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Vintage Car Museums


By Levi Quinn

Vintage cars have always had an appealing allure to vintage car collectors. This is because of the fact that these cars have had a rich history that has influenced much of what has happened over the last a hundred years. Such world changing events like the World War 1 and 2 as well as the coming of the industrial age used cars especially, as a means of transportation. Moving 100 years ahead to our time, cars have seen a major revolution. Recent advances have turned cars from what they used to be, means of transportation to full-featured machines that come installed with the latest gadgetry.

Classic car museums however give each and everyone a glimpse into the world of vintage cars. These museums give one a unique and spectacular journey into the automobile evolution as well as its impact to our current period. One of these is the Petersen Automotive Museum. This museum takes one into an entirely new existence that started just 100 hundred years ago when the mass production of cars begun. The museum has a number of exhibits, one of them being the Treasures of the Vault Gallery. This gallery expected to run until mid 2009 contains some of the most important vehicles to ever assembled. Pit Crew docents will highlight the stories that lie behind these exotic automobile collections. Tours are offered to families, car clubs and to social groups on the first Saturday and Sunday of each month. The Art Wall Gallery also part of Petersen, showcases cartoon masterpieces of the lowrider car. The depictions are beautifully done with lifestyle themes that feature skeletons, graffiti and tattoos all done in an urban lifestyle atmosphere.

The museum tries to bring the motor sport community together by organizing events that feature sports cars, automotive art and classics all of which will leave vintage car lovers entertained and having a better understanding of the vintage car history. One of these is the celebration of the 1934 Ford 75th anniversary on early in 2009. This roadster show will display hot rods never before seen as they are unveiled for the first time. An Italian motorcycle collection is also expected to be open in mid 2009. These shows will definitely offer all viewers a closer look into classic cars and their lasting glitter. These events are also excellent opportunities to see cars unveiled that have never been shown the public by private car owners and vintage collectors.

The Northwest Vintage Car & Motorcycle Museum is comprised of vintage trucks and car enthusiasts and is open to various people that either, own a vintage car and those that do not. The museum's newsletter was voted the best automotive division 1 newsletter in the US by the National Association of Automotive Museums. Undoubtedly, this reflects well on the Museum's collections. The museum will especially appeal to car enthusiasts and visitors looking to see cars 25 years old and above. These are just some of the many museums that have kept the vintage line of cars alive.

Custom Lowrider Bike History


By Antonio Bici

You've seen lowrider cars in movies, tv shows, and magazines. These cars made history!

Now with the same dauntless courage of those who rocked the world with customized cars, men, women and even kids are expressing their own power and artistic prowess by building a custom lowrider bike. For the present generation, these signature works of art are the new icons of the street. When you look on the streets at lowrider bikes you'll find that many are completely customized and are thus "one" with the artist/owner who made it. The bikes are low to the ground and often have handlebars that are reminiscent of the Easy Rider chopper that was popularized decades ago. Don't be surprised if you are compelled to stop, look and stare.

So what are the origins of this bike? The word on the street is that the bike that spawned this cultural icon is none other than the Schwinn Stingray. If you are "mature" enough to remember the hit tv show called the "Munsters" that came out in the 1960s, you might have seen this pedaling machine. This bike was the inspiration for today's bike designers.

The Schwinn Stingray was wildly successful and became the bike that kids would beg their parents for. Sadly, the world was not yet ready for biking phenomenon and its popularity dwindled over time. At one point they were almost forgotten.

Then came the 1980's. The decade of greed and indulgence would also be the decade when the lowrider bike had new life breathed into it. With this newfound life, this type of bike took off and has steadily been gaining popularity. Now they've reached the point where they are starting to make headway into the mainstream. They've succeeded in rocking the bike world and, in the opinion of many, the lowrider bike is here to stay.

Lowrider bikes continue to gain popularity and as with anything with this much power, clubs have been forming in order to provide a tremendous outlet for people to network, make friends and get ideas on how to build their own low bike. These clubs are also a great place to show off your custom lowrider bike and learn where to find parts and frames.

A Brief History of Lowriders


By David Lamerton

A major increase in the popularity of lowriders can be traced back to the late '70s and was due to the merging of two distinct cultures. These were the California car culture and the Mexican culture.

However, Lowriders have actually been part of the Mexican-American heritage for far longer and it was only in the 60s when Lowriders were recognized as a car customizing classification mainly due to customizers such as George Barris. As far back as the late 30's cars were being lowered either using heavy weights or by chopping the springs.

In the 50s, the American economy was booming which led to the different styles of customization that we see today. Each classification fulfilled a particular need. For example: Hot Rods enthusiasts removed wings and bonnets amongst other things to increase the power to weight ratio whereas those who owned Lowriders were far more concerned with comfort, class and style.

The popular car to modify was a Chevrolet because it was comparatively cheap to repair and looked more stylish than its Ford counterparts. The modifications that were carried out on Lowriders were specifically chosen to be the opposite of those carried out by the mainstream culture. Rather than lowering the front and removing wings Lowriders would be lowered at the back and fitted with fender skirts. Other popular modifications performed on Lowriders were fitting twin side pipes, two spot lights, two aerials and a big red stop light at the back.

The Lowriders movement was not restricted to cars. Due to the expense of owning one of these vehicles people started to modify bikes as well. In 1964 George Barris modified a Schwinn cycle for use in the television series The Munsters. The Schwinn cycle resembled a dragster, perhaps due to the fact that the racing of these bikes was one of the top motoring sports of the time. Before long these bicycles became very popular and began to be modified in a similar way to Lowrider cars. They became heavily chrome plated and the forks were bent to lower them.

Streetfighter Motorcycle Building - Thinking Outside the Box Part 2


By Shaun Kelly

Merging styles and influences can be a great way to add a bit more style and uniqueness to a build. Many of us come from very diverse backgrounds. Motorcycles, cars, airplanes, music, industry, art, etc. We all have varying interests. Combining some elements of these other interests can bring out a distinct look and style.

Now, I'm not talking going for a full on OCC theme project. Please, PLEASE! Stray far, FAR from this urge. I'm talking a bit subtler. For instance, the next closest descendent to motorcycles, Cars. Yeah, yeah, too many wheels, seats, Doors, a roof. But they do use similar parts. Wheels for example can be modified to work on a bike. Exhaust parts can be fairly easily incorporated. But instead of just slapping on a muffler tip, check out some styles of exhaust.

Old hot rods had some cool stuff going on. Side pipes, Zoomies, duals. But they don't just have to hang off the side. Think WWII fighter jets. Short pipes sticking out the side of the fuselage. A good play off this would take 4 tips sticking through the belly pan. Or maybe the tips pointing up out of the side of the tail. While we're talking aero parts. If you are lucky enough to live near a plane junkyard. Raid that place. Old airplane gauges and gas caps are very detailed and interesting looking. Even just small airplane parts can be cool finds and add that extra touch.

Industrial design is a neat look. Rivets, exposed bolts, hard lines and plumbing. Take a walk around your local power station or water treatment facility. Just watch for the rent a cop. But aside from hard parts. Take a look at finishes. Nickel coatings, hard anodizing. Art also plays a role in this, along with music. These are 2 subjects that go hand in hand. Album covers along with T-shirt designs. When you're dreaming up your next paint scheme these are cool places to look for inspiration. Even the custom car and bike world has offered up many excellent themes as far as paint and body mods. From the infamous flat black of traditional rods to Candy and flake of Lowriders. And let's not forget the ever-wild abstract art of the mini truck. Racecars offer up the most timeless of designs. How many of us know our favorite drivers car better then their face? Molding parts is a part of this idea too. Frenched lights, gauges, molded body parts and frames. Pick up some of those old hat rod and chopper mags. And I mean old. Look at the 60's and 70's. Really good old school tech in some of these that still holds true today.

Now since I started on about old tech and we are now on about the Café build off. This is where all the jumbled ramblings come together. We are all Fighter builders. We don't exactly conform to a strict style or genre. The café build shouldn't be any different. Think of the café era as your guideline. Keep that style in mind, but there's always ways to interpret and enhance. The bikes were all about light, fast, well handling machines. But they were also bright and intricately detailed. Every part was well finished and polished. So before you dive into you project, think of a few different influences and see if you can make small parts of them work together. Good luck to everyone competing and happy building.

California's Governor Schwarzenegger asked US Automakers to Go "Green"


By Lisa Ziegler

The remarkable speech delivered by California’s Honorable Governor Schwarzenegger has turned the afternoon at the Georgetown University into an inspiring event.

Here is the print version of the keynote address of Gov. Schwarzenegger (with the introduction part cut):

GOVERNOR: Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you, John, for the wonderful introduction, I appreciate it very much. And it is great to be here today at Georgetown University, also known in my house as the alma mater, because of course my wife went to school here, and she graduated here at Georgetown. (Applause)

So I have to say that I am somewhat amazed to be here, and the reason is because three and a half years ago when I ran for governor I was followed around by environmental protestors with signs. They didn’t like my Humvees and Hummers, and my SUVs, or anything that I did. As a matter of fact, when I promised that I would improve the environment when I became governor, they didn’t believe that either. So here we are, three and a half years later, and I’m on the cover of Newsweek as one of the big environmentalists. Only in America, that’s all I can say. (Applause)

But let me tell you something; even though I love being on the cover of Newsweek, but there should have been some other people on that cover as well, and those are people that were my partners in the Legislature. They have worked very hard, they were incredible partners, and I’m talking here about, first of all, Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez and Senator Perata. I invited both of them to come here but they couldn’t make it, but I just wanted to thank them publicly for being such great environmentalists and such great leaders in the environment. So let’s give them a big hand, even though they’re not here. (Applause)

Let me tell you something; this is the real deal. This is the real deal. This woman has been fighting for the environment way before I ever became governor, and she has really been the author of these very important legislations, and she has worked with our office, and she is a team player. And this is, you can see here, she’s a Democrat. Also the Speaker is a Democrat. Senator Perata is a Democrat. So this is what I’m talking about, working together in a bipartisan or post-partisan way, and this is how we get things done, because we work what is best for the people of California and for America. So thank you again to Assemblywoman Pavley. (Applause)

Now, I know this is an environmental conference, but I do want to start talking first about bodybuilding. And the reason is because bodybuilding is another passion of mine, as you probably know, and it has similarities there. Bodybuilding used to have a very sketchy image. As a matter of fact, so much so that some people that worked out seriously and pumped weights didn’t admit they were doing bodybuilding. As a matter of fact, say in the old days, some of the very famous Hollywood actors like Kirk Douglas, Clint Eastwood, Charles Bronson, and the list goes on and on, they all worked out with weights, but they never admitted it publicly because they didn’t want to be associated with the gymnasiums that were like dungeons and that had fanatics, and that had weird people training in there. That is the kind of an image that it had.

But we changed that, we consciously changed that. And what we did was, we came out with a book called Pumping Iron—I know a lot of you are familiar with that, especially the students—then the movie Pumping Iron, and that changed bodybuilding, the image of bodybuilding, dramatically. As a matter of fact, the perception of bodybuilding began to change and it became more and more hip and more and more attractive. And then all of a sudden, everyone wanted to exercise. As a matter of fact, today you can go to any place in the world and you will find a bodybuilding gymnasium or a place where you can do weight resistance training, and you can go into any gymnasium and you will find ordinary people talking about their abs, their lats, their deltoids, body fat, and all those kinds of things. So this is how much it changed. It became mainstream, it became sexy, attractive.

So someone the other day just showed me a cartoon that was of a car salesman in a showroom talking to this couple. And the car salesman pointed at the car and said, "This car runs on an ordinary gasoline-powered engine, and then when it feels a little guilt, when it senses guilt, it switches over to battery power." Now, that’s funny, it’s a cartoon. But let me tell you something; there’s a lot of truth to that. For too long the environmental movement had been powered by guilt.

So ladies and gentlemen, I don’t think that any movement has ever made it and has ever made much progress based on guilt. Guilt is passive, guilt is inhibiting, and guilt is defensive. You remember the commercials a number of years ago, the commercials specifically of a Native American who sees what we have done to the environment and then a year runs down his cheek. You all remember that? Well, let me tell you something; that approach didn’t work, because successful movements are built on passion, they’re not built on guilt. They’re built on passion, they’re built on confidence, and they’re built on critical mass. And often, they’re built on an element of alarm that galvanizes action.

The environmental movement is, to use a popular term, about the tipping point. It’s about to get to the tipping point. There’s a tipping point, and I believe the tipping point will be occurring when the environmental movement is no longer seen as a nag or as a scold, but as a positive force in people’s lives. Now, I don’t know when that tipping point occurs, but I know where—in California. In California, we are doing everything that we can to tip the balance on the environment.

Now, first, let me start with government policy. I don’t want to go into all the initiatives that we have passed and all the laws that we have passed, because that was already eloquently explained by John when he introduced me. But there are two things that stick out that have gotten us the most attention.

1. We passed a law to cap greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by the year 2020. That basically means we are rolling back the greenhouse gases to the 1990 level by the year 2020, and then we go 80 percent below that by the year 2050.

2. I ordered a 10 percent cut in the carbon content of transportation fuels.

Now, do I believe that the standards that California sets will solve global warming? Of course not. But what we are doing is applying leverage so that at some point the whole environmental thing tips. That’s what we are trying to do. It’s like a seesaw. You walk up to it and then slowly it tips the other way. That is what we are trying to do. California, as you know, is big, California is powerful, and what we do in California has unbelievable impact and it has consequences. As a matter of fact, when you look at the globe, California is a little spot, but the kind of power of influence that we have on the rest of the world is an equivalent of whole huge continent.

We are sending the world a message. What we are saying is that we are going to change the dynamic on greenhouse gas and on carbon emissions. We are taking actions ourselves. We are not waiting for anyone, we are not waiting for the federal government or for Washington. We are creating our own partnerships. We are partnering with Great Britain, we are partnering with provinces in Canada, with states in the United States, with the western states, with the northeastern states. And you know something? Every year we are adding more and more partners to our team. We are increasing the momentum for change.

In fact, California may be doing more to save US automakers than anyone else, because what we are doing is we are pushing them to make changes, to make the changes so they can sell their cars in California. And we all know—let’s be honest—that if they don’t change, someone will. The Japanese will, the Chinese will, the South Koreans will, the Germans will, they all will. So what I want to do is, I want to prevent that from happening. I want them to sell their cars in California. I believe strongly in American technology, and I think in the end it will be technology that will ultimately save Detroit.

Now, California, for instance, has already a car company that’s called Tesla Motors. Tesla Motors has just designed and produced a car that’s called the Tesla Roadster. It’s 100 percent electric. Now, why is it that a car company that has never produced a car before is already producing a car with zero emissions—zero emissions—and Detroit is still lagging behind? Now, this car, let me tell you something, is a very sexy looking car. It’s really cool. I mean, I test drove it. It goes from 0 to 60 in 4 seconds. It drives 130 miles an hour, and it has 250 miles on a charge, and then the recharging only takes 3 1/2 hours. Now, that’s what I call cool. And the car cost 100,000 dollars—to be exact, 98,000 dollars—and it is so popular, it sold out immediately. And now the second version is being produced, and that car, the cost will drop down to 50,000 dollars.

So we can see where that is heading, economics tells us where this is heading. It’s like the cell phones. I remember when I bought a cell phone, the first cell phone, which was kind of a radio phone, 20 years ago. It was 1,600 dollars. The next version I bought a few years later was 1,200, and the next one was 750. I just recently bought a cell phone for my daughter and it was below 90 dollars. Now, because of the costs that have dropped down, almost everyone can afford a cell phone, and the same thing is going to happen to the environmental technologies in cars. Government can give a push by setting standards, so California is giving the nation and the world a push.

Now, beyond government policy, the second tipping factor is economic. California is the leading edge of what I call ‘the environmental economy’. The aerospace industry built the modern economy of southern California. The computer industry and the internet built the economy of Silicon Valley. And now the green clean technology, along with biotech, will be the next wave of California‘s economy.

Right now in California‘s university labs, corporate research parks, even in plain looking offices and in strip malls, something very exciting is happening—something very exciting. The nation’s brightest scientists and the smartest venture capitalists are all racing to find alternative or new technologies for alternative energy. It is a race that is fueled by billions and billions of dollars. Capitalism, interestingly enough, which was the alleged enemy of the environment, is today giving new life to the environmental movement.

Daniel Jurgen, the famous oil analyst, says that if this all-out activity continues, expect dramatic results. And the head of PG&E, California‘s largest utility, says that the energy industry is on the brink of a revolution. And you know something is up when General Electric says that it’s selling its plastic business because it sees more potential in growth and profits in environmental goods and services.

In an environmental economy the great thing is that we can do both; we can protect the environment and protect the economy, and that’s what I’ve been saying for years. Of course, people didn’t believe in it. People said that you have to choose between one or the other; we have to choose between the environment and the economy. And I said no, we can do both. We can protect the economy and protect the environment, and we have proven that in California.

Now, the third tipping point that I want to mention is the attitude of the people. I believe the environmental movement is in the midst of redefining itself as something more modern, more confident, and more positive. As governor, I talk to scientists in our universities, I talk to CEOs that run major corporations. And let me tell you, those are not wacky people. Mainstream scientists are convinced, mainstream CEOs are convinced, and if you look at the surveys, mainstream Americans are convinced that global warming and climate change is real and we have to do something about it. So who are the fanatics now? Who are the fanatics? They are the ones who are in denial. They’re in environmental denial, they’re in economic denial, and they are in political denial. Who are the fanatics when DuPont has hired the former head of Greenpeace International? Who are the fanatics when major companies are now demanding that the federal government once and for all passes new laws to set standards for greenhouse gas emissions? Major companies like DuPont, GE, Wal-Mart, BP and PG&E believe that the climate change is real. That is the mainstream speaking, that is the establishment speaking.

Now, some of you have maybe seen the cable TV show called Pimp My Ride. Have you seen that? Maybe not, maybe not everyone has seen it. But the fact of the matter is, it’s a real cool show. It’s a real cool show, and what they do is, they take old junk cars that we normally should crush, and they make them into lowriders and they make them into muscle cars. Now, my teenage son watches that show all the time, and sometimes I watch it with him.

As a matter of fact, I recently did a segment of that show that will air on Earth Day, and the reason why it will air on Earth Day is because we take this cool show and they did something, and added something that was environmentally hip. Here’s what we did. We took a 1965 Impala, and we made it into a lowrider, but not an ordinary low-rider. We dropped in an 800 horsepower engine, and that 800 horsepower engine goes from zero to 60 in 3 seconds. Now, you know how fast that is—in 3 seconds. But it is biofueled, and that means that it emits 50 percent less greenhouse gases and it goes twice as far. Now, that’s what I call cool.

You see, now we cut down on the greenhouse gas emissions, so we don’t have to really go and take away the muscle cars, we don’t have to take away the Hummers or the SUVs or anything like this, because that’s a formula for failure. Instead what we have to do is make those cars more environmentally muscular. That is what we have to do. Now, because of that, one of my Hummers now is running on biofuel, and another one of my Hummers is now running on hydrogen. So those are the kinds of changes that we have made instead of getting rid of the Hummers. (Applause)

So the new environmental movement is not about guilt, it’s not about fringe, and it’s not about being overwhelmed by the enormity of the problem, but it is about mainstream momentum, exactly what I talked about earlier with bodybuilding. We have to make it mainstream. We have to make it sexy. We have to make it attractive so that everyone wants to participate.

So finally, let me just say something about politics. Politics plays a big part in the tipping point here. If you are against taking action on greenhouse gases and common emissions your political base will melt away as surely as the polar icecaps, I can guarantee you that. You will become a political penguin on a smaller and smaller ice floe that is drifting out to sea. Good-bye, my little friend. That’s what is going to happen. (Applause)

Because the environment is a public value, and politicians who ignore it are doing so at their own peril. Now, privately I know many politicians have come up to me and said, "How can we do what you are doing in California?" And I tell them there are only two words that I have to mention, and this is mandates and markets, mandates and markets, like we have in California. And then I also added, I said, "And you have to have political courage." I said, "Just remember that political courage is not political suicide."

Now, some of my fellow Republicans, of course, are raising a very valid point. They say, "What good does it do if we do all of those great things for the environment, and in the meantime the developing world, where emissions are growing the fastest, doesn’t do anything?" Now, I believe in free trade, and I believe that it lifts everyone’s standard of living. But eventually, we will look at the countries that produce goods without regard to the environment the same way as we look at countries that produce goods without regard to human rights—and that means that those countries, of course, that I’m talking about are the ones that have sweat shops. My guess is that within the next decade or so if an economy ignores the damage that it’s doing to the environment, the civilized world will impose environmental tariffs, duties, and other trade restrictions to those countries. This is a matter of fair trade. Nations cannot dump products, nations cannot dump anything, and in the future they will not be able to dump carbon or greenhouse gases either, because this is an unfair trade advantage.

Now, ladies and gentlemen, in closing let me just say that there are still a lot of people that are pessimistic about how we’re going to deal with the environmental problems. I am optimistic—but I’m always optimistic—but in this case I’m very optimistic, and the reason is because I feel things tipping. I feel things tipping, I feel things moving forward. As a matter of fact, I say do not be downhearted about the environment, because things are about to tip our way.

Look what has happened this last month. A documentary about global warming has won the Oscar. You can today open up any newspaper and they’re talking about global warming and how we all can participate. Any television show, any radio show you can turn on, they’re going to talk about global warming and about the greenhouse gas emissions and green technology and so on.

Today I went to a magazine store, and in the magazine store I saw eight covers—eight covers. As a matter of fact it was nine, I found another one just an hour ago. Nine covers—nine magazine covers, all talking about green technology, about plug-in cars, and about Mother Earth, and Town and Country has a green issue, and it goes on and on. Including, of course, let’s not forget the best issue of all, Newsweek. You all saw that, right? (Applause)

So basically what I’m saying is, things are tipping our way. Thank you very much for listening, and I really appreciate you being here. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you very much. And now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to bring over to the podium my friend and a great environmentalist, great leader, great warrior for the environment, Fran Pavley, our Assemblywoman. Please. (Applause)

It can be noted that the speech of California’s Governor is directed to US automakers asking them to be vigilant in helping to resolve environmental problems by producing environment-friendly vehicles. The most popular “green vehicles” employed in the US today are hybrid cars and most of the brands that we love have joined the bandwagon except for the iconic Jeep brand which has not yet turned “green”. But in fairness to the Chrysler’s iconic brand it has improved its auto components like for instance its Jeep Wrangler parts to reduce harmful emissions.

Don't Be Left Behind in the Beach Cruiser and Lowrider Craze


By Andrew Caxton

Look cool, be cool with a beach cruiser or a lowrider.

New car models come out every year. When you look at them, can you really tell the difference between them? You could do that in the 1950s, for sure, but today? No, they mostly look the same.

That isn't the case with bicycles. Bicycling is more popular than ever, and new models are being brought out every year for any type of interest from road bikes to mountain bikes and everything in between.

Two of the newest styles gaining interest among a larger group of fans are the beach cruisers and the lowriders.

A lowrider bike is exactly what it sounds like - a bike that hugs the ground. The highest points these kinds of bikes are the handgrips, and the seat is down at wheel level. Indeed, the pedals are sometimes higher than the seat. It looks like a Harley Davidson! That's why it's also called a "chopper bike" or a "muscle bike."

These lowriders got their start in the Chicano-American community, but are starting to pick up their popularity with the mainstream. It's all about style. Most lowriders have the banana seat made famous by the Schwinn Stingray of yore, "excessive" chrome, "overspoked" wheels, and fur. Lowriders have a culture of their own and their bikes are custom creations to show off their personalities.

Aztlan Bicycle is the world's number one lowrider bike company - at least according to their website. They certainly were one of the first companies to come out with the lowrider.

Similar to the lowrider is the beach cruiser. Remember the Stingray bike of the 1950s and 60s? That's the forerunner of the beach cruiser. It's usually a single speed bicycle, and the brake levers aren't on the handlebars, they're at your feet. The pedals, that is to say. They're called coaster brakes, which means you have to reverse pedal to slow down or stop. Cruiser bikes have what's called balloon tires to go over packed sand - hence the name, beach cruiser.

Like any other bike you care to name, the beach cruiser comes in styles designed for men, women and children.

Nearly every major bike manufacturer makes at least one cruiser model, and there are new manufacturers out there. Check out Electra, Nirve, Kustom Kruiser, and Aero-Fast before you make any decision on what kind of cruiser to buy.

To take just one example, Nirve has several styles of Cruisers to choose from, and you can check out the styles and specifications at their website.

The "Classic" series consists of the Classic, the Fifty-Three, the Knuckle, the Kilroy, and the Forty-Nine. Cool names, but you'll have to scope them out to see if you like them.

Their Islander series consists of the Sunflower, the Island Flower, and the Lahaina. As you might expect, these bikes are decorated with paintings of flowers on the frame! These bikes are for girls or women, and have three speeds.

So if you're looking for a little different biking experience, check out the lowriders or the cruisers, and you might like what you see.

The History of Lowriders


By Richard Gazzo

To quote the band War, "the lowrider is the one to meet". For almost one hundred years, lowriders have been not only the one to see, but the one to meet. Stemming from an old Mexican ritual called paseo which made horses the utmost symbol of prestige, lowering stock cars to almost sidewalk level and customizing them dramatically has evolved into the same sort of symbol of status.

From Mexico to Los Angeles to Chicago to the rest of the world, the art of customizing a stock car into a lowrider has been an evolution. In the 1940's lowriders only graced the streets on Sundays. As their popularity began to grow lowriders not only became more plentiful but they became the vehicle of choice for anyone who wanted attention and accolades and cruised the highways on a daily basis.

George Barris became the early face of lowriders by combining his creativity with his passion for cars and developing one of the first businesses to customize lowriders for sale. George and his brother, Sam, used their expertise in body work to straighten fenders, bolt on accessories, and use paint schemes that were unheard of during that time. Lowrider creations from the Barris brothers flourished into a very lucrative business. George used his business sense to introduce lowriders to Hollywood which resulted in not only the use of lowriders in many well known movies such as High School Confidential, but it also helped him "become the person" to contact when Hollywood stars wanted to transform their personal vehicles into lowriders.

The original lowrider artists focused mainly on customizing Chevrolet cars because they were less expensive than other manufacturers' vehicles at the time. Today, any brand, make, or model vehicle is fair game to become a lowrider. The art of creating a lowrider has also evolved well beyond using heavy weights and chopping springs to bring the body close to the ground. Modern lowriders feature hydraulics which not only raise and lower the car, but also make it hop, and tilt it from side to side.

By today's standards, the modifications the Barris Brothers made famous with their business Kustoms of America, look pretty minor. Today's lowrider can feature triple dipped chrome accessories, gold plating, spectacular paint schemes, twin side pipes, spot lights, and everything from wire wheels to spectacular spinners. The same pride which motivated early Mexican horse owners to sacrifice their own necessities in order to put more glitz into their horses, still drives modern day lowrider owners to spend a small fortune to craft a vehicle which is a tremendous source of gratification.

Exploding from early Mexican-American Sunday cruising to become rap video stars and the utmost way to display cool-status with a car, lowriders have come a long way from their modest beginnings. Back then it only took a little effort and a little time to create a lowrider vehicle which would turn heads. Now lowrider enthusiasts spend thousands and thousands of dollars along with countless hours of body work and modifications to create their show-stopping lowrider masterpieces. The methods may have changed, but the madness is the same the lowrider is the one to meet!

Be Cool, Be a Lowrider


By Alastair Hamilton

Custom upholstery, rims, special whitewall tires, and sound systems are common on this mode of transport.

Think I'm talking about a car? No, I'm talking about customized lowrider bicycles - the latest craze sweeping the urban areas of the country.

A lowrider bike is not about biking, although they do get ridden up and down neighborhood streets, or perhaps on the beach, to show off the "pimped up" ride, but mostly they are about viewing.

People have put steering wheels on their bikes, neon, handpainted murals, and even hydraulics. What are "hydraulics"? You might be asking yourself. That's a fancy name for brakes powered by liquid. (Hydro means water in Greek.) The imagination is the limit when it comes to designing a lowrider bike.

You can get a plain old lowrider bike of course - simply a bike with a low, comfortable seat, usually a banana seat, the pedals set further forward then normal so it's almost like you're pedaling while sitting down, and high, swept up handlebars called apehangers.

But what's the point of getting a lowrider without accessorising it? (I prefer the term accessorizing to "pimping," personally, although "pimping" is what all the "young studs" call it.)

It's quite easy to get carried away, and more is not necessarily better, although some lowrider artists seem to think so. Two mirrors on each side, two horns, a spare tire mounted on the rear..it can be a bit much (although you can't tell them that!)

So before you start fitting out your lowrider, think for a while about what you want it to look like. Are you a talented artist? Then purchase some paint made specifically for bikes and give it a unique mural. Match the rest of the accessories to the mural. If it's of a series of volcanos, get red upholstery and red rims, for example. If you've got any mechanical talent at all you can "distress" various of the parts to give it a unique look.

Most of all, you've simply got to join a lowrider club in your area, because most of the fun in having these types of bikes is to show them off to your friends. Lots of clubs have competitions and give prizes for the best-looking or most outrageous-looking bikes.

Surf the web for online stores that offer lowrider accessories, so you'll know what all is out there. Then, let your imagination run wild!

Model Car Hydraulics For the Hobbyist


By Victor Epand

You enjoy building and displaying your model cars but why not add a little something extra that can set them apart from others? One way to make sure that your car stands out from the rest is to add hydraulics to it. Haven't heard of hydraulics for a model car? Needless to say they are a little used add-on that can the big difference between a cool model and an awesome one.

If you want to try your hand at installing them on your model car it is rather easy to do. The first thing you need to do is to figure out what kind of car you want to adapt into a lowrider. With many different lowrider models available you can add hydraulics to most any one you wish. Get creative and add them to one that most people would never imagine having them. With some work and a bit of extra imagination it is possible to adapt a standard model into a lowrider as well

The next thing you need to do is to get hold of a lowrider kit that contains the hydraulic systems that you will install on your model. These kits are made for models that do not come with the necessary parts to create a lowrider. It may take a little adapting to your particular model but this should not be anything major. Make sure that you do not finish out the model too far before you install the hydraulics or it can make it difficult to do so. The best way to do this is to read both sets of instructions and see how much is involved in the hydraulics kit so you know best when to start working the system in. Usually this is before the body and frame are mounted together.

Next you will want to make sure that you have mounted the hydraulics to both the tires and frame properly. Whether you choose to glue them in place or use screws they must stay securely in place. Now you are ready for a test run. Connect your wires to their respective spots and give it a go. Try out each setting on the controller and make sure that you have wired it properly. You also need to see how much the chassis can take so that you know when to back off after it is fully assembled so that you don't destroy your model.

If you need add a bit of weight to your model car to make it more stable you can either add fishing weights or coins to the chassis. This should add all the weight you need. Now, you are ready to assemble the chassis and body. Make sure that you secure it properly and give it ample time for the cement to set up if it is glued. You are all set for the final touches on your new lowrider! Remember, the real thing normally has an extremely high gloss look so try to use only glossy paints. This will help it look like it has just been waxed and is ready for cruising.

Be Cool, Be a Lowrider


By Alastair Hamilton

Custom upholstery, rims, special whitewall tires, and sound systems are common on this mode of transport.

Think I'm talking about a car? No, I'm talking about customized lowrider bicycles - the latest craze sweeping the urban areas of the country.

A lowrider bike is not about biking, although they do get ridden up and down neighborhood streets, or perhaps on the beach, to show off the "pimped up" ride, but mostly they are about viewing.

People have put steering wheels on their bikes, neon, handpainted murals, and even hydraulics. What are "hydraulics"? You might be asking yourself. That's a fancy name for brakes powered by liquid. (Hydro means water in Greek.) The imagination is the limit when it comes to designing a lowrider bike.

You can get a plain old lowrider bike of course - simply a bike with a low, comfortable seat, usually a banana seat, the pedals set further forward then normal so it's almost like you're pedaling while sitting down, and high, swept up handlebars called apehangers.

But what's the point of getting a lowrider without accessorising it? (I prefer the term accessorizing to "pimping," personally, although "pimping" is what all the "young studs" call it.)

It's quite easy to get carried away, and more is not necessarily better, although some lowrider artists seem to think so. Two mirrors on each side, two horns, a spare tire mounted on the rear..it can be a bit much (although you can't tell them that!)

So before you start fitting out your lowrider, think for a while about what you want it to look like. Are you a talented artist? Then purchase some paint made specifically for bikes and give it a unique mural. Match the rest of the accessories to the mural. If it's of a series of volcanos, get red upholstery and red rims, for example. If you've got any mechanical talent at all you can "distress" various of the parts to give it a unique look.

Most of all, you've simply got to join a lowrider club in your area, because most of the fun in having these types of bikes is to show them off to your friends. Lots of clubs have competitions and give prizes for the best-looking or most outrageous-looking bikes.

Surf the web for online stores that offer lowrider accessories, so you'll know what all is out there.N Then, let your imagination run wild!

Fun Auto Accessories For Women Who Love Their Rides


By Craig Thornburrow

When many think about auto accessories, they think about things that guys would buy to dress up their trucks and lowriders. However, many products are becoming available for women. In virtually every auto parts store, you can now find fun and funky accessories for vehicles that will appeal to women. Here, you will be introduced to some of these accessories. If you are a woman who loves your ride, or know of a woman who likes to express her unique personality through her vehicle, this article is for you.

Automobile decals are starting to become a popular accessory for women who wish to express their interests and personality through the means of vehicle customization. Decals are generally placed on the various windows of the vehicle, but there are many types of decals that can be used on the sides and other areas of the vehicle. Women who love their rides can select from many different types of decals, like:

• Dolphins

• Flowers

• Hearts

• Fantasy Art

• Sayings and expressions like "Princess", and more!

Seat and steering wheel covers are also popular when it comes to auto accessories for women who love their rides. In many cases, seat covers and steering wheel covers can be purchased so that they match. Women can select from fairies, moons, stars, nature scenes, popular cartoon characters, hearts, colorful designs, angels, flowers, hearts, dragonflies, butterfly designs, Disney designs, and more when selecting this type of accessory. These covers can add a lot of style and personality to the inside of the vehicle and are very appealing to the eye.

Visor organizers and floor mats can also be purchased to enhance the visual appearance of the inside of a vehicle. These are often created in the same design as the popular seat covers, as well as steering wheel covers. If you are a woman who loves to spend time in the car, and enjoys adding your personal touch to your possessions, these little accessories can prove to come in handy. Not only can you select unique designs, but you can purchase them in many unique colors and materials. It is not unusual to see these accessories sold in leather, plastic, vinyl, and even soft and furry type materials.

Now, we all know that wearing a seat belt is the law. Many of us just despise this law...but it is in place for a good reason - our safety. If you are a woman who loves her car and you are in the market for auto accessories, you should consider the very stylish seat belt covers that are now available. You can quickly transform a generally boring seatbelt into the topic of conversation among those that ride in your vehicle. These, too, are sold in many different colors, styles, and materials for your comfort and preference.

As you can see, there are many different fun and sassy auto accessories available for women who love their rides. Visit your local auto store and pick your auto accessories out today.

Streetfighter Motorcycle Building - Thinking Outside the Box Part 2


By Shaun Kelly

Merging styles and influences can be a great way to add a bit more style and uniqueness to a build. Many of us come from very diverse backgrounds. Motorcycles, cars, airplanes, music, industry, art, etc. We all have varying interests. Combining some elements of these other interests can bring out a distinct look and style.

Now, I'm not talking going for a full on OCC theme project. Please, PLEASE! Stray far, FAR from this urge. I'm talking a bit subtler. For instance, the next closest descendent to motorcycles, Cars. Yeah, yeah, too many wheels, seats, Doors, a roof. But they do use similar parts. Wheels for example can be modified to work on a bike. Exhaust parts can be fairly easily incorporated. But instead of just slapping on a muffler tip, check out some styles of exhaust.

Old hot rods had some cool stuff going on. Side pipes, Zoomies, duals. But they don't just have to hang off the side. Think WWII fighter jets. Short pipes sticking out the side of the fuselage. A good play off this would take 4 tips sticking through the belly pan. Or maybe the tips pointing up out of the side of the tail. While we're talking aero parts. If you are lucky enough to live near a plane junkyard. Raid that place. Old airplane gauges and gas caps are very detailed and interesting looking. Even just small airplane parts can be cool finds and add that extra touch.

Industrial design is a neat look. Rivets, exposed bolts, hard lines and plumbing. Take a walk around your local power station or water treatment facility. Just watch for the rent a cop. But aside from hard parts. Take a look at finishes. Nickel coatings, hard anodizing. Art also plays a role in this, along with music. These are 2 subjects that go hand in hand. Album covers along with T-shirt designs. When you're dreaming up your next paint scheme these are cool places to look for inspiration. Even the custom car and bike world has offered up many excellent themes as far as paint and body mods. From the infamous flat black of traditional rods to Candy and flake of Lowriders. And let's not forget the ever-wild abstract art of the mini truck. Racecars offer up the most timeless of designs. How many of us know our favorite drivers car better then their face? Molding parts is a part of this idea too. Frenched lights, gauges, molded body parts and frames. Pick up some of those old hat rod and chopper mags. And I mean old. Look at the 60's and 70's. Really good old school tech in some of these that still holds true today.

Now since I started on about old tech and we are now on about the Café build off. This is where all the jumbled ramblings come together. We are all Fighter builders. We don't exactly conform to a strict style or genre. The café build shouldn't be any different. Think of the café era as your guideline. Keep that style in mind, but there's always ways to interpret and enhance. The bikes were all about light, fast, well handling machines. But they were also bright and intricately detailed. Every part was well finished and polished. So before you dive into you project, think of a few different influences and see if you can make small parts of them work together. Good luck to everyone competing and happy building.

Excellent Gift And Fascinating Hobby


By Vlad Kott

Each of us from time to time faces a problem of a choice of a gift. I have too and have decided to look on the Internet and so it happened that I meet a site,which sells toys. As my friend far was not young, I have already thought to search further, but suddenly my glance has fallen to simply excellent model of car "FORD MODEL A ROADSTER BROWN".

Here is its description:

MOTOR CITY CLASSICS 1931 FORD MODEL A ROADSTER BROWN 1:18 DIECAST MODEL Model: mcc20001 Description: *Diecast Body *Opening Doors *Opening Hood *Opening rear seat *Detailed Interior *Rubber Tires *Has certificate of authenticity *Steerable Wheels *Perfectly modeled engine *Accurate Gauges and dash inside Dimensions L-9 (Approximate) H-3.25 (Approximate) W-4.5 (Approximate).

Also I have found magnificent model of "Caddy Lowrider".

Here is its description:

For many lowrider enthusiasts, it's not just how low, but also how long and they don't come much bigger than this big Cadillac®. Its powerful V-8 engine, body-on-frame construction and luxurious interior trim make it a perfect candidate for the low 'n slow treatment. Features: Newly tooled plastic kit construction, stock and custom grilles, colorful waterslide decal graphics. 1:25 Scale.
It looked simply superb.

Then I had looked a few other models and had decided to buy a dozen,because the price of one model has been absolutely small.

Other models have been also excellent.

My friend was in delight from this gift, and after this birthday he began to collect these models. The majority of them requires some assembly, but it even is fascinating, as it creates creative process.

Later, when it again have been needed to find a gift, but now more solid, I have found very dear models on the same site, which were the real works of art. This gift too has caused admiration of birthday man.

This present was battle ship "USN U.S.S. Missouri BB-63".

Here is its description:

WWII USN U.S.S. Missouri BB-63 We proudly present the beginning of our new product line of important historical boats and ships made of mahogany wood. Our craftsmen follow official reference plans to construct these fully detailed vessels. You will be amazed at the fine details captured in miniature on these models. WWII USN U.S.S. Missouri BB-63 is a desktop model toy boat supplied with a base for display. Product features: * Scale Model: 1/350 * Length: 30 1/2" * Beam: 3 3/4".

There are also excellent models of trucks, vehicles, boats, airplanes and jets.

If you think about present for your kids, friends and other good and necessary people or you want to find hobby for yourself, then I advise you to visit this site below:

California's Governor Schwarzenegger asked US Automakers to Go "Green"


By Lisa Ziegler

The remarkable speech delivered by California’s Honorable Governor Schwarzenegger has turned the afternoon at the Georgetown University into an inspiring event.

Here is the print version of the keynote address of Gov. Schwarzenegger (with the introduction part cut):

GOVERNOR: Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you, John, for the wonderful introduction, I appreciate it very much. And it is great to be here today at Georgetown University, also known in my house as the alma mater, because of course my wife went to school here, and she graduated here at Georgetown. (Applause)

So I have to say that I am somewhat amazed to be here, and the reason is because three and a half years ago when I ran for governor I was followed around by environmental protestors with signs. They didn’t like my Humvees and Hummers, and my SUVs, or anything that I did. As a matter of fact, when I promised that I would improve the environment when I became governor, they didn’t believe that either. So here we are, three and a half years later, and I’m on the cover of Newsweek as one of the big environmentalists. Only in America, that’s all I can say. (Applause)

But let me tell you something; even though I love being on the cover of Newsweek, but there should have been some other people on that cover as well, and those are people that were my partners in the Legislature. They have worked very hard, they were incredible partners, and I’m talking here about, first of all, Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez and Senator Perata. I invited both of them to come here but they couldn’t make it, but I just wanted to thank them publicly for being such great environmentalists and such great leaders in the environment. So let’s give them a big hand, even though they’re not here. (Applause)

Let me tell you something; this is the real deal. This is the real deal. This woman has been fighting for the environment way before I ever became governor, and she has really been the author of these very important legislations, and she has worked with our office, and she is a team player. And this is, you can see here, she’s a Democrat. Also the Speaker is a Democrat. Senator Perata is a Democrat. So this is what I’m talking about, working together in a bipartisan or post-partisan way, and this is how we get things done, because we work what is best for the people of California and for America. So thank you again to Assemblywoman Pavley. (Applause)

Now, I know this is an environmental conference, but I do want to start talking first about bodybuilding. And the reason is because bodybuilding is another passion of mine, as you probably know, and it has similarities there. Bodybuilding used to have a very sketchy image. As a matter of fact, so much so that some people that worked out seriously and pumped weights didn’t admit they were doing bodybuilding. As a matter of fact, say in the old days, some of the very famous Hollywood actors like Kirk Douglas, Clint Eastwood, Charles Bronson, and the list goes on and on, they all worked out with weights, but they never admitted it publicly because they didn’t want to be associated with the gymnasiums that were like dungeons and that had fanatics, and that had weird people training in there. That is the kind of an image that it had.

But we changed that, we consciously changed that. And what we did was, we came out with a book called Pumping Iron—I know a lot of you are familiar with that, especially the students—then the movie Pumping Iron, and that changed bodybuilding, the image of bodybuilding, dramatically. As a matter of fact, the perception of bodybuilding began to change and it became more and more hip and more and more attractive. And then all of a sudden, everyone wanted to exercise. As a matter of fact, today you can go to any place in the world and you will find a bodybuilding gymnasium or a place where you can do weight resistance training, and you can go into any gymnasium and you will find ordinary people talking about their abs, their lats, their deltoids, body fat, and all those kinds of things. So this is how much it changed. It became mainstream, it became sexy, attractive.

So someone the other day just showed me a cartoon that was of a car salesman in a showroom talking to this couple. And the car salesman pointed at the car and said, "This car runs on an ordinary gasoline-powered engine, and then when it feels a little guilt, when it senses guilt, it switches over to battery power." Now, that’s funny, it’s a cartoon. But let me tell you something; there’s a lot of truth to that. For too long the environmental movement had been powered by guilt.

So ladies and gentlemen, I don’t think that any movement has ever made it and has ever made much progress based on guilt. Guilt is passive, guilt is inhibiting, and guilt is defensive. You remember the commercials a number of years ago, the commercials specifically of a Native American who sees what we have done to the environment and then a year runs down his cheek. You all remember that? Well, let me tell you something; that approach didn’t work, because successful movements are built on passion, they’re not built on guilt. They’re built on passion, they’re built on confidence, and they’re built on critical mass. And often, they’re built on an element of alarm that galvanizes action.

The environmental movement is, to use a popular term, about the tipping point. It’s about to get to the tipping point. There’s a tipping point, and I believe the tipping point will be occurring when the environmental movement is no longer seen as a nag or as a scold, but as a positive force in people’s lives. Now, I don’t know when that tipping point occurs, but I know where—in California. In California, we are doing everything that we can to tip the balance on the environment.

Now, first, let me start with government policy. I don’t want to go into all the initiatives that we have passed and all the laws that we have passed, because that was already eloquently explained by John when he introduced me. But there are two things that stick out that have gotten us the most attention.

1. We passed a law to cap greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by the year 2020. That basically means we are rolling back the greenhouse gases to the 1990 level by the year 2020, and then we go 80 percent below that by the year 2050.

2. I ordered a 10 percent cut in the carbon content of transportation fuels.

Now, do I believe that the standards that California sets will solve global warming? Of course not. But what we are doing is applying leverage so that at some point the whole environmental thing tips. That’s what we are trying to do. It’s like a seesaw. You walk up to it and then slowly it tips the other way. That is what we are trying to do. California, as you know, is big, California is powerful, and what we do in California has unbelievable impact and it has consequences. As a matter of fact, when you look at the globe, California is a little spot, but the kind of power of influence that we have on the rest of the world is an equivalent of whole huge continent.

We are sending the world a message. What we are saying is that we are going to change the dynamic on greenhouse gas and on carbon emissions. We are taking actions ourselves. We are not waiting for anyone, we are not waiting for the federal government or for Washington. We are creating our own partnerships. We are partnering with Great Britain, we are partnering with provinces in Canada, with states in the United States, with the western states, with the northeastern states. And you know something? Every year we are adding more and more partners to our team. We are increasing the momentum for change.

In fact, California may be doing more to save US automakers than anyone else, because what we are doing is we are pushing them to make changes, to make the changes so they can sell their cars in California. And we all know—let’s be honest—that if they don’t change, someone will. The Japanese will, the Chinese will, the South Koreans will, the Germans will, they all will. So what I want to do is, I want to prevent that from happening. I want them to sell their cars in California. I believe strongly in American technology, and I think in the end it will be technology that will ultimately save Detroit.

Now, California, for instance, has already a car company that’s called Tesla Motors. Tesla Motors has just designed and produced a car that’s called the Tesla Roadster. It’s 100 percent electric. Now, why is it that a car company that has never produced a car before is already producing a car with zero emissions—zero emissions—and Detroit is still lagging behind? Now, this car, let me tell you something, is a very sexy looking car. It’s really cool. I mean, I test drove it. It goes from 0 to 60 in 4 seconds. It drives 130 miles an hour, and it has 250 miles on a charge, and then the recharging only takes 3 1/2 hours. Now, that’s what I call cool. And the car cost 100,000 dollars—to be exact, 98,000 dollars—and it is so popular, it sold out immediately. And now the second version is being produced, and that car, the cost will drop down to 50,000 dollars.

So we can see where that is heading, economics tells us where this is heading. It’s like the cell phones. I remember when I bought a cell phone, the first cell phone, which was kind of a radio phone, 20 years ago. It was 1,600 dollars. The next version I bought a few years later was 1,200, and the next one was 750. I just recently bought a cell phone for my daughter and it was below 90 dollars. Now, because of the costs that have dropped down, almost everyone can afford a cell phone, and the same thing is going to happen to the environmental technologies in cars. Government can give a push by setting standards, so California is giving the nation and the world a push.

Now, beyond government policy, the second tipping factor is economic. California is the leading edge of what I call ‘the environmental economy’. The aerospace industry built the modern economy of southern California. The computer industry and the internet built the economy of Silicon Valley. And now the green clean technology, along with biotech, will be the next wave of California‘s economy.

Right now in California‘s university labs, corporate research parks, even in plain looking offices and in strip malls, something very exciting is happening—something very exciting. The nation’s brightest scientists and the smartest venture capitalists are all racing to find alternative or new technologies for alternative energy. It is a race that is fueled by billions and billions of dollars. Capitalism, interestingly enough, which was the alleged enemy of the environment, is today giving new life to the environmental movement.

Daniel Jurgen, the famous oil analyst, says that if this all-out activity continues, expect dramatic results. And the head of PG&E, California‘s largest utility, says that the energy industry is on the brink of a revolution. And you know something is up when General Electric says that it’s selling its plastic business because it sees more potential in growth and profits in environmental goods and services.

In an environmental economy the great thing is that we can do both; we can protect the environment and protect the economy, and that’s what I’ve been saying for years. Of course, people didn’t believe in it. People said that you have to choose between one or the other; we have to choose between the environment and the economy. And I said no, we can do both. We can protect the economy and protect the environment, and we have proven that in California.

Now, the third tipping point that I want to mention is the attitude of the people. I believe the environmental movement is in the midst of redefining itself as something more modern, more confident, and more positive. As governor, I talk to scientists in our universities, I talk to CEOs that run major corporations. And let me tell you, those are not wacky people. Mainstream scientists are convinced, mainstream CEOs are convinced, and if you look at the surveys, mainstream Americans are convinced that global warming and climate change is real and we have to do something about it. So who are the fanatics now? Who are the fanatics? They are the ones who are in denial. They’re in environmental denial, they’re in economic denial, and they are in political denial. Who are the fanatics when DuPont has hired the former head of Greenpeace International? Who are the fanatics when major companies are now demanding that the federal government once and for all passes new laws to set standards for greenhouse gas emissions? Major companies like DuPont, GE, Wal-Mart, BP and PG&E believe that the climate change is real. That is the mainstream speaking, that is the establishment speaking.

Now, some of you have maybe seen the cable TV show called Pimp My Ride. Have you seen that? Maybe not, maybe not everyone has seen it. But the fact of the matter is, it’s a real cool show. It’s a real cool show, and what they do is, they take old junk cars that we normally should crush, and they make them into lowriders and they make them into muscle cars. Now, my teenage son watches that show all the time, and sometimes I watch it with him.

As a matter of fact, I recently did a segment of that show that will air on Earth Day, and the reason why it will air on Earth Day is because we take this cool show and they did something, and added something that was environmentally hip. Here’s what we did. We took a 1965 Impala, and we made it into a lowrider, but not an ordinary low-rider. We dropped in an 800 horsepower engine, and that 800 horsepower engine goes from zero to 60 in 3 seconds. Now, you know how fast that is—in 3 seconds. But it is biofueled, and that means that it emits 50 percent less greenhouse gases and it goes twice as far. Now, that’s what I call cool.

You see, now we cut down on the greenhouse gas emissions, so we don’t have to really go and take away the muscle cars, we don’t have to take away the Hummers or the SUVs or anything like this, because that’s a formula for failure. Instead what we have to do is make those cars more environmentally muscular. That is what we have to do. Now, because of that, one of my Hummers now is running on biofuel, and another one of my Hummers is now running on hydrogen. So those are the kinds of changes that we have made instead of getting rid of the Hummers. (Applause)

So the new environmental movement is not about guilt, it’s not about fringe, and it’s not about being overwhelmed by the enormity of the problem, but it is about mainstream momentum, exactly what I talked about earlier with bodybuilding. We have to make it mainstream. We have to make it sexy. We have to make it attractive so that everyone wants to participate.

So finally, let me just say something about politics. Politics plays a big part in the tipping point here. If you are against taking action on greenhouse gases and common emissions your political base will melt away as surely as the polar icecaps, I can guarantee you that. You will become a political penguin on a smaller and smaller ice floe that is drifting out to sea. Good-bye, my little friend. That’s what is going to happen. (Applause)

Because the environment is a public value, and politicians who ignore it are doing so at their own peril. Now, privately I know many politicians have come up to me and said, "How can we do what you are doing in California?" And I tell them there are only two words that I have to mention, and this is mandates and markets, mandates and markets, like we have in California. And then I also added, I said, "And you have to have political courage." I said, "Just remember that political courage is not political suicide."

Now, some of my fellow Republicans, of course, are raising a very valid point. They say, "What good does it do if we do all of those great things for the environment, and in the meantime the developing world, where emissions are growing the fastest, doesn’t do anything?" Now, I believe in free trade, and I believe that it lifts everyone’s standard of living. But eventually, we will look at the countries that produce goods without regard to the environment the same way as we look at countries that produce goods without regard to human rights—and that means that those countries, of course, that I’m talking about are the ones that have sweat shops. My guess is that within the next decade or so if an economy ignores the damage that it’s doing to the environment, the civilized world will impose environmental tariffs, duties, and other trade restrictions to those countries. This is a matter of fair trade. Nations cannot dump products, nations cannot dump anything, and in the future they will not be able to dump carbon or greenhouse gases either, because this is an unfair trade advantage.

Now, ladies and gentlemen, in closing let me just say that there are still a lot of people that are pessimistic about how we’re going to deal with the environmental problems. I am optimistic—but I’m always optimistic—but in this case I’m very optimistic, and the reason is because I feel things tipping. I feel things tipping, I feel things moving forward. As a matter of fact, I say do not be downhearted about the environment, because things are about to tip our way.

Look what has happened this last month. A documentary about global warming has won the Oscar. You can today open up any newspaper and they’re talking about global warming and how we all can participate. Any television show, any radio show you can turn on, they’re going to talk about global warming and about the greenhouse gas emissions and green technology and so on.

Today I went to a magazine store, and in the magazine store I saw eight covers—eight covers. As a matter of fact it was nine, I found another one just an hour ago. Nine covers—nine magazine covers, all talking about green technology, about plug-in cars, and about Mother Earth, and Town and Country has a green issue, and it goes on and on. Including, of course, let’s not forget the best issue of all, Newsweek. You all saw that, right? (Applause)

So basically what I’m saying is, things are tipping our way. Thank you very much for listening, and I really appreciate you being here. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you very much. And now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to bring over to the podium my friend and a great environmentalist, great leader, great warrior for the environment, Fran Pavley, our Assemblywoman. Please. (Applause)

It can be noted that the speech of California’s Governor is directed to US automakers asking them to be vigilant in helping to resolve environmental problems by producing environment-friendly vehicles. The most popular “green vehicles” employed in the US today are hybrid cars and most of the brands that we love have joined the bandwagon except for the iconic Jeep brand which has not yet turned “green”. But in fairness to the Chrysler’s iconic brand it has improved its auto components like for instance its Jeep Wrangler parts to reduce harmful emissions.

Car Clubs Offer Excellent Tips and Deals


By Steve Miers

Whether you own the car of your dreams or you simply dream about owning the car of your dreams, joining a car club related to that particular car is a must. We have found that car clubs are a great way to network, meet others with similar interests and to get deals on cars and accessories.

Many people think that car clubs are simply for those people who want or have a tricked out ride with all the chrome their car can hold. This is definitely not true. From searching car clubs and information about car clubs, we found clubs available for anything from lowriders, monster trucks and motorcycles to luxury and high end vehicles. It seems that car clubs carry a stigma to be more for teenagers dreaming of owning a tricked out ride whereas they are really for anyone of any age who has a love of cars.

What do you get when you join a car club? This varies from club to club, but we have found a few things that are more prevelant. Many of the clubs have a monthly newsletter that will notify you of new products and accessories, cars for sale and upcoming car events. There is also gear that you can buy related to that car including t-shirts, hats, key chains, travel mugs and water bottles. You typically get a discount on these items if you belong to these clubs. If the club has a website, you can join the forum to share information about things you have done to your car as well as solicit advice from others.

If you are a car collector or are planning to purchase a car, car clubs can also help you find good deals. We know of one man who is a member of the S2000 club. After graduating from college, he decided to downsize in cars for a couple of years. Now that he owns his own business, he wanted to purchase another S2000. Through people he met at the car club he was able to find an awesome deal on a used one.

Car club memberships also make great gifts for the people we know who have everything. We have done this for a father-in-law who just purchased a Mini Cooper and a cousin who is into Lowriders. They both loved the gift and enjoy getting the newsletters and buying car gear for themselves.

So, whether you are driving a luxury car or cruising in your tricked out Honda, there is a car club just waiting for you. You can join for a small fee, but the perks, discounts and networking make it all well worth it. If, on the off chance, you can't find a car club that fits your needs, consider starting your own. Chances are there are others out there who would love to join the club and swap car tips and information with each other.

Custom Bicycles and Lowriders


By Tim Gorman

Custom bicycles and lowriders have been around for a long time, but they seem to be back in fashion again. They were first popular in the 60's and 70's but in the year 2000 they started to be popular again. These bikes usually have a long seat and high curved handed bars. The riding position is usually fairly laid back. They were originally fashioned on the chopper motorbikes that were popular at that time. They often have a lot of accessories on them and are not just built for riding.

There is now a thriving industry in these bikes that until recently had been thought of as a novelty. The bikes that they are making now, although they draw their inspiration form their earlier models are much more sophisticated and stylish. They are also a lot better to ride than the original bikes were. But although they are different, they still retain the same character.

The fashion of custom bicycles and lowriders really started in the US around 40 years ago. But they were not called lowriders then, they were called dragsters. Although they were originally bikes that were made by their owners, they were soon being mass produced by Schwinn bikes. Their owners could still customize them as the company sold many ad ons to the bikes, so that they could still get that home made fashion.

But the more recent custom bicycles and lowriders are much better made than the originals. They are also much lower to the ground. This is really a fashion thing but that is what these bikes are all about. But there is usually suspension on the front wheels and an oversized rear tire to make them more comfortable to ride. They also are trying to make them have more of a motorbike thing to them.

Another thing that the custom bicycles and lowriders usually have is a stick gear system. This is actually more like a car gear and it is an essential part of the bike. There are a lot of these bikes being sold at the moment and they are getting more and more popular. There are some really good websites as well where you can get some good advice if you are new to them. But if you are going to get one of the m then you have to customize it. That is really the whole point of these great bikes.

Lowrider Bikes - Integrate Airbrushing Into Your Designs


By Antonio Bici

If you want to take your lowrider bike building skills up a notch, think about adding airbrushing skills to your abilities so that you can make some truly awesome bikes. Add a skull, some flames, an eagle... anything to make your bike stand out from the rest of the lowrider bikes on the street.

All it takes to get started in working with paint, is to be curious about it and be motivated to expand your skills. With practice, you can learn some airbrushing techniques that can go a long way to making your ride match the vision you have for it in your mind.

Paint is a massively flexible medium. With some imagination and some skills, a good quality paint job can take your lowrider bike to the next level. Instead of going out and spending a lot of money on various custom built parts and equipment (hey, if you got the money, thats ok too) look into investing some money into airbrushing equipment and go out and learn a new skill. Not only will you be able to build better lowrider bikes, once you've acquired this new skill, you'll be able to apply it to other projects as well. Put on your thinking cap and ask yourself what else you can do with airbrushing. You can work on cars, lowrider bikes, help friends out, airbrush designs on t-shirts and so on. You will be able to do all kinds of different things. Not only that, but once you've developed your skills a bit, you can actually go out and make some money with these new skills and equipment.

Now if you're thinking that it will take forever to good and using an airbrush, stop right there. Yes, it may take a while to get good at it... Sorry to give you a reality check, but becoming proficient at something generally takes time. The thing to keep in mind though is that you'll be improving your expertise as a lowrider bike designer.

There are a few short cuts that will allow you to jazz up the bike even though you aren't an expert yet. You can do this with stencils. This is a great way to start out. There are all kids of different stencils that will work on your lowrider bike. Experiment with them. Try them out on various surfaces that you feel comfortable practicing on. Once you've refined the technique your practicing, then you can move to putting it on your lowrider bike.

Get yourself motivated. Next time you're at a show, pay special attention to the cars and bikes that have airbrushed designs on them. See what really stands out. Try to get some ideas from what other artists do. Use these to get your own creative juices going. Better yet, take pictures of the work that really impresses you. Print these out and place them around your garage or workshop. When you're ready to learn airbrushing, you'll be able to look at these pictures for motivation.

Good luck with your lowrider bike. Have fun and always try to learn more. Acquiring new skills and knowledge can last a lifetime and be applied to other parts of your life.

Streetfighter Motorcycle Building - Thinking Outside the Box Part 2


By Shaun Kelly

Merging styles and influences can be a great way to add a bit more style and uniqueness to a build. Many of us come from very diverse backgrounds. Motorcycles, cars, airplanes, music, industry, art, etc. We all have varying interests. Combining some elements of these other interests can bring out a distinct look and style.

Now, I'm not talking going for a full on OCC theme project. Please, PLEASE! Stray far, FAR from this urge. I'm talking a bit subtler. For instance, the next closest descendent to motorcycles, Cars. Yeah, yeah, too many wheels, seats, Doors, a roof. But they do use similar parts. Wheels for example can be modified to work on a bike. Exhaust parts can be fairly easily incorporated. But instead of just slapping on a muffler tip, check out some styles of exhaust.

Old hot rods had some cool stuff going on. Side pipes, Zoomies, duals. But they don't just have to hang off the side. Think WWII fighter jets. Short pipes sticking out the side of the fuselage. A good play off this would take 4 tips sticking through the belly pan. Or maybe the tips pointing up out of the side of the tail. While we're talking aero parts. If you are lucky enough to live near a plane junkyard. Raid that place. Old airplane gauges and gas caps are very detailed and interesting looking. Even just small airplane parts can be cool finds and add that extra touch.

Industrial design is a neat look. Rivets, exposed bolts, hard lines and plumbing. Take a walk around your local power station or water treatment facility. Just watch for the rent a cop. But aside from hard parts. Take a look at finishes. Nickel coatings, hard anodizing. Art also plays a role in this, along with music. These are 2 subjects that go hand in hand. Album covers along with T-shirt designs. When you're dreaming up your next paint scheme these are cool places to look for inspiration. Even the custom car and bike world has offered up many excellent themes as far as paint and body mods. From the infamous flat black of traditional rods to Candy and flake of Lowriders. And let's not forget the ever-wild abstract art of the mini truck. Racecars offer up the most timeless of designs. How many of us know our favorite drivers car better then their face? Molding parts is a part of this idea too. Frenched lights, gauges, molded body parts and frames. Pick up some of those old hat rod and chopper mags. And I mean old. Look at the 60's and 70's. Really good old school tech in some of these that still holds true today.

Now since I started on about old tech and we are now on about the Café build off. This is where all the jumbled ramblings come together. We are all Fighter builders. We don't exactly conform to a strict style or genre. The café build shouldn't be any different. Think of the café era as your guideline. Keep that style in mind, but there's always ways to interpret and enhance. The bikes were all about light, fast, well handling machines. But they were also bright and intricately detailed. Every part was well finished and polished. So before you dive into you project, think of a few different influences and see if you can make small parts of them work together. Good luck to everyone competing and happy building.

California's Governor Schwarzenegger asked US Automakers to Go "Green"


By Lisa Ziegler

The remarkable speech delivered by California’s Honorable Governor Schwarzenegger has turned the afternoon at the Georgetown University into an inspiring event.

Here is the print version of the keynote address of Gov. Schwarzenegger (with the introduction part cut):

GOVERNOR: Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you, John, for the wonderful introduction, I appreciate it very much. And it is great to be here today at Georgetown University, also known in my house as the alma mater, because of course my wife went to school here, and she graduated here at Georgetown. (Applause)

So I have to say that I am somewhat amazed to be here, and the reason is because three and a half years ago when I ran for governor I was followed around by environmental protestors with signs. They didn’t like my Humvees and Hummers, and my SUVs, or anything that I did. As a matter of fact, when I promised that I would improve the environment when I became governor, they didn’t believe that either. So here we are, three and a half years later, and I’m on the cover of Newsweek as one of the big environmentalists. Only in America, that’s all I can say. (Applause)

But let me tell you something; even though I love being on the cover of Newsweek, but there should have been some other people on that cover as well, and those are people that were my partners in the Legislature. They have worked very hard, they were incredible partners, and I’m talking here about, first of all, Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez and Senator Perata. I invited both of them to come here but they couldn’t make it, but I just wanted to thank them publicly for being such great environmentalists and such great leaders in the environment. So let’s give them a big hand, even though they’re not here. (Applause)

Let me tell you something; this is the real deal. This is the real deal. This woman has been fighting for the environment way before I ever became governor, and she has really been the author of these very important legislations, and she has worked with our office, and she is a team player. And this is, you can see here, she’s a Democrat. Also the Speaker is a Democrat. Senator Perata is a Democrat. So this is what I’m talking about, working together in a bipartisan or post-partisan way, and this is how we get things done, because we work what is best for the people of California and for America. So thank you again to Assemblywoman Pavley. (Applause)

Now, I know this is an environmental conference, but I do want to start talking first about bodybuilding. And the reason is because bodybuilding is another passion of mine, as you probably know, and it has similarities there. Bodybuilding used to have a very sketchy image. As a matter of fact, so much so that some people that worked out seriously and pumped weights didn’t admit they were doing bodybuilding. As a matter of fact, say in the old days, some of the very famous Hollywood actors like Kirk Douglas, Clint Eastwood, Charles Bronson, and the list goes on and on, they all worked out with weights, but they never admitted it publicly because they didn’t want to be associated with the gymnasiums that were like dungeons and that had fanatics, and that had weird people training in there. That is the kind of an image that it had.

But we changed that, we consciously changed that. And what we did was, we came out with a book called Pumping Iron—I know a lot of you are familiar with that, especially the students—then the movie Pumping Iron, and that changed bodybuilding, the image of bodybuilding, dramatically. As a matter of fact, the perception of bodybuilding began to change and it became more and more hip and more and more attractive. And then all of a sudden, everyone wanted to exercise. As a matter of fact, today you can go to any place in the world and you will find a bodybuilding gymnasium or a place where you can do weight resistance training, and you can go into any gymnasium and you will find ordinary people talking about their abs, their lats, their deltoids, body fat, and all those kinds of things. So this is how much it changed. It became mainstream, it became sexy, attractive.

So someone the other day just showed me a cartoon that was of a car salesman in a showroom talking to this couple. And the car salesman pointed at the car and said, "This car runs on an ordinary gasoline-powered engine, and then when it feels a little guilt, when it senses guilt, it switches over to battery power." Now, that’s funny, it’s a cartoon. But let me tell you something; there’s a lot of truth to that. For too long the environmental movement had been powered by guilt.

So ladies and gentlemen, I don’t think that any movement has ever made it and has ever made much progress based on guilt. Guilt is passive, guilt is inhibiting, and guilt is defensive. You remember the commercials a number of years ago, the commercials specifically of a Native American who sees what we have done to the environment and then a year runs down his cheek. You all remember that? Well, let me tell you something; that approach didn’t work, because successful movements are built on passion, they’re not built on guilt. They’re built on passion, they’re built on confidence, and they’re built on critical mass. And often, they’re built on an element of alarm that galvanizes action.

The environmental movement is, to use a popular term, about the tipping point. It’s about to get to the tipping point. There’s a tipping point, and I believe the tipping point will be occurring when the environmental movement is no longer seen as a nag or as a scold, but as a positive force in people’s lives. Now, I don’t know when that tipping point occurs, but I know where—in California. In California, we are doing everything that we can to tip the balance on the environment.

Now, first, let me start with government policy. I don’t want to go into all the initiatives that we have passed and all the laws that we have passed, because that was already eloquently explained by John when he introduced me. But there are two things that stick out that have gotten us the most attention.

1. We passed a law to cap greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by the year 2020. That basically means we are rolling back the greenhouse gases to the 1990 level by the year 2020, and then we go 80 percent below that by the year 2050.

2. I ordered a 10 percent cut in the carbon content of transportation fuels.

Now, do I believe that the standards that California sets will solve global warming? Of course not. But what we are doing is applying leverage so that at some point the whole environmental thing tips. That’s what we are trying to do. It’s like a seesaw. You walk up to it and then slowly it tips the other way. That is what we are trying to do. California, as you know, is big, California is powerful, and what we do in California has unbelievable impact and it has consequences. As a matter of fact, when you look at the globe, California is a little spot, but the kind of power of influence that we have on the rest of the world is an equivalent of whole huge continent.

We are sending the world a message. What we are saying is that we are going to change the dynamic on greenhouse gas and on carbon emissions. We are taking actions ourselves. We are not waiting for anyone, we are not waiting for the federal government or for Washington. We are creating our own partnerships. We are partnering with Great Britain, we are partnering with provinces in Canada, with states in the United States, with the western states, with the northeastern states. And you know something? Every year we are adding more and more partners to our team. We are increasing the momentum for change.

In fact, California may be doing more to save US automakers than anyone else, because what we are doing is we are pushing them to make changes, to make the changes so they can sell their cars in California. And we all know—let’s be honest—that if they don’t change, someone will. The Japanese will, the Chinese will, the South Koreans will, the Germans will, they all will. So what I want to do is, I want to prevent that from happening. I want them to sell their cars in California. I believe strongly in American technology, and I think in the end it will be technology that will ultimately save Detroit.

Now, California, for instance, has already a car company that’s called Tesla Motors. Tesla Motors has just designed and produced a car that’s called the Tesla Roadster. It’s 100 percent electric. Now, why is it that a car company that has never produced a car before is already producing a car with zero emissions—zero emissions—and Detroit is still lagging behind? Now, this car, let me tell you something, is a very sexy looking car. It’s really cool. I mean, I test drove it. It goes from 0 to 60 in 4 seconds. It drives 130 miles an hour, and it has 250 miles on a charge, and then the recharging only takes 3 1/2 hours. Now, that’s what I call cool. And the car cost 100,000 dollars—to be exact, 98,000 dollars—and it is so popular, it sold out immediately. And now the second version is being produced, and that car, the cost will drop down to 50,000 dollars.

So we can see where that is heading, economics tells us where this is heading. It’s like the cell phones. I remember when I bought a cell phone, the first cell phone, which was kind of a radio phone, 20 years ago. It was 1,600 dollars. The next version I bought a few years later was 1,200, and the next one was 750. I just recently bought a cell phone for my daughter and it was below 90 dollars. Now, because of the costs that have dropped down, almost everyone can afford a cell phone, and the same thing is going to happen to the environmental technologies in cars. Government can give a push by setting standards, so California is giving the nation and the world a push.

Now, beyond government policy, the second tipping factor is economic. California is the leading edge of what I call ‘the environmental economy’. The aerospace industry built the modern economy of southern California. The computer industry and the internet built the economy of Silicon Valley. And now the green clean technology, along with biotech, will be the next wave of California‘s economy.

Right now in California‘s university labs, corporate research parks, even in plain looking offices and in strip malls, something very exciting is happening—something very exciting. The nation’s brightest scientists and the smartest venture capitalists are all racing to find alternative or new technologies for alternative energy. It is a race that is fueled by billions and billions of dollars. Capitalism, interestingly enough, which was the alleged enemy of the environment, is today giving new life to the environmental movement.

Daniel Jurgen, the famous oil analyst, says that if this all-out activity continues, expect dramatic results. And the head of PG&E, California‘s largest utility, says that the energy industry is on the brink of a revolution. And you know something is up when General Electric says that it’s selling its plastic business because it sees more potential in growth and profits in environmental goods and services.

In an environmental economy the great thing is that we can do both; we can protect the environment and protect the economy, and that’s what I’ve been saying for years. Of course, people didn’t believe in it. People said that you have to choose between one or the other; we have to choose between the environment and the economy. And I said no, we can do both. We can protect the economy and protect the environment, and we have proven that in California.

Now, the third tipping point that I want to mention is the attitude of the people. I believe the environmental movement is in the midst of redefining itself as something more modern, more confident, and more positive. As governor, I talk to scientists in our universities, I talk to CEOs that run major corporations. And let me tell you, those are not wacky people. Mainstream scientists are convinced, mainstream CEOs are convinced, and if you look at the surveys, mainstream Americans are convinced that global warming and climate change is real and we have to do something about it. So who are the fanatics now? Who are the fanatics? They are the ones who are in denial. They’re in environmental denial, they’re in economic denial, and they are in political denial. Who are the fanatics when DuPont has hired the former head of Greenpeace International? Who are the fanatics when major companies are now demanding that the federal government once and for all passes new laws to set standards for greenhouse gas emissions? Major companies like DuPont, GE, Wal-Mart, BP and PG&E believe that the climate change is real. That is the mainstream speaking, that is the establishment speaking.

Now, some of you have maybe seen the cable TV show called Pimp My Ride. Have you seen that? Maybe not, maybe not everyone has seen it. But the fact of the matter is, it’s a real cool show. It’s a real cool show, and what they do is, they take old junk cars that we normally should crush, and they make them into lowriders and they make them into muscle cars. Now, my teenage son watches that show all the time, and sometimes I watch it with him.

As a matter of fact, I recently did a segment of that show that will air on Earth Day, and the reason why it will air on Earth Day is because we take this cool show and they did something, and added something that was environmentally hip. Here’s what we did. We took a 1965 Impala, and we made it into a lowrider, but not an ordinary low-rider. We dropped in an 800 horsepower engine, and that 800 horsepower engine goes from zero to 60 in 3 seconds. Now, you know how fast that is—in 3 seconds. But it is biofueled, and that means that it emits 50 percent less greenhouse gases and it goes twice as far. Now, that’s what I call cool.

You see, now we cut down on the greenhouse gas emissions, so we don’t have to really go and take away the muscle cars, we don’t have to take away the Hummers or the SUVs or anything like this, because that’s a formula for failure. Instead what we have to do is make those cars more environmentally muscular. That is what we have to do. Now, because of that, one of my Hummers now is running on biofuel, and another one of my Hummers is now running on hydrogen. So those are the kinds of changes that we have made instead of getting rid of the Hummers. (Applause)

So the new environmental movement is not about guilt, it’s not about fringe, and it’s not about being overwhelmed by the enormity of the problem, but it is about mainstream momentum, exactly what I talked about earlier with bodybuilding. We have to make it mainstream. We have to make it sexy. We have to make it attractive so that everyone wants to participate.

So finally, let me just say something about politics. Politics plays a big part in the tipping point here. If you are against taking action on greenhouse gases and common emissions your political base will melt away as surely as the polar icecaps, I can guarantee you that. You will become a political penguin on a smaller and smaller ice floe that is drifting out to sea. Good-bye, my little friend. That’s what is going to happen. (Applause)

Because the environment is a public value, and politicians who ignore it are doing so at their own peril. Now, privately I know many politicians have come up to me and said, "How can we do what you are doing in California?" And I tell them there are only two words that I have to mention, and this is mandates and markets, mandates and markets, like we have in California. And then I also added, I said, "And you have to have political courage." I said, "Just remember that political courage is not political suicide."

Now, some of my fellow Republicans, of course, are raising a very valid point. They say, "What good does it do if we do all of those great things for the environment, and in the meantime the developing world, where emissions are growing the fastest, doesn’t do anything?" Now, I believe in free trade, and I believe that it lifts everyone’s standard of living. But eventually, we will look at the countries that produce goods without regard to the environment the same way as we look at countries that produce goods without regard to human rights—and that means that those countries, of course, that I’m talking about are the ones that have sweat shops. My guess is that within the next decade or so if an economy ignores the damage that it’s doing to the environment, the civilized world will impose environmental tariffs, duties, and other trade restrictions to those countries. This is a matter of fair trade. Nations cannot dump products, nations cannot dump anything, and in the future they will not be able to dump carbon or greenhouse gases either, because this is an unfair trade advantage.

Now, ladies and gentlemen, in closing let me just say that there are still a lot of people that are pessimistic about how we’re going to deal with the environmental problems. I am optimistic—but I’m always optimistic—but in this case I’m very optimistic, and the reason is because I feel things tipping. I feel things tipping, I feel things moving forward. As a matter of fact, I say do not be downhearted about the environment, because things are about to tip our way.

Look what has happened this last month. A documentary about global warming has won the Oscar. You can today open up any newspaper and they’re talking about global warming and how we all can participate. Any television show, any radio show you can turn on, they’re going to talk about global warming and about the greenhouse gas emissions and green technology and so on.

Today I went to a magazine store, and in the magazine store I saw eight covers—eight covers. As a matter of fact it was nine, I found another one just an hour ago. Nine covers—nine magazine covers, all talking about green technology, about plug-in cars, and about Mother Earth, and Town and Country has a green issue, and it goes on and on. Including, of course, let’s not forget the best issue of all, Newsweek. You all saw that, right? (Applause)

So basically what I’m saying is, things are tipping our way. Thank you very much for listening, and I really appreciate you being here. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you very much. And now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to bring over to the podium my friend and a great environmentalist, great leader, great warrior for the environment, Fran Pavley, our Assemblywoman. Please. (Applause)

It can be noted that the speech of California’s Governor is directed to US automakers asking them to be vigilant in helping to resolve environmental problems by producing environment-friendly vehicles. The most popular “green vehicles” employed in the US today are hybrid cars and most of the brands that we love have joined the bandwagon except for the iconic Jeep brand which has not yet turned “green”. But in fairness to the Chrysler’s iconic brand it has improved its auto components like for instance its Jeep Wrangler parts to reduce harmful emissions.