Because just one wasn't enough The car steals the show wherever it goes. Everyone wants their picture with it. It gets even better, it drives! At one end you have headlights, the other end has headlights too but they are converted to function as taillights. If someone handed you the keys you wouldn't know which... Continue Reading →
Car Spot: 2000 Jeep Cherokee
American Motors hit a home run ... While the passenger car side of AMC wasn't exactly putting the world on fire in the mid-eighties with its Renault Alliance/Encore and Eagles, the Jeep side was humming and the purchase of it in 1970 was paying off dividends. Its modernization of the full-size Jeep (SJ) Cherokee and... Continue Reading →
Car Spot: 2024 Rolls Royce Spectre
The ultimate EV What does a half mil of luxury electric car look like? Consider the new 2024 Rolls Royce Spectre Mark and I drove at the MAMA Spring Rally at Road America recently. Wow, everything from giant suicide doors that close automatically (driver need only touch the brake pedal) to umbrellas embedded in the... Continue Reading →
Car Spot: INEOS Grenadier Trialmaster
A little bit of this and that gets you a capable SUV I love the off-roading portion of the Midwest Automotive Media Association's Spring Rally at Road America. This year besides the selection of Jeeps and Fords, was a newcomer, the INEOS Grenadier Trialmaster and no, I didn't spell that wrong. And yes, it looks... Continue Reading →
Car Spot: 2004 Pontiac GTO
Pontiac's last shot at a muscle car It has to be the godfather of muscle cars. It kicked off an era in the 60's when all four automakers were puting gobs of horsepower in their cars. What began as an optional package on the Pontiac Tempest in 1963 grew into a full-blown muscle car in... Continue Reading →
Car Spot: 1969 Ambassador Stetch Limo
It was a valiant effort but never took off I've seen lots of popular vehicles stretched into limos. Lots of Lincoln and Caddys, some Hummers, and Chrysler 300s. There's also been a Viper and Corvette stretch limo. But the one you will never find is a 69 American Motors Ambassador and the subject of this... Continue Reading →
Car Spot: 96 VW Golf Harlequin
It was big in Europe. Over here not so much. The family was down in Peoria, IL getting our daughter settled into her new job in Operations at Peoria International. We were driving back from something when I saw this rare VW on I-74. Since I was driving, wifey and kid unit did all the... Continue Reading →
Car Spot: Oscar Mayer’s Wienermobile
Oh, I wish I was an Oscar Meyer Wiener ... What kid growing up in the 1960s doesn't know the Oscar Mayer jingle? Food was fun then and so was Oscar Meyer's Wienermobile, this week's car spot, or is it a truck spot, or RV spot, or food spot? It's sort of all of those... Continue Reading →
Car Spot: 59 Edsel
Classic case of the wrong car for the wrong market at the wrong time Growing up in the 50s and 60's it was a big deal when the new models were introduced. I remember, to this day, my dad taking me down to see the new car Ford had come out with, the Edsel. Something... Continue Reading →
Car Spot: 81 Chrysler Imperial
The company brings back an all-but forgotten badge Dating way back to 1926 it was the company's top-of-the-line vehicle so it was no surprise when Lee Iaccoco went to the well again in 1981. This newest edition, and this week's spot, combined forward-thinking design elements, out-of-character build quality all in a one-price luxury package. It's a... Continue Reading →