Friddle:  How fast would Santa’s sleigh have to travel to break the Thrust SSC’s (Super Sonic Car) landspeed record?

Check our blog next Friday for the answer and another Friddle.

Last Week’s Friddle: The Hofmeister Kink is an automotive design element found on what vehicle?

Last Week’s Friddle Answer: BMW - The Hofmeister kink (German: Hofmeister-Knick) is a low forward bend in the C-pillar, which is the piece of metal that separates the rear side windows from the rear glass.

Friddle:  The Hofmeister Kink is an automotive design element found on what vehicle?

Check our blog next Friday for the answer and another Friddle.

Last Week’s Friddle: The world’s first speeding ticket was issued in which U.S. city?

Last Week’s Friddle Answer: The world’s first speeding ticket was issued in Dayton, Ohio in 1904 to Harry Myers for going 12 mph on West Third Street.

You’ve heard about funny math where the person does some fancy mathematics based on a few assumptions and the next thing you know, they have concocted some life-changing proposition for you to consider.  While the numbers I will present in the next couple paragraphs are large, stay with me, this is serious math.

According to the National Automotive Dealers Association’s (NADA) latest research, the average new car dealership conducts more than $4 million of service and maintenance work yearly.  Now, 4 million is a big number, but these dealerships average 18 bays.  They’re big operations.  So, while they are doing $4 million, the average independent repair shop is averaging about $425,00 in service and maintenance in a typical year, roughly 10% of the new car dealer.

Now everyone, and I mean everyone, has heard that Chrysler and General Motors have closed at least 1,500 new car dealerships, and there has been a lot of speculation about the impact this will have on new car, used car and service buying patterns.  Will former customers of these dealerships go to another dealership that flew the same flag as the closed outlet? Will they shift their loyalty to another vehicle brand? And for service work, will they find another dealership or give the independent shop a try?

We all hope the answer to that last question will be to give the independent shop a try, because when you do the math (1,500 dealerships times $4 million), there is $6 billion in service work up for grabs.  While 6 billion is a big flashy number, let’s look at the other big number - 4 million.  If 10 of our averaged-sized shops divided that $4 million, they would all double their sales, or 20 shops would experience a 50% increase in sales, or 100 average shops in the vicinity of that closed dealership could get a 10% increase in sales (most of you would be very happy with a double-digit increase).

With the economy starting to show signs of a recovery, consumers may finally start to get back to their old spending habits and put some money into the maintenance of their vehicle.  You need to take the steps to make sure your shop is the one they choose.  Get the word out with your existing customers, advertise, buy a list of potential customers in your area and start to market your services and capabilities to them.

This could truly be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for your shop to gain the new customers you need to get your shop operating at optimal productivity levels and make some serious money.

Reprinted with permission of Babcox Publishing, Underhood Service December 2009.

Without question, the relationships you build with your customers often affect their confidence in your business, repeat business and overall buying decisions.  Shops that have satisfied customers tend to be more profitable, especially in a weak economy.  By aligning your business goals with great customer service, you will come closer to realizing a perfect business model. We recommend the following link to Motor Age Magazine, which provides tips on better business practices.  Click here.

Earlier this year, on February 21st, the Southern California branch held its First Annual Charity Desert Fun Run for Children’s Hospitals. This event raised over $3000.

Open to all off-road vehicles, 121 official participants made the dash ranging from Motorcycles, Quads, Jeeps, Trucks, and Buggies.  The Poker Run was a 42-mile loop through the Ocotillo Wells Recreational Vehicle Park next to the Salton Sea.  The weather was perfect and the southern California desert was full of wild flowers.  Jasper Engines & Transmissions provided a 32″ flat screen TV, Baja Designs provided a pair of Fuego lights and Off-Road Warehouse provided $200 in gift certificates as winning prizes.

JASPER Outside Sales Representative Rob Keenan coordinated the event and laid out the loop with five checkpoints participants had to reach.  Each checkpoint took participants by fascinating desert scenery and interesting landmarks.  The site known as ‘Gas Domes’ is a volcano-like bubbling pool of gray liquid and mineral rich mud.  Another attraction was the ‘Pumpkin Patch’, a unique landscape of globular sandstone concretions that look like big pumpkins.  ‘Shell Reef’ is a huge reef over one million years old with fossilized shells and little sea creatures.  ‘Devils Slide’ is an ancient 200-foot high granite and sand mountaintop with challenging hill climbs and jumps.  After reaching all the checkpoints, participants were dealt five cards with the option of purchasing additional cards to make their best poker hand. Larry Tales, owner of Jeeps R Us in Laguna Beach, was the flat screen TV winner with a full house.

Special Thanks to this year’s Sponsors and checkpoint hosts; Jasper Engines & Transmissions, Off Road Warehouse, Throttlejunkie.com, Baja Designs, Temecula Motorsports, North San Diego County House of Motorcycles, Performance Motorsports in San Juan Capistrano, Hemet Jeep Club (the oldest Jeep Club in the US), Rock Star Energy Drinks and Sports Clips.  Check out more pictures of the event on throttlejunkie.com under the photo store.

Check our blog next Friday for the answer and another Friddle.

Last Week’s Friddle Answer: The Plymouth logo features a rear view of the Mayflower ship, which landed at Plymouth Rock.

Check our blog next Friday for the answer and another Friddle.

Last Week’s Friddle Answer: Ferruccio Lamborghini

The JASPER 4-Speed Transmission played a key role in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup
Series with ten victories for the year.  With driver changes and team mergers affecting
the NASCAR landscape, six full-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams and two NASCAR
Nationwide Series teams ran the JASPER 4-Speed during the 2009 season on a full time
basis.

The Sprint Cup teams that ran the JASPER 4-Speed are three Toyota teams of Joe Gibbs
Racing (#11 driven by Denny Hamlin, #18 driven by Kyle Busch and #20 driven by Joey
Logano); the two Toyota teams of Michael Waltrip Racing (#00 driven by David
Reutimann and #55 driven by Michael Waltrip); and the #47 car of the JTG/Daugherty
team driven by Marcos Ambrose.

The JASPER 4-Speed Transmission also ran full time in the NASCAR Nationwide Series
entries of Michael Waltrip Racing and Penske Racing.  Michael Waltrip drove the #99 car
for his team while Justin Allgaier piloted the #12 car for Penske.

Penske NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers Kurt Busch in the #2 car, David Stremme in
the #12 car and Sam Hornish, Jr. in the #77 car also ran JASPER differentials
this past season.

The NASCAR Driveline Division at Jasper Engines & Transmissions has developed a single
rail shifter design that will be available in 2010.  The single rail design offers the advantages
of less weight and fewer moving parts.  In addition, all of the shift linkage except for the
main shift rail will be internal, keeping these parts away from any outside debris.

(Click on the following link for JASPER 4-Speed Weekly Performance)
http://www.jasperengines.com/racing.php