Checkered Blog by Checkered Flag is the automotive play place in Hampton Roads Virginia

True or False? A Less Expensive Prius is in Your Future

TRUE!

Toyota announced that a lower priced "standard" Prius will be available for the 2008 model year. The overwhelming popularity of the car evidently made Toyota realize that, if they offered it to more people through lower prices, more people would buy it. Genius! According to a recent article in the L.A. Times, 65% of all hybrids sold in the U.S. this year were Priuses. June Prius sales were up 83% (!!!) from last year. In order to meet increasing U.S. demand, Toyota is boosting annual production by nearly 50%.

Checkered Flag Toyota confirms that the Priuses are still selling like hotcakes. If you want to get your hands on one, call 490-1111 or stop by 5301 Virginia Beach Blvd. today.

Meet Checkered Flag Customers The Coopers

What is your name? Kevin and Mary Hunter Cooper

Where do you work? Cooper's Landscape Management

What do you drive? 1996 328i (see picture!)

Which Hampton Roads city or county do you live in? Virginia Beach

How long have you lived in Hampton Roads? 42 years

What are your hobbies? Gardening, Home Improvement

What is your favorite restaurant? Primo Pizza

What is in your MP3 player (or CD player) right now? Jazz

What movie have you seen most recently? The Queen

What pets do you have? None

What is one thing about you that people would be surprised to know? Enjoy Heavy Metal Music

What is one invention you couldn’t live without? A/C

What is the best thing about being a Checkered Flag customer? Reliable service

For Toyota, It's Easy Being Green

It looks like Toyota is forging ahead with plans for a plug-in hybrid electric passenger vehicle (PHEV). A recent press release from my very own Alma Mater indicates that Toyota is partnering with some very smart folks to put the PHEV through rigorous testing. Of course, Toyota already leads the automotive pack when it comes to being green and the success of the PHEV could solidify that position for years to come.

According to a statement by Toyota, "the big advantage is that the PHEV's prototype battery pack is capable of storing significantly higher levels of electricity supplied by 'plugging into the grid' for periodic recharging sessions...With significantly more electric power in reserve, the vehicle will be capable of operating in pure-electric mode for longer periods of time and at much higher speeds than the current Prius. This will result in substantial gains in fuel economy ... over current conventional hybrid systems."

Very cool. We’ll keep you posted.

T.G.I.F.

Love Fridays. Best day of the week, hands down. There is an almost tangible feeling of promise in the air on Fridays, especially in the afternoon. That feeling is amplified in the summer months because there are so many fantastic weekend opportunities in Hampton Roads. My pick for this weekend is the Virginia Beach Farmers Market. I am almost reluctant to write about the Farmers Market because I worry that hoards of people will show up and grab the best produce before I get there...I realize this feeling is selfish and wrong.

The Market is about community, education and supporting Virginia producers. If you have read a newspaper in the last few months, you know that food safety is a big deal. There are growing parallel movements regarding sustainable agriculture and the significance of buying locally grown food. The Virginia Beach Farmers Market embodies the spirit of these movements and, best of all, it’s downright fun!

The Market is located on the corner of Dam Neck and Princess Anne Roads in the Princess Anne Commons Area. There is ample parking available. Vendors are there from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., 7 days a week selling crafts, produce, flowers, candy, etc.. The on site restaurant is open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m everyday except Friday when it’s open until 10 p.m. Friday Night Hoedowns feature live country or bluegrass music from 7 p.m to 10 p.m. IT"S FREE! Bring a blanket or lawn chair because it can get pretty crowded. On Saturday evenings, you can learn to country line dance! There’s no live music, but the crowd is smaller and the line dancing is a kick (forgive the cringe inducing pun, I couldn’t resist). The atmosphere is definitely kid-friendly. Lisa Hatley, who works as an admin assistant for the Virginia Farmer’s Market, recommends an early Saturday A.M. visit as that is when the homemade "producer only" stuff is available.

For more details or to get info about upcoming events, click here.

Dream Job

There are jobs in the world that must make those lucky enough to have them feel like they are perpetually winning the lottery...race-car driver...professional video game tester...food critic...rocket scientist (if for no other reason than that when people ask you what you do for a living, you can say with a straight face "I’m a rocket scientist" and watch them squirm thinking of a follow up question)...employee at Checkered Flag Motor Car Company (had to throw that in as boss is standing over left shoulder), etc. Today though, I realized that there are a select few individuals at Honda or at Honda’s marketing firm that have the truly lottery winning-like job of designing very cool website components. I realized this when, in the course of my daily web travels, I hit up the site for the 2008 Honda Element, a vehicle that I have always been attracted to, but never asked out on a date (a.k.a. test drove). I like it because it’s boxy and different and subversive in a good way rather than a trying too hard to be unique kind of way. My neighbors have one and they are the coolest family on the block, so maybe that’s why I like the Element so much.

Anyway, the main Element website links to Element and Friends, which is similar to a Scion site that I discussed earlier this summer. When you get in, you can use the up/down/sideways keys on your keyboard to drive a vehicle around "above ground" at the oceanfront (if you are driving the Element) or "underground" (if you are driving the Element SC). Along the way, you can talk to and/or interact with various animals (crabs, turtles, pigeons, rats, cockroaches, etc.). This interaction includes graffiti art with a rat, helping defeat rival cockroaches, a "Pimp My Ride" spin-off involving a hamster cage and much more. This may sound incredibly juvenile because, really, it is. It is also the most entertaining hour five minutes (boss over other shoulder) that I have spent at work in awhile. Thank the people who have the dream job of developing this silly stuff and check it out.

Underappreciated Audi?

Check out today’s L.A. Times article about the compelling (and pricey) Audi R8. I am especially struck by the author’s portrayal of Audi as the luxury underdog in the American market. Maybe this feeling is a West Coast phenomenon? Audi lovers (and others having an opinion) unite and share with us your thoughts on this...

Results of New J.D. Power Survey Show Jaguar Best in Customer Service

Check out the results from the 27^th Annual J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Customer Service Index Study^SM ! The survey, which polled over 84,000 owners and lessees about their in-dealership service experience, found that Jag customers are the most satisfied with their service initiation, service advisor, in-dealership experience, and service delivery and they typically felt that they had a "user friendly experience." While we know our Jag dealership rocks, Checkered Flag prides itself on providing the best customer service to EVERY customer at ALL our dealerships! Stop by any of our locations on Virginia Beach Blvd. to see what I mean!

Monday's Trip Down Memory Lane

Psychedelic vans, oldies music in the making, blonde and bronze, boards and babes: It was 1967 and the Summer of Love was alive and well at the ECSC along side Virginia Beach’s Steel Pier. Where now stands the 1^st St. Jetty, hotels and parking lots were a microcosm of the times, a celebration of surfing and feelings of freedom and curiosity, coming in like the swells peeling off the pier. Sports Illustrated featured California surf icon Phil Edwards styling down a wave in front of the pilings, "Hailing in the East Coast Surfing Boom," as the cover caption read. West Coast surf stars David Nuuhiwa and Dewey Weber were in town. Mike Tabeling and Gary Proper were up from Florida. Bill Frierson, Jimmy Parnell, Jimbo Brothers and Johnny Holland were among many hot locals. Back then it seemed like everyone who was anyone was at the fifth annual ECSC, making the scene and testing talents in what would grow to become the second oldest continually held surfing contest in the world. This year’s 45^th annual contest runs from August 22-26. As with all previous events, hundreds of onlookers will fill the beach and bathe in the sun and festivities. In 1967 the audience enjoyed another vantage point. Draping the pier’s railings they could catch the action from above as contestants hotdogged to the shoreline, shot between the girders and advanced onto the winners circle. Those winners and finalists were among the first generation of an ECSC lineage. Children and grandchildren of many of those contestants today have trophies of their own. The decaying steel pier was torn down in the late 1970s and with it came the end of an era. The 1^st St. Jetty carries on in fine fashion, but as the 45th running looms, the warm memories of the early gatherings still hold the spirit and momentum that started it all. Special thanks go to photographer Buddy Riggs for the picture of the steel pier at ECSC circa 1967.

BMW Working on New Green Tech, BizWeek Says

The buzz is that BMW is working on some very cool “green” technologies. BusinessWeek online is reporting that the company is “rolling out a raft of new fuel-saving systems called ‘intelligent energy flow’  that will rapidly become standard features on new models.”

It’s not just the power plant. They’re using brakes to regenerate energy and batteries that recycle energy that is lost in the system today. There are “intelligent alternator controls” and “automatic stop-start systems that switch the engine off when the car is stationary.”

Speaking of the power plant…BMW sees its future in hydrogen. It’s been developing and testing hydrogen engines for 30 years. When will we see it? That’s hard to say, it has more to do with fuel infrastructure than technology. BMW launched a test fleet this year of 7 Series cars with the hydrogen engine. Unless you’re a leading politician like Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger or an industrial leader, it’s going to be real hard to get one. Most of the test models went to them to gain their support for the fuel infrastructure build-out.

We suppose that if you have such a great automobile, you’re sure going to encourage people to give you a place to get fuel. BusinessWeek reports that just in case BMW’s 30 year bet on hydrogen isn’t where the future goes, it’s investing $130 million to develop hybrid engines in a joint venture with DaimlerChrysler and General Motors. BMW’s first hybrid car will be launched in 2009.

Could a Box be the Answer to Carbon Emissions?

Three fishing pals in Wales say a box they devised could solve the issue of carbon emissions ... according to Scientific American, the men say the box can be put under a car, replacing the exhaust ... it would capture the emissions and turn them primarily into water vapor.  Drivers would put new box on every time they refilled their gas tanks and the box would be sent to a bioreactor so it could be emptied and then fuel an algae-growing process that would ultimately produce biodiesel.  The next step for the three: finding capital from the British government or from private industry.