Author Archive | Bill Griffith

Weather clears for 17th Ragtop Ramble

Weather clears for 17th Ragtop Ramble

Story & photos by Bill Griffith, NEMPA. December is reserved for Santa Claus at NEMPA’s annual Christmas party, but July is when we and our guests get to enjoy New England’s famous lobster claws. The occasion is always NEMPA’s time-honored summer driving and eating gala known as the Ragtop Ramble & Crustacean Crawl. (more…)

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The Yankee Cup, presented each year by NEMPA, with input from MIT’s automotive engineering faculty, to a “feature or system that significantly enhances the motoring experience, whether by making driving safer, more cost-efficient or simply more enjoyable.” For the first time, the Yankee Cup has been awarded to an entire vehicle—and a truck, at that: the 2015 Ford F-150 pickup.

Ford 2015 F-150 takes home coveted Yankee Cup

The Yankee Cup, presented each year by NEMPA, with input from MIT’s automotive engineering faculty, to a “feature or system that significantly enhances the motoring experience, whether by making driving safer, more cost-efficient or simply more enjoyable.” For the first time, the Yankee Cup has been awarded to an entire vehicle—and a truck, at that: […]

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Distracted driving was on the agenda in the 1940s when Massachusetts state legislators wanted to ban automobile radios because people were singing in their cars. It was a concern in 1959 when Paul Evans’ pop tune reached No. 9 on the Billboard charts. And today distracted driving is becoming a critical issue, thanks to the growing volume of in-car infotainment, available through connected devices, and feedback from new active and passive safety systems.

Engineering Safer Drivers

Distracted driving was on the agenda in the 1940s when Massachusetts state legislators wanted to ban automobile radios because people were singing in their cars. It was a concern in 1959 when Paul Evans’ pop tune reached No. 9 on the Billboard charts. And today distracted driving is becoming a critical issue, thanks to the […]

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