Autos
*Smart USA has collected $99 deposits from more than 21,000 potential buyers of the For- Two, the two-seat micro car due to go on sale early in 2008. Placing a refundable deposit on Smart’s Web site ( www.smartusa.com) puts consumers in line to buy the car but does not commit them to a purchase or guarantee when one will be available. The tiny ForTwo (more than three feet shorter than a Mini Cooper), will start at less than $12,000 for the Pure model. About 55 percent of deposits have been for the better-equipped Passion model, which starts around $14,000, and 35 percent for a $17,000 convertible with a power top. All will have a 1-liter, 3-cylinder gas engine, a manual transmission with automatic shift capability, electronic stability control and anti-lock brakes. Smart USA President Dave Schembri says the ForTwo has attracted a mix of early adopters, from young urban residents seeking an entry-level car to Baby Boomers adding a second or third car. “It’s a vehicle that appeals to people on an emotional perspective like the Mini and on a practical perspective like the Toyota Yaris with its low operating costs,” Schembri says, projecting the car will average more than 40 miles per gallon.
*A 1957 Plymouth Belvedere buried on the courthouse lawn in Tulsa to celebrate Oklahoma’s 50 years of statehood has been unearthed. The gold and white two-door hardtop, swathed in three layers of material in a concrete vault, had turned brown and red with rust. The car contains a spool of microfilm that recorded the entries of a contest to determine who would win the car: the person who guessed the closest of what Tulsa’s population would be in 2007 — 382,457. The winner, still to be determined by accounting firm Deloitte, gets the car and a $100 placed in a savings account in 1957 that’s worth about $1,200 today with interest.
Recall
*Cannondale is recalling about 6,700 mountain bicycles with Lefty Speed SL and Lefty Speed DLR forks that can break during use, causing the rider to lose control of the bicycle, fall and suffer injuries. Call 800-245-3872 or visit www.cannondale.com or www.cpsc.gov.
Safety
*Buick and Oldsmobile models with superchargers may be at risk for engine fires and have been added to a U.S. investigation of Pontiac Grand Prix GTP cars, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says. Besides the 1999-2002 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP, the inquiry covers the: Buick Park Avenue, Regal and Rivera; Oldsmobile LSS; and Pontiac Bonneville and Grand Prix. Some 177,740 cars with supercharged V-6s are involved.
Air
*The Indianapolis Airport Authority will snuff out smoking on airport-owned properties starting Jan. 1. The ban extends from the Indianapolis International Airport to the Eagle Creek Airpark, Metropolitan Airport, Mt. Comfort Airport, the downtown heliport and Hendricks County Airport-Gordon Graham Field. Fines are $50 for the first violation in a calendar year and $200 for subsequent ones.
FYI
*Indiana driver’s licenses and ID cards are getting a high-tech makeover. The new license includes data visible only under a black light and a two-dimensional bar code on the back. Licenses and IDs for Hoosiers younger than 21 will include the dates the recipient turns 18 and 21, highlighted in red and yellow.
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Quick Trips are compiled from the notebooks of Jim Mateja and Rick Popely, and from Tribune news services.
