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AutoNotes #12, 03/10/94                   copr. 1994, Dave Williams
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Detroit used to put cardboard and fiberglass panels on their test mules to foil photographic spies. Nowadays they're using wild paint schemes instead. Unfortunately the paint schemes are barely noticeable to a trained eye, and the less fortunate can simply swipe the photo through the scanner and edit out the graphics with their PC. 
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Back in '67 SAAB was developing their new 99 model. They needed to get some road test data, but didn't want auto journalists snapping spy photos of the new car. So instead of taping cardboard or fiberglass all over the body, the engineering department fabricated badges that read "Daihatsu." Since there were no real Daihatsus in Sweden at the time, the car attracted some attention... but nobody guessed it was a SAAB prototype. 
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A few weeks ago most of the usenet's unmoderated newsgroups and mailing lists got blasted with a message warning of the impending Rapture and the end of the world. It set off the expected flamewars in most places, though it got a little odd over in rec.autos.antique. "So what kind of car does God drive?" one disgruntled reader asked. Disks whirred as online religious texts were accessed, and soon the truth was known - right there in Genesis, King James Edition, "and the Lord drove them out in his Fury." Chrysler fans everywhere cheered. We also found that Jesus rides a Triumph when he's not driving his Accord. So now you know.

Oh, and if you subscribe to the online-proselytized religion of Boojum-Under-The-Rock, be aware that the Evil Trolls drive SAABs. 

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A GM study has shown that hitting a deer probably won't set off your air bag, if you're unfortunate enough to have a car with one. I hope to Baud not. HPP reports there are 300,000 reported car/deer incidents reported each year. For some reason they thought not setting off the air bag was a problem. 
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The ZR-1's LT-5 quad-cam V8 is dead, right? Maybe not. Chevy doesn't want any more engines for the soon-to-be-defunct ZR-1, but Mercury Marine may keep building the engines for sale to the automotive aftermarket. I hope they do something about the parts problem - GM's service procedure for the LT-5 is "replace as assembly." 
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Back some years ago GM introduced their proprietary Torx fasteners. They've spread throughout various industries. GM claimed they were less resistant to stripping than internal wrenching (Allen) screws, but the Torx is simply a variant of the internal spline bolts, like were used on 2.0 Pinto engines, VW CV joints, etc. The SAE internal spline has been a standard for fifty years or more, originally used in jet engine fasteners. All we needed was yet another fastener. Now there's Torx Plus from Camcar Textron. Whoop de do. You're supposed to be able to use old-style Torx tools with them. Well, GM said you could use plain old hex keys with the original Torx fasteners, and they lied then too. 
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From a 1972 ad in Hot Rod Magazine: two pages, the left showing an M60-A1 tank, the right with this text: 
THINK ENORMOUS
  Small cars are making it.  The M60-A1 is 27 feet
long, 12 feet wide and weighs 52.5 tons, loaded
  Flashy colors are in.  The M60-A1 gives you a choice
of one.  An odd, brownish green.
  Gas economy is a must.  At 3 gallons to the mile,
it's not one of our best selling features.
  But talk about power.  The M60-A1 offers a 750-
horse, 12-cylinder air-cooled engine and cross-drive
transmission as standard equipment.
  And maneuverability.  The M60-A1 turns on a
dime.  Large, but a dime.
  And ease of parking.  Who's going to fight you for
a spot?
  The M60-A1.  It isn't small.  It isn't flashy.  It isn't
even economical.
  It's just enormous.
  If you have the bug to move to something bigger,
see your nearest Army representative.  He'll tell you about
the opportunities to make it big.  In Armor.
That reminds me of my friend Don, who got a chance to discover what a military jail looked like after he went joyriding in an unattended National Guard tank one evening, back in high school. But that's a different story... 
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More plastic intake manifolds: I just came across an even earlier reference to plastic intakes. A 1972 "Detroit Report" in Popular Science said Porsche was putting injection-molded plastic intake manifolds on some 1972 models. If anyone knows which models drop me a line. 
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Manley has a new valve design out using a radiused keeper groove instead of the usual squarish groove. They claim to have a patent on it. I wonder if British Leyland knows - the old Cooper S had valves like that in the early '60s, and I'm sure it wasn't the first. The US Patent Office is getting to be a joke. 
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According to Advanced Composites magazine, the Langley Research Center of Hampton VA has been building some carbon/carbon composite pistons. The Center is targeting two stroke engines, which are particularly hard on pistons. Test pistons are being run in karts, motorcycles, and model airplane engines. The article didn't give much else in the way of details, but it strongly hinted the kart and motorcycle pistons are in at least limited production. Sounds like a real good thing; I'd like to see some more on this. 
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There's a highway in Oslo, Norway that is a bit unusual. A vein of gold-bearing ore, valued at approximately US$1.4M, was inadvertently crushed and the gravel used to construct the roadbed. It'd cost more to recover the ore than to repave the road. 
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The slick alternative to carjacking: some thieves in California simply wear carhop suits and loiter near likely spots. The unsuspecting victims pull up, hand them the keys, and often a tip. 
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A Pine Hills, FL man was arrested last year for grand theft, dealing in stolen property, and improper storage of gasoline. He used a specially equipped van to suck fuel from gas station storage tanks and fill a 600 gallon tank in his back yard, from which he sold the fuel at bargain prices. 
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Back in the mid '60s Alabama put up signs saying "Undertakers like Overtakers." During the same time period Goodyear claimed their Gadsen, Alabama tire plant was the largest in the world. 
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King Hussein of Jordan used to race; he won the 1967 Akaba hillclimb at the wheel of a Porsche 904. 
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Cadillac got its name from Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, founder of the city of Detroit in 1701. 
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