Gathered here are the Oppositelock posts that people have put a good deal of effort into writing from the last 24 hours. Today it includes a minty Mister Two, the fun of LeMons, astronomical photography, Pebble Beach and more.
Last friday i saw this little MR2 on the local Lemon Lot, and i had to check it out. the next day, for better or for worse, she was mine. Over the last week I've been getting to know the little Mr.2, and here's what I've found so far. Vehicle Details: Born in 1987, 190k miles, straight body, fresh paint, gorgeous interior, new suspension bushings and exhaust, otherwise completely stock. must have been well cared for to be this clean inside.
Like many car-obsessed couch racing junkies, I have far fetched grandiose plans of owning the sports car of my dreams. Of course, it would be parked safely in my garage with my beater $2000 craigslist daily driver out front. Fortunately for me, this is not as far fetched of dream as it may seem.
I'm a dirt racer. Put me out in the desert and I know exactly what to do. Put me on the pavement, well that's another story. I figured the easiest way to get some pavement experience was to join a LeMons team. That's how I found myself under the tutelage of Speedy Cop and his Gang of Outlaws.
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Every market has its share of mind-bogglingly boring and awful cars. Here's a list of 10 anti-petrolhead vehicles that are or were reasonably recently sold in Europe. Order is random and strictly of the "because I say so" variety.
The story of how RED Digital Cinema came to be is known by a lot of people in the TV and Movie business, but not so much outside of Hollywood. There's this guy, Jim Jannard, who founded a little company you might've heard of called Oakley. With a few hundred dollars he turned Oakley into a firm he sold off for around $3 Billion. Three Billion Dollars. That's a lot of coin. Well, it turns out Jim is really more interested in cameras than sunglasses and cool accessories. He couldn't understand why there weren't any really good digital cinema cameras, so he took his own money and started RED.
It wasn't that long ago that the idea of a Mercedes in a North American rental fleet would be preposterous. Not only because, back in the day, the Big Three owned a piece of car rental companies and used them as a place to dump unsold product, but because "quality" and "rental car" don't seem to belong together in the same sentence.
I've had a lot of fun writing about what I think my favorite cars would be if they were Bugs, Airplanes/Aircraft, and Classic Video Game Characters… In keeping with this ideal I'm going to use cars that I've owned personally, and I'm going to equate them to what I think they could have been, had they been given the awesome treatment. Awesome treatment in this case is what I wish the cars would have been at the time I was given/bought them.
If you’re an automotive enthusiast, whether self-proclaimed or people have bestowed that honor upon you, you have inherited the time honored tradition of giving non car folk recommendations, and I refuse to do it any longer. If you’re curious as to why, read on fellow enthusiasts.
Different countries all have their various stereotypes, earned through decades of domestic and foreign policies… Germany has the reputation of being cold, calculating, and ruthlessly efficient because of, well, Nazis, and because they’re somehow one of the only European countries managing to stay solvent in tumultuous economic times… Sweden is clean, minimalist, and beautiful, albeit a little reserved, a stereotype earned by their signature architecture and because Scandinavians are a little strange. Nice to look at, but just a little strange… One would imagine that the stereotypes of most nations can be recognized in their respective auto industries.
Ok, so I'm a bit of a driving otaku. Driving technique nerd if you will. Because, let's face it, things like left foot braking, heel-and-toe'ing (side-flipping actually) and trail braking are not quite needed in normal daily driving. Sure, you can put it/them to use, no one's going to stop you, but our typical/average commute will happen perfectly well without any race-related pedal-and-stick work. So, last week I added another driving trick to the Put Into Practice List: clutchless upshifts.
In the recent past, large sedans from Cadillac had a reputation for being comfortable cars that floated along comfortably but were not very engaging or exciting to drive. The new XTS plans to change all that with a sharper, more responsive driving experience while still maintaining the amenities and comforts Cadillacs have been known for.
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I never liked marshmallows as a kid. Or waffles. Or maple syrup. Now that’s weird. Most kids love marshmallows in their s'mores, but I just had graham cracker chocolate sandwiches. While they were smearing their waffles with maple syrup, I had a bowl a cereal. Now it's not like these are some unforgivable crimes, but whenever I told somebody about my tastes, they seemed appalled. "What?! But everybody loves waffles! They're the best!".
Defying all odds, Mazda was the first and only Japanese car manufacturer to win Le Mans. The very heart that powered the 787B was going to be banned in 1992, making the 1991 Le Mans race, Mazda's only shot to win it all or lose everything. “Heroes get remembered, but legends never die” –Babe Ruth
Monterey Week is a big deal for car aficionados of all types. Whether you're interesting in zillion dollar Bugattis, Mazda Laguna Seca racing and watching cars squirm through the Corkscrew, or you're jonesing for some LeMons, it's all going on this week on the West Coast. For those of us who cannot make it to California, it's a challenge to follow along and get a feeling for what it's like out there. One day I'd love to visit Pebble Beach, but not this year. So, VelocityTV, basically the only automotive dedicated channel in the US brings a touch of the week, but only through Mecum's auctions...
I was fortunate enough to attend this year’s Concourse d’Elegance held yesterday on the 18th fairway of the Pebble Beach Golf Links. The level of detail, craftsmanship and design of each car was incredible. It was quite the experience to be had. Also check out the accompanying posts about hood ornaments and numbers & letters.
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Remember the Mercedes C32 AMG? I never got it. This was supposed to compete with an M3? On what planet? Now, in general, I think C-class Mercedes' are for born-insecure types with logos on all of their clothing. The AMG model is just befuddling, though. For the same money, you could have gotten into a nice E-class and not looked like life wasn't working out for you. And anyone who really wanted performance would have just bought an M3. So who was this car for?
I score this a ?/100. Yes, question mark. Be amazed. Disclosure: Jaguar wanted me to drive this so badly they made someone else buy it and then bring it out to Cars and Coffee after it had been detailed and then set loose upon the unassuming masses. I doubt I'm still qualified in my opinion of this car enough to start handing out numbers to each category, hence the mysterious question mark. Quite honestly I'm not sure why this car even exists. To me, and remember only to me, it seems like its answering a question no one asked.
Whats in a paint? Well, i suppose thats a silly question. But even though i know, im just astounded how it varies so much. My dad and I both have white cars. White is not known for the depth and color in its reflection. Its not a "3foot paint job". However, his is almost that.
I lived in China for the six months between February and August this year (four months in Beijing and 2 months in Shanghai). I am back in the states for my senior year, but I hope to head back to China after graduating. These pictures were taken over about two months with Nikon D3200. I am not a good photographer, and the camera was borrowed. Hopefully the cars shine through the fog of my mediocrity.
The 2006-2007 E60 BMW M5. This car is my biggest crush right now. It packs supercar numbers in a sedan package for a price that I can afford. This car was a monster when it came out and very few cars have come close to it since. Obviously, I am talking about used versions of this beast with around 70k miles. Pretty low mileage, right? Everything seems to point right the the conclusion "buy this car right now," but this kind of performance at $30k is a double edged sword. $30k says two things to me: "look what you can get for the price of a Toyota Avalon," and "guess what's wrong with me."
Car Spotting, Picture Threads
TwinTurboBMW posted pictures from Portland Cars & Coffee and also went to the Lake Oswego car show. BiTurbo228 had an accident in his e36 and started fixing it up. Satish Kondapavulur shared pictures from Monterey Car Week. Nerd-Vol went to Knoxville Cars & Coffee and showed us the entrants. Jayhawk Jake went to a car show. Puppyknuckles attended the Upper Manhattan Auto Show. F86Sabre did the brakes on his Evo VIII. DWhite posted 200 pictures from the Woodward Dream Cruise. Bullet Ride picked up a Volvo 740 Turbo take over winter beater duty from his turbo e30.
As always, If I've missed something and you would like me to include it, let me know.
Fun Discussions
There were several posts that asked questions and sparked some good discussion over the last day. Take a peek and chime in on some of them listed below:
Just the #tips
Honourable Mentions
These posts have already been shared with Jalopnik directly but deserve to be mentioned again because they were first posted in Oppositelock:
Best of Oppositelock: August 19, 2013