My 11-year-old son is years ahead of the times regarding police vehicles.
Since he was about 9, he’s been bewildered by the fact that most police cars are old Fords. He can’t quite grasp that those old Crown Victorias have an ample amount of scoot when needed and are pretty darn capable of getting their work done.
Almost every time he sees a police car, he says the same thing:
“Dad, why don’t police drive faster cars? If they all got Veyrons, no one would ever outrun them.”
Budgets seem to be another concept he has yet to grasp.
If he lived in Dubai, though, things would be quite different.
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Car Industry News, Car Minded, Exotic Cars, Foreign Cars, General Chat
Aston Martin One-77, Dubai Police, dubai police department, police cars, police supercars, supercars
Admit it—you’d want one
Peer pressure isn’t just for middle schoolers. Apparently, the pressure to follow the path of others never really goes away, and the inability say ”no” can lead to some questionable outcomes. All it takes is a decision from one trendsetter, and pretty soon everyone else is trying to do the same thing.
Today I’m thinking about Porsche as the trendsetter with the Cayenne SUV. Yes, it’s a superior and well-respected vehicle now, but when it was announced there were plenty of people who thought Porsche had gone off the deep end.
Nope. Instead, it spawned a new category of luxury road-going performance SUVs. And now Jaguar wants in.
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Car Industry News, Car Minded, Foreign Cars, General Chat, Trucks & SUVs
Ian Callum, Jaguar Q-Type, Jaguar SUV, Land Rover
I remember the first time I drove a car, I was 13, and I spent hours stalling my dad’s 1984 Toyota Pickup. Over and over we drove around in that circle, my dad refusing to give up on me until I could finally master the art of the manual transmission.
Many of us probably have a similar story (okay, most were probably more gifted and were able to learn how to work the clutch in a matter of minutes, not hours), one of trying and failing until that glorious moment when you get enough (but not too much) gas to the engine and take off for that first time in first gear. It’s a story of pain and struggle, but at the same time it intensely bonded you to the person who taught you an essential life skill, and it ended with sheer joy at the point when you finally mastered the stick shift. Sadly, this experience may not be a common one for much longer.
A right of passage for many a teenager, learning how to drive stick is gradually becoming less and less common, as more and more automakers choose to discontinue production of vehicles with manual transmissions. Just this week, we received the heart-wrenching news that Porsche would no longer produce the 911 Turbo with a manual gearbox. This follows in the footsteps of Ferrari and McLaren, who dropped manual transmissions altogether in recent years, along with Mercedes-Benz and Lamborghini, who have already nixed the necessity on their superstars, the SLS AMG and Aventador. If European makers of supercars can no longer produce fun-to-drive cars with stick shifts, who will?
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Car Industry News, Car Lists, Car Minded, Car Shopping, General Chat
Speeding is bad. Don’t do it.
That said, I know we all have been guilty of pushing the speedometer’s needle a few ticks above the posted legal limit. Most of us have even been caught and felt the adrenaline rush that comes with seeing the flashing red and blue in the rear-view mirror.
Sometimes people panic and try to talk the officer out of writing a ticket. In the few times I’ve been pulled over, I just cooperate, admit guilt, and take whatever the friendly officer decides to dish out. That strategy has worked out pretty well, as I have gotten only one ticket in my life for speeding.
The topic of speeding came up in conversation with a cop friend the other night, and he shared some funny, and common, excuses he heard during his time as a traffic cop. Learn from these, friends, and never utter the words you’re about to read.
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Car Lists, Car Minded, Car Safety, General Chat
avoid speeding ticket, excuses for speeding, speeding, speeding ticket
When photos of coming new cars are “leaked” on the Internet, there’s a good chance the manufacturer was somehow responsible. Nothing triggers blog coverage and media attention in the car industry more than photos of a yet-to-be-released new car.
Make that car the flagship sedan of a best-selling luxury brand in the United States, and odds are, the leak isn’t a mistake, but a well-orchestrated publicity grab. That’s pure conjecture, of course, but it’s what I’d do if I was in charge of marketing at a car company.
What you see above is the “leaked” image of the officially still-veiled 2014 Mercedes-Benz S-Class.
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Car Industry News, Car Minded, Cars Coming Soon, Foreign Cars, General Chat
2014 mercedes-benz s-class, Cars Coming Soon, leaked s-class
Irv Gordon’s 1966 Volvo P1800
I found myself thinking about Irv Gordon yesterday.
If you’re not familiar with the name, you will be shortly. I thought of him as I drove my aging 2004 Jaguar X-Type through the pothole-ridden streets of my city. My car has 111,000 miles on it, along with all kinds of suspension/steering clunks and a frustrating occasional loss of power due to a vacuum line problem. On most days, the car purrs like the day she was new, but the old cat has recently shown signs of distress.
Its mileage isn’t terrible for a 10-year-old car, but I don’t know what kind of repairs lie in her immediate future or how much longer we will have together.
That was my train of thought when Irv popped into my head.
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Car Minded, Classic & Vintage Cars, Foreign Cars, General Chat
3 million mile volvo, car maintenance, car mileage, high car mileage, Irv Gordon, volvo P1800
2009 Jaguar XF
Quick depreciation is a terrible thing. And a beautiful thing.
For buyers of new luxury cars, a sinking value can lead to abandoning a car after just a couple years of ownership. For buyers of used luxury cars, it can lead to some killer deals on cars that would have been unattainable new.
Think about it: If you had the choice between a brand-new, top-of-the-line Toyota Camry or a 3-year-old Jaguar XF, wouldn’t the Jag bring you an exponentially greater amount of happiness? Of course, it might also bring heftier insurance and repair bills, but that’s beside the point. We’re talking image here—and a well-priced used luxury car can provide ample amounts of that!
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Car Minded, Car Shopping, Domestic Cars, Foreign Cars, General Chat, Trucks & SUVs
cheap used luxury cars, depreciation, fast depreciation, used car shopping, used luxury cars, used SUVs
A lot of people in advertising seem to think they can add instant credibility to their marketing message by adding a superlative or two to the copy.
Calling a product or service the “best” or the “biggest” or the “most” is pretty common practice, but this rarely means anything, since such labels are typically subjective marketing speak and used everywhere, all the time.
Tesla Motors posted a piece on its blog Friday announcing the “World’s Best Service and Warranty Program.” Well, that’s a mighty bold statement to make, but then again, Tesla is a pretty bold company and tends to back up what it says.
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Car Industry News, Car Shopping, Domestic Cars, Electric Vehicles, General Chat
elon musk, Tesla, Tesla Model S, valet service, warranty
Let’s face it, most of us have been pulled over at one point or another. Whether you ran a stop sign or were doing 90 in a 45-mph zone, I’m willing to bet that you’ve heard a siren and pulled off to the side of the road only to have a black-and-white follow you. Chances are you didn’t pay attention to what sort of a vehicle that big, hulking officer got out of before issuing you a citation or, if you’re one of the lucky ones, a strong verbal warning.
Well, you should have. Cops are now driving some of the coolest cars on the road. You know that guy down the road with a Porsche Boxster? The cops have something cooler. You saw the new Aston Martin? Yup, the police can one-up that as well. Thinking about buying the new Corvette? Don’t plan on outrunning the fuzz with it.
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Car Lists, Car Minded, General Chat
Will future Audi vehicles predict the future?
With great interest, I opened an article that claimed cars of the future will probably be able to predict the future. How cool would that be? My mind raced with possibilities.
Could my car analyze information online and tell me if an upcoming date would be a success? Would it be able to predict gas prices 6 months into the future? Maybe my car could predict future Super Bowl winners and clue me in.
Well, it turns out the predictions are nowhere near as exciting.
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Car Accessories, Car Industry News, Car Minded, Foreign Cars, General Chat
Audi future car technology, car tech, future car technology, future cars
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