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Car dealers, factories and ports close in the path of Hurricane Florence

Hurricane Florence has caused CarMax to close four stores in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. The closed locations are in Myrtle Beach, Charleston, Winterville and Virginia Beach. It is possible for the company to close more stores, reports Automotive News. Daimler and Volvo have also shuttered their manufacturing facilities in the region to prepare for Florence. The storm is expected to reach North Carolina and South Carolina today or tomorrow. Automotive News says every coastal car dealer it reached on Tuesday was closing, and others not in the projected landfall area were monitoring the situation. There are approximately nine million vehicles in operation in the area that Florence is expected to hit, with a vehicle density of 162 vehicles per square mile. It is likely that not as many vehicles will be lost as during hurricanes Harvey and Irma, as population is less dense; areas affected by those storms had over 300 vehicles per square mile. The chief economist of Cox Automotive told Automotive News that some 20,000 to 40,000 vehicles could end up flooded if Florence keeps its path; however, recent reports have indicated Florence has weakened to a category 2 hurricane on Thursday. Tesla has again unlocked more range for some of its older models to make evacuation easier; the same was done a year ago in preparation for Hurricane Irma. As well as automotive manufacturers and dealers, automotive transport providers are readying for the storm and clearing cargo away. The container and auto terminals at Port Charleston will be closed from Thursday to Saturday, affecting part shipments to the BMW manufacturing facility in Spartanburg; BMW's spokespersons have said no production disruption is expected. Parts are delivered via railroad to Spartanburg by Norfolk Southern, which is also suspending operations for the time being. Vehicle hauler United Road has moved its rigs to safer regions and suspended deliveries, and car carrier vessels are trying to make it away from the storm's path in time. Related Video: News Source: Automotive NewsImage Credit: NASA via Reuters Auto News Plants/Manufacturing BMW Mercedes-Benz Volvo Car Buying

Volvo P1800-based gasser is UK's entry in the Hot Wheels Legends Tour

Hot Wheels has spent the past few months touring the United States in search of the next custom car it will add to its catalog of 1/64-scale diecast models. It's not stopping there: It also headed to the United Kingdom to add a bit of international flair to the competition, and it selected a Volvo P1800 that has been heavily modified into a gasser as the winner that will move on to the semifinal round. Owner Lee Johnstone explained he built his P1800 — which he nicknamed "Ain't no Saint" — starting with a bare shell that had been stripped and that was too far gone to properly restore. Volvo's 1960s four-cylinder engines are famously tunable, but Johnstone looked across the pond for an engine suitable to make his dream car a reality. He chose a 454-cubic-inch V8 sourced from the Chevrolet parts bin and supercharged to develop about 600 horsepower. Ain't no Saint reportedly runs a 10.01-second quarter mile at 133 mph. Johnstone regularly races the P1800 with his three daughters. He consequently named his team Johnstone & Daughters (JD) Racing. "This is a beautiful example of a gasser — a drag racer with street car form. Often with dragsters, the chassis is so important that the body gets overlooked, but this example is fabulous with great attention to detail," explained former Jaguar design director Ian Callum, who was one of the judges that selected the P1800 as the United Kingdom's finalist. "It completely hits the Hot Wheels brief." Hot Wheels has already released several gassers, including one based on a 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air. Time will tell if Johnstone's P1800 will become the next addition to the series. Its next stop is the global semifinal round scheduled for November 4, 2021, where it will compete against some of the previous winners. There are two semifinal rounds taking place before the grand finale planned for November 13.

Autoblog Minute: Volvo, Mercedes, Google back autonomous tech

Self-driving cars could make our commutes a breeze but what happens when something goes wrong? Three industry leaders step up with an answer. Autoblog's Adam Morath reports on this edition of Autoblog Minute, with commentary from Pete Bigelow. Show full video transcript text [00:00:00] Self-driving cars could make our commutes a breeze but what happens when something goes wrong? Three industry leaders step up with an answer. I'm Adam Morath and this is your Autoblog Minute. Volvo, Mercedes and Google have all come forward to say that in the event of a systems failure of one of their autonomous vehicles, they would be willing to accept full liability. For more we go to Autoblog's Pete Bigelow: [00:00:30] - [00:01:00] [00:01:30] [Pete Bigelow Interview] With Volvo setting the precedent we'll see how the rest of the industry responds. For Autoblog, I'm Adam Morath. Autoblog Minute is a short-form video news series reporting on all things automotive. Each segment offers a quick and clear picture of what's happening in the automotive industry from the perspective of Autoblog's expert editorial staff, auto executives, and industry professionals.