January 28: Electrifying Spain

Live like a local.

My wife and I love Europe, the scenery, the history, the food, especially the food. On our recent tour around Spain, we made sure we stayed in the old, central parts of the cities, so we could experience them like the locals. Picture being 6'5" in an apartment meant for anyone under 6'. Yes, my head has just about healed. Lesson learned, next time we'll check into something a bit more modern with headroom for your blogger.

So, back to car stuff.......

Most of Europe seems to be ahead of us in going green and Spain is no exception, although this car seen in Valencia, might be taking this idea a tad too far.

Getting serious (oh how I dislike that word), electric cars (EV) are a lot more common here than what we have in Canada. Sure, there are tons of Teslas, just like in Toronto and everywhere else we travel, but it's all the other EV's and plug in stations that are rather rare here at home. Want to rent a BMW i8? Want everyone to know about it..........

Pretty hard not to notice, when courtesy of Hertz, the EV message is writ large all over the car. No subtlety here, although when it comes to an oddball like this Bimmer, being subtle is not in the picture.

Scenes like this were common everywhere.........

 

.......when in Toronto the only charging stations we see are a few spaces around shopping centres and grocery stores. And speaking of Mercedes, like in the bottom pic, their new EV line anchored by the EQC, is already alive and selling in Europe.......

This is a promo pic from Benz, but I saw the new EQC in the showrooms and it looks great in real life. So much better than the gas powered suv coupes already in their line up. Expect this EV here in a few months. Watch out Tesla.

Of course being Europe, there are always lots of other oddball ways, that motorists use to save gas money and save our planet. Vehicles from the tiny Renault Twizy EV to the ridiculous yellow whatever below it.......

And for awhile, a Smart sportscar was available, before saner heads prevailed.......

Electrifying Spain. Don't chuckle when you see some of these solutions, since North America is heading in this direction, just a little slower than crowded Europe. Give us time and maybe even Greta T will have nice things to say about us.

Until next time........

January 21: Vlad's rolling ego trip

Good ol' Vlad Putin. What a guy! Head of a country that is in the ditch, but his citizens love him for being Mister Tough Guy. Sure, they are out of work and out of bread, but boy, Vlad looks good, bare chested, standing up to the world. Hey, Barry, enough already with the political rant. What's your point?

A picture is worth......, well you know........

This is Vlad's kick at the old ego cat. All the big player countries have their own home grown luxomobile, so that their leaders can ride around in their national pride. Russia is a biggish player, but most of their auto industry consists of trucks and smaller cars developed by western partners. This just wouldn't do, so Vlad put his minions to work to develop a homegrown prestige mobile for him to show off to all his friends. The Aurus above is the result. Much like previous "party" cars, such as the Zil, the Aurus design borrows heavily, very heavily, from other high roller mobiles.

Check it out......

Rolls-Royce

Not convinced?

Bentley

 My, my, what creativity there is in the former Soviet Union. Come on, surely there might have been the possibility of throwing in an original line or two? Obviously, I don't subscribe to the "if you can't say something nice........" school of thought. But really?

And of course, this is the Senat model, the family sedan of oligarchs and thug like rulers. For those special occasions, when only a limo will do.......

Keeping up with his special friend The Donald? And his is only a Cadillac, while Vlad's is a psuedo Roll-Royce.

Think Putin is happy about this copying? Haven't heard of any designers being sent to the gulag lately, so most likely he's tickled red (communist). But Vlad is going one better than even Rolls.......

Now the boys in Britain have something to aspire to, a very high end luxury van. A new market niche created by those rascals in the east.

All well and good to sprout your very special car for those fortunate few, but would you be able to sell it anywhere else in this wide world? And more importantly, would Drake buy one?

Until next time......

January 17: You paid how much???

Ok, if you are a car person and have been anywhere close to a TV, a newspaper (remember them?) or the  net, you've heard that the "hero" car from the famous 1968 Steve McQueen movie, Bullitt has just been sold at auction. Hero car? One of the ones that McQueen actually drove in the movie. The car.......

Then

Now

 The amount?

$3,740,000

Turns out the family had bought it way back in 1974 from someone who had worked on the movie. Been in the family for forty five years, but until the last few, it had been a secret that it actually existed. Once it became known, the spotlight glare on the family must have been a bit (note understatement) intense, so the decision was made to sell their prize. At last weekend's auction, the commentators noted how sad the two family members seemed. Sad? What, that it didn't hit $4 million?

But back to the car and the movie. Fifty plus years later this is still considered the very best car chase scene ever. You doubt it? Check out one of the many versions on YouTube. This scene made a hero out of the 1968 Mustang McQueen's character Frank Bullitt drove and to a lesser extent the '68 Charger driven by the bad guys. Trivia.......the Charger had hubcaps (on an R/T?) and lost five (?) of them during the chase. One of those little pieces of info that we find fascinating. Want another? The gas pumps blow up just before the villains' Charger hits them. Watch closely.

So you ask, how much of a hero did the movie make of that dark green Mustang? The answer is shown below........

In 2020 Mustang still has a Bullitt model in the line, with all the neat little design touches of the original. Name me one other anything, that has had that sort of influence or staying power.

Was it the chase or was it the super cool, hipster McQueen that caused this Mustang to have such an impact?

Either way, this not particularly nice guy in real life and his movie ride have had an astounding impact on us for all those fifty plus years, ever since the bad guys buckling up signaled the start of the wonderfully gripping chase to follow.

You have a dark green '68 Mustang in ratty condition just like the auctioned one? Want to trade on the success of the movie car? Good move, put a $10,000 price on it and thank your lucky stars if you get that much.

Until next time........