I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that sometimes it could be hard to stay cheerful. Bad news is only a visit to a news site away. Let’s not do that. Instead, let’s show you the greatness of car people right now. A few of you posted uplifting comments today and I want to highlight them.
Our founders have been drinking up all of the hot cars at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, but the Aston Martin Valkyrie driven by Adrian Newey stood out because it showed the dirt and grime of an important car that’s driven rather than trailered everywhere. ClutchAbuse told a similar story:
Around 20 years ago I was filling up and a Viper pulled up on the opposite side of the pump. It was filthy. He cleaned the windshield and didn’t wipe the dirty water dripping down onto the car kinda filthy.
I made some comment about it being the dirtiest Viper I’d ever seen and he said something to the effect of “I’m too busy driving it to care”.
I know a Viper isn’t an ultra rare super car, but it was great to see one just being used and enjoyed regularly.
As did Al Camino:
After a pretty good snowstorm in Chicago, I saw a red Ferrari 308 in a downtown parking lot that was covered in snow and salt streaks with ice crusted behind the wheel wells.
So did Nicholas Bianski:
About a month ago when I was returning from the airport with my girlfriend, I got to drive alongside an incredibly dirty Murcielago for a few minutes. It was an absolute joy to see it wasn’t some garage queen.
Part of it is seeing these awesome cars being used as cars, but also seeing that their owners are having a ton of fun. Earlier today, Jason asked you to identify a car that was mostly hiding under a cover. Admittedly, I cheated and reverse image searched the wheels, coming up with the answer based on a blurry 100 by 100 thumbnail.
The real cuteness comes from Angrycat Meowmeow:
I remember taking my son for a walk, maybe 7 or 8 years old ,and he correctly identified a Mustang under a cover. That’s when I knew I had spawned a tiny Autopian.
Finally, we land at the Morning Dump, where the headlining story was about the two states where EVs might be more expensive than gas cars. Something I’ve noticed is that a lot of folks really love the Volkswagen e-Golf. It’s a minivan makes a good case:
Did the math for our second car (that we use exclusively city). Compared a used e-golf with a used gti, equivalently equipped. Given that this is used only in the city, performance is about the same. Would be different if I spent all day on the autobahn, but instead I live 3 miles from the center of the city.
Upfront cost: about the same.
Gas: e-golf wwwwaaaayyyy cheaper. I charge at home for basically free (10c/kwh) vs premium fuel.
Maintenance: lol e-golf cheaper
Depreciation to 10 years old: used e-golf: $0 terminal value. GTI? $0 terminal value.Non-financial costs?
Convenience: e-golf (again, city car, more than enough range so no gas station ever)
Guilt-free flooring it? e-golf (I’m too cheap for a car that runs premium fuel)
Environmental externalities (I’m allowed to care): e-golf
Smuggness: e-golfFor me it was a no-brainer.
Have a great evening, everyone!