The new Driving America Exhibit is ONLY 5 days away from opening at the Henry Ford Museum! This remarkable mix of hundreds of historically significant vehicles, artifacts, digital media, interactive play and personal accounts, makes this exhibit like no other exhibit!
Texaco Station hands-on activity - DA
Driving America will offer a brand-new opportunity for kids to pretend they’re auto mechanics. And what better place for this to occur than inside the service bay of the Texaco station—a space that’s been closed to the public since this historic building was brought to Henry Ford Museum in 1987?
Inside this newly-opened space, kids will be able to change tires and mufflers, check fluids and filters, and use a creeper to glide under a ¾-scale, 1960s-era car. Our Education team has made sure that these activities are safe, easy to understand, and age-appropriate.
But the curators got a different assignment: create the atmosphere of an auto garage from the 1960s era using real artifacts. We are, after all, a history museum. We pride ourselves on authenticity. And we wanted to include real objects that adults could relate to and talk about with kids who had never heard of things like rust-proofing.
But how to go about creating that atmosphere?
We looked at old pictures of service bay interiors (there weren’t many). We shared our memories (or those of our husbands or fathers) of old auto garage interiors. We considered what was available from our own collection and what could be acquired through outside sources. (The designation “NOS” on eBay turned out to be a goldmine to the world of “new old stock” auto accessories.)
Just furnishing the space as a look-in would have been easy, but the ultimate challenge was that people would be entering this space, potentially touching and interacting with these items. So we determined that some things would be placed low and would invite touching (like the hubcaps), while rarer items, like the license plates, would be placed higher up.
It’s sometimes hard for us literal-minded curators to think about how to furnish a space that’s “just pretend”…but that’s what we tried to do here.
Do you have any memories of old full-service stations like our Texaco one, or remember hearing details of them from your parents or grandparents? Share them in the comments section below – and be sure to check out the Texaco Service Bay when “Driving America” opens this Sunday, January 29!
As read on: http://blog.thehenryford.org/2012/01/fitting-out-the-texaco-service-bay-in-driving-america/
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
“Fitting out” the Texaco service bay in Driving America
Monday, January 23, 2012
The NEW 2013 DODGE DART
It's been a full generation in car years since Dodge offered a compact sedan and even longer since the brand offered a truly competitive model in the segment. Considering that sedans represent about 85 percent of all retail compact-car purchases, the gap in Chrysler's lineup has been particularly glaring, the five-door hatchback Caliber notwithstanding.
All of that changes this spring, with the debut of the 2013 Dodge Dart, which had its coming-out party at the Detroit auto show.
The Dart is based on the Alfa Romeo Giulietta from Chrysler parent company Fiat, which is already winning praise in Europe for its sleek design and sporty driving character. The Dart loses none of the good stuff while gaining buff Dodge sheetmetal that takes full advantage of the car's proportions.
Most prominent is the car's face, which combines a floating Dodge crosshair grille in a full-width mask fitted with an active shutter system that closes at speed to reduce aerodynamic drag. Subtle Coke-bottle sports-car toning carries through the side panels, while an unmistakable Dodge wraparound 152-LED tail-lamp treatment completes the look.
Interior appointments pick up on the theme, including ambient lighting, an available seven-inch reconfigurable gauge cluster and optional light pipes surrounding the floating instrument panel and 8.4-inch touch-screen media center.
All Dart models benefit from taut Euro-tuned underpinnings, relying on high-strength steel for more than two-thirds of the structure.
The front-drive Dart will be offered with three four-cylinder engines: a 160-hp, 145-lb-ft 2.0-liter; a 160-hp, 184-lb-ft turbo 1.4-liter; and a 184-hp, 171-lb-ft 2.4-liter-the latter two with Fiat's MultiAir variable intake and combustion timing. Three six-speed transmissions will be available: a dual-clutch gearbox, an automatic and a manual. The manual will be offered with all three engines, while the automatic will be limited to the 2.0-liter and the 2.4-liter. The dual-clutch will be paired exclusively with the 1.4-liter engine.
As Read on : http://www.autoweek.com/article/20120108/DETROIT/120109891#ixzz1kJF6XhRN
Friday, January 20, 2012
Nissan Leaf batteries seek second life as home storage
Perhaps you'd be more willing to buy an electric car if you knew that you could sell those pricey batteries down the road.
Nissan and electric power company ABB yesterday announced a partnership to test the technical and commercial feasibility of repurposing used EV batteries for energy storage on the grid and in homes. ABB will work with a joint venture called 4R Energy (for reuse, refabricate, resell, recycle) created by Nissan North America and industrial conglomerate Suminoto to research secondary uses of EV batteries.
The partnership intends to make a prototype stationary lithium ion battery system with at least 50 kilowatt hours of stored energy, which is enough to supply 15 average homes for two hours.
Batteries are the most expensive component of an electric vehicle, costing several thousand dollars depending on the size. After 10 years of driving, automakers expect they will have about 70 percent of their original capacity, which will lower a car's range.
But the batteries are still workable for many energy storage applications, such as home batteries or buffering the distribution grid. Lithium ion batteries are well suited for delivering bursts of power on the grid for minutes or hours. That means they could be used to create a steady flow of power to consumers as more variable wind and solar power comes onto the grid, said Jochen Kreusel, global head of ABB's smart grid program.
ABB is already working with GM on a similar project to repurpose Chevy Volt batteries for energy storage.
In addition to the technical challenge of repackaging used batteries, the partnership will seek to answer whether the end stationary storage product is commercially viable. In the past few years, utilities in the U.S. have started to experiment with neighborhood energy storage systems to provide backup for a group of homes and relieve pressure on the grid during peak times.
As read on: http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57361715-76/nissan-leaf-batteries-seek-second-life-as-home-storage/
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Monday, January 16, 2012
Auto dealers gearing up for tremendous year
“The sky's the limit.”
That's how Jim Bechtell, owner of the Somerset Buick/GMC dealership, sums up his outlook for the upcoming year. With the 2012 North American International Auto Show in full swing this week, Bechtell and other auto dealers around southeast Michigan are eager to capitalize on the success the industry enjoyed in 2011.
“General Motors for Buick and GMC, they've got a nice little niche with the premium vehicle market,” Bechtell said. “They're not luxury cars like Cadillac, but they're not Chevys either. The price point is right in the sweet spot for these world-class cars.”
He then pointed to the all-new Verano and the launch of the Encore as examples of how General Motors is gearing up for the year.
“It's all about the product,” Bechtell said. “We can now offer vehicles that get 32 mpg or 36 mpg and you don't have to feel like you're crammed inside. They've got capacity and they offer great performance.”
Dick Scott, owner of Dick Scott Dodge in Plymouth, shares the enthusiasm.
“We've got great products to start with,” he said Friday. “We've got the 2013 Dart coming in June — it's just a phenomenal car. The banks are really concentrating on auto loans, there are strides in the economy and it's an election year, which is always good for retail.”
He estimates a 15- to 20-percent increase in sales across the board.
“We had a great 2011,” he said. “We finished December with a flurry and everything is pointed in the right direction, which is good for the entire economy.”
Mike Schrieber, general manager of Bill Brown Ford in Livonia, said the newly-designed 2013 Escape and Fusion are sure to capture the public's attention.
“Bill Brown Ford is in a unique position,” he said. “We sell more Escapes and Fusions than any dealer in the United States. We'll be the ones who get the inventory, especially in the beginning ,when they're hard to get.”
At the same time, Schrieber said leasing deals on 2012 Fusions and Escapes have been sweetened to move the inventory.
“It really is all about the customer,” he said.
Roy Williams, sales manager at Avis Ford in Southfield, adds the stylishly revamped 2013 Taurus to his list of hot-selling products for the coming year.
“We've got quite a bit of momentum going right now, and to add to that momentum we've got the new Fusion, the new Escape and the new Taurus,” Williams said. “Anyone heading down to the auto show will get a chance to see just how great these cars look.”
Williams added that Ford plans to continue with its aggressive incentive programs to keep people heading into the showrooms.
“Ford is committed to staying aggressive,” he said. “We are always striving to being the best.”
Scott LaRiche, vice president of Lou LaRiche Chevrolet in Plymouth Township, expects the public to be pleasantly surprised by the number of new vehicles being introduced at this year's car show, not to mention the quality.
“I think the number one thing in 2012 is every manufacturer across the globe has excellent products that people can see at the auto show,” he said. “I spoke to some of the manufacturers at the show and they're anticipating 14.2 million to 15 million in car sales across the globe this year. That's a nice uptick from last year's number, which I think was around 13.5 million.”
Along with better cars, LaRiche said many of the GM dealerships are getting face-lifts to offer nicer showrooms and customer lounges. He also touted the 2013 Malibu that's expected to arrive in his showroom in the next several weeks.
“They took it to a whole new level,” LaRiche said. “They're taking cues from the Camaro and Corvette in terms of styling — and it gets up to 38 mpg on the highway. For a mid-sized vehicle, that's incredible.”
As read on:http://www.hometownlife.com/article/20120115/NEWS02/201150343/Auto-dealers-gearing-up-tremendous-year?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Royal%20Oak|p
