10 Strange Automobile Stories Of 2010

So you finally manage a driver's licence after 960 attempts. You go to the dealership and get the perfect first car - that's made of marijuana and runs on scotch. And here's the clincher: Buy one, get an AK-47 free!

No, this is no rambling of an intoxicated mind: These are real stories starring real people. Read on for some the whackiest, most bizarre news reports that have surfaced this past year.
Oh, and did we mention that the Bugatti Veyron is a piece of junk?

Buy a truck, get a free AK-47

Nations Trucks in Florida has introduced the scheme of a complimentary Soviet-style AK-47 assualt rifle with every purchase to help it through the sluggish US economic recovery,'The Daily Telegraph' online reported.

The dealership has more than doubled sales since the offer was announced last week, according to Nick Ginetta, the general sales manager.

A poster in Nations' office window proclaims "FREE AK-47" above a large illustration of the gun, which is by far the biggest-selling assault rifle of all time.

A driver's license after 960 tries!

A 69-year-old South Korean woman took the driver's test a record 960 times before she finally got her license.

For three years starting in April 2005, Grandma Cha Sa-soon took the test once a day five days a week. After that, her pace slowed, to about twice a week. But she never quit.

Hers is a fame based not only on sheer doggedness, a quality held in high esteem by Koreans, but also on the universal human sympathy for a monumental - and in her case, cheerful - loser.

After she got her license in May, Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group, South Korea's leading carmaker, started an online campaign asking people to post messages of congratulations. Thousands poured in. In early August, Hyundai presented Cha with a $16,800 car.

For each of her 960 tests, she had to pay $5 in application fees.

Step on the grass!

More than a dozen Canadian companies have joined hands to produce a 'green' car made of marijuana. To be run on electricity, the prototype design of the car - called Kestrel - was unveiled at the Electric Mobility Show in Vancouver in September.

The four-seater has a bio-composite body made of hemp - which is the name for the cannabis (bhang) plant. It runs on batteries with 4.5 to 17.3 kilowatt hours of energy. The car reached a top speed of 90 kilometres per hour. It can run 40 to 160 kilometres before needing to be recharged, depending on the type of battery.

The first 20 cars will be delivered next year.

0-100 in a peg or two...

A peg of scotch whisky can reduce carbon emission as scientists in Scotland have developed a biofuel from the by-products of whisky which can be used to power cars.

Edinburgh Napier University has filed a patent for the biofuel which has been created in two years by the university's Biofuel Research Centre. The university now plans to create a "spin-out" company to take the fuel to the market, according to Daily Mail.

According to the researchers, two by-products from the whisky production process - "pot ale", the liquid from the copper stills, and "draff", the spent grains - are used to produce butanol which can be used as fuel.

Martin Tangney, who is leading the research and is director of the Biofuel Research Centre, said, "This is a more environmentally sustainable option and potentially offers new revenue on the back of one Scotland's biggest industries. We've worked with some of the country's leading whisky producers to develop the process."

Bugatti Veyron a piece of junk

Ron Dennis, the outspoken chairman of Mclaren Automotive, has branded the Bugatti Veyron a "complete piece of junk", and claimed that the £1.3m hypercar needed ten attempts to beat the Mclaren F1 in a drag race staged by Top Gear in Abu Dhabi.

Dennis savaged the world's fastest car in an interview with Arabian Business. His comments followed the unveiling of Mclaren's own supercar, the MP4-12C, in the UK last month. Dennis sacrificed his place at the head of the brand's prestigious F1 team to concentrate on making the new supercar a success.

He told the magazine that: "The Bugatti Veyron is a complete piece of junk. I think it is. I believe I can look at a range of women and I can see beauty in most of them, but I can look at a Bugatti and I think it is pig ugly.

'When we did the race in Abu Dhabi, we beat it off the line so many times that the film crew was getting frustrated because the outcome was supposed to be for the Bugatti to win.

Renault delivers Zoe, Frenchwomen cry foul

It could be the French version of "A Boy Named Sue" - a car named Zoe. A judge ruled Wednesday that the automaker Renault can call its new electric car Zoe, much to the chagrin of some French women and girls with that first name.

Parents of two children named Zoe Renault (pronounced ZOH-eh ruh-NO) had argued in court that their children could end up enduring a lifetime of teasing and annoyance - just like the fictional youth named Sue in the famous Johnny Cash song.

Lawyer David Koubbi insisted that while it's clear the Zoe Renaults of the world would be most affected by the release of the car - slated for 2012 - all of France's estimated 35,000 Zoes would feel the sting.

"Can you imagine what little Zoes would have to endure on the playground, and even worse, when they get a little bit older and someone comes up to them in a bar and says, 'Can I see your airbags?' or 'Can I shine your bumper?'" Koubbi said.

Happy birthday, Dad!

Forty-two years after it left these shores for Europe, Rajkot will have the 'Star of India' again.

The 76-year-old Rolls Royce Phantom-II -- famously the one and only saffron-coloured Rolls Royce ever built -- was custom made in 1934 for the then ruler of Rajkot, Thakor Saheb Dharmendrasinhji, and sold to an English collector in 1968. Now the current Crown Prince, Yuvraj Mandhatsinh Jadeja, has bought the car, bidding via the Internet at an auction, and will gift it to his father Manoharsinh Jadeja on his 75th birthday on November 29.

Bearing chassis number 188PY and named after the legendary 563-carat sapphire 'Star of India', it was made as a representative vehicle in 1934 for Thakor Saheb.

"It's a great symbol of a bygone era. This is a special gift for my father -- it was used at his wedding ceremony," said Mandhatsinh.

Mandhatsinh says he paid "more than Rs 3 crore" to buy the car at the Germany auction in September.

'Fiat doesn't need Italy'

Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne says the Italian car giant does not need Italy anymore. "Not one euro of Fiat's 2-million-euro profit came from Italy."

During an interview on RAI state television on a popular Sunday-evening talk show, Marchionne blamed rigid unions and labour law for its money-losing Italian operation.

"We still have a loss," Marchionne said. "If we were to eliminate that Italian side from our results, Fiat would do better."

Bye bye Ambassador!

Like many in officialdom, the Army no longer considers Ambassadors a sign of regalia. It plans to pull those distinctive black Ambys -- with funny number plates -- to close ranks with bureaucrats who have already switched their cars.

The Army's move comes after the Department of Expenditure included the Maruti SX4 in the list of approved models of staff car in June 2009. And last month, the Army sought the Finance Ministry's permission to replace all 381 Ambassadors that it owns by SX4s to ferry officers of the rank of Major General and above.

The Ambassador -- its earlier avatars was Hindustan and Landmaster -- was taken off the staff car list in August 1995 but brought back in March 1996 after Hindustan Motors introduced the fuel-efficient Ambassador ISZ variant.

150 Mercs in one delivery

It started as a jest over an early morning jog and ended up creating a record of sorts in the history of the automobile giant. As many as 150 variants of Mercedes Benz, together worth Rs 65 crore, were handed over to people from different walks of life in Aurangabad on Thursday in a single transaction. The delivery of an order placed by Aurangabad residents was the biggest and highest car deal to have taken place ever in India.

In mostly Tenorite Grey, Calcite White, Obsidian Black, Iridian Silver and Carneol Red colours, the swanky lot of 17 S-class, 74 E-class, 39 C-class, six GL and 18 M-class vehicles were handed over. The State Bank of India had sanctioned over Rs 44 crore for 116 of the customers within a record time of seven days.

"It all started with seven of us joking about buying a Mercedes. A little more serious thought, and we approached the company at their Chakan plant. Within a week, they held a car rally in Aurangabad. The news spread by word of mouth and we were 115 by mid-April. The whole deal was closed by April-end and the total number of buyers went up to 150 by then," said Rahul Pagariya, one of the buyers and director of Pagariya Auto.