Coolbeans

Pitting the ghost of Nicolae Ceausescu against the legacy of  Lee Iacocca, an electric vehicle based on Romania’s Dacia Logan pickup has made its debut at a former Chrysler dealer in Iowa.

Des Moines Motors is one of three distributors of the cars, which are being sold under the Electric Motor Cars (EMC) marque. They are visually indistinguishable from a Logan, even wearing Dacia wheelcovers. According to the Des Moines Register, the pickup has an electric motor designed in the United States, it can carry 2,000 pounds and it has claimed range of 260 miles.

Though Americans may only remember the Dacia name for the tinny subcompacts churned out behind the Iron Curtain, Dacia is now a subsidiary of Renault and is known for building reliable, low-cost cars for emerging markets. That’s why Dacia devotees might be shocked to learn that the humble truck, after the conversion, is expected to retail for nearly three times the cost of a conventional Logan. The EMC pickup shown above lists for ,950. Gene Gabus, owner of Des Moines Motors, expects to have two other models - a van and a station wagon - available for test drives next week.

“We have roughly 100 of them that will soon be ready to be shipped and come over,” he told the newspaper.

The cars are built in Romania, but according to Gabus there’s a possibility they might be assembled in Florida and Iowa at some point.

Photo: Christopher Gannon / The Des Moines Register

EVERETT, Washington — Boeing’s biggest commercial airplane took off for the first time today, one day short of the 41st anniversary of the maiden flight of the first 747.

The 747-8, airframe No. RC501, taxied onto runway 34L at Paine Field, then sped down the runway and into the air at 12:39 p.m. It quickly vanished in low clouds as Boeing employees cheered. The flight window opened at 10 a.m. but fog delayed the takeoff for more than two hours. Mark Feuerstein, Boeing’s chief pilot of 747 programs, and co-pilot Tom Imrich have a four-hour flight planned before returning to Paine Field before dark.

They’re flying a huge plane that is 250 feet long. That’s 18 feet longer than the current 747. The wings are a new design and stretch 224 feet 7 inches tip to tip. That’s 13 feet wider than the original. The plane is smaller than the massive Airbus A380, with a maximum takeoff weight of 975,000 pounds compared to the Airbus’ 1.2 million pounds. But the 747-8 is 10 feet longer than the A380. Its four GEnx 2B67 engines produce 66,500 pounds of thrust each and give the plane a maximum cruising speed of Mach 0.85.

Today’s inaugural flight is the first of many that will take place over the next six to eight months as Boeing adds two more 747-8s to the flight test program. Boeing will test the planes in central Washington before moving the testing to California. The flight marked the second inaugural flight of a Boeing airplane in as many months, following December’s flight of the 787 Dreamliner. The two planes share similar engines and avionics and are part of Boeing’s push to build more fuel-efficient aircraft.

Boeing has booked 76 orders for the 747-8, which is more than a year behind schedule and was to be delivered last year. Two of the production aircraft can be seen on the assembly line in the photo below. The initial version is configured for hauling freight, and the first plane is slated to be delivered to Cargolux Airlines International of Luxembourg by the end of the year. Boeing says the 747-8 will have 16 percent more cargo capacity, 17 percent lower fuel costs and 16 percent lower operating costs than the 747-400.

A passenger version capable of carrying as many as 467 people will follow next year, and Boeing has booked 32 orders. Still, Boeing has conceded the plane is unprofitable, according to The Wall Street Journal, and and it isn’t clear when the plane will turn a profit.

We’re taking a tour of a second 747-8, airframe No. RC521, this afternoon and will have a full report on the plane’s maiden flight Tuesday.

Be sure to check out our Day In Tech about the anniversary of the maiden flight of the first 747.

UPDATE 7:20 a.m.: RC501 returned home and touched down at 4:18 p.m. Pacific time. The nose bounched a bit on touchdown, but Feuerstein and Imrich brought her home safely after 3 hours and 39 minutes in the air.

Photos: Jason Paur/Wired.com

There’s no replacement for displacement, and although Carroll Shelby didn’t coin the phrase, he sure believes in it. He’s been spreading that gospel since back in the day when he was shoehorning Ford V8s into ACs and Sunbeams and literally making Ford’s Mustang live up to its pony car name.

Ol’ Shel is at it again, and his latest iteration of the Ford Shelby GT500 Mustang features an all alloy aluminum V8 that cranks out well in excess of 500 horsepower and promises to make short work of your favorite road.

This baby’s got 550 horsepower and 510 foot-pounds of torque. With those kinds of figures, it’s easy to see just what a monster of a car the GT500 should be at the track or on the strip.

That’s a 10 horsepower boost over the previous model. It comes from an all-new 5.4-liter supercharged aluminum engine that is 102 pounds lighter than the previous cast-iron plant and uses Ford’s patented plasma-coating technology. That cuts friction and shaves another 8.5 pounds from the block because the cylinders don’t need cast  iron liners. Sweet! Not only that, but the new mill offers better fuel economy than the outgoing GT500, returning a claimed 23 mpg highway and 15 city. Yeah, yeah… that’s nothing great. But we’re talking about a hardcore muscle car here, and it is good enough to eliminate the gas guzzler tax. The boost in fuel economy comes from, among other things, lower weight and electric power assist steering.

“Cutting weight to improve performance is a tradition among hot rodders,” Carroll Shelby said in a statement. “It might not be as sexy as adding more horsepower or bigger brakes, but shaving pounds off of a car is the single smartest move you can make.”

It all rides on a chassis that’s 12 percent stiffer than the 2010 model. Those of you with competition aspirations can order the SVT package. It includes stickier rubber, stiffer springs, lighter wheels and a higher rear axle ratio. Ford says its enough to shave 3.0 seconds off the  2010 GT500’s lap time on its 2.3-mile test track.

All of this is in line with what Shelby has been doing with Mustangs since back in the 1960s when he was turning fastbacks into GT350 race cars and getting the larger 1969 and 1979 Mustangs going with the GT500 package. Shoot, you could even rent a GT350 from Hertz Corporation back in the day. How cool was that? Ford and Shelby carry on that tradition into the present day, and the 2011 Ford Shelby GT500 is a worthy successor.

“The SVT team continues to push the performance standards of the Shelby to even higher levels and better refinement, All the changes we made reflect a desire for even better handling and outstanding driving dynamics – from weight savings to improved balance,” said Jost Capito, director of global performance vehicles and motorsports business development.

Photos: Ford