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posted by martyb on Tuesday December 01 2015, @02:52AM   Printer-friendly
from the not-the-codec dept.

Contrast this excerpt from the infamous letter from Clyde Barrow to Henry Ford: http://www.snopes.com/business/consumer/barrow.asp "...For sustained speed and freedom from trouble the Ford has got every other car skinned, and even if my business hasen't[sic] been strickly[sic] legal it don't hurt anything to tell you what a fine car you got in the V8."

With this:

http://www.buffalonews.com/city-region/police-blotter/troopers-ask-for-help-finding-xbox-game-thieves-20151125 "...The thieves were seen fleeing the store in a gray Toyota Prius."

Something just feels wrong when thieves use a Prius as their getaway car!

[What is the strangest getaway vehicle you have ever heard of? -Ed.]


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  • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday December 01 2015, @03:02AM

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday December 01 2015, @03:02AM (#270004) Journal

    I can't remember just what year it was, when I got rid of my last V8. My kids were just kids then, so over 20 years. 2 ton Dodge truck that I used in logging. The thing was a monster, in the woods, and at the gas pump. I finally decided I wasn't going out in those woods any more, and sold it. I had also just junked an old Chevy Malibu with a V8.

    At that time, you couldn't sell me a 4 cylinder, but those V6 engines sounded pretty good. Twice the fuel mileage, decent power and performance, so I jumped into the age of V6 engines.

    Nowadays, even the 4 cylinders are pretty good. They used to sound like under powered sewing machines. Now, kids are turning those little things into "sport cars", and some of them actually sound good.

    With the price of gas, I'm quite happy NOT to be driving someing that gets 12 mpg. 28 to 32 feels real good in the hip pocket when I stop at the gas station.

    Of course, my 2 cylinder motorcycle feels even better, at 49 to 53 mpg!

    • (Score: 2) by captain normal on Tuesday December 01 2015, @03:27AM

      by captain normal (2205) on Tuesday December 01 2015, @03:27AM (#270007)

      You didn't mention what year your old Malibu was, but maybe you should have hung on to it for a while.
      http://classiccars.com/listings/find/1972/chevrolet/malibu [classiccars.com]

      Don't feel too bad though, I gave away a '57 TR 3, a 1958 VW bus, and a '56 Ford Convertible. Plus sold for a song a 1963 1/2 Falcon Sprint w/260 cc V8 and 4 speed trans, a '69 Saab 96 with 3 cyl 2 stroke engine, a '66 Oldsmobile 88 cream puff, and 1973 Datsun 240Z. All before 1977.

      --
      When life isn't going right, go left.
      • (Score: 2) by Pslytely Psycho on Tuesday December 01 2015, @03:58AM

        by Pslytely Psycho (1218) on Tuesday December 01 2015, @03:58AM (#270018)

        Dammit. You just had to remind me of the stupid cars sales I made as a kid. Highlights to my list of shame include a 1966 Lincoln 4 door convertible with the oh so fucking dangerous suicide doors. It was in beautiful condition save for some minor upholstery work it needed. I hated it, it was an old mans car. I bought it cheap, sold it cheap (they were worth little in the late 70's) and bought a 1969 GTO that I THOUGHT I did well on when I sold it for 3 times what I paid for it at $3400. Both cars can fetch over $30k now.

        And I thought at the time I was pretty savvy at up selling the cars I purchased. I wasn't.

        --
        Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
        • (Score: 1) by anubi on Tuesday December 01 2015, @07:43AM

          by anubi (2828) on Tuesday December 01 2015, @07:43AM (#270080) Journal

          Just bought an old diesel van off of Craigslist. $3500. I wasn't looking for mileage so much as I was looking for simplicity. This old 1994 beast has one of the last completely mechanical diesel engines made. International Harvester 7.3L IDI (Non-turbo) . I am told it gets about 20MPG. About the same as I was getting from my old mechanically carbureted Toyota.

          If I lost that deal, the alternative was an older Dodge Ram van with the mechanical Cummins diesel. At my age, I do not drive that much anymore, and would much rather have the reliability of having something extremely simple. Something I can mess with and make it into whatever I want.

          I have no desire whatsoever for the newer ones. They look like a royal pain in the ass to maintain.

          Built on a Ford E-350 chassis, this beast apparently will haul damned near anything I hook up to it... it just won't haul it very fast.

          Being I am getting on in years myself, I figure this old beast and I have a lot in common. This one has already had its "pretty days", so I can customize it to what I really want without remorse for ruining a perfectly good finish. One thing for sure, I am going to completely re-do the wiring. The engine circuit is so simple on this beast. One wire. I put 12 volts on it to enable the fuel solenoid. Once started, the only way to stop that mechanical beast is to remove the 12 volts so the fuel stops.

          To start it, I do need to power up some glow plugs for a few seconds, and engage a starter motor similar to a gasoline engine.

          Gonna get rid of that pesky little "blend door" on the air conditioning system and put a mechanical ball valve on the hot engine coolant feed to the heater core. Also I intend to put another plain mechanical valve in the fuel line just in case the 12 volt solenoid ever decides to hang, and I have to assert "God mode" to shut the fuel off.

          Another thing I would like is four pyrometers on the engine... those "overheat" sensors on the radiator are well known for lying when there is a serious problem involving loss of coolant. I want to know engine temperature. In quadruplicate. Why? I have already experienced the pleasure of a stuck thermostat, which near ruined my Toyota engine - while the only gauge that told me I had a problem was my oil temp gauge. That damned coolant temp gauge lied to me. Big time. The engine had already blown its coolant, so it did not work.

          Even though I am an electrical engineer, working a lot with embedded systems, I love the pure simplicity of this old beast.

          --
          "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
          • (Score: 2, Informative) by Knowledge Troll on Tuesday December 01 2015, @10:06AM

            by Knowledge Troll (5948) on Tuesday December 01 2015, @10:06AM (#270107) Homepage Journal

            Once started, the only way to stop that mechanical beast is to remove the 12 volts so the fuel stops.

            I find that part of diesel engines to be fascinating. Run away diesels [youtube.com] get pretty bad if they can't be controlled. Cutting the fuel won't always stop them though - some times engine oil can leak into the air intake and fuel the engine independent of the injectors. Some engines have a valve on the air intake itself to deal with that condition but I imagine leaks could bypass that too.

            • (Score: 3, Informative) by VLM on Tuesday December 01 2015, @12:39PM

              by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday December 01 2015, @12:39PM (#270145)

              There was a lot of speculation about the deepwater horizon BP disaster that normally there's an elaborate system that vents natgas from the hole very far away from the generators, but it must have broken, the well started kicking which is normally no big deal, and when they'd normally be killing the kick the natgas somehow got into the diesel intakes and made at least one generator run away and explode which blew up the natgas around the workers which probably killed them making it rather difficult to kill the well and next thing you know there's an inferno and environmental disaster. Its not entirely idle speculation, its based on what survivors heard. Of course the well may have been kicking out of control and it was already all over, disaster baked into the cake, before the generators exploded. But the generators exploding and setting the well on fire probably did nothing good WRT stopping the well from kicking.

              At any rate natgas leaks are also bad around diesels. My local gas company has the usual zillion trucks, all running on propane regular IC engine conversion not diesel.

              Another fun one is gasket and seal leaks in turbochargers. If the turbo bearings die the engine will often enough blow itself up.

              • (Score: 1) by Knowledge Troll on Tuesday December 01 2015, @04:36PM

                by Knowledge Troll (5948) on Tuesday December 01 2015, @04:36PM (#270233) Homepage Journal

                There was a lot of speculation about the deepwater horizon BP disaster ... the natgas somehow got into the diesel intakes and made at least one generator run away and explode

                Wow I had no idea, thanks for sharing.

              • (Score: 1) by anubi on Wednesday December 02 2015, @03:07AM

                by anubi (2828) on Wednesday December 02 2015, @03:07AM (#270465) Journal

                Thanks for the post! I had not considered a leaky oil seal on a turbocharger as the fuel source for a runaway diesel. Now that you point it out, its obvious.

                Here I was, rejecting anything with a turbocharger, only because I heard they would shred themselves into a pulp when they went, and feed the broken turbine blades through the intake manifold to the engine, taking it out as well. I figured as far as I was concerned, the performance gain wasn't worth the reliability hit.

                In addition, I was under the belief that the increased pressures of turbo-ing an engine would incite cavitation on those old 7.3L engines as well as overload the rest of the drive train, leading me to expensive engine and transmission failure.

                I get the word these old engines, originally designed by International Harvester for farm equipment, often go over a million miles if not abused.

                I had heard of the runaway diesel thing, and figured I would run a diesel as long as I could still have some sort of manual override on it should it do this. Either I replace its existing fuel pump with an electrically-powered gear pump, or put some sort of valve under the dash so I could do the God thing if I had to.

                Being the whole thing is mechanical - once started, there is really very little I can do to control it should the injection pump get stuck and refuse to shut the fuel off. No spark plugs. This beast does not need any electricity to run, so I can't kill it by denying it voltage somewhere. All I can do is either deny it fuel or air.

                Ok. I have no turbo. So its failed seals cannot inject oil into the intake manifold. I wonder how else the engine can suck up its own oil supply into its fuel intake if I kill off the diesel? PCV valve? Head gasket failure?

                I bought this beast after very careful consideration of what is the best available vehicle out there for me, given my weightings on cost, performance, reliability, and "chick magnet" factors. ( Obviously, my "chick magnet" parameter carries a weight of zero, performance carries a weight of if it will move, its good enough, while low cost of ownership and high reliability/durability/maintainability carries the lions share of what I am looking for. ). I was also looking for a very safe vehicle to drive or to have my loved ones in. This one is heavy enough that just about everything except FreightLiners and Mack trucks will just bounce off of it.

                --
                "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
                • (Score: 3, Informative) by VLM on Wednesday December 02 2015, @12:53PM

                  by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday December 02 2015, @12:53PM (#270605)

                  All I can do is either deny it fuel or air.

                  Could stall it, something from that era is probably manual transmission.

                  I suspect runaways are kind of like terror attacks in that the odds of it happening to you individually are ridiculous low, less than getting hit by lightning, but the odds of seeing spectacular coverage online when it does happen are extremely high.

                  Its interesting culturally to think that all visually observable failures will be documented and viewed world wide. Just a decade ago most fail was never seen in public, so there was a trash can fire at work, so what, but going forward if its a visible failure its going up on youtube and/or FB for the world to see for all eternity. That'll likely have weird cultural effects, long term.

                  • (Score: 1) by anubi on Thursday December 03 2015, @08:47AM

                    by anubi (2828) on Thursday December 03 2015, @08:47AM (#271253) Journal

                    Thanks for the reassurance.

                    I know this is a 20 year old machine and will need some TLC, but I have fallen sufficiently in love with it that I am going to take this one on as a "project car", which means I will probably devote the rest of my life into it.

                    Mechanically, its built to last. There is a lot of my microcontroller technology I would love to build into it. I love this old beast because her mechanicals are so elegantly simple, yet very robust ( Ford E350 frame). I believe if I only take care of her well, she will always take me where I want to go.

                    --
                    "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
            • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday December 01 2015, @02:59PM

              by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday December 01 2015, @02:59PM (#270183) Journal

              I had that exact thing happen to me in Denver. The seals went out in the turbo, oil got sucked through the turbo into the cylinders, and it wildcatted up around 15,000 RPM. Blowing a huge column of black smoke up into the sky, there was no way to stop it, until it had sucked all ten gallons of oil out of the oil pan.

              EVERYONE assumed that big old Caterpillar was dead, but I had it towed to the Peterbilt dealership, put a new turbo in, and I headed out to put another half million miles on it.

              Caterpillars aren't everyone's favorite engines, but I love 'em!

              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 02 2015, @03:46PM

                by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 02 2015, @03:46PM (#270740)

                One of my teachers during gradeschool was a granddaughter of the caterpillar guy. She mentioned it only once in passing during class, before retiring the following year (turned out she had terminal cancer during that last year of school.) Was pretty wild to run into the whole 6 degrees of seperation in action.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2015, @03:39AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2015, @03:39AM (#270010)

      Recent Corvettes (with V8) get about 30 m/gal when cruising carefully in the very-overdrive top gear...and still make that great V8 sound when you get into them. Some of the recent pickups also do much better than they used to, cylinder de-activation is common--like the original Cadillac V-8-6-4, but now it actually works correctly.

      • (Score: 2) by Pslytely Psycho on Tuesday December 01 2015, @04:19AM

        by Pslytely Psycho (1218) on Tuesday December 01 2015, @04:19AM (#270026)

        My 95 'Vette gets 14.5 city and 25 highway. And it's (unfortunately) an automatic. Vettes were never all that bad on gas mileage, (certain models and years were, but in general they were more reasonable than you would expect) it was just never a selling point.

        --
        Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2015, @03:02PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2015, @03:02PM (#270184)

          Not sure on 95 Auto trans, might be computer controlled... but if you have a shift improver kit installed in the valve body you'll get quicker shifts and longer trans life, and if you keep your foot off the floorboard might stretch some more milers per gallon out of it.

    • (Score: 3, Touché) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday December 01 2015, @03:43AM

      by JoeMerchant (3937) on Tuesday December 01 2015, @03:43AM (#270011)

      Our 5000lb V8 monster sedan gets 22-23mpg... and is very confidence inspiring while doing it. We traded a 4 cylinder CVT quasi SUV that only got 26mpg for it, and are sooo much happier with our "old guzzler."

      --
      🌻🌻 [google.com]
    • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2015, @05:08AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2015, @05:08AM (#270041)

      How was the divorce SJW faggot?

      Those opposed to men marrying young girls, should die.

    • (Score: 2) by mendax on Tuesday December 01 2015, @06:27AM

      by mendax (2840) on Tuesday December 01 2015, @06:27AM (#270051)

      2 cylinder motorcycle? Foo! I have a 4 cylinder motorcycle. It gets terrible mileage (for a motorcycle) at 80 mph (only about 35 mpg) but when I kept it at 60 mph I was able to go the 170 miles from Tonopah, NV to Ely, NV on 3 1/2 gallons. It's not quite as much fun to ride at that speed but given that there is no place to refuel between those two towns on US 6, one must make sacrifices.

      Incidentally, my little pickup truck has a 2.3L four-banger in it. It's a gutless wonder most of the time but it has some power if you're willing to downshift and floor it. It'll develop 140 HP at red line which is not too bad for a light truck with a small engine. Oh, and it gets about 30 mpg if I keep the speed down. And it has 270k miles on it too and still runs great *knock on wood*.

      --
      It's really quite a simple choice: Life, Death, or Los Angeles.
      • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday December 01 2015, @03:17PM

        by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday December 01 2015, @03:17PM (#270195) Journal

        My boy has a 650 Yamaha that runs like a scalded cat, AND gets good mileage. I took this baby out through Oklahoma one day, giving it hell all day long. When I came down off the Indian Stairway, I filled it up, did the math, and found that I got 57 mpg. My son says he generally gets about 62 to 65.

        http://s217.photobucket.com/user/Runaway1956/media/0513111445_zpsvkqhbycu.jpg.html [photobucket.com]

        • (Score: 2) by mendax on Tuesday December 01 2015, @09:23PM

          by mendax (2840) on Tuesday December 01 2015, @09:23PM (#270357)

          There's a big difference between a four-cylinder 650 and 1200, which is the displacement of my bike. It has essentially a crotch rocket engine on a non-crotch rocket frame. Plus it has to haul my bulk around. I feel fortunate when it gets 50 mpg.

          Incidentally, I've ridden my current bike across Oklahoma but I did not give it hell. I don't trust the cops in the middle of nowhere (Oklahoma has a lot of nowhere) and it's too close to Texas for comfort.

          --
          It's really quite a simple choice: Life, Death, or Los Angeles.
    • (Score: 2) by Hairyfeet on Tuesday December 01 2015, @06:50AM

      by Hairyfeet (75) <{bassbeast1968} {at} {gmail.com}> on Tuesday December 01 2015, @06:50AM (#270059) Journal

      I feel the same about my Ranger, that Vulcan V6 gives me plenty of power without blowing through the gas like my GMC Silverado did. Even if it wasn't the last truck my late father and I found together I would still keep it the rest of my life simply because of how well that Ford V6 purrs, just the right mix of power and gas mileage. Of course the fact that its in great shape and parts are so plentiful doesn't hurt things none, but I'm glad I'm done with V8s, let the wife feed the gas tank with her big ass GMC Yukon*, I'm happy with the V6.

      *.- Bitch is I can't even complain about how much gas that big old beast sucks as my wife and my father became close in the last year of his life and it was his wedding present to her and she has done said because of this she'll be keeping it just as I'm keeping my Ranger. Can't say as I blame her as the thing fits her as well as the Ranger fits me and with her large family having something that can haul a lot of people and stuff is really useful.

      --
      ACs are never seen so don't bother. Always ready to show SJWs for the racists they are.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2015, @06:55AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2015, @06:55AM (#270062)

      I would've known back then, that you do NOT junk a car with a V8, EVER. I just live in the wrong country. I do have a project car though, with a 455 V8. And guess what. I live in a country where gas prices are double that of USA, but when i get my cruiser done, i'll spend every last penny on gas if i have to.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2015, @03:09PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2015, @03:09PM (#270190)

        I sent a running, driveable, no rust, no wreck 72 mustang coupe 302 to the junkyard because no one offered anything when I put it up for sale. The junkyard gave me $100 for it back in 1990, I had to get rid of it because we moved. I regret it now.

    • (Score: 2) by mcgrew on Tuesday December 01 2015, @01:29PM

      by mcgrew (701) <publish@mcgrewbooks.com> on Tuesday December 01 2015, @01:29PM (#270160) Homepage Journal

      The biggest key was fuel injection. I had a '74 LeMans with a 350 CI V8 with a big four barrel carb. My last car was an '02 Concorde with a fuel injected six cylinder. It was nearly as powerful as the Pontiac.

      They won't go away completely for years, though, as there are a few folks who need the torque and power. V8s will go away when vehicles are all electric.

      --
      mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by PiMuNu on Tuesday December 01 2015, @03:36AM

    by PiMuNu (3823) on Tuesday December 01 2015, @03:36AM (#270009)

    ... to me this article says more about American driving culture than it does about actual cars. but then i am not really a cars person...

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by TheRaven on Tuesday December 01 2015, @10:43AM

      by TheRaven (270) on Tuesday December 01 2015, @10:43AM (#270118) Journal
      Perhaps you can translate the summary? I figured out half way along that it wasn't about the V8 JavaScript engine (i.e. the V8 that I'd expect to be the default on the geek site) and was about the V8 arrangement of pistons, but then it just became completely rambling. Was there an actual point anywhere?
      --
      sudo mod me up
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2015, @01:58PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2015, @01:58PM (#270165)

      Or maybe the thieves just wanted to blend in more with the common cars of the area. Remember the movie "Drive" where at the beginning the getaway car was a Silver Chevy Malibu and the dialog stated that was because it was the 3rd most popular car in the LA area and would therefore have an easier time confusing the cops?

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by hemocyanin on Tuesday December 01 2015, @03:43AM

    by hemocyanin (186) on Tuesday December 01 2015, @03:43AM (#270012) Journal

    1) The most common car for the geographical region.
    2) Silver (harder to remember the color apparently).

    The reality is that with helicopters, planes, drones or whatever, going 120mph is just going to get a person nowhere fast.

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by el_oscuro on Tuesday December 01 2015, @03:59AM

      by el_oscuro (1711) on Tuesday December 01 2015, @03:59AM (#270019)

      When I was a kid, my dads car was stolen and used as a getaway car:

      1963 Chevy II with the slant 6.

      I wish I still had it. Add a rat motor and Cragars, along with decent suspension, brakes and tires and it would be a pretty sweet ride today.

      --
      SoylentNews is Bacon! [nueskes.com]
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2015, @07:00AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2015, @07:00AM (#270064)

        It was a pretty sweet ride back then too. Today, depends on what kind of Cragars or any other brand wheels you want to put on it. I hope not those awful Amish wheels americans use in every god damn muscle car project now days. Ugly ass low profile cart wheels, do not ruin a car with those.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2015, @03:09PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2015, @03:09PM (#270188)
        Unless for some reason it was a transplant, it was a straight six. The slant six was specific to Chrysler cars.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2015, @03:17PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2015, @03:17PM (#270196)

        You mean straight 6, the slant 6 was the dodge engine. You might have had the performance straight 6 which had an overhead cam, those were highly collectible.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2015, @06:27PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2015, @06:27PM (#270290)

          I was wrong, the overhead cam L6 was in the Pontiac in 1968+, the strongest was 250CI @250HP. Ford had a 300CI L6 that you could get an offy manifold and put a 4bbl carb on it, I had one for a while. It would beat the V8s off the line but peter out at higher speeds.

      • (Score: 1) by ncc74656 on Thursday December 03 2015, @10:49PM

        by ncc74656 (4917) on Thursday December 03 2015, @10:49PM (#271597) Homepage

        1963 Chevy II with the slant 6.

        A Mopar [wikipedia.org] in a Chevy? That'd be a bit...odd. Perhaps you meant it had one of these [wikipedia.org]?

    • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday December 01 2015, @04:13AM

      by JoeMerchant (3937) on Tuesday December 01 2015, @04:13AM (#270024)

      The best getaway car is a string of three (or more) dissimilar vehicles, strategically placed for clandestine transfer of the fugitives - preferably ending in a private plane with pre-filed flight plans to a non-extradition country.

      Go big, or stay home.

      --
      🌻🌻 [google.com]
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 02 2015, @12:23AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 02 2015, @12:23AM (#270418)

        When you go that big, satellite imaging can come into play, can't it?

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2015, @08:11AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2015, @08:11AM (#270085)

      I figure a plain white chevrolet cargo van would be good for this. They are so common.

      What you do not want is anything that has easily identifiable markings on it.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 02 2015, @12:21AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 02 2015, @12:21AM (#270417)

      An all-points bulletin can go pretty fast, too.

  • (Score: 2) by Pslytely Psycho on Tuesday December 01 2015, @04:09AM

    by Pslytely Psycho (1218) on Tuesday December 01 2015, @04:09AM (#270023)

    How about a motorhome?
    http://www.eastcountymagazine.org/man-robs-bank-uses-motorhome-getaway-vehicle [eastcountymagazine.org]

    Or perhaps a large pickup hauling a camper trailer?
    http://www.gazettextra.com/weblogs/latest-news/2013/may/02/police-gas-station-robbers-get-away-truck-hauling-/ [gazettextra.com]

    Maybe Uber is more to your liking...
    http://www.ajc.com/news/news/national/police-armed-robbery-suspect-uses-uber-getaway-car/nnzYL/ [ajc.com]

    Hell, I bet someone has used a mobility scooter somewhere to escape.....why, yes, yes they have....
    http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-01-12/gopher-used-as-getaway-vehicle/4462162 [abc.net.au]

    --
    Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
    • (Score: 3, Funny) by snufu on Tuesday December 01 2015, @07:33AM

      by snufu (5855) on Tuesday December 01 2015, @07:33AM (#270077)

      The suspect was seen fleeing the scene in a Segway. A medium speed chase ensued with police pursuing the suspect on bicycles.

    • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2015, @08:14AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2015, @08:14AM (#270087)

      Actually, the taxicab seems like a great getaway vehicle. Some really well known taxicab company. Lots of decoys out there.

    • (Score: 2) by Gravis on Tuesday December 01 2015, @04:32PM

      by Gravis (4596) on Tuesday December 01 2015, @04:32PM (#270229)

      Hell, I bet someone has used a mobility scooter somewhere to escape.....why, yes, yes they have....

      "did not get far before he was caught" - should have had Colin fix up his scooter [youtube.com] first.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 02 2015, @12:27AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 02 2015, @12:27AM (#270419)

      I heard about a shoplifter attempting to escape from a grocery store by riding a shopping cart. It worked until the crook reached the bottom of the nearby valley.

  • (Score: 2) by ilPapa on Tuesday December 01 2015, @04:18AM

    by ilPapa (2366) on Tuesday December 01 2015, @04:18AM (#270025) Journal

    This story makes me nostalgic for the '72 Plymouth Satellite I had when I was in college. Hemi, posi-trac and sucked gas like a fiend. Man, I miss that car. I sold it when I went to grad school and the next thing I know, I'm driving a goddamn Honda.

    --
    You are still welcome on my lawn.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2015, @07:03AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2015, @07:03AM (#270066)

      Yeah, wish i had that option when i was younger. Where i come from they have pretty much all been hondas and stupid ass pieces of crap. And you all blew it.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2015, @05:22AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2015, @05:22AM (#270043)

    I think the wierdest I read about was a purse snatching where the get away vehicle was a black recumbent 3 wheeled bicycle.

    I estimated at the time that there were probably about 5 such bicycles in the city when it happened. Don't know if the thief was ever caught.

    I was not able to find the article. It may not have been published on the website. I think my local paper has a habit of pulling stories after two weeks as well.

  • (Score: 2) by mendax on Tuesday December 01 2015, @06:08AM

    by mendax (2840) on Tuesday December 01 2015, @06:08AM (#270048)

    Well, there is that former American airlines Boeing 727 that disappeared [airspacemag.com] in Angola in 2003 and has never been seen since. Perhaps a thief needed a fast get away car and the airliner was available. Not exactly the most difficult thing to steal as you don't exactly need a key to start it up as I recall although they do have pins to lock the landing gears in place when on the ground.

    --
    It's really quite a simple choice: Life, Death, or Los Angeles.
  • (Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2015, @07:22AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2015, @07:22AM (#270071)

    And here I was, spending a whole minute trying to figure out what this article had to do with Chrome and Google.

    Desperately in search of sleep. Anyone?

    • (Score: 2) by arslan on Tuesday December 01 2015, @11:51PM

      by arslan (3462) on Tuesday December 01 2015, @11:51PM (#270406)

      That's what I thought too when I first read the title. Google's V8 engine sprang to mind first before I read the summary about cars.

  • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Tuesday December 01 2015, @08:43AM

    by aristarchus (2645) on Tuesday December 01 2015, @08:43AM (#270092) Journal

    Nothing special about the V8, except the connection to criminals and a tomato-based vegetable drink. GM had V12's and Straight 8's early on. Mercedes used to run the 5 cylinder diesel. And of course there have been the "pancake" designs, whether VW's horizontially opposed 4-cylinder, or even the BMW motorcycle twin. Mentioning motorcycles, Harleys, Motoguzzis and even Hondas have run twin-V engines. So while we are talking Internal Combustion Engine Architecture, what are the advantages of a V, anyway. The Four-in-a-row seems to have taken over? But don't you be thinking about my Hot Rod Lincoln!

    • (Score: 2) by MostCynical on Tuesday December 01 2015, @08:54AM

      by MostCynical (2589) on Tuesday December 01 2015, @08:54AM (#270093) Journal

      Size vs output, mainly.
      Lower engine inside bonnet now means pedestrians get hurt less when you hit them (the first time)

      https://www.carthrottle.com/post/engineering-explained-the-pros-and-cons-of-different-engine-types/ [carthrottle.com]

      One of the most amazing engines ever was the Napier Deltic:
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napier_Deltic [wikipedia.org]
      Alas, wouldn't fit under the hood of any road cars.

      --
      "I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 02 2015, @03:31AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 02 2015, @03:31AM (#270476)

      The only reason is to squeeze more cylinders in a compact space, otherwise they'd have radial engines like the old airplanes. There's also Ford V4 engines in British cars, they look exactly like a small block Ford V8 with the rear 4 cylinders cut off. Then there's Mazda rotory engines, discontinued because of apex seal problems.

      • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Wednesday December 02 2015, @06:38PM

        by aristarchus (2645) on Wednesday December 02 2015, @06:38PM (#270831) Journal

        Yeah, I was thinking about the radial airplane piston engines. But with the V-12s and Straight8's, I oft would wonder if the larger number of smaller displacement cylinders produced more power more gently. If you have even seen an old "make and break" farm engine, the huge one cylinder type with a massive flywheel counter-weight, running at speed, you can see that vibration can be a major problem.

        And the Mazda rotary! The Wankel engine? Seems that internal combustion is kind of like batteries, not much progress, and certain nothing revolutionary that caught on in a hundred years or so.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 02 2015, @02:21PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 02 2015, @02:21PM (#270656)

      Look at the Honda motorcycles of the 70s.

      Single, parallel twin, v twin, transverse v twin, straight 4, straight 6, boxer 4.

      Later boxer 6, v 4. They raced a v5 in the 2000.

      Lots of different V angles to trade space vs balance in motorcycles. There were square 4s, front to back 4s, straight triples, 4s & 3s on the side.

      Someone did a home W. And v8s from autos.

      Counter rotating crankshafts an even multiple crankshafts have been done.

      Firing orders from screamer to big bang also have an affect.

  • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2015, @01:45PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2015, @01:45PM (#270162)

    A mechanic once told me he didn't like Ford V8s because it had an odd firing order, he preferred Checy V8s. I had to explain to that idiot that the Ford & Chevy V8s had the same exact logical firing order, they are just numbered different.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2015, @03:13PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2015, @03:13PM (#270192)
    A linked story to a single (and relatively minor) crime using a Prius as a getaway car merits "Swan Song for the V8 Engine?" That's not even a bit of a stretch, it's plain old grasping at straws.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 02 2015, @12:31AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 02 2015, @12:31AM (#270420)

      True, but with 52 comments the straws would appear to be firmly in hand.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2015, @03:14PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2015, @03:14PM (#270194)

    That's the story they would always tell me when getting pulled over for speeding. Then they told me the secret. "The fastest thing on four wheels is our Motorola".