classic car

As I've told you before, Picasaweb has the slowest photo loader on Earth and only lets you load five photos at a time, which is a problem when each five-photo load takes five minutes and you have 270 Photos to load. So you can click on the link at left to go to the photos and see what I have so far. Click on the "NC and VA Trip Cars" album and you're there.

We got back from North Carolina yesterday and turned in our rental, a Chrysler Sebring, after a week and a half of riding around in it. So I decided to do a review of the Sebring for you to help you make a decision if you're looking for a new sedan. So here's my review:
We picked up our Sebring at Richmond Airport, taking note of the good-sized trunk, which we managed to squeeze five bags of various sizes into. It wasn't as large some, but it was enough. so far, so good. But the first disappointment was very soon.
As we climbed into the interior, it was very apparent that the dash and surfaces were made from very cheap materials and not well-designed. The middle console was gray and way too look-at-me, and the entire setup glowed in the most ugly green color when you turned on the lights at night. For some reason Chrysler design had forgotten to put any air conditioning in the back, so everyone was sweating back there on hot days.
The interior had its merits, though. The cloth seats were well-fitting to the body and relatively high-quality for cloth. The car came with Sirius satellite radio (even though they are now part of the same company, I infinitely prefer XM to Sirius), which we enjoyed throughout the trip.
Our Sebring was pretty much a base machine, and had ugly circles where the optional fog lamps would be if so equipped. The ride was nothing to get excited about, but it wasn't bad, though there was no feel of acceleration like you get in the VW Jetta and other smallish sedans. The designers tried too hard to make the Sebring look like the now-dead Chrysler Crossfire, and the fake "intake" was exaggerated to the point of being laughable. At least it didn't have little fake chrome "sport" accents like the Ford Focus, but I wouldn't buy a car that looked like that.
In terms of economy, the Sebring performed well, though, returning nice MPG and showing some goodness. Overall, it's an average American car. Photo at automedia.com

Today we headed to Moyock, NC to visit two locations that had classics and projects for sale (more on that at a later date). It was raining (as you know if you are watching the NASCAR Tuck Series practice right now) and puddling up near the beach road, so we decided to take a shortcut through a neighborhood that was shielded by trees. As we were going through the neighborhood there were tons of large trucks and utility vehicles going around, so when a Freightliner pulled up oppostie us at a light, my insticts were screaming at me but I didn't whip out my camera. I said something like "If this is the SportChassis (the very expensive civilian model), I am never going to forgive myself." And guess what? It was the SportChassis, a humongous pickup truck. This version was one of the P2 or P4 models, which carry a regular-style pickup bed instead of the other models, which come with flat beds and shorter sides. It was Flame Red, and I didn't pull out my camera because most of these Freightliners have strut grilles and this one had a regular one like the one in the photo. So you can't blame me for that, huh? Photo is from the Freightliner website.

Tesla has just unveiled a new five-passenger electric sedan slated for production in late 2011. It will move into new territory for Tesla, opening up to new buyers with the prices and seating capacity. Tesla is hoping to produce up to 20,000 of these machines each year at around $50,000 after a $7,500 gov't credit on electric cars. It actually runs and goes 0-60MPH in 5.5 seconds. Photo of the unveiling is from Motor Trend.

Sorry if you used my blog between 3:00 on the 24th to about five minutes ago. Something in my "Chris Bangle Deserves A Better Rap" post screwed up my entire blog. I joined the Blogger Help Group in desperation, where somebody told me what was wrong. I didn't have the experience to fix it AND keep the post, so I deleted my post. To get the message of my post through, just look at the BMW at the top of my blog and you'll see why Bangle deserves a much better reputation than he gets. He has made BMWs much less boring and better-looking.

Yesterday afternoon we went on to a short drive to a couple of places on our trip. I left my camera at home to charge and, me being Mr. Luck, everyone brought out their best cars today when I don't have my camera.
First, I saw a 1970 Chevy Nova SS with a weird paint scheme that is probably custom from the mid-70's. Shortly after that, I saw a '71 Olds 442 near a modified Mitsubishi GT3000. A few minutes later, a Ford F650 Supertruck(not actually made by Ford: look it up) passed us, dwarfing everything else on the road. This is actually the second F650 Supertruck I've seen on this trip, the first one being near Virginia Beach, VA.
The last car I saw was an early 70's Alfa Romeo Convertible that was parked at a restaurant. On the way back we saw this car again. I just wish I'd have brought my camera so I could have taken a few photos of them. I also went over and saw the Morgan and Mini that were seen in the photo I took last December.

It seems that ownership by Tata Motors, which makes the $2,500 Nano, has actually helped Jaguar in terms of style, quality, and performance. A recent test of a slightly modified Jaguar XFR, a new model, at Bonneville proved that it is a 225MPH car (the actual number was 225.675), making it faster than the obscure 1992 XJ220 and therefore the fastest Jag ever.
Also, since being owned by Ford Jaguar styling updates have been almost nonexistent, with small detail updates throughout the years. With this new ownership design has been revitalized and new, even revolutionary, ideas are coming in almost daily, with styling and design being updated and improved. Tata has helped and a better Jag has emerged. Photo from Topgear.com

I'm on another trip to North Carolina and Virginia like last time with the Maserati experience, and I already have many car stories and photos, even though we've still got a week left of our vacation. I would show you some photos, but I'm on my relatives' computer and they don't have my photo software that I need to download to get my photos on Picasa and eventually the blog. So for now I'll tell you about the cars I didn't get photos of, which in this case are the most interesting so far. So, here goes:
Virginia seems much like Chicago in a sense that there are many luxury automobiles here, but few classics. I've seen many two door Mercedes-Benzes and BMWs, along with a light scattering of supercars, like a Bentley Continental Flying Spur (4dr) and a Mercedes-Benz SLR Mclaren. I failed to catch either of these on my digital camera, but they almost stopped my heart when I saw them.
Other notable occurrences were car and accidents I saw on the highway. Once I saw a '65 Mustang coupe, unrestored, sitting facing the highway in somebody's back yard, and I also saw a sad accident in which a trailer carrying a '67 GTO project came unhitched and discarded the GTO, which was crushed in the accident. One thing I did get a photo of though, and hope to post when I get back in a week, was an accident where a Mercedes-Benz C240 was hit on the side by a merging Ford van. You can guess what car had the larger repair bill... More updates coming within the next week!

I always liked image editing software like photoshop and more advanced programs. These programs allow middle-class people like me create and customize their dream cars to their wildest dreams. If you haven't, you should try it sometimes. The photo, from photobucket, is of a Mercedes-Benz somebody made on their computer.

Well, I'm pretty much throwing out any originality with this post, but yet again, why shouldn't I do this. Here are my picks for the best-looking automobiles of the past century:

I forgot to tell you yesterday that I saw way too many Ford Crown Victorias, Mercury Grand Marquis', and Lincoln Town Cars yesterday (in case you didn't know, those are all variations on the Crown Vic). They were everywhere, absolutely everywhere. We stopped at a major intersection, and there were three of them lined up in a row. As anyone who has read a month or more back on this blog knows, this pretty much blows my theory about "undercover" cop cars out of the water, but I'm still searching for reasons to justify that claim about nobody buying them. One point I make is that half of these cars were retired cop cars, still with the Police Interceptor badges attached, but with no lights, sirens, or giveaway "Official" license plates. Another point is that they were all at least three years old, with the exception of one Lincoln Town Car. The police buy new ones until Ford stops making them, and though I lament about how the styling on these cars never changes, they do change subtly year to year, and if you catch the differences, you can tell that almost nobody is buying these new anymore.

Finally I think it has started warming up for good, and today people started bringing out their babies again. The first sign was a hot rod near me that I hadn't seen since early October (it looks like it's been chopped a few more inches over the winter) and a late-model GTO on the back roads leading to the highway. Then there were numerous cars that were being brought out, including a custom Nissan 350Z and a Mercedes-Benz SL-Class (though it was an '07). I think that Spring is in the air, and the cars are coming out. The photo is of the Custom 350Z I was talking about. Yeah, it's a convertible.

Okay, go to Gamegecko.com and type in car in the search thing. Click on the one that is just called car and shows a photo of a red car and green grass. Play the game and you'll see how stupid it is and why I'm addicted to it.

Okay, so what car enthusiast doesn't dream of finding a classic car in a long-forgotten hideout? Some people say that this is hard nowadays, and that all of the barn finds are gone and sources dried up. This couldn't be farther from the truth. As books like Tom Cotter's The Cobra in the Barn and The Hemi in the Barn demonstrate, these cars are usually right under your nose.

This blog has been expanding, so I decided to create a companion site with photos, games, a neat Ebay tool that's constantly on the search term "Project Car" (mostly for my benefit), and a slightly less vague description of myself. I don't have much on yet, but I'm working on it. Check it out at http://carnut1.webs.com/

You know how some people say Iraq is a battle we can't win? Well, here's another: The battle between nature and my three snow shovels. I put this picture on to illustrate just how bad our Wisconsin winters are to those of us who still don't understand. This photo was taken in NOVEMBER, when we had one of our ice storms that look all nice and neat on the radar, but destroy bodywork, windshields, and cause enthusiasts to wish they wouldn't have taken that one last drive before winter because their car now needs new glass, body, interior, and suspension due to ice, snow, and leaving the doors open to show off your interior at the time it starts snowing. It snowed another foot again yesterday, and it's just not funny anymore. Hopefully, by the time I get back from a trip to North Carolina I'm taking in a few weeks, it'll be better. Yeah, right! Photo from www.bethsoft.com

Lotus has many advantages that the original Jaguars did. These cars take mundane parts from larger, better-funded, civilian vehicle-making companies and put them together in just the right combination for performance. They then design a stylish body around all of this and package it into a cheap supercar that puts others to shame. These cars from Lotus provide blistering, seat-of -your-pants excitement and performance at a price that ranges from $47,250 for an Elise to $81,090 for a top-price Exige 260. Every one of these prices put more expensive and less useful cars to shame. I know I shouldn't be talking about this if I'm comparing supercars, but the Highway fuel ratings ranges from 26-27 MPG, so it beats out others and you don't need to pay a huge gas guzzler tax for it. What's not to love? Buy one or get a ride in one and you'll see. It's even a better giant killer than the Corvette AND has a better interior. Photo from www.edmunds.com

Today, when searching for a project car on Craigslist, I spied a little car that I didn't know much about. Before you start questioning my actual knowledge of cars, I'll tell you why I didn't know much about it. It was a 1960 Hillman Husky, made by the tiny company of tiny cars. Basically, the Husky is a small two-door station wagon with a front end that looks kind of like a fusion of Morris Minor and some early Fifties American cars and a rear that was basically a less cluttered American rear that was smaller and had no tail fins.

What makes me believe people liked a car is not based on opinion or company success. No, it is how long the model or series has lasted with much the same styling that has proved to be versatile for every era. Take the Jaguar XJ series, which celebrated its 40th anniversary last year, for example. This car was introduced in 1968 with many styling cues that are still seen on the cars today. Except for a short time in the eighties (once again, my least favorite decade for cars), the Jag had similar headlights and taillights, not to mention profile that has just been slightly toned down through the decades to be more modern and streamlined. This also goes for such classics such as the MGB, the Datsun 240z-300zx, and Lotus Seven. All of these cars are legendary, and they survived because the original designer (or team) penned a shape that people liked and fit into every era. Also the Mustang (except for the eighties, again) has kept many styling cues such as the side scallops and the hood hanging over the lights. The body shape has grown, been reduced, and grown again, but almost every generation has had some or many ties to the original body styling. This photo, from coopersports.co.uk, is of a 2000 Mini Cooper Final Edition, the last generation to keep the original body. Today's Minis still honor this style, and will continue to in the years to come.

As I've said before, northern Chicago is booming in BMWs, Porsches, Jags, Bentleys (there were Continentals everywhere), and even the occasional Mosler! Though I saw a Porache Carrera S about 15 miles north of north Chicago, in the North neighbor hoods, you can see literally HUNDREDS of exotics like Jags and Bentleys. I was almost tired of seeing so many Bentleys on a trip there, and the then was a Continental Speed parked at our hotel! They are everywhere, but I never got a clear shot of one (in the parking lot at the hotel it was night). But go there, and you'll see.

I came up with the idea of polling my viewers (you) on which lemon was BEST. Read the question carefully, it does say best, not worst. I was going to include the Ford Pinto and an "Other" option, but somebody voted almost right away and I was locked out from editing the poll. Be truthful and read it carefully!

Even though it's March, I just can't wait for the Iola Old Car Show. This show is such a big deal that it has enough money to own its own land year-round! This means it is a big deal for us in the Midwest. Though it is in July, I am extremely excited already for the Midwest's largest classic car show. Last year we went on the last day (Sunday) and barely any cars were there compared to the day before, but it was still a larger classic car show than any other I've ever been to. I hope I can get to some early car shows in April to keep my need for Iola down until July, but I can bet you that over half the cars I see locally I'll see at the big show. I just can't wait for the biggest car event in the Midwest! photo from www.iolaoldcarshow.com

Congratulations! The fact that you are even reading this makes you relatively tech-savvy. Today's post is all about comparing online configurators for many ultra-luxury cars like Bentley and Bugatti. Often they are much better than the ones for mainstream manufacturers, but some are not and I'll tell you why.

I've been thinking about how Porsche owns VW and how that affects the cars and engineering. Here are my facts and opinions on this:

After 3 1/2 hours, I've finally loaded all of the photos of the milwaukee show. Just click on the post title to go to the photos.

  Hi everyone. Today I went to the Greater Milwaukee Auto Show in (Duh!) Milwaukee, and found that there is more to it than meets the eye. First off, though there are no concepts there, there are upcoming cars like the 2010 Ford Taurus and re-designed Prius that are being shown pre-production. There is also a large amount of unexpected, yet pleasant surprises, like a George Barris showcase by Volo Auto Museum and a Nineties and late Eighties exotics collection being shown in the luxury section, which makes up about a third of the show. The most expensive car I was allowed to sit in was either a 2-door, black Mercedes-Benz at 103,000 or a (yet again black) Caddy XLR-V at some price close to it. I'd much rather own the M-B, as the Caddy's leather was already worn by the last showing of the week-long Milwaukee mini-Detroit show. Also of note were the cars being shown by the Loser Car Club, which were extremely well-kept and in most cases (there was a Pinto wagon) valuble. In the Hyundai Genesis Coupe, somebody had either stolen the shift nob or the people at the show decided to take it off only one car out of the hundreds being shown.