WORTH WATCHING: A 1973 Promotional video about the Land Rover Series…
Swedish Pizza - Act 1
18445132 as I bought it. It has been like this for… a while.
“I have been looking for a sexy 1960’s or possibly 1970’s GT car for a some time now, with the idea to make a project out of it. Do something unique and special with it. As I usually do in these cases, I have a roughed out short list of potential models, but I leave it broadly up to fate to decide what I’ll end up building. If I’m looking for an early Alfetta GT but stumble onto a chrome bumper MGB GT first? Fine, I’ll build that! If I’m looking for an early Opel Manta but stumble onto a Guilia Super first? So be it. It’s out of my hands. Fate decided, not me. And fate did me a solid this time…”
Read moreRolling Hope
An early Vespino GL (“Grand Luxe”) from 1969.
It’s virtually impossible to overstate how important the humble Vespino moped was for Spain in the 1970’s and 1980’s, and it’s equally impossible to overstate the fondness that almost all Spaniards of a certain age retain for the plucky little things. And I say that not of the engineering of the machine itself, but of its cultural and economic and symbolic significance. It might be the most important manufactured product in the history of Spain.
Read moreCars for kids.
Image render © Blackfish Graphics. I sincerely hope it was a contract job for an upcoming manga comic book.
Come on. How old are we? Seven? Because if we’re all seven years old, then current automotive design trends make perfect sense. But I don’t think we’re all seven years old. What is going on these days? I know this is just a render, but just because we can do something doesn’t mean we should, and besides, ridiculousness is not confined to the world of digital renders. It exists in the steel and aluminum and plastics of honest-to-goodness production vehicles, too.
Read moreMisunderstood Glory - The Porsche 928
The “bumperless” sculpted nose and tail are entirely normal now, but they weren’t normal back then, and the styling was exotic as all hell. The laid-back pop-up headlamps had only been seen before on Gandini’s magnificent Lamborghini Miura, and the punchy V8 engine and dog-leg 5-speed manual gearbox (it’s largely a myth that the available automatic was the overwhelming choice of buyers in the early years) with the latter sitting in the rear for near perfect weight distribution, clearly put a bigger premium on performance than opulence. It was beautifully trimmed inside, with air conditioning and leather, but the car is lower, louder, and vastly more sinister than it tends to get credit for…
Read moreComplexity Kills
Image courtesy of Mercedes-Benz
… the car is way too expensive, way too complex, doesn’t work correctly for more than five minutes at a time, and most importantly, probably never will. It is not a “car” at all - it is a black hole of hubris and reckless overreach, all in the name of answering a question no sober person would ever ask. Which brings me to my main point…
Read moreIt's Better Because It's Worse.
Why do we buy these cars? Series Land Rovers, Defenders, Range Rover Classics, old G-wagens, Land Cruisers, Jeeps, etc. Why do we own them and drive them in the first place? Why do we want one? Is it because they make total sense as vehicles? No. Is it because they are impossibly reliable? Nope. Is it because they provide a painless and flexible ownership experience? No. Dirt cheap? No. Efficient? No. Comfortable and refined? No. Better than a Toyota Tacoma in off-road conditions? No.
Read moreQuiet whispers of dissent
In case you’ve been living in an underground ice cave for the past few years, or maybe if you’ve just been living in the real world and not spending your time immersed in the culture of old Land Rovers, the “party line” regarding the NEW Land Rover Defender is that it’s not good! Or, well… it’s good, but it’s not a proper Defender! Or, you know… it isn’t like the old one! It doesn’t even look like the old one! Hrrrrumph! It’s… a travesty!
Read moreConfiguratin'
Alfa Romeo Giulia Veloce in “Alfa Red” with 19” wheels, a carbon fiber grille, and carbon fiber side mirrors.
Technology is great, isn’t it? There is something pretty spoiling about, say… walking around with the entire collected knowledge of all humankind in your pocket. That’s big. But of all the wonderful technology in our lives, maybe my favorite is the new car “configurator.” I configure the hell out of some cars, believe you me. I configure… a LOT of cars…
Read moreThank you for your service.
Available at: https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1966-ford-mustang-499/
“Coming of age in Virginia in the 1980’s, I had a contrarian streak. I watched European soccer, not American football. I had posters on my walls of Lancias and Porsche 908’s and Barbro Peterson, not Corvettes and Malibus and Farrah Fawcett. While all my friends built muscle cars and street raced on makeshift quarter miles, I built MG’s and Alfa Romeos and street raced on the twistiest roads I could find…”
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