Bill ford specifically told farley to never get rid of the mustang. he could do whatever BUT not get rid of the mustang lol.
Sales "plummeted" for small cars from ford and suv sales were going crazy. so why not just get RID OF ALL YOUR SMALLER AFFORDABLE VEHICLES AND FUN HATCHES AND SLEEPERS???? This **** drove me up the wall while honda, toyota were STILL making fun little cars. Yeah they are a little pricey. They are everywhere though. I seen one GR corolla so far here but i see the type r all over the place. hatch and coupe versions.
ANYWHO, I have worked for FORD (not the dealership) for going on 11 years this October. I'm part of the 8k+ men and women who work at the plant that builds the Transit and F-150. The running joke about "don't buy a vehicle that was built on mondays and fridays" is SOME what true lol. LOVE my job and what i do BUT, that place is something else entirely when you get down to how its ran on a daily bases. Yes we have ****bags that work there that cause a lot of issues (who doesn't at their jobs?). Yes we have managers that THINK they know whats better for the plant. Moral in that place is a joke, thats what kills a lot of plants in particular. Look at chicago and detroit right now. more on those two later. MOST of our recall issues are Vendor related. When we launch new model years and they change certain things to cut cost. the **** breaks and all hell breaks loose. I have seen multiple times where top brass managers will OKAY a issue that is causing a stoppage in production for it to later sit outside for months to come back in for repairs that needs to be torn down to fix and put back together again. you know as well as i do when you tear something down and put in back together, its gonna miss stuff or ****s gonna break in the process of putting it back together. I can go on for hours on the little details that piss me off on the regular.
The manager meeting plans with top brass from detroit have been switching like crazy lately. they plan on this to happen, then that thing gets changed to a different plan. so on and so forth. The rumor was that the f-150 was going away in 18-21. That didn't change because we had the best quality. We heard we were getting the king ranch and raptors from detroit. That as far as i know is getting squashed. By 28 which is around the end of our current contract. They have a plan to bring in new product and send our current vehicles to other plants. Makes me a little sad to see that the van i work on daily will get shipped else where. But a new product to tinker with will be pretty awesome. I have heard also that the tariffs are hitting fords pockets hard. which is a good thing in a sense if you really think about it. I want more products to come back to America. Rumor mill is that the everest and maverick are coming to the states. THAT CAN ALL CHANGE lol. Don't be running off to your buddys saying CrazyKenz told me so, so it has to be 100% true.
Chicago has been plagued with really bad quality for years, been hearing a lot of it is gang related outside and within the plant itself. I wouldn't be surprised if they closed that down within the next couple of years tbh.
Detroit has lost millions of dollars due to people smuggling out parts and a bunch of other nefarious **** thats causing a lot of issues up there. That place will never close i feel like. Thats home to ford. We have lost lots of money down here for the same reason. Parts get stolen, trucks get stolen. nobody wants to steal the vans though lol.
Most of what im saying here is that a lot of money is being wasted, stolen or not used efficiently. I also am big on ford has gotten lazy and is not willing to be more competitive. its not just them either. we need more competition so it will drive companies to get off their asses to start coming up with better ideas. I cant think of the actual term right now. DUH, "INNOVATION" LMAO. More competition, more innovation. Compared to what china is doing. it's not looking so hot for us here in the states. That all comes with a price tag that most big companies don't wanna pay for. look where thats gotten us. They would rather higher cheap engineers to save pennies and in return we have nothing but issues. don't even get me started on engineers here... what a joke lol.
anyways, i gotta pick my daughter up from school.
im back lol, real quick. I believe with how everythings being ran, with all the issues we have in the last couple of years. Ford specifically getting rid of their small passenger cars is gonna really hurt them in the future. This whole fad with americans needing bigger, the newest, shiniest thing on the market is gonna drop HARD sooner or later. all the foreign cars still making small cars are just gonna keep making big money on them. This collapse will make ford switch gears right after its happened, not before.
It’s in a bad location on the South side of Chicago. All the trouble in Chicago is on the South and West sides. My Dad’s now demolished steel mill was just up the road. I’ve driven past that Ford plant 10,000 times.
It is amazing that Ford expanded that plant years ago when it should have been shut down and moved to a business friendly state. Dumb, dumb, dumb Ford management.
My Dad’s union screwed the workers royally when his steel mill closed down. All that money he paid in for benefits over decades magically disappeared and the union leaders did nothing to help any of the workers. The union leaders disappeared, too. So I have a different view of unions. In Chicago the unions were fronts for the Mob. Everyone knew it so it wasn’t wise to badmouth a union leader.
My love/hate relationship with Ford began in May 1965 when Mom's sister called to say the Ford stamping plant in Walton Hills was hiring. When Dad came home from his apprentice meat cutter job at the local grocery store she already had everything packed and we moved from West Virginia to Akron that very evening. I was five months old.
Years of flush and famine. Dad was 24 when they bought their first house, moved a few years later to a full acre a few miles away. Jimmy Carter gets elected and shortly afterwards Dad gets laid off. Mom has to get the first job she ever had to keep up payments on the acre estate. Reagan gets elected and in a few years Dad gets called back to work. Mom and Dad voted for Carter, they were good union people.
My first car was a Mustang, we were both created in 64 1/2. Next car was a new Escort, the World Car gave up the ghost at 75,000 miles. Replaced it with a rusted out '78 Celica with already 125,000 that would chirp it's tires going into 2nd gear rear fenders flapping in the wind. God I loved that car. Dad and I then spend years mildly bickering about American cars and foreign cars.
Fast forward to 2015. Dad's been retired for 12 years but his Z Plan comes in handy to purchase a new Fiesta ST, black with leather Recaros and sunroof. Without a doubt the most fun car I've ever owned. Gets me to 100,000 miles before I start having to repeatedly fix the same fuel system problems and it has to go. Made in Mexico of course, as were the two Fusions I've owned. If Ford still made the FiST, especially the fucking awesome looking 3-door versions Europe got, I would buy a brand new one every 100,000 miles. Instead I'm driving a made in Kentucky Toyota Camry. Go figure.
A couple, three times Jack has mentioned Eric Starkman so I subscribed to his WordPress and enjoy most every word. He often writes of all the wonderful things Ford has done and continues to do for the city of Detroit, and all the awful ridiculous things also. Love and hate, so many maintain the love and hate.
One comment on "good union people": I am of your generation and in my early college years I worked as uniformed security at a UAW local in Flint, patrolling the parking lot during rental parties. Around 1984 I therefore met a fellow named George who organized the Eucre tournaments. I was gobsmacked when he responded to some offhand comment I made about "Ronald Rayguns" by assuring me that the President had things humming along again and it all might be even better soon. George fervently hoped Reagan would be reelected.
The wheels still came off of course- the former address of the plant was the location of a gigantic fenced concrete lot, last I knew. But I will admit George had the right idea along with much better arguments!
The tarrifs don't cos$t Ford a penny ~ they're added to the out the door end consumer price, that's an indisputable fact .
I too wish Ford would make the effort to design and sell nifty little economy cars but these days I don't know if such a thing would sell .
Look at my 20 year old Ranger, it's a cheapo base model but low mileage and VGC so everyone wants to buy it but I doubt they'd sell many if the same rig was available new at the dealer .
Ford over the decades has made plenty of hits but always cheaps out on the little things, from a shop / dealer standpoint I guarantee you more quality issues than with any other brand when used in fleet service, this is not acceptable .
In the records of ACF, there are standard talking points upon which everyone agrees.
Namely, we despise the face that no one makes any big coupes or sedans anymore.
We also hate that everything is an EV, and everything that isn't is expensive as shit for seemingly no reason.
What if there was a cure for this? What if you could march down to your local dealer and get a two door the length (and nearly weight...) of a Yukon with 550hp, standard AWD, and the ability to run an 11 second 1/4 mile for $45k? On paper, is there a more interesting proposition in 2026?
These things, in gas or electric form, have been impossible to sell. Approximately zero people want the EV (it SUCKS even by EV standards), and the half dozen or so that want the gasser don't want to spend $60k on it.
It has some VERY notable issues. The interior is appalingly low rent. Even the most-touched touch points like the damn shift knob are a hard, flimsy plastic. That's right, they couldn't even be bothered to put a shitty vinyl wrap on the shift knob. In a $60k+ car! It's BAD! And it feels worse than that sounds, somehow!
The haptic contrls for the HVAC also just feel legitimately terrible. To go from the interior in the truly ancient Durango to this is so many steps backwards that it's difficult to wrap one's head around.
It has very good seats, though. Will say that. They are huge and overstuffed. Which helps because of how high the floor is (all the empty space where a battery used to be?), you will be in a weird position while driving.
Perhaps because of its EV-first design, it is also extraordinarily large. Not just in length, which is fun, but in every other dimension too. It's a lot taller than you'd think -- some nifty design tricks hide that -- and so wide as to very nearly require amber marker lights like an F150 Raptor. It's also impossibly heavy. Like 4900 pounds before you sit in it heavy. In my extremely limited seat time, I can say it also drives heavy. There is nothing svelte or nimble about this. It's main function is to Be Large, Be Loud, and trample the road under it into submission.
So what is all that worth? I honestly don't think that for $45k it's a bad car. What else at that price point can do the things and give off the vibes that this does? You'd be the coolest dad at back to school night. And, at this rate, you'll be able to get a Scat Pack under $40k by Christmas!
I'd probably get a Mustang, were it me, though. A GT (possibly even one with the premium package) can also be found discounted into the low-40s. For that, you get a V8, a stick shift, and a generally much more pleasant to drive car. You give up acres of space and practicality though -- even the two door Charger can easily fit four adults plus luggage -- so there's that to consider.
Either way, pour one out for the king of the takeovers. Carlos Tavares has ensured that there will likely never be another like it.
BONUS:
Here's internet personality Cletus McFarland getting 50% off of a new Charger EV Scat Pack
I'm actually OK with that. I rented an AMG GT C off of Turo once and it was...disappointing. Awesome V8 sound but so much less chuckable than my Volvo.
Am I getting this right that at one point in the production run this was a 5- or 6- cylinder car, but at the end of production it was a turbo-and-supercharged 4 cylinder?
2015/6 was the inline-6 with a 6-speed gearbox; 2017/8 was the twin-charged inline-4 with an 8-speed Aisin gearbox. Performance was surprisingly similar, despite the older tranny being considered kind of a dog, though the 4 has a better turning radius.
I got a cheap laugh on how they paid half price and still felt cheated. Seeing the roof break on the way home was rather disheartening to say the least. In all I was curious if it was broken or if its performance was “performative”. They did seem genuinely upset. I’m curious to what real world public results are with them.
I really do like the aerofoil nose and can get over enough of the rear. They’d be such a cool car styled as such with a 392 but eh…
The Fartsonic exhaust is enough to have someone court marshaled.
I also got a good laugh out of that video. That crew is not to be trusted for proper reviews on new vehicles (not the purpose of the channel anyway) likely at least in part to avoid pressure from the OEMs and wanting to be first in line for cool new products for the content. The fact they spent 30 minutes just absolutely shitting on it must have made the PR folks at Stellantis shart their shorts.
I’ve had a couple of Durangos as rentals in the past couple of years. The interiors were decent (though ugly black). If the porker Charger interior is worse then that is shameful.
It’s a lot better looking, but in general feels substantially cheaper. The touch points on the Charger are really substandard.
I keep going back to the shift knob. It’s this massive pistol grip style joint that is clearly a key design element, and you have to touch it every time you get in the car.
It’s AWFUL, cheap, brittle feeling plastic. The shift paddles are these little nubs of dollar store textiles as well. A reeeeaaal damn shame compared to, idk, the Alfa Giulia.
I'm really sad about how badly they bungled what a great car the LB Charger was to be. Pre-STLA it was to be a mean machine with a 7.0L 426 option down to a base 2.0L rental spec, then everything changed. Ruthless cost cutting forced the Challenger and Charger into one form. Powertrains reduced and cancelled. A decree of EV launching first that no buyer of these cars would want. An ICE strategy focused on a competent but less satisfying 6 cylinder. Margin at all cost pricing. All Tavares era decrees.
I like the styling, I like the size. I even like the hatch. I stopped to admire a red 2 door Hurricane scat pack in a parking lot the other day.
I think the current management can turn it around, but won't happen on a dime.
Add more affordable options, think Super Bee
Complete the Banshee V8 and announce the return of the 426
Get a Hellcat in it
Make a RWD version
Get an entry level model out with the turbo 4, Pentastar or ultra cheap to produce 5.7L
Previous management basically decreed all the moves that buyers of these cars shun. They ruined squandered some of the highest owner loyalty and youngest buyer demographics by losing the plot.
Well it’s goi gto be based on the gen 2 alpha platform same as caddy cts, so a 4 door is possible.
The ct5 blacking with e good mechanical bits is 140k I bet Chevy could do it under 80k.if we get a shooter 2 door with outward vision that’s a bonus. The last gen Camaro had its faults but dynamicaly it was really good.
I'd bet a lot of money that the "base" Camaro will be an auto only, turbo-4. Hopefully there will be two door and four door variants though, and the 6.7 LS6 with a manual option.
Ngl, a 4 door 6.7L with a proper manual could make me switch allegiances... Unless Dodge does it first but I don't think either company would be so based.
I have previously opined that the ecoboost Mustang was essentially the S16 Silvia that Nissan never bothered to build: rwd turbo 4 cylinder with two doors and 4 seats. In a similar vein, the Hurricane-powered Charger could've been the spiritual successor to the Toyota Chasers that still command good money at JDM import dealerships despite looking like a 90s Camry. But then they made the Charger too heavy with no manual option in either coupe or sedan form, and the styling is awkward and disjointed. I didn't really appreciate how all of a piece the previous car's styling was till I saw the new one (languishing) on dealer lots.
New interior with some quality decent build and some flared out fenders to bring back the 68 coke bottle look throw in an upgraded 525 hp 6.4 scrap the awd and it will do just fine.bit the odds of that all happening don’t look great
Youll be in good company. Part of the acf mindset is I think we've all gone over the cliff or will or will again on car. Sometimes you just gotta have it.
Well every car I buy puts me over another cliff as it is, but at least they're bought with cash. Financing an $80k car would be a cliff into a never-ending pit of ruin for me... But that doesn't mean I wouldn't run the numbers if such a car came into existence.
That guy is unintentionally hysterical, he's like the opposite of Mr. Burns.
"Oh, don't poo-poo a nickel, Lisa. A nickel will buy you a steak and kidney pie, a cup of coffee, a slice of cheesecake and a newsreel, with enough change left over to ride the trolley!"
Curious as to whether you got your books printed locally or mail order. Last book I worked on, about 2007, was printed in Ashland, but not sure if production is there anymore or just inventory. That's Ashland, Ohio, not Kentucky.
I made PDFs for printing press output for years and also then transitioned to digital copiers. Another book went to print on demand and getting the PDFs right was a real challenge for me. Glad I'm retired. My customer's husband dealt with the people in Ashland and they were problematic.
I found a little “beach” (my east coast roots insist I call it a lake front) on Lake Michigan in ultra-Tony Wilmette, IL, and while you can’t park anywhere near there during the day, on a nice evening you can park on the street and walk down a short trail and enjoy a small strip of beautiful lake front.
Which my family and I did this most recent Saturday night. The path you take is between two houses on the lake, one about to be renovated or torn down and replaced, the other has a ZEstimate of $6.7M, but I bet actual value is closer to $10M. As we walked by, the lower/underground garage door on the nice one was open and some hot rod was pulling out, but behind it was parked a matched set, a 1955 Gullwing and an SLS, both in the same silver. I’ve seen a couple Gullwings at shows, but never “in the wild” (or whatever this was) before. I rarely am jealous, but I was jealous of that.
I remember once stumbling upon a Gullwing convention in Banff. There was at least 20 of them, gathered from all over the content. Was pretty wild to see so many in one setting, each more beautiful than the other.
That would be the Gullwing Gathering, associated with Coachwerks Restoration. They are on Vancouver Island and mecca for 300SL restorations. I am writing a story on them right now for my corporate job,
I had a roommate in college whose father owned a 300SL Gullwing in the early 1960s. When he got married and his first son was on the way, his father told him it was time to grow up, accept that he is a family man with responsibilities, and sell the "sports car." That's what the man called it. A sports car.
In the 1970's in East Los Angeles on the side of a steep hill was a single car garage containing a nice gull wing Mercedes, left behind after they'd torn the adjacent house down .
I had dreams of going back to rescue it for years .
I know it’s heresy, but I like the convertible versions of each better than the Gullwing versions.
I know of where you were. You can also try the public access beach at the old Fort Sheridan. But I’m not sure if it’s open, as they found unexploded ordnance there a few years ago.
In the Outer Banks of North Carolina, they have a research station in the northern part (close to Duck) where there is rumored unexploded ordinance.
Rumors can be true or false, my guess is the real story is they do not want to deal with the environmental headache of abatement. "It's a Superfund site in disguise" is a valid explanation for many things and I suspect this could be one of them
The beach is public but in reality through restricting parking the wealthy home owners get to keep the rabble out. That is typical of Chicago’s wealthy Norht Shore suburbs. In this case I believe they really did find so unexploded ordnance there. Those rich people want to use their beach.
About 1999, I was on my way to my aunt and uncle's house in west Davenport, on Rockingham Road. Very blue collar area with light industrial buildings and single family prewar homes. I was just approaching a small commercial area with a diner, grocery store and barber shop when a freaking Gullwing went by. I almost drove off the road. It was a maroon color. Never saw it again. I suspect it was stored in one of the many industrial buildings nearby. Who knows what other cars may have been in that unknown building...
Unbelievably I have two public Gullwing sightings, both rather improbable.
One was at the outlet mall in Pleasant Prarie, Wisconsin. It was just sitting there in the parking lot. The other was driving into downtown Chicago in early morning rush hour to go to work. It was probably 6am, and there was a Gullwing lurching along in stop and go traffic. It had a smoky exhaust and was leaning to one side with a sagging suspension. I’m not making either of these up.
The rarest thing I’ve ever seen was on a Sunday morning in a wealthy Chicago suburb. There was an old Alfa Romeo going the other that looked something like a 1920’s P2 with the exhaust running down the middle side of the car. That was wild to see. I gotta say, it just looked and sounded real. https://www.supercars.net/blog/1924-alfa-romeo-p2-gallery/
I tend to block out most of the musical fluff my daughters listen to these days, but coincidentally, my wife also recently mentioned how Olivia Rodrigo seemed to be a cut above. Seeing as she is now fellow-old-balls approved, I may have to give her a listen.
I am amazed that in talking about (taking a well deserved shot at) NACTOY Jury, one did not provide a list of members of this distinguished body. So as a public service I thought I would.
Now some night note that not many of these esteemed jurors appear to be the type of person that would push a car to the limit at Mid-Ohio but you never know.
Thanks also for the link - I was curious who was on the panel. I know (or know of) 11 of them. One of them died last week. Some of the folks are legit in my eyes, but many, I'm sure, are not.
F1 AI: Boy, when I read about George and AI I actually wondered to myself if it wasn't about George's own artificial intelligence. While I don't care for him, I can tell Lewis is smart. At least he's a Sir. George is never going to ascend to that and yet he clearly thinks of himself in such a manner. It's all very silly. Rush the V8s. Rush the hybrid into the trashcan. Rush the kids into these new seats with the old guard-mid talents getting the F out of the way.
Ferrari: I've a lot more respect for this Ferrari than those dumb Mansory abominations. Very much enjoy the fact they've chosen unique and classic car colors and textures for things. They may be snubbed now by some... but they're going to be incredibly relevant still in 30 years.
The Merc: When I was in college the SLR came out. I remember seeing my first one. Eagerly my friends and I all talked about the Mclaren connection and the intake through the emblem and longed for the elongated hood. It hit all the perfect teenage poster vibes.
In many ways, it was very much their Viper if the Viper was built by someone other than Chrysler. I think the main reason why the SLR doesnt get the same love is just how hand built the car seems. Even the ones in peak condition at car shows back in the day had their own bespoke and fragile look about them. The secondary reason is this: Mclaren made their own cars.
If I was to buy a forever car, it'd be an SLR out of being special. If I wanted to drive miles, it would be the SLS. Withe the ability to buy something that expensive as a toy, I'd just own both. After all, 300k is easily into F-You money for a car. Nothing makes sense anymore at BAT.
If the English really wanted to be cool about it, they'd knight everyone who graduated from S.A.S. training, people who risked their ass in the service of the Crown, and nobody else.
the fact Mick Jagger has been knighted and Keith Richards has not - even if he is, apparently, a vocal critic of the whole honors system - tells you everything you need to know about the state of modern knighthood
My buddy/client just bought a porsche 911. I'm not sure what year he ended up getting and I'll figure that out when I look at the invoice and decide if I'm going to depreciate it or not but it was 160k for an 8ish year old car. Just absolutely ridiculous. I'm too cheap to be rich.
Could we get back to the days when old sports cars were just old sports cars that no one really wanted? I bought a book in my 20's (2000s era) about restoring old Porsche 911s, I was seriously considering it as decent 70's models were 10-15K, and you could get into an 80s SC for about 20K. At the time I thought that was too pricey for an old car! The folly of youth.
I bought my first 911 in the early 90s, a 1974 Targa in a rare color, for $11,000. Sold it about six years later as a trade in to a BMW dealer for a new 328i because we needed 4 doors for the baby seat, for $11,000.
Funny enough, the early 2.7 shorthoods have never gotten the price increases of all the others. There have been fixes to the studs issue for decades, but other than the '74 Carrera, which is a paint job and a tail on a standard S, they stayed relatively cheap.
Those jags are pretty sweet "sporty but also able to waft away the highway hours in stylish comfort". Maybe one of those is the answer... and a miata...
Well in those days the new sports cars were meaningfully faster and better and more desirable. But now, new cars suck eggs and we've realized all the best cars already exist, which makes them more valuable. I'm not celebrating this but it seems like a strong theory.
Fair point, going from a 2000-era car to a mid-70s-era car was a bigger step back than going from a 2026 model to 2000-era, and in many ways an upgrade.
It's exactly like a Rolex, a useless trinket to pretend you have money. The Insta of cars and watches.
Not all new cars suck eggs, that's just received ACF wisdom. If I had a new Civic S hybrid available when I was buying that E36 BMW in 1997 I would have been dumbfounded.
My 2025 Boxster GTS is the same size as an 80s 911 and much, much faster including all the Turbos.
Much as I don't like the C8s styling, it is a fantastic sports car for the price.
Your Boxster being the size of an old 911 is an indication of how many eggs new cars really suck (modern 911s are bloated and stupid now, not your car. The Boxster GTS sucks zero eggs). And a hybrid vacuum cleaner Civic that's 3 sizes too big over a late E36?? Come on man, you've gotta be kidding. I had a 97 328i from 2022-2025, it's leagues more desirable than any Civic shy of a Type R.
Young guy confirmation bias. A 25 year old BMW is desirable in proportion to how different it is to new cars. Today it's everything that the Civic isn't Let's say you need a small 4 door in 1997 as a family car that you also drive in Chicago winters or 500 miles over a weekend. 200 hp and almost 50mpg vs 180 HP and 20 mpg? A big hatch or a small trunk? For $20,000 less in equalized dollars?
We had an '89 Honda Prelude with 4WS until we needed a 4 door. All time great car. The view out the front was like an NXT.
I'm still firm in my young-guy's position. After all, that 97 bmw and I are the same age! I still have to fix it at the track sometimes because the new owner is a bit green.
Also, you wrote, ". If I had a new Civic S hybrid available when I was buying that E36 BMW in 1997 I would have been dumbfounded." Do you mean dumbfounded in a positive way by the quality of the Civic Sport Hybrid?
Alas the boxter is no longer in production. A e36 is imo hard to beat.
The c8 i. Stingray form is really a fast gt with artificial steering and some questionable design choices esp in the interior. Basicaly a modern version of the 2 door personal coupe. But it does have real exotic looks and in zr1 form is really quite the machine. I’d still spend 30k more to get a gt3 if you could get a gt3 at msrp. There is a lot to be said for reactive buttoned finesse cars that flow down the road and can work on track.
There are a few great modern cars and even those you need to tolerate adas screen slop being monitored and eps.
also, an 8 year old porsche at 160k is odds-on to be a 991 unless its a very special cayman so kudos to client for never having a single original thought in his entire life.
The NACTOY of the year is kinda stupid. Just give it to the accord or the camry every year for the last 30 years. Maybe throw in a lexus every once in a while. I don't care if the people voting on it are mommy bloggers, racers, or dudnerheads. It's all bullshit.
Correct. My favorite are the reviews like “35 best burgers in Hooterville.”
As if anyone could quantify or even guess the difference between burger #27 and burger #32. These types of reviews are everywhere.
The other dumb awards are any cultural performance awards, like the Academy Awards. As if it can be determined if Actor A in a cowboy western acted “better” than Actor B in a sci-fi movie. Total bullshit.
That's too much for a regular SLS, but its still my choice of the four Benzes mentioned. To my eye, it's the best looking, and an NA V8 is always cooler than a boosted one. The Black Series would be a no-brainer- most powerful free-breathing V8 ever made, until the Z06 (that doesn't get talked about enough) came along, but the plain Jane SLS is classier without all the carbon stuff bolted on.
Then I'd go SL65 because V12 with Duramax torque and the world's greatest fender flares.
SLR is last place for me. By far the worst of that era's big three halo cars, 5-speed auto, Squidward nose. It'll probably be worth the most in the long run, though.
Topic 1: As I enjoyed the pics of the Mini-Commander riding shotgun in unobtainable (for me, anyway) Benzes, old Jimmy was singing these lyrics:
I'm so damn lucky to have an all-star cast
Some lovely, some crazy
Who ever thought this would last?
You know if I hadn't lived it, I'd read it myself
Tellin' tall tales is still good for my health
Keep movin' and listenin' and amusin' myself
I'm not ready to put the book on the shelf.
Topic 2: The current state of F1 was summed up for me by Max out-ballsing Kimi through Eau Rouge to take the lead... then somehow finding himself in third place by the end of the Kemmel Straight. Mario Kart, indeed.
Thank you for the call out on NACTOY. You are 100% correct. The industry is reducing itself to nothing and becoming useless. Sad that the we have been infiltrated by mommy-bloggers and those chosen to be jurors are because of DEI and not skills and knowledge.
Most journalists have given the industry, not to mention their readers (where existent), terrible advice. They didn't just fall for the EV bullshit, they actively promoted it.
Now they're lashing out in anger and humiliation. A sight to behold.
You are one of the few good ones, Lauren. You were correct from the beginning.
When I was serious about drawing cars when I was younger they all had the proportions of the SLR. I think it’s one of the best-looking cars of the era, but I’ve never seen it in person. Pedigree is one thing but since collectors don’t usually drive their cars very often I think it’ll out price the SLS in the long term because it just looks nicer.
I was fascinated with the 308 GTSi, and sketched them over and over again in an attempt to get the dimensions right. Such a sexy car and I still think it’s a beautiful design
Right? I was also around 12 or 13 when I went to the ‘big carshow’ in Vancouver and there was one on the floor. I think I had seen it on Magnum PI, but nothing could prepare me for seeing that low curvaceous hottie reclining amongst the early eighties Detroit iron and fuel economic cars from Japan. It was too much for my little brain to comprehend and I kept walking around it checking it out from different angles.
Somehow Ferrari improved on the design four years later with the 288 GTO which is just the smoking hot pinnacle of the platform.
About a decade ago I saw a 308 on a buy-here, pay-here lot. I am not kidding. It was in Alameda, California, of all places. Of course I know that buying a Ferrari from such a place would lead only to heartache and ruin.
And yet, for just a moment, I considered it...
The 288 GTO is on the list if and when I achieve lighting-cigars-with-C notes level money.
Yep I was referring g to the 246 also. IMO the 308 get is very bit the equal if anything to me a 246 is a derivative 60s shape
A euro 308 qv gotta be top of the pops.
For other reasons a 308!dino is awesome and peole tell me it’s batter drive than a regular 308.
The things bout 308s is at +20k built and many survivors they lack the rarity cachet of the 246, but imo they’re every bit as beitiful far less fragile and a better drive.
INCOMING FORD CONTENT> YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED
A rant by a fellow member at focusst.org. Prompted by Farley's obvious lie that he got rid of Focus and Fusion because they made no money on them: https://fordauthority.com/2026/04/ford-ceo-jim-farley-says-fusion-or-focus-didnt-return-due-to-cost/
HEREWITH THE RANT
Bill ford specifically told farley to never get rid of the mustang. he could do whatever BUT not get rid of the mustang lol.
Sales "plummeted" for small cars from ford and suv sales were going crazy. so why not just get RID OF ALL YOUR SMALLER AFFORDABLE VEHICLES AND FUN HATCHES AND SLEEPERS???? This **** drove me up the wall while honda, toyota were STILL making fun little cars. Yeah they are a little pricey. They are everywhere though. I seen one GR corolla so far here but i see the type r all over the place. hatch and coupe versions.
ANYWHO, I have worked for FORD (not the dealership) for going on 11 years this October. I'm part of the 8k+ men and women who work at the plant that builds the Transit and F-150. The running joke about "don't buy a vehicle that was built on mondays and fridays" is SOME what true lol. LOVE my job and what i do BUT, that place is something else entirely when you get down to how its ran on a daily bases. Yes we have ****bags that work there that cause a lot of issues (who doesn't at their jobs?). Yes we have managers that THINK they know whats better for the plant. Moral in that place is a joke, thats what kills a lot of plants in particular. Look at chicago and detroit right now. more on those two later. MOST of our recall issues are Vendor related. When we launch new model years and they change certain things to cut cost. the **** breaks and all hell breaks loose. I have seen multiple times where top brass managers will OKAY a issue that is causing a stoppage in production for it to later sit outside for months to come back in for repairs that needs to be torn down to fix and put back together again. you know as well as i do when you tear something down and put in back together, its gonna miss stuff or ****s gonna break in the process of putting it back together. I can go on for hours on the little details that piss me off on the regular.
The manager meeting plans with top brass from detroit have been switching like crazy lately. they plan on this to happen, then that thing gets changed to a different plan. so on and so forth. The rumor was that the f-150 was going away in 18-21. That didn't change because we had the best quality. We heard we were getting the king ranch and raptors from detroit. That as far as i know is getting squashed. By 28 which is around the end of our current contract. They have a plan to bring in new product and send our current vehicles to other plants. Makes me a little sad to see that the van i work on daily will get shipped else where. But a new product to tinker with will be pretty awesome. I have heard also that the tariffs are hitting fords pockets hard. which is a good thing in a sense if you really think about it. I want more products to come back to America. Rumor mill is that the everest and maverick are coming to the states. THAT CAN ALL CHANGE lol. Don't be running off to your buddys saying CrazyKenz told me so, so it has to be 100% true.
Chicago has been plagued with really bad quality for years, been hearing a lot of it is gang related outside and within the plant itself. I wouldn't be surprised if they closed that down within the next couple of years tbh.
Detroit has lost millions of dollars due to people smuggling out parts and a bunch of other nefarious **** thats causing a lot of issues up there. That place will never close i feel like. Thats home to ford. We have lost lots of money down here for the same reason. Parts get stolen, trucks get stolen. nobody wants to steal the vans though lol.
Most of what im saying here is that a lot of money is being wasted, stolen or not used efficiently. I also am big on ford has gotten lazy and is not willing to be more competitive. its not just them either. we need more competition so it will drive companies to get off their asses to start coming up with better ideas. I cant think of the actual term right now. DUH, "INNOVATION" LMAO. More competition, more innovation. Compared to what china is doing. it's not looking so hot for us here in the states. That all comes with a price tag that most big companies don't wanna pay for. look where thats gotten us. They would rather higher cheap engineers to save pennies and in return we have nothing but issues. don't even get me started on engineers here... what a joke lol.
anyways, i gotta pick my daughter up from school.
im back lol, real quick. I believe with how everythings being ran, with all the issues we have in the last couple of years. Ford specifically getting rid of their small passenger cars is gonna really hurt them in the future. This whole fad with americans needing bigger, the newest, shiniest thing on the market is gonna drop HARD sooner or later. all the foreign cars still making small cars are just gonna keep making big money on them. This collapse will make ford switch gears right after its happened, not before.
THIS RANT HAS NOT BEEN RECALLED DUE TO SHIT QC
https://www.focusst.org/threads/ford-ceo-jim-farley-says-fusion-focus-didnt-return-due-to-cost-april-2026.178924/?post_id=2802754#post-2802754
"Chicago has been plagued with really bad quality for years, been hearing a lot of it is gang related outside and within the plant itself"
who could have seen that coming
"Detroit has lost millions of dollars due to people smuggling out parts and a bunch of other nefarious **** thats causing a lot of issues up there"
same surprise
It’s in a bad location on the South side of Chicago. All the trouble in Chicago is on the South and West sides. My Dad’s now demolished steel mill was just up the road. I’ve driven past that Ford plant 10,000 times.
It is amazing that Ford expanded that plant years ago when it should have been shut down and moved to a business friendly state. Dumb, dumb, dumb Ford management.
Or union demands
Not dumb, they got PAID
Oh, I know there were kickbacks somewhere. It’s known locally as “The Chicago Way.”
Expecting decent pay and benefits for hard work isn't wrong and why the U.S.A.'s manufacturing might was built by unionized labor .
-Nate
My Dad’s union screwed the workers royally when his steel mill closed down. All that money he paid in for benefits over decades magically disappeared and the union leaders did nothing to help any of the workers. The union leaders disappeared, too. So I have a different view of unions. In Chicago the unions were fronts for the Mob. Everyone knew it so it wasn’t wise to badmouth a union leader.
My love/hate relationship with Ford began in May 1965 when Mom's sister called to say the Ford stamping plant in Walton Hills was hiring. When Dad came home from his apprentice meat cutter job at the local grocery store she already had everything packed and we moved from West Virginia to Akron that very evening. I was five months old.
Years of flush and famine. Dad was 24 when they bought their first house, moved a few years later to a full acre a few miles away. Jimmy Carter gets elected and shortly afterwards Dad gets laid off. Mom has to get the first job she ever had to keep up payments on the acre estate. Reagan gets elected and in a few years Dad gets called back to work. Mom and Dad voted for Carter, they were good union people.
My first car was a Mustang, we were both created in 64 1/2. Next car was a new Escort, the World Car gave up the ghost at 75,000 miles. Replaced it with a rusted out '78 Celica with already 125,000 that would chirp it's tires going into 2nd gear rear fenders flapping in the wind. God I loved that car. Dad and I then spend years mildly bickering about American cars and foreign cars.
Fast forward to 2015. Dad's been retired for 12 years but his Z Plan comes in handy to purchase a new Fiesta ST, black with leather Recaros and sunroof. Without a doubt the most fun car I've ever owned. Gets me to 100,000 miles before I start having to repeatedly fix the same fuel system problems and it has to go. Made in Mexico of course, as were the two Fusions I've owned. If Ford still made the FiST, especially the fucking awesome looking 3-door versions Europe got, I would buy a brand new one every 100,000 miles. Instead I'm driving a made in Kentucky Toyota Camry. Go figure.
A couple, three times Jack has mentioned Eric Starkman so I subscribed to his WordPress and enjoy most every word. He often writes of all the wonderful things Ford has done and continues to do for the city of Detroit, and all the awful ridiculous things also. Love and hate, so many maintain the love and hate.
One comment on "good union people": I am of your generation and in my early college years I worked as uniformed security at a UAW local in Flint, patrolling the parking lot during rental parties. Around 1984 I therefore met a fellow named George who organized the Eucre tournaments. I was gobsmacked when he responded to some offhand comment I made about "Ronald Rayguns" by assuring me that the President had things humming along again and it all might be even better soon. George fervently hoped Reagan would be reelected.
The wheels still came off of course- the former address of the plant was the location of a gigantic fenced concrete lot, last I knew. But I will admit George had the right idea along with much better arguments!
"Smithers, where's my fainting couch?"
Didn't Johnny Cash sing a song about stealing parts at an assembly line job?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uErKI0zWgjg&list=RDuErKI0zWgjg&start_radio=1
He did indeed!
I'm just here to say I am totally stealing "HEREWITH THE RANT."
Thanks for this. Ossified large corp with layers said managemt.
Yeah competition is good
"nobody wants to steal the vans though lol."
Have you met our friend around here, Stan Galat? Stan--there may be some heavily discounted 0-mile vans available for you in Claycomo, Missouri!
Just a hop skip and a jump from stanistan
FWIW ;
The tarrifs don't cos$t Ford a penny ~ they're added to the out the door end consumer price, that's an indisputable fact .
I too wish Ford would make the effort to design and sell nifty little economy cars but these days I don't know if such a thing would sell .
Look at my 20 year old Ranger, it's a cheapo base model but low mileage and VGC so everyone wants to buy it but I doubt they'd sell many if the same rig was available new at the dealer .
Ford over the decades has made plenty of hits but always cheaps out on the little things, from a shop / dealer standpoint I guarantee you more quality issues than with any other brand when used in fleet service, this is not acceptable .
-Nate
In the records of ACF, there are standard talking points upon which everyone agrees.
Namely, we despise the face that no one makes any big coupes or sedans anymore.
We also hate that everything is an EV, and everything that isn't is expensive as shit for seemingly no reason.
What if there was a cure for this? What if you could march down to your local dealer and get a two door the length (and nearly weight...) of a Yukon with 550hp, standard AWD, and the ability to run an 11 second 1/4 mile for $45k? On paper, is there a more interesting proposition in 2026?
Here's the rub: Its a new Dodge Charger.
https://tinyurl.com/ab3axjyy
https://tinyurl.com/63tr394m
https://tinyurl.com/ye2x4khf
These things, in gas or electric form, have been impossible to sell. Approximately zero people want the EV (it SUCKS even by EV standards), and the half dozen or so that want the gasser don't want to spend $60k on it.
It has some VERY notable issues. The interior is appalingly low rent. Even the most-touched touch points like the damn shift knob are a hard, flimsy plastic. That's right, they couldn't even be bothered to put a shitty vinyl wrap on the shift knob. In a $60k+ car! It's BAD! And it feels worse than that sounds, somehow!
The haptic contrls for the HVAC also just feel legitimately terrible. To go from the interior in the truly ancient Durango to this is so many steps backwards that it's difficult to wrap one's head around.
It has very good seats, though. Will say that. They are huge and overstuffed. Which helps because of how high the floor is (all the empty space where a battery used to be?), you will be in a weird position while driving.
Perhaps because of its EV-first design, it is also extraordinarily large. Not just in length, which is fun, but in every other dimension too. It's a lot taller than you'd think -- some nifty design tricks hide that -- and so wide as to very nearly require amber marker lights like an F150 Raptor. It's also impossibly heavy. Like 4900 pounds before you sit in it heavy. In my extremely limited seat time, I can say it also drives heavy. There is nothing svelte or nimble about this. It's main function is to Be Large, Be Loud, and trample the road under it into submission.
So what is all that worth? I honestly don't think that for $45k it's a bad car. What else at that price point can do the things and give off the vibes that this does? You'd be the coolest dad at back to school night. And, at this rate, you'll be able to get a Scat Pack under $40k by Christmas!
I'd probably get a Mustang, were it me, though. A GT (possibly even one with the premium package) can also be found discounted into the low-40s. For that, you get a V8, a stick shift, and a generally much more pleasant to drive car. You give up acres of space and practicality though -- even the two door Charger can easily fit four adults plus luggage -- so there's that to consider.
Either way, pour one out for the king of the takeovers. Carlos Tavares has ensured that there will likely never be another like it.
BONUS:
Here's internet personality Cletus McFarland getting 50% off of a new Charger EV Scat Pack
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ncsD_KGrxQ
"no one makes any big coupes"
I'm actually OK with that. I rented an AMG GT C off of Turo once and it was...disappointing. Awesome V8 sound but so much less chuckable than my Volvo.
Interesting! Wanted one of those AMG GTs and realistically they're stll probably better than almost any 991/2 911, particularly dollar-for-dollar
So we can compare, which volvo do you have again?
2017 V60 Polestar-engineered. :)
A celebrated car!
I have been debating swapping my car for one.
Am I getting this right that at one point in the production run this was a 5- or 6- cylinder car, but at the end of production it was a turbo-and-supercharged 4 cylinder?
Wish they made a continuation model of these.
2015/6 was the inline-6 with a 6-speed gearbox; 2017/8 was the twin-charged inline-4 with an 8-speed Aisin gearbox. Performance was surprisingly similar, despite the older tranny being considered kind of a dog, though the 4 has a better turning radius.
*McFarland Spoilers below*
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I got a cheap laugh on how they paid half price and still felt cheated. Seeing the roof break on the way home was rather disheartening to say the least. In all I was curious if it was broken or if its performance was “performative”. They did seem genuinely upset. I’m curious to what real world public results are with them.
I really do like the aerofoil nose and can get over enough of the rear. They’d be such a cool car styled as such with a 392 but eh…
The Fartsonic exhaust is enough to have someone court marshaled.
A quick google doesn’t show much for cracked roof glass, for whatever that’s worth.
I also got a good laugh out of that video. That crew is not to be trusted for proper reviews on new vehicles (not the purpose of the channel anyway) likely at least in part to avoid pressure from the OEMs and wanting to be first in line for cool new products for the content. The fact they spent 30 minutes just absolutely shitting on it must have made the PR folks at Stellantis shart their shorts.
I’ve had a couple of Durangos as rentals in the past couple of years. The interiors were decent (though ugly black). If the porker Charger interior is worse then that is shameful.
It’s a lot better looking, but in general feels substantially cheaper. The touch points on the Charger are really substandard.
I keep going back to the shift knob. It’s this massive pistol grip style joint that is clearly a key design element, and you have to touch it every time you get in the car.
It’s AWFUL, cheap, brittle feeling plastic. The shift paddles are these little nubs of dollar store textiles as well. A reeeeaaal damn shame compared to, idk, the Alfa Giulia.
I'm really sad about how badly they bungled what a great car the LB Charger was to be. Pre-STLA it was to be a mean machine with a 7.0L 426 option down to a base 2.0L rental spec, then everything changed. Ruthless cost cutting forced the Challenger and Charger into one form. Powertrains reduced and cancelled. A decree of EV launching first that no buyer of these cars would want. An ICE strategy focused on a competent but less satisfying 6 cylinder. Margin at all cost pricing. All Tavares era decrees.
I like the styling, I like the size. I even like the hatch. I stopped to admire a red 2 door Hurricane scat pack in a parking lot the other day.
I think the current management can turn it around, but won't happen on a dime.
Add more affordable options, think Super Bee
Complete the Banshee V8 and announce the return of the 426
Get a Hellcat in it
Make a RWD version
Get an entry level model out with the turbo 4, Pentastar or ultra cheap to produce 5.7L
Previous management basically decreed all the moves that buyers of these cars shun. They ruined squandered some of the highest owner loyalty and youngest buyer demographics by losing the plot.
I think Kuniskis can fix it, time will tell.
Yeah they also red to fix build quality and the craptastic interior
The car looks nice and in 2wd witha 6.4 it could be appealing. But even the. not with the current crap build and interior
If gm dosent f up the ew Camaro that’s prob going to be the one to get
I have a recurring nightmare that GM does the GM thing and comes out with a 4 door Camaro with auto trans.
Well it’s goi gto be based on the gen 2 alpha platform same as caddy cts, so a 4 door is possible.
The ct5 blacking with e good mechanical bits is 140k I bet Chevy could do it under 80k.if we get a shooter 2 door with outward vision that’s a bonus. The last gen Camaro had its faults but dynamicaly it was really good.
I'd bet a lot of money that the "base" Camaro will be an auto only, turbo-4. Hopefully there will be two door and four door variants though, and the 6.7 LS6 with a manual option.
Ngl, a 4 door 6.7L with a proper manual could make me switch allegiances... Unless Dodge does it first but I don't think either company would be so based.
Given GM will likely do a Blackwing with a V8 and a stick again, there’s hope enough to think they could pull it off.
I have previously opined that the ecoboost Mustang was essentially the S16 Silvia that Nissan never bothered to build: rwd turbo 4 cylinder with two doors and 4 seats. In a similar vein, the Hurricane-powered Charger could've been the spiritual successor to the Toyota Chasers that still command good money at JDM import dealerships despite looking like a 90s Camry. But then they made the Charger too heavy with no manual option in either coupe or sedan form, and the styling is awkward and disjointed. I didn't really appreciate how all of a piece the previous car's styling was till I saw the new one (languishing) on dealer lots.
The big downside is also awd only excess heft and really crap build.
You say that as if looking like a 90s Camry is a bad thing! Clean lines are clean lines and they get harder to find all the time.
The design for this could have worked without in-floor battery packs. and without modern UBER-high crash-rated doorsills.
As is, the car unfortunately looks like trash. Shame because without battery storage induced design compromises it could have been a winner.
New interior with some quality decent build and some flared out fenders to bring back the 68 coke bottle look throw in an upgraded 525 hp 6.4 scrap the awd and it will do just fine.bit the odds of that all happening don’t look great
And with a proper Tremec 6 speed, that would tempt me into financial and philosophical suicide.
Youll be in good company. Part of the acf mindset is I think we've all gone over the cliff or will or will again on car. Sometimes you just gotta have it.
Well every car I buy puts me over another cliff as it is, but at least they're bought with cash. Financing an $80k car would be a cliff into a never-ending pit of ruin for me... But that doesn't mean I wouldn't run the numbers if such a car came into existence.
I think youre safe only because the odds of them really dong it seem slight, esp as priorities are elsewhere.
Allegedly the next CT5 is going top spawn a 4 door camaro.
That guy is unintentionally hysterical, he's like the opposite of Mr. Burns.
"Oh, don't poo-poo a nickel, Lisa. A nickel will buy you a steak and kidney pie, a cup of coffee, a slice of cheesecake and a newsreel, with enough change left over to ride the trolley!"
My brother has an F12. After the Luce bump he could sell it today for close to 50% more than he paid
He shouldn't sell it.
don't be so quick to say that... how much would everyone at ACF have to chip in to buy it?
$175 from each would do it
TAKE MY MONEY!
Curious as to whether you got your books printed locally or mail order. Last book I worked on, about 2007, was printed in Ashland, but not sure if production is there anymore or just inventory. That's Ashland, Ohio, not Kentucky.
I use KDP, even for my copies, so most of them are done in Tennessee or Kentucky.
I made PDFs for printing press output for years and also then transitioned to digital copiers. Another book went to print on demand and getting the PDFs right was a real challenge for me. Glad I'm retired. My customer's husband dealt with the people in Ashland and they were problematic.
I found a little “beach” (my east coast roots insist I call it a lake front) on Lake Michigan in ultra-Tony Wilmette, IL, and while you can’t park anywhere near there during the day, on a nice evening you can park on the street and walk down a short trail and enjoy a small strip of beautiful lake front.
Which my family and I did this most recent Saturday night. The path you take is between two houses on the lake, one about to be renovated or torn down and replaced, the other has a ZEstimate of $6.7M, but I bet actual value is closer to $10M. As we walked by, the lower/underground garage door on the nice one was open and some hot rod was pulling out, but behind it was parked a matched set, a 1955 Gullwing and an SLS, both in the same silver. I’ve seen a couple Gullwings at shows, but never “in the wild” (or whatever this was) before. I rarely am jealous, but I was jealous of that.
I remember once stumbling upon a Gullwing convention in Banff. There was at least 20 of them, gathered from all over the content. Was pretty wild to see so many in one setting, each more beautiful than the other.
Proof: https://live.staticflickr.com/3863/15227970141_04809a7d1f_k.jpg
That would be the Gullwing Gathering, associated with Coachwerks Restoration. They are on Vancouver Island and mecca for 300SL restorations. I am writing a story on them right now for my corporate job,
I had a roommate in college whose father owned a 300SL Gullwing in the early 1960s. When he got married and his first son was on the way, his father told him it was time to grow up, accept that he is a family man with responsibilities, and sell the "sports car." That's what the man called it. A sports car.
He did so.
His younger son never quite forgave him for that.
In the 1970's in East Los Angeles on the side of a steep hill was a single car garage containing a nice gull wing Mercedes, left behind after they'd torn the adjacent house down .
I had dreams of going back to rescue it for years .
-Nate
karen and i pulled into the parking lot of a chateau hotel in france one night--and the gto rally was booked in there too!
How many Pontiacs are in all of Europe?
careful!
I know it’s heresy, but I like the convertible versions of each better than the Gullwing versions.
I know of where you were. You can also try the public access beach at the old Fort Sheridan. But I’m not sure if it’s open, as they found unexploded ordnance there a few years ago.
Agreed, like the roadster better. Despite it being famous in Canada as the personal car of Trudeau the elder.
In the Outer Banks of North Carolina, they have a research station in the northern part (close to Duck) where there is rumored unexploded ordinance.
Rumors can be true or false, my guess is the real story is they do not want to deal with the environmental headache of abatement. "It's a Superfund site in disguise" is a valid explanation for many things and I suspect this could be one of them
The beach is public but in reality through restricting parking the wealthy home owners get to keep the rabble out. That is typical of Chicago’s wealthy Norht Shore suburbs. In this case I believe they really did find so unexploded ordnance there. Those rich people want to use their beach.
About 1999, I was on my way to my aunt and uncle's house in west Davenport, on Rockingham Road. Very blue collar area with light industrial buildings and single family prewar homes. I was just approaching a small commercial area with a diner, grocery store and barber shop when a freaking Gullwing went by. I almost drove off the road. It was a maroon color. Never saw it again. I suspect it was stored in one of the many industrial buildings nearby. Who knows what other cars may have been in that unknown building...
Unbelievably I have two public Gullwing sightings, both rather improbable.
One was at the outlet mall in Pleasant Prarie, Wisconsin. It was just sitting there in the parking lot. The other was driving into downtown Chicago in early morning rush hour to go to work. It was probably 6am, and there was a Gullwing lurching along in stop and go traffic. It had a smoky exhaust and was leaning to one side with a sagging suspension. I’m not making either of these up.
The rarest thing I’ve ever seen was on a Sunday morning in a wealthy Chicago suburb. There was an old Alfa Romeo going the other that looked something like a 1920’s P2 with the exhaust running down the middle side of the car. That was wild to see. I gotta say, it just looked and sounded real. https://www.supercars.net/blog/1924-alfa-romeo-p2-gallery/
I tend to block out most of the musical fluff my daughters listen to these days, but coincidentally, my wife also recently mentioned how Olivia Rodrigo seemed to be a cut above. Seeing as she is now fellow-old-balls approved, I may have to give her a listen.
I am amazed that in talking about (taking a well deserved shot at) NACTOY Jury, one did not provide a list of members of this distinguished body. So as a public service I thought I would.
https://northamericancaroftheyear.org/jurors/
Now some night note that not many of these esteemed jurors appear to be the type of person that would push a car to the limit at Mid-Ohio but you never know.
Thanks for the link. I am familiar with 5 of them.
I'm sure one of them is John Davis: "Well, hello and welcome to Moat-Whore Week. We're glad to have you withuss."
He is 1 of my 5! I watched a lot of motorweek as a teenager with only antenna and no cable TV. Also Doug D and a few of the R&T and C&D writers.
Thanks. It’s also a great list of websites that nobody clicks on.
Seems to me that it would be wise for some of these writers to stay a few hundred yards away from a school.
They can stay 200 yards away from my house, because I know the drop between my front door and there.
The print it right on the ammo box
When you load your own though you gotta figure it out
Some overeager journalist with half a left leg found this out the hard way
I have the chart clear taped to the stock of my Savage 220.
Takin' the time to load yo own and run them through a chronograph and shit?
Beirut over here will pop you for that.
the trick is to the whole case with the fastest burning powder you can find then level the case off like a guiness then shove a bullet in there
if the round doesnt blow the barrel off itll go through several cars
I recognized none of the media, podcasts or blogs except for the old time R&T and C&D.
Thanks also for the link - I was curious who was on the panel. I know (or know of) 11 of them. One of them died last week. Some of the folks are legit in my eyes, but many, I'm sure, are not.
F1 AI: Boy, when I read about George and AI I actually wondered to myself if it wasn't about George's own artificial intelligence. While I don't care for him, I can tell Lewis is smart. At least he's a Sir. George is never going to ascend to that and yet he clearly thinks of himself in such a manner. It's all very silly. Rush the V8s. Rush the hybrid into the trashcan. Rush the kids into these new seats with the old guard-mid talents getting the F out of the way.
Ferrari: I've a lot more respect for this Ferrari than those dumb Mansory abominations. Very much enjoy the fact they've chosen unique and classic car colors and textures for things. They may be snubbed now by some... but they're going to be incredibly relevant still in 30 years.
The Merc: When I was in college the SLR came out. I remember seeing my first one. Eagerly my friends and I all talked about the Mclaren connection and the intake through the emblem and longed for the elongated hood. It hit all the perfect teenage poster vibes.
In many ways, it was very much their Viper if the Viper was built by someone other than Chrysler. I think the main reason why the SLR doesnt get the same love is just how hand built the car seems. Even the ones in peak condition at car shows back in the day had their own bespoke and fragile look about them. The secondary reason is this: Mclaren made their own cars.
If I was to buy a forever car, it'd be an SLR out of being special. If I wanted to drive miles, it would be the SLS. Withe the ability to buy something that expensive as a toy, I'd just own both. After all, 300k is easily into F-You money for a car. Nothing makes sense anymore at BAT.
"At least he's a Sir"
they basically give those out now
My favorite Sir of all time: Sir Dingle Foot.
Not a Monty Python name.
Fun fact. His Wikipedia entry does not explain his name. Seems like the one piece of information that’s most relevant.
Google is helpful: "Dingle is a unique name symbolizing a small valley or hollow, often associated with nature."
It's also a town in County Kerry, which is irrelevant for this Britisher.
Good stuff. If I remember correctly his Dad had a Dingle name of some sort, just not a surname.
His dad was Isaac Foot.
His Wikipedia entry contains the now-immortal sentence "Foot first stood for Parliament in Totnes in January 1910."
He and his wife had 7 children: Margaret, Jennifer, Paul, Hugh, John, Michael...and Dingle. :D
There was some connection to his father’s side but I can’t find it.
God, we are a bunch of geeks here LOL!
Sir Not Appearing In This Film.
I saw Sir Dingle Foot open for Public Enemy back in the day.
I mean... yeah, basically.
https://preview.redd.it/obama-giving-himself-an-award-5120x2880px-v0-obvqaa0lhn841.jpg?width=1080&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=25db5bca5da3d2a306b4092fc56b2152475a636a
I stopped giving the barest semblance of a shit about knighthoods when they started giving them to rock stars.
Unless you carry a sword and joust, you’re not really a knight.
If the English really wanted to be cool about it, they'd knight everyone who graduated from S.A.S. training, people who risked their ass in the service of the Crown, and nobody else.
that would imply the powers that be want to extol incredibly competent and hardworking (predominately white) men
aint gonna happen unless something changes
the fact Mick Jagger has been knighted and Keith Richards has not - even if he is, apparently, a vocal critic of the whole honors system - tells you everything you need to know about the state of modern knighthood
They MUST.
Look, I like Patrick Stewart, but he doesn't rate a "Sir." He's an ACTOR.
I almost feel bad for george but he just needs to shut up. He’s so whiney
you have to wonder how many times Alonso fights the urge to tell him, "Shut the fuck up already. You don't know the first thing about shit cars."
My buddy/client just bought a porsche 911. I'm not sure what year he ended up getting and I'll figure that out when I look at the invoice and decide if I'm going to depreciate it or not but it was 160k for an 8ish year old car. Just absolutely ridiculous. I'm too cheap to be rich.
Could we get back to the days when old sports cars were just old sports cars that no one really wanted? I bought a book in my 20's (2000s era) about restoring old Porsche 911s, I was seriously considering it as decent 70's models were 10-15K, and you could get into an 80s SC for about 20K. At the time I thought that was too pricey for an old car! The folly of youth.
I was more into TR6’s for $5k.
TR6... be still my heart.
I went to high school with a girl who drove a 912... back when it was just a cheap used car her father handed off to her.
I bought my first 911 in the early 90s, a 1974 Targa in a rare color, for $11,000. Sold it about six years later as a trade in to a BMW dealer for a new 328i because we needed 4 doors for the baby seat, for $11,000.
Funny enough, the early 2.7 shorthoods have never gotten the price increases of all the others. There have been fixes to the studs issue for decades, but other than the '74 Carrera, which is a paint job and a tail on a standard S, they stayed relatively cheap.
Not so long ago a 996 was 10k, now 30-40?
Those early 2000s jag 2 doors are stil 10k, not really a sports car but not bad .
Yeah not much with finesse and a decent motor for reasonable money
A cayman I suppose
Those jags are pretty sweet "sporty but also able to waft away the highway hours in stylish comfort". Maybe one of those is the answer... and a miata...
That’s a great combo.
That’s the thing if you do have to have the Rolex car there are still great affordable choices
For that matter there are even great deals on used caymans
Well in those days the new sports cars were meaningfully faster and better and more desirable. But now, new cars suck eggs and we've realized all the best cars already exist, which makes them more valuable. I'm not celebrating this but it seems like a strong theory.
Fair point, going from a 2000-era car to a mid-70s-era car was a bigger step back than going from a 2026 model to 2000-era, and in many ways an upgrade.
It seems that a 911 is now like a Rolex. Part of the I made it uniform and therefore depreciation proof, for now anyway.
It's exactly like a Rolex, a useless trinket to pretend you have money. The Insta of cars and watches.
Not all new cars suck eggs, that's just received ACF wisdom. If I had a new Civic S hybrid available when I was buying that E36 BMW in 1997 I would have been dumbfounded.
My 2025 Boxster GTS is the same size as an 80s 911 and much, much faster including all the Turbos.
Much as I don't like the C8s styling, it is a fantastic sports car for the price.
Your Boxster being the size of an old 911 is an indication of how many eggs new cars really suck (modern 911s are bloated and stupid now, not your car. The Boxster GTS sucks zero eggs). And a hybrid vacuum cleaner Civic that's 3 sizes too big over a late E36?? Come on man, you've gotta be kidding. I had a 97 328i from 2022-2025, it's leagues more desirable than any Civic shy of a Type R.
Young guy confirmation bias. A 25 year old BMW is desirable in proportion to how different it is to new cars. Today it's everything that the Civic isn't Let's say you need a small 4 door in 1997 as a family car that you also drive in Chicago winters or 500 miles over a weekend. 200 hp and almost 50mpg vs 180 HP and 20 mpg? A big hatch or a small trunk? For $20,000 less in equalized dollars?
We had an '89 Honda Prelude with 4WS until we needed a 4 door. All time great car. The view out the front was like an NXT.
Andy, with these iconoclastic claims so persuasively put, the board is surely aching for a guest post. If you are not too busy.
I'm still firm in my young-guy's position. After all, that 97 bmw and I are the same age! I still have to fix it at the track sometimes because the new owner is a bit green.
You’re talking function on that basis why not a hybrid rav 4
I'm talking 4 door sedans, true. That e36 is slower too by the way.
Shh, Andy! You will spoil our enjoyment of consensus cynicism 😂😂
Also, you wrote, ". If I had a new Civic S hybrid available when I was buying that E36 BMW in 1997 I would have been dumbfounded." Do you mean dumbfounded in a positive way by the quality of the Civic Sport Hybrid?
Yes
Alas the boxter is no longer in production. A e36 is imo hard to beat.
The c8 i. Stingray form is really a fast gt with artificial steering and some questionable design choices esp in the interior. Basicaly a modern version of the 2 door personal coupe. But it does have real exotic looks and in zr1 form is really quite the machine. I’d still spend 30k more to get a gt3 if you could get a gt3 at msrp. There is a lot to be said for reactive buttoned finesse cars that flow down the road and can work on track.
There are a few great modern cars and even those you need to tolerate adas screen slop being monitored and eps.
also, an 8 year old porsche at 160k is odds-on to be a 991 unless its a very special cayman so kudos to client for never having a single original thought in his entire life.
The NACTOY of the year is kinda stupid. Just give it to the accord or the camry every year for the last 30 years. Maybe throw in a lexus every once in a while. I don't care if the people voting on it are mommy bloggers, racers, or dudnerheads. It's all bullshit.
Correct. My favorite are the reviews like “35 best burgers in Hooterville.”
As if anyone could quantify or even guess the difference between burger #27 and burger #32. These types of reviews are everywhere.
The other dumb awards are any cultural performance awards, like the Academy Awards. As if it can be determined if Actor A in a cowboy western acted “better” than Actor B in a sci-fi movie. Total bullshit.
All I need to know is "These are nice, these are ok, these are shit"
Yes, but we need a nicety per $ metric.
That's too much for a regular SLS, but its still my choice of the four Benzes mentioned. To my eye, it's the best looking, and an NA V8 is always cooler than a boosted one. The Black Series would be a no-brainer- most powerful free-breathing V8 ever made, until the Z06 (that doesn't get talked about enough) came along, but the plain Jane SLS is classier without all the carbon stuff bolted on.
Then I'd go SL65 because V12 with Duramax torque and the world's greatest fender flares.
SLR is last place for me. By far the worst of that era's big three halo cars, 5-speed auto, Squidward nose. It'll probably be worth the most in the long run, though.
Agree with you on the plain Jane SLS.
Topic 1: As I enjoyed the pics of the Mini-Commander riding shotgun in unobtainable (for me, anyway) Benzes, old Jimmy was singing these lyrics:
I'm so damn lucky to have an all-star cast
Some lovely, some crazy
Who ever thought this would last?
You know if I hadn't lived it, I'd read it myself
Tellin' tall tales is still good for my health
Keep movin' and listenin' and amusin' myself
I'm not ready to put the book on the shelf.
Topic 2: The current state of F1 was summed up for me by Max out-ballsing Kimi through Eau Rouge to take the lead... then somehow finding himself in third place by the end of the Kemmel Straight. Mario Kart, indeed.
Thank you for the call out on NACTOY. You are 100% correct. The industry is reducing itself to nothing and becoming useless. Sad that the we have been infiltrated by mommy-bloggers and those chosen to be jurors are because of DEI and not skills and knowledge.
Most journalists have given the industry, not to mention their readers (where existent), terrible advice. They didn't just fall for the EV bullshit, they actively promoted it.
Now they're lashing out in anger and humiliation. A sight to behold.
You are one of the few good ones, Lauren. You were correct from the beginning.
Great confirmation from Lauren Fix!
Now where’s Wes Siler when we need to see a bad take?
back in obscurity where he belongs
In a desert with damaged children and naked old men
stranded in gaza
got it
What the Israelis are doing to the Palestinians is probably a shoulder rub compared to what wes is doing to those trans children
Currently... and i kid you not... taking full personal credit for Toyota’s decision to put pull hooks on the 2027 Tundra.
impossible
I read his Substack now and again; he really is as much of a horse's ass as JB says.
he proved jack right when he showed up here too
So good.
Did he write a little note he published?
He was bragging about it on social media
Now he can leave a little note for his neighbors not to use the tow hooks for towing.
Now that you mentioned his name, he's abandoning the 3 readers on his substack and is on his way here to lament how obsessed we are with his success.
Like beetle juice you have to mention wes siler by name three times
When I was serious about drawing cars when I was younger they all had the proportions of the SLR. I think it’s one of the best-looking cars of the era, but I’ve never seen it in person. Pedigree is one thing but since collectors don’t usually drive their cars very often I think it’ll out price the SLS in the long term because it just looks nicer.
Mine were fuselage bodied Chargers, so you were way ahead.
I was fascinated with the 308 GTSi, and sketched them over and over again in an attempt to get the dimensions right. Such a sexy car and I still think it’s a beautiful design
308 GTSi... be still my heart. I was 12 when I first saw one in a magazine. I've loved it ever since.
Right? I was also around 12 or 13 when I went to the ‘big carshow’ in Vancouver and there was one on the floor. I think I had seen it on Magnum PI, but nothing could prepare me for seeing that low curvaceous hottie reclining amongst the early eighties Detroit iron and fuel economic cars from Japan. It was too much for my little brain to comprehend and I kept walking around it checking it out from different angles.
Somehow Ferrari improved on the design four years later with the 288 GTO which is just the smoking hot pinnacle of the platform.
About a decade ago I saw a 308 on a buy-here, pay-here lot. I am not kidding. It was in Alameda, California, of all places. Of course I know that buying a Ferrari from such a place would lead only to heartache and ruin.
And yet, for just a moment, I considered it...
The 288 GTO is on the list if and when I achieve lighting-cigars-with-C notes level money.
Amazing car every bit the equal of a Dino and I ever when Dino’s were 15k
Yes, I love the Dino’s shape and you can clearly see how it evolved into the 308.
I have a soft spot for the 308 Dino.
I was referring to the 246 Dino in the above comment, and you just reminded me about the 308 Dino. I had completely forgotten about this car.
I think (unusually) designed by Bertone, no?
It was indeed.
The 246 Dino is of an entirely different league. To my mind, still one of the prettiest cars to roll out of Maranello.
Yep by th maestro ghandini
A euro 308 dino in the flesh is a thing to behold
Yep I was referring g to the 246 also. IMO the 308 get is very bit the equal if anything to me a 246 is a derivative 60s shape
A euro 308 qv gotta be top of the pops.
For other reasons a 308!dino is awesome and peole tell me it’s batter drive than a regular 308.
The things bout 308s is at +20k built and many survivors they lack the rarity cachet of the 246, but imo they’re every bit as beitiful far less fragile and a better drive.
NACTOY-?
I had no idea the North America Cat Toy Of the Year has 50 experts on it making the hard call on which toy is the best.
I say let Snobes decide and hope he is doing well!
Snobes would no more permit "other jurors" than he permits anyone into his favorite perch at the top of his cat tree.
That’s what the NACTOY needs.
Leadership.
Not decision by committee.