Car Guy Speaks

The last two land speed record holders for production cars were the Bugatti Veyron and the SSC Ultimate Aero TT.  Both provide the wealthy owner with over 1000hp and both can exceed 250 mph. Very impressive machines. Would they really be that fun to drive every single Sunday? I guess that depends on where you live and how honest you are about how you drive.  Are either of these the kind of car you want for your last sports car? I know, I shouted “hell yes” initially too, but I hear they are both a bitch to parallel park. No Bugatti pictured here.  Sorry.  Jerod Shelby is an acquaintance of mine.  The Ultimate Aero is clearly an American icon that will come to be worshiped. It takes an “old school” approach to electronic intervention. Without ABS or traction control, I’m told this car can spin the tires at 200mph if you're not careful. That translates into a raw experience of power and responsibility that could certainl...

I think it was some time in 2004 or 5, I don’t really recall. Some relatives of mine came into some money.  Afraid of  the housing market, they came to me with a partially serious question. Should they invest in a Ford GT? I say partially serious because they really were looking for me to convince them. They liked the idea, but wanted a passionate push. I certainly was a fan of the Ford GT. It was Fords hi-tech tribute to the 60’s era GT40. I’m too young to remember, but history tells us it was used to decimate Ferrari at Lemans . This avenged Ford after the disgrace of Enzo Ferrari’s decision not sell his company to them. Sorry, I digress. You can look it up on Wikipedia. I’d long hoped that I could achieve financial independence swapping cars over time. So, have spent a good number of hours working on the probability of success in auto investing. Sadly, have never really come up with a plan that paid off for the modest investor like myself. The conclusion was once yo...

My M3's backup sensor is really cool. Or, at least it was, until last month when a droning beep showed up where the back-up sensing once was. Also cool were the tire pressure sensors. Pretty cool, until the constant flashing began, which is their way of telling me that they need service too. I'm too cheap to fix these optional features, but I cannot turn them off to ignore them either. Beep, beep, beep!  These inconvenient conveniences quickly loose there luster after that manufacturer's warranty expires. I personally think that these "nannies" will be the death of restoring vehicles, since not unlike your cell phone, they are upgraded and redesigned way too frequently. This recent frenzy of techno goodies leaves no time or interest to perfect or even repair them. We've all got a target timeframe for when cars were truly ideal, before they got too complicated. Your father might say fuel injection marked the end of automotive simplicity. It's true, you...

This week I was going to write about serviceability of your sports car, but after an interesting morning, I've changed my mind.  For the last several weeks, I've been shopping for a motorcycle and had made arrangements to view a classic BMW on Orcas Island.  Now, this involves a 2 hour drive with 2 ferry boat rides. In other words, a long trip to buy a motorcycle! After making reservations for the 6:30am ferry, I emailed the seller to confirm. He replied with a curt email stating that I better not be planning any negotiations and that I better have cash. I was prepared to pay asking price, but of course, I intended to negotiate for my travel and registration fees, if possible. Bottom line, I cancelled the purchase because I couldn't see myself enjoying it, knowing that I'd be buying it from this grumpy fellow. So, back to cars now... It was 1 week before our big road trip to Utah and I'd decided that this year I wasn't going to get caught in the rain with m...

How much attention should your car get you? As much as Elvis, or as little as your friendly neighborhood postal worker? No offense to postal workers but we rarely wave to them when they drive past. Most of us want a car that people notice, it’s the level of attention we want that varies. You may think you want the same attention as a Viper engulfed in flames at a stop light, but think hard. You can expect people to tell you the same stories and ask the same questions over and over again and that can get old. Also, the car you choose will determine the types of people and the nature of the conversations you're going to have. Remember, this could be your last car, so be prepared for what you'll get. When I took my wife on her first ride in the Cobra, I remember telling her "Now, I will concentrate on the driving while you wave at all the people." She kind of rolled her eyes (this was our second date) and I later learned that she thought I was pretty full of myself. ...

Let's be sure about what you’re really going to be doing with your car. While track capabilities are impressive, don’t let the tail wag the dog. Your track days may be far less frequent than your imagination tells you. If track ability is affecting your street ability think hard about which way you’ll be going and how often. I finished the Cobra and found I needed to get some serious track time. After all, I’d spent a lot on options that I’d only see used at the track. The events at SIR (now called Pacific Raceways) hosted by Don Kitch were great. I enjoyed the theory of driving the perfect line and read the requisite material Speed Secrets, by Ross Bentley with enthusiasm. The popularity of the Cobra was enjoyable too, especially since these people were my kind of folks. Their appreciation of my project was much more gratifying than that of the vagrants swarming me at stoplights in Seattle. These were my people. After a year of going to every track day I could afford, I ...