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Economic Times
07-07-2025
- Automotive
- Economic Times
Food fables: How Renault's baguette basket helps drive away hunger
Synopsis Goa's roadside vendors offer fresh produce, inspiring car customizations like fish containers. The Renault 5's baguette basket exemplifies culturally relevant auto design. Innovations like cup holders, spurred by the Liebeck vs. McDonald's case, and drive-through windows, popularized by military needs, highlight the evolving relationship between cars and food consumption. Car-friendly gadgets now cater to in-transit dining. Last year, Renault 5 launched its electric version with a bread basket. (Pic credit- Driving around Goa, you learn to keep cloth bags in your car. There are always old folk along roadsides selling bananas, breadfruit, leafy greens and other produce grown in their gardens, or foraged from forests. It is fresher and cheaper than buying in the market. I've been thinking of adding a cooler box. In this monsoon season, when sea fishing is suspended, Goa shifts to the abundant fish in its rivers, ponds and paddy fields. Every bridge has a patient line fisherman, and now they are joined by those wielding nets at river margins or sluice-gates, or spearing catfish that slither through mud. Others sell snails collected from fields or shellfish from lagoons at low tide. You can never predict finding them for sale, but a cooler helps store them when it happens. Goa's auto sellers could offer customised fish containers, taking inspiration from the iconic Renault 5, which last year launched its electric version with a bread basket. This was an elegant wicker cylinder that fits by the centre console, ideal for France's long baguette loaves. It was an inspired, quirky cultural customisation and it's no surprise that Luca de Meo, Renault's CEO, has just been poached by Kering, the luxury conglomerate. The baguette basket is the rare acknowledgement from auto manufacturers of how much food purchase and consumption happens in cars. The cup holder is another, spurred by the case of Stella Liebeck vs McDonalds Corporation (1994) where the fast-food company had to pay huge damages to a lady who severely burned herself by spilling a cup of their hot coffee in her car. Auto companies quickly created spaces for cups. Liebeck bought her coffee at a McDonald's drive-through window. This creation of the USA's love of cars and convenience, where get service without exiting your vehicle, didn't start with food. In 1928, a bank in Missouri, faced with small business owners rushing in just before closing time to deposit daily receipts installed a fortified roadside box where they could make deposits whenever they wanted, without even leaving their cars. Another bank added a live teller at a window, and soon other services started offering such in-car options. For food service, the drive-in was initially more popular. People parked and waiters came to them – sometimes on roller skates! – and served food on trays that clipped to their car windows. The concept came to India at places like Drive-In Woodlands, a much-loved Madras eatery. It worked in that era, before the city became Chennai, partly because there were just a few car models. When a restaurant owner tried relaunching the format recently, he found it hard to find trays that could fit the many models available now, and people didn't want to risk the trays scratching their expensive paint jobs. Drive-through has generally replaced drive-in, but it required a push from the military. A McDonald's franchise in Arizona first installed a drive-through window in 1975 to cater to a nearby military base which had a policy preventing soldiers in uniform from exiting cars they were driving for civilian purpose. The drive-through window rapidly became popular with all customers, leading McDonald's to roll out the concept. People were commuting more and even working from their cars. Gadgets were created to help with eating in cars, like trays that fit around steering wheels and a French Fries holder that slots into the cup space. High-end cars like limousines have long had options of tables and fridges (though Donald Trump's personal model rather morbidly stores bags of his blood type). Rolls-Royce offers customised picnic hampers with spaces for cutlery and wine glasses. At the cheaper end there are food heaters that connect to the car battery, allowing you to keep a meal warm or even cook, with pre-mix chai and ramen packets. For those caught in endless traffic jams this might be one way to help drive away hunger and thirst.
The Citizen
13-06-2025
- Automotive
- The Citizen
Podcast: Names for South Africa's Volkswagen Tera revealed
Which name could South Africa's very own VW Tera be dubbed as? Kylaq will be sold by Volkswagen as the Tera in South America. Image: Volkswagen do Brazil via Brazil. Volkswagen has released details of the monikers its new SUV will be sold under ahead of its market arrival in 2027. Today on our show we chat about the first round of updates Volkswagen has completed at its Kariega plant as well as which name South Africa's very own VW Tera could be dubbed as. ALSO READ: PODCAST: GR Sport model gives new Toyota RAV4 serious punch
Motor 1
02-06-2025
- Automotive
- Motor 1
This Burning Mercedes-AMG One Breaks Our Hearts
Cars are complicated machines, even before shoehorning a massively complex Formula 1 engine behind the seats. Hybridization adds yet another layer of complexity, resulting in a hypercar that requires an engine rebuild every 31,000 miles (50,000 kilometers). Mercedes-AMG faced numerous hurdles during the development of its F1 car for the road, the AMG One. Even after years of delays, the problems didn't end. One car burned to a crisp inside an enclosed trailer in May 2023. Fast-forward two years, and it appears another Mercedes-AMG One has gone up in flames. In the age of AI, it's not always easy to verify what appears on social media, but this video seems legitimate. That said, we've done our due diligence and reached out to Mercedes to confirm whether the footage of the electrified hypercar burning to a crisp is genuine. Until we hear back, please consider our skepticism warranted. Details remain scarce, but based on the surroundings and look of the ambulance, it seems the fire occurred in Germany. The AMG One in question carries an 'OL' license plate, indicating registration in the Oldenburg region. After some digging, we found other videos of the car prior to the incident. The dark green machine was showcased in April at the Techno Classica Essen. Firefighters responded to the scene, but it was too late to save one of the 275 units that Mercedes-AMG is making. Footage of the aftermath shows what's left of the fastest production car to lap the Nürburgring . Frankly, identifying the make and model would be difficult, given how little is left after the fire. As for what caused the blaze, it's tempting to blame the complex hybrid setup. However, it's unclear whether the battery or the intricately engineered 1.6-liter V-6 was responsible. What matters most is that the driver apparently pulled over and got out of the vehicle before the AMG One was fully engulfed. Hopefully, they escaped unharmed. Circling back to the license plate, it appears to have been a customer car rather than a prototype. Mercedes' test vehicles typically use 'LW' plates for Ludwigsburg, because AMG's headquarters are located in Affalterbach, a municipality in the Ludwigsburg district. If you know more about what happened, please leave a comment or contact the author at Source: chrimbu / TikTok Share this Story Facebook X LinkedIn Flipboard Reddit WhatsApp E-Mail Got a tip for us? Email: tips@ Join the conversation ( )
Motor 1
05-05-2025
- Automotive
- Motor 1
Rob Dahm's 12-Rotor Engine Made 1,515 HP. Then It Caught on Fire
The saga of the mighty 12-rotor engine continues. Rob Dahm's latest video on the monster mill focuses on more dyno tuning, and there's some good news to share. The engine is indeed a beast, posting four-figure horsepower and torque numbers with ease. Unfortunately, the big rotary set itself on fire in the process. And that's not the only setback in the project. We've been following the progress of this project for a while now. Dahm first got the engine back in 2023; it was built several years ago but in his care, the massive 15.7-liter engine gained not one, not two, but three turbochargers . That's because the rotors are set up in three banks, giving the engine something of a V-shape to it. Before Dahm got his hands on it, the 12-rotor allegedly made 1,400 horsepower and over 800 pound-feet of torque, spinning to over 10,000 rpm in the process. We can confirm it makes at least 1,515 hp and a very stout 1,281.4 lb-ft of torque. We say at least because things are still very much in the testing and troubleshooting phase, as evidenced by the engine catching fire after its power pull. Apparently, it generated so much heat that plastic and fiberglass shielding combusted. It ultimately reached 7,500 rpm–far short of its rumored limit. Surprisingly, it seems the dyno team wasn't immediately prepared for such a situation. Someone is heard asking "do we have an extinguisher or something?" Moments later, a person runs into the room and starts blowing on the engine. Finally, someone jumps in with a fire extinguisher, roughly 15 seconds after the fire started. The damage was relegated to the aforementioned shielding, and after a bit of clean-up, the engine was ready for more testing. That's where things go from bad to worse. Apparently the engine was damaged to some degree during the high-rpm pull, but not due to the fire. A keyway was damaged, causing potential timing issues, and the engine itself became severely flooded from the power run. Back at the shop, a compression test found some rotors down considerably, likely due to damaged seals. Dahm doesn't believe there's any detrimental damage to the engine, but it will need a full teardown to inspect the internals and replace seals. The original goal for this video was 2,000 horses; with a leaner setup (and obviously no fire) it could get there. But we'll have to wait for a future video to see if that goal is ultimately realized. More On The 12-Rotor Engine Listen to Rob Dahm's Mind-Melting 12-Rotor Engine on the Dyno Go Inside The World's Only 12-Rotor Engine Get the best news, reviews, columns, and more delivered straight to your inbox, daily. back Sign up For more information, read our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use . Source: Rob Dahm / YouTube Share this Story Facebook X LinkedIn Flipboard Reddit WhatsApp E-Mail Got a tip for us? Email: tips@ Join the conversation ( )
