“Budget Auto Property - Birmingham Business Journal” plus 4 more

Budget Auto Property - Birmingham Business Journal
Ford's new diesel truck engine may be built in Brook Park - Cleveland Plain Dealer
Auto show named after man known for custom cars - Hawk Eye
14 Named to National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame - Who Won
Officer: ‘Quite a sight’ - Louisville Courier-Journal

Budget Auto Property - Birmingham Business Journal

Posted: 31 Aug 2009 08:09 AM PDT

Property consists of 5.1 acres, which includes a 9586 sq.ft. (two story) office building; plus 11,920 sq.ft. (9760 sq.ft. on first floor/2250 sq.ft. on second) maintenance building with 3 offices, upstairs storage and five (5) truck-size bays; plus 3550 sq.ft. carwash building (one carwash plus one bay with pressure wash plus storage area Property is ideally set up for car/truck rental, vehicle sales and/or service, etc., but location would have strong appeal to other retail/commercial users desiring strategic logistics location, or easily accessible and visible location near airport and fairgrounds, Papa John's stadium and Churchill Downs. Property may be purchased in its entirety, or may be divided and sold in parcels[office building (1 acre), a vehicle service operation (3 acres) and retail development (1 acre)].

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Ford's new diesel truck engine may be built in Brook Park - Cleveland Plain Dealer

Posted: 31 Aug 2009 07:04 AM PDT

by Robert Schoenberger/Plain Dealer Reporter

updated 10:40 a.m.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Ford Motor Co. plans to start making its own diesel engines for big trucks starting with the 2011 model year, perhaps at its Brook Park complex.

In a press release announcing the 6.7-liter diesel engine, Ford did not say when or where it would build the engine. But a 2007 contract between the automaker and the United Auto Workers called for Ford to consider producing it at its Cleveland Engine Plant No. 2 in Brook Park. That facility now makes six-cylinder engines for the Ford Fusion sedan and Ford Escape sport utility vehicle.

"We've had continued talks with Ford about new products for Plant No. 2 and more work for Plant No. 1," UAW Local 1250 President Mike Gammella said. Engine Plant No. 1 makes the turbocharged 3.5-liter EcoBoost engine used in the new Taurus SHO.

Gammella said the union and state have made offers to Ford to encourage the company to add production of diesel engines or four-cylinder gasoline engines to Brook Park. Ford officials have said they want to upgrade their engine plants so facilities can switch easily between large and small engines, gasoline and diesel models.

The engine for Ford's F-series Super Duty trucks would be the first diesel the company has made for domestic use in decades. Trucking giant Navistar has made Ford's diesel engines since 1979. That relationship crashed following the 2003 release of the 6-liter Powerstroke diesel. Customers reported huge numbers of complaints on that engine, forcing Ford to buy back thousands of trucks. Ford blamed Navistar for the problems, and Navistar blamed Ford.

Navistar and Ford replaced the troubled 6-liter with a 6.4-liter engine in 2007. The changeover was necessary to meet new federal diesel emissions standards for 2007. Diesel standards tighten again in 2011, forcing the latest upgrade.

Ford did not release the horsepower and torque numbers on the new engine, key statistics for the commercial truck users who rely on the vehicles. The company said fuel economy and power would both be higher than the current diesel offering.

While Ford has outsourced its truck engine diesels for the past 30 years, it has developed its own car diesels in Europe for about as long.

Calls to Ford Motor Co. were not immediately returned this morning.

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Auto show named after man known for custom cars - Hawk Eye

Posted: 31 Aug 2009 08:16 AM PDT

published online: 8/31/2009

By BILL FORD

Macomb Journal

LAHARPE, Ill. -- Even 16 years after his death, Fred Gibb continues to put the town of LaHarpe on the map. Originally, Gibb became nationally known for the special edition Chevrolet cars he cranked out of his dealership in the small Hancock County town. Now his name is attached to the region's largest car show, which brought more than 400 automobiles to LaHarpe for its 11th installment earlier this summer.

Ken Brown, one of the Fred Gibb Memorial Open Car Show's founders, said the idea for the show came to him in 1999 while he was talking with a man on the street.

"I had a Fred Gibb jacket in the back of my car and the gentleman noticed it," Brown said. "We just started talking about it and thought it might be nice to have a show in LaHarpe."

Another of the show's founders, Bob Lionberger, said naming the show after Gibb was a no-brainer since his name has been synonymous with cars in LaHarpe for decades.

"There are some cars that would have never been built if it weren't for Fred," said Lionberger, a former friend and employee of Gibb's. "He definitely made a name for LaHarpe."

Gibb owned the Chevrolet dealership in LaHarpe for more than 40 years, but became nationally known in the late 1960s for convincing General Motors to build some special edition cars.

It started when Gibb became involved in the sport of drag racing. When Chevrolet came out with the Z28 Camaro in 1967, he brought one into his shop and modified it as a drag racing car.

"They campaigned that car for two years and had mucho success with it," Lionberger said. "They broke all kinds of world records in drag racing."

Gibb noticed in one particular class of drag racing, Ford and Mopar cars would always dominate because Chevrolet didn't have a car with a big block engine and an automatic transmission. In order to compete in the class, Gibb lobbied to Chevrolet to let him build one.

"That's when he negotiated a deal with Chevrolet to build 50 '68 Novas with a big block engine and an automatic," Lionberger said. "That's what kind of got the whole ball rolling as far as his fame is concerned."

The experiment with the Novas went over so well, Gibb talked Chevrolet into putting a GL1 engine, designed for Corvettes, into 50 Camaros and ordered them all to sell out of his dealership.

"When they came in, they were a little higher priced than what they thought," Lionberger said. "He wasn't able to sell them all because of the price tag. It was the first time ever and only since that GM has bought back and redistributed some cars."

Despite the hefty price tag, the cars eventually did become popular enough for General Motors to build 19 more.

"There was a total of 69 of those cars built. If a person happens to be able to have an original '69 ZL1 Camaro, they are worth a cool million dollars plus now," Lionberger said.

At the inaugural Fred Gibb Memorial Car Show, Brown said they expected about 30 or 40 cars. The popularity of Gibb's name was such that the word had spread and about 160 cars showed up for the first year. Among those in attendance was a man who showed up with one of Gibb's 1968 Novas on a truck.

"The guy just said he thought it would be fitting that car be at the car show," Lionberger said. "The car was just covered with dirt. It had been in a barn. He never unloaded it." Gibb's wife, Helen, now owns the car, which Lionberger believes is the No. 50 car out of the 50 1968 Novas. Lionberger takes Helen Gibb's car to different car shows for her. Helen usually comes along.

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14 Named to National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame - Who Won

Posted: 31 Aug 2009 05:17 AM PDT

Monday, August 31, 2009
14 Named to National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame

by Steve Chassey

SUN PRAIRIE,Wis. -- Ken Hickey, Page Jones, Paul Krueger, Bob Nowicke, and ten participants from the Historical Era (1934-55) were announced today as the latest inductees into the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame. The announcement was made during the two-day 9th annual Hall of Fame Midget Classic USAC National/Badger Midget co-sanctioned event at Angell Park Speedway.

Hickey is recognized as one of the all-time great racing mechanics and a master of the Offenhauser engine. Hickey was involved in the sport from 1939 until a few years before his death in 1992. He twice won the ARDC Car Owners Championship, and his list of drivers include: Len Duncan, Charlie Breslin, Jimmie Kirk, Leigh Earnshaw, and Ronnie Dunstan, to name a few.

Jones joins his father Parnelli a 1990 inductee in the HoF, making them the sixth father-son combination to be inducted. Jones had a brilliant but short career in midgets, before suffering career ending injuries in September 1994 at Eldora Speedway. In 1993 Jones captured both the Belleville Midget Nationals and Pepsi Midget Nationals within a one-month period. His career includes: 18 USAC Western Midget, seven USAC National Midget, and seven Badger Midget feature victories driving for some of the sport's top car owners including: Larry Howard, Keith & Rusty Kunz, Wilke Racing, and Steve Lewis.

Krueger owned and maintained a two-car team competing in the Badger Midget Series during the 1960's. During his nine years as a car owner his cars captured the Badger title six times with three different drivers. Krueger then began his current 40-plus year involvement in the organization, holding several positions including: President, secretary, and secretary-treasurer. Krueger also currently oversees timing & scoring at each event, along with handling most of the day-to-day duties for Badger.

Nowicke, competed as a car owner during one of the most competitive stages in the sports history. His career highlights include 30 USAC National Midget victories won by drivers Bob Tattersall, Gary Bettenhausen, A.J. Foyt, Parnelli Jones and Billy Garrett. Foyt captured the 1961 Hut Hundred for Nowicke, while Bettenhausen won the prestigious Houston Astrodome event in 1969. Nowicke earlier in the month was inducted into the Kentucky Motorsports Hall of Fame.

The ten from the Historical Era include: George Amick, winner of 43 midget features and 1958 Indy 500 runner-up; Carl Badami, four-time Kansas City Midget Champion; Buzz Barton, West Coast standout; Ernie Casale, 1950 Turkey Night winner; Ray Elliott, six-time UARA Champion; Ted Hartley, driver, owner, builder; Ray Nichels, mechanic; George Rice, 1948 ARDC Midget Champion; Len Sutton, two-time WMRA Champion and 1962 Indy 500 runner-up; Chuck Marshall, 1946 SLARA Champion.

The 26th Annual Induction Ceremony for the fourteen will be held on Friday Jan. 15, 2010 in the Livestock Complex of the Ford Truck Arena on the Tulsa (Okla.) Fairgrounds, in conjunction with the annual Chili Bowl Midget Nationals. Their plaques will be on permanent display in the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame at Angell Park Speedway (Sun Prairie, Wis.).

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Officer: ‘Quite a sight’ - Louisville Courier-Journal

Posted: 31 Aug 2009 07:47 AM PDT

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The Lexington Herald-Leader reported the goods had been stolen over 25 years from the automotive company where Charles Helton worked. Sgt. Wilber Gross of the Cynthiana Police Department called it "quite a sight." It took two days and several ...