One Lap of the Web: Motel kitsch, Bentley dragsters and rusting Porsches

-- The roach motel lives on in these postcards from Petrolicious. The Googie signs and modernist architecture jump from the Howard Johnsons and Travelodges of the 1950s, when buildings were built in color. For a precious few decades in the tapestry of American interstate travel, before they became the refuge of schlocky horror movies, the motor hotel was the true King of the Road.

Honda Jazz / Honda Fit recall – faulty electric window switch

Honda is recalling the Jazz/Fit to replace faulty electric window switches It’s not exactly on the scale of the Toyota recall for a sticking throttle, but nevertheless the announcement by Honda that they are recalling almost 650,000 (MY 2002-2008) Honda Fits (that’s the Honda Jazz in the UK) around the world is another blow to a Japanese car maker just as the worst of the auto industry woes of the last year or two seem to be easing. The European Honda Jazz recall seems only to affect RHD cars, so it looks like it’s just the UK that needs a fix to the master window switch on the driver’s door on 171,00 models here. If the window gets left open for long periods – or if there are long periods of heavy rain – water can get in to the switch and cause it to malfunction and, at worst, catch fire.

Tesla unveils Model S electric saloon (2009)

By Ben Oliver First Official Pictures 27 March 2009 09:00 Tesla last night launched the Model S, a seven-seat electric hatchback capable of 60mph in 5.5 seconds, with a range of up to 300 miles and a charging time as low as 45 minutes. When it goes into production in 2011 the Tesla Model S will cost US buyers around $50,000 (£34,600) after a federal tax credit. Without a tax break, European buyers can expect to pay closer to £50,000.