When gasoline was rationed or nonexistent during World War II, many cars were converted to run on firewood. The trend is making a comeback of sorts as gas prices rise higher and higher. See some of these cars and find out how it’s done at Low-Tech Magazine. Link -via the Presurfer

As part of this ultimate birthday celebration Gilbert and her family will receive suite passes overlooking “The Magic Mile,” where they will enjoy every lap of the LENOX Industrial Tools 301.

Gilbert will also have the opportunity to rub elbows with the stars of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series during the Sunday morning drivers’ meeting.

The longtime race fan was surprised with this once in a lifetime opportunity from her family and Gappens. When told she would be riding around the speedway in the pace car, she was ready to leave for Loudon immediately.

Included in her birthday package was a race car cake, an official LENOX Industrial Tools 301 hat, NHMS jacket and birthday card. Her favorite driver Carl Edwards even signed and sent an official crew shirt and birthday wishes.

“My mom has always been a major race fan. She doesn’t miss a race on TV,” says daughter Marie Anne Mills.

Gilbert has been a fan of auto racing for over 50 years, and the folks at the track appreciate her. Link -via Fark

Who killed the hybrid car? It seems that 100 years before the Prius was mass produced Porsche sold what was the first hybrid gas electric car. The vehicle used a gas engine to run an electric generator which powered the motor, allowing a battery to run the car if it ran out of fuel. Built in 1900, none of the original cars exist so it was painstakingly recreated to be put on display at this year’s New York Auto Show.  Link

The cars are built using an efficient process that first attaches most of the car’s parts to the chassis, and then adds a pre-painted body as a last step, similar to the way Formula One vehicles are built.

Look at the gallery below, and you’ll see that the car is so tiny that three of them can fit into a single parallel parking space. If all cars were this size, we’d live in a utopian energy-saving world.

The T25 should be available in two years, with an all-electric version, the T27, following later. Link

Police cars that are sports cars, smart cars, and off road vehicles from all over the world.

While our cars say something about our personality, they are also tools we use to get a job done. One of those jobs is police work, and sometimes the police cars can be just as unique as our own personalities and the jobs they need to do. Here’s a list of over 30 different police cars from around the world, with everything from exotic sports cars, small mini cars, huge SUV’s off road vehicles, luxury sedans, buses and trailers. Chances are if it’s on the road there’s probably a police force using it.

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by digimouse.

You Auto Lay an Egg (AKA It’s a Bird) is a 1930 short film by cartoonist Charley Bowers and directed by Harold L. Muller in which a freaky, talking, stop-motion bird lays an egg that hatches into a (real) full-size car.

It looks like they accomplished the trick by sawing the car into tiny bits frame by frame and then running the film backwards, but the results are truly astonishing however they were achieved (Remember, this is before the age of CGI). Set some time aside, because you’re probably going to watch this clip three time in a row.

– via monstersandrockets

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by gregs.

What do you get when you combine a bunch of technically inclined Romanians, half of a Volkswagen, and half of an Opel?  Something that looks ridiculously unsafe but really wickedly fun!  I think I like the name Vopel for it.

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by killa.

Goodwin is making a name for himself -- and his company, H-Line Conversions -- by turning gas-guzzling behemoths like Hummers, Cadillac Escalades, Jeeps and other big American cars into clean-power machines.

The first thing he does is remove the old inefficient engine -- even if it's a brand new vehicle -- and replace it with a diesel engine that can run on biodiesel.

"It's the transformation of what I call old technology to new technology," Goodwin says.

Link

From the Upcoming Queue, submitted by whitespace.