4 By 4 Needs Work on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Florida man found dead inside SUV covered in parking tickets

A woman in Fort Lauderdale, FL, got a nasty shock last month when she discovered a corpse sitting at the wheel of a heavily ticketed SUV parked near the Broward County Courthouse. According to the Sun Sentinel, Carolyn White was walking down a street in Fort Lauderdale when she spotted something strange. An Isuzu Axiom with deeply tinted windows was parked at the curb festooned with parking tickets. Curious to find out how someone could get that many parking tickets, she went to investigate. "I was being nosy," she told the Sentinel. "I never let the meter man catch me. I never got a parking ticket and I wanted to know why somebody else got caught. And that's what made me look inside." When she approached the vehicle, she discovered more than just a pile of tickets under the wipers. An elderly man was sitting in the driver's seat, slumped face down over the center console between the seats, clutching a credit card in a still hand. "Oh my God, please tell me this man is not dead," was White's first thought, she told the paper. Unfortunately, he was. The Broward County Medical Examiner stated the man in the SUV, Jacob Morpeau of Miami, had been dead for quite some time when White discovered him. Records show that the Isuzu was ticketed in that space numerous times between November 12 and November 15, including twice in the space of three minutes the morning Morpeau's body was discovered. "I can understand why the meter person probably didn't see him from the driver's side," said White. "He was underneath the steering wheel, his head was in the middle of the seat, between the two seats. But you could see him on the passenger's side. That's how I seen him, from the sidewalk." Fort Lauderdale city officials declined to comment on the incident, but an email from the City Clerk's office stated that the $160 dollars racked up while Morpeau sat dead at the wheel of his SUV would be dismissed due to "extenuating circumstances". News Source: Sun Sentinel Auto News Weird Car News Isuzu SUV parking ticket Florida Man

Cummins and Isuzu to collaborate on prototype electric truck

Cummins, the company known best for its diesel engines, just announced a partnership with Isuzu to “create a prototype medium-duty, battery electric truck” for North America. Exploration of electric powertrains isnÂ’t totally new for Cummins, as itÂ’s talked about a transition to electric since 2017. In fact, Cummins even revealed a battery-powered truck back then, too. This electric truck with Isuzu is new, though, and itÂ’s going to put the Cummins PowerDrive6000 powertrain into IsuzuÂ’s F-Series truck that you can see in the photo above. Cummins does not detail specs for its PowerDrive6000, but weÂ’ve seen the drive unit used in a hybrid concept from Cummins previously. It provided 50 miles of electric range when the battery pack in that truck was full, but with this being a full battery electric vehicle, we suspect that Cummins and Isuzu are using a much larger battery pack for more range. We donÂ’t have any vital specs like range or power, but we suspect those will come at a later date. This year will see Isuzu and Cummins put the truck through a pilot and demonstration phase in North American fleets. After thatÂ’s been completed — assuming it is successful — the partnership could see Isuzu and Cummins collaborate on building battery electric trucks for commercial use here in North America. “We are excited to be working with Isuzu to accelerate decarbonization within the partnership,” said Amy Davis, Vice President and President of New Power at Cummins. “ItÂ’s through our joint commitment in innovation that we provide our customers with safe, reliable zero-emissions solutions.” Related video:

Junkyard Gem: 1988 Chevrolet Spectrum Sport Coupe

Before General Motors created the Geo brand for cars built or designed by its overseas partners, the Chevrolet Division put its badges on U.S.-market versions of the Toyota Corolla Sprinter, the Suzuki Cultus and the Isuzu Gemini. Those cars were known as the Nova, the Sprint and the Spectrum, and all became Geos starting with the 1989 model year. Today's Junkyard Gem is one of the last Chevy Spectrums ever sold, found in a Denver self-service yard a few months ago. Midway through 1988, the Chevrolet Spectrum abruptly became the Geo Spectrum and was assigned to the 1989 model year. This car was built in May 1988, making it one of the very last of the pre-Geo Spectrums. The Chevrolet/Geo Spectrum was available as a four-door sedan and as a three-door hatchback, from the 1985 through 1989 model years. For 1988 only, a Spectrum Sport Coupe package, featuring some trim upgrades and these rad decals, could be had on the hatchback. This car was essentially identical to its Isuzu-badged counterpart, the I-Mark. In 1988, the MSRP for the cheapest possible Chevy Spectrum hatchback (the stripped-down Spectrum Express) was $6,495, while its somewhat better-equipped I-Mark twin started at $7,439 (that's $17,128 and $19,617 in 2023 dollars). Meanwhile, the base Hyundai Excel hatchback listed at $5,295 and the Yugo GV cost a hilarious $4,199 ($13,963 and $10,941 in today's money). Power came from this 1.5-liter SOHC four-cylinder, rated at 70 horsepower. A turbocharged version with 110 horsepower was available as well. You could get an automatic transmission in the Spectrum, but this car has the base five-speed manual. This car didn't get the optional air conditioning, but at least it has the traditional Isuzu HVAC control icons featuring blow-dried hair and high-heeled dominatrix boots. Just over 170,000 miles on the odometer. Someone installed a pretty good (for the 1980s) Blaupunkt Charlotte CR148 cassette deck in the dash. This was a necessity if you wanted to enjoy full appreciation of the music of the era. The Spectrum is special! It's as slick as city rain. "I didn't spend a lot of money but with my Spectrum it looks like I did." Joe Isuzu mocked Toyota salesmen when pitching the I-Mark. As was nearly always the case during the 1980s, the JDM ads for the same car were much more fun. They should have recreated this commercial with Spectrums.