Tag: Cars

A Reader (lost yer email, sorry) sent me this little look at The Most Odd-Looking Vintage Muscle Cars Ever Made.  I have several problems with said list, mostly because more than a few of the cars cannot be termed “muscle” cars by any stretch of the imagination, e.g. the Heinkel Kabine of the late 1940s:

…which featured a 174cc engine which generated 9hp.  That’s “muscular” only if you’re a Gen Z snowflake or an eco-moron.

Of course, there are a few strange ones on the list, but I have to say that more than a few did catch my eye, and I would have no problem owning / driving one of them, even today.  Here they are:

BMW Z1 (early 1990s) Sorry, but that’s just lovely.  The retractable doors (!!!) make it strange, but I’d still take one in a heartbeat.

E-type Jaguar (1960s)

That’s not “odd”, you morons, it’s a classic.  Even back then, it wasn’t odd, just beautiful (pace Enzo Ferrari, who knew a thing or two about the topic).

Lotus Europa (1970s)

Yeah, it looks a little strange, but it handled better than any road car of the time.  You could take corners at speeds that would have killed you in any other car.

Corvette station wagon (1970s) 
Yeah, I’d have one of these.  It looks a little like the Europa, but it solves the perennial problem of “How do I fit both my girlfriend and my rifle/shotgun cases into a sports car?”

Toyota 2000 GT (1970)

Sorry, but 150hp in a car that weighed almost nothing, handled like a dream and should never have ceased production?  That’s not weird;  the decision to stop making it was weird.  Like the E-type, it was a classic.

The one that really caught my eye, however, was this one:

Buick Centurion (late 1950s)

I think it’s glorious, not weird — and I’d take one in a heartbeat.

Feel free to peruse the others, and make your own choices in Comments if you want.

There’s also a list that contains some weird motorcycles, but to me they all look the same (like people in various non-European racial groups), so I couldn’t pass judgment.

Harry goes offroad and drives like a young hooligan… in a Lambo?

Fun and loud engine noise ensues.  But…

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Okay, two tales, if we’re going to be pedantic. First, Harry takes us for a drive in a borrowed 288 GTO, and if you aren’t entranced (like he is) by that one, then by all means enjoy this little drive in a 365 P Berlinetta Speciale (as Former Drummer Knob puts it, a Dino with three seats and a 12-cylinder engine).

As I told him, after watching the second video:  “I’m not even a Ferrari fan, but that 365 is Left Nut Material.”

His response to why three seats:  “Room for you and two chicks.”

My response to that:  “It’s a Ferrari;  more like one chick and Antonio The Mechanic.”

Or Antonella La Meccanica…

Midnight conversations with old friends… what would we do without them?

I think it was Richard Hammond who, on the old Top Gear show, pointed out that Ferrari’s technical statistics were often flat-out lies:  “How many horsepower does our new model have?  A million!”

It’s not just their statistics, though.  Try this one on for size:

Legendary Italian car maker Ferrari has no intention of phasing out combustion engines and going fully electric or hybrid anytime soon, promising Sunday to keep making the eight and 12-cylinder engines it has made its trademark at least until the end of the 2030s. (May 2023)

And then there’s this one:

An iconic supercar brand is set to launch its first ever EV, with a new factory already in the works.  The luxury car giant is planning to open a new facility in Italy to produce its new all-electric models.

Who could this be, this “luxury car giant”?

Ferrari boss Benedetto Vigna confirmed that the company was on the right track in developing a new electric car.  (November 2023)

I know, I know:  this isn’t exactly a lie:  Ferrari never said that they’d make only internal combustion engine (ICE) cars… but they sure as hell skated around the issue.

Just as they do with their technical specs.

And of course, they’ll cheat when it comes to the sound their new Duracell cars will make.

Bastardi.

It seems as though at least one car manufacturer is thinking straight:

“It is regular users who are the ones who suffer” when government regulations try to shoehorn buyers and automakers into EVs, according to Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda. Speaking publicly as the head of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, Toyoda said, “People are finally seeing reality” as sales growth sputters. “I have continued to say what I see as reality… if regulations are created based on ideals,” instead of real-world conditions, “it is regular users who are the ones who suffer.”

All true, of course.

As an aside, I would love to see the sales figures for EVs that excludes those in California, because I’ll bet that state skews the whole thing. Why do I say that?

Anecdotally, the Son&Heir just got back from a business trip to SoCal, told me that regular gas there is currently costing $7 per gallon (!!) and that just about every Uber or Lyft driver now uses an EV.