Trump fans haven't quite figured out yet that his tariffs mean that they will be paying more to subsidise tax cuts for the very wealthy - like Donald Trump for example.
And soon they could be paying more for their toy cars as well as their real ones.
Because most of Mattel's toy cars (aka Hot Wheels) are made in Malaysia.
In the olden days, dodgy car dealers would turn back the odometers on vehicles to make them appear to have had less usage - and hence increase their value.
Apparently it involved a drill and the speedo cable.
You can't do that with modern cars.
Now, in the first of two Tesla stories from Reuters this week, they are accused of tampering in the opposite direction. There is an allegation and matching lawsuit claiming that Teslas over-record their mileage so that the warranties run out quicker.
Another reason not to buy a second-hand Tesla if it's true.
The second story is about investor nervousness about brand damage done by Elon Musk.
They seem relieved that he will be reducing his Trump duties and spending more time with Tesla.
And the share price is going up despite a massive drop in profits.
I guess I don't understand finance.
I would have thought having a Nazi tosser spending MORE TIME running the company would be a bad thing.
And yet he seems to be a really nice bloke - I'd like to go for a pint with him and talk cars.
Similarly Lars Moravy.
Who?
Vice president, vehicle engineering at Tesla - Tom interviews him about the new Y in the latest video on the Top Gear Magazine YouTube channel.
But some of the things he says are bit menacing.
Early on we get, "When you sell 1.2 million cars worldwide" casually slipped in to the conversation and "You don't want to break the recipe" Which is more show-offy than menacing and, to be fair, he was also talking about how the replacement Y had a lot more to live up to than, for example, the Cybertruck.
Lars may end up in trouble if it doesn't emulate its predecessor's success so he must be at least a little concerned about falling Tesla sales which must be at least partly down to his boss - a common new nickname for their vehicles, at least on the socials, is Swastikar. Also Wankpanzer but I don't understand the pun there - especially as "wank" isn't a generally used US term.
Which is why they didn't find "Wang Care" funny.
Lars described the Y as a "world car" - I suppose it is - it is the top selling car in the World and sold all over the World - I doubt if the previous "World Car" ever managed that.
He said that he felt "so separated from everyone around me when I'm driving" which is also not menacing but but just rather disappointing.
But then he is driving an SUV cross-over.
The bit that menaced me was, "Automony in the US is huge - it's coming here in a few months." - it sounded like the sort of thing that Trump makes up on the spot. Except, unlike Trump, Morovy is a clever man. With connections. What does he know?
He also said, "as we get closer and closer to unsupervised in the US..."
I presume he was talking about self-driving technologies rather than general life.
The Chinese angle is interesting because Musk's current pal Donald is imposing tariffs on Chinese goods coming in to America (maybe he's found someone in America now who can make his MAGA hats) so that will probably include Tesla Model Ys. And China is putting on reciprocal tariffs which will affect sales of the US built Teslas.
The American angle is also interesting though because the Americans who are not fans of Trump will not want to buy Teslas now. And Trump is very pro-oil and anti-electric so I suspect the bromance won't last too long.
...the knowledgeable and dapper vehicle appraiser and regular contributor to Jay Leno's Garage.
I was watching their latest output on YouTube yesterday. They are clearly great mates and the way he takes Jay's gentle mockery is a pleasure to watch - especially about the concept of their regular segment, "Assess and Caress" in which the idea is for Jay to decide which of three vehicles chosen by Donald has gained most value in the previous 5 years.
What do those millions of fans see in Trump? He is creepy, he cannot string together a coherent answer to any normal question, he makes up lies and statistics on the spot, he managed to bankrupt casinos.
I see no redeeming credentials whatsoever.
You could argue that it's none of my business being a Brit but happens with America affects the whole World. There is already talk of him doing a Putin and Xi to change the rules to stay in power longer. And as Putin has him by the short-and-curlies, it doesn't bode well for Ukraine - and therefore the rest of Europe and NATO.
Meat Loaf was a fan - and I believe that cost him his life as he fell for the Anti-Vaxxer nonsense that Trump liked to promote.
So how can intelligent, articulate, hard-working people such as Dennis & Sean be voting for Trump?
This picture Sean posted on Facebook of the keys his wife had in her pocket imply that he is of the Trump persuasion:
They can't be falling for the Fox News tripe - they're too busy to watch it.
Maybe they are simply life-long Republicans - or maybe they see something in him that very few people outside of the States can see.
I hope they are right - evidence from 2016 to 2020 does not look promising but democracy has declared a winner so we need to accept it and work with it.
Maybe they didn't see a better candidate, over to Jonathan Pie...
Because, let's face it, Zippy was pretty annoying.
Not wet like George.
But if Donald Trump were a pre-school TV personality, he would be Zippy.
(or am I being unkind to Zippy?)
Anyway, zipping into traffic is the non-annoying thing to do.
Look at this story from Auto Express today explaining how we should be using what lots of countries call "The Zipper Manoeuvre" when two lanes merge into one.
Even The Highway Code tells us to do it.
The trouble is, while out in their cars, our continental cousins view themselves as "the traffic", whereas us Brits see ourselves as individuals battling against all of the other inferior drivers. That is why Smart Motorways were never going to work in Britain.
Not me, of course - although I do witness a huge number of inferior drivers every day on the M53.
Strange that.
At Junction 5 heading South, the M53 goes from three lanes down to two. It is well signposted that it is going to happen but there is no signage about how to deal with it.
So, a fair distance before it actually happens, everyone gets into the two left hand lanes apart from a very small number of drivers who tear down lane 3 until the last minute. Sometimes they are allowed to merge in and sometimes they encounter a stubborn group of people staring straight ahead while attempting to keep 5cm from the rear bumper of the vehicle ahead.
This means that the ones getting most annoyed are actually those driving in the most annoying way.
A judge in Delaware has said Elon can't have his $55.8bn pay deal.
The story is covered by many news outlets including here and here.
The gist of it is that a Tesla share-holder thought that it was too much money for the company he has shares in to be paying out. And also that Musk “enjoyed thick ties with the directors tasked with negotiating on behalf of Tesla, and dominated the process that led to board approval of his compensation plan” They argued the huge pay award was designed to ensure that Mr Musk, "would continue to dedicate his attention to the company".
What!? You mean while he also continues to dedicate his attention to Twitter, SpaceX, The Boring Company and sticking microchips into people's heads?
And now Elon has taken umbrage in true Donald Trump style with some whining on Twitter (as we all call it)
He tweeted, "Never incorporate your company in the state of Delaware. I recommend incorporating in Nevada or Texas if you prefer shareholders to decide matters."
Err - I think in this case a shareholder HAS managed to decide matters.
He then posted a poll asking his followers whether or not Tesla should "change its state of incorporation to Texas, home of its physical headquarters"
I don't know what the Venn Diagram of Tesla shareholders and Musk Twitter followers looks like but it doesn't sound like a particularly relevant bit of market research.
What amuses me most on this story though, is that the shareholder in question is a former thrash-metal drummer (according to Newsweek) who not only "made a mohawk that lights up while I'm playing drums" but who also only owns 9 shares in Tesla. Brilliant.
I'm sorry, but if you have got involved in a police chase, driven 60mph on the wrong side of the road, run a red light and driven across a busy junction without stopping.
then...
crashed sending the other vehicle into a parked car, then struck a fence, another car, flipped and landed on your roof.
while...
driving without a licence and driving without insurance.
You may need to consider that it isn't the judge who is the helmet - IT'S YOU!
Metro (the newspaper) have the story but have tried to spice it up by pointing out that the "helmet" insult MIGHT (only "might" notice) add to his sentence.
He has been jailed for 14 months which seems very lenient given that he has 10 previous convictions for 26 offences - so maybe the judge IS a bit of a helmet.
There are no pictures available from inside the Courtroom so instead here is a picture of two other helmets:
If that had a watermark on it, it would point at the Facebook page of some chap called John Peddle.
He photographed it after an "off" in Boca Raton in Florida.
The driver wasn't used to driving a manual. Car+Driver have the story here.
He also wasn't insured to drive it.
And the car wasn't registered.
And his licence had been suspended.
Now call me cynical - but if the guy named as the driver is the guy in the middle here, and I can't be 100% sure that he is, but the name and age and location seem right -
then it looks like he is another Donald Trump/Boris Johnson type of individual who was born into a very rich family surrounded by servants and sycophants who has been allowed to get away with serial lying and thinks that rules don't apply to him.
I've said it before, twice in fact, and now I appear to be saying it again:
I do like the writings of Ezra Dyer - the title of this Post is a sentence he so eloquently uses in this Car+Driver article today.
The title of the piece is
No, EVs Won't Make American Roads Look like Cuba's in 20 Years
It comes with a picture of some old cars in Cuba:
I may have deliberately chosen a bad example for the story there.
But it does sort of back up Ezra's case against a particular New York Times article that has irked him. I think that I like The New York Times - I've never read it but they do enjoy attacking Donald Trump so that gets a big tick from me.
I would love to dissect his article dissecting the NY Times one but it makes much more sense to read his dissection first-hand by clicking on the C+D link above. And, given that Ezra and I are both eminently sensible people, that is what you should do.
Is Elon Musk a tit? He is undoubtedly a very brilliant man - his achievements show that.
But he also seems to be a flawed human being.
It is the Donald Trump-esque toddlerish petulance that is the problem.
Trump was born into privilege. His father was a very successful businessman so Donnie was brought up surrounded by sycophants, afraid of losing their jobs, who gave him whatever he desired. They let him get away with whatever he did including serial lies which have served him so well throughout his career.
Donnie inherited his wealth and is a simple-minded individual who throws tantrums when he doesn't get his own way.
Elon made his own wealth and is an intelligent individual who throws tantrums when he doesn't get his own way.
That makes him better than Donald Trump.
But, unfortunately, that is not a ringing endorsement.
Boris Johnson is better than Donald Trump and he is a lying buffoon.
I am a non-believer. Have been since I think I worked it out in an RE Lesson when I was in the Sixth Form.
But this Coronavirus has had me questioning my lack of faith.
Only a bit though.
The World is in a mess. We have morons in charge of the US and Brazil. We have evil people in charge of China and Russia. We have a habitual liar in charge of the UK. We have pollution. We have plastics in the food chain. We have climate change - ice-caps melting. We have chaos in The Middle East. The Amazon Rainforest is being destroyed - that's the lungs of the Earth!
Nobody in power has taken any notice of Greta.
Even the supposedly good guys like Justin Trudeau have disappointed us:
So what would God do?
Invent something to shut down industry and get people to stop using their cars. Invent something that Trump and Bolsonaro will badly mishandle in a vain attempt to protect their economies.
Here is what my exit from the motorway on my way home looks a bit like now:
Except there are more traffic cones and less Hillman Avengers today than in that 1977 photo I found on Google Images. Thanks to whoever added that credit to it - I feel slightly less guilty about using it when there are credits. Is that a motorbike in the exit lane? - I guess it must be but it's very hard to work out.
Anyway, I've digressed. This whole Blog-Post is inspired by this BBC story about how the AA say "Coronavirus will transform UK work and travel."
They predict "a permanent reduction in the demand for travel because people have learned during the crisis to use home-working technology."
Don't forget videoconferencing. I would travel to the local hospital for a specific meeting once a month. For me, it was a 10 to 15 minute drive which isn't a biggie - other attendees had to come in from all over the county - but the parking was a nightmare and as our employers would recompense us for fuel - that recompense would come from NHS budgets. We used Zoom this time - the only disadvantage was no chocolate hobnobs - we'll probably continue doing it this way.
"The chancellor currently plans to spend £27bn to curb congestion on roads and £100bn on HS2 – but if demand falls, that may not be needed."
Indeed, especially as his magic money trees will have other priorities. AA President Edmund King agrees, "anecdotal evidence from people lucky enough to be working during the coronavirus-enforced lockdown suggests that infrastructure funds might be better spent on broadband to support home working."
AND - IT ALL HELPS TO SLOW DOWN ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE!
"Other experts are calling for the roads programme and HS2 rail project to be put on hold for a decade so ministers can be sure they’re not wasting money.
They say if commuters spend just one day a week working from home after the crisis - or commuting later - the roads will be as empty as they are in the school holidays."
Now, I know Michael Gove believes we have had enough of experts, but our government does seem to have started quoting them so maybe that's another effect of the virus.
As for HS2, this Jonathan Pie video is an excellent argument for cancelling it - maybe a postponement for a decade would be a step in the right direction - don't watch it if you're easily offended by sweary language:
The Guardian's Stuart Heritage has two items of Paddy McGuinness news for us this week.
I haven't worked him out yet - Heritage not McGuinness - I do know he's better than Keith Watson of "The Metro" - but that's not difficult. I think for one thing, he does actually know about the show he is talking about.
Always useful in a media journalist that.
In the story that Top Gear is to be moved from BBC2 to BBC1, he makes some very valid points including that the move has been designed to “attract younger viewers and safeguard the future of the licence fee” but younger viewers (and myself) tend to watch shows on catch-up so won't associate it with a particular channel anyway.
I still don't approve of the current TG line-up but have to agree with Stuart that this series is very successful - possibly because it is now no longer a "mouldy old car show".
His words not mine - I like car shows and want more of them so would never stick the adjective "mouldy" in front of one - unless they were really crap - like the last two series of Driven or like "I Want That Car"
But Top Gear isn't crap.
It's just lost its way as a car show. The bungee last week could have been done sitting in a bathtub (although I did enjoy the deceit that leaving the handbrake on would stop him).
The rear axle coming off the Firebird was very funny - please tell me that wasn't faked.
But having just the one motoring expert is restricting. Don't tell Michael Gove,
...but we need more experts. Otherwise, dumb stuff that is popular comes to the forefront:
In 2036 I have to re-apply for my driving licence because I will be old.
Should I bother?
According to The BBC, this DS Concept Car showcases what will be the typical cars of 2035.
I was sort of on board if not a bit perplexed by the reporter's idea of "sitting back, cocooned in luxury."
But then I heard it.
They need to sort out the annoying whine or everyone travelling by car in the future will have terrible headaches.
Mind you 2019 seems to have a few problems too. Whether it is uninsured drivers demonstrating their stupidity. Or perhaps team-building courses that involve scrapyards. I'm sure I could come up with some positive ideas for team-building in scrapyards - although Health & Safety might get upset at the first-to-extract-an-undamaged-speedometer-from-a-Ford-Sierra round.
2019 also has Brexit and Trump.
Let's hope 2019 also sees the end of Brexit and Trump.
Then we just need to sort out the car noises and we will be fine.
Although geographically in the South, South Carolina was right in the middle of the US Civil War. And the start and the end.
So maybe this stupid woman thought she had a 50/50 chance of escaping punishment there for a motoring offence with her tactic when the police officer who stopped her was white.
Her tactic was, with her being "a clean, thoroughbred white girl", to say, "You're a cop; you should know what that means."
A clean, thoroughbred white girl!? The phrase "white trash" came in to my mind. As well as not stopping at a Stop sign, she was speeding, carrying Marijuana and driving drunk. The BBC story is here.
There is a lot of suspicion State-side at the moment of how the police treat different races - probably heightened by the idiot Trump allowing racists to appear empowered. So it is a good job that the officer in question was straight.
The mug-shot should be a clue.
She was booked into the Beaufort County Detention Center and faces driving under the influence, speeding, disregarding a stop sign, simple possession of marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia charges, according to the jail log.
Stupid cow.
Talking of cows...
...and BBC news articles about car crime in southern US States...
Read more here: https://www.islandpacket.com/news/local/crime/article216168760.html#storylink=cpy
Bright is this advert in the Top Gear Magazine delivered to my house today.
What is bright about it is those headlamps really are lit up. It uses the same technology you find in greetings cards that make noises when you open them. I guess that the technology has become economical enough to insert into however many thousands of copies Top Gear Magazine produce in a run.
And what better a product than the Nissan Leaf to advertise using this technology?
Although I'm sure Elon Musk will be a bit miffed when he finds out.
Meanwhile, Dim is Donald Trump. Here's the story, from CNN, about how he thought that the Japanese dropped bowling balls onto cars to test their safety.
White House spokeswomble, Sarah Huckerbee Sanders than had to go on record to say he was only joking.
Sorry Sarah, but if you expect anyone of intelligence to believe that, then you re as stupid as The President.
What is the difference between a CUV and an SUV? (a CUV being a Crossover Utility Vehicle)
Google gives this answer:
For many car experts, the difference between the two is simple: A crossover is based on a car's platform, while an SUV uses the chassis of a truck. The result is that crossovers use "unibody" architecture, meaning the body and frame are one piece, while SUVs use a "body on frame" design.
By the way, the term CUV isn't used much here in the UK, we'd just call them cross-overs. It's a bit like sidewalk & pavement or Trump & childish moron.
Those of us that like cars and driving should view this as a bad thing. People who aren't very interested in cars and see them in the same category as washing machines used to buy Japanese cars in the '80s and Korean cars in the '90s and now buy CUVs and SUVs.
But buying them they are.
In big numbers.
Forcing even the likes of Lamborghini and Rolls Royce to start building the things.
And forcing The Grand Tour boys to do a film with three of the least worst:
Looks like a local chip shop want to buy out Fiat Chrysler.
You can't see that chip shop from space. Various news sources have the story. Here's what BBC Business have to say.
It would appear, though, that the Chinese are more interested in the Jeep part of Fiat Chrysler.
But they aren't ruling out a bid for the whole FCA she-bang. If they'd gone for it last year, they could have got Ferrari too.
I chose the BBC story to link to because they picked up on something I had also thought - I can't see Mr.Trump being too happy with China owning a major US Car Corporation as well as a large chunk of the national debt.
Here's a Jeep toy that might make him feel better about it.
