2008 Toyota 4wd Limited on 2040-cars

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eBay Find of the Day: Back To The Future Marty McFly 1985 Toyota SR5 pickup tribute

With DeLorean time machine replicas thick on the ground, it was only a matter of time before someone started recreating the other vehicles in the McFly garage. At the end of the first Back to the Future movie, Marty returns to 1985 to find his sweet-looking Toyota SR5 truck all waxed and ready for his date. That truck always did look great in the movie, and now's your chance to own this close facsimile.
This Back to the Future replica Toyota is on eBay with a price of $14,500, which the seller claims is half of what's been invested. Perhaps that's true, but it's still a nearly 30-year-old truck that's covered 280,000 miles. The seller does say the 22RE engine has been recently rebuilt, along with the rest of the drivetrain, and there's new paint, too. The attention to detail is admirable, and if you've always admired Marty's '80s-chic 4x4, now's your chance to own it.

The tumultuous history of the diesel engine

Volkswagen, diesel's most enthusiastic patron, deceived everyone about the amount of emissions its cars were putting out. We have covered this latest massive automotive scandal in great detail, and there are surely more fascinating revelations to come. It turns out that this is just the latest episode in the epic story of the controversy and intrigue surrounding the diesel engine, and its inventor. This is the story of the tumultuous birth and interesting evolution of the compression-ignition engine at the center of the VW scandal. Napoleon III Got Rudolf Diesel Deported Rudolf Diesel was born in Paris in 1858. His Bavarian parents had settled in France where his father, Theodor, was a leather goods manufacturer. When the French Parliament declared war on Prussia, kicking off the Franco-Prussian war, the Diesels fled to London. When he was 12, Rudolf went to live with his aunt and uncle in the Bavarian university town of Augsburg. It was his parents' hometown, and importantly, it's where Rudolf began studying at the Royal County Trade School. His time in Augsburg, graduating at the top of his class from trade school that laid the groundwork for all that was to come. Diesel Nearly Blew Himself Up An early career in refrigeration saw Diesel running R&D in Berlin for Linde, a company started by refrigeration pioneer Carl Von Linde, one of Diesel's professors. His ambition to branch out beyond refrigeration, and his deep understanding of thermodynamics, led to efficiency experiments with steam engines. Diesel was trying to create an engine that didn't waste heat from the combustion process, therefore getting the most work out of the fuel. Instead, he was nearly killed when an experimental ammonia vapor steam engine exploded. Recovery took many months, and during some of that time, he was no doubt planning his next experimental engine, based on the theoretical Carnot cycle. His Engine Was An Attempt To Stick It To The Man Steam engines were expensive to run and wasteful. Diesel thought the efficiency of his design would be a way for the small business to compete with the dominant industrial giants. It was, and it did, but big business is equally passionate about chasing efficiency. Diesel engines quickly proliferated in industries both grand and cottage. Rudolf Didn't Really Invent The Diesel As We Know It Instead, he improved an existing one to a significant degree. The Diesel engine could be considered an evolution of the "hot-bulb" engine.

Toyota recalling 1.67 million vehicles worldwide in 3 campaigns

Toyota is issuing three separate recalls covering 1.67 million vehicles worldwide with most of those models in Japan. It looks like the campaigns' impact on the US may be smaller, though. According to Reuters, Toyota isn't aware of any accidents, injuries or fatalities affecting the models. Some yet-unnamed Lexus models might also be affected.
The largest of the campaigns does not currently affect any US-market vehicles. About 802,000 units of the Toyota Crown Majesta, Crown, Noah and Voxy in Japan are being repaired to replace a seal that could leak in the brake master cylinder. Those already leaking get a new brake booster, as well, according to Reuters.
The only recall currently believed to affect the US is due to a problem covering approximately 759,000 vehicles with 423,000 of them here. The repair is to fix a faulty fuel delivery pipe that could cause a fire if the fuel leaks out. Unfortunately, we don't know which models it covers. Autoblog spoke to Toyota spokesperson Mona Richard and was told the information was still "under embargo." When exactly that embargo will lift isn't yet known, but we're on the case.