Original 1957 Mercury Car Handbook Owner's Manual Booklet Dream Car Design Big M on 2040-parts.com

One Lap of the Web: Remembering the dearly departed

-- With news that Toyota is leaving the great state of California for the greater (by landmass, anyway; your own opinion may vary) state of Texas, it's worth reminding ourselves that Toyota in America started as one lonely building on 6000 Hollywood Blvd., having taken over a former Rambler dealership. (The site is still a successful Toyota dealership.) That first year of sales in 1958 saw 287 Toyopet Crowns and one Land Cruiser sold -- more as curiosities than as practical transportation, we'd wager. -- At any rate, Toyota's move from California to Texas is moving from "one of the most eco-friendly states in the union," according to Ward's Auto, "to the U.S.’s equivalent of China." -- Ten years ago today, the last Oldsmobile rolled off the line at Lansing Car Assembly.

Milano Design Week 2004

In its 43rd year the Salone Internazionale del Mobile (international furniture fair) finally takes on a new, more encompassing name: Milano Design Week 04. The reason for this change in quite simply a question of numbers; the week long fair is no longer only a platform for furniture manufacturers to show their latest collections, it is an enormous manifestation of all that is designed from everywhere in the world. Therefore, and understandably, an event that hosts the Salone Internazionale del Mobile (home ware and furniture), Eurocucina (bathrooms), EIMU (office furniture), Tessile (fabrics), Salone Satellite (young designers), Dining Design, Designing Designers, Material ConneXion, and Street Dining Design deserved a more noble title.

EV maker Coda trims staff

Not much more could go wrong for electric-car maker Coda, which has struggled to sell its four-door EV in the United States since officially launching it here in March. But Web reports, first seen at www.plugincars.com, say the company laid off 50 employees, or 15 percent of its workforce, last week, mostly in the sales and marketing departments. Efforts by Autoweek to contact Coda have not been successful.