Not a clunker, this classic Mercedes is available for rental from DFW Elite Auto Rental.com.

Whether you are planning to buy a new commuter car or hoping to drive an exotic vehicle, it’s a good idea to become familiar with these guidelines before buying a new car.  For the full list, check out the PDF file of Cash for Clunkers rules created by the US Department of Transportation.

The Cash for Clunkers program offers consumers up to $4,500 for trading in their old, gas-guzzling beater cars.  However, not all cars are eligible, and to qualify car buyers must be buying a new car that meets the eligibility standards.

To meet the government’s requirement for clunkiness, the trade in needs to be less than 25 years old and get less than 18 miles per gallon.

You must have owned and insured your clunker for at least a year before you trade it in for a new more fuel efficient ride.  The clunker must also be drivable.

The car you purchase must be a new car and must improve on your old vehicle’s gas mileage by a significant amount.  The suggested retail price of your new car must be less than $45,000, and – believe it or not — the replacement car can be leased.

The $45,000 limit means that no one will get a break on a new Bentley.  With retail prices often topping $100,000, exotic cars are out of reach for many consumers.  But, those truly desiring a chance to experience time behind the wheel of an elite auto can always rent a ferrari in DFW or rent a Bentley in Fort Worth, TX.

Renting beats buying when you consider that in addition to buying the car, owners of exotic sports cars also need to pay for maintenance, shell out for expensive exotic car insurance, and find a secure, climate controlled Ft Worth car storage to garage the exotic.

“Owning an exotic vehicle can be a hassle,” says Ron Sturgeon, owner of a Fort Worth exotic car storage facility.  “It’s not always easy to find secure, climate-controlled storage and few exotic owners drive their cars more than a few days a year. But there are a lot of alternative to ownership if you are creative.”

Luckily, there are options besides owning an exotic vehicle.  Exotic car rental and exotic car sharing clubs give car enthusiasts the opportunity to drive their dream car.  With these alternatives, you get all the fun of driving an exotic car without all the hassle.

“Exotic car rental is a great option,” says Sturgeon.

For those who need to buy a new car, the “Cash for Clunkers” program may offer help.  Consumers will have to take advantage of the program soon, though.  It’s set to expire on November 1, 2009.

Kate Miller-Wilson is a professional freelance SE friendly content writer living in the Twin Cities. Visit her website or email her for information about her freelance writing services.

The Peapod is based on another vehicle called the GEM, which was intended for short 40-mile trips.  With a top speed of about 25 miles per hour, the car was designed for use mainly in gated communities.  GEM is another Chrysler subsidiary and will be assembling the new Peapod car at its plant in Fargo, N.D.

The design of the Peapod is very different than the aesthetic behind the GEM, however.  The Peapod is designed to be cute and friendly looking, with a smiling grill and wide-spaced, eye-like headlights.

The New York Times Wheels Blog reports that Peter Arnell, the lead director of Peapod Mobility, hopes to change the way people see electric cars and maybe vehicles all together.

“We want to evolve the design language to an eco-iconic one,” Arnell says. “The idea is something that is charming and brings joy.”

Arnell also calls the vehicle an “appliance.”  He plans to market it in a similar way vacuum cleaners are marketed by Dyson.  The idea is that if you can change the way people think about vehicles, you can create a new market.

The vehicle will be available in eight different colors and several different configurations.  There’s a Peapod to seat four people, a two-seater, one that can carry things similar to a pickup truck, and one that has a sport utility look.

All configurations of the Peapod are completely electric and use no gasoline.  They may be a good option for commuters who want to save gas money for weekend exotic car rental.

Rather than buying exotic vehicles, many car enthusiasts choose to rent exotic vehicles or join exotic car sharing clubs.  These options give people a chance to drive their dream cars without the hassle and expense of owning an exotic vehicle.

Driving an energy-efficient commuter car like the Peapod allows car lovers to conserve emissions and gas money during the week and rent an exotic vehicle on the weekend.  This solution provides the best of both worlds.

Peapod Mobility plans to initially produce about 25,000 vehicles and begin delivering the cars sometime this fall.  The cars will retail in the neighborhood of $12,500.

Kate Miller-Wilson is a professional freelance writer living in the Twin Cities. Visit her website or email her for information about her freelance writing services.

In fact, most don’t.

Most millionaires became wealthy by living well below their means and investing the difference in appreciating assets or by being successful at running and growing businesses and doing the same.

Either way, the folks the join the financial elite have a keen sense of where to put their money and where not to. I just came across a nice post by John Sholz, a finance-minded entrepreneur on Blogger.

Judging by the about me portion of his blog, he has had a long career in mortgage and finance.

He writes, “The majority of millionaires aren’t living in gaudy mansions or driving Ferraris. They have average-sized homes and drive Ford F150s. [I may have to trade the Oldsmabuick in on a used F150....] They don’t regularly drink champagne or eat caviar. They drink bear and eat hot doges. They don’t wear designer clothes; they wear Levis.”

In part eight of his series dispelling misconceptions about the members of the financial elite, he addresses a concept near and dear to this blogger. How to enjoy luxury items without making the ownership commitment. John tells the story of a millionaire software engineer named Suzanne Garner. For her, he says, “owning a 100,000 automobile doesn’t make financial sense. She drives a Mazda Miata.

Instead of owning, Suzanne fulfills her supercar driving dreams by belonging to an exotic car sharing club.

For less than a $1,000 a month, car enthusiasts who live in Dallas Fort Worth can avail themselves of a garage full of the latest exotic cars: two ferraris (F430 F1 and a 360 Spyder), a lamborghini Gallardo, and a 2009 audi r8!

The depreciation, maintenance and car storage in DFW for even one of these cars is far more than membership in the club.

“Cars are depreciating assets and the faster the car, the faster the depreciation in most cases,” says dfw elite car club.com General Manager Tom Warren. “In a time of belt tightening, it makes sense to find the smart way to drive supercars,” said Warren.

The tend toward borrowing over buying even extends to such items as luxury handbags. We recently posted about a handbag sharing company.

Those interested in finding out more about dfw elite car club can visit, (http://www.DFWEliteCarClub.com). If you live outside of the DFW metro, check out a fine directory of performance car sharing clubs across the U.S. at (http://www.exoticcarclubs.com)

This article was written by SEO web copywriter Eric Anderson. Eric’s recent writing projects include copy for a small business strategic planning company and pages for a Tampa, Florida mortgage broker.

For example, a little girl spends countless hours dressing up her Barbie Doll, viola she loves to go clothes shopping twenty years later. Similarly, how many boys spent days on end playing with their exotic toy car collection only to find themselves lusting after Lamborghinis and Ferraris when they got older?

For this reason, I believe that the car industry to celebrate the fact that Hot Wheels appear to still be a fixture in the toy department, and even appear to be gaining some steam with new offerings.

For example you’ve got the Hot Wheels T-Rex Rampage Playset that allows kids to play with their toy cars in an environment that includes a roaring dinosaur, collapsing buildings, and a destructible bridge.

Taking to another level, there’s even going to be a Hot Wheels themed show on the Cartoon Network called Battle Force 5. (Doubtless Alex Nunez from Autoblog will be given the job of giving us episode by episode rundowns….it can’t be as bad for him as being forced to watch this.)

Unfortunately, many of us have trouble taking our childhood love of exotic cars into adulthood because of the enormous costs of ownership. That’s where guys like Ron Sturgeon come in.

You see Sturgeon, like most of us, loved toy cars as a kid. This love of cars didn’t wane as he entered adulthood, either. As he succeeded in business, he acquired a collection of some of the finest hot wheels: ferrari F430, lamborghini Gallardo, and Bentley GTC. Add a dozen other classic and luxury cars to the garage and Ron had acquired quite a toy collection.

Photo Taken by Kainet and licensed under Creative Commons Attribution license. See more Kainet photos here.

“There’s no fun in having great toys if you don’t get to share them with others,” comments Sturgeon. Taking this idea to the extreme, Sturgeon operates a toy car museum in Fort Worth (www.dfwelitetoymuseum.com), an exotic car club in Dallas (www.dfwelitecarclub.com), and a company that offers car enthusiasts full and half-day dream car driving experiences in cities throughout Texas (www.dfwdriveyourdream.com). 

Whether it is having the full access to a garage of exotic cars for a fraction of the price of direct ownership that the exotic car club offers, or just spending a day cruising in five exotic cars as part of an exotic car tour, Sturgeon loves nothing more than seeing exotic car aficionados playing with his toys.

Written by G.D. Gregory. If you are interested in having me write stories for you or seeing my web copywriting portfolio, please contact me at ggpsu@yahoo.com.

Mr. Kamen is attempting to apply the marvels of the Stirling engine into a hybrid car technology. What the heck is a Stirling engine you ask?

Unlike an internal combustion engine that takes in gasoline to create the necessary explosion that drives the pistons, a Stirling engine uses external heat to drive the internal pistons. In Kamen’s hybrid, this engine will be used to operate all of the secondary battery-draining applications such as the heater and defroster. 

Kamen’s prototype is said to run for approximately 60 miles on a single charge of the lithium batteries that drive the car. Additionally, using the Stirling engine means that drivers wouldn’t have to worry about being stranded if their batteries run out because the engine could recharge them. 

The inventor hopes that a public version of the car can be made available by the end of 2010. I hope that I can get one without having to ask my mortgage broker about a super jumbo mortgage.

In these tough economic times it seems that almost everyone, consumers and car-makers alike, are striving to reduce costs without compromising performance. There seems to be no end to the news of the next potentially revolutionary vehicle about to hit the roads.

But there is also another tactic car lovers are employing to reduce the costs associated with their love of cars. In particular, those who love exotic cars.

Exotic car clubs are not new and exist in most major markets (e.g., New York and Chicago). However, they are now poised to take on a more prominent role in the lives of car fans. 
Typically, these clubs allow their members to access the club’s exotic car inventory based on their membership plan. This means that members can access their favorite cars without having to worry about buying, storing, and maintaining the cars themselves.

“We try to take all of the negatives associated with high-performance vehicles off of the table so that our members can focus on enjoying the car,” says dfw elite car club (www.dfwelitecarclub.com) owner Ron Sturgeon. 
Sturgeon’s exotic car club takes the unique approach of using a tiered membership system that allows his members to purchase points that are redeemed for exotic car drive time. 

“With memberships that start at under $1,000 per month, we feel we offer the ability to drive some great cars to those who wouldn’t necessarily by in the market for such machines.”

Written by G.D. Gregory. If you are interested in having me write web content for you or seeing my portfolio of web copywriting, please contact me at ggpsu@yahoo.com.

 Now, North Texas can lay claim to the newest victim, Highland Capital Management.  Highland Capital is currently liquidating two funds, the Crusader Fund and the Credit Strategies Fund.  The partners of Highland Capital Management told their clients that:

“Unprecedented market volatility and disruption to the financial system continue to pose huge challenges, with conditions having deteriorated significantly over the past 60 days and in particular over the last two weeks.”

The Crusader Fund has around $1.5 billion in assets while the Credit Strategies Fund possesses around $500 Million.  Demonstrating the difficulties faced in this economic environment, the liquidations of these funds will take up to four years because of the logistics of selling off such a large numbers of assets.

This is just another sign of troubled times for an economy struggling to get its footing amid a credit crisis and plunging stock values.  All of these forces, combined with increasing joblessness and shrinking consumer spending, are causing a great deal of belt tightening at the corporate and individual level.

Retailers from mom and pops to auto dealerships are seeing huge declines in business as we approach the critical holiday season.  Some businesses (e.g., Wal-Mart) tend to thrive in such dismal markets.

“We are well positioned to capture new clients as the discretionary income of wealthy individuals shrinks,” claims dfw elite car club.com General Manager Tom Warren.  

“Our exotic car club (http://www.dfwelitecarclub.com) allows members to enjoy two dozen exotic cars without worrying about the regularly scheduled maintenance, depreciation, or other costs that come with owning these prestige automobiles,” continues Warren.

These tough economic times are going to require flexibility and creativity for both businesses and individuals to survive.  A car sharing club is one way to maintain a luxury lifestyle on a slimmer budget.

Written by G.D. Gregory.  If you are interested in having me write stories for you or seeing my portfolio, please contact me at ggpsu@yahoo.com.

So, with the timing of a baby-boomer attempting to retire amidst our current economic apocalypse, Nissan announced that it is recalling over 200,000 vehicles.  The reason for the recall is due to the detection of a defect that may lead to passenger-side airbags failing to deploy when called upon.  

Perhaps the one bit of good news is that the recall is voluntary (although very few car makers hold out until regulators require one) and only covers certain models made during the 2007 and 2008 years.

The specific models affected include: Altima, Altima Coupe, 350Z, Murano and Rogue; and Infiniti G35 Sedan, G37 Coupe, and EX35.  Nissan is convinced that only 1 percent or less of the recalled vehicles actually contain the defect, but they are not taking any chances.

While Nissan will provide the required maintenance to fix the glitch for free, this and other recalls serve as a reminder that car ownership can be a big headache.  Not only is this true in the everyday car market, but it is even more prevalent in the luxury car market.

“Many of our clients at the dfw elite car club are former owners of exotic cars or luxury cars who wanted the pleasure of driving without the day-to-day hassles and expenses of maintaining luxury and exotic cars,” claims the Dallas car sharing club‘s GM Tom Warren. dfw elite car club (www.dfwelitecarclub.com) offers memberships to people who want to access any of the club’s two dozen exotic cars.  Membership cost from $750 to $3,000 per month and are billed monthly with no large outlay to join.

“Once you pay for the parts, labor, and storage of an exotic car as its owner, you begin to see the beauty of belonging to an exotic car sharing club,” says Warrren. To find an exotic car sharing club in a city near you, visit http://www.exoticcarclubs.com.

Written by G.D. Gregory.  If you are interested in having me write stories for you or seeing my portfolio, please contact me at ggpsu@yahoo.com.

The State Fair of Texas is set to commence on September 26 and run through October 19. Now, I don’t want to get accused of being a homer for Texas (although Texans certainly reserve this right and exercise it frequently), but the State Fair of Texas definitely stands out from other state fairs.

Although many state fairs are worthy of attendance, some are nothing more than spruced up carnivals with a smattering of livestock.

The State Fair of Texas, on the other hand features a full compliment of rides and amusements, a nationally televised college football game (the Red River Showdown between the Oklahoma University and the University of Texas), and plenty of off-beat offerings.

Perhaps the most offbeat of them all is the best of fried food contest. The State Fair of Texas is known for giving the world the corn dog and the lesser-known fried Twinkie.
I’ll take mine with a side of angioplasty, two stints, and a defibrillator please! Among this year’s contestants are a fried pineapple ring, chicken fried bacon, and fried S’mores. Cardiologists, clear your calendars.

The State Fair of Texas also features a top shelf car show. This year’s car show has expanded to feature 300,000 square feet of display space with two indoor areas and an outdoor area for trucks and activities. “Texans have always been proud of the car show at the TX State Fair,” stated Ron Sturgeon.

Sturgeon is a Dallas-area businessperson who makes his living supplying exotic cars to those desiring that extra flair as they get from point A to point B. Among Ron Sturgeon’s businesses are an exotic car club in DFW, exotic car rental agency, exotic car tour business, and even a toy museum in Fort Worth.

dfw elite car club (http://www.dfwelitecarclub.com) offers drivers the chance to drive any of the club’s many exotic cars for extended periods

Using a flexible points system, the club allows its members to purchase the exact amount of drive time that they want with the convenience of monthly billing.

“Many other car clubs insist on receiving the full amount of annual membership up front because they need the capital to buy cars. We’ve got the cars—a pair of lamborghini’s, a ferrari F430, an Aston Martin Vantage and dozens more—so we are pleased to offer flat rate monthly billing,” says Tom Warren, GM of the Dallas exotic car sharing club.

Written by G.D. Gregory. If you are interested in having me write stories for you or seeing my portfolio, please contact me at ggpsu@yahoo.com.

Apparently, the folks at Toyota thought that humankind’s steady march to this reality was not proceeding fast enough, so they have developed the Toyota Winglet.
Like its cousin the Segway, the Toyota Winglet is a contraption that you stand on and it moves you around without the exertion of walking.

In addition to keeping people from burning any of their own energy, the battery-powered Winglet will burn more of the country’s energy. Wow, it looks like Toyota has a genuine two-bagger here.

Is it me or should exotic transportation be kept to the domain of ferraris, Lamborghinis, and the like? After all, there are ways to drive a Ferrari F430 without taking out a home loan.

For example, exotic car clubs. These clubs allow members to enjoy driving exotic cars without the cash outlay of purchasing and maintaining them. For a flat monthly fee of exotic car clubs such as DFW Elite Auto Club, it’s quite possible to wow the valet by always arriving in the latest and hottest dream car!

Ron Sturgeon, a Dallas small business consultant, real estate investor, and car collector is the man behind dfw elite car club. Starting with cars from Mr. Sturgeon’s personal collection, the Club’s collection has grown to more than 25 of the latest exotic and luxury cars.

“Besides the cost, the main drawback of ownership is that it limits an enthusiast to driving one exotic car at a time. Our members can choose the car that’s ideal for the occasion,” says Sturgeon.

To learn about joining dfw elite car club, visit http:www.dfwelitecarclub.com. To learn more about car sharing or to find a club in any city in the United States, visit http:www.exoticcarclubs.com, an online directory of exotic car clubs.

Any of these options, promise to be a lot more fun than Toyota’s Winglet.

Written by freelance web writer G.D. Gregory. If you are interested in having me write stories for you or seeing my portfolio, please contact me at ggpsu@yahoo.com.

Naively, I brought my SUV to Boston. I was fool enough to expect a parking spot was included at my $1500/month 400-sq ft fourth-floor walk-up. Wrong. I quickly discovered that the only place to park my SUV was at a church, half a mile away, for $350/ month. Not good.

Apparently, many urbanites find themselves in situations similar to mine. Sometimes you just need a car, no matter where you live. This is the exact need that a new company called Zipcar aims to fill.

Technically, Zipcar rents cars to customers by the hour or the day. However, Zipcar is structured more like a car-sharing program with memberships and a fleet of only 5,000 cars for its 200,000 members.

“We can give them the same freedom of car ownership at a much lower cost,” said Zipcar chief executive Scott Griffith. With gas prices climbing, more than a few car buyers are considering the merits of car sharing.

Members who rent cars from Zipcar don’t have to worry about refueling because gas charges are factored into the simple rental payment. So are insurance costs. With a modest annual membership fee and rental rates of around $12 per hour, Zipcar has become the way to get around for many occasional drivers. The company estimates that each car in their fleet takes about 20 personal cars off the road.

A similar phenomenon is happening in the exotic car world. Even those who can easily afford exotic car ownership like the idea of driving a variety of cool cars. In the last several years, car enthusiasts have started exotic car clubs to make sharing top performance cars as easy as becoming a member.

“Sports car enthusiasts do car sharing because it lets them drive a variety of cars,” notes Ron Sturgeon, a Texas entrepreneur and small business consultant. “Car enthusiasts can experience driving many more of the best performance cars in the world as members than they could buying cars individually,” insists the Dallas luxury car club owner.

DFW Elite Auto Club provides the ability to drive exotic cars without the high costs of depreciation and maintenance. Member only social events connect car enthusiasts with friends who share the passion for driving the latest luxury cars.

Sturgeon’s exotic car club allows members to access the club’s garage of more than 25 exotic and luxury cars using a simple points system. In addition, Sturgeon also operates a more traditional exotic car rental agency in DFW for those who aren’t interested in membership, but want to drive a ferrari or lamborghini for a day. His firm delivers cars nationwide.

Exotic car rental is among the fastest growing segments of the car rental and car sharing business. For an agency specializing in exotic car rental in your city, check out http://www.rentexoticcars.net. To find an exotic car sharing club in your area, check out an online directory of car sharing clubs, such as http://www.exoticcarclubs.com.

Whether it is sharing a hybrid to make commuting around a Dallas college campus easy or sharing a Bentley to savor the pure driving pleasure of the best cars in the world, car sharing is taking hold.

Written by G.D. Gregory. If you are interested in having me write stories for you or seeing my portfolio, please contact me at ggpsu@yahoo.com.