Meredith Hirt
HST 344-1 Heitmann
1/25/12

My Auto-Biography

Inside my car is my favorite place to be.
I love driving. But I’m also very fond of sleeping and showering and eating but my bed, my bathroom and my kitchen are not my favorite places. There’s more to it than just the placement of my hand on the wheel and my foot on the gas.
A lot of it has to do with being in control. I wouldn’t call myself a controlling person; I am a person who likes to be in control. The difference, though seemingly subtle, has to do with the influence I have on other people. I will not try to control you. You make your own decisions. I just have to be in control of myself and the situation that I am in. If you’re involved in that situation, then, yes, you may feel the force of the control I’m exerting. I’m not trying to pull you along; but if you jumped in the river knowing you wanted to go upstream but you’re not strong enough to swim against the current, that’s your problem.
In my car – Caliente, Cal for short – I am completely in control. I turn the wheel.
I am also in control of my environment. NO eating in my car. NO ONE who is not related to me drives my car. (I don’t share well. Any of my friends will attest to this. Maybe it’s because I’m the youngest child. Maybe it’s because I’m naturally a brat. Either way, Caliente is mine and you are not sitting in the driver’s seat.) NO sitting on my hood. You better not slam the damn door if you know what’s good for you. My car, my rules.
And then there’s the independence. The fact that, given enough road and enough gas, I can go anywhere I want to, all on my own. I don’t need a passenger. Sirius radio keeps me company just fine. As long as the asphalt treats me well, I’ll respect it. It’s a mutual agreement that works out much better than most of my human-to-human relationships. Analyze that how you may.
My car is my place. I can sing too loudly. I can pick my nose. I can scroll through the seven colors of ambiance lighting to pick the one that best matches my outfit. And you know what? Cal won’t judge me. You’d think that a relationship with a car would be strictly physical (I wash him, I “feed” him, he lets me sit on his lap), but my attachment runs much deeper than that. Caliente isn’t just some guy who touches me and asks for nothing in return. Contrarily, he isn’t obliquely needy in a way I can’t or won’t satisfy. When he needs something, he is able to tell me through a single illuminated icon. I provide. He shuts up. No argument, no hurt feelings.
When I’m driving, I feel like I’m part of something bigger than myself. I was on the highway recently, at night, with no one ahead of me in sight. As I descended a hill, I looked in my rear view mirror. And behind me, following the guidance of my taillights was a team of cars. It seemed, for a second, not just that I was my own leader, but capable of leading this fleet of others to whatever surely incredible destination awaited us. And I could do it because I was in my favorite place.
My relationship with my car may be abnormal in the eyes of some. I may appear, regardless of my denial of it, to be a complete control freak. However, others’ judgment doesn’t matter to me. Because Cal doesn’t care.

I have a 2001 Pontiac Grand Am and the car has recently had the Trac Off light coming on, then it started sputtering and running rough, then the car has recently started stalling. Well, yesterday it stalled on the highway and would not start back although it sounded like it wanted to.

I was immediately thinking it was the Fuel Pump. So, I get out and tap the gas tank underneath with a rubber hammer as my wife sit in the car to crank it. The Grand Am immediately started. I had to do this same procedure 4 times to get the Car back home.

I read on other sites where the traction light will come on when there is an evaporate leak in the fueling system somewhere. This is to keep your car from damaging other components and to let you know to get it checked out. The code set by the Check Engine was a P0172 I believe which was the car running too rich. I also read to make sure that it was not the Fuel Pressure Regulator or even the Fuel Pump Relay. Well, I deducted that it must be the Fuel Pump as it was making a loud growling sound instead of the usual hum when the key was turned to on.

I replaced the Fuel Pump and it now runs like a gem. I hope this helps some that are having the same problem. There are several things to check when your car won't start though. If you are not sure, don't throw parts at it, take it to a mechanic that is skilled in diagnosing issues with no start.

There is another issue GM vehicles have with the Security system. If your Security light is coming on, you can reset the system by turning the key to RUN for 10 minutes and your security light will flash and it should then start.

Golden Dream Rolls Royce with Hemmy - by Ivan Mitev Photography

I stumbled upon this ostentatious golden beauty tonight and had to put it up on art car central. Not only is it a Rolls-Royce covered in gold but its got a Hemi engine of epic proportions. This vintage 1970 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow had an "ordinary" 6.75-liter V8 swapped out for a 592 Hemi, complete with dual-stage nitrous system for a reported output of over 1,000 horsepower. The chrome engine that pops out of the hood might not be the Queens car since it take away from the usually-dominant classic grille, but the hand stitched leather-covered roll cage is both classy and safe at high speeds.

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This is a Car Driving Tip I received in an email and I am passing it on to see if anyone else has tried this. I have not tried this yet, but will as soon as I am in another hard rain situation.......PLEASE USE THIS TIP WITH CAUTION----

Driving in the rain -- this may save your life
GOOD VISION IN A DOWNPOUR

How to achieve good vision while driving during a heavy downpour.

We are not sure why it is so effective; just try this method when it rains heavily. This method was told by a Police friend who had experienced and
confirmed it. It is useful....even driving
at night.

Most of the motorists would turn on HIGH or FASTEST SPEED of the wipers during heavy downpour, yet the visibility in front of the windshield is still bad......

In the event you face such a situation, just try your SUN GLASSES (any model will do), and miracle! All of a sudden, your visibility in front of your windshield is perfectly clear, as if there is no rain. PLEASE USE CAUTION as some Sun Glasses may be too dark to see at night---shooters glasses may work best as they are not too dark, but just knock the glare down.

Make sure you always have a pair of SUN GLASSES in your car, as you are not only helping yourself to drive safely with good vision, but also might save your friend's life by giving him this idea..

Try it yourself and share it with your friends! Amazing, you still
see the drops on the windshield, but not the sheet of rain falling.

You can see where the rain bounces off the road. It works to eliminate the "blindness" from passing semi's spraying you too.

Or the "kickup" if you are following a semi or car in the rain. They ought to teach that little tip in driver's training. It really does work..

Another GREAT Driving Warning comes out of this story...
A 36 year old female had an accident several weeks ago and totaled her car. A resident of Kilgore , Texas she was traveling between Gladewater
& Kilgore. It was raining, though not excessively, when her car suddenly began to hydro-plane and literally flew through the air. She was not seriously injured but very stunned at the sudden occurrence!

When she explained to the highway patrolman what had happened he told her something that every driver should know -NEVER DRIVE IN THE RAIN WITH YOUR CRUISE CONTROL ON. She thought she was being cautious by setting the cruise control and maintaining a safe consistent speed in the rain. But the highway patrolman told her that if the cruise control is on when your car begins to hydro-plane and your tires lose contact with the pavement, your car will accelerate to a higher rate
of speed making you take off like an airplane. She told the patrolman that was exactly what had occurred.

The patrolman said this warning should be listed, on the driver's seat sun-visor - NEVER USE THE CRUISE CONTROL WHEN THE PAVEMENT IS WET OR ICY, along with the airbag warning. We tell our teenagers to set the cruise control and drive a safe speed - but we don't tell them to use the cruise control only when the pavement is dry.

The only person the accident victim found, who knew this (besides the patrolman), was a man who had a similar accident, totaled his car and sustained severe injuries.

NOTE: Some vehicles (like the Toyota Sienna Limited XLE) will not allow you to set the cruise control when the windshield wipers are on.

I think I found one the biggest pink colored freighter ships on earth called the "Contship Germany" owned by The CONTI-Group, one of the world's leading managing owners of container vessels and tankers. That's a whole lot of pink paint if you ask me but I think its just a starting point for what could be a beautiful art ship. They probably should call on Emily Duffy creator of the Vain Van Art Car about putting on the finishing touches on this transatlantic beauty and then reposting it here on art car central.

Pink Contship Germany Art Ship - via

Contship Germany "Pink Lady" - painting - via

Pink Contship Germany Art Ship - via

Pink Contship Germany Art Ship - via

Pink Contship Germany Art Ship

Harvey Firestone









The "Millionaires Club" out fishing
























Race Driver Ab Jenkins and Harvey Firestone on a Firestone equipped tractor










Firestone, Harvey Samuel (1868-1938), established the Firestone Tire & Rubber Company (now Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc.) in Akron, Ohio, in 1900. Emerging as of the leading manufacturers of car and truck tires after 1906, Firestone's firm played a key role in putting America on wheels. As a supporter of the "Good Roads Movement" and the transcontinental Lincoln Highway, Firestone was known as an independent competitive businessman, who cut prices whenever possible and who shunned industry agreements. Serving as president of his company from 1903 to 1926, and chairman of the board of directors until his death on Feb. 7, 1938, he is remembered not only for his executive abilities, but also as a philanthropist whose gift made possible the Firestone Library at Princeton University.
After starting out as a bookkeeper and patent medicine salesman, in 1895 young Firestone became employed at his uncle's Columbus Buggy Company. Later he was employed as a manager at the Consolidated Rubber Tire Company, a leading manufacturer of carriage tires. Buggy tires were made of solid rubber, but after starting his own company and faced with the opportunity of supplying automobile tires to Henry Ford beginning 1906, he quickly gained expertise in the design and manufacture of pneumatic tires. Firestone's keen interest in technical progress resulted in several improvements, especially in the area of truck tires. The demonstration of the superiority of Firestone pneumatic tires over solid rubber tires during the 1919 transcontinental military truck convoy convincingly showed that trucks could transport goods cheaply and with flexibility over long distances. Later, in 1931, Firestone became the first to market a practical air-filled tire for farm machinery.
In 1926, Firestone, troubled by trade restrictions on the importation of rubber from British colonies, purchased a plantation in Liberia to produce rubber. In 1926, he signed an agreement with the Liberian government to lease 1 million acres (400,000 hectares) of land for the development of rubber plantations. He also made large loans to Liberia and built for it a new and improved harbor. Firestone also led in investigating the rubber resources of the Philippines and South America, and he encouraged American investment in rubber-growing countries. That interest led Firestone to also promote a search for alternative sources for natural rubber in the United States, primarily in Florida.
Firestone's relationship with Henry Ford and the Ford Motor Company extended beyond one focused on business matters. Along with Thomas Edison and Ford, Firestone was a member of the so-called "Millionaires" Club, a group that frequently went on highly publicized camping trips between 1918 and 1924. Later, Firestone's Ohio boyhood home would be moved to Ford's Greenfield Village museum, and Henry Ford's grandson would marry Harvey Firestone's granddaughter. Thus, an agreement to supply tires for the Ford Model T at the beginning of the automobile age ultimately blossomed into the forging of long-standing family ties.
John A. Heitmann
University of Dayton

An American Love and a Motorcycle, an ‘Auto’ Biography by Ryan Burg.

The 1982 Kawasaki 440ltd, was my project and although similar to the 1987 Porsche 924s project I share with my father, only the motorcycle was a love affair. These vehicles have helped build my relationships with many people, my parents, myself, and an unnamed woman. As cheesy as that sounds, you don’t know yourself that well until you spend some hours saddled over a machine with nothing but the sound of wind and the subtle, but ever constant, don’t die mentality. Similarly, sharing that love for fear with a woman is something I think every man should experience, that is having her on your back and that occasional chill that rattles your spine as she grips harder with her own don’t die mentality, while you lean into a turn and accelerate out of it. Needless to say, some of the best moments I have had were on that bike
As an exuberant freshman at the University of Dayton, I often found my free time browsing the motorcycle classifieds on craigslist. I did the research and quoted the insurance; I knew my financial situation and I knew it was tight. “Eight hundred dollars, not a penny more” I said to myself. This purchase was premeditated, having already taken the 2-3 hour ordeal to acquire my class M permit, I was ready. Then finally I found a bike that was listed for a grand that I really liked. This was after riding bikes of all different shapes and sizes from all corners of Dayton. I rode the bike, told the guy I liked it and offered him “Eight hundred dollars, not a penny more”. He said no. I packed up my old truck (1991 GMC sierra rust bucket) got in, put the crank window down, and said “Let me rephrase that. Do you have the title and is there a notary around here?” “Yesir” he replied. “Forty twenty dollar bills” I said while holding the cash in my hand. He liked that, so I kept my promise, and didn’t spend a penny more.
That was until insurance, tires, etc. but those expenses were cost of ownership, and came in over a few months so they were manageable. Here is the best part: I had that bike in the bed of my truck with the truck cap over top of it, and it sat in bed of my truck until I took it back to Pittsburgh to my parents. My Mom was far from happy with my newest surprise, but I didn’t care. I was young and I had my own motorcycle. My name was on the title, mine. My Dad had that I’m going to act like I’m mad look but as soon as he helped me get it out of my truck he was on it and up the road he went, possibly forgetting how loud a motorcycle is at full throttle as I heard him downshift once he was around the corner, out of sight. He also had a motorcycle while he was a young man, and he couldn’t hide his smirk as he pulled back in the driveway. I drove the bike to work daily and took it and the unnamed woman for many rides that will never be forgotten, and right now I know more about the smirk he was wearing. The rides around my hometown on hot summer days in nothing more than shorts, a tee shirt, and that woman are something I like to consider the American dream: A first love, you can decide if it is the woman or the bike.
The thing about young men is they turn into old men, but many still have that American dream going on strong. I have met many riders including complete strangers while taking cover underneath an overpass during a torrential downpour on the freeway. It is often that you find the attitude of any biker is just that, it’s not if you will crash it is when. I know people who have crashed their motorcycles, but I have been lucky enough to say I have not, yet. There have been close calls in my life, some that changed me at my core by scaring me within inches of my life. I pulled out and saw the gap I had knowing my bike it was plenty fast to get me into traffic, but the light sand gravel on the road left me sliding into the second lane almost dumping me and my bike under a car only managing to save myself and drive away. I remember that day more clearly than almost any other day in my life. Second only to a ride home from work more recently where I came upon a man sitting on the side of the road holding his brain in with a stack of paper towels, that image clarified the officer a block before saying: “You’re not ready to see it” as I passed slowly around the corner into the mess of motorcycle parts scattered on the road. I don’t know if he lived or died.
The bike I bought looked a whole lot different than it does pictured above, but I had access to a full body shop and a mentor who enjoyed sharing the trade. So I tore the tins off the bike and beat them back into shape, sanded, primed, painted, and clear coated all the black you see. It also used to have a small windshield and drag bars that did nothing for protection and looked outdated. I put almost 5,000 miles on that bike and it would barely make it to triple digit speeds, but it loved windy roads, and I like to think it loved me as much as I loved it. I sold it for $850 to an international visitor who wanted to ride it to California three years later, because if I wasn’t ready to take the 30 year old bike to CA, I was willing to let it go without me. This motorcycle story is over, but that “American dream” mentioned earlier isn’t just owning a motorcycle or finding someone, it’s both.

Massive Armored Graffiti Art Truck by Mr Cartoon - Art Car Central

This Armored Art Truck was created by artist Mr Cartoon to promote the 2009 film, "Armored", starring the likes of Jean Reno, Laurence Fishburne and Matt Dillon, Mr. Cartoon and SA Studios created a one-of-a-kind armored truck in Cartoon’s signature Angeleno style. The only other armored art car vehicle I've seen so far was one covered in pennies I wrote about here on Art Car Central.

Mark Machado, aka Mr. Cartoon is a Mexican American tattoo and graffiti artist based in Los Angeles, California. At age of eight, Mr. Cartoon realized his passion for art and then went on to his first paying art gig at age twelve. He grew up in Harbor area of Los Angeles County were he begun began airbrushing t-shirts and Lowrider cars before adopting the legendary "Fineline Style" tattoo art. 

Massive Armored Graffiti Art Truck by Mr Cartoon - Art Car Central

Massive Armored Graffiti Art Truck by Mr Cartoon - Art Car Central

Massive Armored Graffiti Art Truck by Mr Cartoon - Art Car Central

Massive Armored Graffiti Art Truck by Mr Cartoon - Art Car Central

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Our good friends at C.B. Design have worked closely with us to design and fabricate a Deluxe Braid Roller. Whether you are braiding a new track or maintaining an existing braided track, the SCC Deluxe Braid Roller is specifically designed for the job at hand (bad pun...). CNC machined from high-quality aluminum, it features a durable roller with a special tapered center "rib" which rides in the slot and a knurled handle for a comfortable, secure grip. For more information, please visit the Slot Car Corner or Slot Car Corner Canada website.

A new Racer Porsche 935J is coming.
RCR62 - 935J - IMSA Road America 1981 - M. Denarvaez

This is a MUST read for ALL GPS Owners! I heard of this happening at a local football game, criminals are getting smart.

We all rely on our GPS directions to get to certain locations. What is the first thing you do with your GPS? If you are like most, you program your home address so you can find the closest route home from wherever you are. Well, you may want to re-think this, as at the football game, a GPS was stolen off the dash of a car along with the garage door opener. You can see where this is going....yes, they used the GPS to go straight to the home of the football fan, then gained entrance to the home with the garage door opener. They parked their car inside the garage where they were unnoticed and knew how long it would be before the football game would be over.

If I can give one piece of advice, program a gas station or local store into your GPS that will get you close to home. DO NOT PROGRAM YOUR HOME ADRRESS IN YOUR GPS!!! Use the link below this post that says "email this" and send it to ALL YOUR FRIENDS!

Today in the NewYork Times there was an interesting article entitled "Collision in the Making Between Self-Driving Cars and How the World Works." (1/24/2012, p. B6). Google has developed a small fleet of self-driving vehicles, and the article deals with the kind of changes that would be necessary if these cars became adopted on a large scale. A conference took place recently at Santa Clara Law School on this topic related to technology and society.

Google's Sabastian Thrun has claimed that the autonomous car project has resulted in 200,000 miles of safe transport, and the promise is one where some 33,000+ lives per year will be saved. Google is pushing for states to approve the use of these systems as early as 2013 or 2014, with the completion of limited roads for their use within 20 years.

So will this mark the beginning of the end of the joy of driving? Will driving no longer result in self-realization, autonomy, and freedom, as movements are increasingly "programmed." Chcuk Berry sang songs of the exhileration of driving and driving for driving sake, like in "No Particular Place to Go." Will our journeys be charted in Garmin-like fashion, with little reason to turn off the main highways on to the blue and black by-ways?

Burning Man Mutant Vehicle Fish - via

Long time ago I did a piece about the bass art car.
So today Art Car Central proudly brings you 20 of the fishiest art cars known to humanity. This fish art car collection spans the gamut from street legal art cars, burning man mutant vehicles, classics and one very literal fish car from Africa, enjoy.

Fish Art Car Via

Burning Man Mutant Vehicle Fish - via

Sashimi Tabernacle Choir Art Car Central - via

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Burning Man Mutant Vehicle Fish - via

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Burning Man Mutant Vehicle Fish - via

Tom Kenedy Fish Art Car - via

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Burning Man Mutant Vehicle Fish - via

Fish Art Car by Tyler Runyan

Burning Man Mutant Vehicle Fish - via

Fish Art Bike - via

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Photos of the new Slot It cars for 2012.