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Detroit, 10:46 AM
Sun Nov 29
8 posts in the last 24 hours
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11/28/09
But you have to love those two ancient MoPars--
For some reason it reminds of this:
Two MoPars, both alike in dignity,
In fair NoCal we lay our scene
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny--
Our two hours traffic on the stage.
Wait.
This might be a tale told by an idiot!
11/28/09
Still, it's nice to see another golden age of Alfa Romeo's developing in front of our eyes.
11/28/09
Then, on the second day, I got to race. After ten laps, I became shrouded in the Red Mist, overcooked Turn 14 and slid the car into the dirt. After that, it was a little harder to get so indignant about other drivers making bad decisions.
11/28/09
11/28/09
11/28/09
I think the dearth of Detroit iron was due to the location of the race. Everyone knows the BBQ-eatin', moonshine-swillin', Southern Discomfort will be packing some good ole American muscle*. The California races, though, tend to bring out more imports from the tooty-fruity left-coasters.
*Except for me, I'll be driving a Volvo.
11/28/09
I fear there will be a rather sub-par field of racers at the Blagojevich 500. You'd think salt was free the way they throw it everywhere.
11/28/09
11/28/09
11/28/09
on the other hand... i thought that it might be one more quirk to the LeMons series... much like cars... have the season be named for the next year rather than the year it's available in...??
11/28/09
11/26/09
Better to buy a battered old Virago. It'll run longer and you won't be in such a hot hurry to move up to a bigger bike.
Also: Kudos to Bumbeck devising a way to safely drop the turkey into the grease. My way is to get my brother in law to do it.
Also: Knoxville TN cops are screening crazy hard - go five miles over the limit and you'll get flagged. I don't think there'd be more cops on the roads if they thought we were being invade by the Taliban.
Also in Knoxville: Jim Cogdill Dodge is trying to sell brand new, never sold, 2008 Dodge and Chrysler products at $13,000. Still got the whole warranty, it's still a brand-new car at a used car price. It might be a better deal, assuming Chrysler's still around in five years for parts support.
11/26/09
Best of all, any cornfed kid in the heartland can make their very own car.
Not so sure lemon wheels would be good for an open-air car -- at least without wearing goggles.
11/26/09
11/26/09
11/25/09
11/25/09
11/25/09
11/25/09
11/25/09
See, you scribes should realise that is ME, yes ME who is always correct and everybody else who doesn't agree with ME is wro...
Oh shit, sorry Sammy, sorry Jalopnik, sorry America. I'm such an arsehole. An arsehole who forgets that poor poor America wouldn't know about the two said automotive wonderments being they're not available in the land of milf and money.
11/25/09
You sound like a disgruntled European, no offense to normal Europeans. Its hard to be thankful for something that you cant get for a few years (the 500) Our muscle cars have a certain charm, just like an Alfa or a Fiat 500 have, speaking of Alfa the (standard) Mita is about as sexy as a cross-eyed pig I do like the GTA though.
11/26/09
@gearhead_318: BZZZZT! Sorry you're incorrect. disgruntled yes, European no. Never mind you still go to round two...
I come from a land who builds proper muscle cars but the driver would sit on what you would call the wrong side. We even convert American muscle cars to right hand drive!
11/25/09
11/26/09
More typically, there are parking lots with planted areas spaced frequently and graded so that water runs into those plantings, or is collected in a subsurface drainage system and permitted to percolate into the groundwater, via either a perforated underground cistern or through retention/detention basins that can look like ponds.
The pollution from roads, parking lots and lawns is called non-point source pollution, describing how diffuse it is. It is a serious problem for lots of waterways. It is fairly common for parking lot drainage systems to include oil/sand separators in their drainage boxes, to limit what pollutants travel further towards the water.
The Chesapeake Bay's water quality problems are now much more influenced by lawn and field runoff carrying fertilizers, weedkiller, pesticides, and pet poop. Dialing back on all that, and making minor landscape changes so stormwater can percolate into the soil before reaching the Bay will lead to immense improvements in the Bay's health.
11/25/09
I like this writeup and agree. As an urban dweller, I fully appreciate the (free) parking lot, and as an ex-suburbanite, parking lots were the only places (besides car washes) that we teens were allowed to hang out. ("Bowl another game or GTFO!") When I'm back in Michigan, I'm often tempted to drive places just because they have a parking lot, and I can park back in the driveway when I get home. Appreciate the small stuff.
My only addition to this piece would be to mention Ed Ruscha's 1967 photobook Thirtyfour Parking Lots. It contains pics of, yup, 34 parking lots, and tries to emphasize the beauty of these most banal of settings, much like Sam "PL" Smith has done in this writeup. Pic attached.
I'm glad I actually read through the comments before posting too, because I was going to cry out for the inclusion of Heavy Metal Parking Lot. (I lack the plug-ins at work to see what the vids are of, and lack the permissions to install them. Life is struggle.)