400 and Out.

Is it really over?

Dennis Collins' Coffee Walk has been something I've loved for years.

A new episode has come out on YouTube every Friday for presumably 400 weeks.

Now he has stated it is over.  He did use the word "Break" - does that mean it may be back?  Or he's just having a holiday?

One commenter was hoping that it was just an April Fool's Prank - I suspect that commenter is not very good at using calendars.  Let's hope Dennis isn't either.

Does this mean that Zach Oncamera will be getting his P45?  His real surname may be Gorgas - I'm not 100% sure.

The final episode involved the purchase of a "Holy Grail" 1965 Ford Mustang "K" Car - which is the one with the biggest engine that Shelby used as a base for his ones.  I've learnt that plus a fair bit about Jeeps and VIN tags by watching Coffee Walk over the years.

He bought it from a Trump fan who had kept it in very good condition - I wonder if he thinks the show is called Covfefe Walk? 

Coffee Walk has always been my signal that the working week is over - it means I can relax and I usually enjoy it with a can of lager or two.  I guess I'll be going back to Gardener's World now - I'll be learning about Hydrangeas and the like.  Wonder how Monty Don and the Cockney bloke who is a good gardener but shouldn't be because he is a Cockney bloke have been getting on?

Oh well, if it really is over, then thank you Dennis and gang for entertaining me.  I'll miss you all.

Catch the 400th (final?) episode here.

Moggie Minor Accident

This is actually about a Toyota Auris Private Hire taxi not a Morris Minor but the cat reference doesn't work otherwise.

Here is what happens when a Toyota Auris driver swerves to avoid a cat at 4 o'clock in the morning:

The rather brief BBC story is here.  It doesn't answer much.  For example, Was there really a cat? If there was a cat, what happened to it? and, How fast was the driver going to end up parked like that on a Jeep?

There were no injuries.

If you clicked on this story looking for a Minor bump, then these next two pictures should sate your desires.  If you were looking for a minor bump, then they will distress you.

This one was full of scrap en route to a Scrapyard in 2018:

This one allegedly rolled on the M20 in 2012:

In both cases, injuries to the drivers were minor.

I Fancy Tina Fey

 

Who wouldn't?

Well, I suppose a homosexual gentleman might not.  Although I have two gay friends who don't know each other and both fancy Kate Bush so who knows?

But that isn't what this post is about.

Women always claim to be attracted to men with a sense of humour.

I don't believe that.  I'm always considered my self quite funny (in the "ha ha" sense of the word not the "peculiar" sense of the word) but women have never thrown themselves at me.

Now, while it is possible that I am not funny (in the "ha ha" sense of the word), I really don't wish to countenance that idea.

Besides, I've noticed that women actually tend to go for tall, handsome men, irrespective of sense of humour.

I, on the other hand, generally find myself fancying women who are in to their cars - Vicki Butler-Henderson, Sabine Schmitz, Jodie Kidd and, more recently, Helen Stanley:

I would even forgive the tattoos.

I do also fancy Nigella Lawson but of you type "Nigella Lawson car" into Google, it wants to take you to "Nigella Lawson carrot cake"

Don't put vegetables into cakes!

Anyway, to finally get to the point, Tina Fey has finally bought her first car. Car+Driver have the story under the annoying headline:

Tina Fey Bought Her First Car during Lockdown, and It Might Surprise You

Normally I wouldn't touch a story like that because it would be some crap piece of click-bait but I like Car+Driver, I like Tina Fey and I like cars.

The gist of the story is that she bought a white Subaru Forrester - a fine enough car that I have no strong views about one way or another but I suppose it is a bit boring.

I was more shocked by Jimmy Fallon's admission that he had never heard of it.

Car+Driver misquote her a bit saying "her husband urged her to buy something fun, like a Mini Cooper or a Jeep (this is the point in the interview when it becomes clear that the Fey household is an expert-free zone when it comes to car shopping)"

According to Tina, her husband suggested "a Mini Cooper or something exciting like a Jeep or a BMW or something" I suppose a Jeep could be exciting depending in where you take it and some BMWs are certainly exciting but I think I'd have suggested a Ferrari or Aston Martin.

But she isn't a car person.

And yet I still fancy her.

I think it could be that she is a very funny lady (in the "ha ha" sense of the word)

Don'tClick-Bait

What's the opposite of Click-Bait?

Don'tClick-Bait, of course.

Like this story title from Autoguide.com yesterday:

2018 Lexus LS 500 Pricing Remains Competitive

I clicked on it.

But only out of morbid curiosity.

Apparently, "Despite offering more powerful, comfort, and safety than ever before, the new Lexus LS 500 has a base price that is $3,820 less than its current long-wheelbase predecessor."

Also, "The Interior Upgrade Package adds quilted-stitch, perforated semi-aniline leather-trimmed interior, 28-way power driver’s seat with multifunction massage, power front seatbelt buckles, heated rear seats, and more for $3,730."

Unfortunately, "The Interior Upgrade Package is not available on the F Sport model."

Autoguide rather hopefully add, "Discuss this story on our Lexus Forum"

No thank you.

They are doing a bit better today.

There is Entertainment news:

New Hyundai Veloster Set to Star in ‘Ant Man and the Wasp’

and some gossip:

‘Merican Dream: Danica Patrick is Dating Aaron Rodgers

I had not heard of Aaron Rodgers but the article informs be that he plays for The Green Bay Packers.

There is also a headline that means you really don't need to read the article if you don't want to:

Refreshed 2019 Jeep Cherokee is No Longer Ugly and Gets New Turbo Engine

And then they go and spoil it all with:

10 Interesting Facts About the History of the Volkswagen Jetta

None of which particularly are.

Meanwhile, at the bottom of each of these stories you have the crappy advertising by Taboola showing why click-bait is such a derided term:

Now, to decide which picture from these stories I should use to promote this post with.

 

Danica Patrick in a swimsuit?

 

No.  After all, this post is titled "Don'tClick-Bait"

Does 200 Come With Fried Rice?

Chrysler 200 that is.

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. 

As Mork would say...

Nano Nano.

Government Powers - Off The Grid

This rather disturbing picture has been appearing on the Telegraph and the BBC News Websites a fair bit this week:

It is because the news broke that the Government is banning all petrol and diesel vehicles in 2040.

 

Except they aren't.

 

What they want to do is ban the SALES of all NEW petrol and diesel vehicles in 2040.

 

Like France do.

 

There may even be a clause allowing hybrids - like the Volvo story from last month.

 

And, given that this Government may not see the year out and that 2040 is 23 YEARS AWAY, I wouldn't be putting that dodgy pipe on my news website just yet.

 

It must be a library photo.  Here is another motoring-related library photo:

Meanwhile, Stateside, where they don't believe in climate change, they are still doing their bit for electric vehicles. Here is a story from Autoguide about a new all-electric ‘Sport Utility Truck’ from a  company I've never heard of before - Bollinger Motors - as in the champagne.  Meet the B1:

At first I thought it looked like the love-child of a Jeep Cherokee and a Land-Rover Defender.

 

And then I worked it out: 

Color Me Bad

I've spelled "colour" the American way there because of a survey a couple of the American sites have picked up today.  Here's the Fox News version.  Apparently, white was the most popular colour for new cars for the fourth straight year.  This is true Stateside and in Europe.

I've not really done much on car colour in the past - here's a post from a couple of years back on yellow cars although it was probably just an excuse to include a picture of Susanna Reid.

Here's another one.

Now, despite white being most popular, a sort of metallicky yellow seems to be the colour of choice of this week's press releases.

Like this Lexus LF-C2 concept from this story.

Can't help thinking that the front end looks like a cheese-grater - or perhaps a pedestrian-grater.  If you hit an animal in it, you would end up with diced meat cooking on your engine block.

The other car in that colour is this one.

It is from this story.  It is a Willys Interlagos.  Willys doesn't really exist any more and Italian coachbuilders plan a limited run of this vehicle (apparently based on a Porsche 911) which pays homage to the original Willys Interlagos of the 1960s.

I hadn't heard of the original Willys Interlagos of the 1960s.  In fact I thought Willys were just responsible for the WWII Jeep.

But no.  Here is the Willys Wikipedia page so you don't have to type "Willys" into Google.  They had a long and illustrious car-making history which eventually became part of Daimler-Chrysler/Fiat (aka FCA) who make the modern-day Jeeps.

Like this one...

Which I don't.

Hello Duckie! - Look!, Willys!!

Found this story in Autocar today.  It is about Camp Jeep.  

That does imply a hairdresser's Suzuki Vitara.  I guess most people outside of the UK though don't associate the word camp with effeminacy but to me, and the commenters at the bottom of the story, it was too good an opportunity to let pass by.

 

Camp Jeep is actually a get together of all things Jeep with demonstrations, special guests, off-road driving and a barbecue.  Their logo is quite clever - looking, as it does, like the grille & lights from an old Willys Jeep.

Looks like these camp events have been going on for several years in the Americas but this is the first time the Europeans have been invited to go mud-plugging.  Reading the article looking for homosexual innuendo does add to the enjoyment and mention of cherokee and wranglers does make you wonder where the other three are: 

Anyway, here's a very camp Jeep:

Built From e-Bay

Far ahead in the most-clicked-upon stories chart for my Blog is my bit about the American Hot-Rod Reality TV Show that I discovered back in January 2011. I wish there had been more episodes of it.

I have discovered, though, a short Web series that is half-way through its run and captures the mood and modifications of American Hot-Rod.

It’s called “Built From e-Bay” and covers a competition between four Hot-Rod Builders to produce vehicles entirely from stuff bought on e-Bay. The four very different projects are a Chevy Van, a Chevy El Camino, a Porsche 911 and a Jeepster. The whole show is sponsored by e-Bay so look out for a mention in each episode about how they find it useful.

Already, different characters are emerging, especially in the Porsche-building team who have a guy with an English accent who seems to always be at odds with the rest of what his team want. Maybe there’s the basis for a reality TV show there?

This show utilises Web TV which is something I’m definitely warming to after watching Seinfeld’s new show with Larry David last week and I’m looking forward to a new episode with Ricky Gervais tomorrow – even if it does bear quite a similarity to Carpool which I discovered back in November 2010.

Now’s where’s that camcorder? It must be time for Metro TV.

Compass Needle

Sorry Chrysler, it's nothing personal.

I found this story this morning on my favourite Aussie car-site. It's basically saying that the new Jeep Compass has scored only 2 stars in its latest Euro NCAP ratings tests.

That's the sort of score Protons would get in the 1990s!

...and certain Chinese cars were getting less than 5 years ago.

To be fair to Chrysler/Jeep, the reason it has scored so badly is not really to do with driver and passenger safety - it's all to do with pedestrian safety. If you score badly on this, you can't have more than two stars.

Jeep reckon they will be able to get four stars in Australia where the scoring is a bit different - presumably because, due to population spread, you are less likely to hit a person and more likely to hit a sheep or a kangaroo.

ANCAP (Australasian NCAP) say they will look at the Euro results before making up their minds but it sounds like they don't do as many crash-tests, they often just use other organisations' results to make their own assessments.

But, overall, this outcome sort of backs up the stereotype of the Chelsea Tractor where parents choose to take their offspring to school in the largest vehicle possible "because they want little Tarquin to be safe". That's fine - I'm with Jeremy on this one - you can drive what you want to drive - but just be honest about it! Admit you like big cars and you feel safer in them and are not too bothered about anyone who ends up hit by them. And if it's a posh, big car, you feel you look good in them (if it's a Range Rover Sport - you probably do - unless you've blacked out the windows which means you have an ugly family).

I drive a 2.5 litre all-wheel-drive V6 Jag where a diesel Skoda Octavia estate would be a much more sensible choice - but I like the power, the drive and the badge. So I'm not going to criticise.

But, getting back to the Compass, I think it's going to have more problems than a low NCAP score. Car&Driver reviewed it and decided "Jeep's black sheep gets updated but remains unpleasant" while Autoblog also gave it a review and decided "Least Capable Jeep Still Lost In The Woods".

Two different sheep references there, maybe the Australians will like it after all.