels. When we look at some of the biggest polluters, a few other buzz words come to mind: cars, industry and of course airline travel. Anyone who has done a personal calculation of their “carbon footprint” on the Internet will tell you that adding a plane flight or two sends their carbon footprint literally into the stratosphere. Read more

June is Drive Safe Month, and while we all like to think that we’re great drivers, the truth is that somebody out there has to be a crappy driver. Otherwise, how would we have over 41,000 people dead last year alone from drunk driving?

Here are just a few stats and facts for you: Read more

The biofuel arm of the clean energy movement is one clouded with confusion, misinformation and a lot of "I don't know what that means" kind of names.

Here is how biofuel conversations tend to go with my friends:

Friend 1: What exactly is the definition of a "biofuel?"

Friend 2: It's, like, fuel that's organic or something. You know, like fuel that's good for the earth.

Friend 1: Like wind?

Friend 2: No, like gas that is made from plants or something, or like how you can get the old french fry grease from McDonald's and run your car on it- my friend from up north did that- he retrofitted his BMW to run on cooking oil and drove across the state just stopping at McDonalds! No, I'm serious...

Today, the conversation would be slightly more on topic, or maybe just slightly more full of posturing and making stuff up:

Friend 1: Dude, what's cellulosic ethanol?

Friend 2: I think ethanol is when you make gas out of corn. Read more

My friend has a Jaguar. While he was trying to remove the top of the engine, he broke the head of one of the studs. He told me that there is a tool to fix it, but it has a patent on it and he can't find who has it.

Do you know of anyone who has this tool.

I have a 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo (V8) with about 75,000 miles on it. Lately, I've noticed
a hesitation in the shift sequence of the automatic transmission when I get to 40-45 mph.
In addition, when I take my foot off the gas at about 50-55 mph, the vehicle seems to decelerate
too quickly -- almost as if it were towing something. As it decelerates, I've noticed that the rpms
decrease, then spike momentarily. It is almost as if I'm downshifting in a manual transmission.
Any advice?

i have a spitfire and looking to join a british club who would be able to help with, where about for parts and services.