[An ongoing rant-series about those confusing science with religion, their methods & methodology as well as their "toys".]

“Hey, check it out. There’s one, on your right . . . another behind us . . . two parked on the opposite side of the street. Shoot! Now we’ve got gray ones on either side of us — We’re caught in a Prius sandwich!!!” Arrrrrgh!

“Enough already”, coming from the Amazing SoCal wife. “Give it a rest why don’t ya! Why do those cars bug you so much anyway?”

Good question. Must be something to do with seeing nearly a dozen and a half of the ugly little, er, ah, mis-proportioned smiley-faced pieces of, er, ah . . . actually, it’s not the vehicles so much (in a weird mongrel-pup sort of way, they’re kinda cute) so it must be the drivers. You see, every time I see a cadre of these hybridized paeans to “global climate awareness”, it’s a very real slap up the side of the head with a metaphorical tire tool that says, “Damn, ‘Okie’ — you be lammin’ it in the Land o’ the Lefty!”

Of course, I already knew that.

After my little bout of Prius overload, I dutifully accompanied Amazing SoCal wife to Chico’s where I sat and read whatever flotsam they have for men to digest while their significant others shop. Yesterday, said flotsam was The Argonaut, newspaper to the beach communities. What immediately caught my eye was this story, Venice ‘Virtual Town Hall’ joined 1,300 others in ‘Parties for the Planet’.

Venice, long known as a place where a good time is just around the corner, mixed a festive summertime atmosphere with political activism as local residents participated in a “Virtual Town Hall” on recent adverse changes to the environment Saturday, July 7th .

“Parties for the Planet,” sponsored by the political action group MoveOn.org, featured several of the 2008 Presidential candidates, who appeared via video to discuss their respective positions on climate change. Members of the political action group had previously provided each candidate with a list of questions asking them to explain their positions on global warming and, as President, what approach to this important topic they would consider implementing.

“We’re trying to organize our neighborhoods into political pockets so that people can get more involved in saving our planet,” said Heidi Mylo, a MoveOn.org member who hosted the Venice party at her home on Penmar Avenue in Venice. “It will also give us a chance to introduce ourselves to them.”

Maraya Cornell, a co-organizer of the Venice fest with Mylo, was attracted to the event because she believes that global warming is one of the most pressing social predicaments of the 21st century.

“The reason why I got involved now as opposed to earlier is that this town hall is about climate change, which is a big issue with me, the thing that I’m most passionate about,” Cornell explained. “For a long time, I’ve been very frustrated with the way that our government has been ignoring climate change, and I decided to do something about it instead of just complaining.”

As I’ve stated many times before, it looks like our climate may indeed be changing for the warmer, but the evidence that the actions of mankind has any significant effect on this change is, at best, weak to fallacious. As for the Global Warming Alarmist Dr. Jeremey Pal’s statements quoted in the Argonaut article, there appears to be a “theory” with a much tighter fit to the collected data than blaming temperature extremes on changes in greenhouse gases, (FYI — the predominant greenhouse gas being water vapor by a large margin, not CO2, which they are so fanatically worried about.) But, if one accepts the premise that our sun and its effect on Earth’s bombardment from cosmic rays is more likely the primary driver of climate change, you can’t play the Left’s hold card of tax, Tax, TAX — spend, Spend, SPEND in support of those “scientists” that tow the anthropogenic-climate-change-consensus standard line.

I’d loved to have been able to poke my head in Heidi Mylo’s front door and shout, “Hey, somebody’s jackin’ a Prius out here!” Bet that would have cleared the room.

Prius drivers, seemingly lost in their own little worlds of moral superiority (’cause, they ARE savin’ the planet you know) manifest those feelings via odd, if not erratic driving styles. Not quite as inebriated-like as someone driving while using a phone, but close. Maybe it has to do with the absolutely-silly state-of-California traffic code provision that allows these vehicles, if properly stickered, to travel with a solo driver in the car-pool lanes. Give someone the right to break, flaunt actually, a major traffic law, and they might just get the idea that traffic laws and driving etiquette are only for the rest of the unwashed-carbon-emitting fuel-wasters, not for them — those valiant knights & ladies of the Holy Order of the Global Warming Alarmists. And, it’s not just on this side of the pond. According to a March ’07 piece, ” Who are you kidding?” on the Telegraph.com.UK:

Uniquely for a mainstream motoring publication, Telegraph Motoring gives a lot of coverage to environmental issues and technology, which is one of the reasons I offered my May 26 list of green cars in the first place. Although we rightly review every car on sale we don’t applaud those that are excessively large or thirsty, and we certainly don’t criticise people for wanting to do their bit for the environment (indeed, when it comes to reader responses to Sir John Whitmore’s monthly columns, the boot is often on the other foot). Nevertheless, the unbearable smugness of some Toyota Prius owners presents a tempting target. Quick to point the finger at others, some use their Prius as public proof of a caring and moral “lifestyle” and put the moan into sanctimonious, as I have discovered in recent weeks.

The owners

However much fuel it does or doesn’t save, the Toyota Prius has become a byword for fatuous lip-service to environmentalism, be it from those seeking to profit from popular green credentials – preening celebrities waving their Prius ignition keys in front of the media, or the likes of David Cameron and Ken Livingstone giving another cynical photo opportunity to a car whose success has been virtually guaranteed with public money – or private individuals who simply hate anyone criticising their choice of car (especially if it cost them £18,000). Such attitudes are more about self-promotion than saving the planet and are echoed by Toyota and Lexus hybrid advertising, which in the past month has been found to be (respectively) “misleading” and “untruthful” by the Advertising Standards Authority.

We know the Prius is a pretty remarkable vehicle, but it doesn’t drive on water and it isn’t the complete answer to global CO2 emissions. If you’ve got a Prius, fine, but please spare the rest of us your pious condescension.

It’s not hybrid technology itself that irritates me so much, although I was concerned about the future-owners’ out-of-pocket costs for NiMH (nickel metal hydride) battery pack replacement and the ultimate inevitability of disposal. Toyota has been addressing this for quite a while, and claims that their hybrid batteries are designed to last the “lifetime” of the vehicles, citing lab tests of 180,000 miles with no deterioration of the battery evident. They also cite the rapidly falling costs of these batteries as more are made in ever larger quantities — about what would be expected as any new technology starts going mainstream. Funny, Toyota is strangely mum about the environmental impact of their manufacture . . . but goes out of its way to encourage recycling of these batteries with a $200 bounty on each one, claiming that their battery packs are 100% recyclable, which is a good thing. NiMH batteries aren’t even considered hazardous waste, like NiCads, and can be disposed of in the standard municipal waste systems, except for in CA, where recycling is strongly encouraged for all, mandatory for non-household enterprises.

And, I do have to admit — my automotive techno-slutometer gets pegged whenever I see an LS 600h!

The LS 600h L uses a 5.0-liter V8 mated to a hybrid drive system to deliver a total of 438 hp and mileage in the low 20s. Like the Prius, the longest Lexus can operate solely on electric power at low speeds for short periods of time. And, Lexus has developed a new hydrocarbon absorber to further decrease emissions. With or without the gas engine running, it’s eerily quiet and mightily comfortable, and it comes with advanced technologies, including LED headlights, pedestrian recognition warning and a driver facial monitoring system. The LS 600h L might just be the most advanced sedan in the world.

V-12 power with V-6 mileage — that’s what I’m talkin’ about! Not to mention, all the toys . . .

So, it just gets back to the drivers. It’ll be interesting to see how many of these little greeblies start sporting Hillary/Obama, Edwards/Obama, Obama/Kucinich bumper stickers, or whatever slate that MoveOn.org manages to squeeze out of the Democrats in this primary-election cycle. Suffice it to say, they’ll have a big surprise comin’ if they bring them in at end-of-lease with wall-to-wall nuttiness plastered all over their oddly-proportioned rumps. The Prius’ rumps, not the nutters — Heh!

The Toyota Prius is fast becoming the VW van, or ’60s Volvo wagon of the 21st Century. What I mean is that it’s the protest vehicle of choice for the “greenies” and “warmies” among us, and if my little outing this AM means anything — there’s a real load o’ them out there!

Consider this. I took the SoCal wife to the doc today and as we were leaving the parking structure I decided to play a little game — count the Priuses, (the prii?) Anyway, by the time we left the parking the count stood at four. I was guessing double figures before the trip was over. By the time I had dropped her off at her office and returned to the studio, a total trip of 16-18 blocks, I had counted sixteen (16!) of the weirdly proportioned little cars-from-Mars. Come to think of it, if you count the one we saw from the first version (really-really ugly!!!), it’s 17. These are on-the-street owned/leased vehicles, not a row of them on a dealer’s lot.

Nice to know that my neighbors are being so considerate and covering my ample carbon-footprint with their slavish environmentalism. It’ll make me feel better when I finally score a 6.2L GTO on Ebay! Let’s face it, 90% of these guys will never own/lease their Prius long enough for the mileage benefits to cover the extra cost of the vehicle’s hybrid components, let alone the wailing and pissing if they ever have to buy a replacement battery pack!

Of course the downside is all the Hillary/Obama stickers that are gonna appear like zits on a crack addict come this time next year. Guess I’ll have to take out an extra insurance rider for extreme vandalism and put that GOP sticker on my ride this time. If you think I’m kidding about the insurance, I’m not. Liberals out here in SoCal are very open minded, as long as you agree with them about — everything!

Shoot . . . wait, don’t — I’m a marked man.

Technorati Tags: Toyota Prius

See more photos at the BuriedCar.com photo gallery.Last October I wrote about the 1957 Tulsarama “buried car”, a new ’57 Plymouth Belvedere that was placed in a vault along with some leaded gas, oil, and memorabilia — which was to be exhumed exactly 50 years later and given away to the person, or their heirs, who had most accurately predicted the city’s population 50 years hence.

On June 15, 2007 (next summer) a “new” 1957 Plymouth Belvedere Sport Coupe will once again see the light of day. It has been buried in a time capsule since that very date in 1957. A friend of mine just sent me a link to this story.

They had actually expected the contest winner, or their heir(s) to put the key in the ignition, fire up the ol’ tank and drive it away. A good time was to be had by all.

Expectations — they’ll get ya every time.

Uggggh! What a difference 50-years makes, huh? ‘Course, 50 years ago I was a mere sprout of five and fifty years later I’m sure ‘nough a bit rusty on the outside — and inside as well. But really now, this much deterioration was not expected. As the LA Times reports:

Wide-eyed dreamers from throughout the world came here Friday to see the gleaming gold-and-white Plymouth Belvedere — buried decades ago in a time capsule as a publicity stunt.

What they saw was a waterlogged mass of metal with tailfins, shrouded in a patina of rust.

{…}

Alas, the concrete block was not so impregnable. When Hazmat crews cracked it open Wednesday, they discovered nearly 2,000 gallons of standing water. Devastated, Sharon King Davis, Tulsarama’s chief organizer, cried on the spot.

“We’ve got our work cut out for us,” Boyd Coddington, car builder and star of the “American Hot Rod” TV show, said Friday when prompted to grab a microphone and offer an assessment of the fabled “Ms. Belvedere.” “It don’t look good.”

See more photos at the BuriedCar.com photo gallery.No, Boyd, it sure don’t look good, not good at all! But honestly, that’s beside the point. What this stunt was all about 50 years ago was to promote the city of Tulsa during the state’s 50th anniversary, as Oklahoma City was getting all the attention. In Oct. I wrote:

The TulsaRama website describes the intent of this burial, which was a way for Tulsa to one-up Oklahoma City in their continuing feud to be Oklahoma’s best city. At the time, Tulsa had the highest car ownership per capita of any city in the U.S., except for Los Angeles, so they decided that a “car” event was a natural.

My adopted region, the Los Angeles basin, probably has good ol’ Tulsa beat for “highest car ownership per capita” by many times over — geez, there’s a lot of those 4-wheeled suckers out here, (and all of them seem to be on the 405 when I’m tryin’ to get somewhere!)

Not any words of wisdom comin’ to mind this AM — been a rough, stressful week here at Okie Manor. But here, like with the time capsule contents entombed with the Belvedere, not everything has gone completely to you-know-what. Be sure and check out the photo gallery at the Buried Car website, some are quite fun, all are interesting. And, don’t feel so bad for whoever finally is found to be the “winner” of the ’57 lump o’ rust. As the LA Times writes:

Despite its condition, the Belvedere is still worth a mint. Collectors eager to obtain a piece of Americana are rumored to be offering hundreds of thousands of dollars for it.

Gary Trent, 60, was 10 when he saw the grown-ups burying the Belvedere. He wanted a part of history too, so he picked up a shell casing and threw it into the tomb when no one was looking.

He was hoping to find that casing Friday. But the dig was never about any artifact, he pointed out, not even the Belvedere. The real star was supposed to be Tulsa.

“I know it sounds a little corny, but Oklahoma is going to be just fine,” Trent said, laughing. “This is a great state, and thanks to this little car, a whole lot of people have just seen it.”

The only thing I know for sure is that if they dig me up after I’ve been buried for 50 years, I won’t be lookin’ anywhere near this good!

See more photos at the
BuriedCar.com photo gallery.

Technorati Tags: BuriedCar.com, ’57 Plymouth Belvedere, Boyd Coddington, TulsaRama, Tulsa

Mega-performance is about to hit the Cadillac brand — and I’m talkin’ MEGA as in all caps! But first . . .

Jump with me into the wayback machine alllllllll the way back to 1970 or so. Although we didn’t know it at the time, it was the end of an era — the Muscle Car Era. You could go down to you local big-three dealer and pick from a plethora of mega-motored beasts of machines like a Chevy SS 454 Malibu or El Camino, a Pontiac GTO Judge with Ram-Air IV, or an Olds 442 HO or a Buick Stage-1 GS, all with mid-400 cubic inch displacements, not to mention the Dodge/Plymouth Chargers, Challengers, Road Runners and Cudas with 440 Six Packs or even the awesome 426 Hemis. Even little old American Motors had its biggest motors stuffed in the Rambler American model called the SCrambler and a mid-sized one called the Rebel Machine. Ford had its Boss 429 Mustangs and Cobra Jet Torinos. Good times could be had by all!

What was supposed to come next made these pale in comparison. In a long-ago-forgotten 1970 car mag, or maybe Popular Science or Popular Mechanics(I Googled around a bit this AM but couldn’t find anything) I remember reading about the next generation of mega-motors that GM had planned for its upcoming generation of mid-sizers, (now come to think of it I believe it was a Hot Rod issue), all with aluminum blocks, humongous displacements and dual-overhead cams! It looked like GM was gonna slaughter ‘em all in the horse-power war, and then — it happened. The muscle cars died out almost without a whimper.

What caused their demise is well documented as stated in this article in Wikipedia:

The muscle cars’ performance soon became a liability during this period. The automotive safety lobby, which had been spearheaded by Ralph Nader, decried the irresponsibility of offering such powerful cars for public sale, particularly targeted to young buyers. The high power of the muscle cars also underlined the marginal handling and braking capacity of many contemporary cars, as well as the severe limitations of their tires. In response, the automobile insurance industry began levying punitive surcharges on all high-powered models, soon pushing many muscle cars out of the price range of their intended buyers. Simultaneously, efforts to combat air pollution led to a shift in Detroit’s attention from power to emissions control, a problem that grew more complicated in 1973 when the OPEC oil embargo led to price controls and gasoline rationing.

With all these forces against it, the market for muscle cars rapidly evaporated. Power began to drop in 1971 as engine compression ratios were reduced, high-performance engines like Chrysler’s 426 Hemi were discontinued, and all but a handful of performance models were discontinued or transformed into soft personal luxury cars.

OK Okie, that was then and this is now — what’s up with that Caddy you mentioned at the beginning?

Well, since you asked nice and all . . . the next generation Cadillac CTS is gonna be a beaut, which I’ve written about before: Caddy Hammers a Homer for ‘08. That’s a pic of the standard model CTS. In this month’s Motor Trend they break the news that the ’09 CTS-V, see pic here, will have 600-supercharged horsepower! 600! That’s off the charts more than the Germans’ BMW M5, Audi S models and even a good bit higher than the Merc’s AMG V-8 models. Talk about another horsepower war. The even more radical news is that this Caddy’s 6.2 liter motor is a detuned version of the mill going into the next Z07 Corvette, which will have 700+ hp. That one should be a snake killer!

But, once again the writings are appearing on the walls of reason, good sense, whatever. As we seem to be hitting another performance zenith, made possible by sophisticated computer engine management and the migration of exotic materials like carbon-fiber, magnesium and multi-material composites into our daily drivers, the forces of government and buzz-killers everywhere are lining up to once again force us into bland, pathetic little commuting boxes with nary a fun, smoky burnout in sight. The global warming hysterics are blaming cars for their nightmare scenario of planetary destruction, the safety-advocates have never really gone away and are looking forward to a Clinton White House where they can run amok in their attempts to destroy one of the last U.S. manufacturing entities via oppressive regulation. We’ve been down that road before, too.

So Okie, who really needs a 600-hp Caddy? Uh, no one? Actually, maybe we all do. For an American automotive company to devote the engineering resources necessary to put that mill in a Cadillac that will come with a 10-year, 100,000-mile power train warranty speaks mightily of the turnaround happening at General Motors. Their vehicles’ quality is going up dramatically as shown by the consumer ratings increases, they used to be at the bottom of the barrel, not competing with Audi, Acura and BMW. But, they still have a ways to go to be in the Lexus/Toyota/Honda league. Exercises like the V-series Caddys can help with that. A body structure that can handle those power numbers should be golden with the 300-hp V-6, which is a super-sweet little motor in its own right.

Now, if 35 mpg CAFE can be thwarted, we might get to enjoy these super-toys for a bit longer. However, those corporate-fuel-economy mandates and 600+ horsepower are pretty much mutually exclusive. Gotta sell a boatload of Cobalts or Saturn Green line hybrids to counter one ’09 CTS-V, that’s for sure.

It really does matter who you vote for — on a whole lot o’ levels!

[Cross-posted at Hot Wheels Blog]

Technorati Tags: Cadillac, Muscle Car Era, CTS-V, Z07 Corvette

Deep from the fever swamp of the Holy Order of Global Warming Hysterics comes the following proposed legislation from the California State Assembly — Hey, let’s TAX the buyers of SUVs and pickup trucks up to $2,500, and then let’s play Robin Hood and give that booty to the buyers of Prius hybrids and other high-mileage vehicles.

Yup! You read that one right, or should I say “left”. This little ditty was introduced last week by Assemblyman Ira Ruskin (D-Redwood City — that’s up north, natch.) According to the LA Times this AM:

The proposed “clean-car discount” — which would be the first law of its kind in the nation — would enlist car buyers in the fight against global warming by offering them a one-time bonus on cars the state identifies as environmentally friendly.

“It makes sense to give a financial incentive since most people just respond to their wallet,” said shopkeeper Mary Ann McDonald in Sacramento. “If you make a practical vehicle more available, people will buy it.”
(…)
Giving rebates to clean-car buyers would be an easy way to fight global warming, contends the Cambridge, Mass.-based Union of Concerned Scientists, the principal backer of Ruskin’s bill.

Great, now we’ve got Lefties from Massachusetts tryin’ to out lefty our own home grown CA Lefties! Of course, if you sat through that almost terminally-boring Academy Awards show last night and saw the look of beatification on the faces of way too many in that Hollyweird crowd when Al Gore got up on stage for the Oscar given to his “inconvenient” little flick, you know that we got uber-Lefties out here in droves — and everyone of them is almost as terrified of the Global Warming monster as they are of someone standing 100 ft. away from them puffin’ on a fag . . . almost!

As proposed, the discount would take effect with new cars in the 2011 model year. Ruskin’s bill specifies that the program would be “self-financing” with no outlays required by the state.

The level of rebates and surcharges would be based on state calculations of carbon emissions, and the amount of surcharges and rebates would range from $100 to $2,500.

Based on current emissions, the concerned scientists’ group estimates, about 50% of new vehicles would receive a rebate of some kind, about 30% would face a surcharge and the rest would get neither.

Our hybird drivers out here are already a vindictive little lot, and conduct themselves with an air of moral superiority that is frightening — not to mention that they get the right to drive in the carpool lanes with only a single driver on board. That really does a lot of good — cause those “cars-from-Mars” as I call the ugly buggers are not operating at their peak efficiencies at freeway speeds — they only get that fantastic mileage in stop-n-go situations where regenerative braking in involved. A hyper-efficient diesel is a much better highway vehicle, but the CA Air Resources Board has a beef with those as Dan Neil recounts in his weekly column last Wed.

[W]e have the California Air Resources Board, a bunch of bureaucratic do-gooders who actually do good when they’re not screwing up royally. Thanks to the air board, California (and four Northeastern states that just have to copy the cool kids, shuh) have adopted the EPA’s super-strict Tier II, Bin 5 emission standard two years before the rest of the country, which just adopted the less strict though still formidable Bin 8 standard. California has Bin there, done that.

Consequently, Californians will not be able to buy our test car, the 2007 Mercedes-Benz E320 Bluetec, the only legal diesel passenger car sold in the United States this model year, despite the fact that:

A) A Bin-8 compliant diesel is clean enough to eat (check out my bagel-in-the-tailpipe video on latimes.com/lawheels);

B) The Bluetec E-class gets 26 miles per gallon city/37 mpg highway, an astonishing 45% better fuel economy than the gas-powered E350, with commensurate reduction in greenhouse-gas emission; and

C) Affluent SoCal liberals would love to buy a fine German automobile that didn’t make them feel like a fine German war criminal.

So, let’s review. Out here in La La Land a sedan that gets “37 mpg highway, an astonishing 45% better fuel economy than the gas-powered” version, with all the reduction in carbon dioxide that accompanies such a mileage increase, and with exhaust that is “clean enough to eat” can’t be sold here because it’s still not clean enough for CARB. However, some of our lawmakers want to add extra fees on top of insanely high CA gasoline prices and the existing Federal gas-guzzler tax, and give those $$$ to those that are dabbling in the hybrid buying frenzy — a market that is already heavily subsidized with our tax dollars in the form of federal tax incentives.

Yep, just another Lefty redistribute the wealth scheme — plus your very own chance to save the planet . . . Ahem. Just not one that is gonna take from the rich and give to the poor — possibly a lot more the other way around on this one. Don’t ya just love granola? It’ll make such a great snack for that lounging on the tropical beaches of Anchorage, AK. (db)

Technorati Tags: California State Assembly, CA Assemblyman Ira Ruskin, Global Warming, Union of Concerned Scientists, Clean Car Discount

OK, a quick break from politics and cultural degradation for a minute, ’cause the production debut of Cadillac’s next generation CTS will be on display at the Chicago Auto Show starting this Friday. This vehicle, in my opinion, is one lean-mean-exciting machine! And yeah, it’s a Cadillac! Motor Trend has a particularly nice photo gallery showing all the unique design details that make this new Caddy extra special, from the new grille inspired by the Cadillac Sixteen show car from a few years back to panel stamping difficulty and precision never before attempted by the General — and they not only did it, they did it real-good!

A wider track, with wheels pushed out flush with the tautly-bulging wheelwells, positive/negative sculpting on the hood that would do a Bangle-Bimmer proud, plus a new direct-injection version of the corporate hi-feature V6 that pumps out 300 naturally-aspirated horsepower and once again, suspension development at the awesome Nrburgring Nordschliefe, all show that Caddy is truly in the hunt for the Germans.

Better yet, this time the CTS doesn’t leave all the good stuff behind when you climb behind the wheel. The current model is highly sculpted inside and a bit too avant garde with a confusing selection of material textures that don’t feel right, but this new CTS looks luscious. Cadillac is using a new manufacturing technique that utilizes hand-crafted components which have a distinctive custom look and that allow for much tighter tolerances, giving the ambiance of a “master-crafted”, instead of manufactured, interior.

There’s much to like, even love, here in this new CTS. The fact that the next CTS-V, with 500 to 600 small-block ponies under the hood, is due in about 12 months is just more icing on this satisfying cake. I’ve managed to own at least one new vehicle from all the divisions that made up GM in the ’60s & ’70s, except for Cadillac. This one just might be worth tryin’ to make the stretch.

For all you guys and gals out there that are lookin’ for a luxury-performance sedan and can wait until this fall — there’s no reason to buy that 3-series, C-class, A-4 or IS anymore, unless you just love givin’ your hard earned dough to the Germans and the Japanese. Come on . . . they’ve got enough already — support the home team! I think that you can do that with this new CTS and be proud and satisfied at the same time. Now there’s a win-win for ya! (db)

Technorati Tags: 2008 Cadillac CTS, Chicago Auto Show