smarter traveling, driving and spending
It was a day that would change the world by setting it in motion. Happy 130th birthday to the automobile, born January 29, 1886, when German engineer Carl Benz applied for a patent on his “gas-powered vehicle”. Later the same year and independently of Benz, German engineer and tinkerer Gottlieb Daimler built his motorized carriage
Read more
Visit Cuba legally now from the USA. My recent visit to Cuba proves it’s easier than you think, with or without the steps toward normalizing relations just announced by President Obama. I flew from Miami on a chartered American Airlines plane. Half the passengers were Cuban-Americans visiting their relatives. The other half was Americans like
Read more
Volkswagen is celebrating 65 years since the first Beetle arrived in the United States. Since January 1949, more than 5.5 million Beetle models have been sold in the USA, in three distinctive designs. Here’s some history of the beloved Bug, which became a touchstone for an entire generation and one of the most iconic and
Read more
Scroll through 100 years plus of Indianapolis 500 pace cars, from 1911 to 2013, with the model name and driver of each one. Even if you aren’t a diehard motors ports fan, this is a virtual drive through the history of our love affair with the automotibile. The list of Indy 500 pace cars includes
Read more
Indianapolis has a lot more to offer than the football and car racing. Sure, it’s world famous as the site of the Indianapolis 500, and getting worldwide attention as the site of Super Bowl XLVI between the New York Giants and New England Patriots, but that’s just for starters. Indianapolis has one of the best
Read more
The capture and death of dictator Mummar Qaddafi by Libyan rebels brings an end to the brutal 42-year regime of a true madman. The news had me remembering the last time I visited Libya, way back in the 1960s. Actually, it was the only time I visited Libya, just before Qaddafi led the military coup
Read more
The Canstatter Volksfest in Stuttgart is a smaller version of Munich’s gigantic Oktoberfest, although the suds-fueled merry-making is just as raucuous. When some 5,000 people get together in a tent with mountains of food, rivers of foamy brews and a band encouraging sing-a-longs, it is just not possible to sit quietly for long. Okay, I’ll
Read more
by Evelyn Kanter The crystal-clear air of the Swiss Alps is a perfect place for a gathering of air-cooled vintage VW Beetles. More than 1,000 bugs and their Karman Ghia cousins, will be parking in the pastures surrounding the historic village of Chateau d’Oex, in the Alpine foothills east of Lake Geneva this weekend, August
Read more
Until now, car makers have introduced new models at the world’s major auto shows, Frankfurt (September), Los Angeles (November), Tokyo (also November) Detroit (January), Paris (February) and New York (April), to headlines from gathered media, followed by crowds of the car buying public. Lexus and Infiniti are breaking the mold by introducing two important new
Read more
How appropriate that at the same time the Ford Motor Company is making headlines for producing green, energy efficient vehicles such as the Focus and Fiesta, a hotel named for company founder Henry Ford has earned a top rating from Green Lodging Michigan and the Michigan Dept. of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth. The hotel
Read more