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Cars

Could this save the car industry?

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Jalopnik has a curious little post about the Gordon Murray T25 and its radical new method of production. I have to do some more digging, but it certainly seems like – if not the T25 – something like this could pave the way to cars built on demand. Here’s the article:

Gordom Murray T25 Could Lead To Apple Car

My thinking seems to be along the lines of: cars are fashion accessories with utilitarian purposes, like sneakers | you can make yourself custom sneakers online | why not cars a la NIKEiD?

(Thanks, Jalopnik.)

I hope this is a new feature

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Jalopnik is a perennial favorite car blog read every day for me. I was delighted to see that they had a piece by Peter Orosz (of Hyperleggera fame) today under the heading of “Design Deconstructed.” The first case study was the 2010 Acura ZDX (a schizophrenic car if I’ve ever seen one.) I enjoyed reading what was essentially the same sort of autistic deconstruction of a motoring form that I myself often force upon the unlucky (Kate.) What most people see as nothing more than an appliance can send me through hundreds of words of compare and contrast. It was truly wonderful to read some else’s similar exploration – especially since I wouldn’t have necessarily chosen the same comparison cars. I’d love to see more Design Deconstructed breakdowns of today’s vehicles.

Here’s hoping it’s a recurring feature, Jalopnik!

Nineteen.

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That’s how many hour long Zimbra training sessions I’ve taught between July 22nd and today. Three is the number of five hour long Blackboard Open Labs I participated in this week, too. It’s training season at Washington College and I’m exhausted. Glad to have new services going live, so very tired of supporting them already.

In other news, sometimes a photo opportunity presents itself on the roadside that just has to be taken. Mine appeared the other day on the way out of Chestertown. Colonial Chevy closed its doors as part of the autopocalypse, leaving behind a dreadful 70s store front and the wonderful slogan “Our Country. Our Truck.” emblazoned on the windows. Of course I had to take my Audi hatchback and park it on the grass-eaten pavement.

I give you “It’s my country, too.”

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Kate is away and the weekend is promising to be nearly 100º. Lockdown at this house!

Car news of the day

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Been busy as a busy person at work getting ready for Zimbra training (12 sessions in three days this week, thank you very much) so I haven’t had much time to scour for interesting things to post – or inclination to do so after work. However, here are a few car related links to tide you over.

  1. World Car Fans has done a delightful video edit of Jaguar’s press footage for the all-new XJ. I melt every time I see those magical LCD dials pop to life or animate the changing of gears. Old school elegance meets Starship Enterprise. Bella and I need to cruise in such a fast cat, no?
  2. Jalopnik lists five (snarktastic) reasons why roundabouts will never work in America. Having driven in them all throughout Maryland, I think I may agree. I also think that Jalopnik really could benefit from a copy editor. Dang. (In response to this piece from Slate.)
  3. The best auto show on the planet, Top Gear, will be making its return this season in glorious HD. Thank you, BBC America, for FINALLY bringing me your Britshows in the resolution they deserve. You Are What You Eat not withstanding.

Watch your (my) car be assembled.

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This was a rather fascinating factory tour – from start to finish on the A3 assembly line. Okay, it’s not quite my current model year, but still entertaining.

(Oh yeah, it’s in German. Sorry.)

A little love for the X3

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Kate’s whip of choice has been getting pummeled in magazine reviews of late. The X3 has been pitted against the current crop of tiny luxury SUVs in TopGear, Car and Automobile (though, really both Car and Automobile employed the same guy – Georg Kacher – to write their comparisons.) Everyone has been calling it harsh, austere, rough, unpolished and lethargic. Well, perhaps – but only when you compare it to cars designed as 2009 models. Remember, everyone, the X3 was a 2004 machine and things, as they do, change over five years. Yes, the Audi Q5 or Volvo XC60 are more refined beasts but they should be. The fact that the X3 is still a contender at all shows that BMW created a winner when it staked a claim to the ground these baby utes drive upon. Give the old girl some slack! The only complaint about Kate’s 3.0i spec 2005 I have is that it’s a bit neurotic in its character. You’d expect that from a BMW though right?

So, I was quite pleased to find that Car & Driver has rehashed the comparison test for American readers and has found that the BMW X3, while not the winner, is deserving of the #2 spot in its opinion. RESPECT.

I was so excited for a moment

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I received a delightful email a moment ago from Twitter, alerting me to something amazingly unexpected:

Bigfoot on Twitter

Naturally, my cryptid-minded self thought “Oh, sweet! Bigfoot researchers!” But, I soon realized that this particular team happens to race in the name of ‘squatches. Still, my disappointment was palpable.

In any case, hello to my new LeMons followers! Glad to make your Twitter-acquaintance.

Old, but good

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While my muscles try to take their revenge on me for making them go along for the ride while moving until the wee hours of the morning, I’ve been getting caught up on work, email and a few articles online. Here’s one with an interesting slant on a story that I’m sure you’ve heard before:

Rachel #439: Tire Dust

Did you know that GM was partnered with the concrete, glass, steel and rubber companies when it bought up the nation’s public transit systems and systematically destroyed them? Makes you glad we are bailing them out now, huh?

A pair of oddities

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Chestertown is a strange place. People here are both trusting and fearful in ways I’ve never quite experienced in all my living environments and all my travels. There are both extremely posh, jaw-droppingly charming parts of town and absolutely destitute, crack-selling alleyways. You will never find the inhabitants of one area in the other but there are only two shopping plazas so inevitably they mix. And ignore one another. All this within a few blocks and encapsulated in farmland.

The people of Chestertown do strange things, considering their surroundings and social situation. For instance, Kate and I went to JBK today (no, this is not the strange thing) and noted that a maroon, mid-nineties Mercedes C-Class was sitting in the parking lot with the windows down, a kiddie pool in the back and the driver’s door completely open. Now, someone evidently had the wherewithal to purchase a Mercedes at some point in their lifetime which means that they were either wealthy and/or smart. Why this would then lead them to leave their door hanging wide open and their car unattended is not within my comprehension. The fact that we then went into the store, spent half an hour there and returned and STILL found the car in the exact same state is even more perplexing. Did the owner forget? Was the battery dead? Wouldn’t you still want to lock your car or at least make it look like it could have been locked? Where were the thugs or miscreants to abscond with this free Mercedes?

WHAT GIVES, Chestertown?

The second oddity for the day was seeing none other than Shauna Sand in the background during HGTV’s House Hunters. The episode focused on a dimwitted (aren’t they always?) lawyer’s search for a condo near Beverly Hills. Cut to random footage of Spago, Rodeo Drive, the usual. And there, outside the Van Cleef & Arpels storefront was the Empress of Lucite herself. In exquisite lucite heels, as need be. It lasted but a few seconds but our sighting was real and so helpful in brightening the evening.