The good oil: US Air Force meets Pimp My Ride

The US Air Force has teamed up with the bodyshop behind the TV series Pimp my Ride in an effort to recruit more young-bloods. Galpin Auto Sports has built a couple of all-American models to help Uncle Sam boost its military muscle. The X-1 Ford Mustang comes with an ultra low and wide bodykit wrapped around oversize black alloys and Lamborghini-style scissor doors. Inside, it gets a jet-fighter-inspired cabin with a single ejector seat, surrounded by hi-tech instrument panels and a flight stick, blurring the line between car and plane. For those who prefer to fly under the radar, the two-seat Dodge Challenger VAPOR gets carbon-fibre exterior trim, blacked-out windows and an understated body kit covered in radar-absorbing paint. The aircraft-style controls are joined by a GPS tracking system, as well as thermal and night vision - doing away with the need for headlights.

Both cars will travel the US in a recruitment drive.

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High-speed trains in Europe generate between four and 40 times less CO2 per passenger than other modes of transport, says the European Union. It says high-speed rail lines take up half as much space as a motorway, and rail travel uses two to three times less energy than journeys by road. On the other side of the Atlantic, the US Government is looking into the use of diesel hybrid train engines and improved freight and passenger railway networks to ease oil imports and the country's carbon footprint. Rail, it says, "could be reinvented with a 'green' image". Across the Ditch, natural gas suppliers are upgrading distribution networks so that trucking companies can make more use of the cleaner-burning fuel. The truckies say they want to cut their exposure to volatile diesel prices and make a contribution to Australia's carbon reduction effort. What do we do in New Zealand? We allow governments and road transport lobbyists to dumb down rail and boost the load-capacity of big diesel trucks. It comes under Kiwi ingenuity.

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Australia has an estimated 100 years of natural gas reserves. A mate in Melbourne runs an E-Gas Ford Falcon, with its dedicated 4-litre engine. At A66c a litre for LPG, it costs him around A$52 ($65) to fill the car's 80-litre tank. He reckons that's good for around 500km, mostly in and around the city. South Korean carmaker Hyundai is keeping an eye on the increased use of natural gas in Aussie. It has imported an LPG-powered version of its large left-hand-drive Grandeur sedan to evaluate its advanced direct-injection powertrain. Part of the evaluation will focus on the mixture difference between Australian LPG - with its 50-50 mix of propane and butane - and the Korean fuel, which is heavier on butane.

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Seventy-five years ago last week, the German Reich gave automotive pioneer Dr Ferdinand Porsche the go-ahead to build the first Volkswagen Beetle. Porsche himself had already built seven prototype small cars for various car companies. He submitted the first Beetle concept to Adolf Hitler's transport ministry in January, 1934. Six months later, Porsche was told to build a working model of the "people's car". He built three in his workshop at home over 12 months and in July 1935, took the covers off the first test car. The second, a convertible, was tested in December, 1935. Daimler-Benz built a further 30 prototypes before the government decided build a separate plant for the new car. Work began on the plant in May 1938, in the small town of Fallersleben, now Wolfsburg. The VW had been re-christened as the "KdF-Wagen" - the German Reich's "Kraft durch Freude", or "Strength through Happiness", strategy. The British army officer who kick-started the war-damaged Wolfsburg plant in late 1945 liked Volkswagen best.

alastair.sloane@nzherald.co.nz