Most of the states in the U.S used to have fire laws that disallowed “untrained personnel” from dispensing flammable fluids. Governments were worried about accidents happening due to letting people pump their own gas into their cars. This meant gasoline being dispensed at fill-up stations by their staff. Here’s the story. Early days The first filling stations began to come…

Ford Pinto Every company makes mistakes but, with a little luck, they are small ones that no one really notices. The problem with making mistakes in the car business is that when it happens, the results are put on display for the whole world to see. In this article, we…

There are two types of traffic jams. The first is when an actual accident occurs and because the traffic can’t flow smoothly (or at all), vehicles back up behind the accident point. The other is far more common and is referred to as a “Phantom Traffic Jam.” This is when…

Connected vehicles. Picture wired.com Not long ago, “connectivity” was only available on some of the most expensive automobiles made. Not anymore, today most new cars offer connectivity of some form or another. Problem is that connectivity refers to a wide variety of wireless functions. Thanks to the assistance of the folks…

1914 Stutz Bearcat Speedster. Picture uniquecarsandparts.com One of the best looking cars of the 1920s was the Stutz Bearcat. You’ve probably have seen one before but didn’t know what kind of car it was. Do yourself a favor and type “Stutz Bearcat” into Google and take a look. It was…

If you are considering the purchase of an Electric Vehicle (EV), there is more than just the cost of the vehicle and its driving range to consider. Hiley Volkswagen of Arlington, TX, a local Volkswagen dealer in Arlington,TX, insists that every EV driver should also investigate where the local charging stations…

BMW X1  Luxury cars are only for the rich and famous, right? Maybe once upon a time. But, like the rest of the automotive industry, the upper end of the market is changing rapidly. Even as they pump out bespoke supercars with seven-figure price tags for the global elite, the…

In the late 1970s, NASCAR was becoming a major automotive institution. With large audiences following the weekend races, the car industry noticed something interesting; when a particular car won a race, people went to their local car dealer the next week and bought that car. Essentially, a win at NASCAR…

Chrysler’s Plymouth Division has been known to make some outrageous cars but there is one that takes the cake: the Plymouth Prowler. The Prowler was unlike any other car ever made by a major automobile company. It was basically a modern version of the California roadster hotrods of the 1940s.…

If you like performance cars, you’ve undoubtedly heard about Nitrous Oxide. Nitrous Oxide systems are a way to dramatically boost the horsepower of engines without internal hardware modifications. They really aren’t a good idea to install on standard street cars, however, because they can be dangerous. That being said, enthusiasts…

Have you seen the 1985 movie Back to the Future? If so, you know what 1.21 Gigawatts is needed for. As Michael J. Fox finds out in the movie, it’s the amount of energy that a Delorean time travel machine needs to work. Back to the Future was a great…

The roads in Cuba are just packed with classic cars. Most of them are American cars from 1950s and 60s Why is this? It’s simple, since Cuba has effectively been isolated from the west for over 50 years, certain features of its society are effectively locked in time. When it…

There was a time when a turbocharged vehicle was considered exotic. Turbochargers, which can increase a car’s horsepower up to 60%, were installed only sports cars and race cars. Today, turbochargers are still used on performance cars but they have become popular in standard passenger cars too. The reasoning in…