RobiNZ Personal Blog

Chrysler, meet Mr Marchionne

This AP article has a really good summary of Sergio Marchionne's rise to the top and how he turned around Fiat Auto. Recommended reading, I didn't realise he pushed the new Bravo, especially for Chrysler management... Fiat CEO willing to take the wheel at Chrysler While Marchionne inherited the Grande Punto and Panda — both small, hot-selling cars — he pushed for the redesign of the iconic 500 and the reintroduction of the Fiat Bravo, a car that proved Fiat could build a midsize sedan people would buy. In an example of flat management at work, Fiat came out with... Read more →

Stupid Auckland Harbour Bridge protest goes ahead

I'm an Aucklander, I'm a cyclist, I'd use a Harbour Bridge cycle path if there was one. I signed up to the Get Across Campaign and got their invitation to this protest. I didn't participate because I thought the action, to block an operating motorway, was stupid and would contribute nothing to presenting a rational argument for cycle & pedestrian access. They may have "got across" today, but they lost me. People power breaks barricades - NZ Herald Auckland Harbour Bridge is open to traffic again after thousands of protesters forced their way through police barricades closing all four northbound... Read more →

Sunday Live dead

If you'd asked me to describe Sunday Live, Radio Live's Sunday morning show, I'd have borrowed the description they used on their own web-page: A stimulating mix of interviews with the week's news makers, feature guests, reviewers and commentators. Great Sunday morning radio! It seems the management, maybe the ratings, didn't agree as today was the last ever Sunday Live. It appears the web team didn't spend much time on it as a rather obvious typo shows (arrowed mxmix below). I enjoyed Finlay, Andrew and friends views on current affairs, interviews and entertainment reviews. The first hour review of the... Read more →

Greg Johnson to play at San Juan Capistrano Arts Series

My fave Kiwi artist: Greg Johnson Band to play San Juan Capistrano Arts Series Sat June 6, details at www.musicatthelibrary.com Read more →

The empty Otago Rail Trail is pretty busy!

I think it's great that the New Zealand Cycleway Project is going ahead with National and the Greens support. What amazed me, although have probably read it elsewhere & forgotten, is that 80,000 rode the Central Otago Rail Trail last year. I thought it was a pretty remote (both pretty and remote) empty place although it was quite late in the season when we did it! Greens Join Cycleway Project Read more →

Trusted Reviews my Canon IXUS 980

This is the camera than replaced my faithful old IXUS 430 after it's fatal fall. I'm still learning the new machine but the quality is great. The only real design flaw I have found is it's one touch replay button sometimes gets bumped, in the bag, on leading to unintended battery drain. My last trip to San Francisco was shot entirely on the new machine, if you want to see what it's capable of: San Francisco 2009 on www.flickr.com/robinzblog Canon IXUS 980 IS Review - Author Cliff Smith For the past nine years, the Canon Digital IXUS series (also known... Read more →

MiToNz - The Alfa Romeo Mito heads to New Zealand

The baby Alfa Romeo MiTo is heading to New Zealand in, Mini fighting, high power Turbo form. It will be interesting to see how those lines, sometimes rather strange in photos, look in the metal. MiTo - It's Mighty Near! Alfa Romeo has confirmed that its all-new MiTo model will arrive in New Zealand in July providing the car market with a unique compact performance car that sets new standards for style, performance and technology... Tags: alfa+romeo, mito Read more →

The Edge Annual Question 2009 — What will change everything?

It's The Edge annual question with answers from 151 brilliant minds from actor Alan Alda to physicist Anton Zeilinger . The World Question Center 2009 WHAT WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING? "What game-cha... Read more →

Redefining Chrysler?

If you did one of those brand word association tests about "Chrysler" would you think of the world luxury? Car dealers take it on the chin - Stuff.co.nz "Pity the luxury car dealer. While for some buyers, money's still no object, the recession continues to drive some dealerships to the wall." "In Hastings, luxury car dealer Main Street European was put into receivership by creditors" "Meanwhile, luxury car company Chrysler filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States." Tags: chrysler Read more →

Fiat 128 - Celebrating Forty Years of Front Wheel Drive Fiats

Autoblog.it have a tribute to the Fiat 128 celebrating it's launch, forty years ago, in May 1969: Fiat 128: quarant'anni di trazione anteriore - English Translation Nel lontano maggio del 1969 debuttò la Fiat 128, la prima vettura a trazione anteriore sviluppata dalla Casa torinese... This outwardly mundane 3 box saloon was not the first front wheel drive car, by a long way, but was the first to combine all the attributes of a modern FWD car. Before you mention the Mini, I refer you to this L J K Setright tribute to the Fiat 128. I found it several... Read more →