Automotive News :: August

Auto museum takes different approach to visitors

August 12, 2007

Filed under: Etc.

Every museum has to try new promotions and gimmicks to keep patrons coming through the turnstyle, and automotive shrines are no different. Traveling shows, special events featuring a particular brand or model, or hands-on events have worked, but the A.A.C.A. Museum in Hershey, Pa has taken a creative approach to increasing attendance.

The A.A.C.A has over $10 million worth vintage cars, and adult males comprise a large percentage of visitors. To draw a more diverse demographic, the museum has launched a successful campaign to get women and children in the doors. One promotion invited Girl Scouts to camp overnight at the museum, while learning how to perform maintenance on cars. The A.A.C.A. also hosted clinics on automotive detailing, which is a big hit with owners of vintage vehicles who often spend big dollars getting their classics prepped before car shows. Another unique event brought 350 visitors to the roof of the museum to watch “Madman Muntz: American Maverick” being projected onto the side of a building while hot dogs and popcorn were being served.

We like car museums as much as the next auto-obsessed blogger, and the A.A.C.A. has some great ideas to increase foot traffic. Now to get the kids over to Hershey so they can learn how to change the oil.

[Source: NY Times]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Create Instant Buzz

“Chelsea tractors” face daily $50 charge in London

Filed under: SUVs, Government/Legal, Green

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-chelsea_hundleyaug11,1,5531900.story

Ken Livingston, London’s mayor, says he’s has had enough of what he calls, “Chelsea tractors.” That’s what we Yanks call an SUV, and Livingston thinks its time their owners pay for the damage he says they’re causing to the environment. Chelsea, by the way, is a rather tony neighborhood of London known for extravagant living including large SUVs.

“The highest CO2-emitting cars — like some of the so-called Chelsea tractors, high-powered sports cars and luxury executive cars — can produce twice as much carbon dioxide as the kind of car driven by the average Londoner,” the Livingston said in a story by The Chicago Tribune.

The plan proposed by London’s controversial mayor is to charge owners of these less-than-thrifty vehicles $50 a day to drive them within London’s congestion zone. Already all drivers in that area pay a $16-per-day fee, but residents living in the zone get a 90% discount. But SUV drivers would not be given any discount and would have to pay the full $50 fee, regardless.

The original $16 fee has cut London traffic by 20% and emissions by 15%, officials say. The newly proposed fee might be enough to reduce pollution even further. The Tribune’s story quotes one SUV driver who said a $50 fee would be enough for him to move his SUV to his rural Scottish estate and drive a more economical car while staying at his Chelsea residence.

[Source: The Chicago Tribune]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Buy any word or phrase on this site and thousands of others using Phrase Links™

The Bourne Ultimatum: Product placement done right

Filed under: SUVs, Etc., Volkswagen

We were well aware of Volkswagen’s placement in The Bourne Ultimatum thanks to press releases out of Wolfsburg that prepared us for an epic car chase involving a Touareg 2. When an automaker brags about its product placement, we usually start worrying that the movie will be overrun with subliminal adverts. For instance, before Michael Bay went shopping for actors at General Motors, there was the all-GM highway scene in Matrix Reloaded. The heavy-handedness of such product placement that GM seems to favor can instantly take a moviegoer out of the moment, so we were justifiably nervous to see the VW Touareg 2 make its big screen debut.

I’ve just returned from seeing The Bourne Ultimatum and can report that Volkswagen’s product placement was very understated and tastefully done. The climactic car chase involving the Touareg 2 was incredible to watch (and sounded even better), but the fact you’re watching a VW is hardly noticed since a fender bender early on completely rips off the Touareg’s grille, taking the VW emblem with it. Likewise, Jason Bourne’s world isn’t populated entirely by late model VW, Audi and Lamborgini vehicles. A last-gen Lincoln Navigator figures prominently, as does a Chevy Impala cop car and many older Chrysler 300Ms.

There were two other vehicles in the movie that VW no doubt paid to have placed. One is a European spec Golf GT Sport briefly driven by Julia Stiles’ character, and the other a previous-gen Audi A6. Both are onscreen for a short time only, and the fact the A6 is not the current generation model makes its placement even less noticeable.

While most marketers can’t argue with the effectiveness of GM’s overwhelming product placement in Transformers, regardless of how it negatively affected the viewing experience, we felt VW deserved an extra mention for its welcomed restraint in The Bourne Ultimatum.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Blog advertising

Would the driver of the giant wiener please move your buns?

Filed under: Etc., Government/Legal

Chicago loves its hot dogs, unless of course they’re illegally parked. Then they’re getting a ticket just like every other fast food-shaped vehicle breaking the law.

On Thursday, the Wienermobile was caught in a no-parking zone on Michigan Avenue and promptly ticketed by one of Chicago’s finest. The 27-foot-long, iconic frank-on-wheels’ driver, however, returned to the vehicle just in time to save it from the city’s tow truck.

Sydney Lindner, a spokesperson for Kraft, told the Associated Press, illegal parking is against company policy, “even if you’re driving a company vehicle that’s shaped like a giant hot dog.”

It’s too bad all the other weenies on the road don’t follow proper driving etiquette.

[Source: AP via Forbes]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Create Instant Buzz

VIDEO: Chrysler might want to reconsider that Chery deal

Filed under: Euro, Safety, Videos, Chery

Chrysler might want to take another look at its deal with China’s Chery Motors to build small cars for it after another video of a European crash test has popped up on YouTube. Russian car magazine AutoRevu had a Chery Amulet sedan crash-tested in accordance with the EuroNCAP standards. After going through the frontal offset crash, the car appears to have done even worse than the Brilliance BS6, which recently earned a one-star rating. The dummy in the Amulet had to be removed in pieces, and the magazine, AvtoRevu, is now calling for the car to be pulled from the market. Check out the video after the jump.

[Sources: Detroit News, YouTube, AutoRevu]

Continue reading VIDEO: Chrysler might want to reconsider that Chery deal

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Click here to advertise on the Worlds largest Blog Advertising Network

Frankfurt Preview: Renault Clio Estate

Filed under: Frankfurt Auto Show, Wagons/Estates, Euro, Renault

Click image for gallery

When Renault unveiled the 3-door Clio Grand Tour concept at the last Geneva motor show, the car was openly said to be a preview of a future Renault model. That future model will be shown in Frankfurt, and it is the Clio Estate (Clio Sport Tourer in the UK). The production car grows an extra set of doors to maximize utility and is very conventional looking. Renault has released next to nothing in the way of details, so it looks like we’re going to have to wait until closer to the show to learn more. What we can say is that the buffet table that is Europe’s compact station wagon market just got one plate heavier.

[Source: Renault]

Gallery: Renault Clio Estate