classic car

With Obama pushing 35 MPG by 2016 for cars, many enthusiasts are worried about their next-gen supercars being limited to only 100 MPH to meet the standards. Of course, there is merit in that thought, as we all know from the late seventies. But I know that there are ways to meet and beat these standards while keeping our cars muscular and quick, ways that weren't even a forming idea in an engineer's head during the malaise era. Here are some ideas to get us through the CAFE standards fast: I mean seriously fast, not to mention in style.

A few days ago I was driving down the road when a red convertible coming from the other direction caught my eye. From far away I thought "Hey, a Datsun 260Z converted to a droptop!", then as it got closer "Austin-Healy 3000? Jaguar E-type?" And then, as the car was only 30 feet away I saw that it was, in fact, a 1965 Ferrari 275 GTS! This was the highlight of my day, as in northeast Wisconsin a genuine expensive car driving around is a thing you see every half a year unless you're lucky and know where Shelby Parts and Restoration is.

Here's the latest edition of my video reel from Youtube:

I forgot to tell you that the world record car sale price was broken jast Sunday in Italy when a pontoon-fender testarossa racer went for around 12 million.

Ford created a landmark, a tribute to a legend, the GT supercar. It was priced well under rivals from other companies and was a car upwards of 200 MPH. It's downfall: the blue oval. If Lamborghini would've stolen Ford's design plans and put a Lambo badge on it, they could have sold it for three times as more AND have more demand.
This is the sad truth in the supercar business. Ultra-luxury concoctions from long-established makers of exotics automatically get a thumbs-up, while homegrown, and often cheaper, supercars are ignored and dismissed as inferior. Take the Corvette ZR1 for example. Many hail it as a miracle, but still others say it is horrible just because it is a GM creation from America. In the Eighties, when Ferrari 308s were beat by the little four-door Dodge Omni GLH-S, the Ferrari still got a better rap than the then-new ZR-1 Corvette from the Eighties, which was an altogether much better car. If you take a car from a company with supercar history and make it expensive, people will think it is better. Who cares about the interior? As Jay Leno said (this may not be an exact quote): "People complain about the Corvette's interior. I say, just use the 150k you save by getting a Corvette to get a good interior." Leno also says that, out of all his supercars, which includes Lamborghinis and Ferraris, the 'Vette is the most practical and is very exhilarating. Take that, Italy!