Autos
– Chrysler Group says its 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee will be available with a 3-liter turbodiesel V-6 in March. It will start at $38,475 for two-wheel-drive and $41,715 for four-wheel-drive Limited models and $41,960 for 2WD and $45,395 for 4WD Overland models. Prices include $695 freight. That’s about $3,000 more than the gas models. The Mercedes-built V-6 gets an estimated 20 m.p.g. city/25 m.p.g. highway with 2WD and 20/24 with 4WD.
– An 800-horsepower Shelby Cobra, once the personal car of Carroll Shelby, the racing veteran who developed it, has sold for $5.5 million at auction, a record for an American car. The sale of the 1966 Shelby Cobra “Super Snake,” with twin superchargers on a 427-cubic-inch V-8, brought a packed house to its feet at the annual Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction in Scottsdale, Ariz., after a pair of bidders drove the price up.
Recalls
– Toyota is recalling 533,000 2004-06 Tundra pickups and 2004-07 Sequoia SUVs over potential steering problems. Excessive wear to a front suspension lower ball joint could make it difficult to steer the vehicle and stay in the center of the lane. Drivers may also notice more noise coming from the front suspension.
– Chevrolet is recalling 98,707 2005-06 Cobalt sedans to upgrade head impact protection. The recall affects vehicles not equipped with optional roof-mounted side impact air bags. The issue was discovered during compliance testing and could pose a risk to a motorist not wearing a seat belt. Dealers will install energy absorbing plastic to the area.
Safety
– Public Citizen, an auto safety watchdog, has proposed a new test to measure a vehicle’s resistance to roof crush in a rollover. The test, developed by two California engineers, assesses whether the vehicle protects someone in a rollover and measures the effectiveness of seat belts, side air bags and the ability of windows to avoid shattering. More than 10,000 people died in rollover crashes in 2005.
Horses
– The Wal-Mart in Black River Falls, Wis., has joined stores in Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio and Indiana by adding hitching posts to the parking lot. Its 800-spot lot has spaces for the buggies and wagons driven by the Amish as well as for cars, trucks and minivans. Usually Amish residents tie their horses to trees or 30-minute parking signs.
FYI
– Through Feb. 14, General Motors is offering a $750 bonus to clear new 2006- or 2005-model cars and trucks from dealer lots.
– Indiana has not seen significant savings in road salt costs despite the mild winter because prices are up, the Transportation Department says. Many road-clearing products come from Gulf of Mexico ports, and shipping costs have risen since Hurricane Katrina.
– GM’s OnStar communications service, which allows motorists to summon emergency help or roadside assistance, may be expanded to outside the U.S. and Canada, according to OnStar President Chet Huber. Non-U.S. buyers accounted for 55 percent of the 9.1 million vehicles GM sold last year, and the world’s largest automaker expects to rely more heavily on markets overseas for growth.
People
– Bill Wimmer, vice president engineering of Union Pacific Railroad, has been named 2007 Railroader of the Year by trade journal Railway Age. Wimmer is the 44th recipient of the award, which was started by Modern Railroads magazine as the Man of the Year award. Wimmer will be honored March 20 in Chicago.
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Quick Trips are compiled from the notebooks of Jim Mateja and Rick Popely, and from Tribune news services.
