4WD Test Track

I'm impressed, are you impressed?! I knew Land Rover Defenders were workhorses, but this is crazy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZrhuSE_ivA

You's Past

Or is it Your Past? HAHA.

The Volvo You previews what a luxury Volvo might look like. I love it. It immediately brought to mind the PV. My kindergarten teacher had one, and I remember taking a field trip in it. There were eight of us kids stuffed in!

Anyway. Thought you should see where Volvo drew inspiration from for the hood line.

Unlikely Diesel Car

http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%2F&gl=US#/watch?v=RO_kjaxIDzc

You may have to copy and paste the link, but I say it's with the extra work over just clicking a link. Get your earplugs in!

Mercedes Benz SL R107

This beauty was parked at the marina in Sheboygan, close by where we were grilling one Saturday afternoon. It seemed like someone's summer daily driver, which is cool. Why have a car that just sits there and is pretty? I was hoping to hear it's engine start up but we left before the owners showed up.

K Car

I came across this Dodge Aries while I was doing my rounds at the local dealers the other day. So clean! They are getting pretty rare so I had to take a picture.
I remember seeing these from a far and thinking a was Mercedes 190 was driving my way... (The fronts are pretty similar)
The K-car pretty much saved Chrysler in the 80's... The Voyager minivans were built on the same platform and they sold in millions.

Model Bloat and Overlap

I came across a 1996 Accord parked next to a 2006 Civic while I was walking my dog the other day. They looked like the same size so I was compelled to look up some data. I included the 1996 Civic and the mammoth 2008 Accord in my searches for comparison.

I could definitely confirm model bloat between the two Civics and the two Accords, but the 2006 Civic didn't quite catch up to the 1996 Accord. Width, wheel base, and horse power are very close, but the Civic is still 10" shorter and 200 lbs lighter than the Accord.

1996 Civic EX / 1996 Accord EX / 2006 Civic EX / 2008 Accord EX
Length: 175.1" / 185.6" / 176.7" / 194.1"
Width: 67.1" / 70.1" / 69.0" / 72.7"
Height: 54.7" / 55.1" / 56.9" / 58.1"
Wheel base: 103.2" / 106.9" / 106.3" / 110.2"
Weight: 2568 / 3086 lbs / 2800 lbs / 3408 lbs
Engine: 1.6 L 127 hp / 2.2 L 145 hp / 1.8 L 140 hp / 2.4 L 177 hp

GTR at Road America

Newer eye candy in Road America. The Nissan GTR is MASSIVE in person, both in size and presence. Very techy. Quite awesome.




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More Elkhart Lake, WI goodies

There were maybe a total of 20 Porsche 356s parked in two rows... Jaw dropping beauty! Enjoy...










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Road America - Kohler Classics

Over the weekend I went to the Kohler Classics race in Elkhart Lake, WI. What a treat! I got tons of great pictures. Here are a few of two BMWs that were parked next to each other at the Osthoff Resort. The green one is a 2002, the silver one is a 2800 CSi. They are both in amazing condition. There was a late model M3 near them but it wasn't nearly as interesting...

Road Rage Much?

It only gets interesting at the 1:11 mark, and really crazy at 1:30...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSl17e-gdb8

Pop-Up Headlights

The Volvo 480 in my previous post came with pop-up headlights. It got me thinking of other cars with the same feature. Porsche 928/944, some Corvettes, the first Miata, and even the mid-eighties US-version Honda Accord had them too, but I can't think of a single current production car that has them. Are there any?

The picture above is of a 1990 Mazda 323F. I think it is pretty special as far as small family cars go from that time. It was produced 1989-1994, and it was quite popular in Sweden. The Protege sedans and 3-door hatchbacks of the same vintage were sold here in the US, but this 5-door hatch was for Europe/Asia only.

Others cars with pop-up lights: Celica, Prelude, RX-7, NSX, SX240, BMW 850, Fiero, Supra, Mercury Capri, Ferraris...

Volvo 2-Door Hatchbacks

The Volvo C30 is one of my favorite current cars. (It was second only to the VW GTI when I was shopping for a new car last year - 4-doors and a lower price made me pick the GTI over the C30)

Besides having a 5-cylinder engine, which I love, it is an awesome hatchback design. Volvo has actually made other hatchbacks, but they never made it to the states. (Exception: Volvo P1800ES)

The 480 was an 80's product (1986-1995) and was intended as a sportscar for the states by its designers, but Volvo USA didn't see it as such because of the hatchback shape, so it was never brought over. The top version had a turbo engine, just like the C30. The more pedestrian 340/360 range of the 70's (1976-1991) was a small family car in Europe, but probably wouldn't have competed well in the states. There was no turbo version available, even though Volvo fitted turbos on the 200 and 700 ranges during the same time.

We'll see if I ever want to talk about Volvo 66...

Twins

In the series of similar design across different brands, here is another set of design twins: The Hyundai Tuscon and BMW X5. What caught my attention here was the small window in the D-pillar on the Tuscon. Is that a Hofmeister kink? I think so. This rear quarter view best shows the similarities... Hyundai has since moved on with the new Tuscon following the design language of the Sonata.

Hyundai's sister Kia seems Audi-like in comparison, but that one is easy to explain: Kia's head designed is no other than the previous Audi designer Peter Schreyer.

While Hyundai is going after the Japanese lot with its products, Kia looks to be more European...

Running on Five Cylinders

Ever since the Audi 100 (C2 and C3) and quattro of the early 80's I've been in love with the sound of five cylinder engines. I can't think of a better sound. Volvo joined the club when designing the 850 for the 90's, no doubt copying Audi. Another 5-cyl engine and a move to front wheel drive, and later adding turbo and AWD. Mercedes was part of it all with diesel fives.

I was very disappointed when Audi dropped the 2.3 engine for the A6 when changing the name of the 100 to A6 in 1995. The 4 cylinder engines had no soul and the V6s were not exciting either. At least the S4 still held on to the turbo 5 for a while.

Audi is returning to the fives with cars like the TTS and even the new quattro concept. I don't bother lusting after them because they are so expensive. (I'm too realistic) Could I just have a base A4 with a 5 please?! Today, the 2011 VW Jetta 2.5 is the closest thing to old school Audis. The simple, understated exterior design, semi-independent suspension and light steering makes it a modern 100.

Below is a link to an awesome Audi 100 (Avant!) sound video on YouTube. Beware - watching it may lead to nostalgia and spending hours watching related clips!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F435ouTT7Wg&feature=related

Your choices for new five-cylinder-engined cars (in the US) are Volvo's C30/S40/V50/S60, VW's Golf/Jetta, and soon, the 2012 Passat - maybe the ultimate throwback to the C3 Audi 100.

1-2-3

Before the current stunning Kia Optima there was the awkward ugly duckling Optima. My neighbor drives one, and I always think the front end is like a mix of two E-classes. The Optima combines the round inner headlights from the MB W211, and the squarish outer headlights from the W212. It's not a good combination, but it looks like the missing link between the two Benzes... Slap a star on the hood of the Kia and I bet at least a few people would be fooled!

Beware! This will make your eyes bleed

Suzuki X90 and SsangYong Rodius held the "Most Pointless Car of the World" and "Ugliest Car of the World" titles, respectively, until today, when I got my Car&Driver magazine in the mail.

Behold the Nissan Murano CrossCabrio, the new double champion: "The Ugliest AND Most Pointless Car of the World". It's a crossover convertible, continuing in the tradition of the X90, and uglier than sin, much like the Rodius. It's an amazing exercise in ruining a perfectly fine SUV in a quest to fill some nonexistent niche. Want a convertible but don't want to give up driving without wind in your hair? The drive the Wrangler. DO NOT SPEND $47k on the CrossCabrio!!! I can even forgive you for buying a second hand X90... At least it'll be cheap.

Five Generations of Subaru Legacy Wagons

I like the way Subaru evolved the Legacy Wagon from the 1st generation through the 4th generation. The 4th one especially managed to be sporty looking AND handsome. The designs didn't follow the latest fashions, instead they were a bit careful and understated. Then came the 5th generation...

Ugly! And too big!

Even though the third generation bordered on dorky, it was still basic enough to blend in instead of being offensive. The newest version looks like a facelift gone bad. Wonky headlights and curves everywhere, without a straight line anywhere to keep it balanced. The design just doesn't sit well with me.

The 2012 Impreza seems to continue the design theme started by the latest Legacy. The concept was sleek, but the production version lost all the appeal of the concept.

Let's hope Subaru finds its way back when the new Forester comes out...

What would you do if this happened to you?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyJjsSu2ilk

Would you need a change of underwear?

Flickr Treat: MBeige's W123

I spend a lot of time on flickr looking at cars and car crashes. Most of the time it is a total waste, but every now and then I come across cars or crashes that just have to be shared. Case in point: This 1983 Mercedes is the cleanest most beautiful W123 I've ever seen.

Look up "MBeige" on flickr for more!

I wasn't always a fan of the W123. Back in the 80's when I was a kid in Sweden, most of these were usually high mileage taxis/ex-taxis, ie. 200 diesels. Slow, loud and smoky. I didn't care for them at all. My first positive experience with a W123 was during a ski trip for spring break in the mid-nineties when I was a junior in high school. Three buddies and I took my buddy's dad's 300TDT on the road trip, complete with a ski box, lamb skin seat covers, and studded winter tires. Since I was the only one with a driver's license at the time, I got to drive. Can you say SOLID?! Aside from a co-ed sauna at the ski resort, that car was the most memorable thing about the trip. It did 160 km/h according to the speedometer!

Fast forward to today. I love seeing these in any shape or condition. I feel compelled to whip out my iPhone and take a picture every time I see one. It's a rare sight to see one as nice as MBeige's. (The "Manila Beige" color of it is the same as the 300T driven by the butler in "Hart to Hart", another 80's gem.)

Jaguar and Mazda

Ok, so when I saw the Bertone concept for a small Jaguar sedan, I thought it was an awesome way to modernize the XJ sedan design that ran from 1968 to 2009. It seems Jaguar would have to backtrack or jump on the retro bandwagon (again - hello X-type!) in order to build it, but I would LOVE to see it make production. Apparently it is not.

The other day I came across the Mazda 929 from 1992-95 and thought it reminded me of something. A little bit of thinking and I put it together. It reminded me of the Bertone concept!! Especially when you see pictures of purple ones. (Purple, the avocado green of the 90's!!!)

No, they're not carbon copies of each other. The Jag being a concept is still ways from a production version (smaller wheels, larger tail lights, taller roof...), and the Mazda is nearly 20 years older (old style door handles, more pronounced bumpers...), but I see a lot of similarities in the way the lines flow. I would happily drive either one.

FIRST

My first post on my first blog! I'm not sure where this blog will go, but here I go. I spend a lot of time reading about all sorts of car stuff and watching youtube car videos (and car crash videos), and I often think that I could compile some fun stuff for others (you!) to see. I also feel like some of my observations need to be broadcasted. We'll see if anyone else thinks so. Stay tuned! J