Alberto Michelatti

Extreme Japanese custom vans Alberto.

Car dent removal with hair dryer and compressed air! Alberto.

Glow in the Dark All the photos. Alberto.

SUVs are really indispensable??? Caution: images potentially impressing! Alberto.

Paper cars: Paperinside.com & Eastern's Toy-Box & Yamaha Paper Craft! Some examples: Ecto 1 - "Ghostbusters" De Lorean DMC-12 - "Back to the Future" General Lee - "Dukes of Hazzard" Interceptor - "Mad Max" Lamborghini Countach LP400 Alberto.

:

MAS, the acronym of the moment. Alberto.

:

Toyota becomes a member of the European Automobile Manufacturers Association. Confirming earlier reports this month the Board of Directors of ACEA announced that it has recommended accepting the application of Toyota Motor Europe (TME) to become a full member of the European Automobile Manufacturers Association. For protocol reasons ACEA notes that, the formal decision will be taken June 8 at the ACEA general assembly with TME membership staring in January 2008. Commenting on the decision, Sergio Marchionne, President of ACEA and CEO of FIAT said, "The ACEA members believe Toyota Motor Europe will make a valuable contribution to the work of our association. Europe needs a strong automobile industry. Gathering the main players in one industry body ensures effective communication with our key interlocutors in the EU on all issues of common interest, such as the environment, road safety, better regulation and improving the competitive strength of the European economy". The ACEA current members are: BMW Group, DAF Trucks, DaimlerChrysler, FIAT, Ford of Europe, General Motors Europe, MAN Nutzfahrzeuge, Porsche, PSA Peugeot Citroën, Renault, Scania, Volkswagen and Volvo. Alberto.

Hello. Some time ago I noticed on the alloy wheels of my Toyota Avensis II the logo "JWL", and immediately I thought that it was the brand of a Japanese alloy wheels maker, like Enkei, Piaa or Rays, for example. After some researches, I found that "JWL" is a logo of the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport that certifies that an alloy wheel have passed the standards, like the European "TÜV", for example. Japanese alloy wheel safety standards: Japan Light Alloy Wheel (JWL) Standard for Passenger Cars. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport requires that aluminum wheels for passenger cars (with 3, 5, and 7-number plates) sold in Japan bear the JWL mark. The JWL mark can be displayed on wheels that have passed the standard through a self-certification system. Similarly, the ministry requires aluminum wheels for trucks and buses (with 1 and 4-number plates) to bear the JWL-T mark. Even if a vehicle is classified as a passenger car (with 3, 5, or 7-number plates), if it comes with LT tires as standard equipment due to its GVW (gross vehicle weight), it must use aluminum wheels bearing the JWL-T mark. A third-party entity called the Vehicle Inspection Association verifies whether a product meets the requirements prescribed by the JWL or JWL-T standard. This association permits a product to bear a VIA mark if it passes rigorous quality and strength verification tests conducted in accordance with the JWL or JWL-T standard. Alberto.

Please wait a few seconds for Video to Load! Alberto.

Mitsubishi Lancer 2008 US spec. Alberto.

Alberto.

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X Alberto.

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X vs. Subaru Impreza WRX STI Alberto.

Toyota inches past GM in global vehicle sales. Tue Apr 24, 2007 11:37 AM BST TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Toyota took a step closer to unseating General Motors as the world's biggest automaker, outselling its U.S. rival by around 90,000 units in the first quarter. Toyota has been widely expected to challenge 99-year-old GM this year for the top spot in global sales -- a position the Detroit behemoth has held for 76 years -- but the milestone came surprisingly early, industry watchers said. Both companies reported record sales for January-March, but Japan's top carmaker inched past GM as it ate into the U.S. group's market share on its home turf. Toyota, maker of the Camry sedan -- the United States' most popular car -- said on Tuesday its global vehicle sales rose 9 percent to 2.35 million units in the quarter. The tally includes cars sold under the Lexus luxury brand and the youth-oriented Scion badge, as well as vehicles from units Daihatsu Motor and Hino Motors. GM, which sells cars and trucks under a dozen brands including Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac, Opel and Saab, sold 2.26 million units during the same period, for a 3 percent rise. "Toyota has had aggressive new model introductions all over the world," said Koji Endo, auto analyst at Credit Suisse Securities in Tokyo. "It's achieved growth everywhere in the world, whereas GM's significant growth has only been in China," he added. Toyota has won fans across the world with affordable cars seen as reliable, durable and fuel-efficient while GM continued to rely heavily on high-margin gas-guzzlers to pull it out of financial difficulties. To keep up with soaring demand, Toyota is adding production capacity in almost every corner of the world from San Antonio to St. Petersburg, with an internal goal of taking 15 percent of the global car market by 2010. GM estimated its share in the first quarter at 13.0 percent, down a tenth of a percentage point from a year ago. This year, Toyota has plans to sell 9.34 million vehicles as a group, up 6 percent from 2006. GM does not provide a global sales forecast. Toyota dwarfs its rival in almost every other measure. Its market capitalisation, at $225 billion (112 billion pounds), is more than 12 times that of GM's. Toyota expects to post a net profit of 1.55 trillion yen for the business year ended last month, probably more than any other Japanese company, while GM is struggling to emerge from the red. GM lost $3 billion in 2006 and $12 billion the year before. © Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved. Alberto.

Fiat 500 replica (Nissan Micra II). Alberto.

The knockdown proof that *** exists! Driver substantially unharmed (he is the man with the mobile phone in hand)! ebay.com - EUR 6.716,00 Alberto.

Proverbial longevity in 4.6 million kilometers. Alberto.

100% a real car. Debut in Italy on July 4th 2007. Alberto.

Fiat 500 Fiat 500 (1957) Alberto.

Hi! Since the presentation of the Avensis '03 I felt a bit "strange" the light champagne tonality of its silver body color (paint code: 1C0), slightly different from the one used on the alloy wheels. The Corolla '02, for example, has a different silver body color, lighter and very similar to Audi and Mercedes-Benz aluminium tonality. The silver body color of the restyilized Corolla '04, instead, has the same light champagne tonality of the Avensis '03. Left: Millennium Silver Metallic (1C0) - Right: Alpine Silver Metallic (199) Well, I did some researches and I discovered that this particular tonality of silver corresponds to the commercial variety of silver defined "sterling silver" or "925 silver": it is an alloy composed at 92.5% by silver and at 7.5% by copper. Pure silver is extremely malleable and therefore can easily damage. It also softens over time, even at room temperature. Obviously, in this state silver is useless for jewellery purposes. To avoid the problems of malleability and softening, and thus to increase the life-span of the silver jewellery, other metals are added to the pure silver. The result of this blending process with alloys is a combined silver and alloy substance which is far more resistant to scratching and damage. This alloy is commonly used to make jewels, cutlery and, naturally, coins. The 1C0 sterling silver color, then, is very similar to the amazing papillon silver heliochrome of the Volkswagen Phaeton. This is a color that varies from pure silver to a very light gold, depending on what angle you view it from, and what the prevailing light is (more informations and photos at http://forums.vwvortex.com). Moreover I discovered that the 1C0 sterling silver color is used since the beginning by Lexus on all its models. I like very much this particular color, so modern, elegant and technological, and you? Alberto.

Hi! I was intrigued about the secrets of the existing automotive painting types, so I did some researches that I would like to share with you. I created the following scheme: - One coat pastel paint: primer + gloss pastel paint - Two coats metallic paint: primer + matt metallic (reflective aluminium flakes) base paint + gloss transparent paint - Two coats mica paint: primer + matt mica (semitransparent mica flakes) base paint + gloss transparent paint - Two coats metallescent paint (exclusive of Lancia): primer + matt mica+aluminium flakes mixture base paint + gloss transparent paint - Two coats pearl paint: primer + matt pearl (semitransparent mica flakes coated with a metallic powder, usually titanium dioxide) base paint + gloss transparent paint - Three coats mica paint: primer + matt base paint in the color of the car + matt semitransparent mica (semitransparent mica flakes) midcoat paint + gloss transparent paint - Three coats pearl paint (iridescent): primer + matt base paint, usually white + matt semitransparent pearl (semitransparent mica flakes coated with a metallic powder, usually titanium dioxide) midcoat paint + gloss transparent paint - Multicoat Chromaflair paint (chameleon): primer + matt base paint, usually black + matt semitransparent Chromaflair (reflective aluminium flakes coated with glassy magnesium fluoride, all coated with a semitransparent chrome layer) midcoat paint, usually five coats + gloss transparent paint It is interesting to note that pearl paints have pigments that have nothing to do with real pearls, but are made by flakes of mica coated with various metallic powders. I hope these info can be useful. Alberto.

Parking problems: few ideas but well confused, in Great Britain... Parking problems: few ideas but well confused, in Italy... Alberto.

Alberto.