Jalopnik
question of the day
Posts Tagged “
qotd
”
question of the day
question of the day
What's Your Favorite Italian Un-Supercar?
With the release of the 2009 Ferrari California, yet another sporty GT in the long line of sporty Italian GT's and supercars, our thoughts go to our favorite Italian cars. And if you're like us, your favorite Italian cars probably aren't of the dozen cylinder, stratospheric price variety. Who doesn't love a bargain basement hatch like the Fiat Panda 4x4 or any number of Lancias including the Fulvia HF and Stratos? And what about Alfa? For a few grand a lot of hassle you can be the owner of a classic Alfa Romeo Milano Verde. For a few grand more (and an Italian passport) you can own the Alfa Romeo Brera, the best looking new hatch there is. More »
question of the day
How Much Risk Are You Willing To Take?
Driving is dangerous. So is sitting in a Starbucks. But people still drive and people still chug lattes like they grant magical powers. These are measured risks that we take and different people measure that risk differently. When it comes to coffee, some blow off the cream for fear of clogging their arteries, some can't get enough of it. The same goes with driving. Though we generally think of racing as a much safer sport, with people surviving spectacular crashes all the time, not everyone is so lucky. More »
question of the day
What's The Worst Road You've Ever Driven On?
Though we've asked you about your favorite roads, today's geoporn of Beijing's craziest interchanges got us thinking of the worst roads we've driven on. We can't help but remember a Hungarian prof telling the story of German diplomats driving around Romania (Hungarians and Romanians don't get along, fyi). The Germans think they're making great progress and all four of them are chatting about this in their big Mercedes and then they hit a pothole. A pothole so big it swallows the entire car. Then, as the professor said, "they were all dead, poof." This was supposed to be the punch line. You have to love that Eastern European sense of humor. More »
question of the day
What Car Would You Like To Get Arrested in?
Though it doesn't appear that when DMX was arrested he was in the now infamous yellow Chevy II Nova, it would have made a much cooler story. Given DMX's long rap sheet, it's probably safe to assume that he's been arrested in it before. In fact, looking over all of his crimes we're not surprised his license had been suspended. Give Al Gore III credit, though he was arrested for breaking the 100 mph barrier at least it was in a daddy-approved Prius. More »
question of the day
What Would You Convert Into A Rally Car?
The photos today of the Ferrari 308 GTB rally car combined with the VW Thing (which rallied against the Allied Forces) got us thinking again about rally cars. Anything can be a rally racer, whether AWD/FWD/RWD or even 6WD. From the diminutive Kia Rio to the insane Suzuki Escudo, anything can be rallied. Anything... More »
question of the day
What Vehicle From The Oughts Is An Instant Classic?
In today's DOTS we had a 1983 BMW 633 CSI, a copy of which currently exists in one of our garages (more on that later). Like many, we've always loved the strong lines and relatively inexpensive cost of these Bimmers. This led to an interesting observation by Number_Six: what cars from 2000 or after are instant classics? Personally, we think the Chrysler Crossfire and the 02' to 05' retro T-Birds both have unique looks and interesting histories. Cars like the Maserati Gran Turismo S look so good that they're classics before they come out. But that's easy. More »
question of the day
How Much Did You Pay For Gas Today?
The answer is probably a lot more than you wanted to. According to the Lundberg national survey, the average price of regular self-service gas reached $3.62 a gallon, an increase of approximately $0.15 over the last two weeks and nearly $0.30 over the last month. This, of course, is occurring right before the summer driving season when demand is the greatest. The highest price was in San Francisco at $3.95 a gallon, with the lowest price at $3.39 per gallon in Cheyenne, Wyoming. City leaders in Cheyenne are planning a new tourism campaign based around this entitled "Cheyenne, Cheap Gas And Two Olive Gardens." More »
question of the day
What Should Mad Science Drive To Work?
We're all about helping out our fellow Jalop, and Mad_Science has more than proven his bona fides yesterday as a worthy commenter. When not getting all verklempt over abandoned racers, Mad has to commute about 60 miles round-trip on Southern California freeways and, as we all know, gas isn't getting any cheaper. Says Mad:I'm looking for input from my fellow Jalopniks on the best "alternative" commuter car. The obvious choice would be either a bike or something like an old CRX or Civic Hatch, which can be entertaining in their own right, but I'm looking to get a little more creative. Electrics, bio-diesel/veg oil (but what car?), bike-powered kit cars are all on the table. It's gotta be reasonably reliable and cheap, like under $15k and preferably under $10k, with the goal of minimizing $/mile while keeping me out of a soulless Prius. I've got tools, skills, space and (some) time to make it work, but I need some ideas.More »
question of the day
What Would Joe And Eugene McCarthy Drive?
It is not uncommon for people to mistake former Senator Joe McCarthy for former Senator Eugene McCarthy, despite the fact that they represented approximately opposite points of view. Eugene McCarthy was the super liberal Democrat from Minnesota who was succeeded by the equally liberal Hubert Humphrey. He ran against sitting president Lyndon Johnson in 1968 purely on an anti-war platform, something you're not supposed to do, but lived to carry on the liberal charge until his 89th year of life. Joe McCarthy represented neighboring Wisconsin and was, relatively speaking, a touch more conservative. Though moderate on some issues, McCarthy lead the fight against the great Communist conspiracy that quickly spread from possible subversives to pretty much anyone he could find. He took on Eisenhower, a member of his own party, and died not too long after of alcoholism. More »
question of the day
Commenter Of The Day: Hammertime Edition
Things you may not have known about MC Hammer. He used to work for the Oakland A's as a batboy. He was honorably discharged from the Navy. He was born Stanley Kirk Burrell. When he was at his peak he purchased the the following items: $75K worth of mirrors for his bathroom, recording studio, $2 million in Italian marble for floor-to-ceiling marble walls, bowling alley, a stop sign engraved "Hammertime!," basketball courts, gold chains for his rotweilers, a DeLorean, Etruscan sculpture, thoroughbred horses and a Rolls Royce. A friend of mine was working at a university when Hammer showed up to look at the religious music program for his daughter. More »
question of the day
What's Your Best And Worst Junkyard Find?
We know that not everyone spends as much time at auctions and junkyards as, say, Murilee. But that doesn't mean most of us don't occasionally wander around junkyards or auction sites searching for whatever we can find. Sometimes, you strike gold as with Murilee's 1970 & 1971 T-Bird adventure. And sometimes you end up in Project Car Hell. I once spent an afternoon looking around for a replacement wheel for my beater Escort and found a pair of white older-gen Escort GT wheels that would look awesome on the front against the old rear black rims. The pattern looked right so I grabbed them and took them home. More »
question of the day
Four Door Convertibles?
Earlier this morning we told you about the Cadillac CTS Convertible by CBI, mentioning it was a four door convertible which was "something rare for a convertible in this class." Inadvertently, we opened up a can of worms with that little phrase. Never one to let a little comment pass, Nick2ny asked us to name another four-door American convertible in this class. That involved a little work because, from the major manufacturers, we don't have much. American four-door luxury convertible? The best we can do is the 1961 Lincoln Continental convertible, which retained all four doors and a soft top that slipped all the way back into the trunk (a la´Skyliner). So that's one. More »
question of the day
Kirk Kerkorian: Mad Money Or Just Mad?
We got a call early this morning with someone telling us that Kirk Kerkorian and Tracinda had just moved to buy more of FoMoCo. Having endured a late night, we promptly fell back asleep. Upon waking up we had to run to the computer to double check that wasn't some sort of weird dream (like the one where Bob Lutz hunts us with a crossbow). Turns out it wasn't. When it is all over, Tracinda will own 120 million shares of Ford common stock. KirkKerk is putting up a price of $8.50, or 13.3% over Friday's closing price of $7.50. As we've mentioned, Tracinda has sort of a weird history with US automakers. More »
question of the day
What Would It Take To Get You Into A Modern Mid-Sized Sedan?
With photos of the 2009 Mazda6 for the US dropping today it got us thinking about the modern, under $30K mid-sized sedan market. Having driven a Ford Taurus SE for a while, we're not all too keen on driving another one of these vehicles anytime soon. As "nice" a car as it may be, not even a Tony Stewart Edition would make the new Camry something we'd be jumping at the chance to own. Some say the 2008 Honda Accord looks BMW-esque but a BMW it ain't. We're intrigued by the Altima coupe, but that's not a sedan is it? More »
question of the day
What's The Least You've Ever Paid For A Car?
In many cases, we don't choose our first cars. Our first cars are sometimes chosen for us as a sort of hand-me-down. The great Mercedes diesel sedan that got me through so much of high school was not necessarily up for a trip to college and, therefore, the family car shuffle resulted in an early 1990's Escort hatchback loaded to the gills with posters, clothing, computer peripherals and hope. But mostly computer peripherals. It was a great car for what it was; the stock five-speed transmission providing great mileage and a chance to pretend that I was driving something nicer than an Escort. Being the basest of base models, the car didn't come with a radio or a mirror on the passenger side. Still, I loved it. More »
question of the day
How Much Of Your Car Would You Like To Control By A Remote?
Though most of us are comfortable with keyless-entry, even if it comes in watch form, there are some technologies that start removing us from the driving experience. And though remote-controlled dancing Jeeps may impress the ladies, we doubt many of us would feel comfortable wearing the matching shirt. Given the advancements with the DARPA Hal cars, maybe remote control is the best we'll be able to do in the future. More »
question of the day
