This week's feel-good story

 A blue 1977 Volkswagen Type 2 van, untouched by flames, sits alone amid the ash of Los Angeles:

Volkswagen needs to purchase this from owner Preston Martin (who lived in the van for a year while in college) and put it on display in its museum.  That is one hardy testament to resilience.  Or else a fluke of nature, much like how a tornado will sometimes mow down everything in its path except for one solitary farm house which miraculously escapes unscathed.

However it happened, it's an amazing story and Epoch Times has an article all about it.

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Car made out of LEGO bricks... and it's drivable!

Proving once again that LEGO building is more than aesthetic art but also fully functional, an Australian and Romanian duo has constructed a life-sized roadster out of the celebrated toy bricks. And it just doesn't sit there: you can drive it too!

It's not all LEGO: though the company makes tiny rubber tires for the minifig-scale vehicles, it's yet to enter the market in competition with Michelin or Goodyear.  But that detail aside, the Super Awesome Micro Project funded and built by Australian Steve Sommarito and Romanian Raul Oaida is practically 100% LEGO blocks.  Total number of pieces: about half a million.

According to the news article, "the car uses compressed air to turn 256 pistons in four rotary engines — all made of Legos. Total construction time: 18 months, for a cost of about $40,000."  It's not quite as big as the full-size X-Wing Fighter made of 5.3 million LEGO blocks, but hey: at least this baby can actually take you places!

Crash here for more about the Super Awesome Micro Project's LEGO hot rod.  And thanks to "Weird" Ed Woody for the heads-up!

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Hackers use wi-fi laptop to control EVERYTHING on a modern car

Remember that stunt Jeff Gordon pulled on an unsuspecting car salesman a few months ago?  The one where Gordon was disguised as any off-the-street Joe Shmoe and took a car for a test drive and terrified the crap out of that poor guy?

This is scarier...


Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek - two top-rate hackers out of Indiana -went into the guts of a Toyota Prius, jimmied-around with thirty-something on-board computer units and were able to take charge of dang nearly every function of the car.  Using a wireless laptop they can steer, put on the brakes, honk the horn, fake the speedometer reading, switch on the headlights and even tighten and loosen the seatbelts.

My dad has long proclaimed that "Cars only need gas, air and electricity to work: they don't need a computer!"  After watching this video, it's hard to argue with that.

Crash here to read more about this amazing hack, which was funded by the U.S. Defense Advance Research Projects Agency (the kind folks who brought us the Internet).

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Bargain basement Batmobile

This 1994 Pontiac Grand Am was purchased for $100 from a towing company in Michigan last summer. Its owner (one "Gabe") then set out to convert it into a Batmobile.

According to the story at GeekTyrant "After a few necessary repairs, work proceeded: Gabe sawed off the crushed roof and built a custom frame for the new roof and windows. Inspired by the Batmanesque charm of his creation, Gabe then rigged up and riveted on fins, reworked the nose, and spray-painted the car matte black. The car even features high-tech theft-prevention gadgets the likes of which even Wayne Industries couldn't develop. When thieves tried to steal the car last year, the steering wheel broke off. In the process of trying to hotwire the car, they also fixed the brake lights."

Click on the link above for more photos of the "Batmobile", which is now listed for sale on Craigslist. Price for this crimefighting car: $600.

And in related news, Batman himself was arrested in Los Angeles on a loitering charge. I guess hard times have hit everyone... including costumed vigilantes.

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Tricky the Coyote hits car at 75 mph, is trapped between grill and radiator and gets taken on 600 mile ride... and SURVIVES

Sometimes, the headlines simply demand to write themselves.

Crash here for the tale of Daniel East, his sister Tevyn, and how they inadvertently brought Tricky through a harrowing eight-hour scenic tour of the desert wasteland of Utah and Nevada.

Tricky not only lived, but he suffered just a few minor scrapes on his paws.

(And methinks Tricky should sign an endorsement deal with ACME while that iron is still hot.)

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Algae-powered car attempting to cross America on 25 gallons of fuel

The Algaeus (pictured at right) is said to be the world's first fuel-powered vehicle running on algae. The other notable components of the Algaeus are a nickel metal hydride battery and an electrical plug. There are no other modifications made to its gasoline engine. It's currently attempting to cross the United States from coast to coast... on just 25 gallons of fuel!

Read more about it here.

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Papa John's founder reunited with cherished Camaro

In 1983, John Schnatter had a gold and black 1971 Chevrolet Camaro Z28. It was one of his most beloved possessions. And then he had to sell it to help pay the bills for his father's tavern. The Camaro was bought for $2,800 and there was some money left over after his dad's business got out of hock.

Schnatter used the leftover dough to start up Papa John's Pizza. Everyone knows how huge a success that turned out to be, how John Schnatter has become a multi-millionaire from that initial investment.

And yet, John Schnatter still needed something to be happy. He wanted to be reunited with his favorite muscle car. So Schnatter went on a nationwide quest to hunt it down.

Last week, with some help from car enthusiast website Jalopnik.com, Schnatter's dream came true. The Camaro was in the ownership of Jeff Robinson of Flatwoods, Kentucky (not far from the headquarters of Papa John's in Louisville). And Robinson is now $250,000 richer after transferring the title of the car over to Schnatter.

Here's John Schnatter with the Camaro in 1983, and Schnatter with it today...

After getting his Camaro back, Schnatter said...

"The Camaro represents what I gave up to start Papa John's. Words cannot capture the emotions I am feeling in getting back that part of my history. I didn't have much back then, but for my business dreams to come true, I had to part with the one true asset I had to my name, and even then, there were no promises of success. I never gave up hope that someday I would get that car back. The foundation of Papa John's was built on my decision to sell the Camaro, and while it may not appear to be a huge sacrifice to some, it represents my roots in this business. And, perhaps it can serve as proof to others that hard decisions today can pay off for you later, if you're willing to believe in what you are doing. I'm extremely grateful for the success of Papa John's, and really wanted this critical piece of our history back."

What an awesome story! And methinks there's a lot of good lesson here about success, having faith in one's self and having hope that no matter how hard the sacrifice, it will be worth it in the end. It certainly did for John Schnatter. So it can be for anybody.

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7-year old boy doesn't want to go to church, heists car instead

A seven-year old lad in Plain City, Utah decided that it was too hot to go to church earlier this week.

So the kid sped off on a joyride in his dad's car.

911 calls soon flooded the Weber County Sheriff's Office about the pint-sized motorist. A dash-mounted video camera caught the following footage of the boy, who came to a stop and then dashed off (perhaps to find his mommy)...

Hey, that kid is driving better at 7 than I ever was at 16 :-P

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Obama says the U.S. government will back your car warranty

The words I never, ever thought I'd hear a President of the United States tell the country...

"Your warranty will be safe. In fact, it will be safer than it's ever been, because starting today, the United States government will stand behind your warranty."

-- President Barack Obama

And you thought "womb to the tomb" policies were bad. Now the federal government has got your car covered bumper to bumper.

And Obama's firing the head of General Motors apparently didn't take well with the markets today: they were down all over, including the Dow at -254 points.

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World's cheapest car has been unveiled

For 100,000 rupees (or about $2000 American) the Nano, built by Indian car company Tata, can be yours...

The Nano seats four, and the basic model has no power steering, air bags, radio, or air conditioner. Oh yeah, and instead of welding the plastic and sheet-metal parts of the exterior are joined with adhesives: a glued-together car.

The Nano has a maximum speed of 70 kilometers per hour... or 43 miles per hour.

This thing would get eaten alive by most of the roads around where I live.

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Man gets over 50 traffic citations... in one day!

Elvis Alonzo Barrett of Boynton Beach, Florida has learned the hard way: real life is not like Grand Theft Auto IV.

This past week Barrett fled police who were already trying to ticket him for one traffic violation. He led authorities on a high-speed chase that had him running through red lights, crashing into another car and then a fence. When he was finally caught, he was also found in possession of a quantity of crack cocaine.

When the final tally came in, Barrett had racked up more than FIFTY traffic citations in a single day, including one for not wearing a seat belt. He was also driving with a suspended license.

I wonder if the cops missed any. I mean, after thirty or forty citations it's hard to keep up...

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The "Spy Hunter" Pontiac commercial

Here's that new commercial for the Pontiac G8 GT, inspired by the classic video game Spy Hunter ...

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