Welcome to Must Read, where we single out the best stories from around the automotive universe and beyond. Today we've got reports from Vanity Fair, The Truth About Cars, Hooniverse and Wired: Autopia.
A Very Stick Shift Mother’s Day: 10 Top Auto Writers Pick Their Ideal Mom Car – Vanity Fair
Jalopnik's good friend Brett Berk asked me (and some other auto writers) a great question: What new car would I have wanted my mother to drive during my childhood? Of course, a Zonda would be great, but Brett hoped we'd be somewhat bound by reality. You can see the answers from Ed Loh, myself, and other writers at the link above. My favorite response comes from CNN's Abigail Bassett.
As the matriarch of the “Leadfoot family,” I wish this Caddy Wagon upon my mom. An automotive journalist’s dream, it’s subtle enough to tote the kiddies, but kick its 565 horses to life, and everyone on the playground whips around to look. Add a backseat spacious enough to keep my sister from getting Cheerios in my hair, and we’d probably have stopped fighting. Actually, probably not. —Abigail Bassett, senior producer, CNNMoney
We Need A Chrome OS For Cars – Wired: Autopia
We've touched on the subject of standardized controls before and Damon Lavrinc takes it one step further in this column.
Seamlessly incorporating all that data into the driving experience is the next great leap. For companies like Zipcar, RelayRides and even Hertz and Avis, this custom-tailored experience couldn’t be more important. Frequent travelers could eliminate the tedious process of setting favorite satellite radio stations or syncing their phones to the infotainment system. Everything would just be there.
Gawker Wants The Detroit News To Stick To The Real Journalism – The Truth About Cars
Another heater from Jack Baruth in The Truth About Cars which goes into the inside baseball of car journalism and makes a lot of points worth noting. In particular, he points out what Motor Trend has been able to achieve through some self-reflection (you may not like Motor Trend but they've followed a clear game plan) and how far away everyone else is in both the realm of buff books and mainstream media.
It's also great to see a shout out to Jalopnik Detroit, which we're still working to develop.
Think about that. The lamest, oldest, unhippest car magazine out there also runs the newest, freshest, biggest, most popular video channel. How did that happen? It’s simple: while the other car magazines and newspapers were coasting on their assets, MT worked to develop, borrow, or imitate things that the viewer wanted to see. They didn’t depend on the name or the pre-existing reader base. Instead, they used that reader base as a launch platform, a list of potential evangelicals who, if they were presented with content they enjoyed, would spread the word to others.
Greenwich Concours Preview: 1973 Momo Mirage – Hooniverse
The Fiat 130 Coupe is one of those vehicles I've always wanted to own and this preview of the forgotten 1973 Momo Mirage reminds me of that great Italian coupe.
Like many mid-century hybrids, the Mirage was the result of a collaboration between many different companies and people. As the story goes, Peter Kalikow was shopping for a DBS but was talked out of buying one by Alfredo Momo, who had a Jaguar dealership in New York City at the time. Disappointed with the DBS (cause who wouldn’t be?) Kalikow and Momo decided to create their own grand tourer, with Kalikow providing the funding and Momo providing his contacts in the automotive business. What resulted was a striking car, but one whose life was cut short very early on.