Category: cars

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The Ferrari Paradox

Ferrari F12 BerlinettaI’ve always been a car guy.

When I was a younger man, I reflected on the injustice of old men driving super-fast cars while no longer possessing the quick reflexes to fully exploit their machines’ potential.

Young men generally can’t afford supercars. Old men no longer have the responsibilities of paying for their kids’ soccer team fees, college tuitions, braces, etc. So if they have a substantial income, that lifelong dream of owning a drivable work of art may come true.

But they can’t drive them as fast as those fire-breathing dragons deserve.

I propose that older male Ferrari owners host track days for young men in their early twenties to enjoy a lap or two.

Come on, you can afford it.

And invite me. I’m not in my twenties, but…

Photo courtesy of frankenspotter. Creative Commons licensed via Flickr.

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Shift it yourself

manual shifting jaguar roadsterA shift has been under way for years in automotive culture – the move from manual transmissions to automatics.

At the Denver Auto Show, Jaguar was so proud of offering a car with a manual transmission that they plastered that fact on the door.

I made the shift myself about five years ago. I used to love manual transmissions. The old story was that you could squeeze more performance and fuel economy out of your vehicle with a manual transmission. Now it’s the opposite for many newer vehicles.

And there’s the drawback of the pain of shifting in stop-and-go traffic. My last two years in Nairobi, Kenya taught me that it’s no fun to keep shifting over and over in heavy traffic. I almost vowed to never get a manual transmission again.

Then again, if someone offered me a new Mazda Miata with a manual for free, I would not turn them down.

Tip: One way to save fuel with an automatic transmission is to pop it into neutral while going down a mild hill. (Use this tip at your own risk. Results may vary. Some users have been known to have increased blood pressure.)

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Thoughtless

A few weeks back, my car was in the shop for some body work. (An unfortunate accident had occurred that meant some repairs were due.)

I took advantage of my insurance company’s connection with Enterprise Rentals to get a quirky car to drive during the repairs – the Fiat 500L.

Overall, I enjoyed the car’s quirkiness. (It had a few quality issues, but that’s another story.)

fiat 500l drivers manualThe manual was completely worthless – a CD. When inserted into the car’s CD drive, it would not do anything except display an error message. The only way to view the contents was to bring it home and put it into a computer with a CD slot. Then a program had to be installed to make it run!

What happens when a driver is 50 miles from nowhere and has a flat tire? The compressor in the back (no spare tire) had no instructions.

Fiat – please do a little more thinking next time!

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It’s not worth it

nature box snacksFree is something that sometimes motivates me. Who doesn’t want to get something without paying for it, as long as it’s not stolen?

But few things are really free.

I subscribed to the snack service Graze for free. The snacks were OK, but were priced far more than the tastier (and less healthy) snacks I buy at the grocery store. Also, more than one-fourth were not tasty. So I unsubscribed before the trial period ended.

An ad for Nature Box on This American Life*motivated me to visit their site. I concluded that it was too similar to Graze to make me want to hassle with unsubscribing later.

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If you are a frequent reader of Shiny Bits of Life, you know that I love cars. And since car manufacturers have deep pockets, they throw the occasional free promotion at people like me. One of my favorite free things was a test drive of the latest 3-series, when BMW was doing a national promotional tour. No sales person sat next to me while I pushed the car to its limits. A free cap was waiting at the end of the ride.

Aaah.

– –

* This American Life is a podcast and radio show on National Public Radio, for people outside of the USA.

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My dream truck

© 2014 Paul Merrill
I didn’t take time to make it really convincing in Photoshop.

But I think you get my point – why not go even bigger and badder? (Meanwhile, I continue to drive my little car – and live in fear of such machines.)

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One way to save millions of dollars

ford-lotAbout once a week for about a year, I rode my bicycle past this completely full car lot. All these cars cannot even be seen by the public from the dealership’s already ample lot. This is an overflow lot on a side street.

There are two reasons why this dealership has about $3,000,000 worth of trucks and cars constantly sitting in that lot: 1) They want buyers to be able to buy a purple model with or without a sunroof today and not go to another dealership; and 2) Ford essentially requires them to keep that much inventory through various arcane regulations.

Europe is not that way. You may have to schedule an appointment three days in advance to test drive the car you are considering. But that’s the system, and people are used to it.

One system is built upon instant gratification. The other system is built on high real estate values.

All I know is that this kind of American excess breaks my heart.

I took about 20 photos of this lot under various lighting conditions. Maybe someday I’ll create wallpaper or something with those pictures.

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When fantasy does not work

yellow ferrari 458When I was a teenage boy, my peers had posters of the Lamborghini Countach on their bedroom walls. I had a poster of Eddy Merckx winning the Tour de France on a Gitane bicycle.

Lamborghinis and Ferraris have long been the desire of countless men (and fewer women) worldwide. If you want to buy a new Ferrari, there is an 18-month waiting list, even if you have the money!

But such cars are not the objects of my fantasy. They don’t appeal to me as much as the new Honda Fit. Why? The Fit is attainable. In my wildest dreams, I will never have enough funds to own or lease an Italian supercar. Even if my income increased dramatically, it would take a massive shift in my personal worldview to allow spending that kind of money on pure fun.

Like last week’s post, I do appreciate the art of such beautiful machines. And normal cars benefit from the boundary-stretching work that goes into the creators of supercars pushing the edges of automotive performance.

I find beauty in the simple functionality and efficiency of the Honda Fit. “Doing more with less” describes how the Fit goes about its mission. And it’s fun to drive, as well!

I shot this Ferrari 458 at “my” local Ferrari dealer.

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Car fun

BMW i3Two of my kids recently joined me for a fun day at the Denver Auto Show. Even though Rachel may not be considered a typical car fan, she loved our time together. Part of the appeal for her was free promotional stuff. Car2Go gave her lip balm, Scion provided headphones, and we shared the Visa gift card I got for test driving a new Lincoln crossover. (I was surprised at how much I liked the small SUV.)

We enjoyed pushing buttons and seeing and feeling the design of cars I had only experienced through magazines and websites. There is a lot to be said for real life compared to photos. Even though Ben disagreed with me, Jaguar’s interiors seemed to have no where near the quality compared to BMW or Mercedes. And Maserati’s rich design details showed a depth of emotion that German cars can’t touch. Though owning such cars will never be part of my life, I appreciate the beauty and technology they represent. (The photo shown is the BMW i3, a new electric car. BMW was kind enough to let the public experience the interior, though the car is not yet for sale.)

So go to the nearest car show. Even if you’re not a “car person,” you might enjoy a no-pressure test drive of a car you would never buy.

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Old cars vs. new cars

Ford Galazy 500I snapped this old beauty on the way to work a week or so ago. I love the blocky style of the mid-1960s Ford Galaxy 500. It weighs enough to stop a tank, should the driver encounter one on his way to work. It has no airbags or shoulder belts, so his safety was in his own hands.

I do love the style of old cars. But they pollute. The gas coming out of the tailpipe is significantly more polluting than what a modern car produces. Paris, Santa Barbara, California and Texas all have programs to take old cars off the road.

But it’s not necessarily an easy equation. Sometimes keeping your not-very-new car may be more environmental than buying a new one, because of the environmental impact of manufacturing a car (details).

I would totally support a ban on really old cars being daily drivers, or maybe a tax on using them as commuter cars. That would keep the environment cleaner. And the drivers would have less chance of getting in an accident and ruining that piece of history. Additionally, fewer drivers are out on the weekends, so each drive would be more pleasurable. Why not create an old car sharing club and split which weekends you get the old beauties? Then you will have some variety in which ancient iron you take to the highway.

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Dreaming

1971 Honda SedanI love small cars. I love Hondas. But I don’t love this car, that I spotted on a local street. The owner was (and probably still is) asking $7,500 for this old gem. It may be “All REBUILT” – but you would have to be very much in love with this particular car to pay the asking price.

Yes, it’s quirky. Yes, it’s very small (smaller than an original Mini), but it would take about three times longer to get from stoplight to stoplight than with just about any new car on the road today. Getting a simple oil change would be an exercise in frustration, as parts are rare, even in Japan! And you could get a used Honda Fit for even less than that price and get about the same good fuel economy.

So before you take a deep dive into nostalgia, count the costs.

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