Once a biker always a biker. This is a mantra Jesse James lives by. Even with a handful of hit TV shows, larger-than-life personality and movie star wife, James still shows up at his Long Beach, California, motorcycle shop, West Coast Choppers, getting his hands dirty every day. How many other celebrities do you think can say that?
“I’m still here every morning ready to work. I think if I ever get to the point where I don’t work I’ll just get rid of the place. I think TV and everything else takes me away from what I really should be doing, and that’s working, and I feel cheated if I’m not welding something everyday,†says James, looking every bit as sinister as always; tattooed arms draped over the front of an evil looking chrome, black and red chopper.
The thing is, James is far from sinister. An extremely smart businessman and an even …Â Details
STOCKHOLM – Saab Automobile, General Motors Corp.’s struggling Swedish unit known for its family cars, was rescued Tuesday by a consortium led by Koenigsegg Automotive AB, a tiny company that produces only a dozen custom-made super cars a year.
Having penned a memorandum of understanding, GM said the sale would include an expected $600 million funding commitment from the European Investment Bank, guaranteed by the Swedish government. Additional funding for Saab’s operations and investments would be provided by GM and the Koenigsegg Group AB consortium, it said.
“This is yet another significant step in the reinvention of GM and its European operations,” GM Europe President, Carl-Peter Forster, said in a statement.
A person briefed on the deal said …Â Details
Mike Rowand, facility manager at Saturn of Jackson, said if anyone can save the Saturn automobile brand, it’s Roger Penske.
On June 5, Penske entered into a memorandum of understanding with General Motors to purchase the Saturn name, its dealerships and certain assets from the bankrupt automaker. If finalized, the agreement will put the Saturn automobile line under one of the world’s most successful car dealers and parts suppliers in automotive history. Penske owns Detroit Diesel, and the largest car distributorship in the United Kingdom. He is also the same Penske that owns NASCAR and Indy car racing teams.
Still, Penske faces an uphill battle to save Saturn.
Saturn originally was developed as its own entity when it debuted in 1990…Â Details
Hankook Tire’s says its enfren range of low rolling-resistance tires deliver significant fuel savings and environmental benefits without consumers having to upgrade their car.
The silica compound enfren tire achieved a 5.1% saving over conventional steel belt radials in a recent “Fuel Economy Challenge” in Australia. Two Hyundai i30 SLX CRDi hatches, identical apart from the tires, were driven 382km in the city and on motorways in a range of conditions. The Hankook enfren equipped car used 5.5 liters per 100 km while the conventional tire used 5.8 liters per 100km.
Motoring journalist and industry engineering consultant John Cadogan, who co-ordinated and monitored the “real world” challenge said: “Rolling resistance accounts for as much as 20 per cent of all automotive fuel consumed … Details