Disaster struck in early 2020 when Mike was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer, with the COVID pandemic shutting off New Zealand from the rest of the world shortly after - effectively ending his booming tour business.
An anonymous artist known as Ememem, has been filling in street and sidewalk divots with striking geometric mosaics — colorful bursts of beauty amid the asphalt.
In essence, simply owning a BMW grants you an all-access pass to an all-encompassing, purebred group that’s arguably the largest, most dedicated, and most fanatical community of motoring enthusiasts in the world. Obviously the M cars are the poster children for this segment, but attend any type of BMW event and you’ll likely see a wide range of new and old Bimmers, everything from high-end M machines to highly modified variations of 3 and 5-Series cars, stock sedans, convertibles, and yes, SUVs. If it says BMW, then it’s welcome, and whether it’s a brand new M3 or a decades-old 2002, the owners all have one thing in common: They love live to drive these cars, and I’m not just talking about leisurely Sunday afternoon jaunts through the local neighborhood. To support this addiction (or perhaps because of it), BMW enthusiasts the world over have no shortage of online resources to draw from, but for the M3 owner, three web destinations stand out from the rest.
Oddly enough, some of the most perplexing questions I get asked by normal people as editor of an automotive publication involve Buick. Most of them are along the lines of “Why did GM keep Buick?” and “What the heck is a Buick anyway?” Not a great place to be, if you’re GM. GM knows it has an issue here in the U.S. (Buick, remember, is a hot brand in China) and it is attacking the problem. Buick recently announced the new 2010 Buick LaCrosse, a car that gives us a chance to think about how GM is and should be thinking of the future of the brand.
The current state of the auto market makes for some tantalizing possibilities when it comes to performance cars, and with good-condition E46 prices dipping well into the $20,000 range, it’s currently one of the best performance purchases available. Unfortunately, perhaps the biggest stumbling block on the road to M3 ownership has nothing to do with the car itself, but rather the cost to insure it. Running a quick check for a squeaky-clean, 22-year old driver returns a frightening range of $300 to $700 per month for full coverage, thanks to a perfect storm of popularity (as in popular among thieves) and performance. Yes, the early-20s insurance bracket is one of the highest in the nation, and that figure doesn’t include anything like multi-car discounts or occasional-use driving. Regardless, this is one expensive car to cover, so before getting your hopes up, better call your insurance guy to see if it’s even feasible.
I suggested to Fritz Henderson (GM CEO) in my last missive on GM 4.0 that he buy a bunch of Hyundai Genesis Coupes to inspire his executive team. Toward the end of that piece, I mentioned that GM still very much needs to get a handle on what each of its cars should stand for in the marketplace. The first part of that exercise is coming to a strong understand of what an American car is (Alan Mulally might want to listen in on this conversation, BTW).
By happenstance, we had the Chevrolet Corvette and the Hyundai Genesis Coupe in the office during the same week recently. I found driving these two sports coupes back-to-back a fascinating exercise with implications for GM 4.0 and GM CEO Fritz Henderson. Below is my (imagined) consultative letter to Fritz.
Let’s be honest, every generation of the M3 is a keeper. Balance, grip, performance, you’ve heard all this before. In 23 years of M3 production, approximately 2863 various adjectives, adverbs, present and past participles, sexually-charged metaphors, and other automotive clichés have been blasted across print and electronic media, describing the greatness of the car. Far be it for us to add to the hype, so we’ll simply say yeah, it’s that good, and the third-generation E46 model is among the finest of the breed, delivering a driving experience that is pure M-ness. M-ness…guess that makes 2864.
One thing is for certain when it comes to Turbo Dodges; they’re backed by a very broad, dedicated enthusiast community that ranges from armchair admirers to technical wizards who can rattle off specific engine tolerances and decode VINs, while rebuilding transmissions, and yes, I do mean multiple transmissions at once. Having that kind of support base makes owning a turbo Dodge even sweeter, and for the enthusiasts who happen upon one of the rarer model/engine combos, it’s borderline necessary.
Stepping into the world of turbo Dodges can be somewhat intimidating for the uninitiated. While our first Keepers report on these cars covered only four vehicles (arguably the pinnacle of Dodge’s turbo efforts of the time), in reality the 2.2 turbo and later variants were used in everything from sleeper sedans, hatchbacks, in-your-face sports cars, or even minivans. The good news here is that no matter what you’re into, there’s likely a turbo Dodge to suit your tastes. Even better, because so many of these power plants were produced, parts are cheap and relatively easy to come by, with some rare exceptions that we’ll discuss below. The downside however is trying to weed through the layers of lingo to determine which combination is right for you, and admittedly that can take a bit of effort. To help with that, here’s a little primer for the turbo-inclined enthusiast looking for the best boost-per-buck.
Reading the comments on our Tesla drive, and about the Volt’s roughly $32,500 pricing (after subtracting the $7500 federal incentive), got me to thinking that we may misunderstand the Volt and other battery-powered cars. I haven’t driven the Volt, so only time will tell, but here’s the logic.
In the pursuit of finding cars worth keeping, there’s not always a clear connection between pedigree, price and performance. Sometimes, cars that people expect to be good turn out to be rubbish, despite their ancestry. And sometimes, you come across performance heroes in the most unlikely of places.
Current or future S2000 owners are blessed with an active enthusiast community spread across the U.S. as well as several countries overseas. And we’re not just talking about occasional parking lot gatherings; these folks love the S2000 but more importantly, they love driving the S2000. Three websites—S2Ki.com , S2Kca.com , and S2000.com —should be in every S2000 owner’s bookmark list because they are the definitive sites to visit for complete model information. Within these digital library stacks are a wealth of information, including technical help and aftermarket performance tips, all crafted from the folks who know these cars best.
Traditionally, even well maintained sports cars tend to be maintenance-heavy due to their high-strung personalities. There is good news, however, for all you would-be Honda S2000 owners, because the S2000—aside from being a high-strung sports car—is still a Honda. That means high levels of reliability despite its performance car status.
’ve said that the domestic automakers will emerge from their recent financial difficulties in better shape than in recent memory. My point in that blog was that the so-called bailout of the Detroit Three is the news, but it isn’t the key issue. The Detroit Three will restructure and emerge in decent shape.
I’ve also said we should care about what happens after that point. That’s because if there’s one lesson from the problems of the automakers it should be that apparently simple decisions often have lasting negative consequences. What we are deciding now are the policies for 7-20 years from now regarding fuel usage.
In the broad realm of performance motoring, there are essentially three classifications of enthusiasts: Those who seek pure power, those who seek pure finesse, and those who seek a balance of the two. For those seeking finesse, top-down sports motoring doesn’t get much better than the Honda S2000, and while the high-revving, 240 horsepower four banger under hood won’t satisfy the power hungry, it does propel the S2000 with enough punch to get an inexperienced driver into trouble, and boy does it sound good doing it.
The daily headlines have been full of news about the bailout of the U.S. auto industry from its various problems. As interesting as such details are, I’d like to suggest that they aren’t the important part of the story for automotive enthusiasts. In a dramatically changing automobile industry, what we’ve witnessed up ‘til now is more like the preparation for the invasion of Iraq. We’re entering the phase where we actually invade. But the hard parts and the decisive parts start after that. Or, if you prefer a happier analogy, we’ve been witnessing the prep for the wedding. Now we’re about to go in to the wedding ceremony and then off on a honeymoon. After that, the hard work and – we hope – good times begin. Ongoing life isn’t a wedding ceremony or a battle, and we would do well not to confuse the two.
Ford’s Tempo replacement in the mid-1990s only had a six-year production run, but when engineers from Ford’s Special Vehicle Team (SVT) got their hands on the Contour for the 1998 model year, few people could’ve anticipated the cult following that would follow.
I confess to having mixed emotions about the Obama administration’s move over the weekend to throw Rick Wagoner under the Escalade.
On the one hand, Mr. Wagoner was pretty clearly toast last fall. He had to get the axe, at a minimum for political reasons, but for sound reasons as well.
Despite the April Issue indication you may have noticed on the cover of this month’s Winding Road (check out our full new issue at www.magazine.WindingRoad.com), it’s actually just around the middle of the long Michigan winter as we write this. That’s bad news for anyone who values anything in the way of a short sleeve or a naturally occurring tan, but it’s surprisingly good news for us driving enthusiasts.
We lean towards that group of people that embrace four full seasons in all of their glory, and love to drive through each of them. Which is why we’ve been paying special attention this year to the motive joys that can be had when our world is white. Be it driving a sports car or a convertible, with a new set of snows or in a frigid testing environment, we’re into winter driving. Find out why.
