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!

Jeepster, Where Did You Get Those Peepers?

Costa Mesa - 2010, one of the better car shows I've been to. Not only did they have a parade of beautiful to ridiculous automobiles, but they also had a race track. And that was very entertaining... the race track highlight must have been the super-light chopped up Pick-up rat rod. It was so light, it couldn't hug the curves of the track and spun 360s half the time.

Anywho, there is was. The Willy. I have a strong penchant for Jeep Willys and Jeepsters and Commandos... I think they're the epitome of cool and I can totally picture myself cruising in one of these fun vehicles down PCH on a sexy California summer day. Too bad its drizzling today.

The Willy was born with WWII and was produced for the Army from 1941 through 1945. The WWII vehicle was then adapted for civilian use and was known as the Jeep CJ, or "civilian Jeep". These were some of the first mass-produced 4x4 vehicles out there ever.

The Jeep Jeepster was originally produced by Willys-Overland from 1948 through 1950. The name was then revived in 1966 on a new model knownas the Jeepster Commando. That is by far one of my favorite car names EVER. American Motors, Willys-Overland's successor decided to put a halt to the name in 1972 and production in 1973.

Willys produced the Jeepster as a crossover from the military Willy to a more passenger oriented market. Originally set with only rear-drive, the Jeepster was given 4 wheel drive with its revival in 1966, under the name Jeepster Commando.

What's there not to love?!

Highlights and Tail lights from the Culver City Car Show

Here are only but a small percentage of what Culver City's Seventh Annual Cruisin' Back to the 50s Car Show had to offer. The show featured a wild variety of classic cars, pick-ups, wagons, vans, hot rods and rat rods, muscle cars, and what-where-they-thinkings. It was a very sunny day and cars sparkled (yes, some literally sparkled). I was definitely in the zone. And a show in Los Angeles for once? Even better!

There was a car for everyone, new cars, old cars, verrry old cars, TV cars, movie cars and fantasy cars! If you're an LA city dweller, I strongly urge you to check it out next year! Entrance is FREE, there are drinks, food, restaurants around and much more.

Violating GM Policy = Good Idea

GTO. Gran Turismo Omologato. Built for racing as it was for cruising the streets. Many consider the GTO to be the first true muscle car.

The GTO has known two lives, first produced from 1964 to 1974 and then resurrected in 2004. Lets put the focus on the earlier real and raw muscle car. During its original 10 year run, the car went through six generations. Other manufacturers were focusing on producing full-size vehicles, but Pontiac saw potential in another project: taking a large, big block engine and dropping it in a medium framed car and selling it at a budget price. Thus, the muscle car was born. In order to get the project on the road, Pontiac had to sneak their way around GM rules and regulations. Was the outcome going to be worth the trouble? You bet...

In 1964, the road was dominated by full size vehicles. GM specifically stated that mid-size vehicles were strictly prohibited to be fitted with an engine greater than 330 cid -- Cubic Inch Displacement ( switched to the metric system in the 80s -- liters). Engine Displacement refers to the volume swept by all the pistons in the engine from a single movement from Top Dead Centre (TDC) to Bottom Dead Centre (BDC). There is some math involved, but it's a simple equation:

Displacement = (π/4) x (bore²) x stroke x number of cylinders

Bore is the diameter measurement of the cylinders inside and engine.
Stroke refers to the distance the piston travels.
Dead Centre refers to the point at which a piston is the furthest (top dead centre) away or nearest (bottom dead centre) to the crankshaft.

Pontiac took it upon themselves to throw the book out the window and put a 389 cid engine in their Tempest model, but presented it as an option for the Tempest, and called it the GTO. Did they name it after the famed Ferrari 250 GTO? Perhaps... and what a car to be named after! It was a long shot and Pontiac aimed at selling 5,000 units but far exceeded their expectations and sold over 32,000 units! It was the hottest performance machine yet! This novel idea fueled the competition between GM, Ford and Chrysler and gave way to a thriving muscle car industry.

The success of the 1964 Tempest GTO prompted Pontiac to keep on producing and improving the car through 1965. In 1966, Pontiac made the GTO its own model, which reached sales of almost 100,000 units, the highest number sold for any true muscle car.

In 1968, however the GTO was very much restyled. Its most prominent feature was actually its "lack of bumper" look. The car was equipped with the Endura Bumper, which was made of rubber and gave it the bumper-less look.

In 1969, the famous Judge was introduced. The new option packet was named after the TV show "Laugh In, and came complete with a more powerful engine, a larger spoiler and showy body paints and decals.

The body was once again drastically restyled in 1970, and in 1971, the already declining sales crashed along with the car's performance as GM was strict in following government regulations on emissions and noise pollution. 1971 was also the GTO's last year being its own, separate model. in 1972, the GTO was back to being an option to the LeMans and LeMans Sport. The Judge was also discontinued as well as the convertible option. Rumor has it that one convertible was produced as well as a handful of... GTO station wagons?!?! (If you have evidence, please share!) The 1973 GTO was still based on the LeMans, but it was so ugly (really), it didn't even reach 5,000 units in production. Finally, in 1974, the once dominating GTO was reduced to an option on the compact Ventura, with a 350 V8 engine that shamed its proud predecessors.

Despite its dwindling sales and progressively worse oh-so-70s homely looks, the GTO's name still represents the image of the Great One that lead to an American phenomenon: the muscle car era.

Snapshots of two 1966, 1967 GTOs at the auto show in Culver City last weekend.

Across the street from my house, a 1969 Pontiac GTO Hardtop Coupe. H.O.T.

The Little Jalopy That Could

So if you've read this blog thoroughly (which isn't saying much as this is my 11th post), you must know I refer to all 1984 and older Mercedes-Benz as Babymamas. You will also know that it's all in honor of my very own 1984 300SD Turbo Diesel Babymama :) Those who know me personally know that I am absolutely smitten on that car. I love her like a person and she keeps me safe. Babymama is my first car and I fully intent to keep her forever, even if that means keeping her by means of her "nose" (hood ornament) if, God forbid, anything tragic happen. Anyway, I would like you to get to know her better. Most people don't look twice when they see a 1970s - 1980s Benz. I do. And I always say "babymama!" with the biggest freakin' smile on my face. That's affection. Despite the fact that she's been beat and totalled and has suffered technical hemorrhages galore, I adore her. My Mister has said it quite well, scars give you character. True true true, even for cars. If you came across my post about Concours D'Elegances, I'm sure you get a sense that I love a well kept classic. However, there is something about a car that has seen life, that has trucked through it and said "bring it" to whatever rough terrain it had to go through. Such was the case of my Babymama.

She was picked up from Stuttgart, Germany in 1984. She's a true Euro! Mercedes-Benz offered my parents a 1 way ticket to Stuttgart to pick her up straight from the factory! Included in the program was a complete tour of the Mercedes Benz factory. Once they picked her up, they drove her through the Black Forest. Once it started raining, my dad (USA) turned to my mom (FRANCE) and said quite bluntly: "this is your weather, you drive". They encountered a funny piece of land that sat in the middle of the 3 lane freeway: a little house who's owner refused to sell. Babymama drove them all around France before they dropped her offand handed over her keys at a parking lot at Avenue de la Grande Armee in Paris. From there she made her way onto a boat a travelled across the seas. Two months later a phone called informed my parents that she had made it to San Pedro, CA. Why Diesel?? Emission laws in California made it terribly complicated to get a gasoline car from Europe. That's the reason my mom had to forfeit her sexy little Mercedes Coupe, you know the ones with the pagoda roof you could forget a cup of coffee on, and it would make it across town just fine...

Now she's travelled her way into my hands. I can't say I've always treated her the way I should. I don't mean I call her names or hate on her! She's my first car. I've hit a pole or two, I've driven over those obnoxious parking cement blocks and got her oil pin stuck in the oil pan (that means oil leak!!!) and I've gotten two flat tires. But she gets a "good morning" and a "thank you" and a "good night" every day. I know her faults, her foibles, her troubles, and her triumphs! I go by Randall "Memphis" Raines' philosophy (Gone in 60 Seconds) : you take care of me, I'll take care of you. I believe it. I wash her myself almost every week and try to vacuum her every now and then. I check the oil level frequently as she's known to leak. You may think I'm a lunatic-wierdo by now, but that's OK. If you're really in-tune with your car, you'll get it. There is a reason a car is often referred to as "my baby". A car is usually a person's second greatest purchase in life. You definitely want to show proper care to something that important. I live in Los Angeles, so your vehicle is even more important considering the unimpressive public transit system (not to diss the Big Blue Bus, of course!). However, car care and car love are distinguishable. I don't think the dude over there driving on PCH like a befuddled version of Michael Schumacher in his expensive, new Porsche quadriporte, after having 10 people detail his car, really gives a rat's ass about it. It's an item of luxury. It's a sign of wealth and social status (and who knows, he could live in a shit hole and have invested it all in his ride just for looks). I'm making a gross stereotipization here, but I've encountered that "type" in the past. He cares enough about it on the surface, he keeps it in pristine condition, both physically and mechanically. But when I see the older man in his 1965 BMW 2000 CS, somewhat beat it may be, I know it's love. When I go to Pomona and see greasers drinking beer and talking car at 8am, its definite car love! And that, to me, is worth more than a million dollar car.

Here's a circa 1965 BMW that chills close-by to where I live. It's got charm! Below is a 1960s Chevrolet I saw a little old man get into. He actally looked at me funny as I was snapping shots of his car.