What do lifebloods have to do with your car? Everything! Your vehicle's fluids or lifebloods are a major contributor to its health or its demise. Recently, Charlie Polston joined Bobby on-air as they chatted with callers making real-life decisions involving their cars...and their wallets. As a writer for Motor Age Magazine, a facilitator of hundreds of automotive consumer & industry workshops and a senior instructor at BG University, Charlie brought a wealth of insight of the science and practicality of fluid monitoring & follow-up. Click here.
 

This splash is a Tidal Wave! Car Clinic has acquired Jeff Brooks’ (“On the Road with Jeff Brooks”) network of radio stations. With this acquisition, Bobby Likis Car Clinic’s reach has expanded to approximately 110 affiliates, including terrestrial broadcast, web, and Sirius Satellite Radio.  Click here for the national press release.

To our new affiliates...Welcome!  We are delighted to be part of your station's line-up and, as you will quickly see, Bobby will share with your listeners solutions for their vehicular challenges...provide direction for products and services that have been Bobby-tested and approved...feature industry co-hosts with exciting scoop...and info-tain your listeners with everything connected with the Automotive Lifestyle!
 

Summer's here, and pollen & "gifts" from birds are no friends to your automotive baby! Learn how to protect against the Enemies of Shine as Dan Fischer from Kimberly-Clark's Block-It Protective Fabrics Business and Marty Lichtmann from Covercraft share the mic with Bobby. This trio "delivered the goods" on the best car cover for your vehicle, and lots of Car Clinic listeners won car covers for their automotive babies.  Catch Dan and Marty deliver the goods.
 

A Man Before His Time...and Now A Man Who's Time has Come.  That's Steve Schneider, CEO of Zap (which is acronym-ese for Zero Air Polution). And if you're thinking, "Another tradeoff between environmental wisdom and automotive whiz-dom," click here to hear Steve describe the Obvio, a flex-fuel vehicle that runs on mixtures of 0%-100% ethanol, comes loaded with a car-puter, Windows XP, Bluetooth...and hits the road with 175 horsepower and top speed of 120 mph.  Not enough? The 200 hp version zooms from a standstill to 60 mph in less than 5 heartbeats (4.6 seconds).

You'll also get a charge when you hear Steve's answer to the Conspiracy Theory of Who Killed the Electric Car and how Zap's Xebra is changing all that.
 

You don't have to go to the Post Office to hear about the 10 Most Wanted...Car Killers, that is.  BG co-host Mike Belluomo and Bobby disclosed to Car Clinic listeners how to prevent the criminal and costly "spilling of vehicular lifebloods" by proactively monitoring their levels and conditions, then applying the optimum combination of chemistry, equipment and expertise to extend the life & performance of your 2nd largest investment:  your automobile.

Mike is BG's Technical Service Director, so he knows the science of identifying and preventing automotive abuse, CSI-style. Click here to get all the details.
 

The gloomy winter is over on the beautiful Gulf Coast, and Summer is heating up!  Talk about Hot Spots.

But the weather isn’t all that’s changed, and the beach isn’t the only Hot Spot!  At Car Clinic Service, we are proud to welcome you to our brand new Customer Center. 

What used to be the “waiting room” is transformed into a real Hot Spot where our customers can relax in style, enjoy coffee, watch the flat-panel TV, surf the high-speed Internet or do work on a customer-dedicated computer in their own Car Clinic “Red Room” office...and WiFi from what seems to be a favorite spot, the “bar” table & stools.  All free and a “thank you” for choosing Car Clinic to service, Pre-Repair™, and repair our customers' 2^nd largest investments...their vehicles.

If you're ever near the "Center of the Automotive Universe in Florida, please consider yourself our guest and drop in for a visit. Meanwhile, click here for the photos.
  

Abracadabra!  How do you change 400 water bottles into a hood of a car?  Amanda Roble of GE Plastics knows the answer and she's telling all. Click here to hear how former ugly land-fillers are transformed into the futuristic hoods of cars like the Chevrolet Volt, using GE's iQ technology. Amanda will fill us in, too, on Hyundai's new QuarmaQ which incorporates over 30 plastic applications to enable design, reduce weight, and drive environmental benefits. So, what's next?  Windows out of plastic? Why, yes.  And it's no magic trick...just (in "borrowed" words) ecomagination at work.
 

Now that Summer's here, Americans are hitting the road with boats, 5th wheelers, and trailers, towing all sorts of recreation. But that doesn't mean they always tow safely. On-air guest Mike Sheridan, Master Lock's Automotive Group Product Manager, reveals the results of Master Lock's 2006 Towing Troubles Research Study with some disasters you won't believe. Then Mike unlocks (OK, one little pun :) the secrets to successful towing, cargo management, and vehicle security. Click here before you take the first turn out of your driveway!
 

Gentlemen, start your engines…Bobby kicked
off a very exciting Daytona 500 weekend as he broadcast Car Clinic live from the Daytona International Speedway.  From a stage located
front and center in the Daytona USA building adjacent to the track, Bobby funneled all the fun
of race day into multiple Car Clinic broadcasts.

Click here to relive the excitement of Friday's PalTalk and Saturday's Car Clinic with special guests and racer buzz.

Forget the Italian version in the 15th century. There's an American Renaissance--underway in the here and now--which will change the way we drive...and live. It's all about the development of home-grown resources and the resulting independence from foreign oil. If you click one page on our website, make it this one. You'll hear and see interviews with the movers and shakers in the world of alternative fuels. From oil company executives to venture capitalists, U.S. government secretaries, and even the former director of the CIA, you'll get It straight from the people that are making It happen. Click here.

• Are consumers putting their green money  where their green "environmentally conscious" mouths are, as they make their "next car" buying decisions?
• According to the study's voice-of-the-customer research, how much higher of a price tag were the interviewed consumers willing to shell out at the dealership for a more environmentally friendly vehicle?
• And, what was the expected ROI in terms of  an increase in mpg?

Click here to find out more about the top 30 most environmentally friendly vehicles, what SUVs made the list, and where you can go to learn more about the Automotive Environmental Index.

Liz Wetzel, Karyn Leland, Crystal Windham and Ester Martinez are giving a whole new spin—literally—to the term "Designing Women." These women and their teams of young, passionate automotive architects are in charge of General Motor's "Turnaround by Design" strategy, transforming consumer preferences into pure pzazz on wheels. Bobby recently chatted with Liz, a fourth-generation carmaker and GM’s Global Brand Design Director. Click here to discover how GM is defining "Seductive Performance" and "Pinnacle Prestige," and the splash that "the hot, sexy car” is making in the marketplace.

Just in time for Summer Vacation!  Bobby and guest Tom Rooney teach a real-life lesson in Geography, Biochemistry and Economics.  It's called..."the Alaskan Pipeline." 

Discovered by a BP employee in March 2006, a large oil spill in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska prompted a federally mandated inspection of the Pipeline for corrosion. In August, that investigation revealed serious breaches, which resulted in partial closure.

Geography: Tom's company (Insituform) is among the enterprises charged with repairing the Pipeline. This conduit of "liquid gold," aka oil, runs 800 miles in Alaska from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez.  Oil was discovered in 1968 in Prudhoe Bay, located at the tippy-top of Alaska within the Artic Circle and sporting an approximate population of 47. Though the place marker for North America's northernmost "ice-free" port, Valdez is nonetheless situated on a fjord sandwiched among 5 glaciers on the northeast section of Price William Sound. About 4036 people hang their fur-lined hats in Valdez homes.

Biochemistry: Tom tells us that corrosion of oil-flowing steel pipes happens from the inside out.  Why?  Tiny microbial bacteria eat the oil and produce a hydrogen sulfide by-product which, when combined with water, results in the formation of metal-eating hydrosulfuric acid. Talk about a feeding frenzy creating an economic frenzy.

Economics:  Supply lowers.  Demand increases.  Price rises.  That was easy!

Click here for today's full story. Check back in '07 for Tom's "Adventures from the Tundra" when he joins his crew for the Pipeline restoration.

Calling all Pirates of the Caribbean and other exotic places! Remember telling your first-grade class what you did on summer vacation?  Well, imagine this…going on The Hunt for Buried Treasure in the form of 5,000 pounds of twisted steel: a Volvo XC 90. This on-line contest, developed as part of Volvo’s sponsorship of Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean, attracted over 52,000 wanna-be Pirates in the U.S. alone.

Like a page ripped from the script of Dead Man’s Chest, the race to the booty began on June 12 with Volvo’s announcement that a brand new car had been indeed buried somewhere in the world. The 7 contest finalists (3 from the U.S and 1 each from Austria, England, Japan and Spain) were flown to an undisclosed location (now revealed as Abaco Island in the Bahamas) for the final leg of the hunt. Once there, they competed in a race for the treasure, deciphering clues that lead them closer to the exact location of the buried Volvo. The first to dig it up kept it.

By the way, this is no ordinary Volvo. It’s one-of-a-kind beauty...booty that Jack Sparrow would be proud of...with its $82K price tag, menacing Pirate graphics, black leather seats, and custom-painted 20-inch wheels.

As a special treat for Car Clinic listeners, Bobby interviewed all 3 of the final contestants from the US:  Jenny Buckalew from Newnan, GA; David Hutz from Herndon, VA; and James Hutz from Carefree, AZ.  Click here to hear these Pirates chat.

Update!  For the ultimate "show and tell," click here and listen to winner Dave Hutz (and yes, he's one of "our" U.S. Pirates!) as he gives you the scoop (literally) on unearthing the treasure!

Ain’t technology grand? Just ask Bobby…Dave Graveline did on his national radio show last week. And did he get answers…about hybrids, fuel alternatives, and how & where technology will drive the consumer “Into Tomorrow.” Click here for Bobby’s reveals.
  

We are delighted to announce Car Clinic's new Production Manager, Bill Collins.

Bill has deep expertise in the audio / video world with practical experience in New Orleans, Nashville (Opryland), and Winter Park. His credits include film-style productions for Stevie Wonder, Seven Mary Three and Oliver Stone.  He taught live and live-to-tape production and produced 4-8 30-minute shows per month in various formats from news to sitcoms. Bill has held certification as an Avid Authorized instructor in Louisiana and worked with the Army, training its production team on technical aspects of editing & production concepts.  Having used Sony, JCS and DVCam, Bill will bring expertise for the current studio set...and ideas for adding dimensions to Car Clinic Radio & TV. 

Bill has a degree in Computer/Electronics Technology from Florida Technical College (Salutatorian) as well as a Specialized Associate Degree in Film/Video Production from Full Sail, an industry-recognized media arts college. 

And, Bill has served as a technical writer, crafting the instruction manual and all the help files for the DAART (Digital After Action Review Tool) designed for & sold to Lockheed Martin.

Please welcome Bill to Car Clinic.  We know he will develop into a tremendous asset for us, for our sponsors and for our business partners in the short term and bring innovation and energy to Car Clinic in years to come.
   

In need of a modern-day hero-cum-Renaissance-man?  Check out Bobby’s chat with John Cooper Fitch.  Mr. Fitch is a blue-water sailor, fighter pilot, professional racing driver, team manager, race course director, entrepreneur, safety expert and prolific inventor (source: Carl Goodwin). And this October, at 89 years old, he’ll seek to break a speed record at the Bonneville Salt Flats in a 1955 Mercedes Benz gull wing. Zeroing in on the safety expert & inventor categories, John invented the yellow crash cushions--aptly named “Fitch barriers”--that protect vehicles from bridge abutments and highway dividers and the “Fitch Fuel Catalyst” that prevents gasoline deterioration. Among his honors are the Safety Innovator Award, Top 100 Private Sector Transportation Professionals of the 20^th Century designation and recognition by the National Academy of Science for his Lifelong Contribution in the Field of Roadside Safety. And finally, M. Jodi Rell, Governor of Connecticut named April 21 as “John Cooper Fitch Day.”  Wonder what John will do with the second half of his life?!

Bobby's "in vivo," real-world lab (Car Clinic Service) just splashed its Online GLOve BOx. We call it GLOBO, and it can do everything but shine your shoes! Imagine accessing all your vehicles' records electronically, in a single place, from anywhere, anytime. Available exclusively to Car Clinic Service customers, this innovation in service is complimentary and returns value during vehicle ownership...and at sale time. Though access to individual GLOBOs is password protected, visit www.CarClinicService.com & cruise around.

Joe Averkamp, Director of Product Strategy for Sprint's Automotive Telematics Business, recently shared the mic with Bobby on the national Car Clinic broadcast. Sprint's core business has morphed from POTS (Plain Ol' Telephone Service) to PANS (Pretty Amazing New Stuff). So, what's the WIIFY (What's In It for You)? Just your future, aka Telematics. Though the term is evolving, telematics is the marriage of computers & wireless communications technologies, and its offspring are products like global positioning satellite (GPS) tracking, remote roadside diagnostics, obtaining "smart" transportation information, accessing the Internet / email in your vehicle, and downloading audio & video files. Bobby & Joe chatted about Sprint's telematic features from Roadside Rescue to Family Locator to Power Vision with callers from some very interesting locations, including a swamp in Louisiana. Now that's some connection!
Click here to enjoy the show.