For Garmin GPS, Jedi Master Yoda Voice App is Prepared!

Posted on Dec 12, 2015 in Technology | 1 comment

Living in a wonderful era where even the most basic piece of technology can be tailored to capture personality, part of this expression has included a growing series of celebrity and character voices available for in-car GPS devices from TomTom and Garmin. For the Garmin devices, the superiority of the electronic navigation marketplace was thrown to the path of...

Burnt Benzes in Berlin; Unrepaired Cars Here

Posted on Dec 8, 2015 in Safety | 1 comment

We haven’t had real protests in this country since the Vietnam War days. Other countries are much quicker to take their political discontents to the streets. In Berlin, symbols of Fat Cat wealth—mostly Mercedes, BMWs and Audis—have been going up in flames. This year alone, some 138 have been burnt, double last year’s number. In the 2009 recession, 221 cars were...

Car Design as Art, Figoni & Falaschi

Posted on Dec 7, 2015 in Antique | Comments Off on Car Design as Art, Figoni & Falaschi

I have always considered the “Golden Age” of car design to be the period of the 1920’s and 30’s. Sure, the 1950’s were great, with the introduction of the fin, huge chrome grilles and the beginning of the rocket age look, but true custom car design was at its peak during the time of the great coachbuilders, and the most flamboyant of the lot were the French....

The Accord at Thirty (Thousand Miles)

Posted on Nov 30, 2015 in Editorials | 1 comment

Twenty-three months ago, your humble author did what virtually nobody in this auto-journo game does — I went out and paid my own money for a thoroughly mass-market, middle-of-the-road vehicle. In just seven months, my 2014 Accord V6 Coupe 6MT and I made it to twelve thousand miles. Starting this spring, the pace at which I put miles on the big Honda slackened...

License Plate Memories

Posted on Nov 4, 2015 in Featured | 2 comments

Recently, I found myself staring at my garage wall, which, suffice to say, really isn’t anything out of the ordinary, but there’s lots of stuff hanging on it like car parts and tools, so I have an excuse. What caught my eye were some licenses plates from a few cars I used to own. It’s funny how seeing something as simple as on old plate can instantly bring back...

Driverless Cars: Encouraging Drinking and Driving?

Posted on Nov 3, 2015 in Safety | 1 comment

Today we learn that a driverless car in China drove 175 miles on a packed expressway without GPS, depending instead on video cameras and radar sensors. Nevada recently passed legislation to legalize self-driving cars—after standards for performance, licensing, etc. are set. Some car blogs have had a lot of fun reporting that Google’s driverless Prius (above)...

A Car That Changed The World

Posted on Nov 3, 2015 in Antique | Comments Off on A Car That Changed The World

Today I went to a local car show to check out some beautiful cars. There were about 20 vehicles on the lot, mostly from the 60’s on up with an occasional old hot rod thrown in the mix. Lots of people were milling around, looking at all the shiny paint and the chromed out engines while taking pictures of the more elaborate custom jobs. About halfway through, I...

Look Who’s Talking: An Automotive Safety Future

Posted on Oct 27, 2015 in Technology | 1 comment

It was 50 years ago that a book authored by lawyer and public safety activist Ralph Nader caused people to observe the automobile as a risky piece of everyday life. Titled Unsafe at Any Speed, Nader’s book shined a light on various issues of vehicle safety including the rear-engined Chevrolet Corvair. Though the Corvair’s stability was actively disputed by the...

More Troubles for Honda: 2.5 Million Recalls

Posted on Oct 25, 2015 in Safety | 2 comments

Even before the terrible earthquake/tsunami disaster in Japan, Honda seemed to be losing its way. I wrote a story in May of last year about that. More recently our estimable tgriffith told you about Consumer Reports’ slam of the new Civic(above)—for bad brakes and handling, a choppy ride and, yes, an inferior interior. CR rated the Civic 11th out of 12 small...

Beaten by a Winter Beater?

Posted on Oct 23, 2015 in Editorials | 1 comment

Mo writes: Sir, I’m hoping to get advice from you and/or the B&B regarding my new-to-me 2004 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport (soon to be superleggera due to rust). Included is a link to pictures I took of the underside of my car and brakes with descriptions. [Thanks for those! – SM] Questions: – First and most important: Is it even worth fixing/preventing the...

Million Dollar Dream Car Garage

Posted on Oct 18, 2015 in Antique | Comments Off on Million Dollar Dream Car Garage

“If you had a million dollars, what cars would you buy for the perfect Dream Car Garage?” Yesterday, I was asked a question by a Facebook friend. He asked “if you had 1 million dollars, what car would you buy.” Most of the responses included cars like Ferrari and Bugatti, and all included two or three cars at the most. I decided this needed some effort put into...

I fought the law… and I won – How I weaseled my way out of a (probably well-deserved) speeding ticket

Posted on Oct 6, 2015 in Featured | 2 comments

This didn’t happen. Not this time, anyway. It was the perfect mix of conditions: a dark, clear night; a miles-long straight shot of divided four-lane unimpeded by development; light but pokey traffic; a clearly marked 55-mile-an-hour speed limit; my mind on other things. Traffic going 59 in the left (but clearly not the fast) lane meant I juked right,...

Lutz Loses Cadillac CTS Challenge, May Win Buyers

Posted on Oct 3, 2015 in Racing | 2 comments

In a shrewd marketing ploy, Maximum Bob Lutz, GM’s noisy vice chairman, challenged all comers (driving comparable four-door sedans) to beat him in a race at the Monticello track in the Catskills. The race was yesterday, and Lutz came in seventh, behind a bunch of other CTS-Vs (driven by GM engineers and a couple of professional drivers) and aBMW M3, driven by a...