Rumors &Lies* A new state law in Arkansas bans the use of nitrous oxide in vehicles that operate on public streets. According to the "Pine Bluff Commercial," the new law was named for Eric Turner, a 27-year-old motorcyclist who was killed last year when his bike collided with a car driven by Maurice Kemp, 26, of Pine Bluff who was, police say, driving on the wrong side of the road during a street race. Kemp's car was reportedly equipped with a nitrous oxide system.
* Following the example set by the City of Los Angeles, in April the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors passed a law allowing police to confiscate cars caught in the act of street racing.
* According to numerous media reports, Christine Illgen, 44, was arrested for allegedly street racing against her own 17-year-old son on Rocket Boulevard in Orange County, Fla. Ms. Illgen is employed as a school bus driver in nearby Osceola County.
* The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has mandated that tire-pressure monitor systems will be required by the 2008 model year on all new vehicles weighing less than 10,000 pounds, reports The Associated Press. The systems will report, in the form of a dashboard light, if a tire is 25 percent low on air pressure.
* GM has announced it will add a small GM badge to the fenders of all new vehicles. The first car to get it will be the 2006 Pontiac G6 and it will eventually spread to all GM products, including Saabs.
* Honda made a profit last year exporting soy beans grown near its assembly plant in Ohio back to Japan in cargo containers that contained parts shipped to the plant from Japan. The company made $10 million in the operation between March 2004 and March 2005. If your bean curd has a slight VTEC taste, now you know why.
Foxy LadyThose of us who remember the Brazilian-made Volkswagen Fox that was sold in the United States between 1987 and 1993 don't remember it with too much affection. And those of us who remember when Audi used the Fox name on the U.S. version of the Audi 80 back in the '70s ... well, we're just plain old. But the Fox name is back (it's really never been gone down in Brazil). While it's not headed to North America (at least not yet), it's an interesting twerp-mobile anyhow.
Replacing the Lupo in VeeDub's Euro line, the three-door Fox is much smaller than a Golf but relatively roomy for a four-seater. It's available with two gasoline engines in 1.2- and 1.4-liter displacements making 55 and 75 hp, respectively, or a miserly 1.4-liter turbo-diesel clanking out 69 hp.
Priced at around the equivalent of $10,000 in Europe, there are rumors it could come to the United States in order to help VW recapture the entry-level youth market that has faded away from the brand. If it does make it here, don't expect it until around 2007 at the earliest.
Hocus FocusWhy is it that the Europeans get a new Focus while Ford continues to pump out the old one over here? It's a mystery and that mystery only deepens now that Ford has introduced a four-door "Saloon" model of the second-generation Focus for Europe.
While the Saloon retains the nose and general lines of other Foci, the trunk area is obviously all new. There's nothing revolutionary here, but what's the deal with the car not making it over here?
All Focus Saloons will be produced at Ford's plant in Valencia, Spain, and offered with 1.6- or 2.0-liter gasoline-fired or 1.6-, 1.8- or 2.0-liter turbodiesels. They're on sale now, should you decide to move to Europe.