JustBritish

A bunch of U.K. enthusiasts are attempting to break the 102-year-old land speed record with a steam-powered car. The three-ton vehicle, described as a giant kettle on top of a camping stove, has almost two miles of tubes inside its carbon-fiber-composite/aluminum frame. The team is expecting the 25-foot-long car to reach 200 mph during its record attempt at Bonneville Speed Week in September.

The car — can we call it that? — takes eight minutes to get going, but has only enough fuel, air and water for a three-minute run. The water boils at 482°F due to the fact that there’s 40 bar water pressure inside the boilers. It’s then super-heated to 750°F, or "dry" steam, which passes through heavily lagged pipes and two industrial steam valves before ending up in a two-stage turbine. Outsize Goodyear tires and brake pads slow the vehicle down, and there’s a parachute system that opens up behind in case the braking system fails.

There are 12 boilers inside the car, which from the front resembles the love child of a Fifties UFO and a Roomba. These boilers heat up the 37 gallons of distilled water needed to push the vehicle to its top speed. Onboard tanks containing Liquid Petroleum Gas fire up the burners that heat the boilers, producing three megawatts of heat. That’s enough power to make 9,000 cups of tea!

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The number of cars built in Britain slumped 60% last month as manufacturers slammed the brakes on output. Just 65,647 cars and vans rolled off production lines compared with nearly 110,000 in February 2008, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

This is the biggest fall since 1970 and the fifth month in a row that output levels have been in reverse. The grim figures were released 24 hours after the industry scrapped the British International Motor Show due to take place in London next year.

SMMT chief Paul Everitt said canceling the show was a tough decision but stressed it would be revived in future. “The global credit crunch has placed the industry under unique pressure and created a level of uncertainty that deters manufacturers from committing to large-scale international events.” In January, Business Secretary Lord Mandelson announced a £1.3billion package of support for the car industry.

But manufacturers have been pressing for more help from Government to stimulate demand. In particular they would like to see the introduction of a “banger bonus” which would give drivers an incentive to ditch older, high-polluting motors for new models. Without this they fear it may be so long before sales pick up that thousands more jobs will be lost.

Earlier this month, Toyota’s 4,500 UK workers agreed a 10% pay cut, expected to last a year, as an alternative to redundancies. The firm has already halted production for an extra two weeks due to the lack of buyers. Honda has taken even more drastic action mothballing its Swindon factory until June. 60% fewer cars were built in Britain in February.

The Mirror News

Popularity: 20% [?]

The opening round of the Dunlop/Gambia MSA British Historic Rally Championship has attracted a sensational 83-car field to the Bulldog Historic Rally (Saturday 28 March).

Three former British champions and four former British historic champions are all in the entry for the event that tackles 50 miles of prime Welsh forest roads in just four special stages. It promises to be a fabulous start to the 2009 season.

Category 1
Category one is for the oldest cars, from the pre ’68 era, and they run first on the road with a short gap before the rest of the historic field. Top of the tree is the Porsche 911 of former champions Dessie Nutt/Geraldine McBride, but they can expect a stern challenge from the similar car of team mates Stuart Rolt/Richard Pomfret, making a rare but welcome BHRC appearance.

Lining up against the Porsches will be the former championship winning Sunbeam Tiger, now in the hands of Jonathan Gale, who is co-driven by his father Graham for his debut rally in the ex-Patrick Watts car. Meanwhile, Russell Brookes, a winner of this rally 20 years ago, is having a one-off run in the Porsche 911 of Steve Perez, with Neil Wilson alongside.

Local driver Gwilym Roberts heads the B4 field in his Lotus Cortina, partnered by Gwawr Hughes, but the amazing Volvo Amazon of Graham Waite/Gill Cotton will be hustled through the forests in fine style. James Stait heads the B2 pack in his MG Midget, while local crew Gary and Jane Edgington from Corwen top the B1 field in their wonderful Singer Chamois.

Category 2
In category two, for the post-historic cars, it is Ford Escort Mk1s against Porsche 911s at the head of the category. In the Escort brigade, BHRC debutant David Higgins, partnered by Ieuan Thomas, should really fly in one of Mark Solloway’s Mk1 Escorts. David Stokes and Guy Weaver have already scored two great results this season in warm-up events, so they will be fully match fit. But with rivalry from Rupert Lomax/David Alcock and Rikki Proffitt/Phill Harrison, it will be very hard fought. Also in C5 is the beautiful Lancia Stratos of Steve Perez/Paul Spooner.

Jeremy Easson has switched to his stunning Ford Capri RS3100 and will be a real crowd favourite, but goes up against at least five Porsche 911s in class C4. Tim Mason/Graham Wild and Andrew Haddon/Mark Crisp are established pacesetters, while the newly completed 911 of Peter Smith/Russ Langthorne could also be a major contender.
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Popularity: 10% [?]

Ford Motor Co.’s Bennie Fowler cheered last week when Jaguar finished in a tie for No. 1 on J.D. Power and Associates’ long-term vehicle dependability study.

“I happen to know the guy who was the COO at Jaguar in 2003 when we started making improvements,” said Fowler, who was, indeed, COO of Jaguar in 2003.

Today, Fowler is Ford’s group vice president of quality. Back then, Fowler and a team of executives put Ford processes in place at Jaguar to improve quality. Ford sold Jaguar and Land Rover to Tata Group in 2008, but J.D. Power’s dependability study evaluates three-year old, or 2006, models.

From Freep.com

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