Internet Find: ’59 Ford Country Squire

For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved Country Squires. They are such an anachronism. You take bits of the past and design cues from the jet and space age and stick them together on one vehicle. On the one hand you have the wood paneling, a throwback to a time when your means of conveyance was actually made of wood; it wasn’t simply called a wagon because it could haul a bunch of your crap around, it was called a wagon because it was a wagon. And then you had the rest of the car. If you remove the wood paneling you have a thoroughly modern mid century car. I mean look at it! It has fins, it has the tail lights that are meant to evoke the look of the jets and rockets that were on the bleeding edge of technological achievement of the day.

Couple all of that with a good ol’ American V8 and the capacity to seat nine in relative comfort (all facing forward, too!) and you have a recipe for one of the most unusual, and functional, cars on the road today!

At $42k this one is hardly what you could consider a bargain, but it’s nice to see a relic from the golden age of America’s interstate system still out traversing our highways.

(More pictures and info on this particular car at https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/dealer/ford/country-squire/1810538.html?refer=home)

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1964 Bill Thomas Cheetah Crosses Block at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale 2017

The IDEA and Progress of ERAU’s ADAS

Each year new ways of alerting drivers to improve the safety of the driver are expanding. With the creation of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), cars can now alert the driver of potential hazards. The ERAU Team has created an acronym specific to their ADAS – IDEA.  The Intelligent Driving Efficiency Assistant works on three different features to increase safety and efficiency: Smart Stop, Forward Collision Warning, and Lane Detection Warning.

Each of these features will alert the driver through the car’s interface. Smart Stop is custom to IDEA, and will improve the use of the engine based on driving conditions. The Smart Stop feature recognizes visual cues within the environment surrounding the vehicle, such as identifying common braking situations, to disable the engine and focus on regenerative braking to maximize free energy. Forward Collision Warning recognizes the closure rate of a vehicle in front of your own. If the car is within an unsafe distance, the vehicle will warn the driver to increase the distance. This feature identifies surrounding traffic and road conditions to improve powertrain efficiency of the vehicle. Lastly, Lane Detection Warning alerts the driver if the vehicle has crossed a detected lane marking without the use of a turn signal. These alerts are intended to improve awareness for a distracted driver and refocus the driver’s attention to the driving conditions at hand.

Our team lead for IDEA or ADAS, Mengshu Qing, has been working diligently with nine other teammates and the use of her training from MathWorks at the Fall Workshop to create the algorithms necessary to complete car back tracking, stop sign tracking, and distance calculations. Thanks to NXP’s generous contribution to the competition, these programs are input into NXP’s Advanced Processer which will later be inserted into the car for full use. Currently it works connected to a laptop and is managed by the passenger of a car during testing; Later being inserted into the Camaro with the result (warning indications) appearing on the interface.

Our stereo test camera captures objects including but not limited to, stop signs, speed limit signs, pedestrians on sidewalks or crossing the road, and surrounding vehicles (forward and rear). For testing, the camera seen below is mounted on the top of the car. As the stereo camera captures the environment, IDEA collects data and in turn, transmits warning signals to the driver.

 

The team is excited to be taking the car to Winter Workshop this week where we will be demonstrating the performance of our ADAS including lane departure, collision warnings, and the overall recognition of the car’s environment.

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Fan Art – Richard Rawlings Morphed into a Monkey Sketch – By Logan Tharpe

Local Students Become Engineers for a Day

Written By: Caitlin Worrell, Communications Manager – WVU EcoCAR3

New year, new experiences! In addition to continued vehicle progress, the WVU EcoCAR 3 team recently took a break from vehicle refinement tasks to share their hard work with a group of engineering students from a local Morgantown high school.

Over the last two years, WVU EcoCAR3 has developed a partnership with University High School in Morgantown, West Virginia. This local school provides the opportunity for students to specialize in the STEM field by offering engineering and a wide variety of technical classes. The team created a two-part outreach effort to engage these students in both their classroom and our garage.

Our first event, which was held in September 2016, featured WVU EcoCAR3 and the National Alternative Fuels Training Consortium (NAFTC). In this visit, NAFTC and WVU EcoCAR3 introduced students to the basic elements of hybrid technology. NAFTC provided resources such as an alternative fuels mobile classroom to further demonstrate the science behind hybrid vehicles.

“By working and seeing these programs in action, they begin to develop an understanding of how the STEM classes they are taking and the things they are learning can be practically applied,” explains William “Bill” Davis, NAFTC Director. “It gives them a greater incentive to keep learning and the knowledge that what they are learning has real meaning.”

WVU EcoCAR3 strives to foster greater opportunities for students to work with new technology, including those that NAFTC can provide.

“Visual cues, such as EcoCAR3 and others help the vision develop for students,” said Bill Davis. “It is no longer theoretical in a classroom, but real, right in front of them. This is the best type of learning.”

In the second part of our outreach, students had the chance to visit our facility at WVU and catch a first glimpse of the team’s Camaro hybrid. On January 12 UHS students toured the garage and vehicle, getting an inside look at some of the industry’s newest alternative fuel technology. Additionally, students put their own knowledge to the test as they created mock LED circuits with team members and participated in an ADAS 101 information session.

“The experience allows students to make the connection between academics and real world problem solving scenarios,” says Jeanne Oiler, an instructor at University High School. “The students also discovered that the success of such projects requires a cohesive and eclectic team. They were truly surprised to see students and instructors working from so many different areas working together on a single project.”

One of the greatest benefits of being part of the EcoCAR3 program at West Virginia University is not only redesigning the 2016 Chevrolet Camaro, but also sharing our knowledge with others. As Mountaineers, it is instilled in our heritage to always be an active member of the local community.

“This is one of the greatest experiences that I can offer my students. They leave not only with a wealth of knowledge in a variety of areas but feeling as though they are part of the team itself,” says Jeanne Oiler, Engineering teacher at UHS. “The entire WVU team took the time to fully explain every aspect of the event from communication and coding to mechanical and electrical. They provide the ‘why’ to all the questions that students their age have about studying STEM.”

WVU EcoCAR3 looks forward to continuing its partnership with University High School and NAFTC in Year 4 of the competition.

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Six of Dennis Collins’ Mustangs Break World Record at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale 2017

As discussed in a prior GasMonkeyGarage.com article, Dennis Collins was a little hesitant to sell his Mustangs from his private collection at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale 2017. A lot of fans agreed with that hesitation and thought he should wait 10 more years for the Fox Body Mustang market to mature a little more.

Whether you believe in that opinion or not, six of the eight Mustangs Dennis sold at the big auction broke world records for each year and model of Mustangs respectively. Some auction regulars have stated that this represents a dynamic shift and start of a whole new era for the 3rd and 4th Generation Mustang markets.

Check out the details on what the cars sold for today at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale below.

Lot 400.1 – Sold for $44,000 – WORLD RECORD

Lot 400.3 – Sold for $71,500 – WORLD RECORD

Lot 400.4 -Sold for $55,000 – WORLD RECORD

Lot 400.5 – Sold for $82,500 – WORLD RECORD

Lot 400.6 – Sold for $44,000 – WORLD RECORD

Lot 400.7 – Sold for $63,800 – WORLD RECORD

Lot 400.2 – Sold for $20,350

Lot 400 – Sold for $9,900

The Mustangs in the video below have never been filmed before last week.

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The First Known 1966 Ford Bronco Prototype Re-emerges After Almost 40 Years As a Family Truck

Fan Profile – Gas Monkey Fans from South Africa – 9,120 Miles from Dallas, TX

Six of Dennis Collins’ Mustangs Break World Record at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale 2017

As discussed in a prior GasMonkeyGarage.com article, Dennis Collins was a little hesitant to sell his Mustangs from his private collection at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale 2017. A lot of fans agreed with that hesitation and thought he should wait 10 more years for the Fox Body Mustang market to mature a little more.

Whether you believe in that opinion or not, six of the eight Mustangs Dennis sold at the big auction broke world records for each year and model of Mustangs respectively. Some auction regulars have stated that this represents a dynamic shift and start of a whole new era for the 3rd and 4th Generation Mustang markets.

Check out the details on what the cars sold for today at Barrett-Jackson

Scottsdale below.Lot 400.1 – Sold for $44,000 – WORLD RECORD

Lot 400.3 – Sold for $71,500 – WORLD RECORD

Lot 400.4 -Sold for $55,000 – WORLD RECORD

Lot 400.5 – Sold for $82,500 – WORLD RECORD

Lot 400.6 – Sold for $44,000 – WORLD RECORD

Lot 400.7 – Sold for $63,800 – WORLD RECORD

Lot 400.2 – Sold for $20,350

Lot 400 – Sold for $9,900

The Mustangs in the video below have never been filmed before last week.

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The Gas Monkey Holy Grail Firebirds to Be Auctioned off at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale 2017

The Bandit, Burt Reynolds, Is Set to Ride Again at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale 2017

Faculty Advisory Board Meets at CSU

Over the weekend, EcoCAR 3 organizers gathered at Colorado State University (CSU) in Fort Collins, Colorado for the Winter Faculty Advisory Board (FAB).

Jerry Ku, Wayne State University; Andrew Nix, West Virginia University, Doug Nelson, Virginia Tech, and Randy Follett, Mississippi State University are the faculty advisors that make up the Year Three FAB. The FAB met with EcoCAR 3 organizers to discuss details for the upcoming competition events. The FAB had the opportunity to provide feedback on areas of the EcoCAR 3 competition, including their perspective on the EcoCAR 3 activities.

“Meeting with the FAB to review competition events allows us to incorporate the perspective of the team into each event. This is an essential part of the event development process because it improves the quality of the events and gives the teams a voice of influence,” said EcoCAR 3 organizer, Jesse Alley. “The FAB really helps us feel out the ability of teams to execute the events and to be success in the events. This input allows our events to be strategically designed to challenge the teams in pertinent and relevant technical areas without being achievable.”

Prior to the meetings, members of the CSU EcoCAR 3 team were given the opportunity to meet one-on-one with the competition organizers to give updates on each member’s swimlane.

Thank you to CSU for hosting the Year Three Winter FAB meeting! We look forward to seeing everyone at the upcoming Year Three Winter Workshop!

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Barrett-Jackson 2016 Through the Eyes of a Photographer

Guest Writer – Mark Karpinski of Motoexotica Classic Cars – Images from Barrett-Jackson 2016

5 Things We Learned from “5 Questions with David Freidman”

David Friedman, Acting Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy, recently gave an interview about how his experience as a team member of the FutureCAR Challenge (a predecessor of EcoCAR) has led to his current career. Here are 5 things we learned from the interview.

1. The automotive field is a changing and exciting place to be in right now.

Freidman not only talks about how he’s seen the automotive industry change over the years, but where he sees it heading. He says he expects to see more innovation in the next 10-20 years than we’ve seen in the last 100. Who will be on the frontline of this innovation? We think it will be EcoCAR students who are showcasing their bold new ideas in the innovation swimlane. 2. Having a wide variety of interests could lead to a well-balanced career.

A fun fact we learned from the interview is that Freidman has many hobbies outside of his work, including writing poetry and traveling. One thing that always impresses people about EcoCAR team members are how versatile they are, and this is often a result of the dynamic teams they work on. Collaborating with people from majors as far apart from each other as engineering, business, and graphic design can open your mind and introduce you to new ideas and activities.

3. Small challenges can’t get in the way of big success.

Friedman talks about how during his time on the team, he and his teammates’ first attempt at their vehicle control system failed. Like all successful people and teams, that didn’t stop them. They kept trying ideas outside the box, even using Friedman in the driver’s seat to manually tell the vehicle what to do. They ultimately went home with a couple of awards from the final competition, but the biggest reward was the tools he received that served as a springboard to his immensely successful career.

4. Contacts you make in EcoCAR are one of your most valuable assets.

Early in his career, Freidman made contacts whom he continued to see as he worked in different areas of the automotive industry. EcoCAR students often note that building a network is one of the most valuable things they take from the competition. Students who worked on teams have gone on to work together through decades of their career, start businesses together, and create life-long friendships.

 5. EcoCAR can give you the tools to go far!

David Freidman is a shining example of success that comes from students in the EcoCAR program.  Students from the past nearly 3 decades of DOE’s Advanced Vehicle Technology Competitions now work in all areas of the automotive industry, designing the next generation of vehicles and securing America’s energy future.  From learning teamwork skills, being able to apply classroom knowledge in a real-world scenario, to networking with sponsors who are the leaders in the automotive industry, EcoCAR is a stepping stone to the future you want to build!

Click here to read the interview with David Freidman.

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Dennis Collins’ Holy Grail 1967 Camaro Z/28 To Be Sold at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale 2017

Where Are They Now: ASU’s Josh Conter Paves the Road for Future Graduates

Written by: Mattie Whitt

Spring of 2013 was the start of a new beginning for Arizona State University (ASU) Polytechnic.  Applying to become a participant in the prestigious Advanced Vehicle Technology Competition (AVTC), EcoCAR 3 is no small feat. An extensive report was collected together for submission to Argonne National Laboratory. EcoCAR 3 represented a long history of successful of AVTCs in the past. One ASU student, Josh Conter, was there from the very beginning helping craft this important deliverable. Josh, now a part of the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering Alumni association, took time out of his busy day to reflect and discuss his experiences during this time and the time he spent on the ASU EcoCAR 3 team.

Only a short year has passed since Josh graduated with his Bachelor of Science in engineering. Since then, he began working at General Motors helping in the development of new cutting-edge architectures. Being a New Mexico native, he explained that leaving the warm temperatures of Arizona and trading it in for 32 inches of snow a year was not easy. “Everything has changed since moving up here” Josh said. Since graduation, Josh has worked in Milford, Michigan at the GM proving grounds as an associate architect-engineer. There, like his time on EcoCAR 3, he spends most of his days pouring over system modeling and simulations (SM&S). Josh spent almost two years on the SM&S team, leading the team during his last year on the project.

While new to the automotive industry starting his professional career, Josh has had a passion for vehicles his whole life. Working for a company like GM is a dream of many engineers. He believes, “working with the best teaches you how to work with the top talent in the industry.” Josh describes, “The stress of tight deadlines is just as real now as it was back in EcoCAR. The ability to work together and quickly find solutions is an asset in such a competitive industry.”  With dedication and commitment to projects such as EcoCAR 3, the program “teaches you an invaluable skill set,” and sets EcoCAR 3 graduates far apart from any other student organization.

After walking across the stage last December, Josh’s legacy continues to inspire the students he left to finish what he started. The influence felt by his fellow Sun Devils is probably what this recent graduate may not recognize or even realize. Corey Page, the current SM&S lead at ASU and a recent hire for GM as well explained, “Josh taught me everything I know. I probably owe my job at GM because of him.” Josh passionately stated that, “My whole life was EcoCAR and school. My personal goal was to learn as much as possible. School does not teach you enough; it does not simulate real life. School is meaningless unless you learn to use it. EcoCAR is as close as you can get to the real world.”

It is important to remember that all the alumni of AVTC are in various stages of their own life. Some of these graduates are quickly approaching their 30-year anniversary of the Methanol Marathon challenge held back in 1988, while other former students are celebrating their third year from EcoCAR 2. Perhaps the focus is not about the immediate success Josh Conter has experienced but following in the footsteps of previous graduates of prior AVTCs. More importantly, it is about giving the Sun Devils that will come after him the opportunity to believe that they too, one day, will be somewhere beyond where they currently are now.  They overcome their current challenges by showing intense dedication, commitment, and passion for what they do. After all, AVTCs create lasting change in surrounding communities as alumni make an impact on friends, families, communities and the industry.

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Morgan Wade Interview – Gas Monkey Energy – Athlete Profile

GasMonkeyGarageShop.com Photoshoot #1

Building the Hot Wheels Hi-Po Hauler – Behind the Scenes

Dennis Collins Is Selling His Prized Mustang Collection at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale 2017

While Dennis Collins may be hesitant to sell his Mustangs, it’s too late now. They’re on their way to Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale 2017.

These special examples, that took him years to find, will be auctioned consecutively in a matter of minutes on Wednesday, January 18^th.

Check out this video and vehicle details below.

Lot 400

Lot 400.1

Lot 400.2

Lot 400.3

Lot 400.4

Lot 400.5

Lot 400.6

Lot 400.7

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Dennis Collins Is Selling His Prized Mustang Collection at Barret-Jackson Scottsdale 2017

While Dennis Collins may be hesitant to sell his Mustangs, it’s too late now.  They’re on their way to Barret-Jackson Scottsdale 2017.

These special examples, that took him years to find, will be auctioned consecutively in a matter of minutes on Wednesday, January 18^th.

Check out this video and vehicle details below.

Lot 400

Lot 400.1

Lot 400.2

Lot 400.3

Lot 400.4

Lot 400.5

Lot 400.6

Lot 400.7

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