Cars

The only things big about the vehicles scooting around the Benjamin Franklin Parkway yesterday were the hearts of the organizers and the drivers. The Mini Grand Prix was a charity event, with proceeds going to the Arthritis Foundation. Thirty souped-down, miniature Indy-style race cars competed in the seventh annual event.

The people who bring you the Philadelphia Auto Show bill it as 630,000 square feet of horsepower. Others might call it 15-plus acres of new-car smell, and nary a salesman asking "What kind of payment are you looking to get into?" Whichever way it's geared, it's still Christmas in January to The Artist Formerly Known as Mr. Driver's Seat, and to fellow car nuts like me. And this year it comes a week earlier than usual. Opening 9 a.m. Saturday at the Convention Center in its 112th incarnation, the annual celebration of all that steers and has gears is aiming for more, well, bang is not a good word for things automotive, but certainly more for your buck.

LAST MONTH, the state Senate passed the anti-clean car bill (Senate Bill 1025). It blocked the implementation of stronger emissions standards for cars and trucks in the Pennsylvania Clean Vehicles Program. Cars and trucks are responsible for much of the pollutants that cause respiratory problems, affect the acidity of our lakes and streams and contribute to greenhouse gases. Aside from the detrimental effects of emissions pollution such as acid rain and global warming, smog poses serious health threats.

Jim Sollisch is a longtime freelance journalist Yesterday, gas prices topped $2.60 a gallon in my neighborhood. I spent $37 filling up my Honda Civic and was reminded how much I hate cars. In fact, let me count the ways: I hate cars personally, as in "I hate you. You're so needy. You cost me too much. You bruise too easily. I hate you. " I hate them for their hypocritical metaphorical status. Note to every American novelist of the last 80 years: The automobile is not the engine of freedom and self-expression you promised.

Four striking Teamsters were injured - one of them seriously - early yesterday when they were struck by cars entering a driveway at the Silo Inc. warehouse at 6900 Lindbergh Blvd. in Southwest Philadelphia, police said. Union members said the cars were driven by management personnel. Police had made no arrests last night. One of the men, Mark Hanratty, 28, of the 6300 block of Wheeler Street, was admitted to Mercy Catholic Medical Center's Fitzgerald Mercy Hospital, said Sgt. Paul Musi of the West Detective Division.

Just after dawn today, John F. Street's war on blight begins. It will be large, with 100 tow trucks hauling 1,000 abandoned cars a day. It will be noisy, with 25 front-end loaders pulling clunkers out of vacant lots and six giant crushers flattening old Pontiacs into pancakes. It will also be a test of Street's mayoral muscle, the first high-profile, succeed-or-explain-why-it-failed initiative of his administration. For dramatic effect, Street plans to drive a tow truck this morning, leading the charge.

Police and the Fire Marshal's Office are investigating the arson of two automobiles belonging to a Holmesburg man early last Sunday. Lt. Jack Christmas, Fire Department spokesman, said the vehicles, owned by James Waters, 22, of the 3400 block of Ryan Avenue, were discovered ablaze at 3:20 a.m. when firefighters responded to a report of an auto fire. Police said one of the cars, a 1984 Plymouth, was parked in the driveway outside Waters' home, while the other, a 1972 Chevrolet, was parked about 100 feet away in the 7400 block of Crispin Street.

A Bucks County car dealership that allegedly violated state law by giving false warranty information to consumers has paid a total of $3,000 in penalties and costs under a court agreement. The agreement between Dave Slap Imports, 200 W. Street Road, Feasterville, and the state Attorney General's Office was filed last week in Commonwealth Court. There was no admission of wrongdoing in the court agreement. Deputy Attorney General John J. Calabro said the allegations in the agreement involved a number of Volkswagen vehicles sold to consumers after being used as demonstrator models.

It was an insurance agent's nightmare - a trash truck trashing a city street. When it was over just after 5:30 p.m. yesterday, 15 cars had been battered in Bridesburg and an intoxicated sanitation worker was arrested as he was surrounded by irate residents, police said. The worker, Walter Straus, 44, of the 1400 block of North Broad Street, tested more than 2 1/2 times the legal limit for intoxication and was charged with drunken driving, theft and unauthorized use of the vehicle, according to police.

The Monroe Town Council on Wednesday drew up an ordinance that would make it easier for businesses to get rid of abandoned cars. Council member Michael C. Votta said the proposal was aimed at owners who leave their cars or trucks at repair shops and never reclaim them. As a result, the operators of repair shops and junkyards are left with the vehicles and are unable to get rid of them because they don't have title to them. "We're finding the operators and towers are looking for a way out of their problem," he said.