August 2023 Auto Spotting Thread

[trinacriabob]

Spotted August 2

Wandered over from fast food land to a nearby lodging establishment.  I am okay with color and it looks good on the car, but it's not safe enough for me to choose it for what could be a long ownership period.

[trinacriabob]

Spotted August 3

With my tires rotated and my ride moved to Costco's regular parking area, I had lunch at "Cafe' 1.50," did NOT do the samples tour, and saw this upon leaving.

The good:  a tasteful looking up-line VW sedan in a nice color (to me) and with a DSG transmission (engine and transmission are sourced in Germany and Hungary)

The bad:  the price  *thinking about Passat prices and their being gone ... sigh*

[David]

Got my first Amazon delivery from the Rivian van. Love how quiet they are. But wow, very big.

[Drew Dowdell]

On 8/3/2023 at 3:38 PM, trinacriabob said:

Spotted August 3

With my tires rotated and my ride moved to Costco's regular parking area, I had lunch at "Cafe' 1.50," did NOT do the samples tour, and saw this upon leaving.

The good:  a tasteful looking up-line VW sedan in a nice color (to me) and with a DSG transmission (engine and transmission are sourced in Germany and Hungary)

The bad:  the price  *thinking about Passat prices and their being gone ... sigh*

Now that all Arteons are R-Lines, the price went up.  That's the bad.  The good is that all R-Lines come with the significantly more powerful 300 hp 2.0T that makes the Arteon really move nicely.   But at $52,849, that Arteon is $951 less expensive than the TwinTurbo-V6-powered Audi S4.

[Drew Dowdell]

21 hours ago, David said:

Got my first Amazon delivery from the Rivian van. Love how quiet they are. But wow, very big.

They rove around the Municipality I work for, but I haven't seen them in my own neighborhood.  Amazon built a massive charging station and distribution center on the site of one of the first enclosed malls in the U.S. which is about 5 miles up the Lincoln Highway from me.

[ccap41]

22 hours ago, David said:

Got my first Amazon delivery from the Rivian van. Love how quiet they are. But wow, very big.

I've seen 4 or 5 of these things out and about. They're cool looking vehicles in person. 

[trinacriabob]

On 8/8/2023 at 7:10 PM, David said:

Got my first Amazon delivery from the Rivian van. Love how quiet they are. But wow, very big.

I have seen 2 so far.  Two days in a row.  One was in front of me on the freeway.

They look like either a tall toaster on wheels or an inspiration for/from Scandinavian furniture design.

[trinacriabob]

Not what you expect to see while getting coffee.

Is this supposed to be a takeoff on someone?  I wouldn't know.  To me, she looked more like a tall pink version of Pat Benatar.

Getting into her Spark with spunk and aplomb.

And making quite an impression while being frugal at the gas pump.

- - - - -

Hey, I'm all for people who have moxie and seek to be original.

[trinacriabob]

Seen August 9

Not what you expect to see at Burger King ... or maybe Burger King coupons are where this person cuts corners to be able to have this car.  I'm being a jerk.

I approached it from this direction, parked a few spots away from my car.  

The owner told me it had a 6.2 L V8 - using my R.O.T. of 60 c.i. per liter, there might have been a Chevy V8 that displaced ~378 cubic inches or thereabouts.

Whether on a luxury car or a sports car, one of my favorite color combinations,* and a timeless one at that.

* though I think (a darker) burgundy trumps something closer to an actual red

[trinacriabob]

Not what you expect to see next to you at the pump

The owner told me that, like its badging, it had a Chevy 350 V8 and was a 1970. When asked how many barrels it had, he seemed perplexed and I told him that meant the number of "holes" feeding the carburetor.

That's fine.  For some drivers, turning the key and knowing where to put in the fuel works just fine.  Except for the after-market wheels, this vehicle, which reminds me of a previously prolific forum member, was in near perfect condition.

[Robert Hall]

On 8/3/2023 at 3:26 PM, trinacriabob said:

Spotted August 2

Wandered over from fast food land to a nearby lodging establishment.  I am okay with color and it looks good on the car, but it's not safe enough for me to choose it for what could be a long ownership period.

Not sure about 'safe', but F8 green and Octane Red are my favorite current Mopar colors..I'd definitely go for that green. 

17 minutes ago, trinacriabob said:

Not what you expect to see while getting coffee.

Is this supposed to be a takeoff on someone?  I wouldn't know.  To me, she looked more like a tall pink version of Pat Benatar.

Getting into her Spark with spunk and aplomb.

And making quite an impression while being frugal at the gas pump.

- - - - -

Hey, I'm all for people who have moxie and seek to be original.

Perhaps like the song, she's 'a Barbie girl in the Barbie world'... it's cool when people are fearless and be themselves in public.. 

[trinacriabob]

1 minute ago, Robert Hall said:

Not sure about 'safe', but F8 green and Octane Red are my favorite current Mopar colors..I'd definitely go for that green. 

I'm pretty taken with the lighter version of the enamel gray for the Charger that might also be the color that they use on the Pacifica.  I like it. 

As for some other colors, I like that medium to dark metallic blue and, of course, the white that looks great on it and was probably the best color for the last Grand Prix.  I get sad when I see recent Chargers and know that they are now past tense.

[Robert Hall]

For 'safe' colors, like the way-overused black, silver and white, I never thought I'd go for any of those, but I do like my metallic black Jeep w/ the beige and black interior.   It's a very common color combo on so many SUVs, though...esp premium and luxury models.   Not a fan of white, but could go for a pearl white on Cadillacs..

[David]

Interesting read.

Ultium Cells Response to US Senator Br... | Ultium Cells LLC

[trinacriabob]

I forgot to put up this one of a Jaguar convertible.

We can change "firing on all cylinders" to "firing on 12 cylinders."  It was badged V-12.

[trinacriabob]

Last night, August 18, seen before heading in to Texas de Brazil.

Love those pop-up headlamps, when they're working.

I liked this Firebird much better than the Camaro in the same span of years. It's a Formula. However, I don't know which V8 would have gone into it.

[Drew Dowdell]

Parked next to this at the Barnes and Noble today. Never seen one with the body colored grille like this. I think it looks really sharp!

 

[David]

Guess we never started an August thread so here we start late and the WinCo grocery store just had their new 6 fast chargers with EVgo open and a Chevrolet Bolt when I came out was Charging.

[David]

OK @trinacriabob tossed me for a fall as I missed Hot August Nights 2023 as I was looking for the other title.

@Drew Dowdell Anyway to merge this thread I opened into this older existing thread?

August 2023 Auto Spotting Thread - The Lounge - Cheers & Gears (cheersandgears.com)

Have to say that I am impressed with EVgo charging stations and I see many Chevrolets, Fords and Hyundai/Kia EVs using them here in my area.

[Drew Dowdell]

On 8/29/2023 at 10:38 AM, David said:

Guess we never started an August thread so here we start late and the WinCo grocery store just had their new 6 fast chargers with EVgo open and a Chevrolet Bolt when I came out was Charging.

Bolt driver went to the BMW-Lifted Truck School of Parking.

[ccap41]

28 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

Bolt driver went to the BMW-Lifted Truck School of Parking.

Aren't some of those charging ports + chord length kind of tricky at some places? Not saying they didn't park like an a-hole, but it COULD be out of necessity. 

[Drew Dowdell]

14 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

Aren't some of those charging ports + chord length kind of tricky at some places? Not saying they didn't park like an a-hole, but it COULD be out of necessity. 

They look reasonably long in the first pic.  The charge door on the Bolt is conveniently located.

[David]

43 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

They look reasonably long in the first pic.  The charge door on the Bolt is conveniently located.

I would say he was just lazy about parking in the proper spot rather than taking two spots.

[David]

Wife asked me to run her to Kohl's for Amazon returns. Just noticed that Kohl's has 2 generic DC chargers from where I am parked.

Then next door no more than 50 feet away at Target is a 6 stall DC fast charging station with a Hyundai Ioniq.

Leaving my neighborhood the guy who does auto detailing had this lovely 1934 Cadillac.

[trinacriabob]

I have to slot this into August; it was a few hairs short of September ...

These always still catch my eye, especially if in decent shape *sigh*

[trinacriabob]

Some other stuff that needed to be slotted in to this month:

- - - -

Along east-west I-70 in Indiana - 

Not something you see every day ... does it run?

This is when Honda was only known for basic econoboxes and these were real cheap.

- - - - -

Along east-west I-70 in Illinois -

The "police Caprice" (that rhymes) has always been more attractive than the slightly more bloated Impala of the same years.  It's too bad the general market here didn't get this option ... much nicer grille and nicer side view, at the very least. It was available in the Middle East for the general public.

I couldn't believe I struck up a conversation with the state trooper at this rest area.  She was very nice and said that this is one of the remaining ones as the fleet transitions to SUVs.  Why am I not surprised?

[trinacriabob]

This one deserves its own space.  It was seen on a rural road that was serving as a detour to I-70 construction.

It reminds me of someone.  It also makes for a vintage photo of sorts.

[trinacriabob]

One last August slot in:

Here you see a 2011 DTS which is basically one the few more recent Cadillac models I've liked.  It looks great from every angle.  Still haven't forgotten the ice blue metallic one with bucket seats and a console I saw in Pensacola back when these were new. 

This was at the historic Kirkwood Amtrak depot in Kirkwood, MO - a suburb of St. Louis.  The Amtrak "Missouri River Runner" that goes to KC comes through here 4 times a day, but I didn't make it to see the train.

The owner was sitting there with his buddies.  He said the car had been very reliable.  He was originally a northeasterner who also spent part of his time in Florida.  Aren't Midwesterners supposed to be the most down-home folks?  And aren't Southerners supposed to be the most hospitable?  This guy, who incidentally was Italian, and I talked for quite a while. 

This always happens to me.  I don't wear a sign asking northeasterners to talk to me.  Foreigners talk to me, too.  People from other regions of the U.S. don't seem to talk to me.  Such is life.