Kazakhstan ChevWrong Poster

More (Burma, Canada, Iraq, USA, Ecuador, Philippines, and Nigeria) here.

CKY

South Carolina And Georgia BMW Police Cars

Speaking of BMW police cars, here are a couple that got some regular use by real cops in the States.

A few 5 series BMWs were donated to the South Carolina highway patrol as a goodwill gesture by BMW when its factory opened there.


A few of these tiny 3 series were donated by BMW North America to the Georgia state police during the Atlanta Olympic games.


CKY

South Carolina BMW Factory / Zentrum Closed!

BMW Fire Department

I am taking a week off for an East Coast road trip. I had planned on visiting the BMW factory and museum in South Carolina. The museum (called Zentrum for some reason) contains old motorbikes, stock cars, antiques, and a BMW Williams F1 racer. I was also going to go on a guided factory tour. The large campus has its own police and fire departments. The highlight, I had hoped, was seeing perhaps a BMW police car from its own police department.

But alas, I just checked the website to book the tour. It is closed for the entire week of June 22, the week of my roadtrip. Maybe next time. But when (and why) am I ever going to be in South Carolina?

CKY

Porsche 911 Nurburgring Times By Walter Rohrl

In the July 2009 issue of Automobile, there is a sidebar which contains the Nurburgring lap times of the various Porsche models, as driven by uber-driver Walter Rohrl.

• 911 Carrera, 345hp (8:05)
• 911 Carrera S with Sport package, 385hp (7:56)
• 911 Turbo, 480hp (7:50)
• 911 GT3, 435hp (7:40)
• 911 GT2, 530hp (7:32)
• Carrera GT, 605hp (7:31)

Here is a tribute to Walter Rohrl. His footwork, car control, and accomplishments are unparalleled.

CKY

Taxis From Around the World (Part 10)

153. Mauritius (Toyota)

154. Vanuatu (Daewoo)

155. Trinidad and Tobago (Mercedes)

156. Slovenia (Seat)

157. Rwanda (Toyota)

158. North Korea (Volvo)

159. Montenegro (Lada)

160. Moldova (Skoda)

161. Maldives (Toyota)

162. Kazakhstan (Volga)

163. Guinea (Renault)

164. Grenada (Toyota)

Tally:
Buick: 1
Chevy: 3
BYD: 1
Dacia: 1
Daewoo: 1
Fiat: 4
Ford: 2
GAZ: 1
Hindustan: 1
Honda: 3
Hyundai: 4
IZH: 2
Lada: 6
London cab: 2
Mazda: 1
Mercedes: 31
Mitsubishi: 1
Nissan: 4
Opel: 2
Paykan: 1
Peugeot: 14
Proton: 1
Renault: 5
Seat: 1
Skoda: 2
Suzuki: 1
Toyota: 46
Volga: 6
VW: 11
Volvo: 2
ZAZ: 1

CKY

Random Monaco GP & Indy 500 Thoughts

Monaco GP
1. Did the F1 drivers really petition to take that Martini billboard with Jessica Pace down because it was a distraction?
2. Jenson Button sure sounded like Austin Powers after he won the race when he roared: "Monaco, baby, yeah!"
3. I've never seen Kimi so happy at a post-race interview session.

Indy 500
1. Kind of funny that the driver of the car sponsored by the United States Air Force is Brazilian.
2. How is having women in racing setting a good example for girls when they all seem to be in advertisements involving bikinis or suggestive innuendo?
3. They sure do crash into the wall a lot.

CKY

Adam Carolla's Car Collection

Adam Carolla and his Datsun 510 and Porsche 911 RS replica

Funny man Adam Carolla just posted some pictures of his garage remodel. His fans are well aware of this car nut's growing collection.

Miura with the hood up and an Aston DB9 in the foreground.

Not quite sure, but that might be his Lamborghini 350GT or Islero in the foreground.

Now this is quite a find. Carolla keeps most of his cars in a warehouse in Burbank. Here is a tour of it with (ahem) Carson Daly.

A quick glimpse reveals: a Mini Cooper S, a Cobra (probably a replica), the 350GT, a Jaguar XJR, a first generation M3, an Islero, and a yellow Ferrari 308GT4 (like the one Hammond drove in the 1970s cheap Italian supercar challenge).

CKY

Singles (Movie): VW Scirocco Mk I With Blown Out Windows

I dropped by Rasputins today and bought some used CDs for 50 cents a piece: Toad the Wet Sprocket, Depeche Mode, Tears for Fears,... I also got the Singles movie soundtrack for a princely sum of $2.95. The movie is one of my all time favorites. The best scene involves Matt Dillon, Bridget Fonda, a cameo by Chris Cornell, and a Mk I VW Scirocco with monoblade wipers.

CKY

Nick Heidfeld Record Builds

BMW had another abysmal race at Monaco today. But, at least Heidfeld finished. In Spain, he broke Schumacher's record of 24 consecutive finishes without retirement. Today, "Not So" Quick Nick made it 26 races. Congratulations.

CKY

Taxis From Around the World (Part 9)

143. Uzbekistan (IZH)

144. Namibia (Toyota)

145. Mongolia (Hyundai)

146. Haiti (Toyota)

147. Ghana (Renault)

148. Gabon (Toyota)

149. Eritrea (Toyota)

150. Democratic Republic of Congo (VW)

151. Bangladesh (Toyota)

152. Bahamas (Mitsubishi)

Tally:
Buick: 1
Chevy: 3
BYD: 1
Dacia: 1
Fiat: 4
Ford: 2
GAZ: 1
Hindustan: 1
Honda: 3
Hyundai: 4
IZH: 2
Lada: 5
London cab: 2
Mazda: 1
Mercedes: 30
Mitsubishi: 1
Nissan: 4
Opel: 2
Paykan: 1
Peugeot: 14
Proton: 1
Renault: 4
Skoda: 1
Suzuki: 1
Toyota: 42
Volga: 5
VW: 11
Volvo: 1
ZAZ: 1

CKY

James Bond's Martini

I had a great Vesper Martini yesterday at Knoxx in Lafayette. Here is the recipe:

Three measures of Gordon's, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it's ice cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel.

CKY

Cars of Supreme Court Justices

Obama will probably nominate Sonia Sotomayor next week. With all this buzz about the Supremes, why not look at what our honorable justices drive?

1. Scalia drives a blue/silver E39 BMW.


2. Chief Justice Roberts drives a Honda Odyssey. He also has a Volvo and a PT Cruiser.

3. Justice Souter drives to and from his home in New Hampshire in this VW Passat. I'm quite proud to say I stirred up quite a minor storm in the blogosphere earlier this month when I raised the issue of Souter's car.


4. Clarence Thomas owns a black 1990 Corvette ZR-1. He raised a few eyebrows when his financial disclosures showed "extravagant" gifts to him like a performance chip and a set of tires. He also drives around the country in his Class A 40' RV. Here is Justice Thomas with Trump and his lovely wife. I believe the Daytona 500 jacket was a gift too.


5. Alito and his Dodge Grand Caravan. Exciting.


Bonus: Retired justice Sandra Day O'Connor drives a silver Buick.

I'm searching the rides of Breyer, Kennedy, Stevens, and Ginsburg. Rumor has it that Breyer drives a jalopy.

CKY

Fusing Formula One With the Indy 500

This weekend, the Monaco GP and the Indy 500 are both taking place. What happens when these two very different worlds collide? See below.

Sir Jackie Stewart driving the 1979 Indy 500 Mustang pace car.

CKY

Jeep Wrangler YJ: Truth In Advertising

I had a lot of fun in my Wrangler YJ, even though it had square headlights and an anemic four banger, rather than the "4.0 liter High Output" six. But seeing this fellow YJ this evening with this proud decal made my day.


Photo credits: flickr

747/Space Shuttle Versus An-225/Buran

(In Russian accent): Look at this weak "Space Shuttle" on top of a puny bourgeois aeroplane.


(Russian accent, continued): Look at what Mother Russia has built with the noble sweat of her children-- glorious Buran spaceship atop largest and mightiest airplane in the world.

CKY

Landing the Space Shuttle On Easter Island

I thought I was the only person who would ask this question.

NASA has designated a number of places around the world as possible landing sites for the space shuttle, in case of emergency. They include varied airports from Diego Garcia to Riyadh to Easter Island.

If the shuttle lands on Easter Island, how do you get it back to America? Can the airport handle a 747 on which to piggyback the shuttle? Can its tiny, almost non-existent, port handle a ferry boat that can hold the shuttle?

Apparently, Lee Correy answered all of these questions, and more, in his techno-thriller Shuttle Down. It's about a fictional emergency landing involving Atlantis. The book even covers minutiae like the lack of passports for the astronauts. Apparently, after the book came out, shuttle crews began carrying passports and traveler's checks for just such an emergency.

It's on my Amazon queue now.

CKY

Pepsi Natural Is Nasty

I saw the fancy, understated, organic bottle today and bought it. The front label says "natural" and there are just three simple ingredients listed below it: sparking water, sugar, and kola nut extract. Wow, no HFCS! Nothing artificial!

Wrong, sort of. I turned the bottle around and read the official ingredients list: Sparkling water, sugar, natural apple extract (color), caramel color, citric acid, caffeine, acacia gum, tartaric acid, lactic acid, natural flavor, kola nut extract.

The drink was not as fizzy as regular carbonated Pepsi. It tasted okay in the mouth, but it has that bitter aftertaste associated with diet soft drinks. I guess that's from the kola nut.

Here's a more in-depth look at Pepsi Natural.

CKY

Sriracha FAQs

The NYT has a fun piece on Sriracha. My favorite Sriracha moment was getting a hot dog from an Ethiopian vendor's cart near D.C.'s Union Station and the only condiment she had was Sriracha.

CKY

Photo credit: Barron

Oldsmobile Ads With William Shatner And Leonard Nimoy

With all this buzz about Star Trek, here are a few classic ads starring Kirk, Spock, and their daughters.

CKY

Driving the Monaco GP Track In A Regular Car

The most anticipated F1 race is this weekend. Here is a regular Joe driving his Audi 80 2.3E around the "track", facing pedestrians, tourists, traffic, red lights, everything. He does two laps and he never gets above 90 clicks per hour.

Here is Massa's lap last year:

CKY

Cars of St. Pierre and Miquelon

While leafing through the Newfoundland chapter of my Lonely Planet Canada, I found a couple of islands belonging to France. Saint Pierre and Miquelon, population 6,125, consists of mostly Basque and Breton fishermen. It has an interesting history. During WWII, the governor was a Vichy sympathizer and Canada considered invading it because it was rumored to be helping German U-boats.

The above picture, found on flickr, captures the Territorial Collectivity's geographic location perfectly. It's taken outside the treasury building (the people use Euros). That all the vehicles in the picture are blue may be a coincidence, but they may also be official government cars. All the license plates say SPM, for Saint Pierre and Miquelon.

On the left is a Dodge truck, signifying the U.S. influence in the NAFTA countries. The middle car is a Renault Express, signifying that even though this is a remote North Atlantic outpost, France still reigns supreme. To the right is a Pontiac Sunrunner, which is a Canadian version of the Geo/Chevy Tracker.

CKY

Help A South Lebanese Cabbie

My Tajik cabbie just paid back my $25 micro-loan via Kiva. I just loaned the $25 to this chap in south Lebanon. Just look at the patina on that Mercedes W123! I urge all my readers to consider making a small loan. The default rate is almost zero. It's safer than the stock market, and real estate. Plus, you'll feel good about helping make someone's life a little better.

CKY

U2 Spy Plane Chase Cars

The U2 spy plane is very hard to land. It is light, has a huge wingspan, and will float in the air forever. The pilot literally has to stall it when it is close to the ground. Moreover, the plane has to be level or it will tip over and crash. Finally, ground visibility is virtually nil for the pilot.

As such, a chase car is needed to land a U2. In the 1950s, large displacement Ford station wagons, driven by fellow U2 pilots, chased the U2s as they landed. The chase car crew would talk the pilot down safely.

From the 1970s through 1986, El Caminos were used at American bases throughout the world, acting as chase vehicles. From 1986 to the late 90s, specially equipped Mustangs (like the highway patrol cars) were used.

The Chevy Camaro Z28 with the 5.7 liter V8 replaced the Mustang. When they stopped making the Camaro, blue Holden Monaros/Pontiac GTOs became the official chase cars.  Now, white Pontiac G8s are used.

Sources: Ford Mustang SSP and Motor Trend

CKY