Canadian big rigs racing.

There are some wildly crazy forms of motorsport out there, I mean after all can you really get much wilder than school bus figure 8 races? Check out this video from Canada. It shows a race that features big rigs as the weapon of choice, and these aren't your typical truck you see out on the highway. Though they do appear to have been so at one point in their life. Click the link and check it out.

Canadian Big Rig Racing.

Battle Cross Gymkhana 

I wish I had the full support of Factory Subaru.

Mercedes Benz C63 AMG Black Series

It goes real fast.

2012 Fiat Abarth coming to America 

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Wiesmann MF5 Roadster Black Bat Special

Wiesmann MF5 Roadster

Black Bat Special

The term "Batmobile" is one that gets thrown around a lot in automotive circles. Pretty much anything black and sinister is described as the Dark Knight's new ride. But aside from the handful of custom vehicles made for the various TV shows and movie installments over the years – ranging from campy to badass – few have been truly worthy of the name. Enter the Wiesmann MF5 Black Bat.

Starting with the top-of-the-line V10-powered MF5 retro roadster, customizers SchwabenFolia and Dahler have produced the closest thing to a genuine Batmobile this side of the Tumbler... particularly when photographed against the backdrop of a rather Wayne Manor-esque gothic mansion. They've wrapped it in matte black, blacked out the chrome and given it a set of noir BBS 20-inch alloys with polished rims.

There's even a little Batman logo on the back, but the party piece is the ECU reflash and new exhaust that have brought output up from the 507 horsepower featured in the old BMW M5 and M6 to a nice, round 600. Six-piston Brembo calipers keep the power in check, but with that much bat-juice under hood, we wouldn't expect to see this beast sitting still for long – so you'd better check it out in the high-res image gallery if you want to catch a glimpse.

The Future

This past week I was invited to sit in on an advisory panel for Lincoln Technical Institute in Whitestone, Queens. The purpose of this panel was to tour the school and offer feedback on the program. The facility is state of the art and the program is an excellent start for young technicians wanting to get into the business. I was honored to be asked for my opinion on various subjects during the feedback sessions. Just wanted to say thank you to the people over at Lincoln Tech for the invite. I am hopeful for the future of the automotive industry and the automotive technician.
Speaking of the future and feedback. I am at the seven month mark with my Ottotest scantool. Look for an unabashed detailed review of this scantool real soon. Future articles also include more fun with a low amp probe including more fuel pump patterns as well as checking ignition low amp patterns. Also, a blast from the past Lexus odyssey, GM Class 2 issues caused by a "chia pet", an Audi evap issue, and two similiar Caravans with different end results. I think I will also detail a "day in the life" of a mobile diagnostic guy like myself. Any suggestions for articles? Feel free. 

OCTOBER 2011 Meeting "minutes"

AWA MEETING MINUTES   OCTOBER 2011

• Welcome Members/Visitors:
Sarah Heidler, Esquire Motors; Carra Molgard, LKQ Keystone ; Betty Kindel, retired technician and educator; Norma Holcombe, Sherwood Auto Repair; Margaret Ragan, Tigard SUV and Automotive; June Boone, retired Hawthorne Auto Clinic

* NATA newsletter- 

 Margaret wrote an article for the NATA news letter regarding the Oktoberfest event, and brought copies for suggestions. Minor alterations were made to improve the piece and Margaret will submit to NATA along with a couple of photos for publication.

* Financial Report (Margaret Regan)

There is $857.76 in the checking account.

$619 was made from the Oktoberfest event ticket sales and door prize sales.

$4257 was made from the sale of raffle tickets for the Snap On toolbox.

All monies except for what is in the checking account have been delivered to PCC, but there was $2497 that was still unassigned.  It was decided by consensus that that money should go to the endowment fund.

The restricted fund currently has over $7000.

Scholarships

There have been no scholarships awarded this year.  It is up to the program chair to award and nobody was sure exactly why no scholarships have been awarded.
Margaret and Betty will talk to Russ regarding this issue and report back to the group.

Second annual Oktoberfest AAR (After Action Review)

The sausage was better than last year (came from Edelweiss this year).   There were 40 lbs purchased.

There were too many beans – 2- 32 oz cans are too much.

Too much Kraut left over – two 32 oz cans and one jar is too much.   We should do just jars next year.

We need a go-to person for the event (somebody there to tell everybody what to do)

It would be nice to have a hostess or greater to help people coming in and make everybody feel welcome, even if they don’t know anybody.

We should have a line card or brochure about who we are and what we do.  (more information available about us)

We should make it ½ price for students.

We should reach out to past scholarship recipients.

We need a big ticket item for next year’s event (Carra volunteered to start on that now)

Marketing should be more structured 

* Organizational discussion:  Some of the issues brought up in the post action review led us to talk about needing more structure to our organization.

Margaret and Sarah both agreed that they had not been doing as much as they had in the past due to burn-out.

Sarah also brought up the issue of the organization’s narrowing focus.  So much time on the scholarship fund at PCC, we fail to fulfill the other aspects of our mission statement, and fail to reach other potential members that might not be interested in that narrow focus.  She asked everybody to consider the organization’s mission statement, and how we might, as a group, re-focus to fulfill broader needs. 

The group agreed that we should come up with a formal structure.  This will promote involvement and ease the burden on some of us if everybody knows what they need to do.

AWA should seriously consider forming an official non-profit.

Sarah will do the research and create bylaws with the help of all active members via email (she will not be at the next meeting).  She will also research what needs to happen to become a non-profit.

* COMING UP:

The next “meeting” will be our Holiday Party Potluck to be held at Margareta’s house on Dec 4^th at 2pm. 19605 S Unger Rd  Beavercreek, OR 97004

The Jan 25^th, and will be our “restructuring meeting” where we will emerge with a new, formal structure, and maybe non profit status.