Would we? Heck yeah. This guy is living the (attainable) dream.
Read all about it here. Interesting reading! And no, it doesn’t change a thing— we still would.
This is what taking a newly-bought sub-$10k aircooled 911 on a cross-country road trip looks like
•April 4, 2013 • 3 CommentsAlfa Romeo in the US— this is what we missed out on
•April 4, 2013 • 32 Comments
Stepping back in time real quick..
U.S. Sales Halt By Alfa Romeo
Published: January 25, 1995
The Italian car maker Fiat S.p.A. said today that it would stop making its Alfa Romeo cars for the North American market after this year because of heavy losses.
That will mean the end of Fiat’s passenger-car presence in the United States. Fiat also makes cars under its own name and under the name Lancia, although they are not sold in the United States or Canada.
Fiat said that “Alfa Romeo’s continued presence in the North American market has become increasingly economically unfeasible” and that it expected losses to continue. The statement did not give details of the losses.
The company said it could not justify the cost of adapting future models to United States specifications (source).
Yes, the examples above are all FWD, but they look so good that had we been in the market at the time and these were available, we would have instantly chosen them over the competition in their respective segments from Audi, BMW, and the like. They really are that striking— enough to make us go ‘handling? what’s that?’
Thanks, Fiat.
(Image credit: Keith Mulcahy)
Cars whose performance don’t live up to their looks
•April 3, 2013 • 22 Comments
For your consideration, we submit the MG MGB GT.
Disclaimer: we actually don’t have direct experience with these cars, so please take with a strong dose of salt (and owners, do sharpen your knives and vigorously defend their honor as you see fit). But reliable sources tell us that these cars leave much to be desired in the performance category (basic things such as going, stopping, and turning). So, if you can come up with a car that’s as lovely to behold as the MGB GT but as underwhelming to be behind the wheel of, let’s hear it.
In any event, boy do they look fantastic. Do we still want one? We have to admit yes!
All images via Google Image search
Circuit de Catalunya as imagined in a purple haze
•April 2, 2013 • 3 CommentsIt’s not often we’re wowed by racing photography, but MCB friend R. Egea has managed to do it through abstraction, the results of which he playfully refers to as “racing drugs”. Circuit de Catalunya never looked so trippy.
Gorgeous colors, too.
Not as druggy, but still cool:
See more here.
Guest contributor: Vince B. of Daily Turismo on the best used car bargains between $5k-15k
•March 29, 2013 • 24 Comments
As guys who eat, sleep, dream, tinker, breathe and drive cars, we at Daily Turismo routinely get asked the question, what car should I buy? Each driver has his own needs and each car has its own place in the market (yes, there are people who we’d recommend a Prius to, maybe even a brand new Prius, but we won’t recommend any new Lincoln under any circumstances) and we have our favorite cars on the market today. Our picks tend to be well used since they provide an excellent value and we try to stay away from cars that will continue to plummet in price. Mostly though, we love cars that are fun to drive, rear wheel drive and cheap to buy/insure/maintain. Here is a list of our top ten bargains, not top top $5k-15k cars, but the ones we think are undervalued in the market. Here they are, in no particular order.
Never been to a British car auction..
•March 28, 2013 • 1 Comment..or any car auction for that matter, but assuming a better selection than the abysmal lot seen here, we’d love to. Oh, and how much does that auctioneer look like Karl “Turd Blossom” Rove, only with more hair? Amazing.
Globe-trotting garden gnome 2CV
•March 28, 2013 • 3 Comments Probably our first post dedicated exclusively to the humble (and how) deux chevaux, but these whimsical photos are too good to pass up 🙂
Images by CitroenAZU
Evidence of a good time
•March 27, 2013 • 3 Comments
It’s a German car show and you’re in it. You want to wow the crowd. What do you take?
•March 27, 2013 • 19 Comments
Actually not an easy question. We love German cars as much as anybody – look no further than this website for ample evidence of that – but by dint of their relative ubiquity and lack of ‘exoticness’ (compared to British or Italian cars, as an example), we think it takes something exceptionally special or unusual (but at the same time not too esoteric— so no Glases or Bitters or NSUs here) to wow the average classic car show goer.
Assume cost is no object. However, it needs to be a road-going street car (i.e., not a race car), and preferably one that is driven as opposed to trailered— cars are just way cooler that way! It’s a lot more impressive pulling up to the show in the very car you’re entering than having hired men in white gloves unloading a trailer queen, pushing it out onto the lawn, and blocking it off with velvet rope.
Some on our short list (in no particular order):
Audi Sport Quattro
Because those box-flared arches. Because those white wheels. Because that short wheelbase. Because the inimitable turbocharged five-cylinder noise. Because it’s still probably the coolest road car Audi ever made (yes, including the R8).
BMW M1
Because Giorgetto Giugiaro. Because M88. Because Campagnolo wheels. Because it was (and continues to be) BMW’s only mid-engined supercar.
BMW 507
Because it is probably one of the most beautiful cars BMW ever made.
BMW 3.0 CSL
Because without it there’d probably be no E30 M3 Sport Evolution, E46 M3 CSL, and all the other hairy-chested racing cars thinly disguised as street cars that we’ve all come to know and love.
Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing
Because even over 60 years later, no pair of doors on any car is more singularly impressive and awe-inspiring than this one’s. Because the 300SL Gullwing is to German cars what the Jaguar E-Type is to British cars and what the Ferrari 250 GTO is to Italian cars: the icon. The torchbearer. The yardstick by which all others are measured.
Porsche 959
Because it was the (then) pinnacle of Porsche engineering.
Porsche 904
Because it’s not a 911 (not that there’s anything wrong with that).
Honorable mention: Mercedes-Benz 300SEL 6.3
No doubt the 6.3 – the original Q-ship – is a special car (and one of our absolute favorites), but we suspect coupes tend to go over better with crowds— sedans won’t win any popularity contests. They are for shuttling the family to the show; coupes are for entering into the show— or so the thinking goes. We think.
So what would you take? Don’t feel limited to one of the above selections.
(Image credit: carstalker.com)
Motoring Con Brio 