“Dream cars keep on rolling despite tight times - Dallas Morning News” plus 4 more

Dream cars keep on rolling despite tight times - Dallas Morning News
Auto incentives down in Sept., to increase in Oct. - Detroit Free Press
Toyota chief says company is reeling - Lexington Herald-Leader
4-county ATV, motorcycle theft ring busted - Mercury
Driver strikes building - Fremont News-Messenger

Dream cars keep on rolling despite tight times - Dallas Morning News

Posted: 03 Oct 2009 08:05 AM PDT

As the economy grew colder by the day, Chris Jean sometimes shivered just thinking about the six-figure hot rod he was having built.Three different times earlier this year, Jean called Kustom Classics in Fort Worth, intending to tell shop co-owner Bobby Mikus to stop work on Jean's black '34 Ford highboy coupe.

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"I couldn't say the words," said Jean, 41, a real estate investor and developer from Slidell, La. "I didn't need an expensive toy, and I was wondering what I could do with that $100,000-plus. But I couldn't do it. I wasn't that desperate."

Thousands of fellow enthusiasts at Texas Motor Speedway this weekend know precisely what Jean means. Despite an economy that severely crippled the mainstream auto industry, more than 2,000 hot rods, customs and muscle cars – many of them costing more than $50,000 – will rumble proudly into the speedway for the Goodguys Rod & Custom Association's 17th Lone Star Nationals.

Few of the cars and trucks serve as real transportation. Most are just stunning steel and chrome expressions of their owners' passion for cars – vehicles that typically get driven a few thousand miles a year, usually on sunny weekends.

And their owners will eat out less or buy fewer clothes or postpone the purchase of that new couch just to be able to keep and drive their cars.

"We have seen some guys pull money out of the stock market and put it into cars," said Mikus of Kustom Classics. "Cars are a lot more stable right now."

Likewise, attendance and the number of entrants at Goodguys' shows nationwide have remained steady at about the same levels as last year, said Marc Meadors, president of the California-based association.

"I had expected to feel more," Meadors said. "Now, I'm thinking, OK, this thing can weather a pretty good storm."

Jean's chopped and channeled highboy, now wearing a wild set of green flames and sporting a highly polished, supercharged Chevy V-8, will be at the Lone Star show, which started Friday and runs through Sunday. (He'll receive a trophy Sunday for owning "Hottest Rod of the Show.")

So will Eric Whetstone's eye-popping red 1970 Camaro, a car that has been in planning or assembly for 10 years – including recent tough times when Whetstone was grappling with the economy and a divorce.

"The car helped keep me sane," said Whetstone, 46, a designer from Arlington. "It was something I could hold onto."

Though Whetstone spent more than $50,000 on the car during the two-year period that it was being built at HCC Performance in Dallas, he views it as a "life's investment."

"You can put the money in the bank and get no interest on it, you can put it on Wall Street and gamble it away, or you can invest in your dream," he said.

The terrible economy – a factor in the bankruptcies of General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC – also weighed heavily on the two local shops that built Jean's hot rod and Whetstone's street machine. But both stayed afloat, relying on work from hard-core customers and running as lean as they could.

Although many customers cut their car expenditures, they didn't turn loose of their vehicles.

Mikus had to lay off five people at his shop, most of the workforce. But he recently hired three workers as car projects began to roll back in.

"Things have loosened up," he said.

Tim Mason, owner of HCC Performance, didn't lay off anyone from his small staff during the depths of the recession, but he acknowledges being deeply concerned.

"We have had just enough work to get by," Mason said. "Now things are really starting to look up."

Even in the depths of the recession, Quantum Performance in Farmers Branch had work. The shop builds muscle cars and hot rods, and is an authorized Shelby Mustang modification shop.

"The economy can't chase away people who are true enthusiasts," said Kenny Northrum, president of Quantum Performance, whose Super Snake modification packages for GT 500 Mustangs start at $30,000.

Joey Riley, owner of Riley Performance Motorcars in Valley View, calls the hot-rod hobby a "disease" that he helps ease.

"People start out thinking they just want to have this one dream car, and a couple of years later, something else catches their eye," said Riley, who has 18 or 19 vehicles awaiting work at his shop.

At the Sachse Rod Shop, one of the deans of the local hot-rod business with more than 25 years tenure, the number of big projects between $80,000 and $500,000 has dropped, said Chad White, shop manager.

About half of the 10 cars there this week were large "turnkey" projects, but the shop is filling in with smaller suspension, powertrain and air-conditioning work that can generate $5,000 to $10,000 per vehicle.

"We haven't had any projects we had to stop because of the economy," White said.

Whetstone, after spending thousands of dollars on his '70 Camaro, figures his son, 16, will someday inherit his special car.

"I let him start it the other day, and he ... smiled and said, 'Dad, I can hardly wait until you die.' "

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Auto incentives down in Sept., to increase in Oct. - Detroit Free Press

Posted: 03 Oct 2009 08:55 AM PDT

Industrywide incentive spending fell in September, which means customers had to pay more for their new cars and trucks last month, but spending will likely increase in October.

The average vehicle incentive offered by automakers in September was $2,743, a 6.3% decline compared with the same month last year, according to estimates from Autodata Corp. Automakers do not publicly release their incentive spending, so some independent firms such as Autodata provide estimates.

Jesse Toprak, vice president of industry analysis for TrueCar.com, said the decline in incentive spending is the result of reduced inventories following the popular cash-for-clunkers program.

"Automakers simply did not have enough inventory to worry about moving the product with incentives," he said.

September's decline in incentive spending followed the end of the federal government's cash-for-clunkers incentive program in late August and contributed to a 23% decline in car and truck sales in September.

Ford, which continues to show signs of strength in the market, managed to gain 2.8 points of market share compared with last September even while it reduced its average incentives by 34.4%.

Luxury automakers, which didn't benefit much from the sales generated by cash-for-clunkers, generally increased incentive spending in September.

Porsche, for example, increased its incentives by 1,000% in September to $6,764 while Mercedes-Benz increased its incentives 20.7% to $4,706, according to estimates by Autodata Corp.

Toprak said that the decrease in September spending would likely be temporary because automakers ramped up production in August and have largely replenished dealership inventories.

What's more, automakers including Ford Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. are expecting the pace of industry sales to increase during the final three months of the year.

"For the rest of the year... we are probably going to see incentives increase for pretty much everybody," Toprak said.

Toyota said in September that it plans to revitalize its U.S. sales with a $1-billion marketing blitz in the fourth quarter.

"Toyota has plans to invest heavily in marketing activities, reflecting our belief that the market is there and recovering," Don Esmond, Toyota's senior vice president of U.S. sales, said Thursday.

Mark LaNeve, vice president of U.S. sales for GM, said Thursday that GM plans to reduce incentive spending on passenger cars and SUVs in the fourth quarter as it launches new models but will boost incentives on pickups, as automakers typically do in the fall.

"We will have very aggressive truck incentives," LaNeve said.

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Toyota chief says company is reeling - Lexington Herald-Leader

Posted: 03 Oct 2009 07:15 AM PDT

Further, Toyoda said his company was shamefully unprepared for the global economic crisis that has devastated the auto industry and is a step away from "capitulation to irrelevance or death." The company, he added, is "grasping for salvation."

The words, coming only three months after Toyoda took the helm of the company founded by his grandfather, reinforced previous statements from top Toyota executives expressing their concerns that the automaker, which earned $18.8 billion only two years ago, was floundering.

"In the Japanese business setting, it's a serious act," said Ulrike Schaede, a professor of Japanese business at the University of California at San Diego.

Schaede said the apologies were meant to send a message to company employees and car buyers that Toyoda planned a new direction for the company.

"If you're Mr. Toyoda and you're coming in at this point, you don't have many options of how you make a big impact," she said.

Toyota expects a record loss of 450 billion yen, or $5 billion, for the 2009 fiscal year that will end in March, on top of a similar loss for 2008. If the market does not improve, some analysts are forecasting the company could again lose money in 2010.

While it still has plenty of cash and outranks General Motors as the world's biggest carmaker, that is not good enough, Toyoda told journalists.

The company, hit by a spate of recalls in the middle of the decade, is betraying its roots as a high-quality automaker, he said.

Last week, Toyota announced its biggest recall ever in the United States after a crash in August in which a California highway patrol officer and three family members were killed.

The accident, which Toyoda called "extremely regrettable," apparently occurred when the accelerator got jammed by a floor mat.

"Four precious lives have been lost. I offer my deepest condolences," Toyoda said. "Customers bought our cars because they thought they were the safest. But now we have given them cause for grave concern," he said. "I can't begin to express my remorse."

The appointment of Toyoda, who took over in June, is seen as an attempt by Toyota to get back to basics, after a period of what some have called recklessly fast expansion overseas, and into bigger vehicles like SUVs and pickup trucks.

Toyota has doubled in size since the beginning of the decade, but its rapid manufacturing expansion has left it with too much production capacity, including a yet-to-open plant near Tupelo, Miss.

"Things haven't gone like they've planned, and they're wrestling with two issues — over investing and the exchange rate shift," said David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Toyoda, who spoke in August at the center's annual conference outside Traverse City, Mich., has previously talked about the company in a more visionary and less remorseful way.

Indeed, his shift in tone might need to be taken with a grain of salt.

"Sometimes, this apology business is a way to avoid taking real action or responsibility," said Robert Dujarric, director of the Institute of Contemporary Japanese Studies at Temple University's Japan campus.

"When you hear these long apologies," Dujarric said, "It makes you want to say: 'Don't be sorry, just do something about it.' "

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4-county ATV, motorcycle theft ring busted - Mercury

Posted: 03 Oct 2009 06:32 AM PDT

By Cindy Scharr, Special to The Mercury

Click to enlarge

PETER DESANTIS

MEDIA — Local authorities have busted a theft ring responsible for more than $250,000 in stolen motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles from across a four-county area.

Five men are under arrest, charged with multiple felonies, for allegedly stealing ATVs and race-style, or "Ninja," motorcycles from apartments and homes in Delaware, Chester, Montgomery and Berks counties. Michael Tinsley, of Pompton Lakes, N.J., remains at large.

About 13 of the vehicles have been recovered and returned to their owners or to insurance companies, authorities said.

The vehicles were fenced through a man known as "Frank" in Port Chester, N.Y., or sold on the street after being altered, authorities said. New York and New Jersey authorities have been notified of the investigation, but "Frank" has not yet been charged.

This was "an extensive and complex auto theft case," said Michelle Staton, executive director of the Pennsylvania Auto Theft Prevention Authority at a press conference announcing the arrests Thursday.

Between June 2008 and June of this year, police departments across the area received numerous reports of thefts of ATVs and motorcycles. Most, if not all, of the thefts were from apartment complexes and committed between midnight and 5 a.m., authorities said.

"We became aware of a pattern of motorcycle and ATV thefts stolen mostly in Chester County and along the Route 3 corridor," said Westtown-East Goshen police Sgt. Bill Cahill.

Delaware County District Attorney G. Michael Green said three of the defendants, Peter DeSantis, Michael Furfaro and Joseph Pizzuto, would obtain information about the locations of bikes and ATVs through several sources, including Mark Dyer, a former employee of Cross Road Power Sport in Upper Darby.

Dyer would allegedly provide the thieves with information about high-end bikes that were sold or serviced through his employer.

"Some of these bikes were identified through Craigslist or eBay," said Cahill, reminding people to be careful when they list things for sale on the Internet.

The alleged thieves even stole from friends, according to court documents.

In September 2008, DeSantis and Furfaro allegedly stole a 2006 Honda CBR1000 from the rear of a home on Easton Road in Upper Darby. What they didn't know at the time was that the bike belonged to a friend who goes by the name of "Cockroach." The bike was parked behind Cockroach's sister's house.

The two alleged thieves were unaware it was their friend's $10,000 bike when they stole it, court documents indicate.

In addition, three Delaware County men are charged with stealing more than $60,000 in commercial landscaping equipment, including a 1995 Ford F350 truck.

Charged in connection with the equipment thefts are David Murray, 28, of the 400 block of Burmont Road, Upper Darby; Stephen Dantonio, 37, of the unit block of East Township Line Road, Havertown; and Joseph Murray, 32, of the unit block of Brandywine Street, Chadds Ford.

"David and Joseph Murray would go out and physically steal the equipment, either on their own or at the direction of Stephen Dantonio," Green said. "Dantonio would then pay the Murrays for the equipment and sell the stolen merchandise at a profit."

Green added that Dantonio allegedly purchased three stolen ATVs from Pizzaro and admitted to knowing they had been stolen.

The defendants who have been apprehended are: DeSantis, 38, of the 300 block of Crum Creek Lane, Newtown Square; Furfaro, 23, of the 300 block of Creek Drive, Radnor; Pizzuto, 34, of the 100 block of St. Laurence Road, Upper Darby; Dyer, 23, of the 1000 block of Pine Street, Darby; and Anthony Gianossa, 41, of the 300 block of Creek Road, Radnor.

Tinsley, 22, of the unit block of Durham Street, Pompton Lakes, N.J., remains at large.

Anyone with information as to his whereabouts is urged to contact Newtown Police at 610-356-0602.

DeSantis, Furfaro, Joseph and David Murray are currently incarcerated at Delaware County prison. The remainder of those charged were released on bail.

Authorities noted that the investigation was a cooperative effort between a number of law enforcement agencies in the four-county area.

The probe was led by Cahill, Newtown Detective John Newell, Randolph Martin of the Delaware County Criminal Investigation Division's Auto Theft Unit, Detective Mike Ragni and Cpl. Dave Leahy from the Westtown-East Goshen Regional Police Department and Cpl. Matthew Blauvelt of the Pennsylvania State Police.

"Because of their diligence and the cooperative efforts of detectives from multiple jurisdictions, this ring was taken down and police were able to recover 13 stolen bikes and ATVs, over $60,000 in commercial landscaping equipment, a construction trailer and a stolen firearm," said Green.

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Driver strikes building - Fremont News-Messenger

Posted: 03 Oct 2009 04:31 AM PDT

FREMONT -- Police are looking for the driver of a large truck that struck a vacant East State Street building early Thursday morning.

On Friday, caution tape still surrounded the perimeter of the former American Auto Sales at 202 E. State St.

According to Fremont police reports, someone operating a large truck with a trailer was driving through the parking lot of the auto sales building.

The truck attempted a U-turn and made a sharp right turn, striking the building on the northeast corner and causing major damage.

Reports indicate the accident happened around 12:30 a.m., and the impact forced the building off its foundation. Police found maroon paint near the impact point.

Police say a Bettsville man driving to work around 6:30 a.m. Thursday noticed a large maroon truck with a trailer parked in the lot between Golden Dragon and Whitey's Diner. The man said it was a grain-type trailer with the maroon-colored front truck. Police believe the driver was getting food at Whitey's Diner.

Checks with two local businesses, Heinz and Andersons Farm Center, came up negative as Heinz was the only company with a delivery this morning. The Heinz truck had no evidence of damage.

Anyone with information on who the possible driver of the truck is urged to call the Fremont Police Department at 419-332-6464.