Nutson's Automotive News Digest - Week of May 4-10, 2015

By Larry Nutson
Senior Editor and Bureau Chief
Chicago Bureau
The Auto Channel

Auto Central Chicago IL, May 10, 2015 Every Sunday, along with senior editors Steve Purdy and Thom Cannell from The Auto Channel Michigan Bureau I give you our "take" on this past week's automotive news in easy to digest nuggets.

If you are a car nut like we all are here at The Auto Channel, you can easily wish to "catch up" on these stories as well as the past 20 year's 1,899,123 automotive news, automotive stories, articles, reviews, archived news, video, audio, rants and raves just search The Auto Channel's Automotive News Archive.

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Nutson's Weekly Automotive News Digest-May 4-10, 2015

* The First Lady of Auto Racing has taken the checkered flag. The auto industry has lost a legendary figure with the passing of Denise McCluggage. She was a racer, writer and great friend to a broad range of people both inside the industry and outside as well. Denise began writing for Competition Press (later to become AutoWeek) in the 1950s when she was racing with and writing about some of the greatest names in the sport - Fangio, Moss, Revson, Gregory, Hill. She was friend to all. She was gracious, smart and a pioneer woman in sports journalism. Denise McCluggage was 88 and still active in racing and writing. Visit her Website at: www.denisemccluggage.com

* FCA announced this week plans for the 2016 Dodge Viper ACR (American Club Racer), a street-legal race car powered by an 8.4-liter V10 rated at 645 horsepower and 600 lb.-ft. of torque. The ACR will have carbon ceramic brakes, suspension upgrades, unique tires, special aerodynamics and everything needed to “arm our enthusiasts . . . to dominate road courses around the world.” according to Dodge and SRT brands boss Tim Kuniskis. Production of the hand built Viper ACR supercar begins at the Detroit Conner Avenue plant this fall. Pricing has not been announced.

* Daimler rolled out their truck of the future in Nevada, a driverless big rig that negotiated some very tight turns - but with a driver. The world’s first autonomous 18-wheeler, the Freightliner of the future will be tested on Nevada roads. Company officials say it could be years before a fully self-driving truck would be used on roadways. Now driving on Nevada roads is also a new form of gambling.

* The 27-acre, $100 million Porsche Experience Center opened this week in Atlanta representing the company’s largest investment in its history outside its home country of Germany. The campus is comprised of Porsche’s U.S. headquarters, a museum, restaurant and a driving course. The 1.6-mile track includes a handling course, off-road course, dynamics area, low-friction handling circuit and a “kick plate” which is a moving piece of road that can kick the car’s tail out for drivers to learn about the rear-engined Porsche’s unique handling challenges.

* Toyota has selected the first 8 dealers that will sell the new Mirai hydrogen fuel-cell car due in the U.S. next year. Half of these dealers are in the San Francisco area and the other half are around L.A. where the few hydrogen fueling stations are available. The $57,500 car is expected to have a range of around 435 miles with a 114-kW fuel cell and electric motor. The car is on sale now in Japan.

* Despite waning electric car sales both GM and Tesla continue to invest in the future of that technology. GM confirmed plans to go ahead with the new Bolt electric compact car next year while announcing their confidence and commitment to electric cars generally. Tesla just purchased a Michigan tooling company near Grand Rapids, MI to make tools and dies for the company’s next model, a mid-size crossover.

* So, is a car running on compressed air the solution to our urban auto emissions problems? Maybe. Ethan Tucker and Pat Boone took their “Zero Pollution Motors” project to the Shark Tank TV show where investors are asked to fund outside-the-box projects. This one is all about a tiny, 600-pound city car that is powered by cold air compressed to 300 times atmospheric pressure. The air is then heated (that must take some fuel, mustn’t it?) and fed into a piston engine. The air tanks can be refilled in about 3 minutes for about $3, they claim. Stay tuned.

* The RM Sotheby’s Andrews Collection sale last week set some records and saw some bargains as well. A remarkable variety of classics and very special cars were all offered without reserve resulting in 100% sales totaling $53.9 million. Top seller was a 1962 Ferrari 400 Superamerica SWB Carriolet by Pininfarina that sold for an astounding $7,645,000. Setting a new record for a Packard sold at auction was a 1934 Packard Twelve Individual Custom Stationary Coupe by Dietrich that brought $4,180,000. Bargain of the day may have been a 1941 Packard 200 Sedan that had a bit part in “The Godfather” movie. It sold for $27,500, but it needs some work. See full results at: www.rmauctions.com.

* Team Penske continues to be king. Juan Pablo Montoya ran a 226.772 mph in the first day of teasing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Teammate Helio Castroneves was second with a 226.468.

* And, "The Captain", Roger Penske, is exploring opening an auto racing museum in downtown Detroit, where he is already a booster of major projects. He already has a small Penske Racing Museum with race cars, trophies and memorabilia, located in an automotive dealership mall in Phoenix, Arizona.

* The Tire Rack One Lap of America presented by Grassroots Motorsports Magazine is the modern day version of the Cannonball Sea to Shining Sea Memorial Trophy Dash of 1970. Some sixty vehicles manned by a driver and co-driver are competing, with vehicles as varied as a ’77 Ford Country Squire and Porsche Carrera GT. This year’s One Lap began at the Tire Rack’s South Bend headquarters on May 2nd. After stopping at various motorsports venues in Iowa, Colorado, Texas and Oklahoma, and the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky the One Lap ends on May 9 back in South Bend.