Avrocar: Next Gen. Car

A prototype flying disk, which ascended vertically and, it was hoped, would eventually reach speeds of 1,500 mph. American engineers tinkered with the sleek design for years but were to solve severe stability problems, and it never flew more than 2.5 meters above the ground.

In 1952, Avro Canada began to study designs for a supersonic circular wing fighter-bomber using $400,000 in funding from the Canadian government with allocated. After the funding ran out the Canadian government abandoned the project, but enough progress had been made to spark the interest of the US government. In July 1954, the first of two US Air Force contracts totaling $1.9 million was awarded to Avro for further study.

Avro itself invested in $2.5 million and completed design studies and small-scale tests on a vehicle designated the P.V. 704 (US designation, System 606A). The 606A design was almost 30 ft. in diameter with a maximum weight of 27,000 lb. and a design speed over 1,000 mph.

The US Army became interested in the project in 1958, feeling that the circular wing could fit in with its plans for a "flying jeep." The Air Force agreed to redirect its effort as this could demonstrate the design features of the 606A concept in less time at a must lower price. The resulting craft was named Avrocar and given the Army designation VZ-9AV (VZ for vertical takeoff research aircraft, 9 as it was the ninth in a series and AV for Avro).

The Avrocar was a saucer-shaped disk 18 ft in diameter and 3 ft thick, it was designed to go 300 mph and able to fly to an altitude of 10,000 ft. It weighed 5,650 lb. and had separate cockpits for two crew members.

Three Continental J-69 turbojet engines powered a centrally located fan with a diameter of 5 feet. Two prototypes rolled out of the factory in May and August 1959. The first Avrocar (58-7055) was sent to NASA Ames, Moffett Field, California. It first flew there on May 17, 1961 and was also used for wind-tunnel testing.

The second Avrocar made its first tethered flight, lasting 12 seconds, on Sep. 29, 1959, and its first untethered flight occurred on Nov. 12, 1959. Formal Air Force flight evaluations took place at Avro in April 1960 and June 1961. These demonstrated a maximum speed was 35 mph, while the research at NASA showed that the Avrocar was aerodynamically unstable.

The program was terminated in December 1961 after a total of $10 million had been spent. At Avro (UK) project 724 never proceeded beyond the designs stage in June 1953. The two prototypes reside today at the US Army Transportation Museum and at the Smithsonian NASM Garber site.

The New SublimeNZ Car

The KNIGHT-XV is an armoured vehicle and not a vehicle that has been armored. This means that unlike most vehicles that are armoured after-market, the KNIGHT XV is manufactured using military-grade armouring materials.

With its distinct size, extraordinary security features and ultra-luxurious interior appointments, the KNIGHT XV provides one of the most unique vehicle ownership experiences in today's SUV marketplace. The innovative and incomparable KNIGHT XV takes approximately 1,500 hours to hand build with precision craftsmanship and attention to detail that one can expect from a vehicle of this caliber.

Toyota exports boost Japan's economy

Japan's current account surplus widened more than expected in January as exports surged, stoking growth in the world's second-largest economy.

The surplus expanded 50 per cent to ¥1.19 trillion ($12.8 billion) from a year earlier, the Ministry of Finance said in Tokyo yesterday.

The median estimate of 27 economists surveyed by Bloomberg was for ¥1.04 trillion.





Japan's economy grew at the fastest pace in three years in the fourth quarter, as rising overseas demand prompted companies to boost spending on factories and machinery. The current account surplus may keep widening as exporters such as Toyota ship more goods and as cheaper oil helps limit the nation's import bill.

Government of Canada Provides Forces with Modern Trucks while Benefitting Economy

The Honourable Peter Gordon MacKay, Minister of National Defence and Minister of the Atlantic Gateway, together with the Honourable Josée Verner, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, today announced the contract award for the Canadian Forces’ new medium-sized logistic trucks.

Under the contract, the Canadian Forces will be receiving 1300 Militarized Commercial Off-the-Shelf (MilCOTS) vehicles.

“In line with our Canada First Defence Strategy, the Government of Canada continues to deliver on its promise to equip our Forces with the tools they need to do the jobs we ask of them,” said Minister MacKay. “These new trucks will be the logistics backbone of the land force, moving people, equipment and supplies efficiently and where they are needed most.”

The Dongfeng Brave Soldier is a fine TV-car in Peacetime

China's first Hummer is now available for semi-private use, which is for companies and government agencies in businesses as forest control, mining, geology and more of the rough stuff. Hubei TV, a local station from Hubei Province, found another good use for the Brave Soldier.

Parax: Iran unveils another electric car

Iranian university students at Qazvin's Azad University -- northwest of Tehran -- have designed and produced a new two-seat electric car.

A fifteen-member team of university students worked on the new plug-in car for 10 months.

The new car, named the Parax, weighs 450 kg and is lighter than another electric car that was unveiled at Tehran's Khaje Nasir Toosi University last week.

The Qasedak-e-Nasir (Dandelion of Nasir) weighed 700 kg.

Once the battery of the Parax is charged, it can cover a distance of 100 kilometers and can reach a velocity of 110 kph, the Mehr News Agency reported.

Dong Feng to invest $250m in new Turkish car plant

China's third-largest carmaker Dong Feng Motor is to invest $250 million in a planned Turkish plant with an annual capacity of 52,000 units, Turkey's government investment agency said on Wednesday.

Feasibility studies for the location are being carried out and construction should begin in the first quarter of 2010, the government investment agency said in a statement.








It also said Korean steel manufacturer Posco would make an initial greenfield investment in Turkey of $24 million to produce annually 170,000 million tonnes of flat steel, to be used primarily for the automotive sector.

Hyundai Assan, a joint enterprise between carmaker Hyundai and Turkey's Kibar Holding, announced on Wednesday it had chosen Turkey as the site for production of its new i20 series.

Sayang sekali: Bakrie Kubur Ambisi Mobnas "Beta 97 MPV"

Lama sebelum lahirnya mobil nasional baru seperti Gea, Arina, Tawon maupun Komodo, Indonesia sebenarnya sudah memiliki ambisi besar untuk membuat sebuah mobil nasional.

Sebab sudah sejak akhir tahun 1994 Grup Bakrie melalui Bakrie Brothers menggugah sebuah mobil nasional terbaru Indonesia.

Mobil yang dinamakan Beta 97 MPV ini memiliki desain orisinal buatan rumah desain Shado asal Inggris.

Hal itu tentu berbeda dengan kehadiran Timor dan Bimantara yang sebenarnya sebuah bentuk pergantian merek dari Kia maupun Hyundai.

Pada bulan April 1995 disain Beta 97 MPV pun telah selesai dan mulai diperlihatkan ke manajemen Bakrie dan setelah itu, desain tersebut pun langsung dikembangkan hingga prototipe mobil ini selesai di tahun 1997.

Bakrie pun sudah mulai menyiapkan segala aspek pendukung mobil ini mulai dari perakitannya hingga ke persiapan anggaran produksi.

Jadwal peluncuran mobil ini sesungguhnya sudah disiapkan yakni pada bulan Desember 1997.

“Sayang krisis meluluh-lantakkan proyek kebanggaan nasional tersebut,” ujar sumber detikOto di keluarga Bakrie.

Raksasa kapital Indonesia ini pun sudah mengubur calon mobil nasional yang di pertengahan tahun 1990 telah mereka kembangkan yakni Beta 97 MPV.

“Sejak gagal diluncurkan, belum ada lagi pembicaraan di dalam perusahaan,” ungkapnya.

Car Made In Indonesia Is Arriving

Several local firms will conduct tests on Indonesian-brand vehicles before launching the models to tap the country’s car market, which is dominated by Japanese firms.

State-owned train manufacturer PT Industri Kereta Api (Inka) will produce a car under brand name Gea (a girl’s name in Indonesia), while Semarang State University (Unnes) is teaming up with local administrations to manufacture a car model named Arina.

An unnamed Serang-based company will also join in the race by producing a car called Tawon, which means “bee” in local dialect.

The Industry Ministry’s director general for transportation, telecommunications and informatics industries Budi Darmadi told The Jakarta Post recently that PT Inka was currently conducting tests on the car.

The directorate’s transportation industry director Syarif Hidayat said Inka had begun testing a 500 cubic centimeters capacity engine developed by the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) after originally planning to incorporate a Chinese-made engine into the car.

“Inka, which already has a prototype, is now testing out the four-wheel Gea,” he said, adding that the company had yet to decide when it would start producing the four-seater car, which would be gasoline-powered.

Inka is ahead of its national rivals, including the team consisting of engineers from Unnes and local administrations, whose product is still in the design phase.

The Semarang-based team has produced five designs for a three-wheel vehicle that resembles a bajaj (motorized paddy cab), according to Hidayat.

“Arina, which has a capacity of three passengers, may be more suitable for carrying goods, although it can also accommodate passengers,” he said.

The Arina will be powered by a 500 cc gasoline engine.

“Although the car is scheduled to be produced next year, the team has yet to build a manufacturing plant,” Hidayat said.

This is in contrast to the team behind the Tawon, which has built a production facility in Serang, Banten, using capital supplied by a businessman from Surabaya who previously ran a wood businesses.

“The company has built a four-seater Tawon prototype and is conducting a series of tests, including an endurance test and a road-worthiness test,” Hidayat said.

The Tawon, which is powered by a 500cc engine that can run on compressed natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas, was designed with a more environment friendly energy in mind.

The company has not announced a launch date for the car.

For decades, Indonesia’s automotive industry has been dominated by Japanese producers, which account for 87 percent of market share, selling 308,388 units between January and July this year.

Since the 1970s, the Indonesian government has encouraged local manufacturers to produce vehicles, including by providing various incentives to PT Astra International to partner with Japanese giant Toyota to launch its own brand.

However, Astra has never moved to expand beyond its role as assembler and distributor of Japanese-brand cars, and in particular Toyotas.

During the administration of late former President Soeharto, the government launched a national car program under which Soeharto’s son, Hutomo “Tommy” Mandala Putra, was granted tax breaks to produce vehicles.

The company, in partnership with South Korean company KIA Motor, produced the Timor brand, which was 60-percent comprised of local parts.

Despite producing thousands of the vehicles, the project was shelved following the fall of Soeharto in 1998.

National car makers may need only $100m

Manufacturers of three new national car prototypes might need a combined investment of US$100 million to launch assembly plants to mass produce three future brands — namely the Tawon, Gea and Arina, the Industry Ministry has forecast.

Panggah Susanto, the Industry Ministry director for land and military transportation, said Tuesday that each of the three national car brand owners would require more than $30 million to build an assembly plant, with a production capacity of 5,000 to 10,000 units per annum.

“But the investment required will depend on the factory production scale each producer wants,” he said.

He said Gea, Arina and Tawon, (the latter means “bee” in local dialect) were still at the prototype stage and were yet to announce their launch schedules.

“The process [for national cars] to get into consumers’ hands will take a while. Producers, of course, are considering whether their cars will be sold out or not.”

The three cars are expected to be priced at around Rp 50 million ($5,000) each.

The four-wheel Gea has been developed and tested by the producer, state-owned train manufacturer PT Industri Kereta Api (Inka), since last year.

Meanwhile, Arina and Tawon are being developed by Semarang State University (Unnes), which is teaming up with local administrations, while an unnamed Serang-based company is making the Tawon.

Inka uses a 500 cubic centimeters (cc) capacity engine developed by the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) after initially planning to incorporate a Chinese-made engine.
Inka plans to run the four-seater car on gasoline.

Meanwhile, the Semarang-based team has produced five designs for the three-wheel Arina, resembling a bajaj — a motorized pedicab.

With a capacity of three passengers, Arina, powered by a 500 cc gasoline engine, may be suitable for both carrying goods and accommodating passengers.

For the four-seater Tawon, its producer has built a production facility in Serang, Banten, using capital supplied by a businessman from Surabaya who previously ran a wood business.

Powered by a 500 cc engine, the Tawon is designed with a more environment friendly energy in mind, running on compressed natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas.

The country’s conventional automotive market has been dominated by Japanese producers, dominating close to 90 percent of the country’s vehicle market, so maybe a small new low-cost national car might fly.

Mobil Esemka dari Bengkel Sekolahan

Lelehan keringat sudah sampai di dagu Burhanuddin. Namun siswa kelas XI Jurusan Otomotif, Sekolah Menengah Kejuruan (SMK) Negeri 1 Cibinong, Jawa Barat, itu seolah tak menghiraukan.

Bersama rekan-rekannya, ia tampak asyik mengutak-atik mesin mobil di bengkel kerja milik sekolahnya, Jumat pekan lalu. Hari itu, Burhanuddin sedang mengikuti pembelajaran yang disebut teaching factory. "Saya senang mengikuti teaching factory. Lebih banyak praktek," ujar Buhanuddin kepada Jefira Valianti dari Gatra.

Phillpines Utility Vehicle

Asli buatan Filipina

Kepolisian RI Beli 1.191 Mobil Ford

[Sayang.. sekali Pak polisi ini tak sedikitpun tertarik memesan Mobnas]]

Bulan Ramadhan menjadi bulan berkah bagi Ford Motor Indonesia (FMI). Pemegang merek Ford di Indonesia itu menandatangani perjanjian penjualan fleet untuk pihak kepolisian Jakarta sebanyak 1.191 unit di awal Agustus 2009 lalu. Transaksi ini merupakan penjualan fleet terbesar yang pernah dilakukan sejak berdirinya FMI.

Bulan Ramadhan menjadi bulan berkah bagi Ford Motor Indonesia (FMI). Pemegang merek Ford di Indonesia itu menandatangani perjanjian penjualan fleet untuk pihak kepolisian Jakarta sebanyak 1.191 unit di awal Agustus 2009 lalu. Transaksi ini merupakan penjualan fleet terbesar yang pernah dilakukan sejak berdirinya FMI.

"Kami sangat gembira dengan pencapaian ini. Penjualan fleet ini merupakan sebuah rekor penjualan terbesar bagi Ford Motor Indonesia," kata Presiden Direktur Ford Motor Indonesia Will Angove dalam acara buka puasa bersama Jumat (4/9).

Pembelian 1.191 mobil Ford oleh kepolisian di Jakarta meliputi 600 unit Ford Focus dan 591 unit Ford Ranger yang akan digunakan di tahun 2009. Unit-unit ini rencananya akan digunakan di kawasan Jawa Barat, Banten, dan Jakarta.

Dengan penjualan luar biasa ini, total sepanjang bulan Agustus lalu, Ford mencatat penjualan sebanyak 1.691 unit atau 300% dari rata-rata penjualan bulanan FMI selama ini. Angka ini juga menjadi angka penjualan terbesar bagi Ford di negara-negara kawasan ASEAN.

"Penjualan fleet kepada pihak kepolisian ini merupakan langkah besar untuk mempromosikan kualitas kendaraan Ford serta layanan terbaik yang kami tawarkan," bungah Davy Jeffry Tuilan, Marketing Director PT Ford Indonesia.

This is Indonesia's made car of ESEMKA-1

The car will be produced by Indonesia highschool student across Java.

Mobnas (Esemka) Menanti Cikal Bakal Mobil Nasional

Suara Dr. Joko Sutrisno, Direktur Pembinaan SMK, Departemen Pendidikan Nasional (Depdiknas) terdengar berapi-api. Dalam tuturannya yang runut, Joko berharap, tahun mendatang lulusan Sekolah Menengah Kejuaran (SMK) , bisa menjadi motor penggerak industri dalam negeri. “Kita harus bisa di industri otomotif juga. Makanya, kami menyiapkan sejumlah program untuk membuat mobil nasional. SMK bisa kok!” ujarnya saat ditemui di kantornya, awal Juni lalu.

Jaringan Luas
Yang membuat Joko optimis, sejumlah SMK yang ada di Indonesia, bisa membuktikan kalau mereka mampu membuat kendaraan. “Kami juga sudah merakit mobil yang beberapa kali kami pamerkan. Mulai bentuknya MPV, SUV sampai mobil kabin ganda. Ini membuktikan kalau SMK memang bisa,” cetusnya mengulangi slogan yang jadi unggulannya: SMK Bisa!

Lanjut

Iran unveils two-seat electric car

The first Iranian two-seat plug-in car will be unveiled today.

The vehicle, which was designed and built by a group of young experts at the Khaje Nasir Toosi University of Technology, has been named the Qasedak-e-Nasir (Dandelion of Nasir).

Fourteen students and graduates of the university have worked on the project for 10 months.

Environmental concerns and high petrol prices have helped promote research on and development of electric and hybrid cars.