On April 27th, 2008, automotive enthusiasts from across Southern California converged on Pierce College in Woodland Hills for the Motor4Toys SWAT Support Charity Car Show organized by Dustin Troyan. The purpose of this show was to raise money for the families of Randal Simmons and James Veenstra, LAPD SWAT officers who were killed and injured in a standoff in February.

Organized through Drivenworld.com, a motorsports enthusiasts’ forum, petrol-heads of all kinds were rallied to help raise money for this very worth cause. Everything from restored and original classics to exotic cars, hotrods to luxury cars, racecars to low-riders, muscle cars to import cars were present for the day’s events. The show kicked off with a 6 mile memorial cruise escorted by full police motorcade. With over 700 cars participating, the cruise was definitely an unforgettable experience. After all the cars returned to the parking lot, it was time to enjoy the beautiful and eclectic assortment of cars present. The culmination of the show was a live auction with everything from free oil changes to $1500 collections of Patron Tequila. Dustin and his Motor4Toys Foundation successfully brought in over $46,000 in just four hours, with 100% of the money brought in going straight to the families of the officers.

When I asked Dustin what his plans were for the next show, he told me that his “focus is now on the 5th Annual Motor4toys Charity Car Show. We have doubled the attendees every year and more than doubled the toy count too. For this year’s event, I want to have 10,000 cars and to collect 30,000 toys. We are changing the location and the program this year. We will have vendors, displays, and an amazing location.” Dustin says that if it wasn’t for the remarkable car community we have here in Southern California, none of this would be possible. “They make all of the Motor4Toys events happen. In my mind, each and every one of them are heroes.” Stay tuned to Drivenworld.com for more updates on upcoming charity shows.

Popularity: 1% [?]

This is easily the coolest robotic-wheeled-thing I’ve seen in a while. The Segway RMP (Robotic Mobility Platform) has four “wheels,” though that’s probably not quite the correct word for them. They’re actually Mecanum wheels, which are designed to move in any direction—similar to the wheels on the Spirit and Opportunity Mars rovers—but in this case by using a series of rollers attached to the wheel’s rim.

According to Wikipedia, the rollers have an axis of rotation at 45 degrees to the plane of the wheel, in a plane parallel to the axis of rotation of the wheel. That means the wheels can not only move forward and backward, but they can also move side to side. Makezine.com reports that the RMP should be able to support up to 400 pounds and could cost in the neighborhood of (gulp) $50,000. For more on the new Segway design,

Popularity: 1% [?]

BMW Blog reports that it has two unnamed, independent sources who have spoken of a high-revving (how does 11,000 rpm sit with you?) new four-cylinder being developed for use in the 1-series. The power target of this fantasy mill is said to be 220 to 260 horsepower, and it would theoretically be offered in both naturally aspirated and twin-turbocharged forms.

If this rumor actually comes to pass (something that is far from guaranteed, to say the least), we’re told to expect a 2010 release. Take it all with a very healthy dose of salt. That said, squeezing more power out of less engine is going to be a continuing trend as governments tighten the screws regarding fuel economy and emissions targets, so efforts from BMW in this realm wouldn’t be the least bit surprising.

Popularity: 1% [?]

I missed covering this tidbit of information last week while I was traipsing through Europe, but some interesting information emerged when GM released their March sale results. GM has been making an awful lot of noise about their two-mode hybrid system with lots of announcements about all the vehicles the system will be installed in. What they aren’t bragging much about is sales. That’s because there isn’t much to brag about. In fact it appears that the sum total of hybrid sales for all models offered by GM in the first three months of 2008 was 843. That is not a typo, it’s 843. Unlike other manufacturers, GM has never broken out sales of hybrid models from conventional versions. Perhaps this is why.

During the same period Ford moved 5,225 Escape and Mariner Hybrids and Toyota sold…well let’s just say Toyota sold a whole lot more than that. While GM has made plenty of auto show announcements about hybrids and they run lots of print and TV ads promoting their green-ness, they haven’t really done a lot to promote hybrids on the lot. Perhaps they don’t actually want to sell that many because the cost is so much higher and they don’t want to lose all that money. Or perhaps customers just don’t really want a hybrid full-size truck. Perhaps, as Troy Clarke told us at the Chicago Auto Show, they were holding them back for captured fleet testing until they were sure everything was right. Have any of you readers actually tried to find a hybrid at a dealership or tried to buy one? Let us know about your experience.

Popularity: 1% [?]

For the environmental conscience of the style-conscious elite, we have good news and bad news. The good news is that there’s finally a more suitable alternative to the Toyota Prius. The bad news is that it’s arguably no better looking. But like moths to the limelight, the big names have flocked to the new BMW Hydrogen 7. After being adopted by such stars as Cameron Diaz, Will Ferrell, Jay Leno and Placido Domingo, the latest of the rich and famous to receive the keys to the luxo-enviromobile is none other than His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco.

The monarch of the tax-haven Mediterranean principality took delivery of the Hydrogen 7 at the Ever Monaco environmental exposition in Monte Carlo, where Prince Albert proclaimed, “I monitor very carefully, in the automobile sector in particular, the development of new technologies”. Hmm, guess that means the crown prince reads Autoblog – or our sister-site Autoblog Green, which reported this particular piece of news previously – on a fairly regular basis then. Welcome to the site, your highness.

Unfortunately this means that with only 100 examples of the car being offered to the public, that’s one less for the rest of us. Press release after the jump.

Popularity: 1% [?]

The answer to this question can be found in the ForeSee Results Automotive Website Satisfaction Index, which commissioned a study of automotive websites and how well they fulfilled customers’ needs.

Backed by the University of Michigan’s American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) methodology, the report concluded that Honda’s website ranked the highest among customers, while Nissan’s came last. Incidentally, Nissan.com domain name belongs to a computer retailer currently being sued by the automaker for trademark infringement, trademark dilution and cyber-squatting. Nissan’s current home page is listed under NissanUSA.com.

The research focused on 6 sites, taking into account market predictors like brand loyalty and purchase behavior. Each automotive website was rated on the ACSI’s 100-point scale with the industry aggregate standing at 78. Here is how individual sites scored on the satisfaction index.
* Honda.com: 80
* Chrysler.com: 79
* FordVehicles.com: 79
* Chevrolet.com: 77
* Toyota.com: 77
* NissanUSA.com: 76

The study also found that Honda.com does the best job leveraging the website to get visitors to buy a vehicle or visit a dealer. Chevrolet.com, FordVehicles.com, and NissanUSA.com were tied for being the least likely to influence customers to purchase a vehicle. Visitors to FordVehicles.com were the least likely to visit a dealer.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Our sources indicate this rendering from OmniAuto.it is very close to what Audi’s upcoming Q5 will look like. Although this looks like a photograph on an Italian web site, it is really a rendering that looks nearly identical to the Q5 spy shots we showed you in February. When it debuts later this month at the Beijing Motor Show, expect the engine to be a longitudinal (north-south) mount, to allow a variety of powerplants including V8 and TDI derivatives.

Popularity: 1% [?]