Rare Canadian-bought 1935 Rolls-Royce to be auctioned by Barrett-Jackson

A rare 1935 Rolls-Royce originally purchased in Montreal will be sold at no reserve at the 37th annual Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Event auction in January 2008 in Scottsdale, Arizona. The Phantom II is one of only 19 cars built that year as a coupe, and one of only two completed by coachbuilder Hooper & Company. The black and grey coupe was specially-ordered in December 1934 through R.P. Collyer Ltd. of Montreal, the only Rolls-Royce dealer in Canada at the time. Specific design elements ordered by the owner included sloping bonnet shutters, Dunlop Fort Silent Tread tires, and an unusual request that no spare tire carriers be mounted in the front fenders as was common at the time. The right-hand drive car is equipped with a six-cylinder engine with four-speed manual transmission, and was restored in the late 1980s. "Combining sport-motoring with elegant design was a technique mastered by prewar coachbuilders in England," said Steve Davis, President, Barrett-Jackson Auction Company. "The Rolls-Royce Phantom II, along with classics from historic stables such as Bentley, Aston Martin and MG, represented the pinnacle of that era with design elements that remain unmatched today. As one of only two Phantom II coupes bodied by Hooper, this Rolls will create quite a stir among prewar collectors familiar with the value of this great classic."

Honda to double "green" buildings in U.S. next year

American Honda Motor Company has announced that has undertaken a series of new "green" building initiatives as part of its effort to further reduce the environmental impact of its operations and products throughout North America. The company will certify two new facilities to the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards in its 2009 fiscal year. Honda R&D America's Acura Design Studio in Torrance, California and American Honda's Midwestern Consolidation Center in Troy, Ohio will be certified LEED buildings, targeted at a Gold rating. The company has two existing LEED-Gold buildings in Raymond, Ohio and Gresham, Oregon. It will seek to recertify its Oregon facility to LEED-EB (Existing Building) standards to ensure the centre continues to operate in an energy-efficient manner. The Gresham facility was the first mixed-use industrial building in the U.S. to earn LEED-Gold certification. The facilities in California and Ohio share common sustainable features, including highly reflective roof and dual-paned windows to reduce solar heat gain, extensive use of recycled and recyclable materials in the building envelope and interior, energy-efficient light fixtures with motion sensors, diversion of construction waste from landfills to recycling centres, and selection of suppliers based on their use of recycled content and proximity to the job site. The Acura Design Studio also uses water reclaimed from a nearby sewage treatment plant to flush toilets and irrigate the grounds.

GM loss 4th biggest in U.S. History

Analysts concerned about automaker's outlook. General Motors Corp., the world's largest automaker, reported a $39-billion third-quarter loss on Wednesday -- the biggest loss for an automaker and the fourth-largest quarterly loss by a public U.S. company. GM had said Tuesday after stock markets closed that it would take a $39-billion noncash charge related to a tax rule. GM's third-quarter loss, equivalent to $68.85 per share, was far greater than the 25-cents-per-share loss that analysts had expected before the Tuesday announcement. In the same quarter last year, GM lost $147 million, or 26 cents per share. After getting past the mammoth charge, the bigger concern to analysts was the company's seemingly sluggish outlook for the future of its North American market, despite key car launches and its new cost-cutting labor contract with the UAW. The loss was a setback for the automaker that has been working to improve its financials and reputation with a sweeping corporate restructuring since 2005. The $38.6-billion tax accounting charge was the biggest driver of the historic loss, but GM also pointed to reduced demand for new cars in North America and Europe, as well as problems in the U.S. housing market for its losses. "The tax loss adjustment is not a big deal," said Peter Morici, a business professor at the University of Maryland. "Losses per vehicle in North America were much larger than expected, and that is why GM did not hit analysts' expectations. These losses cannot merely be tagged to a tougher operating environment, and appear to transcend the gains made in the new UAW contract. All this raises questions as to whether GM's North American operations will become viable, or just less sick, with the new labor agreement." The labor agreement, ratified in October by about 65% of GM's UAW workforce, allows the automaker to relieve itself of a $47-billion hourly retiree liability in 2010 and lower its labor costs through the establishment of a lower-paid category of new workers. GM Chief Financial Officer Fritz Henderson said the new contract will require some up-front costs -- to establish a health care trust and entice higher-paid workers to leave -- but ultimately gives the automaker the opportunity to cut more costs. Henderson said the company's third-quarter results do not change its view that the company's long-term automotive financial outlook is improving.GM, he said, continues to believe that its new product introductions and new labor agreement, once fully implemented, "will significantly improve GM's competitive position in the U.S." The $38.6-billion charge is the result of GM's compliance with a complex accounting procedure that allows companies to use deferred tax assets -- credits the company accrued as it lost money over the years -- when they become profitable. Those credits were counted in the book value of the company. GM said an accounting standard required the automaker to stop counting those credits as an asset this quarter because its three-year historical financial results, combined with massive losses at its GMAC unit and softening U.S., Canadian and German automotive markets, make it "more likely than not" that the company will continue to lose money. Analysts said Wednesday that by removing the credits from its paper value, GM basically was acknowledging that problems remain in key segments of its business that make it unclear when the automaker will achieve sustainable profit. Without evidence of impending profit, the automaker can no longer count the tax credits as an asset because -- at least in the near term -- there's no evidence they have value. GM points out, however, that the credits do not expire and it anticipates using them in the future.

Toyota hybrid sales reach almost 1.2 million worldwide since 1997

Cumulative sales of Toyota hybrids reached 1,188,255 worldwide from 1997 through September 2007, according to a report by the Green Car Congress. Of that number, the Prius accounted for 851,228 units, or 72 per cent of sales. The second best-selling model is the RX 400h, also sold as the Harrier in other markets, with combined global sales of 97,125 units, followed by the Camry Hybrid at 79,122 units. Fourth is a category Toyota calls "other", which includes the Crown, Estima, Alphard, Dyna, Toyoace and Coast, which have sold 73,505 units, followed by the Highlander, also sold as the Kluger, at 71,216 units. The models in the "other" category have been on sale since 1997, while the Kluger and the Harrier began sales in 2005, the first major hybrid platforms to follow the introduction of the Prius. The GS 450h accounted for 10,995 hybrids, while the LS 600h and 600 hL have sold 5,064, most of them in Japan.

Diesel exhaust associated with higher heart attack and stroke risk in men, researchers say

A new report by U.K. and Swedish researchers, presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2007, suggests that increased roadway pollution produced by diesel fuel in vehicles is leading to a cascade of conditions that could result in heart attack or stroke. The researchers found that diesel exhaust increased clot formation and blood platelet activity in healthy volunteers, which could lead to heart attack and stroke. The double-blind, randomized study included 20 healthy men, 21 to 44 years old, who were separately exposed to filtered air, serving as a control, and to diluted diesel exhaust at a level comparable to curbside exposure on a busy street. "The study results are closely tied with previous observational and epidemiological studies showing that shortly after exposure to traffic air pollution, individuals are more likely to suffer a heart attack," said Andrew Lucking, M.D., lead author of the study and a cardiology fellow at the University of Edinburgh. "This study shows that when a person is exposed to relatively high levels of diesel exhaust for a short time, the blood is more likely to clot. This could lead to a blocked vessel resulting in heart attack or stroke." Lucking says that it is unclear whether the findings would apply to gasoline-powered engines; diesel engines generate many times more fine pollutant particles than comparably-sized gasoline engines. The researchers plan to collaborate again with researchers at the University of Umea in Sweden to test particle traps retrofitted on diesel engines to determine if they are effective in reducing diesel particles.