Surviving a Sinking Car

Richard Hammond may be a real life Kenny in the U.K. We like Richard and hope he continues to survive these attempts on his life. . . by his friends.

On a more serious note, a tragedy happened to a young boy in this part of California a few weeks back. I'm a long-time scuba diver and I've always assumed that drivers who die underwater in their cars were drunk, asleep or otherwise incapacitated before hitting the water. After seeing these videos, I understand what should have been obvious to me from scuba. Watch Top Gear's Richard and learn something that could one day save your life--Frank

GM's Going to Put Maaco--And Every Other Bodyshop--Out of Business

Good friend James May shows off GM's Hy-Wire car of the future on Top Gear. Standard Features:

• Hydrogen Fuel Cell Powerplant
• 11" Thick Integrated Chassis & Driveline
• Interchangeable Bodies
• Zero Emissions (except for water)
• 0-60 in 2 seconds (we just made that up but why not)

Photos from Houston's Famous (Infamous?) Art Car Parade

Okay now here's a car show not to be missed.

Since 1988 Houston's Orange Show Center has hosted the annual Houston Art Car Weekend that includes a Ball, Parade & unofficial side-of-the-road events and attractions.

This set of photos is the best we've seen. Check out NashNut.com for even more of the Houston event plus great photos of hundreds of other antique and classic cars.

2011 Art Car Weekend runs Friday, May 20 - Sunday, May 22

Disclaimer: Maaco-Fremont did not work on any of the cars seen in these pictures. Your car will NOT look like this when we finish with it. . . unless you want it to.

Wrecked Lamborghini Murcielago

From our friends at WreckedExotics.com comes this picture of what was a Lamborghini Murcielago that was crashed into a tree. Rescuers cut off the roof to extract the driver.

Crash Test: 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air vs 2009 Chevrolet Malibu

We have made progress in 50 years. . .

Cadillac CTS-V 9.85 Sec. 1/4 Mile @ 140 MPH (225 kph)

From our friends at Jalopnik comes this video of a 4-door Cadillac CTS-V absolutely blowing the doors off a Camaro at a drag strip. The Cadillac runs the quarter mile (0.4 km) at 9.855 seconds at a speed of 139.70 mph (224.83 kph)

Rubber--Who Knew Tires Could be This Frightening!

Rubber, The Movie (or possibly a clever set of tire ads. . . either way, we liked it)

Why Texting While Driving Remains a Bad Idea

BMW 850i Collision from WreckedExotics.com

Here's another amazing set of photos from WreckedExotics.com. In this case, a kid was texting while driving and plowed into this BMW 850i hard enough to knock it up a utility pole.

BMW 850i Collision from WreckedExotics.com

Key Scratched 2005 Ford Mustang--Factory Matched Color

Today's Car of the Day was vandalized.The car was relatively new and in excellent condition except for severe scratches on the passenger side. Maaco repaired the key scratches and repainted the passenger side of the car with the exact match to the original factory paint. The repairs came with Maaco's Lifetime Paint Warranty. No flaking, peeling or loss of gloss for as long as the customer owns the vehicle.

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Now This is Drifting!

Another gem from our friends at Jalopnik. I learned to drive in a 1973 Volvo 145 Wagon so I know first hand how impressive this is. I mean, getting the wheels to spin at all on an old Volvo really takes some doing  ;) Maybe there was just a lot of black ice on this track. . . which gets us back to this was impressive-Frank

Fender Bender Fix for 2002 VW Jetta

Today's Car of the Day is a nice little Jetta that tangled with a not-so-nice solid object. The fender was destroyed and the mirror left dangling. Maaco replaced the fender and the mirror. While the customer was here, he decided that it would cost him just a little more to fix some other dents & scrapes and paint his entire car.

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Axis of Oversteer

Great name. Great blog. Go visit! Here's a sample titled "Racing on the Moon, Chased by Helicopters." They are describing the latest Dakar Rally that ended today. Maaco's just become a regular follower and we're adding a link on our site. Absolutely brilliant collection of photos, car & race stats. Our kind of folks.

Racing on the Moon Chased by Helicopters from Axis of Oversteer

Here's another sample from the Axis of Oversteer site of the one-off Ferrari P4/5 Competizione designed by Pinifarina and built by ProTo for James Glickenhaus. This is the second P4/5 for Glickenhaus. His first was built in 2006 as a road car based on a Ferrari Enzo. This second Competizione is intended for racing and is based on the Ferrari 430 Scuderia. The Pininfarina design is, in our humble opinion, far more comely than either the Enzo or the 430.

ProTo built Glickenhaus-Ferrari P4/5 Competizione 
from Axis of Oversteer

2006 Maserati Quattroporte with Auto Paint Service, Wet Sand & Polish

Today's Car of the Day is a 2006 Maserati Quattroporte that came in with scrapes & scratches plus some minor original paint imperfections. Maaco-Fremont repaired the scrapes and painted the rocker panel using the same type of high quality waterborne finish used at factory. We then "cut and buffed" various panels to eliminate surface scratches and to provide a more premium gloss finish.

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X-Raid Mini All4 Racing Wrecked in 2011 Dakar Rally

Monster Energy/X-Raid Team Mini after Crash, from MotoringFile

Dakar Rally—for decades the most punishing race in the world.

The Monster Energy/X-Raid Team Mini All4 Racing apparently hit an edge & then flipped 3 times before coming to a rest. Pilot Guerlain Chicherit suffered a head injury but is expected to recover.

Sadly, the accident happened on a test run during the rest day between stages 7 & 8 near Arica, Argentina.



For more information on the crash visit MotoringFile and to learn more about the legendary Paris-to-Dakar Rally, visit Dakar.com

Ferrari Factory Secrets

Ferrari refuses to allow the public to see inside its factory. But here is some rare video footage showing manufacture of the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano.

Bumper Repair on 2003 Mazda Protege 5--Bumper Special Sale

Today's Car of the Day is one of the many that comes to Maaco-Fremont from San Francisco, about a 30 minute drive. These San Francisco customers must park on very crowded streets and their bumpers really take a beating. So for many the trip to Maaco-Fremont is a yearly ritual. They gather a bunch of scrapes and parking "love taps" until the car starts to look worn. Then they take advantage of Maaco-Fremont's Bumper Special. It's worth the drive because they typically save $200-$300 and don't have to live with a beat-up car. Plus we are always happy to provide free rides to & from BART

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The Protege 5 is one of my favorite cars and is included in Maaco-Fremont's list of Most Beautiful Cars. We know this will get some confused frowns & dismissive snickers. But I love the clean, simple, elegant design of the Protege 5. And it seems to be a perfect combination of good looks, sporty handling, economy and utility. Zoom-Zoom!-Frank

Say It Ain't So! Jaguar XJ220 Crash Test

The fastest and most expensive car in the world when introduced in 1991 and still looking modern today. Jaguar XJ220 (for 220 mph.)

Porsche 918 Spyder Hybrid the Star of Geneva Auto Show

From Edmunds.com (our favorite site for real world auto pricing), here's the scope on the awesome Porsche 918 Hybrid! Edmunds says it upstaged Lamborghini, Bugatti and Bentley at the premier automotive show in the world. And it may possibly be the fastest production car around Germany's famed racetrack, the Nürburgring—assuming it gets produced. We hope so.

Car of the Day - 2007 Chrysler Town & Country Bumper Damage

Today's Town & Country had a minor mishap that crumpled the rear bumper. Maaco was able to repair the bumper instead of replacing it, saving the customer a significant amount of money while keeping the superior fit of the original Chrysler part.

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Car of the Day - 2003 Honda Civic with Peeling Clear Coat

Delaminating Paint

Does your car look like this? A lot of our customers ask if this condition is caused by either a manufacturer's defect or from something that happened to their car.

Most likely you didn't do anything wrong and neither did the manufacturer. The paint is just showing its age. We call this condition delaminating paint. It is caused mainly by ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun, the same thing that causes sunburn on humans and the deterioration of your lawn furniture. Chemicals and other environmental factors also contribute to the paint's decline.

In the 1960s & 1970s it was normal to expect to paint a car every 5 years or so. And the average car did not last as long as they do now. Bodies and engines were typically worn out at just 100k miles.

Much has improved since then. Cars often last well over 15 years and 200k miles. Because of this, more people notice paint failing on cars even though the paint is much better than it was 30-40 years ago. Factory paint jobs typically last 7-14 years depending on color, chemistry and environmental conditions.

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