Concours d’ Elegance of America: 1948 Daimler DE 36 Drophead Coupe by Hooper
Posted: August 24, 2012 Filed under: Auto Idolatry, EVENTS / PLACES, SHOWCASE | Tags: 1948, 36, 48, 5.4, 8, America, Benz, Britain, British, Concours, Convertible, Coupe, d', Daimler, DE, Detroit, DHC, Drop, eight, Elegance, engine, England, english, Head, Hooper, Inline, Mercedes, MI, Michigan, Mind, motor, of, Over, Plymouth, Red, Straight, tone, two, UK 1 Comment »
This DE 36 DHC is not a product of the German parent of Mercedes Benz. The Daimler name was actually shared by two separate companies for a period of time, one the German company we all know and the other the oldest automotive marque from Britain. This car is the latter, and is one of just 6-7 DE 36s built. Under the hood lies a 5.4L straight 8 with 150hp, and at around 3 tons the DE was most certainly meant for relaxed cruising in style. This DE 36 DHC recently sold for a little over a half-a-million dollars in 2010. It was brilliant to see in person this summer, literally stopping me in my tracks when I saw it. Not many cars can outshine a Bentley S1 or various Rolls Royces that were around it, but this Daimler succeeded. This is automotive art like we no longer have today. Enjoy the pics.
Test Driven: Mercedes Benz C180 Blue Efficiancy Estate
Posted: July 19, 2012 Filed under: Sports and Executive, TEST DRIVEN | Tags: 1.8, 2.0, America, Austria, autobahn, Automatic, Benz, Blue, C180, C250, cylinder, Drive, efficiency, engine, Estate, EU, European, four, Germany, limiter, Mercedes, Mind, motor, Over, rear, Rental, review, speed, Trip, turbo, wheel 1 Comment »
Mercedes C180 Bluet Efficiency Estate
My family and I had this Mercedes C180 Estate for two weeks during our recent trip to Germany. Here in America we have the Mercedes C class, but we do not have the wagon version nor the C180 model, so it was cool to try something a bit different. I have driven a few previous generation C classes over the years, however this was my first experience with the current generation, and this car was fitted with many of Mercedes’ newer gizmos and gadgets. So all in all this C180 offered many new things for me as an American driver, including driving in Germany for the first time. Read the rest of this entry »
Test Driven: Scion FRS Automatic, Nick’s Impressions
Posted: June 21, 2012 Filed under: Cheap Fun!, TEST DRIVEN | Tags: 200, 4, Automatic, boxer, BRZ, cylinder, Drive, engine, FRS, handling, hp, Mind, motor, Over, review, RWD, Scion, sharp, Subaru, Test, Toyota, Transmission 4 Comments »
I was able to take a short drive in an Automatic Scion FRS recently. The drive was kept brief because I had asked for a manual, and was “just getting a feel for it so I could see if I wanted to order a manual”. Obviously this was not an ideal situation for a review but it did get me some seat time in this hot new car that is selling off the shelves, so I took what I could get for the time being. What follows are my first impressions on the Scion FRS, expect a full fledged review once I am able to get my hands on one with a clutch pedal for a decent amount of time. Read the rest of this entry »
Test Driven: Porsche Cayman R
Posted: December 8, 2011 Filed under: High End & Exotic, TEST DRIVEN | Tags: 2800, 3.4L, 330, 6, Beach, CA, California, Car, Cayman, Drive, engine, Fast, Flat, fun, H6, handling, hp, lbs, mid, Mind, Monterey, motor, Over, Pebble, pictures, Porsche, Quail, R, rear, review, RWD, six, specs, Sports, Test, video, wheel Leave a comment »
Porsche Cayman R
The Porsche Cayman has been heralded as one of the best handling cars money can buy. Sure it is the “baby” Porsche, but these days even the little ones have gotten pretty serious. The Cayman R is to the Cayman line as the GT3 is to the 911 series, so solid performance is a given. Porsche was offering test drives of various models during Concours Weekend, but once I saw the Cayman R on the list I knew where to place my priorities (Video after the jump).
A telling emissions test by Edmunds Inside Line
Posted: December 7, 2011 Filed under: CARS 101 | Tags: big, Blower, Car, Comparison, Edmunds, Emissions, engine, Inside, Leaf, Line, Mind, motor, Over, Small, Test, Truck, Truth, video, vs Leave a comment »For all of the eco conscious folks out there here is a test showing that you should not judge a book by it’s cover, or the “green-ness” of a car by it’s engine size. Knowledge is power.
-Nick
Something is up with BMW’s power claims
Posted: October 4, 2011 Filed under: INDUSTRY TALK | Tags: 1, 1M, 28, 35, 550i, bhp, BMW, dyno, engine, figures, Horsepower, low, M, Mind, motor, new, numbers, Over, power, rear, results, sDrive28i, series, turbo, underrated, wheel, whp, Z4 Leave a comment »1M vs M3
Recently BMW has made a commitment to turbocharging their entire lineup in the name of efficiency. Many enthusiasts are skeptical that this move will serve to improve the cars, but I think otherwise. I have driven a few 335is and can say that BMW has gotten these boosted cars to deliver their power very smoothly. They are a far cry from the more crude turbocharged cars of old that were plagued by excessive lag and sudden onset power that could unset the car’s balance in a corner. These cars seem to be living up to the BMW reputation quite nicely, and have even shown some surprises that BMW executive wanted to conceal on paper in order to preserve demand for their other cars. Read the rest of this entry »
The new Toyota Supra
Posted: September 28, 2011 Filed under: INDUSTRY TALK | Tags: 2013, 2014, 2015, 6, Car, cylinder, engine, FT-86, Lexus, LFA, Market, Mind, motor, new, Over, planned, possible, rumored, RWD, Sports, supra, Toyota, turbo, Upcoming 2 Comments »
Unofficial rendering as seen on Jalopnik, boy does it look good though
Toyota seems to maybe be on the verge of ending their tasteless vow of mediocrity. There is much talk about the possibility of a new Supra that is brewing, some say it will be a hybrid, others say it will be a supercar like the Nissan GTR, and some even would say both. Toyota will be on thin ice with this project though, they have vastly disappointed enthusiasts all over the world with their modern “beige” attitude, and the quality of their cars has greatly suffered for it. A new Supra would grant them the chance to hop back in the ring with the big boys, and hopefully get their engineering back on track because it is performance and racing programs that drive technological progress over all else. Toyota must get it right, let’s see what that would mean. Read the rest of this entry »
Spotted! Ferrari 512M, Pebble Beach, CA
Posted: September 1, 2011 Filed under: Exotics, SPOTTED! | Tags: 12, 512, 512M, Blue, cylinder, engine, Ferrari, Flat, H12, light, M, Mind, motor, Over, Rare, rossa, spotted, testa, Testarossa, TR Leave a comment »
Ferrari 512M
Spotted this beautiful blue 512M in the parking area around the auction at Pebble Beach. The 512M was the final version of the famous Testarossa, and the immediate predecessor to the 550 Maranello . They are quite rare, something like 500 were built, and it is even more rare to see it in this light blue color. Read the rest of this entry »
Stagnant products, not lack of demand
Posted: August 30, 2011 Filed under: INDUSTRY TALK | Tags: 348, 911, 964, Acura, appeal, demand, engine, Esprit, Ferrari, Honda, I4, Inline, lack, Lotus, manual, Mazda, Mind, model, motor, NSX, Over, Porsche, Roadster, Rotary, RX8, S2000, trnasmission, unchanged Leave a comment »
All of these great cars share a common problem.
With the Mazda RX8 being phased out this year for reasons concerning a “lack of demand”, one must wonder what has gone wrong. The RX8 is a car that had some pretty decent sales numbers early on. Its sports car dynamics with a practical twist gave it much appeal for many people. Yet, today, in 2011, the demand has fizzled out, and I expect the reason is similar to two past offerings from Honda that shared a similar fate. Read the rest of this entry »
Audi’s A8 Hybrid is doing it wrong
Posted: August 26, 2011 Filed under: INDUSTRY TALK | Tags: 2.0, 2.0T, 3.0, 3.0T, A8, all, Audi, Drive, engine, German, Hybrid, LED, lights, Luxury, Mind, motor, Over, power, puny, T, TFSi, wheel, wrong Leave a comment »
Audi A8 Hybrid
This week Audi announced the details on their new A8 Hybrid. It will be powered by the same system as the hybrid Q5: the 2.0T with an electric motor. This setup makes 245hp and 345ft/lbs of torque. While this is “decent” we must not forget that the A8 is in fact the flagship Audi model, so it is not good enough. Read the rest of this entry »
Secondhand Saint: Nissan 350Z
Posted: August 15, 2011 Filed under: Secondhand Saints | Tags: 350Z, Car, Coupe, driving, engine, GReddy, Mind over motor, NISMO, Nissan, Nissan 350Z, Secondhand Saint, V6, VQ35, VQ35DE, VQ35HD, Z-car 2 Comments »
NISMO 350Z (Front).
Back when Nissan stopped selling the original Z-car in 1996 in the USA, enthusiasts were infuriated. The Z was introduced around 1970, and immediately became the “Japanese Mustang” for its low price, well-matched engine, and balanced handling. Nissan enlarged it over the years until the 300ZX hit the streets in 1990, when it was a wide, tech-packed sports coupe, with some aspects that were a bit ahead of its time. When sales faltered, however, Nissan couldn’t afford to keep building them. But, in 2002, they performed a ritual on the grave, and the ghost came back to life. Read the rest of this entry »
Retiring the Rotary?
Posted: August 15, 2011 Filed under: INDUSTRY TALK | Tags: Car, engine, future, Mazda, Mind, motor, new, Over, piston, pistonless, Rotary, RX, RX3, RX7, RX8, RX9, Sports, triangular, wankel 3 Comments »
There is talk now at Mazda, as in the past, about discontinuing development of rotary engines for use in production cars. At this point the only model to still use a rotary is RX8, which will cease production after this year. However, the rotary power plant has been the staple of Mazda’s flagship RX sports cars all along, so there is a bit of identity issue at play here as well. Read the rest of this entry »
