I'd better hurry or I'll miss the boat (pardon the pun)

Do you have prejudices, at least subliminally, against certain countries?  I remember my dad would not buy a German or Japanese car, saying "I fought those bastards in WWII, and I'm NOT going to drive one of their cars today!"  His reaction was obviously a generational thing as my generation loves both German and Japanese cars.  I've had Audi's and Honda's and Mazda's and loved them all.

It's hard to imagine that one of the worlds absolute finest luxury SUV's...

...and most iconic sports car marques are both owned by an Indian company, Tata Motors (even though they are designed, engineered, and built in the UK).

My generation seems to have a problem with Vietnam and China.  I cringe when I pick up a coat, for example, and see the tag that says it was made in Vietnam.  And now I subliminally rule out Volvo as it is owned by a Chinese company, even though they are still Swedish in origin.  As we all know (?), most Chinese companies have their strings pulled by the Chinese government, the Chinese COMMUNIST government.  Ewwwww!

A few years ago I was given a private tour of the Boeing complex in Renton, Washington.  We were on the back loading dock where my guide asked, "See anything unusual about those shipping crates" (each the size of a small house)?  Turns out they were made of bamboo plywood, because they contained the empennage for a 737 (in this case the horizontal tail assembly) which was made in China...COMMUNIST China.  Aren't these the same folks that gave us kids toys made pretty by lead paint?  Ouch!  

Today I read the Chinese company, Haier, is buying the appliance division of General Electric for $5.9B.  It's hard enough trying to understand the customer service rep in India.  I shudder to think...

Now more than ever, it looks like the old saying "you can't judge a book by its cover" holds true. The terms "old"  "mature" and "change" sometimes are hard to reconcile.  *sigh*

S



 

Cars, cars, and more cars!

I was out of pocket most of yesterday as K took the day off and we joined up with my friend Neil and attended the Dallas Auto Show.  We always like to go on a weekday as weekends are a freakin' zoo.  We met up in suburbia and rode the light rail train to the Convention Center in downtown Dallas....the best $5 I ever spent!

Compared to some of the large auto shows around the world....LA, NY, Geneva, Frankfurt, South Fargo ND, Bugtussle AL, etc, it isn't much.  No wild concept cars, no unveils, none of that.  But still this year's show was surprisingly good.

The bright overhead lights that made the cars stand out when seen directly created some awful photo glare, but here goes anyway:

K really liked the new 2015 Mini Cooper S.

I concur.  It was a winner.  I understand they want to keep the retro theme, but the changes from last year's model are too minor to the untrained eye, even though underneath it's completely new.  Still a definite keeper, though.

I specifically went to see the new Mazda 3.  The auto press has given it great reviews, and while I haven't yet driven one, I must say I was disappointed.  The interior just didn't measure up, for example.  

The styling was nice, but overall I gave it just a "Meh".

Aston Martin's really tick all my boxes, they're so beautiful.  

Even the big 4-door Aston Rapide S was stunning.  The price, though, was just plain shocking!

We were told this is the only Pagani Who Are Ya * currently in the US.  No wonder, at a million bucks plus!

* If you can pronounce it, you're a better person than me!

It was actually pretty gaudy.

Yet another McLaren MP4-12-C.  I see these things all over town.  Or maybe there's just this one and they keep driving it in circles.

A Rolls Royce Wraith.  A two-door Rolls?  Umm....no!

I did like the crystal (?) Spirit of Ecstasy, though.  :)

The Range Rover Evoque was especially impressive.  The little splash of mud behind the rear wheel was a nice touch, letting us know it's a serious off-roader.  *snicker*

For a mere $47K it can be yours.

Although the design is getting rather long in the tooth, I still like an Audi TT.  Overpriced, though.  :(

Same with the Audi R8.  

Here's Lexus' attempt to prove it isn't just an old man's car:  the LFA.  It's a $350K super car that took 10 years to design/build.  It's quite good they say, but for a lot less than that you could have....

 ....this Ferrari 458 Italia.  Game, set, match!

I have friends who have Jaguars, and frankly, they spend waaaay too much time in the shop to impress me.  Still, this new F-Type is absolutely gorgeous!

I made it a point to go check out the BMW's.  I really wanted to like them, but after looking them over I was even less impressed than when I got there.  They didn't have the nice thunk you like to hear when you close the door, and the seats didn't swallow me like I want them to. 

The new "baby" Maserati, the Ghibli.  Nice, but no cigar.

The latest iteration of the car that changes super premium fuel into tire smoke and noise, the Dodge Viper.

The Fiat 500 Abarth, because I always include one in my car show pics.

I did find my next car at the show, the upcoming (this summer), all new (although outwardly it's only slightly evolutionary looking), Volkswagen GTI:

They say it, like the previous gen GTI, has magnificent power, handling, comfort, and practicality....a daily driver you can thoroughly enjoy.  The interior quality will blow you away....I can't tell you how impressed I was with the fit and finish.  Kudos, VeeDub!  Seriously, when I'm ready to put my now-7-year-old Audi out to pasture, this is what I will be buying.  :)

And now just some random shots of select vintage cars on display:

Porsche 356

Buick ____

Early Corvette

The inspiration for "Pimp My Ride"?

Yeah....a purple Lincoln.  :0

Nice Jag

Rumble seat on a T-Bird?

That was the Dallas Auto Show 2014.  Next week....Cars and coffee.  :)

S

So much for being Mr. Nice Guy

This shows just some of my muscles that are sore this morning.

Sorry for being AWOL yesterday, but I did a good deed and I'm paying the price for it this morning.  My daughter and SIL need some work done at their house, so I arranged for my trim carpenter to help them out.  He's only charging them 1/2 price....very nice of him.  To say thanks I thought I'd jump in and help him on the project he's on now and make his life a bit easier.

I used to do little manual labor things like this regularly to help out if one of my subcontractors was short-handed for a few days.  I used to be younger.  I used to be in better shape.  I think the only part of me still in fighting trim today is my smart-aleck mouth.

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"We just can't have nice thangs!" 

The news reported today that actor/comedian Dick Van Dyke was driving his new Jaguar when he began hearing strange noises under the hood, then it burst into flames.  Passers-by got the 87-year-old Van Dyke out uninjured.

A friend of mine bought one just like this a year ago.  He took it on a cross-country trip and it broke down in Tennessee (?).  They gave him a temporary loaner to finish his trip, then called him a month later and finally admitted they couldn't fix it.  Jaguar gave him another new one, and after just a few months it broke, too.  Last I heard he was negotiating with Jaguar to get his money back.

The old joke was that you'd be lucky to get your new Jag home from the dealer without the aid of a tow truck.  Then things got better.  Now they're apparently back in the toilet.  It seems "quality" is just another obscure word in Jaguar's dictionary.  My one word for you:  DON'T BUY ONE.   (OK then, three words.)

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Oh no!  My regular Friday night hang-out (after a nice evening meal out) is in danger of closing.  The big bookstore chain Barnes and Noble lost $87M yesterday, or maybe it was last quarter.  Whatever.  How am I going to know what books I want to buy from Amazon if I don't have a Barnes and Noble to browse through first?  

Ummm....

S

But the guy on TV made it look so easy

Have you heard of 3-D printing?  It's a digital process where layers of material are "printed" one on top of another to make complex 3-dimensional shapes.  You program in the plans for the gizmo you want, then layer-by-layer the printer builds it.  My Neanderthal brain can't actually wrap itself around this....I'm pretty sure there's some black magic involved.

Here's where it gets real:  A guy in Austin, TX has successfully "printed" a gun and actually fired it.  

It doesn't look like much, and it only fires .22's, but still, it worked.  Since the printer cost $8,000, I'm not sure this is a very cost effective way to get a gun, but still, it worked.  

I already have a gun, but what I don't have is a really cool car.  I mean Jaguar, Aston Martin, or maybe Ferrari cool.  So here's my plan:  First, I've gotta get me one of those fancy printers.  You think Office Depot has them?  (I have an account there.)  Then I'll need a Chilton parts manual for my chosen car.  Finally, recognizing my technological limitations, I'll need a nerd to run the machine.  Pick paint and upholstery colors and Waa-Laa....dream car!

Maybe I'll start small just to get the hang of it.  Like maybe a Mini, the original sized one.  Then raise the bar a notch at a time until I get what I want.  Isn't this cool?  I may have to rethink my prejudice against technology. 

Reality check....maybe there's more to this than I first thought.

Damn!  ;)

S

Cars & Coffee, February, 2013

Today being the first Saturday of the month meant all the cool cars in town congregated in Plano for Cars & Coffee.   The weather was perfect and the sky was clear and sunny, which felt great but played havoc with camera angles/shadows.  I arrived at 7:15 to a full house, and during the two hours I was there more cars kept coming and coming and....

(You can click on any image to enlarge.)

I'm guessing there were at least 1,500 cars there on display, with 2 or 3 times that many people viewing.  Display parking became totally gridlocked.

There seemed to be an abundance of specific-make car clubs attending, such as Lotus. Unfortunately for me, except for the Evora ^ I'm not much of a Lotus fan.

It must be a redneck thing.  Can anyone explain to me why you'd do this to a perfectly good truck?  

Being the oddball that I am I'm drawn to oddball cars, too, like this Citroen DS.

Being an Alfaholic, you can imagine how much these Alfa Romeo's stirred me.

An Alfa Romeo Giulia (GTA?).  Oh, be still my heart!

Look!  It's a Lamborghini....no, it's a Transformer....no, it's a....

The best paint job seen today....REALLY nice!

My favorite license plate of the day (on a Shelby GT 500).

My least favorite license plate of the day (on a Chevy "Fiberglass Coffin").

Why?

Would you believe they wouldn't take my check?

Now what are the odds all four shocks would go bad at the same time?

A Bentley Continental.  Shhhh....if you listen carefully you can hear it depreciating.

And finally, proof that money can't always buy good taste....

(Ouch!  This one's gonna get me in trouble!)

....while at other times it definitely can!

Hope you enjoyed  :)

S