Search 7D:

All tags » auto

 

Just after 5 p.m. last Wednesday, St. Paul Street in Burlington was jammed with station wagons, SUVs and trucks. One white pickup whizzed by pulling a cigarette boat the size of a spacious backyard porch. Then, during a lull in traffic, 34-year-old Debbie Safran piloted her brilliant yellow Smart car into the fray.... Read more

Holsteins and horses may be at the heart of the Champlain Valley Fair, but it’s horsepower that delivers the defibrillation. During the Grand National Truck and Tractor Pull — the grand finale to the fair on Monday, September 3 — reigning champ Bill Voreis will rumble out American Thunder for the “unlimited modified” division. The midway monster snorts out 10,000 horsepower and has earned Voreis two national titles.... Read more

Some racecar fanatics just cannot get enough speed, even when a July night feels like October. It’s “American Pride Night” at Devil’s Bowl Speedway, a smallish dirt oval about 25 miles west of Rutland, and despite the chilly temps, the place is all about no-frills, rough-and-rowdy automotive fun. Even though I hold a permanent grudge against Uncle Sam, I’m psyched to see some patriotic regalia at the racetrack, which is considered to be a poor cousin to Barre’s Thunder Road.... Read more

Nowhere in the Vatican’s recently proffered Ten Commandments for Drivers do the words “Thou shalt not covet the cars of days gone by” appear. Apparently wistful sentimentality is not one of the emotions that causes the sort of “primitive behavior” — i.e., road rage — that the pontiff so delicately denounced. Therefore, the thousands of Vermonters who restore, wax, pamper and dream about old cars can rest easy as they continue to indulge their passion without pissing off the pope.... Read more

Amy Mattinat’s not your stereotypical haggler o’ the fabled used-car lot; she is so beyond that. Sure, the 48-year-old co-owns Auto Craftsmen, an independent repair shop and used-car dealership on Route 2 in Montpelier. But this gregarious guru is also one of the most prolific female-car-owner educators in the nation. Her 2005 manual, How to Buy a Great Used Car, offers innovative insider tips.... Read more

For a guy who drives a Hummer, Bob Tousignant sure owns a lot of stuffed animals. Proof that it’s not always wise to judge a man by his engine.

Tousignant, 58, is a semi-retired electrician and former Navy man. He lives in a modest, gray-shingled house at the top of a sleepy hill in Randolph with his wife, Jane. Glass wind chimes dangle from a light on the pathway that leads up to their front door. Beside their living room window, a small, unobtrusive sign reads, “USA.”... Read more

"I don’t know if nitrous oxide is dangerous,” reflects Steve Carton. “But it’s fucking explosive.”... Read more

Mechanic Mark Penta has no environmental axe to grind. Around the time this race-car aficionado did his first “Greasecar” conversion, in 2001, vegetarian transport was only beginning to assume its place in the pantheon of renewable alternatives. Now, five years later, he finds himself at the forefront of an eco-revolution.... Read more

Behind the steering wheel, green means go. And if that green is a green flag dropped over a racecourse, it means go like hell. But when more than 100 cars are stretched three wide across the racetrack in front of you, the going can be a little rough.... Read more

This summer, Seth Beck will embark on the mother of all road trips. The 29-year-old Bristol resident and three of his friends have registered for the third annual Mongol Rally. The roadrace begins July 22 in London, England. If all goes well, it will end a few weeks and several thousand miles later in Ulan Bator, the capital of Mongolia.... Read more