"Why car thieves love a '94 Honda Accord" from Insure.com, a good look at the stolen car issue

The most stolen vehicles:

1. 1994 Honda Accord
2. 1995 Honda Civic
3. 1991 Toyota Camry
4. 1997 Ford F-150 Pickup
5. 2004 Dodge Ram Pickup
6. 2000 Dodge Caravan
7. 1994 Chevrolet pickup (full size)
8. 1994 Acura Integra
9. 2002 Ford Explorer
10. 2009 Toyota Corolla
Source: NICB, based on car thefts in 2009

Older cars tend to be popular targets. In addition to supplying in-demand parts, these older cars are:

•Easier to steal. Car manufacturers in recent years have added many theft deterrents that older models don't have.
•Not as likely to have after-market security devices, such as warning, tracking and disabling devices.

Metropolitan areas with the highest vehicle theft rates

1. Laredo, Texas
2. Modesto, Calif.
3. Bakersfield, Calif.
4. Stockton, Calif.
5. Fresno, Calif.
6. Yakima, Wash.
7. San Francisco/Oakland/Fremont, Calif.
8. Visalia/Porterville, Calif.
9. Las Vegas/Paradise, Nev.
10. Albuquerque, NM

Source: NICB, based on car thefts in 2009

Read the whole article to be better informed about car theft:
http://www.insure.com/car-insurance/most-stolen-cars-2010.html

He was the oldest living owner of a car from new, and drove his Rolls Royce for 77 years

Mr. Allen Swift ( Springfield , MA.) received this 1928 Rolls-Royce Picadilly P1 Roadster from his father, brand new - as a graduation gift in 1928.

He drove it up until his death last year .....at the age of 102 (in the year 2005)

He donated it to a Springfield museum after his death.

It has 170,000 miles on it.

Swift, who died in October 2005 at the age of 102, was a legend among Rolls-Royce collectors for owning his green Phantom I, S273 FP Rolls longer than anyone in the world had ever owned an individual Rolls-Royce. In recognition of that fact, Rolls-Royce Motors presented him with a crystal Spirit of Ecstasy award at the Rolls-Royce Annual Meeting in 1994.

Swift and the Springfield Museums were brought together through a network of antique automobile collectors. In 2002, when he was 99 years old, he approached the Museums to discuss finding a new home for his Rolls-Royce. Confident in the Springfield Museums' ability to care for the automobile and to tell the story of Rolls-Royce manufacturing in Springfield, Swift indicated that he would donate his car if a building could be found to house it.

In the summer of 2005, the Springfield Museums became aware that the Verizon building, adjacent to the Museums, was available for purchase. Joseph Carvalho, president of the Springfield Museums, and Guy McLain, director of the Connecticut Valley Historical Museum, shared that information with Swift and described how the building could be converted into a museum. In September, Swift's attorney informed the Museums that Swift would donate the money to purchase the building.

The Springfield Museums will take possession of the building in June and will launch a fund-raising campaign to renovate it. When complete, the new Museum of Springfield History will display wide range of remarkable artifacts that tell the rich and multidimensional history of this city.

http://www.springfieldmuseums.org/news/view/51-new_springfield_history_museum_made_possible_by_connecticut_entrepreneur

My thanks and appreciation to James R for sending me this email!

Jim http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2008/06/tour-with-jim-86-yrs-old-who-still-has.html was 86 when I met him and he still had his 23 Ford from high school, but he'll have to live another 20 years or so to equal this story

Ford designed his Model T to run on Ethanol Alcohol...

It took 25 % of the fuel market in the midwest.. it was made from corn, it was basically white lightning.

John D Rockefeller, founder and head of the Standard Oil Company didn't appreciate Ford cutting into his oil profits, and started funding the ammendment we know as Prohibition.

Because if the constitutional ammendment cut off all alcohol production, all of Fords ethanol alcohol automotive fuel would be wiped out of business, and Standard Oil would increase profits immediately by 25% or more (due to increased growth in car sales) .

For continued to make Ethanol compatible vehicles for 12 of the 13 years of prohibition, and then he gave up.

Right after prohibition was over President Teddy Roosevelt broke up the Standard Oil company due to its monopoly of the energy market and iunterference in Government.

The two parts recombined 88 years later, and now Exxon Mobil have bigger profits than any other company, corporation, or business in the world... consecutively, year after year.

Source, the documentary "Fuel" by Josh Tickell

can someone tell me what causes highways and freeways to have designated "Safety Corridors" with traffic fines doubled?

I found lots of these in Arizona, and only have ever seen one here in California. I couldn't see any reason for these sections to have any difference from the mile before or after.

Are they just money makers? Double the fines, get cops to heavily patrol those areas, and rack up revenue from speeders?