Going green: According to an article on GreenCelebrity.net, there are several reasons why a family might want to purchase an eco-friendly vehicle this holiday season. Among other things, "in part thanks to a down ... economy and a marketplace that overproduced even hybrid cars targeted for sale in the American marketplace, it's never been easier to put a money-saving and eco-friendly fuel-efficient automobile on your Christmas shopping list."
Going green, part two: Formula 1 (F1) stakeholders have reached an agreement for Grand Prix cars to use a new type of "green" engine from 2013, according to a press release published on Examiner.com . The sport will switch from the current 2.4-liter V8s to 1.6-liter four-cylinder turbo engines with energy recovery systems and fuel restrictions. The F1 switch to using cleaner fuels and green technology will no doubt "affect future exotic-car manufacturing, production and design competition."
A ticket to ride: The Chicago Tribune looked at various suburbs to see which ones handed out the most tickets. The winners are: Bull Valley (a "McHenry County hamlet of about 1,000 residents [with] no major highway, no schools, no downtown") that handed out about 1,600 tickets last year; Park City (just west of Waukegan); Carol Stream; McCook County (where '[p]olice make half their stops for equipment violations"); and Evergreen Park.
It's an honor: The Chevrolet Volt, Hyundai Sonata and Nissan Leaf (see left) are finalists for the 2011 North American Car of the Year awards, while the finalists for the 2011 North American Truck of the Year award are the Dodge Durango, Ford Explorer and Jeep Grand Cherokee, according to AutoObserver.com . The half-dozen finalists for the prestigious awards were announced Dec. 16 at an Automotive Press Association luncheon sponsored by organizers of the 2011 North American International Auto Show. The winners will be announced at the first press conference of the Detroit auto show Jan. 10, 2011.
The awards are unique in the United States because they are awarded by automotive journalists from the United States and Canada who represent magazines, television, radio, newspapers and web sites, as opposed to a single media outlet.