Lawmaker Accuses Toyota of Withholding Crash Evidence

Toyota may just have been caught with its hand in the proverbial cookie jar. Corporate blower of whistles and former Toyota Motor Sales USA (a "product liability group") managing counsel Dimitrios Biller has apparently brought a few documents to light - documents the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee finds "troubling".

According to panel chairman Ed Towns (D-NY), the documents "indicate Toyota deliberately withheld records that it was legally required to produce in response to discovery orders in litigation... [The] documents concern 'rollover' cases in which a driver or passenger was injured, including cases where victims were paralyzed."

Furthermore, "the Biller documents indicate [Toyota's] systematic disregard for the law and routine violation of court discovery orders in litigation... Moreover, this also raises very serious questions as to whether Toyota has also withheld substantial, relevant information from NHTSA."

It seems as if a court in Texas put a gag order out on Mr. Biller (do I sound like a lawyer or what?), but a Congressional subpoena came in and took over in order to get to the truth. Towns says he hopes Biller will bring to light information regarding Toyota's hiding "evidence of safety defects from consumers and regulators, and foster[ing] a culture of 'hypocrisy and deceit."

For people keeping up with this debacle, you may hear the term "Books of Knowledge". This refers not to the Indiana Jones trilogy, but to digital records "in which Toyota engineers kept their design and testing data across all vehicle lines and parts."

Sounds normal; companies keeping their secrets secret. Not really a problem, until evidence is found that Toyota may have settled multiple multi-million dollar lawsuits when they learned that victims' lawyers were on the path of discovering the "Books".

Towns asked Toyota to respond to the issues raised by the documents by Friday, March 12, with the Japanese automaker saying that it would.

- By Phil Alex

Via: Detroit News

I.DE.A Institute Teases 'Sofia' Sports Sedan Concept Ahead of Geneva Show

Three computer generated images and a name is just about all we have on the I.DE.A. Institute 'Sofia' hybrid sports sedan that will be officially unwrapped at the Geneva Motor Show on March 2. The famous design house stated that the four-seater concept model will be instantly recognized by its "Italian styling and beauty".

Last year, I.DE.A made its first appearance at the Swiss international auto show after a decade-long hiatus with the ERA roadster.

Geneva Pre-Gaming: Techart's Reptilian Porsche Panamera Concept One

It's one of the cars representing German tuner Techart in Geneva this year: the Concept One, a Porsche Panamera meant to showcase the firm's "second individualization level". And individual it is.

We'll start with the "unusual" interior, which is where this car really shines (although most will probably disagree): cocoa over white with "Phosphor" green stitching and detailing accented by tasty Cerbero trim - which must be the gator-skin stuff - on the dash, consoles, and seats.

Drivers get to wrap their mits around a Techart 3-spoke steering wheel with PDK paddles, while passengers will no doubt remain entertained thanks to the custom ceiling-mounted 10.2 inch TV/DVD player and fold-down rear tray tables. In my opinion, you should do yourself a favor and have a peek at the interior shots.

Motivation for this sports-tank comes from a Techart-tuned 650-horse version of Porsche's twin-turbo 4.8 liter V8 breathing through a stainless steel exhaust system.

Outward appearance is brought to you by way of a PU-RIM body kit which widens the car by 21 mm in at the nose and 42 mm at the haunches. Said kit makes use of new front/rear fascias, fender wideners, side skirts, and an adjustable rear wing.

Those 22-inch rollers are Techart Formula IIIs in dull platinum gray, and while there's something fancy about those LEDs up front, no one will ever care about what it is because they'll be looking at the viciously-gill'd hood and wondering what lurks beneath (hint: it'll eat your car for brunch). If you DO indeed care about those LEDs, scroll down for a press release excerpt.

"The multifunctional TECHART daylight driving headlight system contributes essentially to the active safety of the driver by combining daylight headlights, parking lights and turn signal lights as an LED system unit in one common housing that seamlessly fits into the vehicle front design.

The intensity of the lights adjusts automatically to the selected headlight circuit. Additionally, the headlight can also be dimmed for improving the effect of the turn signal lights, even while turning off."

- By Phil Alex