Nihao comrade!

Earlier today I was flipping through the channels and found some weird program I've never heard of before, I think even PBS is more flashy than this show but anyways... A few reporters were interviewing a fellow named Michael Dunne author of: American Wheels Chinese Roads; The Story of General Motors in China. As the interview went on they discussed how apparently the Chinese will let an auto company in but the local government has a pretty large stake, almost half if i'm not mistaken, of control on the whole operation. Meaning that they share profits and to some extent even the technology. Apparently there are rumors that once they figure out how to build a Buick on their own they can kick out GM and end the partnership.

But to me whats interesting from all this is that since GM is still a quarter owned by the U.S. government, what we essentially have here is a nice camaraderie going on between the People's Republic and the U.S. tax payer. This sort of arrangement is more of what you would expect from South American Castro wannabe's, not one of Detroit's "Big 3". When we bailed out GM we essentially bailed out a state owned Chinese company along with it.
What's even worse is that recently GM purchased an estimated $400 million in shares of struggling French car manufacturer Peugeot-Citroen. The excuse is that GM will get "small car and hybrid" technology from the deal. Seriously? GM knows how to make small cars, they introduced the first 1.0 engine in the Brazilian market, just rolled out the Chevy volt and not to mention the partnership with Suzuki (Geo metro anyone?). So now the U.S tax payer owns parts of Communist and French state owned companies. But who's to blame? Congress, Bush and Obama all participated in Tarping GM so we can't blame a party. Perhaps deregulation? Maybe just ourselves for not keeping a closer eye on congress and fear politics.
But hey, at least its GM were talking about here, let the Chinese take all the "state of the art" Buick technology they want.

Credit to: Jonathan Karl http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/03/an-american-auto-bailout-for-france/

Brood of Vipers!

Got to spend the day at Willow Springs International raceway in Rosamond, CA. I was inquiring about the different racing school programs they offer and got to see a few fast cars on the track as well. Wish I could remember what association was there, I think it was West coast something rather.

 The school is called "Fast Lane" and is run by former racer and driving intructor Danny McKeever. The school is sponsored by Toyota and utilizes track ready Toyota Celicas, which you might have seen at the annual Toyota pro/celebrity races during the IRL Long Beach Grand Prix. Cost varies depending on what program you are looking for, they range from a $495 half day run to a complete 3 day SCCA license accreditation program. Its nice that Willow Springs has a small scale circuit called "Streets of Willow" where students start learning basic car control and after they get a better understanding they are eligible for programs at the full length track.

Open wheel affairs.

Indy, alas Indy or should I say Izod before I  can mention the series? Speaking of Izod, it's odd to see a clothing company as the main sponsor of a series. Can you imagine a GAP 500 at Daytona or a Tommy Hilfiger Cup series? Strange. Although I have much to say about a series that ran the same chassis, engine and tire for the past six years or so I must admit there might be some interesting changes that could make the league worth your time and money.

 The cars are brand new, designed by Dallara in Italy, and soon to be manufactured at a new facility in Indianapolis. Although they will all be the same, aside for some "aero kits", it should be exciting for the first few years at least. Engines are also new, and sound quite nice. They have more of a grunt compared to last year. Three manufacturers are set to  supply a combination of Turbo and naturally aspirated 4 and V6 engines running on E85 fuel. They include Chevy, Lotus and Honda. The cars look quite sleek, and one might even suggest nicer than the current platypus looking F1's. The words used by Indy directors was sexy, and to some extent I could agree. At first view they seem like something out of Paul Bartel's Death Race 2000 but once you see them in person, and get better acquainted, the lines make more sense.

If all the new technology wasn't enough, long time Formula One veteran Rubens Barrichello made a second appearance last weekend testing for Jimmy Vasser's KV racing team.  Apparently a deal is practically finished and it could mean extra T.V. ratings from a large Brazilian audience. Many who still root for Barrichello and want to see if he can redeem himself after 20 years in F1 without a championship. Not to dis-merit his over 300 Grand Prix resume, which is the current world record. Native supporters aside, who doesn't want to see a F1 driver going around circles in the U.S.?

It seems as if after a long time Indy  finally has a few exciting things going for it. Which comes in perfect timing considering many were questioning the leagues very existence after the fatal crash involving Dan Wheldon at Vegas last year. Although I think the changes are nothing spectacular its a humble start that could perhaps make it a true competitive racing environment once again, and not just a marketing tool for big companies.

Barrichello returning to pits.

HONESTY. Pass it on.

May Saab rest in peace. There should be a law prohibiting GM from buying car companies people care for. 

Cupid Union files cease and desist against Match.com

Happy Valentines! Ti's the time again. Grown men are out buying teddy bears, single people question life, lines at theaters make you feel like your entering a couple's therapy seminar. Our beloved grandma's are getting cakes, cupcakes and crayon scribbled cards from their grand kids. But when it comes to things with four wheels the first car that comes to mind when I thought of Valentines was the Citroen DS. Not sure why, maybe its the elegance of French design or maybe I saw a movie with one or something. Nevertheless they are quite beautiful cars, not screaming Ferrari beautiful, which have the same appeal as a Victoria's Secret model, but more like a model in a wedding dress or something. You get my drift, or not.

Got Techron?

Utah, somewhere along I-70.

Ever find yourself in the middle of nowhere and think you'll probably never be there again? And then a while goes by and next thing you find yourself  in the same exact spot? Strange feeling. First time I was in this random Chevron was at night, this time I could notice all the nice scenery around. Utah is really a nice place to drive through, specially the dedicated "speed test" zones with long stretches of highway with a 80 mph posted speed limit. (Anyone know of a higher speed limit in the U.S.?) I'm sure Montana or the other Canadian province sounding states must have something faster. Speed limits aside the scenery is incredible and some parts of the I-70 and I-15 stretch makes one feel like they're driving through some sort of  small scale Grand Canyon. A small town called Beaver claims to have the best tasting water around, didn't quite feel compelled to prove them wrong or right, but if your searching for some sort of American Evian then I suppose it would be a good place to start.

 If your feeling adventurous and don't mind getting your car full of salt, you can drive around the Bonneville Salt Flats just west of Salt Lake City. All you have to do is hop out of the freeway  and enjoy a 10 mile straight and 5 mile wide dried lake bed for your driving pleasure. Not sure if you can legally drive around as fast as you can, but I didn't notice any signs and after 2 hours of some very childish fun no one seemed to really care. I think they just figure the tourists need to get it out of their system and soon enough they'll get bored and leave. Anyways, always a pleasure to drive through this state.

???

Way to go, race in Helio Castroneves birth country and state and bash him as if he were some sort of novice driver. Wrong place, wrong time, hopefully this was an ill idea of a mechanic or other member of the team and not yours. 

"He managed to do that all on his own"

Who needs a trailer?

Market Street 1906

I received this on an email that claimed it to be the oldest movie produced. Not sure how accurate this statement is but it's quite a trip to watch. Supposedly it was recorded four days before the great San Francisco earth quake of 1906. Interesting to see the apparent lack of rules, imagine yourself trying to ride a horse down Market street today...

Poehali!

Great race last night, I was happy that Massa managed to finish in front of Alonso but upset that Petrov decided to go air born , perhaps he was excited about the upcoming 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's trip to space? At least it serves as a lesson to wait a while to get back on the tarmac, kinda of reminds me of riding a bike and having your front wheel drop from the sidewalk, you have to be patient. But I think the Russian is still in good standing with the team, if Vettel can mature so can Petrov.  I like the Renault-Lotus team, it's nostalgic to see the black lotus and I'm personally cheering for them this season. I'm not a big fan of Heidfeld but was glad to see him manage to take the team to the podium in the second race. We can only imagine how this season would be with Kubica. Pitty for Williams who hasn't finished a race this year, i'm sure some of the stock holders are scratching their heads wondering if the team was a good investment, i'm sure they will figure things out sooner or later.

Curious photo.

Built Ford Tough

The ruler prevails!!!

Yes, GM is continuing it's quest to make the Cadillac brand worth buying again. You have to  be pretty old or some sort of Soprano style gangster to relate the brand as top tier luxury but aiming to change this GM has unveiled this week at the North American Int. Auto Show a "racing car".  I admire the attempt but like the rest of GM's products to the american public, it lacks soul. Why do they insist on pushing this weird ruler only design style for so long, it's time to let it go, it's not as cool as they think. The car is sort of lame when you compare it to something like a A4 or C Class DTM, at first you look at it and go wow, then hmmm, and finally you just want to stop looking at it. It kind of looks like a funny car from the front, a case of bad car pimping all together.
But i'm all for a manufacture making a serious commitment to racing, even if their car seems like something  Lockheed Martin made on their spare time, so for that thumbs up for GM.


The production model on the other hand is something I still haven't made my mind yet, like most of GM's claims the "New standard of the world" is nonsense, adding Brembo brakes a Vette engine and tuning your car at the Nurburgring does not make your car the new standard of anything. They claim the car is so fast they had to add a spoiler, but in order not to damage the design, cough cough it's already ugly, they had the clever idea of making the center taillight a "spoiler", which honestly just sounds like the excuse the ruler happy designer told them in order to add a few more straight lines. But I have to admit, the Cadillac's are getting nicer and nicer, on the outside I would even consider one against a Mercedes or BMW if I was really feeling patriotic but GM still has a long way in restructuring their company before they change the core of their flagship brand to what it once was.

Nissan finds UFO and calls it NV,

Today I was reading some random useless Yahoo! News story, and as i'm skimming through the article sitting there on my upper right hand corner was this image. At first sight I figured it was a truck advert but upon closer examination I realized it was a rare species, it was a strange case of  Japtrucktus Uglyvanucus. 
 It looks as though Ford came out with it's cute eco-friendly Transit and Nissan decided to make a new choice for you Transit would be buyers. Problem is, it looks like shit. Feels like Nissan was too busy with it's ultra queer Leaf to bother actually making a new vehicle from scratch, so they just got one of their trucks and made it into an ugly van. I don't think they're going to get much out of this thing, I would buy a used Sprinter for the same price even if it had 100k miles or even a CNG Ford Econoline would make more sense.
I was trying to see what it reminded me of and the post from Jalopnik made it clear. It's the perfect taco truck.

Dear Nissan, please try again.

Bullitt

This week I was going through Netflix and found a few movies from a list of " Awesome car chase movies". The grand daddy of all car chases to date remains the classic "Bullitt" with no one else but Steve McQueen. The movie itself is boring, no really it kind of drags, the plot has that 60's era we're-so-cool your going to be interested in our long monologues thing going on. But you can sense the movie has some connection to cars, even before the great chase, every street shot of San Francisco has some nice cars parked along the road, Mustangs, Vette's, Austin Healey, AM DBS, SS Chevelle, Bentley, McQueen's girl has a sweet ass Porsche 356 cabriolet and even the ambulance is a Cadillac Superior. I'm not sure if LeMans is imprinted on my brain but to me McQueen seems much more like a racing driver than a Cop, the entire time i'm thinking he's gonna put on a jumpsuit, strap on a fiberglass helmet and drive the Mustang to the track. (Go see Clint Eastwood for good Cop movies). By the time the chase starts I was already snoozing as far as the plot goes but in a nice 60's car nostalgia state ready for the action, the scene is awesome, some say overrated but there is just this realistic touch that you don't see in Fast and Futile type movies today. Sure they show the shot of the two cars going by the green FuscaBug about 20 times from a billion angles, and as another commentator said, McQueen upshifts the car so much he could be in 16th gear, but that seems standard in Hollywood, somehow cars can always find an extra gear. So my recommendation is see it, pay attention to the cars and enjoy the sound of pure american muscle cars getting some air on the hills of San Francisco.

Merry xmas!

Das Neue Jetta

For the past few weeks i've been hearing more and more about the new Jetta. I keep seeing adverts saying "great for the price of good" and I was really curious as to how in the world the Germans managed to make such a great car for such a low price. Today I read an article and got the full scoop on whats going on with our beloved Jetta.

Usually a car manufacture improves it's models year after year and the cars get more and more refined, just look at a Nissan Altima from the 90's and one today, but apparently the creative Germans are on a quest to beat the  plain ol reliable Corolla even if that means going against the natural laws of "Carwinism" and making the "new" less capable than the old. In one way i'm disgusted, and I feel people are going to be pissed off after they realize  their friend with the old basic model has 55 extra horsepower than they will have with a brand new one.

But on the other hand i'm proud to see Volkswagen tone things down back to the beetle years in which you got a great piece of german engineering for a great price. No one complained about a bug not having ac, or power steering but people around the world loved the reliability, rear wheel drive and mechanical simplicity that came with the bug. That's what made VW be the brand it is, not Phaetons and V10 Touaregs. And lets face it, who would chose a Corolla when you can get a VW? 

The Chevy Cruze might be a threat to Volkwagen's ambitious plans but I personally believe that as with the Camaro and the Volt Chevy is once again late with their product.

It's the end of the world as we know it.

I've been hearing people saying America is collapsing and that it's the end of the dollar, and that the empire is coming to an end. I never really believed anyone, always thought the "american spirit" would always bounce us right back up and the Dow would rally once more and we could look down on the Euro again. But
after reading an article about "The 16 cars that saved Detroit" I found out that the Fiat 500 will be making it's ways to the good o'l US of A early next year. First it was the Japanese introducing small cars to our streets and highways, then came the Koreans, then oil went to $ 140.00 a barrel and everyone got rid of their SUV'S, then Chrysler and Wall Street went kaput. I could have seen all that and still said it's just a downturn.
But there is just something spooky about a 500 making it's way to America. While Ford is introducing the new Fusion to Brazil, the Chinese are trading their bicycles for Buick's we're getting the 500 from Europe? There are other signs too, the Explorer is no longer a truck but a wannabe SUV sharing a chassis with the minivan mutant Flex, GM will have to have it's shares rise to over $100 before it's no longer owned by uncle sam, and it's easiser to spot a Mini cooper than the Schwarzenegger endorsed Hummer in your neighborhood.

Let's face it, we are turning in to Europe and the emerging countries are turning into us, at least in car terms that's the feeling. But there is hope, with cars becoming smaller there is money left over to actually make them nicely equipped and more refined. Sure we might not be as comfortable, and might not pull off from a red light so quickly but we can all lose a little weight and it sure beats trying to "hypermile" our gas guzzlers by drafting behind semi's. Think of it, you don't have a V6 or V8 but now you don't have to buy an expensive import to have turbo with the same power.
 If  as a country we end up making our way back up to numero uno and don't throw away our good judgement by favoring size over quality  we could end up with quite a nice automotive menu and unlike Europe, actually have money leftover to fuel them.

Hello everyone,

I'm completely new to blogging and finally decided to give it a shot. I have no idea what I want this to be about. Maybe some rambling, maybe I'll go on about what's right for the country or perhaps the world, maybe I'll find the fountain of youth and post the map free of charge. Maybe it will be something for you to read when you should be working, studying, or calling your mother. Maybe it will improve my grammar, or just a past time for insomnia perhaps even teach you about your car.
But that's enough for the first post, you get the idea that I obviously don't have any idea about what I want to do with this.

Goodbye