As nice as it is to get in a little R&R, it’s good to be back.
Here are two photographs of an early 911 chilling in Wales— also a perfectly fine way of spending time away from the office, if we had to guess.
Images: Gary Suggate
Assorted grab bag of stuff we like
•February 19, 2010 • 5 CommentsWe’re going offline for a bit, so please enjoy this Friday grab bag.
Everyone be cool, be sure to visit the fine links on your right, and we’ll be back in about a week with more content. Happy motoring.
In defense of the BMW 3-Series
•February 19, 2010 • 2 Comments
As dyed-in-the-wool enthusiasts, it’s easy to be dismissive of the BMW 3-Series, given all the stigma-laden baggage that these cars come with:
- In some parts of the country, they can be about as ubiquitous as Toyota Camrys
- Stock and stripped down to base trim, they can be about as exciting
- Plenty of people who remain deeply unpassionate about cars can be found driving them (which, given their aforementioned ubiquity, should be statistically unsurprising)
- People of all stripes – enthusiasts and non-enthusiasts alike – drive them poorly (though to be fair, we can’t help but wonder whether this is less factual and more a matter of popular perception– in other words, are people behind the wheel of a modern BMW really disproportionately bad street drivers?)
- For as long as we can remember, they have (rather obnoxiously, as these things are wont to be) been something of a status symbol, not unlike a designer watch, a ZIP code, or a newly-acquired job function or title (“junior executive”; “middle manager”)
But the simple truth is, they’re great cars- the 335i in particular. With its near-50/50 weight distribution (much-ballyhooed, but rightfully so), 3OO hp, and 3OO lb-ft of torque, it’s probably about as much car as 99% of us could possibly ever need (we are firmly in the camp that it is better to drive a slow car fast than it is to drive a fast car slow- not that anyone in their right mind would ever accuse the 335i of being slow). And if driving enjoyment and four-door practicality in a single package [within this price range] were the objective, the 335i would have to be high on top of anyone’s short list for consideration. Anything else would be intellectually dishonest.
In short, if none of us truly cared what the other guy thought, this might just be the car that more of us would want to drive.
Image: jonnysundell
RIP: 1985 BMW 535i
•February 18, 2010 • 4 CommentsThis might be old news for those of you who follow the show scene (we confess, we don’t particularly), but a car we’ve had on here before (on multiple occasions at that) appears to have bitten the dust. Love it or loathe it, it was an instant forum/show scene classic, and it got wilder and hairier with each passing iteration, culminating in the craziness you see immediately below. What a shame.
A quick look back through the owner’s excellent portfolio:
What we said at the time:
Here’s someone who doesn’t take himself too seriously, and looks like he’s having plenty of fun. Plus, he can build the heck out of cars, which we obviously admire first and foremost.
Catch the back story here and here.
Images: Mike Burroughs
Lovely stuff
•February 18, 2010 • 3 Comments
Fatties
•February 17, 2010 • 2 CommentsThese aren’t apples-to-apples comparisons, but they should give you some idea of how large (and small) some of these cars are. Is it any surprise we like the smaller ones better?
612 Scaglietti and F355:
NSXs and GT-R:
The Ferrari 612 Scaglietti is a grand tourer produced by Ferrari since 2004. It is a large two door fastback coupé.
The 612 Scaglietti was designed to replace the smaller 456 M; its larger size makes it a true 4 seater with adequate space in the rear seats for adults (source).
Photo: Papiertje
Dumped and not so dumped
•February 17, 2010 • Comments Off on Dumped and not so dumpedAlright, so the one on the left isn’t even that dumped. By VW standards, it’s just kinda low. But we value function over here, so for us the perfect ride height probably occupies a middle somewhere between these two cars.
Oh, and oak green is our all-time favorite color on the MkII. Just fantastic.
If you love oak green MkII 16V GTIs (as we do), then you’ll like these clips from Fifth Gear (repost on our part, but given how nice these cars are, well deserved): part one, part two
Photos: Jochen Vander Eecken/jochenvde.be
Seen on the Ring
•February 17, 2010 • 4 CommentsMore cars we like (some of our very favorites here), courtesy of nordschleifenfan…
Cayman S:
Does this really need any introduction? Rolling on BBS LMs:
One of the top two or three most heralded FWD performance cars at the moment:
So aggressive and muscular, but going about it rather quietly (which we like), the weird color on this particular car notwithstanding:
We’re big fans of these:
This is a pretty rare sighting for the Ring (we think):
997 GT3
•February 16, 2010 • Comments Off on 997 GT3Utterly brilliant. Obvious (and rarified) outliers like the CGT notwithstanding, the 997 GT3 is, hands down, the modern (read: watercooled) Porsche we’d most want to have. Not the Turbo. Not the GT2. Heck, it doesn’t even have to be the RS version. Where do we sign up?
Which would you rather have?
•February 16, 2010 • 12 CommentsFor argument’s sake, assume they cost about the same (obviously not true).
458:
355:
(Try to picture this Spider with a hard top, since we’re not able to find a decent picture of a Berlinetta.)
While we:
- have obviously never had the pleasure of driving either car,
- would be the first ones to say that objectively, the 458 is probably the better (maybe even far better) driver’s car, and
- realize we may well be in the minority here
we think we’d rather have the 355. We have always loved this car, which might be the last truly lovely Ferrari. It is absolutely stunning to behold, and it just does it for us. We even prefer the 355’s more traditional V8 note to the 458’s high-tech sound. The 458 reminds us of the GT-R, in that it’s a car that is easy to admire, but (for us, anyway) difficult to love. Hell, they’re even starting to take on similar visual features, like the exaggerated, elongated headlights.
We realize that cars like the 458 and GT-R are marvels of modern engineering and likely outclass the 355 in most quantifiable measures. But engineering isn’t everything.
Motoring Con Brio 