Comments on: Cars, Part I

By: Nick

Nick — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 04:39:48 +0000

Unrelated question…

Do you ever go to see cover bands for some of your favorite acts? If not fine. But….

For the sake of argument: is there a set of pre-determined characteristics you look for making that cover band more acceptable than the another? At the end of the day, the main point behind seeing a cover band is to get as close as possible to the real thing…right? But, regardless of how close the band comes to sounding/looking/recreating the atmosphere of said band, does it even matter because you always know in the back of your mind it’ll never feel as legit as saying, “I saw X here in 19XX and they shut the place down.”

For the record, this is stemming from a Pink Floyd cover band related debate with a friend. Random, I know.

Thanks.

PL: I have. There was a Dead cover band I saw around Philly a few times that were enjoyable. And you’re right, I didn’t care about the characteristics of the band for exactly the reasons you note. They weren’t the Dead, and it’s mindless to even attempt the leap across the canyon it takes to forget for a moment and pretend they were. I just enjoyed them as a band doing great covers of Dead tunes, nothing more, nothing less.

I’d never go to see a “copy” act that attempted to recreate the original’s show.

By: Autoproficianado

Autoproficianado — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 00:06:08 +0000

Rosie and all. The F40 is the first supercar and his daddy was the 288 GTO. As much as I loathe Ferrari, there would be no McLaren F1, Porsche CGT etc. without this car having come to market first. This and the 288 were the only Ferrari cars that I’ve ever liked. Fuck Ferris Bueller, Fuck the Enzo (Mc12 Corsa anyone?!?!). The car doesn’t compromise. You open the doors with a cable door lock for God’s sake. Lexan windows from the factory. A clutch that will make your calf look like it’s got Arnold’s implants. We had two (F40 and F50) recently side by side. The F50 is junk. Most guys I know that have had both have dumped the 50 and kept the 40 over the years; and they’re right. The F50 is a convertible, it’s much larger and heavier, It’s easier to drive. It’s lacks the edges of the F40, that still looks modern today, and replaces it with curves and a styling theme that’s 1990’s and dated. FUCK FERRARI. They had it right 20 years ago. What happened to them? Todays cars are built with chicken wire, old technology, bad welds, atrocious paint, door locks I wouldn’t trust on my gym locker, fake everything, unrefined and unfinished interiors with exposed screws and door handles that jiggle, metal brackets on their windshield wipers, navigation systems from a Jeep Wrangler (see Ferrari California). Unremarkable shit. I’m shocked and appalled. Ferrari only cares about F1. They started making road cars to finance their F1 operations. They cut corners everywhere on their road cars to make more profit to fund F1. And in recent years they done a lousy job winning with that. Watch Schumi spank them with the Silver Arrow. And I hate F1. The only reason I’m following it this year is to see if Schumi can beat Ferrari. I don’t care if he wins the championship; just so he beats the prancing horse at its own game. “We’re Ferrari, we’ve got trees in our factory”. Oh yeah? Well, there’s nothing to get wood about.

F40, yes

F355 no
F360 no
F430 no
F458 no
550 no
575 no
612 no
Enzo no
599 no

Embarrassing. The prancing horse; eternally preparing itself for penetration.

California

By: Autoproficianado

Autoproficianado — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 23:45:32 +0000

Redneck Rocket – Yes, the E334 was a great M5, but it was last produced 15 years ago. Also, I really like the E36/8 M Coupe (1999 – 2002) last produced 8 years ago. It’s been too long for an M product to come out of BMW that justifies the badge.

By: Rosie Palmer

Rosie Palmer — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:32:44 +0000

I was going to add that for tons of fun on a rainy day, I’d recommend you do a youtube search for “dyno accident”, “dyno explosion” or similar key words. Always fun to watch someone else spend their money the hard way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGaXtdW_NNo

PIZZA! PIZZA!

By: Rosie Palmer

Rosie Palmer — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:22:35 +0000

I too will be bold and put up a youtube link because people need to experience this. The younger generation needs to be educated and us oldniks need to be reminded… This should be played at high volume, preferably in a residential area….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ox2wgHqrNy0

Four rotors, no waiting. In person, perceptively, there are only two things louder than a race rotary; a Fuel car and the Space Shuttle. I love the ZX-Turbo GTP car for her body, but I love the 787B for her mind.

By: Ten Key

Ten Key — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 06:58:02 +0000

Rosie as the Enzo…awesome.

F40 is certainly dated but I love it despite that.

Here’s two reasons to love it. Long version first, short but sweet version last (if I can be so bold as to put some youtube links here…)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3lgehIWXC8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGHW33VGNXQ

No mention of the Veryron surprised me too. I don’t really like it, but many people seem to.

Can’t wait for part two.

By: Derek Kreindler

Derek Kreindler — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 03:30:29 +0000

I got to see a CGT have its clutch changed once. Very cool, the clutch is tiny, maybe a bit bigger than a CD. Owner blew it out in less than 5000miles driving up and down the ramps of his underground parking garage. He worked in finance.

By: Rosie Palmer

Rosie Palmer — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 17:18:52 +0000

You know, the F40 just completely slipped my mind. It wouldn’t change my top 3, but what a bitchen car. It wasn’t a re-eingineered race car for the street. It was a race car with license plates. It was one of those cars that looked like it would kick your ass if you looked at it too long.

I am much more fond of the F40 than I am of the Enzo. I see Enzoes from time to time and I can’t get past the looks of the car. I realize the car has an astronomical performance envelope and a price to match, but for me, I’d analogize it to someone telling me that Rosie O’Donnell was the hottest fuck in America…

Another Ferrari that wasn’t mentioned is the 288 GTO. Another one off car that deserves it’s status as an icon.That car was a pitchfork wielding devil in an era where it’s siblings were more well known for being the coolest place to wear a Detroit Tigers cap than they were known for peformance.

PL: Rosie O’Donnell is a perfect comparison. The Enzo’s the ugliest supercar in history. I remember seeing the photos of some Swedish venture capitalist crashing one in California a few years ago and thinking, “Meh. Ugly piece of shit anyway.” The F40 had much nicer lines to it, and yes, it was far more menacing. The grill on the Enzo dredges up notions of what an Alpha Romeo might look like on a quadruple cycle of steroids.

By: Derek Kreindler

Derek Kreindler — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 15:30:38 +0000

Ten-Key the F40 is a car for the hairy-assed brute, devoid of any electronics, driver assists or power steering. However, I was born when it came out, so it doesn’t have a lot of significance for me beyond a car that appeared on cheap dollar store posters (much like the inferior Countach). The McLaren F1 still does it for me, the F40 is like Raquel Welch or Ali McGraw, the hot chick from an older generation. PL is correct, the Enzo and Porsche Carrera GT have filled the void for this era, and we might not see anything like them again.

PL: I pulled into a gas station a couple years back, just outside Philly, and a Carrera GT roared in next to me. Freaked me out. I looked that owner and said, “Is that what I think it is?” He nodded. Amazing looking car, but if I’m to judge from the remainder of the exchange how impressive it is to own one, I’d have to guess it’s not as good as one might think:

“That thing must be an amazing ride.”

“An amazing brake job, that much I know. It’s like buying another used care to have the brakes done.”

One would think the owner of something like that would have a slightly more romantic response about the vehicle.

But it did sound really cool.

(Raquel Welch had one of the greatest bodies of any era: http://nsaney.com/pics/women/raquel_welch_see_thru.jpg)

By: Jeromy

Jeromy — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 20:29:35 +0000

I like the article, but from the get go I’m so jaded because i like to think that old school American muscle cars are God’s gift to earth. Nothing like the roar of a big block v-8 to make you feel alive.

PL: I think there’s a good bit of reverence paid to them in Part II… though I could be wrong.