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ON-THE-MOVE
JUNE 25, 2012
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Classic cars bring in big cash
Boomers ready to spend on automobiles of their dreams By G. Chambers Williams III The Tennessean
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A growing number of baby boomers are finally able to afford the cars of their dreams, made possible by a boost in disposable income that comes from getting their kids educated and out of the house. In many cases, their dreams are from their teenage and twentysomething years when most had to make do on a Ford Pinto budget. “The collector-car hobby has really taken off in the past few years, with boomers flush with cash and a desire to recapture some part of their youth,” said Jim Brandeau of Spring Hill, Tenn., whose online magazine, the Gearhead Gazzette, chronicles the hobby in Middle Tennessee. He’s also co-owner, along with Paul Shauck, of a car restoration and customization shop in College Grove, Tenn., called Hot Rods & Threads. “The most popular thing right now is the muscle cars,” he said, such as the Dodge Challenger and Charger, Chev-
rolet Camaro, Ford Mustang and Pontiac GTO, among others. “People are really wanting those cars, trying to relive the days when horsepower was king. But trucks play a role, too. It really depends on what your flavor is.” Some people seek out specific cars, such as one their father or grandfather drove, or a vehicle they had to sell when they got married and settled down for a few decades. “Back in the day, I never had any money, but I always wanted a car like that,” said Rodger Klein, 64, of Franklin, Tenn., who now owns a bright orange 1970 Dodge Challenger muscle car. Collector cars — particularly the most-soughtafter ones — aren’t cheap, and some people spend upward of $100,000 to buy and restore them. Klein found his Challenger — in need of a complete restoration — in 2009 at Team Witt Restorations & Customs in Nashville, Tenn. The shop, owned by Kirby Witt, spent the next 2½ years bringing it back to mint condition. Witt opened the shop
four years ago after working several years in the body shops of new car dealerships. He found car owners willing to spend the money to restore a classic vehicle to original factory specs, even though most such detailed projects “begin at around $100,000 and go up from there.” “Like everything else, costs to restore cars have gone up,” he said. “But to do it right, we have to strip a car completely down to where you can’t take out another screw, and completely rebuild it to where everything is new again.” The final tab can vary widely, he said, depending on whether it’s a 1968 Camaro “that I can still buy most of the parts for, or a 1948 Dodge pickup that I might have to make the parts for.” In 1999, Andy Holeman of Nashville bought a 1969 Dodge Charger R/T in California from John Schneider, who played Bo Duke on the TV series “The Dukes of Hazzard.” He brought the car here, kept it tucked away in his garage for several years, then turned it over to Witt for a remake. Finished about a year ago, Holeman’s black Charger has already won several awards at classic car shows.
Ray Jones says his 1930s era Oldsmobile coupe rides on a chassis and engine from a modern-day Chevrolet S10 compact pickup. GANNETT
New sedan will make or break Tesla Dee-ann Durbin Associated Press
DETROIT — It’s a make or break moment for electric car maker Tesla Motors. Tesla has lost nearly $1 billion selling high-end electric sports cars to the likes of George Clooney. Now it’s going to attempt to sell them to the rest of us — and try to make money doing so. The company’s first mass-market, five-seat sedan will be delivered Friday. The car, called the Model S, will either propel the company to profitability or leave it sputtering on the fumes of a $465 million government loan. “The Model S is the going to be the first true mass market product experiment for Tesla, one they cannot afford to fail,” says Jesse Toprak, vice president of market intelligence at car buying site TrueCar.com. Tesla, the brainchild of PayPal billionaire and SpaceX founder Elon Musk, has always been a moon shot. Analysts and auto industry insiders scoffed at the idea that a new car company could be created from scratch and built in a high-cost state like California. Boardroom turmoil and a string of technical problems repeatedly delayed the launch of the company’s only car, the $109,000 two-seat Tesla Roadster. Tesla survived by creating something so unique that the price tag was almost irrelevant: A beautiful car that could tear up a race track without burning a single drop of gasoline. Celebrities flocked to it, giving Tesla a cache that an established brand like Cadillac could only dream of. Now Tesla must do something much more difficult. It has to convince more traditional car
customers to buy an expensive vehicle with limited range from a small, untested company. The Model S carries a starting price of $49,900 after a federal tax credit — about the same as a Lexus RX hybrid crossover. Models top out at $101,550, or about the same as a hybrid Fisker Karma sports car. A car that’s half the price of the Roadster lets Tesla break into a bigger market, but those customers will take a hard look at the value they are getting. This isn’t a trophy car to park on Rodeo Drive. It’s a sedan for hauling kids and groceries. The high price will limit sales, says Rebecca Lindland, an analyst with IHS Automotive. She doubts Tesla will reach its goal of selling 20,000 Model S sedans in 2013. Nissan has sold just under 30,000 allelectric Nissan Leaf sedans since they went on sale at the end of 2010. But the Leaf is little more than half the price of a Model S. Still, the Model S already has broader appeal than the Roadster. Tesla says more than10,000 people have put down a refundable deposit for the sedan, and it expects to sell 5,000 this year. The Roadster has sold just 2,150 since 2008 The first sedans will be delivered to customers Friday at Tesla’s factory in Fremont, California, a plant the company bought for $42 million in 2010 from its former operators, General Motors Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. Tesla will host 12 test drives around the country this summer for reservation holders. Tesla didn’t make executives available for interviews ahead of Friday’s event. But at the company’s annual meeting this month, Musk said he’s “highly confident” that
The Model S, an all-electric Sedan, is Tesla’s first mass-marketed car. The company expects to sell 5,000 in 2012. TESLA MOTORS/MCT
“It’s sexy. People want to believe in it. But there are so many what ifs, ands or buts.” CARTER DRISCOLL Researcher, Capstone Investments
Tesla will meet its goals. That includes making a profit in 2013. Even if buyers take a chance on Tesla, the risks don’t end there. A charging network doesn’t exist in the U.S., and electriccar owners can run out of power between stops. There’s no gasoline engine that kicks in as a backup, as there is in the electric Chevrolet Volt. Tesla is trying to ease worries about range by throwing in a charger with three kinds of adapters that can be used at home or at public charg-
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ing stations. It’s also planning a network of fast chargers at highway exits. Buyers can upgrade to a battery with an industry-best 300 miles (483 kilometers) of range. The base model can go for 160 miles (257 kilometers) on one charge. The company’s retail strategy is also untested. Its 14 U.S. stores have a tiny presence compared with Lexus’ 230. When Roadsters need repairs, Tesla deploys technicians to the owners’ house. It will be far more expensive to do that if Tesla sells
as many Model S sedans as it hopes. The company’s plans for servicing the cars are hazy. Musk said recently that Tesla simply wants to make cars that don’t need servicing. “We want every aspect of that car to be as perfect as possible,” he said. For investors, the Model S will test whether the company is built for endurance or a quick test drive. So far, the company’s glamorous founder and its sculpture-like cars have generated enough buzz to keep the stock hot. Its price has nearly doubled from its initial public offering level of $17 a share two years ago. Tesla’s current stock price of $32 assumes achievements the company has yet to accomplish,
says Carter Driscoll, who researches clean energy companies for Capstone Investments. The company has lost $759 million since it was founded in 2003 and has never made a profit. It survives, in part, on its loan from the U.S. Department of Energy. It also sells electric drive systems to Toyota and Daimler AG. “It’s sexy,” says Driscoll. “People want to believe in it. But there are so many what ifs, ands or buts.” But if you’re a believer, all you have to do is point out Musk’s latest accomplishment: Last month, his SpaceX venture became the first private company to send a cargo rocket to the International Space station. Moon shots can work.
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)))!#,."(*'-#,&+%!#'" $ '''!"##!#&%$ ONTHEMOVE » TALLAHASSEE DEMOCRAT » MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012 » 3
| REVIEW |
Disney’s ‘Cars Land’ a happy place
“Cars” fans get a vivid immersion By Mary McNamara Los Angeles Times (MCT)
ANAHEIM,
Calif.
—
When California Adventure opened in 2001, it was a baffling disappointment. Fans of Disneyland, legion and devoted, eagerly sought a wild and whimsical sister-planet and instead found something that resembled theme park as learning center — far too much space was devoted to approximations of various California topography and businesses, far too little to rides. More important, there were few, if any references to the films and characters that turned Disneyland into the Happiest Place on Earth. What Disney executives had hoped would make their Anaheim resort a multiday destination became too often simply the second half of a park-hopping day at Disneyland. Friday’s grand opening of the 12-acre, full-immersion and totally delightful Cars Land is the final piece of a five-year, $1.1 billion attempt to make California Adventure a fabulous full-day and intothe-night experience. Creating in loving detail the world of Radiator Springs from Pixar’s two “Cars” films, Cars Land is the most thoroughly realized land in the whole Disney resort. Walking down the forgotten bit of Route 66 that served as spine and theme of the first film — there’s Radiator Springs’ one-and-only traffic light, perpetually blinking yellow — it’s easy to forget you’re any-
where but here. To the left is Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree, a swinging mini-Scrambler-like ride, followed by the bright orange Cozy Cone Motel, a semi-circle of Cone-cession stands. On the immediate right is Fillmore’s Taste-In, selling fruit and juices, followed by Sarge’s Surplus Hut and Flo’s V8 Cafe. Behind it all, a wall of pine-studded red rock marks the land’s most ambitious ride — Radiator Springs Racers — and insulates Cars Land from the rest of the world with a re-creation of Ornament Valley. So vivid is the imagery that a 5-year old of my acquaintance, while standing in line for the Racers, looked up at rock, waterfall and bridge rising into the blue and asked, “So, wait, is the sky real?” Now that’s altered reality. (And yes, the sky is real.) Possessed of one of those deceptively long entrances that promise to be chockablock for months (the good news? at least half of it is in shade and there are FastPasses), Radiator Springs Racers is great fun, the perfect blend of imaginative dark ride and pulse-quickening speed. Splendid-looking race cars seat six (which means the single-rider line should also be a boon) and take you into the mountain and through another version of Radiator Springs before sprucing up either at Luigi’s Casa Della Tires or Ramone’s House of Body Art and sending you out to race another car (winners are
Friday’s grand opening of the 12-acre, full-immersion and totally delightful Cars Land is the final piece of a five-year, $1.1 billion attempt to make California Adventure a fabulous full-day and into-the-night experience. GANNETT
random). It’s like Test Track at Epcot in Florida, only with “Cars,” much better stage craft (you could go on this ride a half-dozen times and still not see everything) and more fun. Across the way is Luigi’s Flying Tires, which also has its structural roots in another Disney ride, the long-defunct Flying Saucers (the banner for which still hangs from Tomorrowland’s Innoventions building). A crazy cross between bumper cars and air hockey, Luigi’s puts riders in tireshaped carts that are lifted by air jets in a corral filled with oversized beach balls. The cars are guided by the riders’ movements — lean to the left, lean to the right — which makes Luigi’s a
4 » MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012 » TALLAHASSEE DEMOCRAT » ONTHEMOVE
unique experience. A stop-and-start ride, the inevitable wait time may eventually outweigh the thrill factor, but it is the first and possibly only ride at an amusement park with physical fitness potential. Like its films, Cars Land skews young, though not as young as the neighboring “a bug’s land” area, but even the more sedate Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree is twirly enough to please a jaded tween and teen (I brought one of each for this very purpose), both of whom joined the 5-yearold in giving Cars Land a hearty stamp of approval (and not just for the milkshakes at Flo’s, which are pretty dang amazing). “This place finally makes sense,” said my 14-
year-old son, referring to California Adventure as a whole. “Because ‘Cars’ is both Disney and California.” Which is absolutely right. With its paean to Route 66, Cars Land fits into the original vision while naturally adding the child-like fantasy (and branded merchandising opportunities) that designers have been infusing at different points throughout the park, whether by building Toy Story Mania, Ariel’s Undersea Adventure or giving the Mulholland Madness ride a paint job and re-christening it Goofy’s Sky School. All roads here now lead to inter-park reconciliation. Like Main Street, the newly designed Buena Vista Street is nostalgic
and stately (love the red trolleys), and though it references Los Angeles rather than Anywhere USA, its central statue of a young Walt and Mickey echoes the one that centers Disneyland. With its fog machines, flashing lights and Tim Burton-ish feel, the Mad T Party also gives a Disney favorite its own unique spin: a more grown-up version of Alice that fits in perfect with the higher concept of Hollywood. Walking in, the park does make more sense. Paradise Pier, with its roller coaster and bevy of attractions, may remain the alpha land, but there are many points of interest now. More important, with Cars Land, California Adventure at long last has a heart.
Electric cars get in on races Japanese automakers want to showcase performance, battery life By Yasuaki Kobayashi and Kohei Nakashima The Yomiuri Shimbun (MCT)
TOKYO — Japanese automakers are entering electric race cars in global events, hoping that victories will boost sales of the passenger vehicles the race cars are based on. Car races provide world-class venues to showcase the performance of electric vehicles made in Japan, and automakers are scrambling to develop highperformance electric cars that can compete. Earlier this month, the i-MiEV Evolution was seen cornering smoothly at a Mitsubishi Motors Corp. test course in Okazaki, Japan. The race car, based on Mitsubishi’s i-MiEV electric hatchback, went from zero to 60 mph in less than four seconds. The Evolution is scheduled to compete in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in July, an annual race to the Colorado summit. Former rally driver Hiroshi Masuoka, who will pilot the car, wants to take advantage of the Evolution’s transmission-free engine, which allows it to quickly reach top speed. A previously unmatched seven electric vehicles are slated to join the race. Five are Japanese teams. The Toyota Group is
employing technology it has nurtured in car development for Formula One races, the pinnacle of the racing world. Actor Sho Aikawa, who will lead the Toyota team in the July race, said electric cars have become indispensable in motor sports. Automakers want to show that the biggest weakness of electric vehicles — shorter cruising distances than gasdriven cars — has been overcome. The aim is to boost electric vehicles sales in general and improve opportunities for auto parts makers. The biggest challenge in making electric cars for racing has been trimming the weight of the battery, said to be the heaviest part in an electric vehicle, while at the same time increasing power-storage capacity. Team APEV, established by startup company Tajima Motor Corp. and others, said they seek nothing less than the championship in the July race. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., whose battery runs the APEV car, said they hope a win will be a stepping stone into the battery business for passenger cars. Meidensha Corp., producer of the motor that powers the i-MiEV Evolution, said they want the July race to aid their development of lighter, higher-powered motors.
Repair kits replacing spares By Mark Phelan Detroit Free Press (MCT)
Losing your spare tire is synonymous with losing weight, for people and now for cars. But will car buyers give up their spare tire in exchange for higher fuel economy and lower operating costs? Automakers around the world are weighing that question. Customer and regulatory demands for higher fuel economy led to the creation of the compact temporary spare tire in the 1980s. The same pressures now may eliminate the spare tire entirely. “The general rule of thumb is that a 10 percent reduction in (vehicle weight) leads to a 6-7 percent improvement in fuel economy,” said Jay Baron, president and CEO of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich. Automakers are replacing spare tires with tire sealants and an in-
flation kit to fix most flats. The tire sealant and inflation kit weigh 5-6 pounds, compared with 30 or more for a temporary spare and 50 or more for a full-size spare and its tools, GM director of chassis engineering Terry Connolly said. “Engineers sweat bullets to reduce a car’s weight by grams, and this is a way to shed 40 or 50 pounds,” said Bill Visnic, Edmunds.com senior editor and analyst. “Not every customer is comfortable with it, though.” Although tire reliability has increased, drivers still fear being stranded. That’s become less likely because of the widespread use of cellphones. Tirepressure monitors on all new vehicles also make drivers aware of most leaks before the vehicle becomes disabled. A survey by General Motors found the average driver gets one flat tire every 30,000 to
40,000 miles. In twothirds of those flats, the air leaked out while the car was parked in the owner’s driveway. About one-third of respondents to a study by tiremaker Michelin hadn’t had a flat in the past 10 years. Despite that, there’s always the possibility of a blowout the fix-it kit can’t repair. With help easily available through cellphones, many people choose not to change flat tires even if they have a spare. The benefits of eliminating the spare are too big for most automakers to ignore. A 1 mpg difference in the fuel efficiency of a compact car such as the Chevrolet Cruze or Ford Focus will save the driver $50$100 annually at the pump at current prices, according to the Department of Energy. Most automakers figure full-size spares still are mandatory for pickups and SUVs that will be driven off-road. For
most other vehicles, including smaller crossover SUVs, the trend is to provide repair kits. Many drivers already have a repair kit rather than a spare, said John Rastetter, director of tire information services at online tire retailer the Tire Rack. “For most flats, a can of sealant and an air compressor does a great job,” he said. “Despite that, we hear from some customers who like the spare tire as a security blanket.” For that reason, some automakers sell an optional spare tire for vehicles that come without one. “It’s a question of trade-offs,” Visnic said. “Carrying a spare tire you never use 100,000 miles burns a lot of gasoline. It’s like driving around carrying a fully packed suitcase with a week’s clothes, just in case you have to go to the airport and don’t have time to pack. How often does that happen?”
ONTHEMOVE » TALLAHASSEE DEMOCRAT » MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012 » 5
| MOTORING Q&A |
Ponder low-miles lease options By Paul Brand Star Tribune
Question: I leased a new Scion xD for 36 months, and the lease ends in November. The value of the vehicle at the beginning of the lease was listed as $16,700. The purchase option at the end of the lease is $10,296. My problem is that I currently have just 10,840 miles on the car and don’t see any big trips in the future. Is there such a thing as a rebate on unused mileage? What are my options? Answer: I’m not aware of any mileage rebates on unused lease miles for passenger cars, but you
do have several viable options. My son Ryan, who sells cars at a Chrysler dealership, suggests that you call the leasing company to confirm the precise purchase option price. Then stop by a newcar dealership and ask them to appraise the vehicle to determine how much equity you have at this point. If you have positive equity in the vehicle — meaning it’s worth more than the lease purchase price because of the low mileage — you could either sell or trade it to a new car dealer. So, your options are to turn the vehicle in at the end of the lease, purchase the vehicle from the leas-
ing company and keep it or sell it to a private party, or sell or trade the vehicle at a dealership. Buying and keeping the car would be the simplest answer, but the selling or trading at a dealership might make the most economic sense. Q: I have a 1991 Pontiac Sunbird LE with a 3.1-liter V-6 engine and 62,000 miles in excellent condition. When I’m driving, however, the oil pressure gauge registers way above the high mark, which is shown as 80. When it’s idling, it’s about halfway back down. It uses no oil and appears to run well. Should I be concerned about the errone-
ous oil pressure reading? What’s causing it? A: Assuming you’ve driven the vehicle in this condition for a number of miles and nothing catastrophic has occurred, I suspect you’re seeing an electrical issue with the oil pressure sending unit or possibly the oil pressure gauge itself. A quick test with the engine off is to find and disconnect the connector to the oil pressure sending unit on the front side of the engine. Turn the ignition switch on and watch the oil pressure gauge. It should move all the way in one direction. Then ground the connection — the gauge
should move all the way in the other direction. If the oil pressure gauge is the only instrument giving a false reading, chances are it’s the sending unit. The only mechanical issue that could generate extreme oil pressure would be a restriction on oil flow due to plugged oil passages for the cam bearings or valve gear. If it were a mechanical issue, I’d think you’d know by now. Q: My boyfriend needs help with electrical issues on his 2006 Cadillac CTS. When he turned on the wipers, he lost the turn signals, hazards, headlight control and trunk release. Sometimes there is
a “hood open” warning as well as a “door open” warning — but they are not open. A: Electrical gremlins can be very difficult to pinpoint. In this case, start with a scan tool to identify any fault codes and then focus on the connections and grounds for those components, systems and modules involved. “Fretting” is a form of corrosion that appears like dark smudges or spots on the individual pins, and it can cause intermittent connections in connectors and terminals. Disassemble suspect connectors to clean and treat with dielectric grease to reseal the connection.
Retailer taps U.S. market for Chinese ATVs By Mark Glover McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
In 2007, Sacramento entrepreneur Doug Stabler embarked on an enterprise that, looking back, appears to be the prototype for failure in the recession. He decided he was going to sell all-terrain vehicles (or ATVs), scooters and motorcycles — the kind of “toys” that consumers historically forgo in tough economic times. Following a14-year run of sales gains, motorcycle and ATV sales did an about-face in 2007. The Irvine, Calif.-based Motorcycle Industry Council reported a nearly 41 percent drop in motorcycle sales between 2008 and 2009 — 879,910 to 520,502 units, respectively. ATV sales in that period dropped nearly 30 percent, from 454,098 to 321,181. “I had people tell me I was crazy … even before things got really bad,”
Stabler recalled. Turns out Stabler was not crazy. He has been so successful that, earlier this year, he moved his ATV Wholesale Outlet business from a 7,200square-foot operation to an 11,000-square-foot building. He invested $165,000 in improvements in the new building. He paid cash. “People ask, ‘How are you doing this?’ ” Stabler said. “We did beat the odds, but I always knew we would.” Stabler’s niche is selling Chinese-made vehicles — with associated parts and riding gear, plus on-site mechanic services — at prices generally ranging from $700 to $4,000. In some cases, such as selling a large, four-wheel ATV, he can get you out the door for around $1,600 — about a quarter of what you might pay for one made by a mainstream manufacturer. Stabler’s business is
not a wholesaler-to-retailer operation. Anyone can go in and get a vehicle. The ATV Wholesale Outlet name is an homage to the original business, a strictly wholesale operation begun in Loomis, Calif., in 2003. New York-based marketing and branding expert Peter Schaub said Stabler was rolling the dice in a tough economy, but he gave Stabler kudos for doing his homework. “He didn’t have what I would’ve called an ideal business plan, because recreational vehicles … everything from boats to personal watercraft to off-road vehicles … took a hit during the recession,” Schaub said. “But (Stabler) obviously had a plan. … If you can sell discounted merchandise in high volume to an interested audience, and do it consistently, that can trump a bad economy.” Stabler’s suppliers have names like Taotao, SSR, Coolster, Jonway,
6 » MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012 » TALLAHASSEE DEMOCRAT » ONTHEMOVE
Meiduo, Hensim and Znen. Stabler says some first-time customers assume that the lesserknown brands are produced on the cheap in substandard Chinese factories. “That’s not even close,” Stabler said. “The (vehicles) are made in clean, sterile, modern factories.” He said people in China rely on the same vehicles for transportation in big cities. “They depend on them to get around,” he said. “They’re meant to last.” Stabler makes regular trips to China, visiting 30 to 40 manufacturers on visits of three to four weeks. He meets with plant owners/managers and takes note of product design, cleanliness, organization and working conditions. He also stocks a blizzard of parts. “We’ve become the goto place for parts, because people can’t find a selec-
tion of Chinese parts for their (vehicles). Even our competition sends customers our way,” he said. Stabler said the fact that he’s not hooked up with a high-profile international manufacturer enables him to prosper with a low-price, high-volume approach. “If I was working with Honda, there was no way I could do this,” he said. “There, you have to work with marketing costs and all the other costs that go with a company of that size. That raises the price of the product.” But Stabler said he does look at Honda as an example of how to succeed. “I look at what I’m doing now like the beginning of what Honda was doing years ago,” he said. “If you look back and think, ‘What if I had the first five Honda dealerships in the United States?’ Can you imagine what those would be worth now? Well, that’s how I think about what
I’m doing here.” Pinning Stabler down on anything is a chore. His mother, Judy, the self-described “shop mom,” said her 47-year-old son rarely sits down for15 minutes at a time. Stabler’s past business ventures reflect his seemingly relentless entrepreneurial nature. He’s the former owner of Credit City Auto Sales, a used car business in Sacramento. By July 1998, he and his mother were operating Body Time & Exhaust Engineering in south Sacramento. The turn of the century found Stabler in real estate, a Citrus Heights, Calif., RE/ MAX Gold agent. Amid career changes, Stabler traveled extensively overseas, with extended stops in Russia and China. He said his visits to China focused his mind on the economic and manufacturing potential in that nation, and how it could be applied to the American marketplace.
Free cars for perfect attendance
Giveaways show how far school districts go to get students toclass By Jessamy Brown McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)
FORT WORTH, Texas —
Jennifer Perez was handed the keys to a sleek new car after winning a giveaway program for perfect attendance. But she can’t drive it. Perez, 18, is feverishly working to get her driver’s license so she can take the Dodge Challenger on the road. “I was like, ‘Oh, why didn’t I do this before?’” said Perez, who just graduated from Diamond HillJarvis High School. So on Friday, when Perez joined three other teen winners at the Hurst, Texas, dealership that donated the cars, Perez’s uncle got behind the wheel. The car giveaways illustrate how far school
districts will go to boost attendance, which results in more state funding and encourages top academic performance. Besides cars, students can get electronics and gift cards. “We are trying to inspire kids to stay in school. Every kid is not going to have perfect attendance, but every child has a decision in the morning: Get my homework, figure out what I’m going to wear to school and get to school,” said Ernie Horn, executive director of Score a Goal in the Classroom, a Fort Worth, Texas-based nonprofit that coordinates incentive programs for many school districts in North Texas. But more than perfect attendance is rewarded. In the Fort Worth district,
Paschal High School senior Robyn Sims was awarded a new Honda Civic LX from Frank Kent Honda for winning the Words for Wheels essay contest. Other finalists got prize packages that include a year of free oil changes, custom detailing and window tinting. More than 250 students submitted essays. “We’re thrilled with the response to our first Words for Wheels contest,” Corrie Watson, coowner of Frank Kent Honda, said in a statement. “We’ve already begun planning to make next year’s contest even bigger and better. It’s our hope that this contest has a huge impact on not only the winner, but all of Fort Worth ISD’s graduates and the community.” Score a Goal volunteers publicize the car giveaways to teens beginning in the summer, put-
ting up posters at malls and making public service announcements. During the year, the cars are often displayed on campus to provide motivation, Horn said. The rules for giveaway programs vary. Eligible students usually earn a chance to win for each sixweek grading period without unexcused absences. In dramatic giveaway events near the end of the school year, qualifying students are given keys and take turns trying to unlock the car or start the engine. In the Northwest district, 4,100 high schoolers gathered at Texas Motor Speedway on May 21 for a car giveaway that featured IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe. Other finalists won Dell Inspiron laptops. Sponsors and dealers pay for vehicle taxes, title transfer and licensing so
the winning student only has to line up insurance before receiving the car, officials said. Moritz Dealerships donated four cars for attendance giveaways to help young people, said Jim Hardick, general manager of Moritz of Fort Worth. “It’s just something we choose to do,” Hardick said. “We wouldn’t do it if we didn’t think it helped. If it didn’t, it’s four cars and it looks good, but from what I’m told, it does have an impact.” It’s hard to measure whether the car giveaways have improved student attendance, but anecdotal evidence suggests that they have helped reduce unexcused absences. At Brewer High School in the White Settlement district, officials are still crunching attendance data for this year, Principal
Lorimer Arendse said. “Every year we’ve done this we’ve seen an increase in attendance and in perfect attendance,” Arendse said. “Obviously, if a kid is not in school, they’re not going to learn. We try to get them to see the value of coming to school.” The school worked with Texas Motors in White Settlement to offer a 2002 Ford Ranger truck to a student. The winner, junior Jeffrey Osborne, said he doesn’t mind that it’s not new. The dealership detailed the truck so that it runs well and looks like new, he said. “I’ve been praying about it for a while because I just turned 18 a while ago and we’re low on money,” Osborne said. “If you ask me, it’s a free car, so I don’t really care.” He doesn’t have a driver’s license yet, either.
| AUTO REVIEW |
Mazda CX-5 light on ‘zoom,’ but its roomy By Terry Box The Dallas Morning News (MCT)
Zoom-zoom almost propelled Mazda to prominence. You probably know the rhythmic advertising tag — a reference to the Japanese automaker’s attempts to put a spicy dash of Miata into each of its vehicles. It added more than flavor. As a result of the extra tweaking and tuning, suburban soccer moms in workout tights can screech gracefully through curves in Mazda crossovers on their way to pick up the kids — and never have to mute Coldplay. Dads could opt for
snorting, corner-carving, wild-child Mazdaspeed3s and pass them off most of the time as family-friendly eco-boxes. Is that living in the USA or what? But zoom kind of zagged, failing to really boost Mazda’s sagging sales. And with tough federal fuel-economy standards looming, Mazda decided to focus on safe appeal, not sex appeal — aiming for much-improved fuel economy. So zoom left the room months ago with some pushy guy named Sam. And I’m still not exactly sure who’s sitting in his chair. Actually, the 2013 CX-5 Grand Touring I recently tested maintains most of
the tasty Mazda ingredients. Built on Mazda’s sedan platforms, the edgylooking five-passenger crossover is a head-turner. Mine arrived in teenager blue with black interior — a great mix for an old baby boomer stuck in a 20-year midlife crisis. Its flat, broad snout houses a big blacked-out grille, looking more aggressive than ever and aided by swept-back, agitated headlamps. A slightly raised hood added to the high expectations. High-mounted taillamps and 19-inch wheels wearing 225/55 rubber completed the CX-5’s fresh, sporty exterior. It looked like suburban trouble in a well-styled
can. Inside, the smirking crossover was surprisingly kid-friendly. Although the 5 lacked third rowseats, it had 34 cubic feet of storage space available behind the back seat — perfect for softball bats, computer games, cartons of cookies, piles of dirty clothing or even the occasional recalcitrant kid. The legroom and headroom were so ample in back the midsize crossover works well as a people-mover too. Passengers should like the environment. Upscale, nicely grained black plastic encased a flat dashboard with a swoopy hood over the instrument panel. The supportive black
leather seats and thick, leather-covered threespoke steering wheel were the real deal. Likewise, the black plastic door panels offered padded centers and armrests — a nice little luxury touch in a vehicle with a window sticker price of $30,415. It will take me longer to fully appreciate Mazda’s much-ballyhooed new 2liter Skyactiv engine, designed to deliver good performance and great fuel economy. Rated at a reasonable 155 horsepower and spinning a sophisticated sixspeed automatic, the Skyactiv motor achieves impressive economy of 26 miles per gallon in the city and 32 on the highway.
But like the new Mazda3 with this engine, my all-wheel-drive CX-5 didn’t even come close on the performance front, requiring a Sunday-afternoon-casual 9.5 seconds to reach 60 mph, according to “Motor Trend.” That’s barely adequate in my book — the result of 155 horsepower lugging 3,312 pounds. If zip doesn’t rank high with you, however, you will like most everything else about the CX-5. At moderate speeds, the Skyactiv engine is smooth, modestly torquey and highly refined. It just lacks surge or snap — something to keep in mind on hills or overpasses, or if you’re trying to pass someone in traffic.
ONTHEMOVE » TALLAHASSEE DEMOCRAT » MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012 » 7
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