Car Graveyard in Bastnas, Sweden

Deep within a Swedish forest lie 1,000 forgotten cars from the 1950s. The rusting vehicles are all that remains of a scrap yard set up in the wake of the Second World War. Back then it was the final destination for cars abandoned by American soldiers leaving Europe after the war. Two forest-dwelling Swedish brothers ran the scrap yard until the 1980s before they abandoned the site in the 1990s, leaving the forest undergrowth to claim the cars. Today, rusting classic cars including vintage Opels, Fords, Volvos, Buicks, Audis, Saabs and a Sunbeam litter the natural undergrowth.

Photographer Svein Nordrum ventured into the dense woods to snap some pictures of the abandoned vehicles. He said: "It is very quiet in there. It is a strange feeling when you’re there, as if you’re on the edge of the world... The forest is very dense. You can only see a couple of cars at any one time - the rest disappear into the woods. The cars are now a part of nature in a way. The trees grow all over and through the cars, with branches sneaking through windows and over the bonnets."

 
The 1,000 corroded vehicles are collectively worth an estimated £100,000 in scrap. However, efforts to remove the cars from the forest have been thwarted. Nordrum said "Some people in Sweden want to remove the cars, but environmentalists keep stopping them. Apparently birds and other animals have made nests in the bodywork."

The car graveyard is in the mining country of Bastnas, a town in southern Sweden. Hikers have discovered trees growing around bodywork and moss covering seats and steering wheels.

5 Ways to Make Your Old Car Feel New

The best thing about your old car is that you've already paid for it. Most of us grow tired of our used cars long before they're used-up cars. But money is tight for just about everyone, so why throw away a car that's running well just because it's feeling worn down, looking beat up and has lost some of its athleticism? Cars built in the last 10 or 15 years can go 200,000 or 300,000 miles if given the right care. And there are some simple ways to spice up your long-term automotive relationship without using up whatever is left on your home equity line of credit. What it takes first is the determination to re-commit.

 

1. Electronics - Even if your car is only a couple of years old, it's almost certainly got an outdated sound system. Trading an old radio head unit for one that integrates with an iPod, iPhone or satellite radio, and includes a Bluetooth connection for a cellphone, will shoot your car or truck into the present. You might also consider an Electronic GPS navigation system.

2. Let it breathe - Aftermarket intake systems and air filters don't work miracles, but they can open up an older engine's inhalation system and kick up output by a few horsepower.

3. Paint - Generally speaking, it's best to use touchup paint sparingly and carefully. However, you can easily remove plastic trim pieces on your car's exterior and repaint them with a spray can. It particularly makes a big difference on black parts that have weathered to a dull gray.

4. Revitalize the A/C - Your car's AC can suffer buildups of mold, mildew and bacteria. To clean out the system, first make sure the air coming into the system isn't first passing through leaves, dust or other accumulated grime in the air passageways. Then change or clean any filters in the system. Finally, use an air-conditioning deodorizer to finish things off.

5. Clear the lenses - Vehicles built during the last couple of decades usually have plastic composite headlamps that weather and dull over time. You can pick up a headlight restoration often for under $30, and they're easy to use. It only takes a few minutes to turn a dull, yellowed headlight clear—which makes your old car look nicer and instantly improves illumination.

Best Apps to Help You Save Time on Your Commutes

We all know that Traffic Technology is evolving at the speed of light. Also, the moment you drive off the lot you might find out that some insane new technology just came out! For this reason, we’ve compiled the best apps you can download to help you save time on your work commute. It will help you avoid, accidents, traffic, police stops and radars or basically anything that will prevent you from getting home fast.

 

Garmin Street Pilot 

This expensive software with photo- realistic mapping and right-now prompts, which worked well even when you are cruising through rural areas without a cell signal. That detail and immediacy are the result of maps that live locally on your smartphone, not in the cloud. Another distinguishing feature is Garmin's awesome mass-transit database. The app can route you to the nearest parking garage and it will drop a virtual pin on the map to help you remember your car's location. It even knows the bus schedule and will help you find the nearest Bus/Metro/Ferry stop. Live traffic information is provided by Here and augmented by crowd sourced data.

Waze

Recently purchased by Google we still need to say, it's not Google Maps with added directions. The maps and routings are built by 50 million worldwide users. Traffic data in the U.S. is based entirely on the progress of "wazers" currently driving. These generous volunteers provide information on speed traps, accidents, and other road events, which fellow wazers confirm and update. But Waze needs an internet connection; lose service and most of the info is unavailable. The police and traffic warnings are highly reliable, and points-of-interest searches are augmented by larger databases such as Google, Yelp, and Foursquare. This is basically a game-changer in the Traffic Apps of the world.

Scout

This product comes from mapping- and traffic-service provider Telenav, so they know what they are talking about.In case you don’t know who they are, they are the inventors of In-Car Mapping systems. We like the layers of information that come with directions, such as weather forecasts. Two other features stand out: OnMyWay texts contacts that you're en route, and the Meet Up function lets multiple users see the others' progress in real time. Scout also acts as an event guide, with listings of movie times, concerts, and so on. In-app upgrades include speed traps and speed cameras. Like Waze, Scout's prompts may be a beat slower than those of Garmin's StreetPilot, but, hey—it's free! We also love that you can choose a monster truck as the icon for your car. Basically, this is a very contender! Don’t miss out on it.

Trapster

Directions and traffic alerts aren't the only ways to improve your commute—apps can also help you steer clear of cops, drive green, or find a charge. For those averse to tickets and fines, Trapster uses voice prompts to flag red-light and speed cameras along with known speed traps. Data is crowd sourced from 20 million users, and accuracy is solid.

Healthy and Energizing Drinks for Morning Commutes

Chai Tea instead of Coffee

Drinking a hot drink in the morning helps your body wake up, but caffeine is not necessarily very healthy because it will dehydrate you and cause you to “crash” once the effects go away. Get a Chai Tea with natural ingredients, like ginger root. That will be healthy and a great sickness fighting drink.



Protein Smoothie

Nothing beats a good refreshing protein smoothie. You can always make that with Almond Milk as opposed to be using traditional milk. If you work out this will definitely work to your advantage and you will not be disappointed. Make sure you consult a trainer if you’re interested in buying the right protein powder.


Herbal Hot Tea

Very simple to make, this is one of the best morning drink to start off the day right. Make sure you buy quality Tea and stay away from the cheap stuff, it makes a difference. We suggest Hibiscus or Green Tea, and if you have a sweet tooth, add a little honey to it.



Vegetable Juice

It’s not for everyone in the sense that you need to like bypassing the sweets in the morning. If you can handle it, that’s the best way to go. A great vegetable juice with some orange juice or even a banana to sweeten it a little bit, will provide you with the best nutrients for the day.


Almond Milk
For all the lactose intolerant people out there, be sure to give this a try, you can now find it at most grocery stores. It has become very popular and it is very healthy. You can even warm it up and use it as Hot Cocoa material! Don’t hesitate to give this a try.



Honey Ginger Lemonade

This will help you stay refreshed and help your tummy pains! It’s simply honey and fresh, peeled ginger added to fresh squeezed lemon juice and water on top of ice. You can add a little mint to freshen it up more.

Terrifying commutes from around the world

Tired of rush-hour traffic? Exhausted from hour-long drives to work? These people's commutes will make yours look like a walk in the park!

1. Anyone who has to drive along the North Yungas Road in Bolivia. Where's that horse and buggy when you need it?

2. Anyone hoping to get on this train in Beijing. Claustrophobia is a valid excuse for being late to work... we hope.

 
3. Anyone who constantly has to risk their life by driving under the Devil’s Nose. Must be quite a sight when it rains.

4. Anyone who has no choice but using a zip line to get to town in Colombia. For a handful of families living there, zip lines are the only way to cross a river and not a source of recreational amusement.

5. Anyone who has to cross the Hussaini Bridge in Kashmir. The bridge divides a village in two - on one side are houses, on the other are farms. What was that old saying about a house divided?

Millennials skip showroom, use social media for car-buying

When 20- and 30-somethings go car shopping, they’re likely to ask their friends for help – their Facebook friends, that is. The youngest generation of car buyers is far more likely to turn to social media for advice than head for the showroom, according to an eBay Motors study.

More than nine of 10 so-called millennials -- "Generation Y" babies born between 1980 and 2000 -- turn to the Internet when shopping for a new car or truck, according to the eBay research.

They aren’t alone. A separate study found that the majority of buyers now go online to begin the car buying process – and more than half will be strongly influenced by what their friends have to say on Facebook.

94 percent of millennial car buyers gather information online;

More than a third use mobile devices to do that research, compared to 19 percent of older car shoppers;

Only 13 percent of millennials view visiting a dealership as their preferred method of shopping, while 25 percent of older buyers prefer to go to a showroom.

The study, based on responses from over 1,000 U.S. adults, also found that millennials are more comfortable using portable devices than older drivers when researching a possible purchase. One of five of these young motorists reported that they would be open to going through the entire purchase on a mobile device, according to eBay Motors.

Millennials aren’t alone. The survey found that two of three older motorists say technology is changing how they shop for a car.

That’s supported by the Automotive Social Media and Reputation Trend Study which finds 81 percent of buyers read reviews to narrow down the right car or truck, a figure that has grown substantially in the past six months. The study, by research firm Digital Air Strike, named Cars.com, Edmunds.com and Yahoo! among the most influential sources of reviews. It also noted social media outlets Facebook, Yelp and Google Plus.

Twenty-four percent of those surveyed indicated online reviews are the single “most helpful” factor in the final choice of a vehicle. According to the study by Digital Air Strike, “There is a 59 percent probability that a consumer will trust a review from a Facebook friend more than reviews on other sites.”

Meanwhile, the survey of 2,000 shoppers found that 43 percent said they would use Facebook to search for a local dealership.

While there has been a lot of debate about the effectiveness of Facebook advertising, the Automotive Social Media study found that clicks on dealership ads jumped to 39 percent from 16 percent between October 2012 and April 2013.

Honda to Debut All-New 2015 Fit at North American International Auto Show

Honda will take the wraps off the all-new 2015 Fit at the 2014 North American International Auto Show in Detroit on January 13, at 2:40 pm. Honda will showcase significant advancements designed to further extend Fit's status as the benchmark vehicle in the subcompact-car class.

The 2015 Fit builds on the current model's innovative packaging, flexible cargo capability and fun-to-drive character with spirited new styling, an even more spacious and refined interior packed with leading-edge connected car technologies. The third generation Fit is set to offer enhanced fuel-efficiency and performance courtesy of its all-new platform and Earth Dreams Technology powertrain. Equipped with the Honda-exclusive next-generation Advanced Compatibility Engineering™ (ACE™) body structure, the new Fit is also anticipated to earn class-leading safety ratings.

John Mendel, executive vice president of automobile sales for American Honda Motor Co., Inc., will introduce the 2015 Fit at the company's press conference, which also will be broadcast live via webcast at http://hondanews.com/live/2014naias-honda (link will be live Jan. 13).

Come test drive a Fit at Executive Honda and be sure to check us out on Facebook and Twitter for further news and updates.