Car News

If you are interested in classic cars from 1898 and 1938 on place you should consider visiting is the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum.

Work began on the museum three years ago when Cerny, 53, acquired from the Bentley Land Trust a 100-acre plot adjacent to the Wedgewood Resort grounds. Part of the that land is being used for a wildlife sanctuary and an interpretive center. Cerny also saw it as the perfect place to create an automotive museum and satisfy his lifelong passion of early automotive history. The 30,000-square-foot museum is now part of the Fountainhead Hotels at Wedgewood Resort.

“I’m very interested in early automotive engineering. Everybody had their own ideas of how the automobile was going to emerge and what was going to be the most successful method of propulsion, tires, battery technologies, ignition technologies. The competition between steam cars, electric cars and internal combustion cars was very undecided from 1890s to 1910 as to which technology would emerge,” he said. “And this happened to be the period of Fairbanks’ founding so the emergence of the automobile here very early on is exciting. There were two steam cars here within the first year of an automobile coming to Fairbanks,” Cerny said. “So we had both steam and internal combustion cars in the first year of the automobile in Fairbanks. It’s a wonderful story.”

The first car off the boat in Fairbanks was a 1908 50 HP Pope Toledo, soon followed by two White Steamer Model G Custom Touring cars, he said.

The museum does contain a 1907 White Steamer, an “identical” model to the 1908 that was one of the earliest cars in Fairbanks, though Cerny said he will likely replace it with the originals, which he’s located in Stockton, Cali.

“This (current owner) was here with his family in the 1970s and spotted them in the banks of the Chena (River),” Cerny said. “He pulled them out and took them back to California where he’s restored one and the other is just for parts. While he acknowledges they would be nice to be back in Fairbanks, he’s not willing to sell one.”

via newsminer.com • Blast from the past.

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If you are a Kill Bill fan you probably remember 1969 DeTomaso Mangusta that David Carridean drove. It is sad to think he was in over 100 movies and this is what people will remember.

A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy, Michael Turner, confirmed the death of the 72-year-old actor. He said the embassy was informed by Thai authorities that Carradine died either late Wednesday or early Thursday, but he could not provide further details out of consideration for his family.

Actor David Carradine, star of the 1970s TV series “Kung Fu” who also had a wide-ranging career in the movies, has been found dead in the Thai capital, Bangkok. A news report said he was found hanged in his hotel room and was believed to have committed suicide.

The Web site of the Thai newspaper The Nation cited unidentified police sources as saying Carradine was found Thursday hanged in his luxury hotel room.

It said Carradine was in Bangkok to shoot a movie and had been staying at the hotel since Tuesday.

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Although some holdouts regard the garage merely as a dumping ground for garden tools, bikes and seasonal holiday items, Moe’s dream garage is an escapist’s vehicular hangout.

The garage is “where you can admire and tinker with your most prized possessions, decorate with ‘Smokey and the Bandit’ posters and neon beer signs, and hang out with your buddies,” he says. “It is your trophy case, your workshop and your clubhouse.”

A native of Madison, Wis., and a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Moe embarked on a career in advertising in San Francisco, experience that serves him well in his new endeavor.

When Moe and his wife, Mia, moved to Boulder about six years ago, the idea for Dreamgarage was germinating.

“I’m a car buff who’s always

This converted warehouse garage in Colorado captures a classic era in American car culture. A rare 1957 Corvette is part of the owner’s collection. (dreamgarage.com)

lusted after European and classic cars from afar,” he says, “although I’m without the resources to be a car collector.”

The Web entrepreneur also fancies himself an architecture buff.

“I’m not a gear head,” Moe adds. “I like the architectural aspects of garages and classic cars.”

Perusing home magazines such as Architectural Digest ignited a spark for Moe.

“I looked at all these amazing homes and wished they would show photos of the garages, but they didn’t. I knew I couldn’t be the only one who wondered what kind of cars the owners of these homes had. I began to imagine a magazine like Architectural Digest meets Motor Trend with a dash of Forbes.”

via Putting the “ahh” in garage – The Denver Post.

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Penske will purchase the soon-to-be-orphaned brand for a price tag in the $100 million to $200 million range, according to Bloomberg. The bulk of that modest sum is tied to the brand itself, the dealer network, and other small interests. In a press release, GM said Penske’s purchase will save more than 350 dealerships and 13,000 jobs at Saturn retailers, but made no mention of a manufacturing component.

It’s doubtful that the sale includes anything substantial from the manufacturing side–meaning that Penske will own the brand, but the company will need to outsource manufacturing of the vehicles. General Motors will continue to supply Saturn with its current lineup–the Aura sedan, Outlook SUV, and VUE crossover–through the 2011 model year. (Renault Samsung Motors Company may take on the manufacturing contract afterward.) The Saturn Sky roadster is not included in the carryover cars that Penske will receive in the sale; the Delaware plant that builds the two-seater will close this summer.

via GM Sells Saturn; Penske Becomes A Virtual Automaker – The Car Connection.

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