Bad pictures with old trucks

The staff here at Real Deal is putting together a special photo essay for our listeners and readers, “pictures where trucks seem out of place”  Above is a perfect example of the types of pictures we are needing.  If you have such pictures, please email to espn@gowolfe.com .  We are giving away good seats to next seasons Texas Rangers tickets to the winning submission for this drive.  Thank you in advance.

SAAB Story…end’s with a smile. Now, will Hummer find the same fate?

General Motors Closes Sale of Saab to Spyker Cars

 

Atlanta, GA 2/23/2010 11:30 PM GMT (TransWorldNews)

 

General Motors and Spyker Cars NV have finalized the deal in which Spyker will purchase Saab Automobile AB. Saab and Spyker will operate under the Spyker brand, and Spyker will assume the responsibility for Saab operations.

This transaction represents the closure after months of negotiations, all aimed at finding a future for this brand. Throughout the past year’s negotiations, GM has worked with many people, including governments and investors to find a solution for the Saab brand.

General Motors, one of the world’s largest automakers, traces its roots back to 1908.  With its global headquarters in Detroit, GM employs 204,000 people in every major region of the world and does business in some 140 countries.

Saab entered the auto business in 1949 with the first model 92.  Its aerodynamic shape and advanced technology drew from the company’s roots as an aircraft maker, and helped create what was to become a loyal and passionate customer base.

NHTSA Data Dive: 95 Cars Ranked In Rate Of Unintended Acceleration Complaints

February 27, 2010

Tampa ‘Strippermobile’ grinds to a legal halt… but not for the reason you think [w/video]

by Jonathon Ramsey (RSS feed) on Feb 27th 2010 at 9:15AM

Tampa Strippermobile gets shut down – Click above to watch video after the jump

To advertise the Déjà Vu gentlemen’s club in Tampa, Florida, the establishment’s visionaries installed a pole in the back of a box truck and then fitted plexiglass wall inserts so that outsiders could see in. The result: a rolling strip show… for everyone. Tampa authorities closed the show down last week, but not because of the women doing pole dances at stop lights. It turns out that the mobile display isn’t breaking any laws. No, it was shut down over issues with the truck’s Nevada license plate.

That’s ironic because the truck’s “career” began in Las Vegas, but city officials there – in sin city, of all places – ran it out of town. In Tampa, on the other hand, the strippermobile will be back for more action once the registration kinks are worked out. The truck’s owners have promised to curtail certain types of performances until a certain hour and to only trawl bar areas of town. This agreement has made the city, Déjà Vu, and the First Amendment one big happy family. Follow the jump to see the pole-tacular video.

[Source: WTSP]

Tattoo’s and H2’s go hand in hand

I caused a little excitement during the syndicated show Saturday by making the claim “I’ll bet 70% of Hummer H-2 drivers have a Tattoo on their body somewhere”

We had callers, and emails from both sides of the Hummer ownership faction, and our producer, Mike Turley, found a very interesting pattern.  Out of the 40ish emails and 4 phone calls we recieved from Hummer owners, 72% of the contacts had some sort of body art, and 28% did not.  Even more ironic note was out of that 28% of non-tat folk, their communication seems as if they were ‘insulted’ or ‘shocked’ that I would make such a suggestion that Hummer drivers and Tattoo’s go hand in hand.

Here’s a quick poll to count you opinion on this (not) hot topic.  (These Hummer folk are all riled up like a gay rights activist at a Judas Preist show, bc the news just broke that the Hummer brand is being wound down to extinction)

Used Car Market Update For March 1st

The market for used stock is seasonally high, and  will continue to gain momentum in March.  Listeners will continue to notice bid prices rise during the show on air, as are your trade in values.  The, WHY, question is an assortment of answers.  However, March is historically the strongest used market of the year, as Novemeber the weakest.  Whatever market values are established in March, traditionally hold true through the 4th of July (middle event of redneck triple crown)

note to user: Sell your sports cars in the spring.  Cars like 911’s, Vettes, Challengers, Camaro’s, 350Z’s etc feel this July 4th date moreso than most other models.  Especially Corvettes.

JCFW

Ed Wallace (Louis Smith) emails read on Sat show

 The emails below were forwarded to us from one of our listners.  As you will read, the listener was either A) confused with his question and sent his concern to the wrong show host, or B) messing with Louis Smith trying to get a rise out of his (which is what we believe to be accurate)  Either A or B, he did get a slight rise out of Louis, and was kind enough to forward us the email thread between the DFW radio host and the interested listener.  

On 2/14/10 12:00 AM, “Ross Redder” <rbredder@hotmail.com  

> wrote:

 

 

   

  

Wrong show? Do you not give bids on used cars, I know I heard your  

show one Saturday morning (really enjoyed it) and I thought you were  

bidding cars on the air.  It’s a great concept Mr. Wallace, would you  

prefer that I call into the show?  I don’t want to inconvience you, I  

will just call you next Saturday morning if that works better for  

you.  Keep up the good work.  

RB  

RB,
Bidding cars on air is one dangerous position to take. Because if one is
serious about real figures, it just can’t be done honestly.
You don’t look at the car, don’t see the damage, minor or not. Don’t see the
condition, or the paint work or anything else.
When I was in the car business, from time to time you would give out an
approximate bid for someone who had to travel a long way.

And typically once you saw the car in question, you realized how foolish you
were to try and bid a car without seeing it.
Ed

 

   

  

Real Deal Breaking News: GM announces Hummer sale cannot be concluded, brand to be wound down

by Chris Paukert (RSS feed) on Feb 24th, 2010 at 3:16PM  

Although it has been evident for some time that General Motors‘ sale of its Hummer brand to Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machines Co., Ltd., we didn’t expect for word to come down today that the negotiations are dead and the brand will be wound down. Unfortunately, judging by a press release just issued by GM, that’s exactly what will be happening. According to John Smith, GM’s vice president of corporate planning and alliances,

“One year ago, General Motors announced that we were going to divest Hummer, as part of focusing our efforts on Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac going forward. We have since considered a number of possibilities for Hummer along the way, and we are disappointed that the deal with Tengzhong could not be completed.” 

As we learned from the Saab sale saga, GM announcing that the brand will be wound down does not completely extinguish hope for another buyer to slip in in the 11th hour, but it does seem highly improbable that a new party will pick up where the negotiations with China’s Tengzhong left off. 

In the statement available after the jump, GM does not specify what killed the planned sale of the brand, but rumors in recent months suggested that the Chinese government was not keen to sign off on the deal. At the moment, it is unclear what will happen to Hummer’s H2 and H3/H3T models, but it is likely that the tooling and manufacturing rights will be sold off to other companies. It is also unclear how many employees will be out of work as a result of the closure. 

As with the wind-down of its Saturn and Pontiac brands, GM has pledged to honor Hummer warranties and continue to supply service and parts.

Hyundai keeps coming with the hits: Hyundai reveals the diesel-hybrid i-Flow

by Sam Abuelsamid (RSS feed) on Feb 24th, 2010 at 4:39PM

Hyundai’s home office in Korea has dropped the first frontal image of a new concept that will be shown next week at the Geneva Motor Show along with some technical details. The i-Flow is a D-segment sedan meant to go up against cars like the Ford Mondeo in Europe. Under the hood, the i-Flow has Hyundai’s first diesel hybrid powertrain including a new 1.7-liter inline-four. The diesel has dual stage turbocharging and is paired up with Hyundai’s Blue-drive system using a new six-speed dual clutch gearbox. Like the upcoming Sonata hybrid, the i-Flow uses a lithium polymer battery pack. With its drag coefficient of 0.25, the i-Flow is claimed to achieve 78.4 miles per gallon (U.S.) and CO2 emissions of just 85 grams/kilometer.

Joining the i-Flow onstage will be a refreshed version of the i30 (badged as the Elantra Touring in North America) and low emissions “blue” versions of the i10, i20, i30 and ix35 (Tucson). These models receive automatic start-stop, low rolling resistance tires and aero tweaks. The four cars all achieve CO2 ratings under 100 g/km while the crossover ix35 gets 135 g/km. Finally, Hyundai will also show a fuel cell version of the new ix35/Tucson for the first time. Hyundai still plans to produce fuel cell vehicles in the thousands annually by 2012.

[Source: Hyundai]

Question: What is the square button on the door handle of the 300?

Answer:
It is the sensor for the Passive Entry/Keyless Go system.
With the Passive Entry System a consumer can gain access to their vehicle as long as they have the key fob on their person, pocket or purse.  When a consumer approaches the vehicle and grabs the driver’s door handle, the sensor on the handle will automatically sense their presence and unlock the door without the consumer having to remove/use their key fob to unlock the door.