Is THAT a Ferrari?!

I say, "Ferrari!"

What comes to mind?

-Fast

-Power

-Sports car

-F1

-Schumacher

-Sexy

The list of complimentary associations with "Ferrari" goes on...

Now, what about "Ferrari FF"?

-confused

-huh?

-hatchback?!

Ok, ok.... it's not

bad, but to me, it's just not Ferrari. The successor to the 612 Scaglietti, called the FF for Ferrari Four - four seats and 4WD - is the first four wheel, versatile Ferrari ever. In that respect, it's a novelty, and being a Ferrari, you know it will deliver. According to Ferrari, "the new car represents not so much an evolution as a true revolution". Revolution indeed. A drastic action or change - anarchy, bloodshed, coup d' état, tumult... that's what comes to my mind when I think of revolution. Of course, it's ultimate intent is generally to provide masses with something better (whether it be sociological, political, economical.....) but still. Gosh Ferrari, you are such a rebel.

How about a green FF for your viewing pleasure?

Now lets move on to some basic automotive design inspired mathematics. I propose the following basic addition:

BMW Z3 coupe + Porsche Panamera + not so pretty = Ferrari FF

BMW Z3 Coupe

+

Panamera

=

And last, but not least, have you seen the commercials for this car? I ask you, would you go offroading in the snow with your Ferrari?

The Coutach and the F40.

A man was driving down the highway late at night when his mini-van broke down.

He turned on his hazzards and tried to get someone to stop and help him.

Eventually, a Lamborghini Coutach pulls up. "Any chance I could get a lift into town?" asks the mini-van driver.

In typical cocky Lamborghini owner fashion, the driver replies "I can do better than that. I have a V-12; I can tow you into town. Just flash your lights and honk if i'm going to fast."

They head off and some time later pull up at a stop light. A Ferrari F40 with a V-10 pulls up beside them.

The F40 begins to rev its engine to get the Coutach to race.

The Countash revs its engine and the light turns green.

They fly out there, and about half a mile in, they pass a speed trap.

The officer there watches them pass and radios to base saying, "Base, you will not believe what I just saw. A F40 and a Coutach were driving down the road, doing about 120 with a mini-van honking its horn and flashing its lights trying to pass them."

Teeheehee.

Courtesy of Joke Buddha.

Tax Horsepower Vehicle Wins Best Bond Chase!

OULALA the Citroën 2CV... not your quintessential sexy automobile, but according to some folk, it was voted "best Bond chase" car (on some poll, somewhere). That means the little old fashion bug looking car beat out fleets of Aston Martins and whatnot.

Here's a snap shot from one of the scenes from the 1981 film, "For Your Eyes Only".

how cute is that?!

Now those who know a little French know that this car is a "Deux-Chevaux" or a "Two-Horse". Those who think they know a little more say it's because this little love-bug car only has 2 horsepower... yea I fell into that category for sure. But you read, you learn. The 2CV actually has 9 horsepower.

So why 2CV?

2CV acutally stands for "Deux Chevaux Vapeur" which is a technical term from French tax code.

Back in the day, it was popular in some European countries, such as France, to base a car's taxation rate on an early system known as tax horsepower. After WWII, France mostly produced cars with very small engines relative to the body's size. The 2CV's engine only weighed 100 Lbs! But what is this "tax horsepower"? Simple math. Ew. The rating was calculated using a formula based on a car's cylinder dimensions.

pretty easy to learn engine basics with this one

This car was intended to be a first car for farmers. It was hardy, simple, and could carry to sturdy French farmers! They weigh about 200lbs. Plus their farming cargo... They certainly did not go fast and would most likely have gotten creamed by a Nash Metropolitan. But getting lauded for its racing and technical prowess wasn't the point of this car. It was made for country roads and later became more popular amongst "hippies" for obvious reasons.

When I was a kid in France, my brother and I would count all the 2CVs we would see during our month stay. Sadly, the number dwindled from year to year and now I only see a few when I go, but I imagine that in rural France, I would probably chance up

on more than in Paris. I even see a few here in LA!

Le Vallois - France

Pacific Palisades Library

LA AUTO SHOW 2010 - longing for the older shows...

In the past couple of years, it seems as though the LA Auto Show has been marching to a different beat; one far less exciting than that of past shows, with far less innovation and a little more green.

Not that this is a bad thing for those actually questing for their new rides, but for those who like seeing concept cars and prototypes, such as myself, it is a little disappointing. Even Cadillac, who had me going with its Lambo door vehicle, surprised me with a small, silly looking future-car. When I think Cadillac, I think long, big, powerful, not "tin-bin". And that's what came to mind.

EQUALS

(and the Fiat 500 has far more charm and charisma...)

So critical, I know. It's not like I even know that much at all, I just like fast-looking batmobiles.

Mazda, however, pulled through with its concept car. It looked sharp, mean, with well defined edges and curves in all the right places -- FAST.

Take a gander!

I took a faux-joy ride in a sexy flat black AMG... and my facial expression tells all. Nowhere near comfortable, it ain't got anything on my '84 300sd's fine leather bucket seats, and the worst part was that my head was almost sticking out of the damn car, and my legs where squished. I'm sure there are a million features to make the ride less of a stress-factor, but out of the twelve thousand gadgets and buttons, I could not seem to locate the "make-seat-drivable" button, which would hypothetically allow one to ADJUST the seat and thus DRIVE.... without running the risk of partial decapitation by car.

Stay tunned for REAL cars... last Pomona swap meet of 2010!!!

Big American Car - Thank you Frog-Eaters

My Dad's a die-hard American. Army Medic. Major, Football player, BIG, and all ( I won't go into his political views). Everything labeled America is BEST. I'd like to note that he also went through a couple of Cadillacs at some point.

Now, I'm sure we can all agree that the Cadillac pretty much epitomizes the American Car, a car emblematic of all that is highest in automobile construction and design. We also know that many die-hard Americans (Pops) like to bash on the French for whatever reasons... poor WWII strategies... governmental embarrassments... racism... antisemitism.. frog-consuming... etc. To those people, may your opinions remain your opinions. Being a Frenchie myself, I get a little defensive about my country. But francophilia isn't the issue at hand here. It's about History, and the creation of an emblem that came to symbolize an American classic, the Cadillac.

A Brief History of Cadillac Emblem:

Antoine De La Mothe Cadillac was born in Gascony, France, on March 5th, 1658. Being adventurous by nature, stories of the New World appealed to him very much, so he took it upon himself to make it to those shoes. What he was most noted for was his founding of the city of Detroit in 1701. Little did he know that his settlement would not only grow to be one of the largest cities in the United States, but also the greatest automobile manufacturing city in the world.

At this point, we can clearly distinguish the parallel between Antoine De La Mothe Cadillac, who stands for all that is pioneering, and the Cadillac car, which stands for actual pioneering in the automotive world.

There is actually a château in existance known as Le Château de Cadillac (featured below).

It is said that although Antoine De La Mothe Cadillac most likely came from a prominent family, he was not a French nobleman by blood. It was not uncommon for men in those times to adopt a name from another family in order to promote their own standing... mostly when that family was far across the Antlantic. Speculations indicate that Antoine borrowed the name LaMothe along with his ancestry and armorial bearings of a certain Baron Sylvester of Esparbès de Lussan ( a mouth-full for sure), Lord of LaMothe Bardigues, a manor located near Toulouse. Interestingly, the First International Cadillac Meet was held on those very grounds in 1989.

Below you will see the original coat of arms belonging to the Esparbès de Lussan family, along with its interesting evolution into the modern-day Cadillac emblem we are so familiar with.

Above is pictured the authentic coat of arms ofBaron Sylvestre Esparbès de Lussan.

"Cadillac" family crest -- uncanny resemblance, no?

Adopted as the Cadillac emblem in 1905, the crest became a trademark in August 1906.

The birds known as marlettes, a quasi-mythical representation of the martin, were displayed on the Cadillac emblem until the turn of the century. In 2002, the wreath was brought back, and the designed was cleaned up, with a more geometrical and abstract design, representative of Cadillac's latest automobile designs.

Today's sharp-looking Cadillac emblem we all know and love. It's meeeaaann... ohh yes but in a sexy way. Stay fabulous, Cadillac!

Pomona never disappoints... August 2010

I hadn't gotten my Pomona Swap Meet in a while, but when I finally did last month, it was... for a lack of better words... SUBLIME. Check it out!