Myrtus

Here's a couple of things America got right

Yo! Where ma swagger wagon at?

Still don't like the idea of driving an electric car? Try this!

To get us used to what to expect in the future, Volvo proudly presents its first ever electric car....this adorable little golf cart will cost you about $8000 if you want to have one for your backyard:

Via Autoblog Green

Volvo is planning to launch its first hybrid car in 2012.

Chubby Chique Cars

by Erwin Wurm

I don't know about you, but I like chubby people and chubby cars are just as adorable.  Don't you think?

Cars of the future - Mini E

Now if every car manufacturer would follow suit and start producing not just cars that run on electricity, but on other alternative fuel as well, our economy's dependency on foreign oil will be eliminated in no time.

THE MINI E - Emissions free all-electric car

The BMW Group is about to become the first manufacturer of premium automobiles to deploy a fleet of nearly 500 all electric vehicles for private use in daily traffic. Powered by a 150 kW (204 hp) electric motor and fed by a high-performance rechargeable lithium-ion battery, the vehicle will be nearly silent and emissions free.

Arabs on Harley Davidson, the burqa mobile and car modesty...trends that move and moving trends

Big hug and a kiss to the Myrtus readers who sent in the following articles:

Mideast anti-Americanism doesn't apply to Harley-Davidsons - Los Angeles Times (<~ click to see video & pics)

Even as clerics and politicians in the Arab world ring out denunciations of U.S. foreign policy and the encroachment of Western-style decadence, these gleaming emblems of American freedom are growing in popularity here, says Marwan Tarraf, who sells Harleys in Lebanon and helped organize the tour. Five years ago, he knew of only 25 serious Harley riders in Lebanon. Now, he says, there are about 180.

Harley clubs are popping up around the region. Talal says his chapter in Riyadh has about 300 members. They ride in one of the world's most religiously conservative countries wearing the black leather jackets, heavy boots and snarling insignia of biker gangs everywhere.

Talal sees no incongruity in having the green flag of Saudi Arabia, with its sword and elaborate Koranic script, right below the glistening Harley-Davidson badge on his black denim jacket, or in playing Arabic pop music as he rides his all-American bike.

In fact, he says, Saudi Arabia is the perfect place to ride. The wide roads are fantastic for motorcycles, smooth and well-maintained. Such highways are becoming more typical in the Middle East, especially in the car culture of the Persian Gulf. Dry, sunny days are also common in the region: Lebanon gets about 300 days a year of Southern California-like weather.

Exurban League: Iran working on Burka-mobile.

Those IEDs and tactical nukes will have to wait. A third technological initiative has taken precedence:

Iran has announced plans for a new car designed specially for women.

Its features will include automatic transmission, parking and navigation aids and a jack for changing tires without getting grease on your chador.

British car insurance company for women offers tips on modesty.

QUICC! DiVa

Move over Tata.....

Dutch car manufacturer DuraCar introduces its first electric car made out of recyclable plastic.

Paris Preview: Duracar Quicc DiVa to officially launch - AutoblogGreen

World Première
It is a world-first for a Dutch automobile manufacturer to have a world première at the historic Paris fair. DuraCar introduces itself and its first type of the QUICC!, the QUICC! DiVa, at stand 426 in hall 3.

100 % Electric and Plastic
DuraCar launches a unique car on the market: the QUICC! DiVa. The QUICC! DiVa is not only fully battery electrically powered, body and chassis of the car are entirely made of plastic. The QUICC! DiVa is green, economical and its compact design was developed for urban traffic purposes. In 2009 the car will be launched on the market.

Auto-erotica

What can I say......

umm....

Dear God....

Please forgive me,

but is this considered a birth defect or what?

Man who's had sex with 1000 cars gives new meaning to auto-erotic

Smith has taken man's romance with the automobile to a whole new level, and he claims his attachments to his metal, leather-upholstered companions are far from platonic.

The 57-year-old Washington state native first had sex with a car at age 15, and says he has never been sexually attracted to people, female or male. And he feels no need to change.

"I'm not sick and I don't want to hurt anyone. Cars are just my preference," he told British newspaper the Telegraph.

His current flame is a Volkswagen Beetle that's he's named Vanilla, and considering a typical woman's reaction to Smith's spreading himself around, she's very low maintenance (not counting trips to the mechanic or pricey imported auto parts).

And there have been many others. A 1973 Opal GT named Cinnamon, a 1993 Ford Ranger Splash he called Ginger, and Victoria, a 1969 Beetle he bought from a family of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Smith explains, "I appreciate beauty and I go a little beyond appreciating the beauty of a car only to the point of what I feel is an expression of love," Smith said.

Would YOU consider owning a fake Ferrari?

I've never seen as many knock-offs being sold out on the streets as when I lived in New York.  It was mostly little stuff though....purses, watches, jeans, you name it, but I don't know about cars.

In Sicily, you can own a fake Ferrari

ROME: Italians are used to buying bogus Gucci bags or Rolex watches to look stylish but police found a new height of craftsmanship and cunning when they broke up a ring selling fake Ferrari cars for a fraction of the real price. Police accused 15 people of building the blood red sports cars and selling them to car fanatics on a budget, most of whom knew they were buying a counterfeit classic.

Tata Nano

The world's cheapest car has no air conditioning, no airbags, no radio and a whole list of other things, but people are still excited about it, at least in some parts of the world.  They call it "the people's car"....gee that sounds familiar.

India’s Tata Motors unveils $2,500 car (video)

For millions of people in the developing world, Tata Motor’s new $2,500 four-door subcompact — the world’s cheapest car — may yield a transportation revolution with as great an impact as Henry Ford’s Model T, which rolled off an assembly line one century ago.

The potential impact of Tata’s Nano has given environmentalists nightmares, with visions of the tiny cars clogging India’s already-choked roads and collectively spewing millions of tons of carbon dioxide into the air.

The Tata Nano most likely won't be available to consumers just yet, because it's missing several standard safety features.

ACTIVE AND PASSIVE SAFETY
Airbag:
Parking Sensors:
Fog Lamp:
Traction Control:
EBD:
ABS:
ESP: