[Shaddim]

Originally Posted by mattyb 

It would be so nice to not have to quibble over $20K. You ever want to adopt a son Shaddim?

I have a child and she's quite a handful. Between the teething and the Sesame Street, I'm at my wit's end. A real shocker is her proficiency with sounds, she says pa-pa, na-na, Emm (her name), "boos" which we believe means juice, and countless other words that we don't understand yet. Also, she stands with the help of the sides of her playpen, and laughs and "dances" (bobs up and down) to music. Her favorite album is Graceland by Paul Simon, so her taste is impeccable.

You know, you think you understand love and your capacity for love, and then you have a baby and all that goes out the window.

Oh, I ordered this: 5843/width/350/height/700[/IMG]

It's not in yet, but she'll be set for motoring with me in the 458 when it does.

[olePigeon]

Didn't you watch Doctor Who? She's just announcing her presence: Pentifax the Destroyer of Civilizations!

[Shaddim]

I think that comes along later with the terrible 2s. Right now she's: Buttercup the Drooling yet Benevolent.

She produces as much saliva as a pack of English bulldogs.

[Doc HM]

So here's my two recent car tales both related to clients.

Got called out to a large anonymous industrial unit locally to rescue a sick Mac. Pulled up outside, looked perfectly normal, apart from the fact that instead of the usual Ford Mondeo etc employee cars in the parking bays there were a couple of mint looking Lancia Aurelias. Very nice. So, I pop inside expecting to see a typical light industrial setup to be greeted by a large white operating theatre clean space full of, well... there was a whole line of 1930'3 Bentleys in various stages of strip down, a row of more Lancias and other assorted italians. About a dozen Astons in bits, DB4's etc plus a Zagato, and two Ferrari Daytona race cars in the middle plus a deeply gorgeous small window Samba VW bus.

Fixed Mac, had excellent chat with the owner, no photos allowed, and looked longingly at Nicholas Cages old jaguar SS. Brilliant

Secondly, another of my client appears to be Shad's twin. He collects cars like other people collect, well, bottletops I suppose. His daily is a Porsche Carrera 2.7 RS (white), plus an assortment of 50s yank stuff and a lovely Willis Jeep that actually made the beach on D- Day. ANyway, I'm fixing his Mac and he rolls up trailering a Porsche 604 (that won LeMans in the 60's apparently). He's been looking for one for ages. Upon collecting it he discovered that the owner also had a Ferrari F40 but would only sell that if he also took three or four other Ferraris as a job lot. So he did.

It would be easy to look at both these clients and jealously say, yeah, bloody rich kids splurging money, but to chat with them you get to experience their real love of these cars, they collect and use them every day and have a huge passion for them.

Anyway, that's my two pennys worth.

[Shaddim]

Oh, the car seat is just for a little fun. A good friend made a joke after seeing one advertised and asked why we hadn't gotten one yet. Frankly, the 458 is crap for slow city driving, which is what I'm doing when the bambina is with me. In fact, all the supercars are garbage for that type of thing. The M5 is fantastic for road trips, but it's like driving a barge compared to the feel of a sports coupe. That's why I ordered the 911, its mild-manneredness around town is amazing. At some point I'm going to get me an MP4 Spider, though, that's a real tech marvel.

John Daniel clothiers has a garage filled with some neat exotics, including various McLaren MP4 racers and a real F1, in original McLaren orange. You walk in and you get the feeling you're in a shrine of some sort, and they never drive the F1. Which is a crying shame. Every time I go I make an offer on it but the Sr. Daniel won't hear of it.

[Shaddim]

It just so happened that the Auburn seller emailed me this morning and then I talked with him on the phone for a while. Really nice guy, retired railroad engineer who then became a Presbyterian minister. He had envisioned fun Sunday drives with his granddaughters, but his daughter's family all up and moved across country due to career changes. It's rather sad, because now all of his kids live 1000s of miles away.

Anyway, he's selling and I'm giving him what he paid for it, less transport expenses, which is an attractive price. He's hauling it down this week, he doesn't live too far away, and I'm tickled to get it.

[Shaddim]

Can't believe I forgot to post this. And now...the news!

Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond, a.k.a. the Top Gear blokes, have signed a new three-year deal to continue hosting the globally popular BBC2 program. The new deal specifies that Hammond and May will receive a share of Top Gear commercial revenue in exchange for promoting the show internationally.

http://www.autoblog.com/2012/10/01/clarkson-hammond-and-may-sign-new-3-year-bbc-deal-to-host-top-g/

Hell yes! Frankly, if they were going to let the boys just walk, I would have offered to go in with Jezza and help bankroll the show. We'd get that sucker moved to the History Channel, I have friends at Hearst, if the BBC decided they didn't want to play ball. I was chatting with James May, and even though I didn't get specifics, it's a good deal for him and the Hamster. Though they aren't upset or bitter, they love doing the show, it is gratifying to them that they now have a percentage stake in it and the media rights. I'm quite happy for them.

[imitchellg5]

Jeremy Clarkson tweeted that that article isn't accurate... I want it to be though.

[Shaddim]

I'm looking at Jeremy's Tweets and he said this:

I hope everyone noticed that Hammond, May and I negotiated new contracts without looking ****ing miserable. Lewis.

(Which includes a jab at Hamilton for bailing on McLaren.) Unless he's tweeted from a different account, Clarkson hasn't mentioned anything else on the matter.

And May has signed, he said so to me, and included that it was for 3 years. I didn't get financial specifics, but I didn't ask or expect any.

[knifecarrier2]

This is out of date, but if you haven't seen it:

[VIDEO]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0urFhQjZ7Y0[/VIDEO]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0urFhQjZ7Y0

[andi*pandi]

you keep it pretty tidy. The plant is a nice touch and I like your dog. how many of those cars are yours?

[ShortcutToMoncton]

So you simply live in a car shop? Do you rent or own the building? I'm mildly curious as to how that works - isn't there some sort of regulatory scheme that would presumably prohibit this sort of thing? Municipal zoning, etc? Commercial building inspections? Or do you live out in the sticks and no one really bothers to enforce or implement that?

My initial thought was "wonder what the air quality's like?" In particular because there's actual work going on. My good family friend has his own body shop that I used to help him maintain when I was a kid - with a large venting system, etc. etc. and so on. He's had some respiratory problems after hitting 60 though, likely because of his accumulated years of not bothering to wear his proper respiratory protection.

[Shaddim]

I practically live in my shop now, it's fun. Since I'm becoming an old fart and spend the lion's share of my time either babysitting or messing with hobbies, it's a great place to be. We have a big playpen in there filled with the baby's toys, so she chews on those and watches endless amounts of Sesame Street. This mixed in with Big Bird has helped me keep my sanity, awesome, awesome stuff. I setup a cheap 100 disc DVD changer from ebay and hooked it up to the 65" plasma in the shop, and filled it with Sesame Street, the Muppet Show, Sid the Science Kid, Curious George, and Little Einsteins. No Barney, I'm not letting Emma be exposed to that big purple douche.

Update on the Tesla. The delivery company called and said they'll have it here Monday morning and the installer for the charger will be here that evening. So it's all a go. I'm excited.

[Shaddim]

Oh, I'm getting a new project car, one of my favorite muscle cars ever built, a `73 De Tomaso Pantera. It's rough, in and out, but does turn over. Has the original 351 Cleveland and an upgraded heavy duty ZF tranny. This will be a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to it.

I'm really liking the Auburn, it's a cool car. No real power whatsoever, but that's not the point. It's very elegant and a blast to cruise around in. We were going to go out later today in its inaugural family ride through Cade's Cove, but between my stomach virus and the weather we'll have to put that off until maybe next week.

[Shaddim]

Oh, forgot to drop in with this. The Model S is amazingly, obnoxiously quick. I'd put it up against any sports sedan in acceleration. It's very comparable to my M5, which technically has it beat in raw specs. It doesn't feel like a boat, either. It's very crisp and composed for its size and weight. Plus it's so quiet, it's spooky. It's so strange to drive that it almost feels wrong, there's no way it should be this cool, but it is. FYI, keeping your foot buried in the throttle eats up battery life like no other. 300 miles? Not the way I drive. Heh. If you aren't acting like a fool, however, it's much more economical and that number is probably realistic. And looks... daaaaamn.

6013/width/350/height/700[/IMG]


If you're looking for a nice up-scale family sedan, and you don't need it for long trips, you must consider one. Seriously.

[imitchellg5]

I just spent a week with a 2013 Kia Optima base model and was blown away by it. It has the same horsepower as my Accord (200) but weighs about 400 lbs more yet it felt more powerful somehow. I got 31 mpg combined, even with a good amount of sitting in city traffic. I'd really like to have one, but no stick shift is on offer, and it starts at $21,500, so about $10k more than my budget, ha ha. Such a good looking car, and the paint was probably the best I've seen this side of Audi.

[iMOTOR]

^ Santa Cruz Mountains?

[Shaddim]

Originally Posted by imitchellg5 

I just spent a week with a 2013 Kia Optima base model and was blown away by it. It has the same horsepower as my Accord (200) but weighs about 400 lbs more yet it felt more powerful somehow. I got 31 mpg combined, even with a good amount of sitting in city traffic. I'd really like to have one, but no stick shift is on offer, and it starts at $21,500, so about $10k more than my budget, ha ha. Such a good looking car, and the paint was probably the best I've seen this side of Audi.

It might be the torque. The Tesla feels a lot more powerful than its numbers.

[sek929]

Originally Posted by imitchellg5 

I just spent a week with a 2013 Kia Optima base model and was blown away by it. It has the same horsepower as my Accord (200) but weighs about 400 lbs more yet it felt more powerful somehow. I got 31 mpg combined, even with a good amount of sitting in city traffic. I'd really like to have one, but no stick shift is on offer, and it starts at $21,500, so about $10k more than my budget, ha ha. Such a good looking car, and the paint was probably the best I've seen this side of Audi.

I'm obviously a bit biased, but I think the Optima is one damn fine looking car. Haven't ridden in one, but they sure are purty from the outside.

[imitchellg5]

Originally Posted by sek929 

I'm obviously a bit biased, but I think the Optima is one damn fine looking car.  Haven't ridden in one, but they sure are purty from the outside.

Well, it was designed by Peter Schreyer, who designed the original Audi TT, the 1998-2003 A6, and the VW Golf IV, among others. He was one of Europe's cleanest designers back in the day and his touch is apparent in the Optima as well. Though the interior, IMO, looks very Saab (which I like).

[Shaddim]

We were talking about car forums a while back. Well, here's my biggest problem concerning them, when their sponsors find out that you own some of these cars the PM and email spam becomes unreal. To stop that, you have to block all PMs, which means other owners can't talk with you in private. I was told "if you pay a forum subscription we'll block the sponsor PMs", so I did that. Well, that stopped the "official" spam PMs, but then they resort to spamming from alt accounts. I PMed the mods to complain and was ignored, I emailed the forum main staff and they said "we'll look into it". I don't think they can or will do jackshit, and in the mean time I'm getting spammed to hell and back. The only thing I can do is put the users who spam me on ignore, but then they just make new accounts. F*CK, I hate car forums.

[Matt Sargent]

This is my Buick Rainier SUV with an experimental camera rig on it from a couple of years ago.

6099/width/350/height/700[/IMG]

6100/width/350/height/700[/IMG]

The camera rig was used to shoot the videos seen on LeftLaneNews.com.

[OAW]

If my pockets were deep enough to even remotely consider dropping $1.5 - 2 million on a car it would be this ....







The Aston-Martin One-77 is one beautiful beast of a machine!

OAW

[Matt Sargent]

The Jag XJL is a lot of fun and has an excellent interior.

6118/width/350/height/700[/IMG]

[Shaddim]

The newer Astons are okay and I dig the One-77. Funny thing, I had the chance to buy one, but by the time all the fees, dealer charges, etc. were added it was north of $2M, around 2.3. That's kinda nutty. I'd possibly consider a one-off Bugatti or McLaren for that...

Speaking of, I have to spend some money by end of year, and I've been talking with the guys at Phillie McLaren about a 12C Spider. That's such an incredible car. I'm not crazy about the looks of the coupe, but without the top it's a different story.

I want blue, but I'm not sure which blue. Any thoughts? (The interior is set, I really like the combination.)

6157/width/350/height/700[/IMG]6158/width/350/height/700[/IMG]
6159/width/350/height/700[/IMG]

[BLAZE_MkIV]

I love the lighter blue. At least in those photos. The darker blue doesn't contrast well with the grill / louver accent grey.

[reader50]

Those pictures appear to be under showroom lighting, not outdoor light. The medium blue looks better, but I'll bet the darker blue looks better in sunlight.

[Shaddim]

The lighter is VERY blue in sunlight.

6164/width/350/height/700[/IMG]

The problem is that most of the ones being bought here are that shade.

[Shaddim]

My wife's design. I kinda like it, some McLaren orange inside as a nod to the F1.

6165/width/350/height/700[/IMG]6166/width/350/height/700[/IMG]

[knifecarrier2]

Originally Posted by Shaddim 

Oh, I'm getting a new project car, one of my favorite muscle cars ever built, a `73 De Tomaso Pantera. It's rough, in and out, but does turn over. Has the original 351 Cleveland and an upgraded heavy duty ZF tranny. This will be a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to it.
I'm really liking the Auburn, it's a cool car. No real power whatsoever, but that's not the point. It's very elegant and a blast to cruise around in. We were going to go out later today in its inaugural family ride through Cade's Cove, but between my stomach virus and the weather we'll have to put that off until maybe next week.

They're fun, but I hate the ergonomics. The front wheel well comes into the footwell so much that the pedals are off towards teh center of the car, and I just feel crooked driving them. They look great and mecahnically are excellent, but christ it feels weird to have your legs bent.

[OAW]

The lighter blue most definitely.

OAW

[Shaddim]

Thanks for the input.

I was reading there's a waiting list of over 2 years on them, but the salesman told me that's the list for dealer allocation, whatever that means. Made me worry for a minute.

In a last minute change, I went with the Sapphire Black. I was shown a private pic of one in sunlight and it's jaw-dropping. It looks like millions of stars trapped in a deep ocean of blue. Just spectacular.

6185/width/350/height/700[/IMG]

So, what I've ended up with, is this:

6186/width/350/height/700[/IMG]6187/width/350/height/700[/IMG]

[reader50]

Congrats on the car. Give us a pic of the full car in sunlight if you can.

btw, I hope you have a good security system at your place. Don't tell us where you live. Don't tell anyone. Have the pizza delivered to the neighbor's house.

[Shaddim]

It'll be a whiiiiile. Though I don't have to wait until 2015, it could be several months. We're secretive about location, and security/surveillance is anything but lightweight.

Originally Posted by knifecarrier2 

They're fun, but I hate the ergonomics. The front wheel well comes into the footwell so much that the pedals are off towards teh center of the car, and I just feel crooked driving them. They look great and mecahnically are excellent, but christ it feels weird to have your legs bent.

I like the pedal position, it's fairly similar to the Gallardo, with the gas and brake so close together. The clutch is a beast, it's what you'd expect from a Caterpillar, or something like that.

[imitchellg5]

One of the few cars that looks fantastic as a convertible. Actually the size of the opening reminds of an older 911 Targa, but presumably without the leaks.

OTOH, if you have an extra money you HAVE to spend, you could always get me this.

[Shaddim]

It's a tax thing, it's in my best interest to capitalize some investments, so I kind of have a "Brewster's" situation. It's ironic that being too frugal has its issues too. That's a good thing though, as it puts more money into the economy.

The coupe 12C didn't do much for me, even in person, but the spider is a looker. It's funny how that relatively small change can have such an impact. IMO, it's the exact opposite for the 458, it loses something as a convertible, even with the top up, and looks much more striking as a coupe. Weird how that works.

Oh, and if I buy you one I have to buy one for everybody else. That is a cool little hatch.

[imitchellg5]

Originally Posted by Shaddim 

It's a tax thing, it's in my best interest to capitalize some investments, so I kind of have a "Brewster's" situation. It's ironic that being too frugal has its issues too. That's a good thing though, as it puts more money into the economy.
The coupe 12C didn't do much for me, even in person, but the spider is a looker. It's funny how that relatively small change can have such an impact. IMO, it's the exact opposite for the 458, it loses something as a convertible, even with the top up, and looks much more striking as a coupe. Weird how that works.
Oh, and if I buy you one I have to buy one for everybody else. That is a cool little hatch.

I haven't seen the MP4-12C of any form in person or the 458 cabriolet in person, but the 458 coupe is one the prettiest cars I've ever seen. But in photos the convertible doesn't look even remotely as good as the coupe.

Yes, I quite like them. Volvo are stopping building them in December though

[reader50]

Shaddim, why don't you keep a monthly log of the odometers. It would be interesting to see which cars get driven regularly.

I'm particularly interested about the Tesla - if it ends up being used for routine travel.

[Shaddim]

The Tesla is in the main garage and is Kim's DD now (she's a hardcore Greenie), so it's going to be driven a lot. So far she loves it, it's just taking time for her to adjust to the power, coming from the Mini, and the regenerative braking takes a little getting used to. It already tracks all of that, so it's no problem to get the stats. One thing that's weird is it'll do automatic system updates and add features overnight (it connects to my wifi network when parked). Like "oh, hey, a GPS upgrade" or "wow, the seats have memory now". Very soon its firmware will update to LTE, as I understand it, so that should be cool. If you have a newer iPhone the Bluetooth connectivity is seamless too. I'd like to see 100% Siri integration, it's already pretty decent, and they're supposedly working with Apple on that.

[Shaddim]

One thing to note is that I drive them all regularly, though some are a lot easier to live with as a DD than others. It may be surprising, but the Gallardo is a very manageable car around town. The clutch is a little heavy, but the gear box is awesome. I haven't had a lick of reliability issues either, even with the mods and SC installed. I put over 7k miles on that car last year. In comparison, I've put about the same number of miles on the M5 and it's already been in the shop twice for repairs (once for a sticky front brake and again for an on-board computer glitch).

[imitchellg5]

The F10 M5 or E60 (or E39)?

[angelmb]

Originally Posted by imitchellg5 

OTOH, if you have an extra money you HAVE to spend, you could always get me this.

So the C30 has finally grown on you.

[imitchellg5]

Originally Posted by angelmb 

So the C30 has finally grown on you. 

Ha ha. I posted that only a couple weeks after I got rid of my 850 Turbo... I think I was still bitter about its death. I think I still would rather have the S40 as a practical matter, but seeing that the C30 is about to die, it made me sad that such a unique and somewhat rare car will be gone now. I will say though that I don't really care for the rear end still. My favorite part about the C30 (and what was my favorite about my 850) is the silky 5 cylinder and its sound.

[Shaddim]

Originally Posted by imitchellg5 

The F10 M5 or E60 (or E39)?

`12 F10, I traded the M3.

[imitchellg5]

Oh I see. I see a blue E39 all the time in Seattle and I love it. I like the way the F10 looks but there are too many electronics for my tastes, but at least it isn't as complex as the E60 was.

[Shaddim]

McLaren obviously has no problem calling me for info at 4:00 in the AM. Fortunately I was already up making coffee. Got to admire their CS, though, and at least she was pleasant.

Originally Posted by imitchellg5 

Oh I see. I see a blue E39 all the time in Seattle and I love it. I like the way the F10 looks but there are too many electronics for my tastes, but at least it isn't as complex as the E60 was.

It is very computerized, but surprisingly good handling, despite all the electronic gizmos. As a grand tourer it's the best I've driven. I wish it were a little lighter, weighing in at near 4300lbs, but that's about it.

[P]

Originally Posted by imitchellg5 

Ha ha. I posted that only a couple weeks after I got rid of my 850 Turbo... I think I was still bitter about its death. I think I still would rather have the S40 as a practical matter, but seeing that the C30 is about to die, it made me sad that such a unique and somewhat rare car will be gone now. I will say though that I don't really care for the rear end still. My favorite part about the C30 (and what was my favorite about my 850) is the silky 5 cylinder and its sound.

Well, the S40 is not dying, it is already dead. The C30 lives a little longer. The replacement V40 is a very very good car, but I don't think it's headed to the US just yet.

[imitchellg5]

Originally Posted by P 

Well, the S40 is not dying, it is already dead. The C30 lives a little longer. The replacement V40 is a very very good car, but I don't think it's headed to the US just yet.

Well yes, though my Volvo dealer here said there is enough backlog in the system to last several months for the S40. I think the V40 is stunning in every way and I'd love to have one, but it'd be years before I'd be able to afford one. Plus I've heard it won't be coming here at all.

[olePigeon]

Originally Posted by reader50 

Congrats on the car. Give us a pic of the full car in sunlight if you can.
btw, I hope you have a good security system at your place. Don't tell us where you live. Don't tell anyone. Have the pizza delivered to the neighbor's house.

My step-mom got to ride in an F1 when my dad was car shopping. When she was getting out, she asked how you lock the door. The salesman replied, "If you live in a place where you have to lock your door, you can't afford this car."

[Shaddim]

Originally Posted by olePigeon 

My step-mom got to ride in an F1 when my dad was car shopping. When she was getting out, she asked how you lock the door. The salesman replied, "If you live in a place where you have to lock your door, you can't afford this car."

The problem isn't so much where you live, owners of such cars (valued at $3M+) have amazing security systems for their garages, it's where you're driving. With a vehicle like that you can't just pop in to a store or restaurant while you're out and about, at least not without someone staying behind to babysit it. While they're awesome to own, they can be a PITA too. A Knoxville businessman owns an F1, I've ridden in it, and he's hyper-paranoid over the thing. He won't even take it out on certain days of the week, or times of the day (due to heavier traffic). It's a damned shame too, the bright orange beast should be seen and enjoyed.

6324/width/350/height/700[/IMG]

(just an example, his isn't an LM and doesn't have the rear spoiler)