The car that's a heap of junk

Honest John doesn't have a kind word to say about the Peugeot 1007.

By Honest John

Blunder bus

I'm very interested in the Peugeot 1007, but only ever read bad reviews. Are they that bad? The specification seems to include almost everything you could want. I understand they are still popular on mainland Europe and you can pick up a very nice example for about £3,500.

DD, Letchworth

The 1007 was based on the Citroën C2... and was a heap of junk cars that got the go-ahead on the basis of flawed research. Sliding doors each side were the main selling point, but the mechanisms are prone to failure. That's why 1007s are cheap. They are neither nice to drive nor practical, so spend your money on something else.

NEWS SOURCE

Former Falls Resident Disgusted By Wretched Condition Of Old Hometown

GUEST VIEW By Don Soos

I just returned home to Florida after a visit of several days to my former hometown area.

During that time I visited Niagara Falls several times, went to the casino, drove around the area and went "downtown," where I parked the car and visited the "major" souvenir shop and the souvenir stands scattered about the area like an outdoor flea market. The entire falls area is a disgrace! There is no other way to say it.

The entire area is dingy, dirty, unkempt, shopworn. I am unable to find the proper words to describe this "wonder of the world." Sidewalks and streets are broken and actually dangerous to walk upon. The trash at the falls area (especially on the other side of the safety barriers and fencing) obviously has not been picked up or cleaned up for months, if not years.

One cannot drive any of the side streets without hitting the many cracks, potholes and hundreds of pieces of debris in the streets. And the visitors really must enjoy seeing all those crack houses just off the main drag, with the broken windows, unkempt yards, junk cars, etc.

I made it a point to speak with a few of the many foreign visitors who spoke English, and their comments were almost all negative.

I have been fortunate enough to travel many parts of the world in years past and have visited some of the countries represented by these visitors. Most of their countries were much cleaner, well kept and had many areas to tour and enjoy -- historical sites, grand buildings and parks. It was a pleasure to visit. I am speaking of England, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Greece, China, Japan, India and more.

Very few of these places were as dirty and rundown as Niagara Falls, and they offered many places of interest -- parks, museums, theaters, nightclubs, etc.

Now back to the Falls. There are very few fine places to dine or shop. The souvenir stands were all full of overpriced junk, most of which came from China and other overseas sources.

Then I had the pleasure of crossing the border to Canada. Clean, neat, fantastic shopping areas, the parks along the falls area were beautiful, with lots of flowers and green shrubs and plants.

One was hard put to find trash and debris in the falls areas. So many fine shops that it would take several days just to see them all, with a fine selection of goods. Great places to relax and have a snack or a drink. And I want to say also that the salespeople in Canada were much more friendly and cooperative.

I had the pleasure once again of dining up in the Skylon Tower. Wow! Fantastic view, and the menu, although a bit pricey, was absolutely fabulous. Their escargot was superior to that I have had many times in Paris.

It would be impossible to estimate the number of visitors who were shopping there in Canada, many thousands vs. the few hundred I saw at those great souvenir stands around the park on the U.S. side, with many millions of dollars being spent there instead of in the United States. Maybe we could tell them about the fantastic Rainbow Centre, or about all that reconstruction that was promised in the Falls some 60 years ago that never materialized.

Maybe we could tell them about the hundreds of empty promises from the corrupt and incompetent politicians in New York who were going to bring in jobs and tourism and millions of much-needed dollars.

Yes, maybe if we told these millions of people who visit annually about all our problems, they might just leave a few dollars in a collection plate, which we could set up down by the border as they cross into Canada!

Don Soos lives in Orange Park, Fla.

Niagara Falls Reporter

NEWS SOURCE

Junk car ban goes into effect Saturday

The city of Burlington will begin enforcing a junk car ban on Saturday. Although some city officials think that junk cars are a problem, a city councilman thinks the ban isn’t needed.

The junk car ban, passed in June, enables the city to tow junked, abandoned or hazardous motor vehicles that are within the city limits. Greg Turner, crime prevention specialist with the Burlington Police Department, said that the number of junked cars is pretty low.

“Junk cars have never been an issue,” Turner said. “We could ride around town and I don’t know if I’d see any.”

Councilmember Celo Faucette said that the ordinance was created to improve the appearance of Burlington.

“Aesthetically it has been (a problem),” Faucette said.

Despite this apparent aesthetic problem, Faucette estimated a low number of cars that are viewable to the public.

“I wouldn’t know what the number is, but you may see one or two (junked cars),” Faucette said.

David Beal, assistant director for planning services for Burlington, confirmed that the most junked cars are located on parts of personal property that aren’t viewable to the public.

“There is no accurate count available, but it is safe to say there are hundreds (of junked cars),” Beal said. “Most of the vehicles are in residential areas and can be found anywhere on the property, but mainly in the rear yard.”

The location of these cars is, in part, why Faucette voted against the ordinance. Faucette’s was the only “no” vote. He said that “junk” is too subjective of a work to put into a law.

“Again it goes back to what is junk to the city and what is junk to that resident,” Faucette said. “I think laws and everything is what this country is based on, but sometimes I think we can go a little too far on somebody’s personal rights. If there is a problem with it, then yes come and tell me that there is a problem with it, but don’t have laws that curtail property rights. I know we’re trying to take care of our city and make it aesthetically pleasing, but sometimes I think we can find a better way than passing an ordinance to do that.”

Despite the fact that the large majority of junked cars can’t be seen, Beal feels that the ban will be good for the community. Beal sees junk cars as a problem beyond aesthetics.

“Junked motor vehicles have been a problem in that they can be unsightly in neighborhoods, they may be hazardous, they may negatively impact property values by being allowed to remain, and there are environmental concerns due to leaking fluids,” Beal said.

Although Beal has these other concerns about the junked cars, this law is only enforced via community complaints, which will be largely based on how the cars look.

Faucette said a hotline for a citywide community junk car watch has been set up so that anyone, mostly neighbors with complaints, can call in the location of junked vehicles,.

“We just don’t have the manpower (of the police force) to go out and look for abandoned vehicles and junked vehicles and the sort,” Faucette said. “We leave it on the community to police in this area.”

The junk car ban hotline is an element of Connecting Burlington Communities, which was designed to clean up and improve the quality of life in Burlington. Other issues CBC deals with are graffiti, illegally dumped items and litter.

To properly inform the community of the upcoming enforcement of the ban, Turner plans on notifying all the individual community watch groups of Burlington.

Even though he plans on emailing almost 50 groups, Turner said he does not foresee the hotline being very active.

NEWS SOURCE

Brown signs bill warning buyers of vehicle damage

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a bill requiring car dealers to mark junk vehicles with a sticker alerting potential buyers to damage.

The governor announced his signing of AB1215 by Democratic Assemblyman Bob Blumenfield of Sherman Oaks on Monday.

Under the legislation, California becomes the first state to require dealers to post a prominent marker identifying vehicles that are listed in a federal database as junk cars, salvage or inundated during floods.

Blumenfield says the law will protect consumers. The bill also requires car dealers to register vehicles electronically starting next July, a process that is estimated to save the state more than $9 million a year.

Additionally, the bill raises the fee dealers can charge for titles and registrations to $80, while allowing them to charge extra for filing registrations electronically.

NEWS SOURCE

For Denver man, no junk left behind

A lifelong love of collecting rundown car parts has given Grady Ballard lots to play with in retirement. His latest project: making a joy ride of a '39 Ford.

DENVER, N.C. Grady Ballard's car turns heads.

If he flies by you in the opposite lane, you may wrench your neck.

Pass him, and you will slow down for longer look.

It is a rat rod, made of an opportunistic assortment of parts from the '39 Ford truck grille in front to the scratch built tailgate with Harley pipes underneath. In between, a large photo of Sarah Palin smiles from the doors.

For Ballard, now 70, it's the result of a 56-year love affair with junky cars.

"I've got the love of old cars in my heart, the rat rods," he said. "I could afford them when I couldn't afford the other stuff."

He bought his first car back in 1960, a '31 Ford roadster with a 1955 Oldsmobile engine, cut low enough so you just slid over the top to get in it.

"It would run 60 mph in low gear and 100 in second," he recalls. "I would never dream of running it in high gear because the front end was just all over, it took both hands to hold it on the road."

He dreamed of building another during his 50 years at work at Ethan Allen and CommScope. Two years before he retired in May 2009, he started gathering parts and forming ideas for what would be his full-time hobby. With the help of welders John and Jim Ballard (no relation) in Stanley, his dream took shape. It was finished the month he entered retirement.

Rat rods - which are thrown together from old and rusty spare parts - are different from slicker hot rods. Back in the day, hot rods were easier to build because the parts were in better shape.

Nowadays, original parts usually can only be found rusting in forgotten places. For his latest ride, Ballard found a 1941 Ford truck cab in the woods sitting on the ground, the floor completely corroded away.

His dream ride is true to the custom of old-school rat rodders. The cab is appointed with '84 International school bus seats and instruments. It's all mounted on a 1975 Toyota long bed truck frame sporting a Toyota engine with Harley Davidson tail pipes growling out back.

All this painted black and red with rust proudly showing through in spots, with Rat Fink stickers and the smiling portrait of the former governor of Alaska. The rear bumper is what he calls a "formality," made from an old horse collar.

It is a work of art, one that he drives daily without worrying about the rigors of the road.

"Anybody can throw something together that just looks horrible, but to build a real pretty rat rod you have to know what they mean and represent," he said. "You have to have that inside of you that I call artist."

Saturday, Ballard hosted the 4^th annual G & T Rodz Old School Rat Rodz show at his home near Denver. He expected around fifty entrants, all vying for one of eight trophies he has made from old car parts. Seven of the prizes are standard best of show designations. But the eighth, the Biggest Piece of ... Trophy, may be the most coveted. Grady has incorporated real animal droppings on this one, so the winner should store it in a cool, dry place, like a basement garage.

NEWS SOUTRCE

Junk Yards Litter The Border Of Guilford And Randolph County

Thomasville, NC -- A viewer contacted 2 Wants To Know about the junk yards that are visible from the roads.

We found out there are ordinances against these eyesores, and covering them up is key to selling this area.

As you drive into Davidson County and reach the Guilford County/Randolph County line, you see more than one junk yard in plain view.

Realtor Robin Russell said curb appeal means a lot.

"It's a person's first impression of an area," he explained. Looking at the corridor of junk yards, Russell said it's unsightly.

"Well, certainly with screening, it could hide it from cars. People passing through. It could look a whole lot better than it looks," he added.

Ceith Halipilias is aware of the Davidson County ordinance. He began moving junk cars the moment we asked him about them.

He owns J.C. Nizzan Auto Salvage & Repair just outside of Thomasville.

The ordinance requires fencing and screening to keep the cars from being seen. He said he doesn't want his operation to deter other businesses from moving into the area.

"Especially for the economy of the area which is definitely down because of the moving of the furniture companies and that type thing so it's very, very important to me," shared Halipilias.

Zoning officers say the problem comes with older junk yards.
New junk yards must have fencing and screening. The older ones in Davidson County eventually do.

But across the highway in Trinity which is in Randolph County, the older ones are grandfathered in and don't have to comply.

NEWS SOURCE

Tow truck drivers hooked into scrap metal scam

Police say criminals are casing junk cars in random yards, calling tow companies, and getting cash as the car is towed away for scrap.

Desperate times, desperate measures, said Ryan Haluptzok about a new scam in the scrap metal market.

Haluptzok, owner of Classic Towing and Recycling in Duluth, has been scammed by people selling him junk cars they don’t own. According to the Duluth Police Department, criminals are casing junk cars in random yards, calling tow companies, and getting cash as the car is towed away for scrap.

“People come home and say, ‘Hey, my car is gone,’” police Sgt. Chad Nagorski said.

Cases are under investigation, Nagorski said, mainly because of the cooperation of towing companies that have been duped. It’s happened twice in the past month to Haluptzok.

“I bought a couple downtown,” he said.

It isn’t uncommon that people don’t have a title to show proof of ownership, Nagorski and Haluptzok both said, especially if it looks like the car’s been sitting a long time. While Haluptzok will take a car without proof of ownership, those who are selling are required to provide driver’s licenses.

Police are trying to verify whether the identities offered were legitimate.

“Scrap prices are going up,” Haluptzok said, so he isn’t really surprised to hear about the scam. He’s been giving $150 to $250 per car recently.

In August, the St. Paul Police Department made 10 arrests in a similar scrap car operation after a three-month investigation. More than 50 vehicles were claimed illegally and sent to scrap yards. In some cases, tow truck drivers were involved in the scam.

After those arrests, officials called for tighter state law on providing proof of ownership.

Nagorski said no tow truck operators are suspected in Duluth and they have been cooperative with police after being told about the scam.

“We don’t believe at all that they are involved,” he said.

Nagorski said thieves have sold cars in Superior as well, part of what tipped Duluth officers to a growing trend.

“There are a lot of cars in yards in Duluth,” he said.

He said the appeal of the scam is that the criminals “don’t have to touch anything,” Nagorski said, they just call, get the cash and walk away.

Duluth police are asking residents to watch their neighborhoods for tow trucks, exchanges of cash, or any other peculiar activity. Nagorski said there will be a response to such reported activity. With the help of towing companies, salvage yards and the public, “this can be prevented,” he said.

Haluptzok is being more careful about anyone selling a car for scrap.

“The average person will have keys for it, give some history,” he said. “It’s not often that we run into a problem. But when we get two in a row, that’s something.”

NEWS SOURCE