classic car

Over spring break the fam rented a 2010 Jeep Cherokee Laredo 4x4 to drive around OBX, NC. My basis of comparison is our 2008 Honda Pilot AWD, my wife’s everyday driver.

The Jeep had a beautiful black metallic paint job, and generally looked really nice. The interior was nicely appointed and generally comfortable, but was less roomy than our Pilot. This was especially true behind the back seat where the forward-sloped rear window dramatically cuts into interior space. Also, the distance between the back seat and the rear hatch at the cargo floor was significantly less than that of our Pilot. As a result there was much less space for cargo in the Jeep. The Pilot actually has a third-row seat; no way would a third seat fit in this Jeep.

On a related note, one thing I have never understood is why doors on US-made vehicles always seem to be 20-50% thicker and heavier than doors on similar foreign vehicles that have equal side crash protection. This directly impacts interior space and ease of exit and entry. This was certainly the case with the Cherokee as compared to our Pilot. In addition, the Jeep’s doors were designed so they opened a bit too far and with the hand-grasps so far aft that you had to lean WAY out of the vehicle to pull the doors closed. Also, the mechanisms that hold the doors open were all far too weak and the doors regularly swung shut on unsuspecting arms and legs - a bit of a pain. You would think that after 100 years of car design they would have figured out something this elementary.

Both the Jeep and our Pilot have V-6’s with a towing capacity of 3500 lbs. Our Pilot has consistently averages 20-21 mpg in mixed driving and usually gets 23+ on the highway. The Jeep’s average mileage for the week in mixed driving was just over 17 mpg even though the official rating is 21 mpg. Pretty unimpressive.

This Jeep is supposed to compete heads-up with the Pilot, and the newer version of the Pilot is nicer than our 2008. At over $36,000 for this Grand Cherokee, it just does not stack up unless one is a diehard Jeep fan. I sure would like to have that black metallic paint job on my Pilot, though.

Photo from: http://www.cornermotors.com/

First, we see a Hummer H2, spotted in Virginia, which seems to be owned by somebody who likes to garden, but not very much. It has a large trailer attached to it which isn't being used to its' capabilities. Hmm, sounds like most Hummers...

The Folks at Delahaye USA first surprised the world in 2008, when they restarted a name that hadn't been around since the famous Delahaye/Delage, maker of coachbuilt French automobiles, went down the drain in 1954. They said they intended to produce replicas of a famous Jacques Saoutchik-designed Delahaye cabriolet with modern conveniences such as a 500 ci Chevy V8, air conditioning, and power everything. The price brought most potential customers down from their nostalgia high, though, when it was announced that what most people percieved as a larger kit car was going to cost them $500,000. Since then, only one customer has bitten, commissioning a red droptop with gold trim in the traditional Delahaye fashion.

But you're not here about that car, are you? You saw that big, curvy boattail and the name obviously avoiding copyrights. You saw the word perfect in the title of this article. You know that there's something better than a Chevy-powered Delahaye, right? Well here it is: Delahaye USA has begun running ads in duPont Registry for a brand new project, one sure to blow their last car out of the water in perfeormance, styling, and above all, price. This obviously doesn't mean they're going to start shipping out new/old Bugatti's like Camry's all across the United States, but getting a near-perfect car for half the price of their old one doesn't sound bad, does it? That's right, Delahaye USA has created a stylized version of the famous, fabulous Bugatti Type 57 with BMW V-12 power and a beautiful body made of carbon fiber all for $250,000, half the price of the less pretty Delahaye (sorry, Saoutchik)! I know I shouldn't voice an official opinion before I see the car in person, but this is one of the most worthy cars ever to carry the Bugatti badge, even if it's not a "real" Bugatti. I'm telling you that this is more real than the Piechmobiles that we call Veyrons! Topping off the exterior styling and performance is the interior, which is possibly the only interior to make red and crocodile leather look elegant and subdued, with a thin, four-spoke chrome steering wheel and a relatively low number of guages (6) for such a sumptuous car. All in all, if you're not salivating at this point, there's something wrong with you. This is possibly the best car to come to the market since the coachbuilt era of the Thirties, and whoever came up with its streamlined, slightly modernized shape is a genius. This, my friends, may be the perfect car. You know, except in its name, the Bugnotti.

You know it's happened to you. You'll be driving around one day in whatever area you live in, and all the sudden you notice a car you haven't seen before such as a BMW Isetta or the Lamborghini Gallardo shown above. You regrettably forgot your camera or phone or whatever you'd need to fittingly obsess over the vehicle, so what should you do? Here are a few tips for when you are stalking tracking down a car.

First of all, you need to know where and when you see the car. If you see it only once or at a gas station, chances are it was passing through your area and doesn't necessarily reside there. On the other hand, if it shows up regularly at a local business, such as a coffee shop, chances are you can easily catch them there and start a conversation with camera in hand to take photos. If you think that the business you see the car at is the workplace of its owner, you don't want to approach them about it at that time to avoid looking like a stalker. If you see the car often at the person's home, just go biking a couple days a week and wait until one day when the person is out polishing their car or doing lawn work or something. Using all of these methods, you can probably successfully approach the owner of a car you love and start a conversation about the car. You can also get all those obsessed photos!

If the first step doesn't work (such as with a situation where the car is driven to work at an office), take note of the business. If it is an automotive business, you may be in luck. Often these types of businesses have sections on their websites dedicated to customer and employee cars. From this you can find out more about the car and get photos. If the business isn't automotive or doesn't have such a feature on their website, you can sometimes still get contact information for the business and ask about the car in an e-mail. It may set off a few stalker alarms for the owner, but it also means you can get a private peek at the car if the owner doesn't put a restraining order on you.

Another situation, which I've run into often, is when the car is a project sitting in somebody's yard. The most direct route is to go up to the door and ask about the old car in the backyard, but some people may be a bit less than inviting to you. On one occasion I was checking out a car at an abandoned home when the property owner, who I'd never seen at the house before, rolled up. He was pretty nice and didn't have a gun, but it could've been a lot worse. A way around this is to look up the address online and get a name. From there you can look up an e-mail address and, if not, a phone number to contact the person. I discovered a '39 Ford pickup, a 1950 Chevy Panel truck, a '48 Oldsmobile coupe, and many others in my time using this method.

So what are you doing staring at this web page? Get out there and obsessively follow cars! Using these methods, you're guaranteed to get that photo of the car you see in the parking lot. Or, of course, you could bring your camera along with you when you go driving...

When cruising around the farmland of the US, you expect to find the usual piles of rotting Chrysler Imperials and Corvairs behind people's barns and abandoned near old quarries, but it's not often that you find something like this! Two of us writers for The Car Blog were going on an expedition to track a 2010 Shelby GT500 that had moved into the area we were in when we spotted what looked like a lone barn with a few cars by it. Since it was only a mile away from where we thought the GT500 was located, we decided to take the road that led to the barn and find out what was there. What we found was a whole lot more than a few cars next to a barn, and even more than we originally imagined when we pulled up.

Instead of just a few rusting Eighties Oldsmobile sedans or aforementioned Imperials, which are pretty common finds around here, we discovered just under 200 cars, most of which were Volvo's or Jaguars. What? Who do you know that goes around buying up over 100 Volvos, 80 Jaguars, and many other random cars just to let them rot? As I trespassed on explored the property I began to figure it out. There was a shop in one corner of the lot, and the structure I thought was a barn was actually basically a giant rack of parts ranging from a bumper for an Austin Mini to the front body shell of a Series One Jaguar E-Type.

Speaking of E-Types, there were two complete cars and six body shells lying around the property. One car, a white Series One Coupe, was in very good shape for a car that has probably endured many a midwest winter, with pretty much everything but the trim and headlight covers in place. The other car, a Series Two 2+2, was not so lucky. It had no rear window and had tires piled on it, denting the bodywork. The six body shells were scattered throughout the property neatly, with the Series One shells being lined up exactly parallel to each other side by side near the parts rack, the Series Twos stacked in two stalls of the parts structure, and a lone Series Three shell on the corner of the property opposite the shop building. There was also a row of maybe fifty Jaguar Mk1, Mk2 sedans sitting in the snow, just waiting for a new owner!

Oh, but the Volvo's! There were over 100 of the quirky Swedes on the property, ranging from a rusted-out 1959 PV544 to a 1984 240 Turbo coupe to a red 2000 V70 wagon! The owner of the cars seemed to pay the most attention to late Eighties and early Nineties wagons, which have in the past few years achieved cult status, especially in college towns, but most of the Volvos there seemed to have one defining feature: There were parts stacked inside almost all of them! From Jaguar Carbs to manuals for Alfa Romeos, the cars seemed to have inherited parts from the barn. Interesting....

Among the other cars on the property were three first-gen Alfa Romeo Spiders, two Guilietta Pininfarina convertibles, two Guilias, a 1963 Austin Mini, a Lancia Fulvia coupe, and a few cars even we can't remember. There was also a random Packard or Cadillac ambulance and a '77 GMC truck that snuck in there somehow.

Seeing that the person who owned the property had Jaguar E-Types, Alfa Romeos, and other extremely collectible cars outside, I naturally wondered what they have inside their shop and the three shipping containers next to it. This will require another visit.

P.S. We never found the GT500.

The entire staff of Airpro always seems to be out on heating emergencies or whatever they fix, so I never got any owner info on the car, but I can bet that the same person who owns the car also owns the wrecked F150 monster truck next to it. The car seems to be relatively solid except for the left rear fender and part of the right floor, and most of the interior pieces are there. It would be a very good candidate for restoration or customization, and hopefully it will find a good home or be restored by its current owner. In its current condition alone it should be worth a couple grand at least, but once it is restored it will be well worth the investment. I sent an e-mail to Airpro so make sure you stay tuned for updates on the car, but for now, just admire it in its rustiness.