Safety First

Here is some sad news. Please if you're working on a car remember the following.

Always use jack stands, not just jacks.

When using jack stands use on a level, solid surface (no hills, no gravel/sand).

Certain dangerous jobs should not be tried by the amateur such as work on changing glass panes and removing the gas tank.

Read the safety section of your vehicle repair manual before undertaking a job for the first time or if it is the first time in a while.

SUV slips off jacks, kills man

By ANTHONY SIINO-Staff Intern Posted: 06/23/2011 01:10:59 AM PDT

The Chico Enterprise-Record

MINERAL — A Tehama County man died under the weight of his SUV while camping at Battle Creek Campground Friday.

Casey Ellsworth, Sr., 36, of Los Molinos, suffocated after his Mercury Mountaineer fell off its jacks while he was under it, said Sgt. Rod Daugherty of Tehama County Sheriff's Office. He was repairing the bearings and the inner seals of the rear wheels on a level shoulder of Highway 36 about a tenth of a mile from camp. He was a father to five children.

The vehicle's front wheels were chocked and it was raised on two jacks, one on the rear axle and the other near the rear bumper, Daugherty said. Somehow the 4,500-pound vehicle slipped off the supports.

"That's not something you come across too much," Daugherty said.

A passing motorist spotted his body and called the Sheriff's Office. No foul play is suspected.

Ellsworth was with his fiancé and her father before the accident, who helped him set up and secure the raised SUV, said Aaron Ellsworth of Paradise, his brother. Casey Ellsworth sent them into town to get parts and there was no reason for him to go back under the SUV without the parts.

"This whole past week has been a whole, total roller coaster for all of us," Aaron Ellsworth said.

His family is now struggling to find a way to handle the remains, as any Tehama County programs that could cover the costs only applied for Casey, not his family members footing the bill from Paradise.

"Even before this, we were all scraping bybarely," Aaron Ellsworth said.

A memorial fund to help pay for cremation has been set up at Sierra Central Credit Union by Leslee Libby, Casey Ellsworth's mother. The memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Magalia Pines Baptist Church. The fact Casey Ellsworth had no life insurance isn't helping the family, who didn't expect to cope with his loss any time soon.

"Most people prepare," Libby said. "I couldn't even prepare."


Fiery explosion during car repair burns three in Folsom

blindelof@sacbee.com (Bill Lindelof and Matt Kawahara)

The Sacramento Bee

Three people, including a 6-year-old child, were burned in Folsom Monday night when a fire exploded during the removal of an SUV's gas tank.

Firefighters were called to the 100 block of Briarcliff Drive shortly after 9 a.m. When they arrived, firefighters found a Dodge Ram sport utility vehicle was ablaze, a fence was burning and a tree was engulfed in flames.

One man had suffered moderate to severe burns to his arms and chest, a second man had minor burns to his face and hands and the little boy had moderate to severe burns. All the victims were transported to the hospital.

Folsom police determined that the two men had been removing a gas take from the SUV when the fire ignited. The exact cause of the fire and resulting explosion has not been determined.

VW opens Tennessee plant with new focus on quality

From the LA Times

Jerry Hirsch

May 28, 2011

Reporting from Chattanooga, Tenn.-- Volkswagen, whose cars have been known to have nagging reliability problems, is hoping Passat sedans rolling out of its new $$1-billion factory here won't need a lift from the city's historical hallmark — tow trucks.

Nearly a century after claiming its fame as the birthplace of the wrecker, Chattanooga is again in the automotive spotlight as VW looks to regain traction in the U.S.

"We know what we have to do here, " said Hans-Herbert Jagla, who heads human resources at the factory. "Everyone should know that the customer is expecting a perfect car."

VW, the world's third-largest automaker, is looking to triple U.S. sales over the next seven years. But to reach that goal, it needs to overcome a troubled history.

Its previous effort to manufacture cars in the U.S. was an admitted debacle. Quality problems and slumping sales prompted VW to close its first U.S. factory in Westmoreland County, Pa., more than two decades ago.

It was a huge setback for the company that brought the iconic Beetle across the Atlantic, making VW America's first import darling.

VW has recovered some ground in recent years. The brand sold 256,830 vehicles last year, a 20% gain from 2009, according to Autodata Corp., but that was about half of what it sold during the boom years of the 1970s. Sales are up 17% through the first four months of this year.

VW continues to be plagued by quality problems, which is why Jagla said the automaker has been stressing high production standards to the 1,700 workers at the new factory. They are critical to the automaker's growth plan, he said.

The VW nameplate ranked 29th out of 34 brands in the J.D. Power and Associates 2011 reliability rankings of cars after three years of ownership. It ranked 31st out of 33 brands on the Power's 2010 initial quality survey of vehicles 3 months old.

"We have really tried to draw our lessons from the Westmoreland experience," said Frank Fischer, chief executive ofVolkswagen Group of America, Chattanooga Operations.

Built on 1,400-acre complex east of town at the site of a former explosives factory, the plant opened this week with a different management structure than VW's previous factory.

Managers of the failed Pennsylvania factory closeted themselves in Detroit and were rarely present at the plant. This time, VW pulled in more than 200 company experts from operations around the world, including its high-end Audi and Bentley divisions, to work at the factory.

The Passat built in Chattanooga was designed specifically for the U.S. market and won't be sold in Europe. It has an additional 3 inches of rear seat room. It also comes standard with options Americans expect such Bluetooth and dual-zone climate control. The base European engine produces 122 horsepower, contrasted with the U.S. model, which starts at 170 horsepower, providing the type of merging and freeway acceleration American drivers often equate with a sense of safety and security.

The car, equipped with a manual transmission, will start at about $$20,000. Automatic transmission models and versions with larger engines, including a turbocharged diesel with expected highway fuel economy of 43 mpg and a driving range of 800 miles, will start at about $$26,000.

VW needs the vehicle to be a success. An earlier Passat was once the automaker's star performer, selling more than 96,000 vehicles in 2002 and accounting for more than 28% of the company's sales volume, according to Edmunds.com. Sales dwindled to less than 12,500 last year.

Initial plans call for the factory to produce about 56,000 vehicles during its first year of operation, although VW officials say the number could change.

Growing volume will be key for Volkswagen to meet its target of U.S. sales — including its Audi division — of more than 1 million vehicles per year by 2018. It wants to reach a U.S. market share of 6% in that time frame. Currently, the company, including Audi, has annual sales of 360,179, accounting for 3% of U.S. auto sales.

"This is VW's first run at making cars tailored to the American tastes and at parity in price and size with the Toyota Camry andHonda Accord, the cars that dominate that segment." said Bill Visnic, an analyst with auto information company Edmunds.com.

Early reviews of the Passat credit VW for increasing the size and reducing the price from previous versions. Visnic, however, said its conservative styling won't draw much attention.

"The Passat is not a breakout car for VW and somewhere along the line they are going to need some breakout products if they are going to reach those sales goals," he said.

VW sees building cars in the U.S. as an important strategy. The new factory has the capacity to produce 150,000 vehicles a year and there's plenty of room to expand at the sprawling site.

"Localization reduces vulnerability of extended supply chains, and being closer to the consumer allows for a faster response to trends and demands," said Efraim Levy, a Standard & Poor's equity analyst.

It also limits exposure to currency exchange rate swings.

The heavy reliance on parts imported from Europe and unfavorable exchange rates contributed to the previous factory's demise, Fischer said. Now, about 85% of the content of the American Passat will come from NAFTA countries, which eliminates much of he currency risk, he said.

The plant may also benefit from its location along the southern tier of a corridor known as auto alley for its concentration of car factories. It has good highway connections to a Mercedes-Benz plant in Alabama and a BMW factory in South Carolina. Fischer said the German automakers tend to share suppliers, including a company that stamps sheet steel into car body panels.

VW officials also won't have to go far to be reminded about improving the quality its cars. A few miles from the factory is the International Towing & Recovery Hall of Fame, where a display pays homage to Ernest Holmes Sr., the inventor of the tow truck.

"An auto plant is the holy grail of economic development," said Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield. "This is a wave that will carry us forward for a decade."

jerry.hirsch@latimes.com

Copyright Los Angeles Times 2011
Powered by LSN, Inc.

Story posted 2011.05.27 at 04:03 PM PDT

Paul Newman's Volkswagen Beetle

Paul Newman's Volkswagen Beetle once rocked the motor racing world

Beneath the modest exterior of the 'Newman Bug' beat a 351-cubic-inch heart — the late actor, a racing buff, had the 1963 VW customized as a 'sleeper' racecar. Now it can be yours … for $250,000.

By John Scheibe at the Los Angeles Times
5:30 PM PDT, May 1, 2011

The red 1963 Volkswagen convertible in the "For Sale" ad appears to be a cherry version of the automaker's popular Beetle. It has chrome bumpers, a black cloth top and a bright finish to its paint. The rims are shiny and the tires barely worn.

The trim little California car looks ready to drive to the beach or cruise down the Sunset Strip on a Saturday night. But buckle your seatbelt before you get to the asking price — $250,000.

Obviously, this is no ordinary Volkswagen. Indeed, it has an extraordinary history. In car talk circles, it's known as the Newman Bug, the VW that the late Paul Newman had customized into a "sleeper" racecar in the late 1960s.

It's an Indy Bug with a 300-horsepower engine, racing suspension and five-speed gearbox. On the outside, it looks like Herbie the "Love Bug." But try to beat it off the line and it will blow off your door handles.

Newman bought the car in 1963, and later he and the convertible appeared in some magazine advertisements for Volkswagen. In 1969, he asked Jerry Eisert, a renowned Indy Car builder in Costa Mesa, to make some modifications on the car, which included installing a bigger motor.

Eisert took out the backseat and replaced the stock VW motor with a Ford 351-cubic-inch engine — the equivalent of putting a rocket on a kid's red wagon. After Eisert's work was complete, Hollywood gossip had Newman racing the car on Mulholland Drive with some of his industry pals and also competing against all comers at local racetracks. Cool Hand Bug.

Newman's passion for racing blossomed after he made the 1969 film "Winning," and the experience of learning how to drive for that movie turned into a second career. For the next 15 years, he was a successful driver on the Sports Car Club of America circuit and, driving a Porsche, finished second at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1979.

Newman once told ESPN, "It actually took me three years of rearranging my schedule before I could find time to get my license and everything. After that, I never did a film between April and September or October. [Racing] was all I did."

In preparation for "Winning," Newman and the film's co-star, Robert Wagner, took lessons at Bob Bondurant's driving school at Riverside Raceway. Soon after, Bondurant moved the school to Ontario Motor Speedway, and it was there one night in 1969 that Newman met Sam Contino, head of the automotive technology department at Chaffey College in Alta Loma.

Contino and his students were testing a car they had built — a Trans-American Sedan Series Camaro — as part of their "race car preparation technology" class, a three-unit course.

According to Contino, that night John DeLorean brought a new 1969 Camaro to the track for Bondurant, and Newman, who was on the speedway's board of directors, was putting a Formula Four open-wheel racer through its paces.

When Newman saw Contino and the students, he introduced himself.

"He looked at our Trans-Am Camaro and asked if he could drive it," Contino, 82, recently recalled. "After he drove it, he said, 'I'd like to show you one of my toys.'"

That's when the Chaffey class first saw the Newman Bug.

Newman told Bondurant that he was thinking of giving up the Volkswagen, but didn't know what to do with it. Bondurant suggested that he donate it to Chaffey's auto tech department.

"He said, 'It's yours if you want it,'" Contino said. "I had gotten some Chaffey jackets from the football team for our students to wear and we gave him a jacket." From then on, Newman was a sponsor of the Chaffey program.

The class added the Newman Bug to its collection of cars, which included a Trans-Am Boss 302 Mustang and two Ramblers that had been part of the James Garner Racing Team. The class turned one of the Ramblers into a Baja car for competition in Mexico road races and the other into a dragster.

They painted the VW the Chaffey school colors, white with red trim, and put on four Keystone chrome rims. Although they prepared the car for racing, it was used mostly as a training aid to show workmanship and construction.

In 1986, Contino retired from teaching at Chaffey and the school presented him the Newman Bug as a retirement gift. Contino and his son, Tom, did a complete restoration of the car in April 2009 and had plans to show it to Newman. But the actor died before the car was finished.

"The car is a tribute to Paul Newman for all that he did for us," Sam Contino said.

The Newman Bug was recently shown at the Long Beach Grand Prix, where it drew sizable crowds. "People look at it from a distance and think it's just a Volkswagen," Contino said, "but then they get closer and see the big Ford motor where the back seat should be, and it blows their minds."

Mostly, though, the car sits in Tom Contino's garage in Hesperia, awaiting a new owner.

"Sometimes I drive it around the block," Tom Contino said, "and my wife will take it out for ice cream."

Sam Contino said he hopes a car collector will buy it. Or, if a museum was interested, "I would be willing to give it up."

Additional photos and information about the car are available on the websites oldbug.com and californiacar.com

john.scheibe@latimes.com

Copyright © 2011, Los Angeles Times

VW Bulli Bus Concept

This little number is a concept car with microbus genealogy. Would you drive it?

Volkswagen Reveals Redesigned Beetle

Volkswagen Reveals Redesigned Beetle

By Jonathan Welsh

Volkswagen AG unveiled its redesigned Beetle (call it the new New Beetle) today, and as expected it looks a bit sportier and more aggressive than the previous model, which has been around since the 1998 model year.

But really, it isn’t much of a departure from its predecessor, and after the hype-heavy buildup that started last year, the new car is a letdown. Why not just say you’re going to make minor tweaks to the car’s appearance, revamp the suspension and just roll with it. I was halfway expecting the return of, well, maybe the Karmann Ghia.  

But a car with the Beetle’s signature shape is limited in how sporty and aggressive an image it can project. Even the original Beetle, the people’s car, was largely regarded as an automotive parody in the U.S. And for the last 13 years the New Beetle has been a caricature of that parody. It looks like the original but has none of the mechanical features that largely necessitated the old Beetle’s shape like a rear-mounted engine and cargo trunk up front.

The 2012 Beetle come with a 2.5-liter five cylinder gasoline engine, a 2-liter diesel or a 2-liter turbocharged gas engine. Transmission choices include a 5-speed manual, 6-speed automatic or 6-speed dual-clutch version, depending on the model.

The long-running New Beetle was more of a Rabbit or Jetta in disguise — a retro gimmick that sacrificed function in the name of form. A lack of useable interior space was a longtime problem with the Beetle, especially for anyone who had to ride in the cramped back seat. While never a huge seller, the Beetle has put up fairly reliable numbers for VW. The company sold 55,842 Beetles in 1998, its first year on the market. Last year it sold 16,537.  

In November Volkswagen used “The Oprah Winfrey Show” as a platform for launching the redesigned Beetle roughly a year before it was to go on sale. Winfrey showed a silhouette of the 2012 Beetle, and then said she’d give one to each member of the studio audience — 275 cars in all.