By Mark Atkinson, MSN Autos

Hyundai has been on a roll lately. First with the revamped Elantra Touring, then with the excellent Tucson small sport-ute, and now with the elegantly designed Sonata sedan. Those who doubt the automaker’s quality and refinement would do well to drop by a dealership and see for themselves. But, when Hyundai launched the 2011 Sonata in Los Angeles, officials announced that there would be no V6 engines coming to fill the power gap.

By David Menzies

Earth Hour 2010: Was it good for you, living for 60 minutes in the darkness and partying like it was 1799?

Personally, I wouldn’t know. Your humble correspondent took a completely different approach to Earth Hour last Saturday: I lit up my house like a Las Vegas casino – inside and out.

Borrowing movie lights from the Toronto Media & Film College and procuring the services of an industrial-grade four-beam searchlight, my Richmond Hill, Ont. abode resembled a glittering gem. I simply wanted to protest the hypocrisy of Earth Hour. For example, who needs preachy environmental types – from Al Gore to David Suzuki (who have carbon footprints significantly larger than average citizens) – telling the rest of us to make do with less?

As well, it’s nothing short of egregious that Coca-Cola is the Gold sponsor of Earth Hour. If Coke really wanted to do something tangible for the environment, the company would embrace the most environmentally-friendly package available: refillable bottles. Coke prefers throwaway plastic bottles.

So, you ask: what does an Earth Hour mock protest have to do with the auto world?

Glad you asked! Since my searchlights could be seen raking the sky for several kilometres away, numerous curious types followed the beams to my little suburban court. And many of the people descending upon my home turned out to be aging hippies, enviro-weenies, and the Birkenstock Brigade.

By Mark Atkinson, MSN Autos

Those less than enamoured by Ford’s confirmation that its Crown Victoria-based Police Interceptor units are to be replaced by Taurus-based units in 2012 now have someone else to root for. U.S.-based Carbon Motors is aiming to become the police car of choice thanks to its ground-up design, good power and excellent fuel efficiency.

By David Menzies

With the Vancouver Olympics gradually fading from memory, is there any post-2010 Winter Games housekeeping to take care of from a vehicular standpoint?

As a matter of fact, there is.

It appears the fine folk at Frank J. Zamboni Co., Inc.  are still steaming about the press coverage given to the lemon-like Zambonis at the Games. And with good reason: turns out the ice resurfacing machines that were conking out weren’t Zambonis after all.

Indeed, the Paramount, Calif.-based ice resurfacing machine manufacturer is still miffed that it was maligned for wonky Olympia ice resurfacing machines manufactured by Zamboni competitor, Resurface Corp. (Resurface outbid Zamboni for the Olympic contract.)

Alas, so strong is the Zamboni brand name that numerous folks simply assumed that the tractor-like vehicles doing ovals on the ice were Zambonis. Some even use the word “Zamboni” as a verb – for example, “Have they Zambonied the ice yet?” All of which drives the company nuts as it is somewhat obsessive about its trademarks.

But the fact of the matter is “Zamboni” is even listed in the dictionary, much like Kleenex, which means Zamboni enjoys tremendous brand awareness for its products, thereby reducing marketing costs.

By Mark Atkinson, MSN Autos

Not content to let the competition get a leg up in the fuel-economy stakes, Chevrolet announced details on its upcoming Cruze Eco, a specialized model with tweaks designed to wring every single metre from a litre of fuel.

 
By David Menzies

We’ll say this for Krystal Gardner of Dallas: she must really, really love her 2001 Ford Expedition. Perhaps even more so than her own flesh and blood.

After all, when the repo man showed up to tow away her supersized SUV (even though the vehicle is a decade old, apparently it hasn’t been fully paid off yet), the Mother of the Year candidate used her one-year-old child to foil the tow-away attempt.

Football is huge in Texas, so perhaps it wasn’t surprising that Gardner resembled a Dallas Cowboys quarterback as she tossed her infant child into the Expedition’s open backseat window.

Talk about a bouncing baby boy.

But there was indeed method to her madness: under Texas law, a vehicle cannot be repossessed if there’s a person inside.

Luke Ross, the repo man who was involved in the bizarre incident, told Dallas Police he stopped the vehicle immediately since the baby landed “hard” upon the Expedition’s backseat and started to sob.

However, Ross didn’t get a chance to confront Gardner. That’s because the repo man was greeted by the woman’s other son – a 15-year-old totting a 12-guage shotgun.

By Mark Atkinson, MSN Autos

Subaru’s trusty performance icon, the Impreza WRX, has had a tumultuous few years. When it was completely redesigned in 2008, enthusiasts were saddened to discover that some of the magic was lost. A new rear suspension design was initially blamed, but too-light steering, lots of lean and other factors contributed to its fall from grace. Various improvements incorporated in following model years, like a more powerful engine and retuned dynamics in 2009, but it was still a shade of its former self.

By David Menzies

When you think of Canada, what comes to mind? There’s the “Three Ms” (moose, Mounties and maple syrup). Tim Hortons. Fields of wheat. And surely, that great Canadian game known as street hockey.

Indeed, who amongst us hasn’t grabbed an old Koho stick and a ratty tennis ball to play a little old time shinny – not on a sheet of ice but upon a crescent of blacktop, the air punctuated by wood scraping the asphalt and the occasional cry of “Car!”

But alas, a man in Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Que., found out – the hard way – that in some municipalities, the great Canadian pastime of street hockey is strictly verboten.

Earlier this month, David Sasson was fined $75 for playing road hockey with his seven-year-old son and his young friends. Evidently, a neighbour found the sight and sounds of kids playing street hockey offensive. Instead of turning the other cheek, that person called the city to complain about the noise and the traffic disruption.

“It's a disgrace,” Sasson told Montreal radio station CJAD News. “Kids are becoming obese every day. Here, my kids are out playing, enjoying the weather, not behind a television, not behind an Xbox, and I have to explain to them that in essence they broke the law and we can no longer do it.”

Sasson says there’s little if any traffic on the small crescent in front of his house.

Dollard-des-Ormeaux director general Jack Benzaquen says the municipality had to respond to the complaint because, well, the law is the law.

By Mark Atkinson, MSN Autos

Directing the best and brightest young minds in the world towards a goal to on how to save fuel is a wonderful achievement. If you’re a giant oil company doing the directing, that takes a little getting used to. That’s exactly what Shell is doing now with its annual Eco-marathon Americas energy challenge, taking place this weekend in Houston, Texas.

By David Menzies

They say dead men tell no tales. But as fans of hit TV shows such as CSI and Dexter know all too well, bits and pieces of human remains can speak volumes…

Case in point: Polish police recently arrested a 29-year-old woman on suspicion that she is responsible for a fatal hit-and-run accident involving a pedestrian.

According to a report in Agence France-Presse, she might’ve gotten away with the crime had she not taken her Bimmer in for servicing. Once her car was upon the hoist, the shop’s mechanic found part of a human body part jammed into the undercarriage.

“Many traces, including human tissue, were found in the undercarriage of the BMW,” Warsaw Police said in a statement.

A source close to the investigation says the mechanic actually found a human nose jammed in the frame of the woman’s car.