“Doshi led Premier Auto to launch SUV - Business Standard Motoring” plus 4 more

Doshi led Premier Auto to launch SUV - Business Standard Motoring
Taken for a ride - Toronto Star
Easton crash victim remembered as ‘gentle giant’ - Enterprise
Ron Ceridono’s 1931 Ford Model A pickup - Kauai Garden Island News
Local news in brief for Oct. 9 - Aiken Standard

Doshi led Premier Auto to launch SUV - Business Standard Motoring

Posted: 10 Oct 2009 02:56 AM PDT

Nine years after it exited the business, Premier Auto is making a comeback in passenger cars. The Doshi family, promoters of one of India's oldest car companies, known for the once-ubiquitious Premier Padmini, are set to launch a compact sports utility vehicle (SUV).

The rollout of the mini-SUV, called Rio, will also mark the entry of a Chinese four-wheeler company into India. Zotye Auto, a little-known Chinese manufacturer, will partner Premier in the venture. Zotye will supply vehicle kits to Premier to be assembled at Premier's Pune facility which has a peak annual capacity of 20,000 units.

Zotye will export completely knocked down (CKD) kits from China and Premier will provide a diesel power plant for the vehicle along with its assembly line at Chinchwad, near Pune. Zotye Auto will be paid by Premier for providing the CKD kits.

Although the vehicle won't be fully built in India, both companies are keen to make it the cheapest SUV in the country. It is understood that the base variant of Rio will be priced at Rs 5 lakh, making it 30 per cent cheaper than its nearest competitor, Mahindra Scorpio.

The top-end variant, expected to be priced at around Rs 7 lakh, will have safety features like air bags and anti-lock braking systems, said people with direct knowledge of the company's plans. The launch will take place this month after Diwali, they added.

Rio is a first-generation model from Daihatsu (a Toyota-owned brand) called Terios, which was in production from 1997 to 2005. The second generation Terios is sold with a Toyota badge in some international markets and with a Daihatsu badge in others.

Zotye had bought the tools and parts of the earlier Terios model from Daihatsu the same way that Tata Motors bought the tools and dies from French car maker Renault to produce a utility van called Traffic. Tata Motors produces and sells the vehicle as Winger in India.

Premier is expected to fit its own four-cylinder, 1.5 diesel engine, which produces peak power of 65 bhp into the Rio with a five-speed manual gearshift. The compact vehicle will be smaller than the Mahindra Scorpio in terms of length and width.

The Mumbai-based company is not keen to use its existing dealership set-up, which primarily sells a 1.4 tonne light commercial vehicle (LCV). Premier has already put in place 20 new dealers to serve the new vehicle and another 30 will be added by the end of the year.

Chinese two-wheeler manufacturers have been trying to foray into India, but all had to withdraw due to inadequate demand. For example, the Lifan Group tried to sell motorcycles and automatic scooters but failed to make much headway.

Premier Automobiles Ltd (PAL, the erstwhile name of company) manufactured the Premier Padmini from 1968 to 2000. The car ruled Indian roads for three decades before it made way for new–generation cars led by Maruti.

The company had forged alliances with France's largest car maker, Peugeot (now Peugeot-Citroen) and then with Italy's popular car company, Fiat.

But labour unrest that forced a lock-out for three months at the Kurla plant in Mumbai and the subsequent devaluation of the rupee, increased the cost of imports from France for Peugeot. PAL-Peugeot faced mounting losses as a result and ultimately decided to terminate the joint venture in 1999.

Fiat, meanwhile, got into a technical arrangement with PAL to make the Uno from the same plant through CKD units. Subsequently, Fiat took control of the plant when its automotive division was spun off as a separate unit.

Taken for a ride - Toronto Star

Posted: 10 Oct 2009 01:38 AM PDT

The online ad looks too good to be true: a 1969 Ford Mustang in "immaculate condition." The price? Just $4,500, including shipping.

But there's a wrinkle: the car is apparently out of province and the owner promises to arrange delivery at no cost.

"All you have to do is email me your complete name and shipping address and after that eBay will contact you with more info regarding shipping and payment," read the instructions.

Problem is, the ad isn't actually on eBay – it's a doctored email that looks like it came from the online marketplace, but with an important difference.

Rather than paying through PayPal, which securely links financial information between registered buyers and sellers, the buyer is asked to use a money transfer service such as Western Union to wire the sum directly to a named individual.

Once the fraud artist has the 10-digit money transfer number, he or she can walk into any Western Union office in the world and collect the untraceable cash while the buyer is left waiting for a vehicle that never arrives.

Like other online scams purporting to be from financial institutions, the anonymity and ease of communications in the online world has made it easier to set up phony car listings to dupe unsuspecting buyers.

"You can make these financial instruments look very real, thanks to technology," says Bob Pierce, director of member services of the Used Car Dealers Association of Ontario, who's been monitoring online scams for some time. "The only real part of these transactions is the money that the victims send."

If you've spent time reading classified ads for cars, trucks, motorcycles – virtually any big-ticket item – the scams are often easy to recognize. They're commonly dismissed as misprints because the asking price appears to be missing a digit.

The floodgates opened when Craigslist and Kijiji introduced online free classified advertising several years ago.

In June, the Automobile Protection Association (APA) sorted through 270 suspect ads on the Canadian AutoTrader website and uncovered 104 fraudulent ads in Ontario.

Some showed the same email address in various ads, while many posted phone numbers that did not work.

One Smart car ad used the phone number of a Toronto rehab clinic.

APA President George Iny said his group's study revealed that all but one of the fraudulent ads originated from outside of Canada.

"This kind of fraudulent advertising is a concern to us, and it should concern any consumer who's in the market for a used vehicle and reading online listings," he says.

Cameron Milne, director of digital automotive at Metroland Digital Media Group and custodian of Wheels.ca, says every website that allows private party consumers to upload their own ads is a target for this type of advertising.

"We have put daily processes in place that allow us to monitor and remove ads which we feel could be fraudulent, suspected dealers or contain improper language," he says.

Milne says Wheels.ca will not accept anyone with an IP address outside of Canada to post an ad, and staff scan for deals that are too good to be true, as well as contact information that appears repeatedly or seems unconventional.

Autotrader.ca says it also takes fraudulent activity very seriously, and has instituted security measures to weed out shady ads.

"We've built up the brand over 30 years, so we have a vested interest in keeping it a safe experience for buyers and sellers," says Scott Neil, marketing director at Autotrader.ca.

Pierce says that there are fewer fraudulent ads now, due largely to advertising controls instituted by the websites to guard against questionable posts. But prospective buyers still need to beware.

Brighton retiree David Trafford, 61, knows all about online car scams. As a hobby, he's trawled the Internet for years, looking for auto bargains he can fix up and sell.

The deluge of fraudulent ads that have contaminated the free web listings has prompted Trafford to become an online vigilante.

"I enjoy spotting the scam ads and warning others who are not so savvy," he says. "It is amazing how greed takes over rational reasoning."

If there's any consolation for consumers, it's that seasoned auto dealers have been burned, too.

"One dealer I know lost $50,000 on a vehicle he was waiting to arrive in Montreal," says Pierce.

Scammers often copy legitimate car photos and ad descriptions. One ad we found for a 2004 Volkswagen Jetta (price: $3,400) showed the unplated vehicle sitting in a dealer's lot – belying the notion that the car is being sold privately.

Sharp-eyed shoppers can sometimes find the same vehicle on different sites, with different prices.

"An Infiniti dealer called me to say his $38,000 QX56 sport utility was posted on another website for $3,900," Pierce notes.

Trafford says fraud artists stymied by the new rules and vigilant website monitors have developed a new tactic for getting money through illicit means.

What it amounts to is a kind of reverse scam, one where you as the legitimate seller are offered more money than your asking price, just to close the deal quickly.

A cashier's cheque arrives by courier, which your bank will accept at first glance.

But the draft actually takes four to six weeks to clear if it originated overseas (and many of them do), long after your vehicle has been picked up.

Ultimately, you learn the bank draft is a counterfeit and you're on the hook for the full amount – which is recouped by the bank.

In a variation of this reverse scam, the fraudster says a careless assistant has sent you a cheque for more than your asking price. He or she will then ask you to forward the extra amount to their "agent" after depositing the cashier's cheque.

In reality, the only money that changes hands is the money order you send back to the scammer.

The Toronto Police Service will take a report on any fraudulent online activity a victim may uncover, though spokesperson Wendy Drummond says these kinds of matters usually become civil suits.

"If we don't know about it, then there's nothing we can do. We can't track it, log it or take it further," she points out. "If nothing else, public awareness and education is a positive outcome."

You may get a more sympathetic ear at PhoneBusters, the federal-provincial agency set up to deal with telephone and Internet scams (hotline 1-888-495-8501).

With ties to the RCMP and OPP, the agency will investigate scams and has made numerous arrests.

The anti-fraud call centre compiles annual statistics showing, among other things, that scam artists prefer using Western Union and MoneyGram to swindle victims, and that email is the most prevalent solicitation method (eclipsing telephone scams), drawing a reported $12.1 million from Canadian victims last year.

Obviously fraudulent ads are becoming less common. But those that quote prices close to the vehicle's true market value are more difficult to discern, says the APA, so consumers should look for other telltale signs.

Trafford, who posts advice on various websites, says online shopping doesn't have to be risky.

For anyone who has stumbled across an unbelievable deal online, Trafford offers some bracing advice.

"Buy local, in person, and if you can't see it, don't buy it."

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Easton crash victim remembered as ‘gentle giant’ - Enterprise

Posted: 09 Oct 2009 07:54 PM PDT

Joe Gaultier, with 34 years in the automotive business, loved motor vehicles and his customers, his son said Friday.

"He loved everything about cars and he was a great people person," said Tony Gaultier, 22, of Easton. "He treated people right. He had a good rapport with them. He was a loving, caring, gentle giant."

Gaultier, 52, the owner of Hiway Motors on Turnpike Street in South Easton, died shortly after 10:30 p.m. Thursday when the flatbed tow truck he was driving struck a vehicle parked in the breakdown lane of Interstate 495 in Wareham.

Police said Gaultier lost control of the truck, which rolled over several times before striking the Route 195 bridge abutment and overpass. He was ejected from the vehicle, police said.

The driver of the car stopped in the breakdown lane, identified as Stephanie E. Boosahda, 55, of Bass River, was taken to Tobey Hospital in Wareham with minor injuries, police said.

Gaultier said his father was transporting a sport utility vehicle for delivery at the time of the crash.

Joe Gaultier, a 1975 graduate of Oliver Ames High School and the husband of Barbara Gaultier, opened Hiway Motors in 2005. Previously, he had owned South Easton Motor Sales, which he sold to his half brother, Derek Gaultier.

Tony Gaultier said he and his brother Nick, 23, plan to keep the business operating.

Gaultier said his father also loved motorcycles and spending time with his family. He was close to his young niece and nephew, Grace and Joseph, and was a communicant of Holy Cross Church.

The Robert J. Kane Funeral Home is handling arrangements for Gaultier, whose funeral is planned for Monday, with visiting hours on Sunday, his son said.

The crash on Thursday night was discovered by state Trooper Michael Fitzgerald, who was on routine patrol.

Lanes of the highway southbound near Route 25 were closed for about two hours while MassHighway investigators examined the scene. Two lanes remained closed into early Friday morning.

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Ron Ceridono’s 1931 Ford Model A pickup - Kauai Garden Island News

Posted: 09 Oct 2009 04:52 AM PDT

"When I was five years old growing up in the working class neighborhood of Richmond, Calif., I fell in love with hot rods and was influenced by car guys all over the neighborhood," Kaua'i resident Ron Ceridono said.

One guy that lived across the street from him had a 1941 Chevy with a split manifold, glass packs and dual pipes that could be heard a mile away.

"I was so excited about those pipes that my dad took my pedal car down to the Sante Fe Railroad yard where he worked and put dual brass exhaust pipes on it for me," Ceridono said.

From this early impression of building hot rods, Ceridono gravitated toward the world of the mechanical and later became an automotive teacher, an author of books and eventually the senior editor of a national magazine.

"My first car was a 1950 Chrysler that my dad gave to me when I was 16 years old. It looked like a big round jelly bean. I think Dad gave it to me because he knew it was worn out and wouldn't go very fast," Ceridono said.

While growing up in the San Francisco Bay area, Ceridono had a succession of hundred-dollar cars that he would fix up, drive around and then sell. After finalizing the mechanical part of a car, Ceridono drove them over to Spray Craft in Oakland for a $19.95 paint job.

"Spray Craft was a paint shop where you could get the worst enamel paint job you ever saw in your life. I'll never forget this one time my buddy and I took in a 1954 Ford over there to get it sprayed and they literally knocked the bugs off during the prep work," Ceridono said.

A hearty laugh erupted at this memory as Ceridono continued, "The drying booth had around 40,000 light bulbs in it and when they closed the door that little room got so hot the enamel was completely dry when they rolled it out the other side."

When the car emerged from the room the windows usually had overspray on them but for a little more money you could get the deluxe paint job and they would mask off the windows, he said.

"The paint stayed shiny for about six months until it would just gradually sort of chip away," he said.

Ceridono said he picked up his 1931 Ford Model A pickup around 1965 from a high school buddy who lost interest in it and needed an engine for his 1956 Chevy. He swapped a spare small block engine that he had for it and has kept the Ford classic in his collection ever since.

The '31 Model A is kind of an unusual car because it was made in the last months of production and the roof was solid metal, not a soft-covered cloth top. The pickup bed is also longer and wider than a standard Model A.

Ceridono's truck has been through a lot of changes over the years running on all kinds of engines. On this last go-around he built a new chassis then dropped a 1948 Mercury flathead in it with a quick change rear end and a "bunch" of hot rod stuff in it.

"I've got a '50 Mercury crank shaft stroked an eighth of an inch, bored oversize ported and relieved which helps it to breathe better. It's got Sharp aluminum heads and an off Nazar manifold with two Stromberg 97 carburetors," he said.

Ceridono chose the Mercury flathead because there are lots of aftermarket parts due to a revival in flathead Mercurys.

"When I bought the new chassis I figured I'd put it back together the way I wanted it and then I'd paint it later and make it pretty. But once I put it back together and had such a good time running it, I just couldn't bring myself to take it all apart again to paint it, 'cause every time I take a hot rod apart it stays apart for about four or five years," Ceridono said.

Asked why the Model A sports a basic black paint job, Ceridon said, "It's not the end of my life if a rock chips it, or if somebody opens a door on it, or my dog jumps all over it with muddy paws, and besides, I didn't want to become a slave to it."

He said when he was growing up they called this kind of hot rod a "beater" but today it might be called a "rat rod."

"I drive this truck everywhere. It's mechanically sound, never gets overheated, it's got air conditioning and gets reasonably good gas mileage. It does everything I need it to do and it's fun to drive," Ceridono said.

He also owns a 1950 Plymouth, a 1963 split window Corvette, a 1934 Ford Roadster and 1941 Ford sedan; all are projects in the works.

One day Ceridono met a guy named Tex Smith who wrote automotive books and encouraged him to become a writer. As time went by Ceridono co-authored a number of automotive books and later wrote for a number of motor magazines. Eventually he became the senior editor of Street Rodder magazine which is what he does today.

"I have lived on Kaua'i for the past three years and it saddens me that due to the poor economy, the magazine has decided I need to be more centrally located on the Mainland to travel to other states for major car events," he said.

Asked about what will happen to his Ford Model A after he is too old to drive it or when he passes on to hot rod heaven, Ceridono said, "The running joke with my kids and my five grandkids about inheriting my classic cars and trucks is, 'The day I die, I hope I'm totally broke and everything I own is worn out, and then you can deal with it.'"

'Donut Derelicts'

One of the things Ron Ceridono wanted to do while living on Kaua'i was to put together a couple of cruise nights where a group of motor heads could meet at a special location once a week.

"Every kind of automotive interest you can imagine is here on Kaua'i, like off-road guys, the big-truck guys, the street-rod guys, the tri-five Chevy guys, motorcycle guys and more," he said.

Other than Harvey Maeda's Kaua'i Classic Car Club and the Garden Island Racing Association's drag strip at Mana, Ceridono said, "There's really no organization that pulls all the different automotive groups together in one place."

He shared an idea on the potential of gathering Kaua'i car enthusiasts for one particular kind of event.

"There is an organization in Huntington Beach, Calif., called Donut Derelicts, where a bunch of classic car guys meet at 5 a.m. in the morning at a local donut shop to admire their custom cars, talk story and swap auto parts," Ceridono said.

He recommended checking out donutderelicts.com for more information.

"I think the same kind of thing could happen here and benefit the local car and motoring community," he said.

Watch video

footage online

of Ron Ceridono's 1931 Ford Model A pickup as part of The Garden Island's recurring series on Kaua'i's Classic Car Club.

Local news in brief for Oct. 9 - Aiken Standard

Posted: 09 Oct 2009 07:37 AM PDT

William Wallace Zealy, 61, was jailed Thursday on allegations that in 2004 he held four teenagers at gunpoint while they were on private property, according to reports.

The suspect was reportedly hunting at a Beech Island hunt club when he noticed two trucks on the property that were not authorized to be there. Zealy reportedly chased after the teens, causing at least one of the vehicles to wreck.

He then held the teens at gunpoint with a pistol, reports state.

The teens were charged with trespassing. Warrants were issued for Zealy, who surrendered with his attorney the day after his name and charges were released to the media as part of the County's Most Wanted list.

Zealy claims he was unaware of the charges pending against him.

Man charged with trafficking crack

An Aiken man was arrested Wednesday after police say they caught him with crack cocaine and what appears to be drug money during a traffic stop on Hampton Avenue.

Jonathan Lott, 22, is charged with trafficking crack cocaine.

The suspect was reportedly the front-seat passenger in the vehicle when the car was stopped for failure to use a turn signal.

The drugs were found in a Crown Royal bag hidden underneath the front passenger seat, police said.

Career Center to hold Fall Festival

The Aiken County Career and Technology Center will host its annual Fall Festival Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The event is free to the public and will include a car show, motorcycle ride and other activities.

The registration for the car show begins at 9 a.m. with a $20 registration fee. Trophies will be awarded.

Motorcycle ride registration begins at 8:30 a.m. The fee is $25 for one rider and $30 for two. The treasure hunt for the two-hour ride will start at 10 a.m. Motorcycle ride participants will receive a free dinner and a $20 gift certificate for the cosmetology department.

The festival also will feature inflatables for children. Health science students will offer blood pressure and blood sugar checks. Proceeds will assist the automotive technology classes and will be used to help students attend Skills USA competitions.

For more information, call 593-7300.

Toast of Town to be on Saturday

Toast of the Town will be held at the Washington Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday from 8 to 10 p.m. All proceeds will benefit the Aiken County Red Cross. For more information, call Cindy Amerine at 292-8927.