Classic Billboard Ads

"What would you expect from a city with a statue of a fist?"

An engineer friend from GM recently sent me an email with some classic General Motors billboard ads created by Campbell-Ewald for the Woodward Dream Cruise from 2001-08. These bold billboard statements reminded me of a lot of the retooled "Imported from Detroit" message in the recent Born of Fire Chrysler video that aired at Super Bowl XLV. One of the featured Detroit landmarks in the homage to Detroit was the massive statue of a fist commissioned by Time Inc. in honor of Joe Louis Barrow, aka "The Brown Bomber."

Some more of my favorites:

World Record Fuel Economy

Have we reached the plateau of fuel efficiency? Turned the last screw in our push toward the envelope of known technology? At first I couldn't believe the claim: over 12,000 miles per gallon. Now I can't believe it hasn't been improved upon.

The Guinness World Record for fuel efficiency was awarded in 2005 to a Swiss team with a PAC-Car II hydrogen-powered car. Lino Guzzella and his team at ETH Zurich recorded an astounding 5,385 km per liter of gasoline (12,666 mpg!) during the Shell Eco-marathon in Ladoux (France). The vehicle weighed a feathery 60 pounds and had an aerodynamic drag coefficient of 0.075.

Hydrogen power is impressive, but it still doesn't compete with the sun-fed system of solar vehicles. The solar car can travel an indefinite distance without using any fuel at all (provided sun is readily available). I was shooting the event for The Macomb Daily newspaper on July 19, 1990 as the University of Michigan Sunrunner crossed the finish line and won the first GM Sunrayce. It was a memorable event seeing the maize and blue solar cell-covered car stealthily cross the finish line with a a cheering team in tow at the General Motors Tech Center in Warren, Michigan. The Sunrunner electric car weighed a heafty 500 pounds and had an aerodynamic drag coefficienct of .108.

Solar powered vehicles have matured and improved at an astonishing rate since that momentous event in 1990. The race to higher fuel efficiency with hydrogen powered vehicles is sure to follow a similar path, albeit not as dramatic. The fact that Hydrogen became a recognized official fuel in 2004 like gasoline and petrol helped with the path to world records.

So why hasn't another team broken the record since? Have we reached the epitome of drag coefficiency. Has the tire technology reached its limit? Or is it just that the students at ETH Zurich are taking a break for a while as everyone else catches up?

(PAC-Car 2 photos courtesy ETH Zurich)

Who needs airbags?

Wouldn't it be nice if all vehicles on the road had sensors and computers that could sense when another vehicle was going to pancake it in the next five seconds? A new Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility (PUMA) two-wheeled vehicle recently introduced by General Motors and Segway Inc have introduced a novel electric vehicle that literally depends on that premise.

Puma is small, lightweight and has minimal safety equipment. What it does have: two wheels, two seats and a brain. What it doesn't have: airbags and most traditional safety devices (they add too much weight).

Popular Mechanics articles and science fiction novels have proposed similar ideas for years - vehicles would drive themselves based on tracking technology (based today on GPS technology and a vast communications transponder network). Roaming deer, joggers and pedestrians would be safe from drowsy drivers and drunkards. Vehicles would communicate with each other and allow a regulated flow of traffic.

The PUMA prototype can reach speeds of up to 35 miles-per-hour and ventures up to 35 miles on a single charge thanks with its lithium-ion battery. The pod uses Segway's proprietary two-wheel balancing technology, along with dual-electric motors.

PUMA echoes of the Camper Lotus Personal Commuter concept of 2006. Similar technology was used on the battery-driven I-Bot Transporter back in 2000 and gasoline-powered gyroscopic Garavaglia Monowheel of 1904.

Kind of reminds me of doing wheelies and spins in the spare wheelchair at church when I was a kid (here's a kid I took under my wing). About the same time my parents upped our insurance policy.

Quality Gas is a Shell Game

Not all gasoline is the same. So say’s Shell.

Shell is pushing its new “Nitrogen Enriched” V-Power gasoline additive that promises to help reduce performance-robbing carbon deposit (a.k.a. gunk) build up in the engine. This can include sticky intake valves and clogged fuel injectors. Shell's Web site states:

“Gunky-build up can reduce an engine’s ability to breath, and can be a result of using lower quality gasolines. With five times the amount of cleaning agents required by Federal government standards, Shell V-Power gasoline can protect your engine and actively clean intake valves and injectors.”

According to NPD Group’s monthly customer-behavior research, 70-percent of consumers say price plays the most important role in their gasoline purchase decision. Price is king.

Many car owners are keeping their vehicles longer, and most gasoline companies are using some sort of additive to help reduce gunk. But it can be hit or miss. Is it worth taking the chance?

Andrew Buczynsky, General Motor’s fuel guru recommends using quality gasoline approved by one of the eight companies at www.toptiergas.com to help reduce your chances of getting a “check engine” light.

More than 700 reports of injector problems were logged with the Wisconsin Department of Commerce in 2004 due to low-quality fuel (40-percent from Citgo stations).

Are you willing to play the Shell game?