Stumblefuck Fuckup #4

 The important bit; 

"...Those (Federal vehicles) include vehicles assigned to various civilian (like the Postal Service) and military agencies. Of those, the majority — about 412,500 — are trucks, with 272,000 light trucks, 102,000 medium-duty and 39,000 heavy trucks..."

Tell me, precisely, what those EV's ARE, RFN, that we'll supposedly be producing for said replacements. Really, I'm pretty squared away on what we have in the U.S. at the moment and the only thing I've seen thus far is this joke.

This should prove to be yet another boondoggle, pissing away taxpayer money on feel-good bullshit.

Stand back

Looking forward to this weekend's race, with this:

Aiming for an outright win.

I have every confidence it'll be the sickest design there as well.

Good luck, suckers!

WE HAVE A WINNER!!!

I enjoy playing with all sorts of dangerous things.

And according to the article, I've always had a predilection for it, as I've always driven a vehicle with a manual transmission...for a reason.

Fuck the god-damned automatic.

Irony Alert: The linked article is courtesy of a co-worker, who doesn't even OWN A CAR!

Automotive Vignette, No.8

Made in U.S.A.

Ran into this a couple of days ago during a family outing - 1941(?) Dodge Stake Bed 1 1/2-ton truck. 237c.i. flathead six and maybe 100 horses. The standard-setter of its day.

PRECISELY as we've been saying for years...

What are you gonna do to stop terrorist from using cars as a weapon...BAN CARS?!?

Oh, YES HE WILL.

And THAT will fail just as spectacularly as the War on Guns has.

Stupid fucker.

Make no mistake...

Please, Karl, Ford is not to blame.

They are merely making a rational business decision by taking the bulk of their cars out of a market that wants little to do with them for anything other than fleet rentals, and side-stepping the regulatory crap that has been foisted upon them in the form of CAFE standards.

Automotive Vignette No.7

Straight from the backyard, not two blocks from the office.

A late sixties/early seventies Citroën DS 21 convertible,

and then around the corner...

 ...a 1974-5 Bricklin SV-1.

Couldn't help but laugh

Went on a cruise 'round the intertards for information on other peoples' similar troubles as my '06 Outback, which I just traded off, and see this;

"That’s because Chrysler... You should know better. When you have a German car you think people think you are fancy so you overlook it like the wives of pro-athletes who get cheated on. With Subaru, its like your mom sold you on Craigslist to finance her oxy addiction. Mom is supposed to always be there for you, be reliable, take you to school and practice, keep you safe....and then the overconsumption of pills starts the downward spiral. But you keep giving mom another chance. Still love her. No. Matter.What. she does to you. :( Subaru is the addict mom. There’s a lot of hurt and betrayal there."

LMAO.

Almost perfectly describes how I feel about mine, as the whole has, up until now, always been greater than the sum of the parts.

I remember looking for a wagon at the time and considering other options for our soon to be bigger family, took a trip to a local dealer. I found my new, boring white wagon, with a stick even, in the lowest spec, naturally aspirated engine and took it for a test drive.  I was immediately hooked. The more I drove it, the more I liked it.

Then about a year ago it needed its periodic timing belt change. A couple of days before the scheduled performance of that, it started falling on its face whenever I went to give it the beans. It just wouldn't pull over about 3,500 rpm, and made a clatter like it was about to lose a couple of valves. The technician pulled the manifold and test drove it. Result was a clogged cat.

Figures.

The oil consumption problems I had been experiencing can be attributed to the poor rings mentioned by numerous others (I also have other ideas as to why), but was considered "normal," according to Subaru. It's only gotten worse since replacing not only the cat and pipe at the same time as the timing belt, but both head gaskets as well; another known weak spot for leaks on these same engines.

The experience soured me to point where replacement was deemed necessary, just yesterday. Too bad, as I really liked that car, as I said. No more.

I'll still miss it.

I'll take it!

 11:05. Rare as hen's teeth, and optioned PERFECTLY!
 Where is that god-damned lottery money?!?

Yes, of course

And this is especially true of the much demonized automobile, having been vilified for the last +40 years, worldwide;

"...Less Regulation Is Key To Saving U.S. Jobs."

And that is even more crucial to the US-sourced production, as there is little hope of getting the UAW out of Detroit any time soon, so they simply must keep producing their 60, or 70 or even $100,000 trucks and SUV's and trucks.

Automotive vignette No.6

1961 (I think) Chrysler New Yorker, Freiburg, BW

Interesting to see an old land barge with a half-ton iron V-8 cruising around in the summer in southern Germany.

Automotive vignette No.5

1936 DKW (part of what would become Audi) K600 Zweisitzer.
Note the independent suspension with front-wheel drive.

 

Strange sightings

1967 Mustang, as seen parked on the street in Westhausen, B-W

Automotive vignette No.4

FIAT 500 Abarth

Automotive vignette No.3

1960 Borgward Isabella Coupe

Saw this at a car show that was put on by a local club in Nördlingen at the Bayerisches Eisenbahnmuseum last month.

It has a 1.5l four cylinder engine that produces 75hp, four speed transmission and could hit 150km/h top speed, and I'm guessing it could do it for extended periods.

Automotive vignette No.2

1960 Borgward Isabella Coupe

Automotive vignette No.1

1960 Borgward Isabella Coupe taillight.

Get this straight

I don't want any of your deals, Barry, so leave me the fuck out of a business transaction that you clearly don't have any business in, asshole.

Better get whatever vehicles you think you might need for the foreseeable future, and make sure you pick a good one, 'cuz if we are in for anything like the 70's cars that this heap of trash article is touting, you'll be caving in your own skull with a hammer.

And for those out there who either are willfully glib about the actual history of, or are too young to remember the 70's and the cars that were produced during that era, let me just say plainly that most of the attempts at getting domestic autos to conform to an era of higher gasoline prices were an abysmal failure, not to mention the suspect reliability and performance of same.

Let's not go back there.

I'm all in.

It kinda ruins the whole bit by insisting on the selection being from new cars entirely, as I'd surely be trying to pick some stuff from the vintage bin, but in the interest of playing along...

1) 2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302. - It's First. End of story. I have that Blue Blood disease, and that's all there is to it.

2)Porsche 911 Carrera GTS. I'll take the more sedate route with this one, as opposed to Marko. And since I'd have all this disposable income, I guess I'd buy it and leave it in Krauterland, at the other house, and use it when we visit the wife's fam and stuff. Need something to tootle around in to see the sights and stuff.

3)Ford F250. Yes, a 3/4 ton pickup, and fuck you if you think it's a stupid idea! I'll take one with the crew cab and in diesel, I suppose, but I'm bummed about the lack of a manual transmission...but I'm fairly certain no one else is. I needs one of these for firewood duty. And to haul stuff from the lumber mill. And dead-car carcasses, since I'll obviously have a bunch of free time to work on hobby cars after winning the lottery or inventing the Internet. Or something. :)

4)Expedition EL (Wow, I'm not too bashful about the Fords!). I'll take this one because I just plain like the idea of being able to haul an insane amount of crap around, across vast distances, and still have plenty of leg room in the back seats. Just because.

5)Finally, and I can't believe I'm actually suggesting a British marque in this, I'd just have to take an Aston Martin DB9, because, as Jeremy Clarkson said, it's not really a (race) car, it's just "pornography," of the automotive type. And a beautiful thing to behold it is. Imagine, taking the wife out for a night at the symphony, and saying, "Shall we take the Aston?" Just too cool.

I'd have to give a bit more thought to a list of the all-time greatest, and I'd definitely need more than just five to fill out the stable.

The short answer

Q: "Why does the government want to destroy your automobile's engine?"

A: Since the Gummint now has its fingers in the game of auto production, they'd like to sell you a new car in the shortest possible interval.

If the shoe fits...

I'm not entirely sure that's the case, actually, as the situation, as I'm seeing it anyway, has been a Pandora's box, with the expected result of creating more problems than the inclusion of ethanol in our fuel could ever solve. Government has a long history of ignoring the immutable law of unintended consequences, and this instance is really no different.