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Want to say an 80s thing?

Short sleeve dress shirts w/ ties and shorts...very strange. Maybe a 70s Florida thing?

March 22 I was in the parking lot for an adjacent merchant (three guesses and the first two don't count) and this "Schwinn bicycle blue metallic" sports car caught my attention - the current mid-engine Corvette. This was a big leap for this car. It has taken a while to get used to it because it has had different proportions for decades. It might be one of the few expensive eye catching cars I'd consider if I had money to burn ... not. I'll take it in silver with a maroon leather interior. I think they did a good job with the redesign.

On the contrary, resale and the available V6 could sell me on the Camry, Altima is an easy target for people who don't like mainstream cars but it is vastly improoved, Mazda 6 has sublime handling, the Sonata is attractive and (non car geek people) people seem to just love Hyundai products. The Subaru was a really good AWD system. The Accord is not nearly as sporty, even in Sport trim as a Jetta GLI. The Turbo 1.5 I don't think is going to be especially reliable long term, and again, talking with body shop people and my claims adjsuter daughter, the tubo 4 is easily damaged in accidents, frequently resulting in a total loss. For the price of a new Accord, one can buy a nearly new or CPO luxury sedan. Just playing contrarian. Also, nothing in that segment is especially inspired. Jetta GLI is as close as anything gets to inspring. So inspring in fact that after considering the GLI hard, I bought a truck instead. If only the rest of the product lineup was anywhere close to as inspired as the GTR Couple of sexy well dressed men for those so inclined.

According to China Daily Wuling Motors, a joint venture of GM, Shanghai Automotive and Wuling Motors sold 36,000 mini EVs in January 2021 toppling Tesla's Model 3 as the worlds best-selling electric car and to add insult even if you combine Tesla Model 3 and Y combined they still did not sell as many EVs as Wuling Motors. Wuling Motor's Mini EV, has no connection with BMW Mini and it comes in two configurations, two or four seater, range of 106 miles and top speed of 62 mph and depending on options sells starting at $4,500 and $6,300. Four months before it went on sale, auto reporters were invited to share their views in March 2020. They over all said it would not sell in big cities where international brands were preferred and chances would be slim in small towns or rural areas where people were constantly choosing gasoline auto's. These views have proved wrong and with it the facts that EVs at an attractive price point would sell in large numbers to the general population. The Mini EV has safety front and center with 57% of the auto made of High Strength Steel. It also has anti-lock braking system (ABS), electronic brake-force distribution (EBD), tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS), and reversing radar. The back seats are equipped with two ISOFIX child safety seat restraint interfaces to cater to young families. The auto has 13 kW of Power (17.5 hp) and 85 Nm of torque (115.3 ft-lbs) to go along with a smart battery management system that uses pre-heating and battery insulation to deal with cold or heat as well as IP68 water proofing and dustproofing of the battery system. The mini EV is 2,917 mm long (115 inches), 1,493 mm wide (59 inches) and 1,621 mm high (64 inches) on a 1,940 mm (76 inches) wheelbase. Ultimate inner city or urban commuting auto. Wuling Motors now has requests from 150 counties / regions in China asking when will the Mini EVs go on sale. As production ramps, so will new outlet offering the Mini EV. Statistics are currently showing that the majority of buyers are in small cities / towns with 72% of these buyers born in the 90's and 60% of them are female. Where Tesla is considered a toy for the Rich, Wuling has gone after the Companion to the young independent Woman / Man. Selling points have been easier to park and maneuver especially for new drivers. The range while short in comparison to Tesla is more than enough for commuting to work, easy to charge at home over night as well as cute, customizable and affordable. Wuling motors has been showing GM how to build profitable small auto's and market them for success. Wuling says you sell them like designer clothes, not like traditional auto's. Wuling has achieved this by partnering with Pantone, the global authority on Color and Design. In addition, Wuling / GM / Shanghai automotive are working on partner deals of co-branding with Disney and Nike for the regional markets. The focus has been rather than copy everyone one else on making auto's that look like Tesla and sell much higher, Wuling has focused on the last mile of mobility and looking good while arriving. Wuling is also launching e-bikes and scooters as it has branded itself as a Lifestyle Brand not an auto company. View full article

^ So; failure built on raging Gov't incompetence. Who could've seen it coming? Who was it here on the board that said the '2030-2035 IC bans will fall'?

Google says there's 2 million vehicles registered in Serbia. 148/2,000,000 is a market share of 0.00007%. As a fraction, that's 7 out of 10 million. 20% of 2 million is 400,000. In order to get to 20% (or 400,000) BE's, EV sales need to grow TWENTY-SEVEN THOUSAND PERCENT over 2019's 148 vehicles. In 9 years. - - - - - Predictions, David?

^ After the initial year ('62), all Impala SS's were V8s. In '63, that started with the 283, went thru numerous 327s, a couple of 409s and a 427. SS package has a lot of unique trim & details, also.

I've found the C8 to look better in person than in photos. And especially looks good in dark colors, which show off the dozens of creases on the frunk lid and bodysides. Not a fan of white or the dayglo cartoon colors, really like the bronze w/ tan leather interior.

March 21 First day of spring! I saw this late model Corvette in a valet zone. I'm not sure if I like this metallic salmon color (most likely custom, and not stock) but I do like many metallic rust colors, especially on sports cars. As far as sports cars go, they're interesting how they've moved across the generations, unique, and a home grown American story.

I had to look it up myself. This is what I found. https://www.goodcarbadcar.net/chevrolet-malibu-sales-figures/

It was a segment leader in 1972....

It's still an amazing car. But one could rationalize a lot of other purhcase decisions. Norway: 57 Roadmaster.

Astonishingly creative and beautiful, Jacques Veserey made this in one of my online woodworking groops. Cool... The bottom...

Time machine please... s for real...

From the land of the rising Sun, I found this imported Toyota Right Hand driving Land Cruiser. Turbo 4 banger 4x4

GM got many things right in the late 1990s. Especially with Oldsmobile. But got sooooooo many things wrong. Id say the only drawback to the Alero were the engine choices. Well, the 3400 6 cylinder. It wasnt a bad engine per se. But the Alero deserved a lot more than that. It had all the right suspension tuning and precision driving control BS that GM advertised that made the Alero drive more European which was a great move, but the 3400 only made 185 horsepower and close to 200 Ft/lbs of torque. Which was good enough. But good enough was NOT enough. Oldsmobile should have put the Shortstar 3.5 in there. 1. It was a bonafide Oldsmobile engine 2. It had the necessary dual overhead cam design that foreign buyers wanted AND what Oldsmobile was aspiring to be anyway at that point in time 3. The Shortstar had the 200 plus necessary HP to equal and pull ahead of its competition... (for the time) Offering a DOHC 4 cylinder AND a DOHC 6 cylinder would have been dope for Oldsmobile and the Alero. Oldsmobile was just there to make a breakthrough with foreign loving buying Americans. Oldsmobile got sooooo much closer than what Saturn ever got to be and today's Buick. The Alero would have been THAT much MORE of a success. And THAT could have pushed the Intrigue to be successful too at the turn of the new millennium. GM might not have been so eager to shut down Oldsmobile so fast like they did.

Swapping batteries, sounds oh so slightly more of a pain in the @ss than filling up at a gas station on a road trip.