She passed away on July 20 in the Gers, but we only learned the news at the beginning of the week. A last fit of modesty? Louisette Texier was used to it, even if she was nicknamed the “bulldozer”. Modest and flirtatious, did she not declare, after one of her rally victories, that she was bound to “arrive before the others to have time to put on make-up before the finish” ? But she was not only modest, she was also of the caliber of those who never flinch, and never flinch. Because Louisette has come a long way. Precisely from Armenia, where she was born in 1913.

France after the Armenian tragedy

She was two years old when her father was hanged. The Armenian genocide perpetuates its massacres and the one who is still called Harpiné Hovanessian is hidden and hastily taken to an orphanage in Istanbul. She left it ten years later to join other homes, in Salonika in Greece, then in France. But at fifteen, she wants to be free. She runs away, trades her name for that of Louisette Texier and becomes a successful dancer in the cabarets of Montmartre.

Years go by and the Germans occupy Paris. Louisette no longer performs on stage. She enters into resistance, hides Jews and participates in the liberation of Paris. Its post-war period will be calmer. She married and gave birth to two children. But her taste for independence takes over and she divorces. Louisette has an idea: she wants to sell jeans for women. A trade that the Americans are barely starting. In France, no one has ever risked it. She opened a shop in Neuilly in 1956 and it was a success. But at the same time, another passion will emerge in his life and occupy him for a long time. She attends a motorcycle race where a pilot friend has trained her. it’s love at first sight for motorsports.

She will train and learn not to ride a motorcycle, but to pilot a car. A few months later, she became the first woman to enter the Monte-Carlo rally, driving a Simca Aronde P60 Montlhéry. Until 1964, she went through rallies, and participated in the Tour de France auto with her Jaguar MK2. In 1963, she finished second overall and went on to win victories across Europe. The car ? This is his thing “the rest, I didn’t care. I never even rode a bike”, she will explain at the end of her life. But auto racing would never occupy him full time. At the same time, she is developing her boutiques. She will own, and manage, three until her retirement, which she deigns to take, at 90 years old.

Before that, she will have raced her last rally, that of Kenya, at 80 years old. Retired in the Gers, Louisette will once again put on her helmet for a karting session with her grandson. She was then 104 years old. She passed away this summer after a long journey of 108 years. Obviously, she will be missed by her children, her grandchildren and her great-grandchildren. But Louisette has lived a life like no other. An exceptional life because, after a chaotic start, it was the one she had chosen for herself, the one she decided to lead as she pleased, to the end.

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Stellantis is recalling 212,373 RAM pickups in the US and nearly 50,000 more vehicles in Mexico and Canada to address a side airbag problem that could be deployed unexpectedly. The issue affects the 2015-2020 Ram 2500 and Ram 3500 pickups, as well as some Ram Classic 1500 also released in 2015-2020. The current generation Ram 1500 cars, which began production in 2019, are unaffected by this issue.

The Stellantis Alliance has released a statement saying it will voluntarily recall 212,373 Ram pickups to replace faulty side curtain airbags. According to the company, the airbag squibs were “contaminated with moisture” during production, which could cause the airbags to burst even if there was no crash or a signal from the airbag deployment sensor. If this happens, the statement said, debris could enter the cabin and injure passengers.

The recall affects the 2015-2020 Ram 2500 and 3500 pickups, the 3500 series trucks and the previous generation Ram 1500 pickups, known as the Ram Classic. At the same time, the company noted that they know about only one accident caused by this malfunction.

The company noted that the supplier of the defective elements was the reason for the recall from another automaker. The Detroit Free Press noted that GM recalled more than 400,000 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups for the same issue earlier this year and that the squibs were manufactured by Joyson Safety Systems in Mexico. The newspaper also reported on a statement from the Alliance that Ram airbags do not contain ammonium nitrate, an ingredient in Takata airbags that were part of the massive recall.

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A malfunction can cause the engine to stall while driving, increasing the risk of an accident.

Subaru of America is recalling 165,026 vehicles due to a potential fuel pump defect that could cause the engine to stall while driving, increasing the risk of an accident, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said.

According to Jessica Tullman of Subaru’s product information department, there have been no reported incidents or injuries yet.

The July 29 recall applies to yard models including the 2018-2020 Ascent, Forester and Impreza, Legacy and Outback. It will also affect BRZ, WRX and Toyota 86 vehicles.

Affected vehicles may have a low pressure fuel pump, which may be fitted with a lower density impeller.

Dealers will replace fuel injection pumps in cars free of charge. Owners’ notification letters are expected to be mailed on September 13th.

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This time the increase in price turned out to be quite justified – it is connected with the appearance of updated versions of these machines.

American electric car maker Tesla has revealed the price tags for the Model S and Model X after their update. Both models added $ 5K to the previous price.

So, for the base Model S now asking $ 84,990. This modification has a twin-engine layout. For those looking for a more powerful car, the Model S Plaid is worth a look.

This electric car, due to three electric motors, shows excellent dynamics and has already won the title of the fastest production car. It costs $ 129,990. Its presentation took place recently, so the cost is still at the entry level.

Tesla’s iconic Model X crossover is now on offer for at least $ 94,990

As in the case of the Model S, the increase here turned out to be $ 5,000. A productive Plaid version of such a crossover will cost $ 119,990

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The estimated cost of the new limited special edition Toyota Supra will exceed 64 thousand dollars. This will be the most expensive Supra you can buy.

The Toyota Supra A91 Carbon Fiber Special Edition (this is what the full name of the new product sounds like) is not your usual two-seater sports coupe. A total of 600 of these machines will be produced with carbon fiber components for the North American market.

We can judge the value of the new item thanks to the recent ordering guide published by CarsDirect. The limited-edition Toyota Supra will sell for $ 64,275, according to the website. If you select all the options available for the new item, the price tag will rise to $ 68,000.

By comparison, the current 2021 Supra A91 Edition announced last year costs a noticeably cheap $ 55,990.

The CF Edition is the same Supra that comes with exposed carbon fiber parts: front splitter, side panels, extended spoiler and more.

It also has a set of 19-inch wheels that come exclusively in matte black, as well as a redesigned red and black interior with carbon fiber inserts. The novelty will reach dealers this fall. Closer to this date, the official prices will become known.

Meanwhile, Pininfarina has announced the mysterious novelty in a new teaser ahead of its debut on July 14th. It could be a high-performance supercar, an electric pickup, or an SUV.

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Popular electric models of the Model 3 and Model Y brands fall under the large-scale service campaign.

In China, due to a defect in the adaptive cruise control, over 285,000 copies of Model 3 and Model Y electric cars are being recalled. Moreover, the recall includes cars that came off the assembly line in China, as well as imported ones.

The breakdown is serious – it can provoke an accident. Owners of vehicles that have been recalled will not need to visit service stations. To deal with this problem, the car owner will only need to update the software. Only those who, without outside help, will not be able to download the files for updating the software on their own, will need a visit to the specialists.

According to the local supervisory authority, owners of “problem” electric cars can accidentally start cruise control, changing gears or during sudden maneuvers. If this happens, and the speed set in the system does not coincide with the current one, the car will accelerate on its own.

This will come as a surprise to the driver, and he may not have time to react.

Meanwhile, it became known that the Italian brand Lancia is preparing to release three new models. It will be a pair of hatchbacks of different classes and an electric crossover.

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The Ford novelty debuted last week and was enthusiastically received by fans of the brand. Less than two weeks have passed, and the pickup has already been booked by 36,000 people.

The new Ford Maverick 2022 pickup debuted on June 8 and has already managed to find loyal fans. The compact pickup with a good set of options, the latest technologies and an affordable price managed to score 36,000 orders.

Talking about the success of the novelty, Ford reminded that the revived Bronco at one time collected 190,000 pre-orders, of which 125,000 grew into real deals. The same Ford F-150 Lightning has 100,000 bookings.

It would be interesting to see how many of these orders turn into real Maverick orders. Judging by the experience with Bronco, there will be no shortage of customers investing real money in the new pickup. The cost of the new pickup starts at $ 20,000, and the fully equipped Maverick will cost $ 42,835. The average price tag for a model with a good list of equipment is about $ 30,000. Prices are quite competitive.

The standard transmission is a 2.5-liter hybrid.

An available upgrade is the 2.0-liter EcoBoost. The 2022 Ford Maverick will go on sale this fall, and we hope that it will not face delays like the Bronco, and will not suffer from the continuing shortage of chips.

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More than 85 thousand cars of the Swedish brand fall under a large-scale recall campaign, which starts in the United States.

Volvo is preparing to recall more than 85,000 of its vehicles of various models in the US market. All of these machines require repairs due to the risk that the fuel pump will stop working.

The problem is that the 15 amp low pressure fuel pump fuse may blow. This will be caused by the overvoltage that occurs when the ECM requires the fuel delivery module to be disabled. If the fuse blows, the engine may stop running.

Among the cars under review are the Volvo S60, S90 and S90L sedans, V60, V60 Cross Country, V90, V90 Cross Country station wagons, as well as crossovers with the XC60 and XC90 indices. All of them were released not so long ago: between 2019 and last year.

Owners of problem cars will be warned about the need to deliver their car to the nearest dealer from August 1. During the repair work, the foremen will install a new fuse with a larger rating – 20 A.

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The first buyers of the “charged” version of the Tesla Model S finally waited for their electric cars. In the United States, the delivery of the first copies of the novelty to customers was scheduled for June 10.

The day before this long-awaited beating, Tesla unexpectedly raised prices for the Tesla Model S Plaid. The verb, of course, is expressive, but you can’t describe the situation better. The new electric car has grown in price by $ 10,000 at once

Now on the American car market, the most affordable Model S Plaid costs at least $ 129,990. The manufacturer did not talk about the reasons for such a significant increase in prices. The experts voiced some guesses. After abandoning the release of the Plaid + version with a record power reserve, the regular Plaid became the flagship model of the brand, which means that it should cost more. The second reason is even more obvious: the novelty has caused a real stir among fans of environmentally friendly cars that Tesla’s desire to make money on the interest of buyers is logical.

Typically, in such cases, the company either builds more cars to meet demand, or increases prices. Tesla chose the second path.

It is not reported whether the June rise in prices for already booked cars has affected. Tesla already has these kinds of surprises, so anything is possible.

Earlier AutoTimesNews said that the new sports car Nissan Z will debut on August 17 in New York. True, we will not be shown a serial version – it will have to wait a few more months.

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To achieve this target, the automaker is looking to merge its three assembly sites in northern France into a new Renault ElectriCity venture.

By 2025, the new plant will produce about 400,000 cars annually, according to the French automaker himself. After the merger of the three car plants, it will be possible to create 700 new jobs at once.

The brand has already started searching for specialists. In the meantime, these enterprises employ about five thousand factory workers.

The new venture will be fully under Renault’s control. It will unite factories in Douai, Maubeuge and Ruitz, the automaker said in a statement.

In general, according to the new strategy, the French automaker will produce fewer cars, but from more profitable segments. Renault will also take on the electrification of its lineup thoroughly to take the lead in the electric car segment.

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