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Journalism’s “silly season” of lazy hazy “dog days” brings less news and leaves more time and space to be filled with quirks, quacks and quiddities:

The new no battery mechanical system being developed in England, the Flyrbrid, successfully powered this race car at LeMans this year.

The Detroit Bureau tells of “a British-designed ‘flybrid'” that stores energy in a mechanical flywheel rather than a complex – – and far more costly – – battery system.” . . . Pure Energy Systems.com carried news of “The Astounding Potential of Plasmic Power in PlasmERG Engine.” It says the manufacturer’s technology offers a solution to the energy crisis, a way to end the use of fossil fuels, and the potential to jump start a new technological age — among other benefits! Engines utilizing the “Plasmic Transition Process” are unique in many ways, and offer many advantages over internal combustion engines, electric motors, and turbines. Their capabilities are simply light years beyond any current “mainstream” technology.” The site also has news of cold fusion and numerous pure energy developments. . . . A little more down to earth is a flying car also reported by The Detroit Bureau. This one’s credibility quotient is up because it is being developed by Burt Rutan, the man who built the Voyager the first plane to fly around the world without stopping or refueling and whose suborbital SpaceShipOne captured the $10 million Ansari X-Prfize.

And totally prosaic, two parades. Hybrid owners were expected to gather in Madison, Wis. in July for the world’s longest parade of hybrid cars. An event “rushing the previous Guinness World Record™ for longest hybrid vehicle parade—auto enthusiasts in Belgium set the record in 2010 with a 140 car parade. True to form, no follow up and AWcom remains in the dark. . . .A parade of 298 Cadillacs did set a new world’s record according to The Detroit News when they gathered in Barton, Vt., hometown of the make’s founder, Henry M. Leland. Led by Leland descendents in a pink convertible Caddy, the rolling tribute shattered the previous record of 102 cars set in the Netherlands in 2002 – where they and their neighbors obviously have time on their hands.

Jay-Z and Kanye West take a blow torch to this Maybach.

A Maybach car was power sawn, blow torched and reduced to a rolling wreck without doors or roof – for the sake of an MTV Video by a couple of hip hop moguls. The cheapest model of the German luxury car sells for about $375,000. 00They claim it will be auctioned off for charity. Experts estimate it will take at least $150,000 for just a fully reinforced frame. . . . AWCom was also treated to a photo of ten unidentified people in a row, one of whom was Dept. of Energy Secretary Steven Chu cutting a ribbon and what looks like popping champagne at the opening of a lithium battery separator plant in North Carolina. And, there were the thieves who used a Smart phone to unlock a car and steal it and the not so surprising survey finding that the thrill wears off after you drive a luxury car for a while. Recent reports put advertising at $22 billion the #2 largest ad category in the U.S. but the dollars are rapidly forsaking print for digital outlets. One reason is the decline in dealerships. Last, Jack Baruth added a little heat to the summer by asking what the sales success of the Volkswagen Jetta says about auto journalism when a number of well-known outlets panned it.