Classic motor vehicle owners who purchase new and used parts online in order to keep their pride and joy roadworthy have now been hit with the further expense. Vintage car owners hoping to display their car to the public will now have to pay out the portly sum of two pounds if they wish to display their car at a Stafford car show.

For the past 5 years the Stafford car show has been a free event, but organizers now claim that a charge is necessary to cover the costs of running the event.

Michael Rutty, who owns a 1938 Austin Seven has expressed his dissatisfaction with these changes seeing it as a bit of a cheek to ask for money from the very people who bring the cars that are the main attraction:

 “Without us, there wouldn’t be a car show. We spend hundreds of pounds maintaining our cars, and now they are telling us we have to pay to display our cars.

 ”We don’t pay to get into other shows at all. It’s not the amount they are asking for – it is the principle. I understand a lot of local drivers are going to boycott it because of the charge.”

Despite such objections, Stafford Borough Council claim they have received 100 entries despite the charge and the show will not be cancelled.

The British aerospace and car parts company GKN is hoping to raise approximately £423m through a rights issue in order to secure the future financial security of the company. The engineering company recently celebrated it 250th anniversary and is hoping that by slashing jobs it can weather the economic storm.

Nearly 3000 workers have been made redundant and eight plant closures are already under way.

Sir Kevin Smith, chief executive of GKN expressed his thoughts on the strategy:

“The global recession has had a significant impact on both our business and credit market conditions,”

 “The rights issue that we have announced today will strengthen our capital structure and give us the flexibility to take advantage of new opportunities for development and growth.”

Despite a return to profit in March Sir Kevin Smith said the outlook for the rest of the year was uncertain.

In the US the car manufacturing sector has been the primary focus of government spending initiatives and bail outs, but experts warn that we should not overlook their suppliers.

While manufacturers like Chrysler and GM will be receiving tens of billions of dollars of aid it is claimed we should not ignore the fact that they, like more stable companies, such as Toyota (TM), Ford (F), and Honda (HMC), depend on the flourishing of their suppliers.

This is why car parts firms have similarly requested $10 billions from  the Administration to stave off future financial trouble.

Quite simply, as highlighted by Douglas A. McIntyre: “Cars that aren’t built can’t be sold” “A crippled parts industry means a crippled auto sector.”

Police officers in North Carolina may find themselves in dye need of spare car parts after a man fleeing arrest bashed into their two police cars.

The incident took place in the parking lot of the Food Lion on New Walkertown Road shortly before 9 p.m in Winston Salem.

Police were attempting to arrest the man on drug charges yesterday: “but as the detectives approached him, the man backed his car into one of the detective’s cars and crashed head-on into another as the man fled the parking lot.”

Fortunately police managed to catch up with the suspect when he crashed his vehicle near Old Rural Hall Road.

The man was charged with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon on a government official, speeding to elude arrest, careless and reckless driving, and possession with intent to sell and deliver cocaine

Richard Jenkins, the man who designed the vehicle that broke the land speed record for a wind powered vehicle, has claimed that just as Formula One technology has come to influence commercial car design, the technologies behind his record-breaking vehicle could herald a new era of environmentally friendly transport

The wind-powered Greenbird which recorded a top speed of 126.4mph uses design borrowed from aeronautical, sailing and wind technologies but with unique demands and adaptations:

 “In conventional vehicles, more power almost always equates to more speed. With land sailing, however, more wind does not necessarily mean more speed. Instead a design is required in which aerofoil lift (translated to forward thrust in a land-based craft) is maximised but, more importantly, drag is minimised. Greenbird tackles this problem by combining racing yacht, aeroplane and Formula 1 racing car concepts and technologies”

With out spelling out the exact details, Jenkins thinks that industry will at some point be able to reap the benefits from the innovations incorporated in the Greenbird.

While a wind vehicle for everyday use may be something for our children to look forward to current car owner hoping to optimize the performance of their vehicles will find the purchase of online car parts a sure way to spruce up their ride.

Car safety requires that car owners regularly check their car breaking systems, air bags, and replace any worn or damaged parts (including wing mirrors and lights). When things do go wrong on the road then seat belts are a life and death matter. Asda shoppers got an affirming demonstration of this truth when a community safety team from Wakefield Fire Station ran its ‘buckle up’ campaign. The event took place in the car park of Asda at Durkar on Saturday and volunteers got a first hand experience of the kind of heavy extraction machinery that is used to rescue victims from mangled wreckages.

Speaking on the matter, community safety watch manager Paul Uttley said:

 “We have been running our Seat Belt On campaign with the council’s road safety team and the police since April and at Saturday’s roadshow we demonstrated what would happen if you don’t wear a seatbelt and are involved in a crash.

“Two crews from Red Watch came down and Jo Aldridge, the events organiser from Asda, bravely volunteered to be cut out. If you’ve never experienced a crash before it is hard to imagine the experience of being cut out of a car, it’s much louder than you would think, with lots of crashes and bangs and broken glass.

 “A lot of the shoppers said they had got a lot out of it and would definitely be strapping up in the future.”

The BBC reported on a sharp drop in car production in the UK within the last month:

“The number of new cars made in the UK fell 43% in May from the same month a year earlier, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said. However the drop, to 67,754 cars, was the smallest of the year.”

These statistic merely illustrate what many workers have experienced,as car factories have closed or at the very least scaled downed their production and workforce.

Paul Everitt, SMMT Chief Executive commentating on the business predicament said: “Businesses across the economy are still holding back on new expenditure and will need to see better access to finance and stronger domestic demand.”

In light of this downward plummet, the government has not been idle, and is hoping their cash for bangers scheme will up the demand for new vehicles and inject fresh life into the industry. With a fall of in new car purchases it is all the more important that car drivers continue to main high standards on older vehicles. Purchasing new and used car parts online is a quick and efficient way to maintain the upkeep of one’s vehicles.

For budding motor enthusiasts ‘chancellor’ may not sound like an exciting job , but Alistair Darling was on the cutting edge of green car technology yesterday, as he checked out the latest development in greener fuels on his visit to a Sheffield research and development company – ITM Power on Atlas Way.

The firm has been working on an innovative alternative to oil - a solar-powered electrolysing machine, which can produce hydrogen gas from tap water. This fuel can then be used to power cars. Darling got the opportunity to drive one such car – a blue Ford Focus car which has been converted to run on hydrogen gas.

In the future we may get to see hybrid electrical cars working in union with hydrogen gas power. In the mean time, conscientious drivers looking to keep their emissions as low as possible may find that by regularly servicing their vehicle and purchasing new parts that this will cut down on excess fuel waste

Parents who take every measure to ensure the safety their children passagers (such a fitting child seats correctly and replacing any worn car parts) will be shocked to hear the ordeal of one mother, who narrowly escaped a crash while her daughter was on board.

The 27 year old mother was travelling along the M74 on Saturday, June 6 near Larkhall (Scotland), when a reckless gang of youths hearled stones at her car.  The mother and daughter while very badly shaken by the event managed to avoid a serious accident.

This is not an isolated event however. Other people in the area have reported similar attacks on cars or coaches. One man who was involved in a similar incident weeks earlier: spoke out on the matter:

 “Everyone needs to understand this type of stupid behaviour is just not acceptable and will not be tolerated.

 “People only have to ask themselves how they would feel if one or more of their own loved ones died from such an incident?

 “The experience left me shocked, saddened and horrified at what might have happened with possibly a coachload of some 35 plus men, women and children killed and the knock-on casualties of other innocent motorway users.”

Police are currently on the look out for the culprits.

Just as the British and Japanese Government have been adopting subsidy schemes to encourage consumers to invest in new auto-mobiles, the US government has offered another sale boosting initiative scheme. The program has been described as a simplified version of the ‘cash-for-clunkers’ program and works by offering $3,500 or $4,500 cash vouchers to new car buyers who are willing to scrap an old vehicle. In order to qualify the following conditions must be satisfied:

1. The car that is traded-in must have had it at least a year

2. The vehicle must be a road worthy drivable vehicle

3. Dealers must provide assurance the trade-in is scrapped.

The program was passed by the Senate Thursday in a bid to kick start the waning US manufacturing industry. The Introduction of the program which should be operational by early August has been met with varied response. An anticipated 10% sale increase is forecast, although CEO of consumer website sceptically claimed that even “250,000 new vehicle sales will not provide the impact needed”

A similar scheme has been in affect in the UK and has seen approximately 60,000 orders already placed. Alternatively, UK car owners who are still unable to invest in a new vehicle as part of the scrappage scheme, may find that buying new car parts will also benefit industry.