"The Relay" Online Newsletter
May 2024 Issue

This is the monthly online newsletter for the car club council. All car hobbyist events are listed on this site under "Calendar." Just click on the link above to view the list of car shows and other activities.

President's Message

The big news this month is of course our show on May 11 - and right now the long range forecast is looking good. We've got everything together for the show including food vendors that will sell seafood, Mexican, hamburgers and hot dogs along with ice cream, popcorn and cotton candy. This year the show's success is much needed because of the big budget cut to Pamplin Park. We will have enough people to run the show even with the employee layoffs thanks to many volunteers. Remember we have classes for all vehicles including commercial vehicles, heavy trucks, fire engines, we cover them all. Complete info on the show including registration forms, vendor forms and food vendor forms are at carclubcouncil.com/carshow. Mail by May 3rd and it's only $15 to register - that is low compared to most shows. I'm looking forward to seeing you at the show.

Car season is here and you've got plenty of choices. We've got more events on the calendar than ever before. There is a wide variety of shows and cruise-ins for you to attend. The last weekend in April there were 8 events on Saturday and 2 on Sunday. It's time to enjoy checking out the vehicles and the people. The time to have fun in the sun is here until the end of the year.

And we are in campaign mode - time to pull that seat belt tight and hold on - you can expect a bumpy ride to November. This - as they always say - is the most important election ever - but this time that may be true. We've got a lot of problems to solve in America and this fall we have to make the choice on the direction we want the county headed. Our problem as car hobbyists is the push by the government to force people to buy and use things the people don't want. The low sales of EVs seem to surprise the DC crowd. Why would someone get rid of something that works just fine for something that costs more and is more inconvenient? I cannot stand how politicians and the media think we are the dumbest creatures to ever walk the earth. The stuff they say doesn't make any sense and they want us to believe stuff that we know is not true. Despite all the communication tools we have today one listens and then has to determine what to believe. Sure sounds like there is a lot more lying, misinformation and disinformation than ever before. But we'll sort it out because we are sharper than those politicians and media talking heads - and I've figured that out from talking to people - we citizens appear smarter than our leaders.

Then comes 2025 and the state wide election where we will pick a new governor and all the house members. The state is also at a crossroads - we have a budget surplus of over $5 billion - and our elected representatives can't seem to agree on this year's budget. Last year it took 6 months to come up with some changes to the budget. It might take that long for everyone to determine if we cut taxes because of the surplus or - believe it or not - actually increase taxes. Yes, it is hard to believe the divisions in our elected leaders. But as always we will hang in there.

Don't forget to register for the 5th Annual Breakthrough Car Show and I'll see you at some of the many events.

5th Annual Breakthrough Car Show at Pamplin Park

by Colin Romanick, Executive Director Pamplin Historical Park
Pamplin Historical Park & The National Museum of the Civil War Soldier will host the 5th Annual Breakthrough Car Show on May 11, 2023 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in partnership with the Car Club Council of Central Virginia and supporting sponsors; Bank of Southside Virginia, Coastal Virginia Auto Show, Dinwiddie Dental, Gary's Automotive Again, Southside Electric Cooperative, Strosnider Chevrolet, VA Cars and Carts and the Virginia Motorsports Park.

All can experience the sights and sounds of automobiles and trucks from yesteryear to the aerodynamic super cars of today. The 5th Annual Breakthrough Car Show is an open show with participant judging. All makes, models and years are welcome. Multiple classes to include; cars, trucks, imports, commercial and military vehicles will result in over 60 awards plus the coveted "Best in Show" award.

Two special awards being offered again this year are the "Clay Drnec Preservation Award" and the "Chairman's Award." Named after automotive collector and enthusiast Clay Drnec who passed away in 2021, the preservation award will be presented by a member of Mr. Drnec's family. Clay and his wife Cheryl participated in numerous car shows and car show judging for many years with the Antique Automobile Club of America and other others to include the Lake Mirror Classic Concours & Car Show in Lakeland, Florida. The "Chairman's Award" will be presented by Dinwiddie County Board of Supervisors Chairman, Mr. William Chavis.

The day of show vehicle registration is 8:00 am to 11:00 am at $20.00 per vehicle and spectators are invited to park and explore the show for free. A reduced half price admission is available for the day to enter and experience the 424 acre Pamplin Historical Park's museums and battlefield.

The first 150 registered participants will receive goody bags, dash plaques and food vendor coupons. Participants are eligible for great door prizes from sponsors as well. Participants and the public both can join in raffles, a silent auction, music, drinks, food and more will be available from vendors.

The show will be held on the lawn of the historic Hart Farm at 6955 Duncan Road in Petersburg, Virginia, just 30 minutes from Richmond, and about an hour from Williamsburg or the Jamestown Settlement. The Hart Farm house was constructed in the mid 1800s in the original Gothic Revival style and today features a recreated barn. The land saw fighting in two battles including the decisive Breakthrough Battle of April 2, 1865 which resulted in the evacuation of both Petersburg and Richmond during the American Civil War.

All proceeds from this event benefit Pamplin Historical Park. Additional sponsors include; Advance Auto Parts (Dinwiddie), AutoMeter, AutoZone (Colonial Heights), Brother’s Pizza, Crossroads Ford Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center, EATON Detroit Spring Inc., Food Lion, Grease Monkey Garage, Griot’s Garage, Dalton Watson Fine Books, Homebase Credit Union, JEGS, J. C. Taylor Insurance, Lincoln Electric, Meguiar’s, Moss Motors, Motorbooks, O’Reilly’s Auto Parts (Dinwiddie), NAPA (Dinwiddie), Route 1 Country Store, RockAuto.com, Stoner Car Care, Texas Roadhouse, Top Flight Automotive, Touchstone Bank, Tractor Supply Company, and Vincenzo’s.
Link to Show Registration Form
Link to Vendor Registration Form

Next Meeting

The next meeting will be Monday, August 26th at 6:30 PM at a location that will be in the August newsletter.

Follow me to the 5th Annual Breakthrough Car Show

Car Hobbyist News

EV Report

The media has finally noticed that EV sales are lower than expected – after months of telling us how wonderful they are and how they’re “the future”. Let’s take a look at what is going on with the makers of those vehicles of the future.

Ford has delayed a battery plant in Kentucky and slowed production of its EVs. Ford is expecting to lose $4 billion this year as the company – like GM – continues to lose money on each EV sale. Mustang-e prices have been cut up to $8000 depending on model. You will see this is a theme with EV makers as sales lag. US News just came out with its best electric and hybrid vehicles for this year. The electric Ford F-150 got picked for best electric pickup while Ford has slowed their production due to lower than expected sales.

Rivian has cut its work force by 10% and cut prices about $3000 – another theme coming from the EV makers.

GM is delaying production of EVs due to low sales and has stopped production o the Blazer EV. That is what happens when they just don’t sell.

Stellantis/Chrysler laid off 400 employees in engineering which I interpret as engineers working on EVs since the company has stated it is phasing out gas vehicles including the fun cars such as Challengers and Chargers. This company has also stated it is worried about EV sales.

Fisker has been removed from the New York Stock Exchange after its share price went down to 9 cents. A company can be delisted if its share price stays below a dollar for more than 30 consecutive trading days. Fisker has also dropped prices and the company could file for bankruptcy.

Lordtown Motors so named for the old GM plant in Ohio where the EV company makes vehicles filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023. It is now coming out of bankruptcy with its assets intact. The company still faces an uphill battle.

Lucid continues to borrow money from the Saudi government. Its stock prices have been shaky. The Saudi government owns most of the company. Lucid has cut prices by 5%. It won US News best luxury EV.

Tesla lost its senior VP of Powertrains and Energy and its VP of public policy – they both quit the day before Tesla laid off 14,000 workers due to low sales. It was the first time the company had a quarterly decline since 2020 and it is no longer the world’s best selling EV – that honor goes to BYD. Tesla is recalling all the Cybertrucks because the gas pedal cover falls off – a TikTok video of it got millions of views forcing the recall. Tesla has dropped the price of its self-driving from 12K to 8K.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is reviewing a December recall on Tesla's autopilot feature, focusing on whether the electric vehicle company adequately remedied the issue. The probe comes after at least 20 crashes have occurred involving cars that received Tesla's autopilot software update.

Lotus has introduced an electric SUV starting at $107,000 and you can get seat covers made from recycled carpet fibers for only 5K more. We’ll see how many they sell in this downturn market for electrics.

Chinese automaker BYD is now the largest seller of EVs. The company is building plants in other countries and would like to build in Mexico. Because of the trade agreement between Canada, the US and Mexico the company could build in Mexico and import to the US without paying any tariffs or taxes. If the cars were built in China and shipped here there would be taxes and a tariff. So far the Biden administration has been able to talk Mexico into not allowing BYD to build a plant there. Biden needs the UAW to support him in his re-election bid. China may be the only place on the planet where people really want EVs and China is building a lot of coal fired electric producing plants. In 2022 China approved the building equivalent of 2 coal fired plants a week as they ignore all of the climate change rhetoric. And these truly are “coal cars”. Funny how we have to go to EVs to save the planet from carbon dioxide and climate change while China is building about 40% of the worlds EVs and running them on coal.

National Report

New EPA rule relaxes the standards for EV adoption from 2026 to 2029 and then speeds them back to the old rule from 2029 to 2032. It also now includes plug-in hybrids. The UAW - which has decided to support Joe Biden for a second term - wanted the standards relaxed. The new rule says there should be 35% to 56% of vehicle sales for EVs and 13% to 36% for plug-in hybrids. The rule is for cars, light trucks and SUVs.

The EPA has new standards for heavy trucks (includes 18-wheelers, buses, etc) emissions. This is similar to what the EPA did to emissions and mileage standards for passenger cars - up them to the point where only EVs can achieve the standard. This is a first step to making heavy trucks electric.

Biden administration has new rules that will make domestic gas and oil production more expensive. Drilling on public lands will increase - royalty fees increase from 12.5% to 16.67% and leases to drill will go from $10,000 to $150,000. These prices will remain until August 2032 - 2032 is now the magic year when most of us will be driving EVs (sure!).

The Biden administration is taking steps to limit drilling and mining in Alaska. The goal is to conserve 30% of US lands and waters to combat climate change. The Interior Department has finalized a rule to block drilling on 40% of the National Petroleum Preserve in Alaska to protect polar bears, caribou and other wildlife. The Interior Department rejected the state's proposal to build a 211 mile road to enable mining in the Ambler Mining District. One has to wonder why the Biden administration wants EVs for everyone when it will not allow the mining of the minerals needed for EV batteries.

The Biden administration continues to not refill the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve citing "high prices". From Moneywise: "The administration withdrew a record 180 million barrels in 2022 to counter supply issues created by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — but Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in March that the strategic oil reserve would be replenished by the end of the year. The DOE has said it’s aiming to buy back oil for the SPR at $79 per barrel or below, less than the average of about $95 it received for the 2022 sales.

However, amid increasing prices — currently hovering at around $88 per barrel — the DOE has decided to pull back on further purchases until market conditions improve.

The SPR currently holds about 363 million barrels, according to Energy Department data — down from nearly 600 million at the beginning of 2022.

State Report

Governor Youngkin has vetoed 150 bills. Some of these bills should have never been introduced much less passed by both houses since they were unconstitutional. And the budget fight continues as the budget did not pass in the regular or veto session. Last year it took 6 months to agree to some changes in that budget. The sticking point seems to be the governor wants some kind of tax relief since the state has a surplus of over $5 billion and that means we have been taxed too much while the democrat leadership wants more taxes.

The three exhaust bills that would have only affected the northern tip of Virginia have been continued until 2025.

Only one photo speed bill has made it into law and it mirrors a bill that passed in 2020 which allowed the cameras at school crosswalks and highway work zones. Petersburg has two cameras at the two high schools in that city and they are there under the 2020 law. I have not seen any at work zones. A bunch of these bills were introduced simply because Maryland has made a lot of money on photo speed cameras - yet we have over 5 billion in the surplus.

The collector car bill that would have allowed collectors to treat late model collectible vehicles to be treated similar to vehicles registered as antiques was amended from a minimum of 3 vehicles to 6 and it also have been continued to the 2025 session.

Work zone moving violation tickets will go to $300 for a first offense and $500 for repeat offenses.

The bill to allow localities to reduce speed limits to less than 25 miles per hour failed.

Chesterfield County supervisors have voted to reduce the personal property (car tax) in the 2025 budget. The tax was 3.60 per $100 of value and that has been reduced to 3.35 per $100 of value. Next year is an election year for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and all members of the house. It would be wise for someone(s) to run on getting rid of the dreaded car tax - there was a bill to do so in the 2024 session but it failed. The republicans sure seriously consider this as they will need some winning issues in that election.

Oldies But Goodies Classic Cruisers began its Monthly First Saturday Breakfast Cruise In
on Saturday April 6 at the Keystone Tractor Museum and Keystone Grill
See all the photos at Album - opens to a new window

Board Of Supervisors Approves 25-Cent Cut To Chesterfield's Personal Property Tax Rate

From Chesterfield.gov

Prior to adopting Chesterfield’s fiscal year 2025 budget Wednesday evening, the Board of Supervisors approved a historic reduction to the county’s personal property tax rate.

The 25-cent cut, from $3.60 to $3.35 per $100 of assessed value, makes Chesterfield’s rate the lowest not only among its regional peers but among all Virginia localities with populations greater than 100,000.

In conjunction with that action, the board also approved an increase in the personal property tax relief threshold from 39% to 44% on tax bills due June 5.

According to Matt Harris, deputy county administrator for finance and administration, the measures combined will save the owner of an average vehicle registered in Chesterfield about $39 this year.

“Most households have at least two cars so you’re generating $80 of relief on this year’s bills,” Harris added, noting that’s about twice as much as the average Chesterfield household would’ve received from an additional 1-cent cut in the real estate tax rate.

Based on research by county budget staff, Chesterfield’s personal property tax rate had remained unchanged at $3.60 since the mid-1970s.

Dale District Supervisor Jim Holland, chair of the Board of Supervisors, called it “a transformational opportunity.”

“We are positively impacting many more people than if we just gave a reduction on the real estate tax rate,” said Clover Hill District Supervisor Jessica Schneider. “There are a lot of people who rent and they would not see any of that rebate whatsoever. This way, anyone who has a car gets a rebate.”

Along with a 1-cent reduction to Chesterfield’s real estate tax rate, which was also approved Wednesday, the personal property rate cut is part of the Board of Supervisors’ ongoing effort to provide relief to local taxpayers without adversely impacting vital public services.

Education, public safety and infrastructure account for 81% of the $998.9 million general fund budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

“There may be services some of us will not be using, but are so necessary for other constituents. As a board, we have to weigh all of that,” said Midlothian District Supervisor Dr. Mark Miller, vice chair of the Board of Supervisors. “We talk and discuss what makes sense and try to find that balance point.”

Mindful of the impact of rising property assessments and inflationary pressures on household budgets, the board has cut the real estate tax rate by 5 cents over the past three years. The current rate of 90 cents per $100 of assessed value is the lowest in the county’s modern history.

Chesterfield property owners also received a 5% real estate tax rebate last June, in addition to a $36.8 million package of tax relief measures that were incorporated into the fiscal year 2024 budget. That came on the heels of $52 million in tax relief in 2022, including several changes to address spikes in vehicle valuations caused by COVID-era supply chain disruptions.

Now county residents are getting both a significant reduction in the personal property tax rate and additional relief on the first $20,000 of their vehicle’s assessed value.

“Doing it this way, we’re actually giving a true tax cut,” said Bermuda District Supervisor Jim Ingle. “We’re not just cutting the rate and people’s taxes still go up. We’re cutting the rate and they’re actually going to see a tax cut from this. I applaud this board for that.”

Chesterfield already offers a discount on personal property taxes for personal vehicles that meet a minimum mileage threshold, while vehicles assessed at $1,500 or lower are fully exempt.

The personal property tax rate reduction will also help local businesses through lower taxes on vehicles, furniture, computers and other equipment. That includes the vast majority of small businesses that have been exempted from paying Business, Professional and Occupational License (BPOL) taxes.

“I think this is a huge step in the right direction,” added Matoaca District Supervisor Kevin Carroll. “I would like to make sure this is a permanent tax cut. If we come back next year to raise it, I’m going to vote no.”

The DMV as an Allegory of American Decadence

From AP News
I suppose that nearly every adult (I’ll come back to that “nearly”) has his own DMV story.

The endless lines, the surly clerks, the insufferable atmosphere of bureaucratic imperiousness.

My latest encounter with the DMV occurred some time ago when I had to renew my driver’s license.

I looked up our local emporium on the internet and read that Tuesday and Friday mornings tended to be the least busy times.

Hot dog: It was Friday morning right now!

The elaborate communication I received in the mail from the DMV worried me a little.

No longer was renewing your license simply, you know, renewing your license: handing in the one about to expire and getting a new one.

That’s so yesterday.

Now, because of “new federal guidelines,” you had a choice.

You could opt for a “regular renewal,” which was like renewals of yore, except that your license wouldn’t count as a form of identification for such things as domestic flights.

Or you could opt for a “verified renewal,” in which case it would serve as a form of official identification.

“I’ll take one ‘verified,’ straight-up, please.”

Not so fast.

The process of verification is a process indeed.

You needed a passport or some other certifiable form of identification.

You needed 2 (two) pieces of mail addressed to you at your home address, and such addresses had to be computer generated, i.e., not handwritten or typed.

You also needed—pay attention now—your Social Security card.

Failing that, I later discovered, a copy of your W2 or a 1099 IRS form would do.

You know the old adage, “Haste makes waste.”

Guess what? It’s true.

I scurried down to the DMV on the appointed morning.

I had my current license.

I had my passport.

I had 2 (two) utility bills addressed to me.

I did not have my Social Security card (do you?) nor, cutting to the chase, did I have a copy of my W2 or any 1099 forms.

In my haste, I skimmed right over that requirement.

I would have thought that a current license, a passport, and two pieces of mail addressed to me would go pretty far in “verifying” that the R. Kimball in front of you was, in fact, the R. Kimball he said he was.

You can see how this ends.

This being Friday morning, a light-traffic day at the DMV, I stood in the information line for only about 1 hour.

Everybody has to stand in the information line.

It’s there, I think, just to soften you up.

When you get to the front, a bureaucrat asks you what you want and then gives you a number.

This number entitles you to move to another part of the room and sit down to wait for a different bureaucrat who will actually act on your request.

That was another hour.

So: two hours on a lovely, sun-filled morning.

When my number was finally called, I zipped up to the window, smiled, and asked for one renewed license, verified, hold the olives.

Ha ha ha.

It’s often been noted that petty bureaucrats, than whom none is more petty than the bureaucrats at government agencies like the DMV, delight in adding some little quota to the woe and inconvenience of their victims, er, their clients.

This is true, as my experience reminded me.

I cannot express the subtle gleam that came into the eye of the female who got me for a plaything when she learned that I wanted a verified license but lacked the requisite paraphernalia.

Mostly, it is true, I was mesmerized by her fingernails—I say “her” fingernails, but these inch-and-a-half talons cannot really have been hers.

No human being could have generated such claw-like extrusions on her own.

Each boasted an elaborate, colorful paint job of unspeakable hideousness, and no one was quite like another.

I wondered if she moonlighted as a hypnotist, for I noted that she kept those glittering prostheses in constant, attention-grabbing motion.

Still, captivated though I was, I also noted the glint in her eye, the thin smile of satisfaction that suddenly registered like a sine-wave across her countenance when she discovered she was going to be able to disappoint me.

This was my choice: (1) go home, scrounge up the rest of the required certification, come back for another two or three (or four or five) hour stint at the DMV or (2) be content with a “regular” license, i.e., one that entitled you to turn the key in your car but was otherwise worthless.

I played the theme from “Jeopardy” in my head for a moment.

I’d just spent two hours in two separate holding areas on a glorious morning.

I took the “regular” license.

OK. “Go over where it says ‘CAMERA.’”

A short wait.

Another female barks out, “Roger” (whatever happened to “Mr. Kimball”?).

I trudge up to the window.

“Receipt!” snapped the preoccupied functionary, otherwise ignoring me.

I handed it over. She gave it a suspicious look and then ordered me to stand by an adjacent curtain. “Chin DOWN,” she said, snapping my picture. “Wait over there.”

A few minutes later I was called over and handed my new license, a snazzy-looking piece of plastic emblazoned with the legend NOT FOR FEDERAL IDENTIFICATION.

Thanks for that.

A couple of points.

I can think of plenty of people who are going to have trouble coming up with the requisite slate of verification when it comes time to review their driver’s license.

Do you know anyone over the age of about 20 who still has his Social Security card? So how about the stay-at-home mom who doesn’t have her Social Security card and also doesn’t have a W2 or 1009 form? What then?

Another thing.

While I was frittering away that summer morning at the DMV, I wondered about all those important people in Washington whom our tax dollars support.

Do you suppose that Joe or Jill—er, Dr. Jill—Biden stands in line to get his or her license renewed?

How about your congressman or senator?

How about other members of the nomenklatura that run the country, that is, that run your life (which is not quite the same thing as running the country)?

Do you suppose that a Supreme Court justice, say, or a cabinet member, or a senior aide to any member of the political elite, do you suppose any of them wait in line for hours and then find they are insufficiently credentialed to deserve a “verified” license?

The question answers itself and qualifies that “nearly” with which I began.

More and more, alas, this country is dividing into two groups: us horde of lumpen worker-bees (many of whom, of course, do not actually work) and a political elite who live by very different rules.

They do not wait in line at the DMV any more than they are subject to the usual rules that the SEC applies to insider trading.

They make the laws.

They are not subject to them, not, anyway, in the same way the rest of us are.

You might have been surprised by the word “decadence” in the title of this column.

Most people, I think, can see how the DMV is an allegory for unpleasant, not to say insane and Kafkaesque, bureaucratization.

But decadence?

A society is decadent when the forms of its institutions survive but the substance or purpose of those institutions has been perverted, hollowed out.

The United States still has many of the forms of representative democracy, of that republican form of government that Benjamin Franklin paid homage to in his famous “If-you-can-keep-it” comment.

But how many of those institutions are but pale shadows of their former selves?

My little trip to the DMV may strike you as about as important as life was to Macbeth at the end of his tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow speech.

What, after all, does it signify?

“So you spent more than two hours in line at the DMV. So what? You didn’t get the license you wanted because you didn’t have the forms required to get it. Big deal.”

In fact, I think it is a big deal, biggish, anyway.

Just now the public is exercised, and rightly, by the cataract of revelations about the NSA and the FBI hoovering up information about ordinary citizens.

Every day, it seems, there are new stories about the IRS targeting individuals or groups whose beliefs depart from the woke Democrat gospel of government unlimited.

It wasn’t so long ago that we saw in the movies minatory bureaucrats barking out the demand, “Papers, please!”

They were the bad guys.

They lived in squalid totalitarian societies where the government ran everything.

We in America were different. Land of the free, home of the brave.

Now those bureaucrats yelling, “Papers, please!” are our guys.

“Communism,” said Lenin, who knew about these things, “means keeping track of everything.”

How he would have envied our databases and supercomputers, our face-recognition technology and DNA testing!

A society where surveillance is universal, where every move is tracked and docketed, is a society where everyone may be guilty and certainly is a suspect.

Black boxes in your car that track where you’ve been and how fast you drove to get there; cameras in taxi cabs that snap your picture every time you take a ride; drones aloft that the FBI uses to keep an eye on us; to say nothing of the phones in our pockets that tabulate not only where we go but those we communicate with and what videos we watch.

Where does it end?

Jewels Found On Ebay

Here are a couple of hot finds from Ebay Motors.

eBay item number: 176323029841
$14,500
eBay description: 1941 GMC AFKX-502 4 WHEEL DRIVE CAVALRY TRANSPORT COE. The truck ran and was driven to the current resting spot. It is complete and has not been tampered with!
Sadly I must part with it, at 68 years old with a broken neck and compressed spine, I will not be able to give this the attention it deserves! Please view all pictures carefully, and ask all questions before buying, as it is sold as is! TITLE IN HAND!
$ 14,500.00 OBO

The instruments are gone as are a lot of other parts so I'm not buying it has not been tempered (seller means tampered) with - and the price!!! If this one sells I will be surprised - in fact some other jewels I have ran in the past are still on Ebay for sale.

Next up is another "project".

eBay item number: 156158028877
Bid to $400
eBay description: Needs to be restored. Lots of rust to be repaired. Rear window and rear seat side glass only. Has rear inner quarter panels and parts in trunk. No refunds. Pick up only with a trailer and lots of help to load it.Car is a manual transmission car. Will need to have new floors put in. Has clean New Jersey title. Has no engine, transmission, rear and interior . What you see in pictures is all it has. This is the last time car will be listed.

When I see a first generation Mustang for sale for $400 I think of two words: scrap metal. And this one doesn't disappoint - no engine, trans, rear, interior and missing glass. I like the "lots of help to load" - you will need it. But check out that chain steering wheel - it must be why someone bid the $400. I'm seeing a lot of cars and trucks like this for sale - in other words picked over parts cars.

eBay item number: 266738523370
Buy it now $19,995 or best offer
eBay description: please read $11995.00 firm no less..1986 Monte Carlo Ss this is the way I bought car. 30” rims & tires orginial engine &. Transmission runs and drives . engine sounds awesome. Sold as is with no warranty. 500.00 when auction is over. No refund in anyway. Balance to be paid in 3 days of auction ends. No refund in any way. Buyer to pay for the car being transported. 195.00 dot fee for paperwork. All paperwork will need to be signed before car can leave lot. Cashier check or bank transfer. Cashier check will have to clear bank before car can leave lot. CAR BODY HAS NOT BEEN CUT UP. CAN BE LIFTED BACK DOWN. $20,000.00 car if lifted back down. Rims & tires are worth $5000.00

This one has a video of it going down the road - I'd like to see a video of someone getting into and out of it. Love the "this is the way I bought the car" and "CAR BODY HAS NOT BEEN CUT UP. CAN BE LIFTED BACK DOWN". Also the seller could benefit from using spelling and grammar check. Don't forget "No refund in any way" - on there twice - which tells you seller wants this gone and if you owned it you would also want it gone pronto

Senator Demands Resignation Of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm Over Corruption

From New Conservative Post
Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm has been under fire for years over her “ethical lapses.” Last summer, for example, a watchdog group called for her resignation after it appeared that she profited from her position and held stock in companies that the Department of Energy has direct influence over.

On Tuesday, however, things went bad to worse for the former Democratic governor of Michigan as she testified in front of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Republican Senator Josh Hawley, from Missouri, demanded she come clean after a heated exchange over her financial transactions and accused her of committing perjury before Congress.

Fox News wrote that The Missouri Republican excoriated the energy secretary for violating the STOCK Act and for continuing to own shares of individual companies last year despite testifying that she did not own any individual stock.

“It is outrageous that you misled us. It is outrageous that you are continuing to mislead us,” Hawley remarked. “This has got to change. And, frankly, you should go.”

Early in her tenure leading the Department of Energy, it was revealed that Granholm violated the STOCK Act nine times by failing to disclose $240,000 worth of stock sales within the legally-mandated timeframe.

In addition, the GOP lawmaker also blasted Granholm for allowing agency employees to own individual stocks. Last year, The Wall Street Journal reported that hundreds of senior DOE officials own stocks related to the agency’s work, a potential conflict-of-interest violation.

He said that senior DOE officials owning stocks reveals the “institutionalized corruption in the Department of Energy.”

Granholm might be one of the more corrupt Biden officials. In February 2023, New Conservative Post noted that an electric bus company named Proterra had received a prestigious position on Joe Biden’s Export Council.

In a statement, the CEO said, “Accelerating a clean transportation future is an obligation we have to future generations and an opportunity for the United States to be at the forefront of the innovations that will drive the 21st century,” said Proterra CEO Gareth Joyce. “I’m honored to represent the electric vehicle and battery manufacturing industry on the President’s Export Council and look forward to working with the PEC to help advance our country’s global leadership in this critical and emerging sector.”

During a “virtual tour” early in his presidency, President Biden pointed to Proterra and the money Democrats dumped into it, as key to the United States “owning the future.”

The move made Granholm rich. She held hundreds of thousands of shares in the EV company. A few months after the president’s speech, the secretary sold her stake for a cool $1.6 million dollars, citing an ethics agreement.

The timing couldn’t have been better. The company has now declared bankruptcy.

Granholm has not merely been accused of using her position for financial gain, she’s also been using her position as a cabinet official to campaign on behalf of Democrats, a clear violation of The Hatch Act.

The Hill reported in 2022 that “a government watchdog has found that Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm violated the Hatch Act after she made comments in support of the Democratic Party, but let her off with a warning because she had not received proper training.

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC), an independent government agency, dinged Granholm over comments she made during an interview with the magazine Marie Claire.”

‘The good news is that that marching and that voting gave Democrats a bare majority, but a majority, in the House, in the Senate,’ Granholm said during a live interview on Instagram, according to a letter sent to the complainant.

‘And again, I am using Democrats as a substitute for the policies that you believe in, the policies that you would like to see happen,’ Granholm continued.”

The OSC responded to the complaint in a typical Biden administration way: there are rules for Democrats and there are rules for everyone else. The agency said that Granholm’s comments did indeed violate the Hatch Act, but she would still not face charges.

The agency wrote, “Although OSC concluded Secretary Granholm violated the Hatch Act, the evidence gathered during our investigation does not support the conclusion that it was a knowing violation. Specifically, OSC learned that, before the interview, she had not received significant training about the Hatch Act’s use of official authority prohibition. But we understand that since the Marie Claire interview, Secretary Granholm has received comprehensive Hatch Act training covering, among other things, the use of official authority prohibition.

Accordingly, we are closing our file in this matter with the issuance of a warning letter to Secretary Granholm.”

Hawley has called for the secretary’s resignation.

Shooters Bar and Grill Cruise-In April 14
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Senate Votes to Strike Down Biden's Aggressive Vehicle Emissions Rule as Several Democrats Jump Ship

From The Western Journal
An embattled Biden administration vehicle emissions rule that has already drawn the ire of the courts has received a thumbs down from the Senate, too.

On Wednesday, the Senate voted 53-47 to strike down a rule that forces states to track vehicle emissions on parts of the federal highway system in their states and then set goals for those emissions, according to Politico.

Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Jon Tester of Montana and Sherrod Brown of Ohio joined Republicans, as did independent Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona.

“Few things are more frustrating in government than unelected bureaucrats asserting authority they don’t have and foisting federal mediocrity on the excellence of states,” resolution sponsor Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota said Wednesday, according to Fox News.

He said the resolution “overturns the Biden administration’s obviously illegal rule that requires state departments of transportation to measure CO2 tailpipe emissions then set declining targets for vehicles traveling on the highway systems of their respective states.”

“The Biden administration should have never introduced this rule. But now we, the policymaking branch of government, must end it,” he said.

The resolution next goes to the House, but President Joe Biden has already said, if it comes to his desk, he would veto it, according to Politico.

However, last month, U.S. District Court Judge James Wesley Hendrix, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump, ruled for states objecting to the rule, according to Fox News.

“A federal administrative agency cannot act without congressional authorization,” Hendrix wrote in his ruling, adding, “the Court concludes that the rule was unauthorized.”

He said that regardless of the intentions of the rule, the Biden administration went about it all wrong.

“If the people, through Congress, believe that the states should spend the time and money necessary to measure and report GHG emissions and set declining emission targets, they may do so by amending Section 150 or passing a new law,” he wrote, referring to the section of law amended by the Biden administration and using an acronym for greenhouse gases.

“But an agency cannot make this decision for the people,” he wrote.

“An agency can only do what the people authorize it to do, and the plain language of Section 150(c)(3) and its related statutory provisions demonstrate the [Department of Transportation] was not authorized to enact the 2023 Rule.”

“[T]he statutory context consistently instructs the Court to reject the DOT’s expansive interpretation. Thus, the Court concludes that the DOT’s GHG emission measure is unauthorized by the statute,” he wrote.

Colonial Chevrolet Cruise-In April 17
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Tesla's Internal Shake-Up

From 1440 daily Digest 4/16/24
Tesla is planning to lay off over 14,000 employees—more than 10% of its global workforce—in its first large-scale layoffs in over a year, according to an internal memo this week. The company's electric vehicle sales have begun to stagnate amid a decline in demand and increased competition from Chinese carmakers. Tesla's shares fell over 5% on the news.

CEO Elon Musk said the layoffs are part of cost-cutting measures as the company prepares for its next phase of growth. Also yesterday, two top executives at Tesla announced their departure: engineering executive Drew Baglino and policy and outreach executive Rohan Patel.

The shake-up comes after Tesla earlier this month posted its first year-over-year decline in quarterly sales since 2020. The report came after China’s BYD briefly overtook Tesla as the world's top seller of battery electric vehicles last year. In January, Musk said Tesla would soon release a cheaper, $25K model rumored to compete with BYD. That plan has now reportedly been tabled, with Musk prioritizing the debut of a robotaxi fleet in August.

Letter from Elon Musk to Tesla employees
Over the years, we have grown rapidly with multiple factories scaling around the globe. With this rapid growth there has been duplication of roles and job functions in certain areas. As we prepare the company for our next phase of growth, it is extremely important to look at every aspect of the company for cost reductions and increasing productivity.

As part of this effort, we have done a thorough review of the organization and made the difficult decision to reduce our headcount by more than 10% globally. There is nothing I hate more, but it must be done. This will enable us to be lean, innovative and hungry for the next growth phase cycle.

I would like to thank everyone who is departing Tesla for their hard work over the years. I’m deeply grateful for your many contributions to our mission and we wish you well in your future opportunities. It is very difficult to say goodbye.

For those remaining, I would like to thank you in advance for the difficult job that remains ahead. We are developing some of the most revolutionary technologies in auto, energy and artificial intelligence. As we prepare the company for the next phase of growth, your resolve will make a huge difference in getting us there.

Thanks,
Elon

MuscleCAR Club of Richmond Show April 20
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Maverick Jeeps

From Hemmings.

For years, the Jeep name was associated with military vehicles like the World War II-era Jeep MB. Afterwards, that legendary vehicle was replaced by the Jeep MC. The MC was in turn superseded by the MD that, in civilian form, became the CJ-5. Willys-Overland - renamed Willys Motor Company when it purchased by Kaiser in 1953 - produced thousands of military Jeeps during the Korean War and for a short time thereafter. Then, the military took a pause, and Willys didn’t build any military Jeeps for the U.S. during 1956.

This worried Willys management since military contracts were lucrative and, prior to 1956, military Jeeps were a big seller. Civilian Jeep sales, as well as passenger car sales, were not growing, which squeezed profit margins. New sales vice president Cruse Moss was ordered to get things righted. He put the spurs to Jeep’s retail network while also ordering Jeep product planners and stylists to come up with new ideas that could be developed quickly and cheaply as tooling money was scarce.

Under Styling Director Jim Angers, Jeep designers created several vehicles, including a new version of the prosaic two-wheel drive Jeep Station Wagon. Nicely trimmed and aimed at suburban families, the marketing staff decided to call it the Maverick Special. It was an easy choice; one of the most popular television shows at the time was “Maverick,” a tongue-in-cheek western starring James Garner that debuted in September 1957.

The new Jeep debuted as a 1958 model with an advertised price of $1,895. Basically, it was the existing Jeep Station Wagon that boasted striking two-tone paint (as seen in the included illustration), the bulk of which was separated by bright trim moldings. The paint scheme was said to be optional, but most - if not all - Mavericks were built this way. Chrome bumpers and left-side mirror added sparkle to the exterior, and a one-piece windshield replaced a two-pane unit.

Interiors featured contoured seats covered in a handsome vinyl-coated fabric claimed to be as durable and washable as pure vinyl, yet was completely breathable, allowing cooling air to reach driver and passenger backs. Stylish carpeting covered the passenger floor, while the cargo floor was covered in black Pompano carpet with jute padding for extra quietness. One source claims an AM radio was standard equipment, but sales flyers do not mention it, and I have a hard time believing Willys would be that generous.

Maverick’s base engine was the ‘High Torque Hurricane,’ a 134.2-cu.in. F-head four-cylinder based on Willys’ prewar passenger car engine. Rated at 75 hp, the engine was cheap to build and economical to drive but was under-powered for the era. Thankfully, Jeep’s Super Hurricane flathead six, boasting 226-cu.in. and 105 hp, was soon available. Overdrive was optional, and the only transmission offered to buyers was a column-shifted three-speed manual.

While a four-wheel drum brake system was retained, a coil spring front suspension was new and said to add durability. Also, standard equipment was four new ‘Captive Air’ wide whitewall tires. They allowed Willys to exclude a spare tire and increase cargo space since the tires could be driven up to 100 miles with a blow-out. A specially designed “inner spare” inside each tire - a forerunner of racing’s inner liner - meant the outer tire never went completely flat.

Offering the upgraded six-passenger wagon was a smart move by Willys, because station wagons were becoming hot sellers, the equivalent of today’s SUVs. Station wagons appealed to families needing more passenger and cargo room. Rambler and Ford wagons were tremendously popular because they seemed smart, and affordable. A stripped Ford two-door Ranch wagon cost $2,397, while a basic Rambler four-door Deluxe wagon was $2,370. Willys’s Jeep Maverick Special had a substantial price advantage. But alas, it proved a slow seller.

The Maverick Special was produced for 1958 and 1959, though a very similar model with unique “missile” side moldings continued through 1964. These later two-wheel drive wagons were simply called the Jeep Station Wagon.

Interesting - the Maverick Jeep was priced at $1895, the Ford Maverick car was priced at $1995 and the Ford Maverick truck was priced at $19,995 ~ Fred

CVMC Spring Show April 27
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The Briefs

Howard Vernon, 38, was working the drive-thru Easter morning when an customer came through his lane, ordering two sausage egg and cheese croissants, a sausage biscuit and hash browns around 9 a.m., the employee told Cleveland 19. The total came out to around $8, three dollars less than the normal cost due to the special running at the time. “He was like: ‘My order can’t be right it should be like $11,’ and I’m like trying to explain to him that we had a promotion going on and it’s cheaper, and he started cussing and getting all loud,” father-of-10 Vernon told the outlet. “I was like I don’t know what to tell you I don’t know why you want to pay more money,” he continued. “To know that somebody would do something like that just because I’m trying to give you a better deal and it flip out like that, it is scary,” Initially, the customer had sped off from the location in Willowick, but then pulled up parallel to the pick-up window minutes later while another car, driven by an older woman, was waiting for their food. While Vernon was helping another customer, the suspect, who is still at large, pulled a gun on the employee and threatened to kill him while using racial slurs, he told Cleveland 19. “At the end of the day, it was about some bread and sausage sandwiches at 9 o’clock in the morning on Easter and you’re that mad, you’d put a gun in somebody’s face?” Vernon questioned. The Willowick Police Department is still looking for the suspect, who drives a dark Honda vehicle.

On March 20, the Environmental Protection Agency hosted an event at the DC Armory in Washington wherein it announced the Biden administration’s insane and thoroughly unpopular plans to reduce carbon emissions from gas-powered cars by 55 percent by the year 2032. Getty Images photos and official EPA video of the event showed that the stage displayed several EVs from a wide range of automobile manufacturers, including Ford, Mercedes Benz, Chrysler and General Motors. Though a Tesla Cybertruck was included in the event, it was not given the same prominent place on stage as other companies’ vehicles — even though Tesla is the most visible EV company in the world. Indeed, not only was Tesla the one company featured in this event that solely manufactures EVs, but as of last year, it had sold more EVs than Ford, GM and Chrysler combined, according to The Street. Despite that, the relative newcomers to the EV market were prominently displayed on the stage while Tesla was relegated to the less-seen floor space. Why? Considering how much Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk has publicly criticized the Biden administration, what else could this be but a slight to Musk himself? But since Musk has aligned himself further and further away from the political left, he apparently must be punished for his wrongthink — at least in the minds of those running the show at the Biden White House.

New Yorkers will soon see self-driving cars snake their way through the city’s traffic-choked streets — though the vehicles won’t be driverless. Mayor Eric Adams signed off on allowing several companies to deploy the autonomous vehicles (AVs) and released requirements for companies to begin the testing phase Thursday. The controversial robotaxis, which have ignited an uproar among San Francisco residents over the safety hazards during its pilot rollout last year, will be overseen by the city’s Department of Transportation. Adams said the new autonomous vehicle program would be an example of “responsible innovation.” “This technology is coming whether we like it or not, so we’re going to make sure that we get it right,” Adams said in a statement. “If we do, our streets can be safer, and our air could be cleaner.” “Our streets are vibrant and energetic — and that’s a great thing, but it also means that we need to have strong guardrails and requirements in place on any sort of autonomous vehicles,” he added. The main requirement during the testing phase will be that all robotaxis have an actual human in the car to grab the wheel in case anything goes awry. These safety drivers will be required to submit to background checks as well as to complete “appropriate training on the vehicle systems they will be testing.”

A 47-year-old man was arrested in Parowan, Utah, on March 17 after multiple drivers reported him from I-15, KSL-TV reported. Callers said the man's pickup truck had "red and blue flashing lights and they were getting other vehicles to move out of their way," police said. What tipped them off? The pickup also had a construction company logo on the side. The suspect indicated he was only trying to get through traffic faster, not pull anyone over. He also tested positive for "cannabis, amphetamines and methamphetamine," and he had a small bag of white powder that he said he uses "to stay awake while driving." He was booked into the Iron County Jail.

A 23-year-old Frenchman will get to stay a little longer in Norway than he anticipated after racking up 25 speeding tickets in just 19 days, Yahoo! News reported. The Oslo district court called the speeder a "danger in traffic" and sentenced him to 24 days in prison, which was reduced to 21 days when he pleaded guilty. Most of the infractions were caught on fixed speed cameras, which the driver was unaware of. He was also relieved of his driver's license.

Mexican artist Chavis Marmol, 42, carved a giant head from stone, inspired by the carvings of the Olmec people, and then lowered it onto a used Tesla 3 using a crane, France24 reported. The art installation, in a vacant lot in Mexico City, was intended to "troll Elon Musk," said the artist. "Look what I do to your lousy car with this wonderful head. This is bigger than you and the rampant technologies." Tesla has recently announced a plan to build a factory in northern Mexico. "It's the wonderful thing about art, it allows you these atrocities," said Marmol.

When Daniel Allegretto Jr., 19, nearly struck a parked police car with his Honda Accord in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, on March 15, he set off a chase that ended with his arrest -- and not just for bad driving, WBRE-TV reported. Investigators found Allegretto, of Freeland, Pennsylvania, was allegedly carrying 2,200 individual doses of fentanyl, 250 grams of methamphetamine, illegal steroids, cash and materials used to process and package drugs. He was held on a $125,000 bail.

Racetrac gas station gets racier: A Florida Woman has begun serving a prison sentence for a recent naked rampage at a convenience store that included a masturbation session conducted in front of police, records show. Celia Barrett, 35, pleaded guilty earlier this month to a variety of criminal charges stemming from her unclothed antics at a RaceTrac convenience store in late-January. Barrett was sentenced to 15 months in state prison after copping to aggravated assault, a felony, and four misdemeanors, including exposure of sexual organs and disorderly intoxication. Following her sentencing, Barrett was transferred on March 20 from the Pinellas County jail to the custody of the Florida Department of Corrections. Al alleged by police, a drunken Barrett threatened workers at a RaceTrac in St. Petersburg with a sharp-edged vegetable peeler and destroyed merchandise. Also, “The defendant prior to being taken into custody began masturbating in front of deputies, while still inside of the [store],” a cop noted. In addition to the prison term, Barrett--who has previously served time for battery and marijuana possession--was ordered to pay fines, fees, and court costs totaling around $1100.

Volkswagen Australia cites data saying 90% of wildlife collisions in Australia involve some variety of kangaroo (yes, there's more than one kangaroo species). A 2018 story said the nationwide 'roo population had topped nearly 50 million animals, and as Aussie cities expand, the suburbs are moving further into kangaroo territory, increasing the number of annual incidents. Especially in rural areas, kangaroos will gather at the roadside starting around dusk to get to the water that pools by the roadway and the vegetation growing there because of that water; a single insurance firm, the National Roads and Motorists' Association, said it received 14,500 claims in 2018 just from car-kangaroo crashes. To reduce such events, Volkswagen Australia spent three years working on a project with its local ad agency DDB Sydney, kangaroo behavior specialists at the University of Melbourne, and wildlife organization WIRES to create a gadget that would protect drivers and animals: The RooBadge. Developed using the Amarok pickup, the RooBadge is a VW grille emblem with an embedded, directional loudspeaker. But this isn't the wind-powered deer whistle still sold in some U.S. stores, this is powered by an app built into the vehicle's infotainment system. Different kangaroo species react to different sounds, so the project is starting with the Eastern Grey Kangaroo. Developers trialed collages of sound first on 'roos acclimatized to humans, like those that hang around golf courses, then on wild kangaroos in the hinterlands, using remotely monitored Amaroks fitted with motion sensors, 360-degree cameras, and directional speakers. The composite sounds include noises made by predators like dingos, the foot thumps kangaroos use to warn another, and bird alarm calls. The directional speaker is powerful enough to project the noise down the road at a volume louder than an Amarok moving at 62 miles per hour, and at such a high frequency that humans can't hear it. Activation is automatic, the app using vehicle speed and vehicle GPS coordinates, plus GPS coordinates of known animal populations, to cue the speaker noises when appropriate. Using 'roo population data around the country, the plan is to create custom noises for each kind of kangaroo, like the Western Grey and the Red Kangaroo that often ends up in YouTube clips, leaving the app to decide which sounds are the best to play. There's also a reporting tool so organizations like Wires can update population locations and varieties. Having gained approval from the University of Melbourne's Office of Research Ethics and Integrity for stage four trials, the team will begin real-world testing using an Amarok at speed among wild populations. Assuming the fourth state of the trials process goes well, VW's working on a license-plate-sized RooBadge that could fit on any vehicle from any manufacturer.

In 1920, when the Volstead Act made getting a Friday-night buzz illegal, folks who blurred the line between entrepreneurs and criminals fought back by distilling bootleg liquor. Staying out of jail required keeping a low profile; moonshine reportedly got its name because it was usually made at night. The North Wilkesboro Speedway has found what could be a secret moonshine cave under its grandstands. The discovery wasn't entirely unexpected: Track officials claim rumors of a moonshine cave located somewhere on the property have been part of the local folklore for years. It's how the cave was discovered that took everyone by surprise. Staff noticed cracks in the concrete of Section N while cleaning and inspecting the grandstands in March 2024. They removed the seats and found a 700-square-foot cave. "We haven't found a still yet, but we've found a small cave and an interior wall that would have been the perfect location to not only make illegal liquor but to hide from the law as well. We don't know how people would have gotten in and out, but as we uncover more there's no telling what we might find," explained Steve Swift, the senior vice president of operations and development at Speedway Motorsports.

In the three years since New York City began installing curbside chargers for electric cars, demand for the spaces has boomed — both from EV owners looking for a place to plug in and from gas-engine drivers willing to risk a ticket in exchange for street parking. “We expected moderate demand,” with usage rates around 15%, said Roy Rada, project manager for e-mobility innovation at Consolidated Edison Inc. It’s been “exponentially higher,” he said. The 100 chargers are online 99.9% of the time with an average utilization rate of 72% in 2024, according to the New York City Department of Transportation. That’s an impressive feat, especially since vehicles with internal-combustion engines blocked access to the chargers 20% of the time during the program’s first 18 months.

Six-pack of identical Ford Pinto Wagons for sale, in case you were looking and all manuals, all wagons, all yellow. All six cars are 2-door wagons and all of them wear the same shade of 1970s pale yellow. Since the ad was posted to Facebook Marketplace it naturally comes with minimal description, leaving the reason for the hoarding a mystery. There's not even that many photos considering it's a half-dozen cars being offered. The seller states that the Pintos "all different years" and that they "just got half of them running." So really you'd be buying three operable Pinto Wagons and three project cars.

Lincoln police arrested one woman in Nebraska after they say she stole thousands of dollars of gas due to a glitch that put the pump into "demo" mode, allowing gas to be pumped for free. According to police, 45-year-old Dawn Thompson used a rewards card to swipe free gas from a Pump and Pantry for more than six months. KOLN-TV reported the woman used the trick more than 500 times and sometimes used the card multiple times during a single day. Police were notified of an incident at the gas station by Bosselman Enterprise’s loss prevention manager regarding a fuel scam, the outlet said. During the investigation, law enforcement found that somebody was exploiting a glitch in a recent software updated that enabled customer rewards cards to be managed at the pump. It was pushed out with a demo mode that could be activated by swiping a rewards card twice in succession. In demo mode, the pumps would dispense gas without customers entering a payment method. Thompson pumped 7,413.59 gallons of gas — totaling more than $27,800 — between November 2022 and June 2023, police say; they claim she also allowed another person to use her card for a fee. According to law enforcement, surveillance video and the use of her reward card information helped them identify Thompson. The exploit was patched in June of 2023 and Thompson reportedly sold the card soon after. It's unclear what value the card would have had, as investigators said it did not accumulate any reward points because it was never associated with real fuel purchases.

Apple to lay off 614 workers after nixing self-driving car project. The job cuts affect employees from Apple's offices in California and mark the first major round of layoffs for the tech giant postpandemic. It is unclear what projects the employees were working on. The news comes after Apple canceled a decadelong initiative in February to develop autonomous electric vehicles, seeking to instead pivot to working on artificial intelligence.

Driving gas prices up: Energy companies will need to pay 16.67% in federal royalty fees, up from 12.5%, for drilling on public lands, per final rules issued Friday by the US government. The new fee will last until August 2032. Other measures include requiring companies to pay $150K per lease on federal lands, up from $10K, which was established in 1960.

Edmunds reports that borrowing rates for new vehicles in the third quarter of 2023 hit an average of 7.4%, a figure not seen since 2007.

The owner of that infamous white Ford Bronco driven in the O.J. Simpson car chase on the 405 freeway has made a decision on what he wants to do with the car after the death of the ex-college football and NFL great. Simpson's former agent, Michael Gilbert, and two other people, friends of Al Cowlings, the man who drove the car during that legendary chase, have announced they intend to sell the vehicle. Simpson, shortly after being accused of murdering his ex-wife and her friend, hid in the backseat of the Bronco during a long chase with L.A. police that was televised live to the nation back in 1994. "Before O.J. passed, we had always thought this was going to be the year we were going to sell because it's the 30th anniversary," Gilbert told Darren Rovell. "Who knows if we are all going to be around for the 35th or the 40th?" Rovell reports that the latest offer for the Bronco stood around $750,000. The owners say they are looking for at least $1.5 million. The famous Bronco was not actually owned by Simpson originally, although he did own a white Bronco himself, one that was investigated at the alleged crime scene.

Repair Mistakes & Blunders

From Rock Auto
While in high school, I was looking for a car. My Dad told me about a '52 Chevy four door he had looked at that had a bad automatic transmission. Having attended a Driver/Mechanic course with the Army Cadets two summers earlier, I was confident in my ability to swap out the non-working automatic with a manual transmission. With the help of a couple of buddies, I rounded up parts and a FoxCraft floor shifter kit. Out came the automatic and in went the new transmission, clutch and floor shifter. Man this was going to be cool!

All seemed to be working fine, so we headed down to our favorite service station to show off our handiwork. We noticed a chattering noise but nothing seemed too bad. When we talked with our friendly mechanic and told him about the chattering, he asked about the pilot bearing. The pilot what? What's a pilot bearing?! Upon receiving the information on the importance of said bearing, what it does, and that automatic transmissions don't have them, we carefully drove back to my garage. Out came the transmission, a newly acquired pilot bearing was cautiously inserted, and finally the transmission was gingerly reinstalled. It worked really well after that! No chatter, a disaster averted, and I drove that car for several years until I traded it for an Austin Healey Sprite Mk II.

Dean in Florida

4th Annual Car & Truck Show at the Manchester Richmond Moose Family Center April 27
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Buttigieg Mocks Americans Who Don’t Want to Adopt Electric Cars

Website America's News Desk
Pete has been a "great" transportation secretary - we began with ships backed up in ports that couldn't unload their cargo leading to supply chain shortages, next were train derailments, then parts falling off airplanes and now we've had two ships hit two bridges - he's not finished - he wants you in an EV

In a recent Fox News interview, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg ridiculed individuals who are hesitant to embrace electric vehicles, drawing a comparison to those who once believed that landline phones would be the only means of communication in the 2000s.

During a recent interview on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom,” Buttigieg addressed the challenges facing the electric vehicle market.

Buttigieg confidently asserted that there is a strong demand for electric vehicles among consumers, while also downplaying Tesla’s recent decline in sales.

“EV sales are nowhere near what this president wanted or expected, yet the administration continues to shove them down consumers throats. Why?” Fox host John Roberts asked.

Buttigieg attempted to claim it was ‘clear’ consumers wanted electric cars, even though the numbers don’t seem to support such a conclusion.

“Let’s be clear that the automotive sector is moving toward EVs, and we can’t pretend otherwise. Sometimes when these debates happen, I feel like it’s the early 2000s and I’m talking to some people who think that we can just have landline phones forever.” he continued.

Hopewell Methodist Church Cars & Quilts Car Show April 27
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Behind EV Push, a Wealth Transfer From Red to Blue Regions

From The Epoch Times
Federal electric vehicle mandates are being criticized as ‘class warfare’ with far reaching implications for certain parts of America.

President Joe Biden’s new EV mandates will likely prove to be a sizable wealth transfer from rural red regions of America to urban blue sections, and to wealthy Democrats who reside in them, according to reports.

On March 20, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized its tailpipe emissions rules for the auto industry starting in 2027. These rules are the strictest in history and will effectively force carmakers to have one-third of new car sales be plug-in electric vehicles (EVs) by 2027 and more than two-thirds by 2032.

This represents a dramatic increase from current EV sales, which were about 8 percent of the new car market in 2023.

Climate activists cheered the EPA’s move, with the Environmental Defense Fund calling it “a day to celebrate American achievement.” But critics say that the measures will be particularly punitive for huge segments of the U.S. population who don’t want, can’t use, or can’t afford EVs. If carmakers go along with President Biden’s plan to shift their fleets to EVs, the cost of remaining gas-fired cars and trucks will likely escalate as demand dwarfs supply.

“This isn’t industrial policy,” Robert Bryce, author and energy analyst, told The Epoch Times. “In reality it’s a type of class warfare that will prevent low- and middle-income consumers from being able to afford new cars.”

And as many traditional car buyers struggle, the federal subsidies and incentives continue to flow, to the benefit of EV buyers.

According to an October 2023 report by the Texas Public Policy Foundation, as much as $48,000 of the cost of the average EV sold in the United States is paid, not by the owner, but in the form of “socialized costs” that are spread out among taxpayers and electricity consumers over a 10-year period.

These socialized costs come in the form of taxes, government subsidies, fuel economy credits paid by gas carmakers to EV manufacturers, and higher electricity bills as consumers absorb the capital costs required to expand the power grid and install new charging stations.

The report states that “the average model year 2021 EV would cost $48,698 more to own over a 10-year period without $22 billion in government favors given to EV manufacturers and owners.”

These dollars, which do not take into account the additional dollars that gas-car owners will likely pay for their vehicles as manufacturers are forced to make fewer of them, amount to a government-mandated wealth transfer to affluent EV owners, paid by those who often cannot afford to buy EVs.

The new EPA mandate is “aimed at accommodating a very narrow segment of the auto-buying public: wealthy, white Democrats who live in a handful of liberal communities,” Mr. Bryce said. “EV ownership is largely defined by class, ideology, and geography.”

In a February analysis of EV buyers, Mr. Bryce reported that 57 percent of them earn more than $100,000 annually, 75 percent are male, and 87 percent are white. In addition, EV buyers are overwhelmingly Democrats, with 71 percent of Republicans stating in a Gallup poll that they would not consider owning an electric vehicle.

A 2023 University of California Energy Institute report found “a strong and enduring correlation between political ideology and U.S. EV adoption.”

Looking at county-level data on new vehicle registrations between 2012 and 2022, the report stated that 50 percent of all new EVs were sold into the top 10 percent of most-Democrat counties, with 70 percent going to the top 25 percent most-Democrat counties, and 90 percent going to the top 50 percent most-Democrat counties.

Twenty counties bought 40 percent of all EVs sold in this period, the report states, and “most of these counties are urban, high-income, and in Democratic states.”

One-third of EV Buyers Live in California
Data from the Department of Energy supports this view. As of year-end 2022, California had 903,600 registered EVs in the state, or 37 percent of all EVs owned nationwide.

The next largest number of EV owners were in Florida, Texas, and Washington state, with 168,000, 149,000, and 104,100 EVs respectively, followed by New Jersey, New York, Georgia, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.

The states on this list are home to large cities and suburbs, which are the target market for EVs. This contrasts sharply with rural states like Wyoming and North Dakota, where 800 and 600 EV owners reside, respectively.

According to a report by the Committee to Unleash Prosperity, “if you count all the EVs in North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Mississippi, West Virginia, Alabama, Montana, and Idaho, they account for less than one percent of the total U.S. sales.”

Of the top 10 states in terms of EV per capita ownership, seven are “deep blue states,” the report notes.

“By contrast, the 10 states with the smallest market penetration for EVs were all red states,” Unleash Prosperity states.

“Ironically, Joe Biden is the worst thing that ever happened to this industry. EVs have become ‘Biden cars.’”

The Biden administration is not alone in attempting to force Americans to switch to electric cars. A number of blue states including California, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Washington are on track to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars and trucks by 2035, according to non profit group Coltura, which advocates for the switch from gasoline to electric cars.

The lack of interest in EVs among red states isn’t merely a political issue, however. There are practical reasons why people are unwilling to spend thousands of dollars more on electric cars. According to a November 2023 AAA survey, the primary reasons for people not to buy electric cars are a lack of charging stations, limited range, and time to charge the battery.

A recent Rasmussen poll found that 65 percent of Americans surveyed don’t think they’re likely to make an EV their next automobile purchase. Another poll of voters found that only 14 percent were strongly in favor of regulations to phase out gas-powered cars and trucks, while nearly 60 percent were against. Opinions split along party lines, with 53 of Democrats in favor of the EPA regulations and 76 percent of Republicans against, with 59 percent of independents also opposing.

The strongest support for EV mandates came from people earning more than $150,000 a year.

‘Policy Beyond Capability’
A number of industry groups, however, are less enthusiastic.

The Clean Freight Coalition, a trucking trade group that supports a transition away from fossil fuels, said that the timeline set by the new EPA rules was impossible to meet given current technology and infrastructure, and that the Biden administration’s EV plan would bring significant harm to commercial vehicle operators, the businesses they serve, and consumers.

Jim Mullen, Clean Freight Coalition executive director, told the Washington Examiner, “Today, these vehicles fail to meet the operational demands of many motor carrier operations, reduce the payload of trucks, and thereby require more trucks to haul the same amount of freight, and lack sufficient charging and alternative fueling infrastructure to support adoption.”

The American Trucking Association said that the targets set out in the EPA’s emissions regulations are “entirely unachievable,” citing similar reasons.

The reliably pro-Democrat United Auto Workers Union (UAW) initially opposed the EPA mandate, fearing lost jobs due to the fact that EVs require fewer American workers to assemble components that often originate in China and that many of the new EV assembly plants being built by carmakers are in non-union states like Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama.

The UAW came around to supporting the EV plan, however, after the EPA adjusted its regulations to slow the pace of the transition.

The Biden administration’s barrage of climate-related energy and automotive mandates, critics say, fall into a category of what a recent report by the Cato Institute calls “policy beyond capability.”

“The history of environmental regulation consists of ambitious unrealistic goals followed by missed deadlines and lack of enforcement,” the report states. It cites numerous examples, including a 1970 attempt in California to ban gas cars by 1975, and a 1970 EPA plan to cut auto emissions by imposing parking surcharges and reducing the number of parking spaces.

“Environmental policy has these characteristics because it has a large theological component,” more akin to religion than economics, Cato states. “Saving the planet is different from bargaining over the Library of Congress budget.”

Consumers appear to be overlooked in the process, but they’re making their voices heard by simply avoiding EVs.

In January, car rental company Hertz disclosed that it was selling off 20,000 Tesla EVs, or one-third of its electric fleet, after discovering that their customers didn’t want to drive them. Aside from lack of customer demand, Hertz pointed to the expense of repairs.

Hertz incurred a $245 million loss to unload the EVs and plans to “reinvest a portion of the proceeds from the sale of EVs into the purchase of internal combustion engine vehicles to meet customer demand,” the company stated.

“It’s truly stunning that the Biden EPA issued the EV mandate just five days after Hertz, the auto rental giant, ousted its CEO over that company’s costly EV debacle,” Mr. Bryce said.

“The company made a huge bet on Teslas, only to find that customers didn’t want to rent them.”

Richlands Cruise-in April 28
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Tesla Vehicle Sales Decline As EV Interest Cools

From AXIOS
Tesla's vehicle sales declined in the first quarter at a much faster pace than anticipated, as the automaker grapples with logistical challenges and softening interest in EVs.

Why it matters: As the world's largest maker of premium EVs, Tesla's performance is a close EV market barometer.

By the numbers: The automaker delivered 386,810 vehicles worldwide in the first quarter, down 8.5% from the same period a year earlier.

Analysts had expected deliveries of 443,000, according to Evercore ISI's Chris McNally.

Deliveries are a close approximation of sales.

It was the company's lowest quarterly sales since the third period of 2022.

The company also reported an unusually large gap between production and deliveries.

Tesla said it produced 433,371 units, down about 7,000 from a year earlier.

The impact: Disappointed investors drove down Tesla's stock by 5% in midafternoon trading.

Zoom in: CEO Elon Musk's company blamed the sales drop "partially due to the early phase of the production ramp of the updated Model 3 at our Fremont factory and factory shutdowns resulting from shipping diversions caused by the Red Sea conflict and an arson attack at Gigafactory Berlin."

Analysts say there's more to the story.

"Let's call this as it is: While we were anticipating a bad 1Q, this was an unmitigated disaster 1Q that is hard to explain away," Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives wrote today.

The company is facing "very soft" demand in China, while it also has little growth prospects on the horizon as the next-gen Model 2 vehicle won't arrive until at least 2025.

Zoom out: This is not just a Tesla problem.

Automakers — ranging from established giants to startups — are dealing with what Barclays analyst Dan Levy recently called a transition from "EV euphoria to EV winter."

EV startup Fisker is reportedly weighing a bankruptcy filing less than a year after fellow EV startup Lordstown Motors did the same. Lucid Group, another startup, has been scrambling to cut costs.

And Ford recently slashed production plans for the F-150 Lightning, which had been heralded as a leader in the EV revolution.

What's next: Tesla reports first-quarter earnings April 23.

Virginia NSRA Appreciation/Safety Day April 28
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GOP State AGs Push Supreme Court To Intervene In Hawaii’s Drastic Climate Case Against Energy Companies

From Daily Wire
A coalition of 20 Republican state attorneys general filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court this week, asking it to take up a major leftist climate case against energy companies that could have serious ramifications for the entire country.

The city of Honolulu claimed in a lawsuit that oil companies like Exxon and Chevron should pay billions of dollars because they were responsible for weather events caused by climate change, including sea level rise, heat waves, flooding, and global warming.

The oil companies initially appealed the ruling with the Hawaii Supreme Court, noting that federal law prevents states from shaping policies for all states, but Hawaii’s top court sided with the city of Honolulu.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall led the coalition in filing the amicus brief with support from Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming.

“If Hawaiians want to rely on solar power, I have no problem with that,” said Marshall. “But Honolulu cannot force its views onto Alabama—or any other State. Major decisions about our national energy policy must be made at the federal level, not dictated by one lawsuit brought by one city in its own courts.” He added, “It is especially hypocritical for Honolulu, which has reaped tremendous benefits from fossil fuels for travel and the tourism industry, to try to impose costs on the rest of the Nation, which also depends on energy to meet day-to-day needs.”

The amicus brief argues that cases involving interstate emissions must be brought under federal law, not state law.

“Otherwise, one State’s actions could violate the sovereignty of every other State to set its own energy and environmental goals,” Marshall’s office said in a statement. “The brief further argues that Hawaii’s lawsuit creates an interstate controversy, which must be resolved by the federal courts. The Supreme Court must intervene before a state judge in Hawaii has the chance to impose what would be a massive tax on the energy system.”

Puns

1. The fattest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from too much pi.

2. I thought I saw an eye-doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian

3. She was only a whiskey-maker, but he loved her still.

4. A rubber band pistol was confiscated from algebra class because it was a weapon of math disruption.

5. No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery.

6. A dog gave birth to puppies near the road and was cited for littering.

7. A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart.

8. Two silk worms had a race. They ended up in a tie.

9. A hole has been found in the nudist camp wall. The police are looking into it.

10. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

11. Atheism is a non-prophet organization.

12. Two hats were hanging on a rack in the hallway. One hat said to the other: 'You stay here; I'll go on a head.'

13. I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.

14. A sign on the lawn at a drug rehab center said: 'Keep off the Grass.'

15. The midget fortune-teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.

16. The soldier who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a seasoned veteran.

17. A backward poet writes inverse.

18. In a democracy it's your vote that counts. In feudalism it's your count that votes.

19. When cannibals ate a missionary, they got a taste of religion.

20. If you jumped off the bridge in Paris, you'd be in Seine.

21. A vulture boards an airplane, carrying two dead raccoons. The stewardess looks at him and says, 'I'm sorry, sir, only one carrion allowed per passenger.'

22. Two fish swim into a concrete wall. One turns to the other and says 'Dam!'

23. Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, so they lit a fire in the craft. Unsurprisingly it sank, proving once again that you can't have your kayak and heat it too.

24. Two hydrogen atoms meet. One says, 'I've lost my electron.' The other says 'Are you sure?' The first replies, 'Yes, I'm positive.'

25. Did you hear about the Buddhist who refused Novocain during a root canal? His goal: transcend dental medication.

26. There was the person who sent ten puns to friends, with the hope that at least one of the puns would make them laugh. No pun in ten did.

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