The Purple People Eater That Eats Itself

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!  I've been taking time with the family and doing more work on my purchase, the 912.  It's been fun ripping it apart.  My first intentions were to sell it for parts but then the historian, collector, ham in me decided to restore it.  That is until I found more rust than I'm comfortable reworking. There's a little damage to the rear end as well, nothing in the frame but the deck lid and rear latch bar should get new metal.

Overall the car is not worth restoring in today's market.  A 912 in restored condition might land low $20s but at that point you'll be upside down in a hurry.  If I flash forward 20 years, I'll probably be kicking myself for getting rid of a 1966 Porsche regardless of the condition.  There were 79,000 356s made from 1948 to 1965.  Any one of them fetches decent money today, even the rust buckets.  Decisions, decisions.

The Little Car That Wanted to Be Big

My neighbor drives a full-size Escalade.  They have one kid, so of course this makes sense.  Ok, now they have two kids but clearly they need all this room.  I'm not really sure if they are planning for the trifecta but I'm always amazed how people think they need huge SUVs to haul two kids around.  That or they are really shitty at packing up a car. 

When we went to Vegas over Thanksgiving, we had two kids in two car seats, the yellow lab, a pack and play, two duffel bags, two other bags, food and the two yutes (that would be me and my wife) in a CX-7.  Oh, and a double stroller.  We were comfortable and the dog could lay down in the back.  Let me remind you the CX-7 is built on a MAZDA3 platform.  What's that?  No, I didn't win packer of the year awards unless we are talking about fudge. 

When the gas crisis hit a year ago, my neighbor went out and bought a Smart.  His wife takes the Cadillac most of the time while commuting is done in the go cart.  Twice in the last week, I've been outside working on the purple people eater to hear him going to work.  Twice, I said to myself, oh he's taking the truck.  Twice I spun around to see him taking off in the Smart.  I couldn't believe how loud it sounded.  I mean it fooled me into thinking it was a V-8 Cadillac Escalade.  It never sounds that loud going down the street.  I think the angle I'm hearing it from his driveway to mine gives it some extra oomph.  Well done little guy. Bark over bite any day is what I say.

Warning Red Light Cameras May Kill You

Thanks to the wetnoddle for forwarding this article in the Chicago Tribune regarding safety failures from red light cameras.

"If improved safety is the goal of red-light cameras, then it is a mission largely unaccomplished for the first crop of area suburbs that raced to install the devices after they became legal in 2006, according to state data.

Accidents rose -- in some cases, significantly -- at half the 14 suburban intersections outfitted with traffic cameras by the end of 2007, the data show. The number of crashes fell at just five of those intersections after cameras went in, while two showed little change."

What government, safety or public organization can support a 50%, the big five-O failure rate with "significant" increase in accidents?  I'm so not for lawsuits (as a general rule to solve problems), but if I were in one of those accidents, I would be putting together a civil suit against the city and the companies that build these cameras.  This is political greed pure and simple.  If they don't work, take them out.  If they work, I have no problem with these additional SAFETY measures. 

Aston Martin Reveals They Haven't Learned from the Past

Cadillac Cimarron and the Aston Martin Cygnet city-car concept, does any of this ring a bell?  The Aston car is being billed as a luxury commuter ride for urban areas.   It's a Toyota iQ with a restyled front end with Aston Martin's styling cues.  Granted the base for the Cygnet is a far leap from the j-platform that Cadillac bombed with years ago but when does an upscale rebadge actually work?

Initially people buy them but the masses soon realized they are paying for nothing more than some lipstick and could get the scaled back version for much less.  I give you the Honda Passport before they built they're own Pilot, or the Lincoln Blackwood pickup truck that failed miserably.  Aside from all this obviousness, what does this really do for the Aston Martin brand?   I think I heard a little birdie describe it best... cheap, cheap stop gap. 

Crazy Money...

You have to ask yourself the question why... when you see this one. All it takes is a butt load of money and all this for the bragging rights at the next car show event.

It's a Mercedes Benz owned by an Abu Dhabi oil billionaire (naturally). Featuring the newly developed V10 quad turbo with 1,600 horsepower and 2800nm of torque 0-100km/h in less than 2 secs, 1/4 mile in 6.89 secs running on biofuel.

That is NOT stainless steel, people. It's WHITE GOLD!

Sports & Exotic Car by Hemmings

Hemming Motor News has been a casual read of mine for years, probably over 25.  It was always one of those rags I picked up at Seven Eleven, along with Autotrader, then went home to fantasize.  The problem with the fantasy is that HMN was only good for one thing, American iron.  After sixteen candles and a 2002, American left my party quicker than a high school kid late for curfew  You see more European models now in Hemmings than back in the day, but the reality is, you wanna Fords or Chevvy buy this book.

When I saw Hemmings start to carry some auction results, I was intrigued and gave the nod to Sports Car Market for starting something.  They had already added color to the front pages, introduced monthly columns and beefed up things in many areas including the website.  How thin can you actually spread the publication with another title: Sports & Exotic Car?  I had my doubts.  Then they made me an offer I couldn't refuse, $10 bucks for a year.  What the hell, I can swing two fitties.

But before the magazine even showed up, I got a stinkin' renewal letter.  What gives, I haven't even read one issue and you want me to renew?  Of course, upon reading the letter that's exactly what it said.  We know you haven't gotten the first issue yet but...

Now I've read two issues.  Says right here chef recommends.  That would be me, the chef, would has found a new monthly read and is pretty excited about it.  Great European cars that fit squarely into restoration, racing and retro.

McDonald's, Apple Pie Now Hammer Time in China

Russo and Steele announced they are forming a partnership to explore establishing their name and automobile auctions in China.  Chase the money bunny overseas to the most explosive market, since America came online with the industrial revolution, sounds like smart business to me.  There are of course all the logistics of getting cars over there while navigating cultural and political barriers.  Leading to... what partner in China can Russo and Steele trust?  I'd hate to find out my rare exclusive car got tied up in the ports and missed the auction or even worse because someone wasn't getting their "fair" cut.   

The appetite for European and American cars in China will certainly grow since the car market is global.  The style in which they perform the auction is up for discovery.  Drew Alcazar told AutoWeek he's not sure if “mosh-pit, America-style auction” will suit international tastes.  So instead they are considering the sale itself to be more of a salon, an exposition or even a road rally.  It will be interesting to watch how this will affect market prices.  My prediction is an increase in values.  Not rocket science here.  More demand... and they ain't making any more of these cars.

  

VW and Suzuki

By now, you've probably heard confirmation the rumors are true, VW plans to buy every automaker on earth except for Opel and Saturn.  Ouch.  It's interesting to see the posturing going on with VW.  They buy the 20ish percent stake in Suzuki to get a stronghold into India and some small car skills plus, and perhaps most importantly to Piech, the bragging rights to world's biggest car lord overtaking Toyota.

What still boggles my noodle, is if the small car expertise is so valuable as to get billions in investment from VW, why can't Suzuki make a go of it in the US?  Seems like everybody is talking small car this and small car that yet Suzuki sales are in the toilet.  Hmmm...

Purple People Eater Comes Home to Roost

Distraction has been the theme for me the last week and here's why, I bought another car.  It's nothing special unless you love Barney, bastardized originals or projects.  This is all three.  I couldn't resist the opportunity to own something that is going to restored or resold, complete or otherwise.  It's supposed to get dropped off today about 10AM.  It got delayed in the snow storms that hit Reno.  The car is originally Californian and with any luck will remain it.

What's orange and green at the same time?

When people talk about improving the eco-footprint of a vehicle, we automatically tend to imagine novel engine technology, solar power, and so forth. But that's ignoring one vital component that really can make a difference: the tires.

Yokohama's new tire tech include chemicals derived directly from orange peels. Why orange oil? It's chemically similar to the molecules in natural rubber, meaning it combines well in the new tire compound, which is important for things like material durability and "stickiness." And of course, its inclusion reduces how much petroleum-derived products need to be in the tires. The company's been experimenting with using orange oil for years, but it's recently ramped up its testing to the point it's ready to go into production.

The company has been testing these new tires in its Advan ENV-R1 tires on Porsches at the Patron GT3 Challenge races. That makes sense: Racing environments are harsh and can simulate the equivalent of many weeks wear-and-tear on conventional car tires in a compressed time. This is a key for the success of a consumer version of the tires, of course, because few people would choose an eco-friendly tire that wore out faster than a traditional one, particularly as tires are one of the most important safety features on a vehicle. Unfortunately, there's no word on whether the new technology makes your car smell any nicer.

Please Welcome MaseD!

You may have noticed a slightly different take on the automotive world the last few posts.  That's because we have welcomed another writer to our wall-o-auto, MaseD.  Welcome MaseD  We look forward to hearing more from you!

Trash For Toys

Last year this time I was invited as a quest of the North Bay Cobra Club to visit Bill DenBeste’s collection located just north of Santa Rosa in the North Bay. The journey took us two plus hours from SF’s Golden Gate Bridge. The members gathered for breakfast on a brisk Saturday morning all bundled in leather coats, gloves, skull hats and goggles to make the journey 3 plus hours north to visit an amazing collection of vehicles. http://www.denbestemotorsports.com/files/gallery.html

I on the other hand was in my comfortable, climate controlled 2001 996 Twin Turbo wearing shorts and long sleeve shirt...minus the jacket, gloves and lastly the hat. I was more or less considered the outsider or snob of the group...the wives considered me the most sensible one of the bunch and preferred taking turns driving with me if I hadn't already someone riding shotgun.

Once we arrived on location we had an amazing time viewing the original Shelby certified vehicles along with his unique collection of other vehicles ranging from a 21 window VW bus to NASCAR sponsored and owned vehicles. The true reason was to see his operation as a certified Shelby Motors dealer and partnership with Roush Industries who is the main supplier of the powertrain that is shoe horned into these nostalgic retro rockets. One begins to scratch their head and wonder how this humble man has been able to gather enough “disposable” income to invest in every car crazy man’s dream of owning a climate controlled warehouse with every vehicle he has ever wanted in every color or trim level. The key word here of the day is “disposable”. He continues to make a rather nice living on getting rid of your trash or unwanted material to afford his guilty pleasures. http://www.denbeste.com/manufacturing/files/mfg_tanks.html

As a result, he has made a pretty comfortable living doing so. He recently was awarded a nice contract by the State of California as a service provider of his containers to work on the Devil Slide Tunnel Project on US-1 just south of Pacifica. http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist4/dslide/

At least well enough to continue to purchase vehicles for his private collection; as well as, own his own private wine label. As the story goes...according to Bill DenBeste, invited Carroll Shelby to view the largest collection of original Shelby’s in the North America... When he then decided over lunch to serve a limited run of bottled red wine to his quest sporting a label of Shelby himself and one of his cars on it. Knowing this could be a good thing or a very dangerous unauthorized and problematic law suit waiting to happen at a snap of an old racing legends finger. Luckily, Shelby like the first, second and third glass of wine and agreed to allow Bill to use his name and image on a very limited run of red and white wines that come with unique box and certificate of authentication. http://www.denbestevineyards.com/shelby.html


Attached are some images form last years event and links embedded in this article for your viewing pleasure...

Do You Appreciate The Law of Physics?

In this current economic time we have found ourselves questioning past, present and future ways of doing the right thing. In an effort to be more earth friendly we're being continually beat over the head by various groups that feel that they have ultimately the "right" answer. Now mind you that the big three as they were once called were not the most efficient; and even in some cases viewed as not being the brightest at “righting the ship” as it relates to the automotive industry’s woes. However, the newly assembled government appointed automotive panel is a real piece of work.

I've included an article featured to the right that illustrates this point. Fasten your seat belts... this is going to be an interesting ride.

A Toast

Can you believe the BMW finally got picked up today?  What's it been like a month?  Please hold... it's been six weeks.  Gym-a-knee.  Time flies when you don't have money to pay for shipping.  It was really no sweat for me to hold onto the car while he got it together on his end.  The few times I started the car and let it run to keep it fresh got me thinking... maybe he'll call off the deal and I'll get to keep the car.  It's amazing how many times I can go back and forth about selling one of my "collectibles." 

So a toast!  Here's to the one that made the most sense at the time.  It could have been yet another cornerstone in my passionate fleet now down to two.  But instead ended up being kicked to the curb for grass that will undoubtedly be greener upon my next purchase. 

 

 

 

 

What to Drive to a Zip Line

I went zip lining with a die-hard Detroiter in the auto biz last weekend in Vegas baby.  That means we talked cars.  A lot.  First, it was our friend's Ford F-150 that we drove to the zip line location.  If it were any smaller the guy would buy something bigger.  What is it with bigger is better?   You can't park the thing, if you wonder in your lane you just side swiped your neighbor and the gas mileage blows.  Insult to injury?  He had magnet signs on the door sides for his "environment pest control" business as he left the truck running while waiting for us at Starbucks. 

The van we took up to the top of the mountain, was none other than a Ford full size van.  It was brand new but the road less traveled had beaten the crap out of it.  The brakes squeaked dramatically and the rear doors rattled like they were going to fall off.  It was so loud inside that our guide sitting directly in front of us couldn't be heard unless he was talking to our faces.     

To cap off the Ford trifecta, my buddy drove a new Ford Sho.  He was looking to get more power out of it, apparently 365hp just isn't enough any more.  Try getting that thing to shed two to maybe 400 pounds and then you might notice an uptick.  He was the big fan of Americana and was slightly offended at my choice not to support the big two or US industry.  It was actually refreshing to hear.  We need to beat each other up a little more in this country.  Everybody is so PC.  His choice you can chalk it up to the fact that he lives in Detroit and works for a supplier.  I will admit that I'm starting to lean more towards Ford because they survived without bailouts.  But in order for me to buy one, I'd have to start looking at anything newer than 1995.         

Mystery BMW M1 Mule Spotted

The video below we saw on World Car Fans reminded me of the famous art cars introduced by Hervé Poulain.  16 of them were produced in all.  Since the subject here is M1, I picked out Warhol's M1.  Whether the Mule is a homage to a new release from BMW or somebody's publicity stunt, it's pretty cool.

On the subject of his sweeping brush and finger strokes, Warhol said: "I tried to portray speed pictorially. If a car is moving really quickly, all the lines and colors are blurred." Warhol's rolling work of art had its first and only race outing at the 24-hour race at Le Mans in 1979, when it was sixth in the overall ranking.