Great Car Ads: 1980s Volvo Turbos

This is one of the best advertising campaigns I have seen for a range of cars.  I think it makes these awesome cars even cooler that their PR team was so bold.  I kinda want to go buy one now...

Hybirds

this is why I love South Park so much...
http://www.southparkstudios.com/full-episodes/s10e02-smug-alert

Hydrogen Cars

Honda FCX Clarity

I see hydrogen cars as our future because they truly give us the freedom on the road that we are used to with our gasoline powered cars with their only emission being water vapor.  Hydrogen cars currently come in one of two ways.  One setup is to have a hydrogen fuel cell that generates electricity to power an electric motor, giving you an electric car without the restrictions imposed on you with batteries that have to be recharged, such as in the Honda FCX Clarity.  The other setup is currently being researched by BMW, and involves using an internal combustion engine that runs on hydrogen instead of gasoline, giving you a much greener car.  I much prefer the second method because it means not taking away the fun of driving proper cars.

BMW Hydrogen 7

Not the best quality video, but here's what Top Gear's James May has to say about it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffRagsjSpkE

Dodge Challenger (the new one)

This is the Dodge Challenger...

It's simply gorgeous.  And, it's pretty darn quick.

There's just one (HUGE) problem with it -- it doesn't have a limited-slip differential.  What does this mean?  It means that when you try and do a burnout (like in the picture above) only one of the back wheels will actually spin and create smoke.  So unless you strategically photograph it from just one side (see above), you will look very foolish.  This is a massive design flaw in a muscle car because, lets face it, the whole point of owning a muscle car is driving fast in straight lines and doing burnouts.

Nevertheless, its a great looking car -- in my mind the best looking of the three current retro muscle cars (although supposedly not the best driving).  That's because its got the best looking C-pillar I've seen on a car in a long time, it has those awesome recessed headlights, and it looks unmistakably like a ferocious muscle car searching for its next victim.

The Toyota Prius

There is no car that I hate more than the Prius.
Why?
Because it is hands down one of the ugliest cars on the road.  And everyone who drives one believes that they are holier-than-thou because they are driving a hybrid.
I could continue my rant, but I'll let my favorite motoring program do it for me...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOvp69lnZbA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKTOyiKLARk

The Manual Gearbox

I consider a manual gearbox to be a necessity in a car.  In fact, I don't believe that you actually know how to drive unless you drive a manual.  Also, automatic cars are really boring (and more expensive), so I see no reason to drive them.

I understand that most Americans can't drive manuals, and part of it is that most cars sold here these days have automatic transmissions.  Now, automatics are fine if you drive a minivan, or an SUV, or a wide American car with a bench front seat, or if you drive a boring sedan to go along with your boring taste in transmission.  But, the one place that automatic transmissions are unacceptable, is in performance cars.  Every man who owns a sports car with an automatic transmission should be forced to turn in his man card.  Whats even worse though, are car companies that make sports cars that aren't even offered with a manual gearbox (I'm looking at you Mercedes).  I think that there should be a law against this.

welcome

Welcome to my blog!  This is the first one I've ever had, so lets see how it goes