Category: Cars

I am a “car guy”… I love old cars.

126 MPG, and no, we can’t buy or drive it in the USA. WTF?

308 HDi

I’m talking about the Peugeot 308 HDi.

Yes, I know that Peugeot has not been available for decades here in the USA, but my point is the self-defeating regulations that have been put in place that limit the American car buying market. We’ve erected trade barriers in the guise of safety and emissions that have excluded the very technologies we need the most. The EURO/NCAP safety regs are adequate for our roads as much as theirs. California’s emissions laws are the tail that wags the dog here in the USA. The result? we get Smart cars that average 37 MPG instead of the 70 MPG they enjoy in Europe. We get mid-sized sedans that strain to reach 20 MPG, whereas they have ones that enjoy 35 to 40 MPG.

Why not just scrap all these regs, adopt the European standards and open our market to these imports? Do we really think we’re protecting a domestic industry anymore?

Car Photo of the Day: By Dawn’s Early Light.

When the 2007 GTTSR left Banff, Alberta I had talked with Philippe Reyns and arranged to photograph his Jaguar XKSS. Shaun Redmond was at the wheel of the 65E and I was ready with my camera and favorite lens. As we left Highway 1 and climbed towards the pass leading to Radium Hot Springs in British Columbia the road straightened and the dawn light was … perfect. It was that magical golden crisp morning bright that makes everything look and feel … wonderful.

I motioned Philippe to pass me and starting right here the two Jaguars performed a pas de deux for the next several miles. I concentrated on shooting the ultra rare Coventry cat but for this shot I captured the scene itself and that amazing light.

Not the Cannonball, Day 6: WASHington & The Finish

After rain in the east, and snow in the west, the car is filthy:

The dirtiest Mercedes ever.

So after breakfast at the hotel and a gas stop at Costco, we head to the “Hippo Car Wash” in Coeur d’Alene to get the car cleaned up. They do a great job!
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Not the Cannonball, Day 6: Spinning through the Montana Snow

The car begins a climb up a mild grade. I can’t recall if it was me pushing the pedal just a bit more, or the automatic
transmission kicking down under the load, but the rear end kicks out just slightly to the right. Only a few minutes
before I had remarked to my father “it feels like I have more grip here.” Well all grip was now gone, and we’re starting
a lazy spin at about 45 MPH headed for the median between the lanes. Dad grabs the dashboard and says “oh god”
with obvious fear in his voice. Oddly I’m calm and have no feeling of dread. I really do not want
to cross the median and put us at risk of oncoming traffic. I manage to correct our counter-clockwise rotation, only
to exchange it for clockwise, but at least now we’re headed for the shoulder and not who ever is driving eastbound.
I am looking ahead, oddly through the driver’s side window and considering our options. I’m not in fear for us, so
much as I am the car. I’m calm and my brain is telling me what to do. “Don’t slam on the brakes.” “No crazy wheel
motions.” “You are going to be OK.” “Just find a soft landing spot, and aim for it.” We’re not really moving that
fast, and we’re wrapped in three thousand pounds of German steel. Mind you it is German steel that is tumbling like
an off-course V-1 rocket in a flat spin, but for some odd reason I have no fear for our health. I’m worried about
over-shooting the shoulder and going too far into the ditch. If that happens we could be stuck and seriously damage
the car. I’m also worried about running over any of the reflector posts spaced at intervals along the roadside.
I’m able to make minor adjustments to the car’s attitude but have no hope of recovering fully from the spin at this
point. I tell Dad, “Hang on.” I’ve got the spin stopped and now we’re just sliding sideways, but inexorably also
towards the shoulder. I’m completely off the pedals now and decide where I want to come to a stop. A place between
two reflector posts, and short of a dead tree in the ditch. As soon as the front tires hit the grass I brake and turn the
wheel to the left, which pivots the rear end forward and completes our 360° spin, bringing us to a halt with the car
facing the westbound direction of travel in the grass.

You ask yourself “How did we get here?”

Continue reading “Not the Cannonball, Day 6: Spinning through the Montana Snow”