2019 VW Beetle Final
In 1979, VW stopped selling the Beetle - at least, in the United States.
Uncle would not allow it.
The car designed back in the 1930s...
Saaaaaaaaaaaafety-Free Beetle. . .
Well, almost.
The VW Beetle, which is being retired after this year, is one of the few new cars you can still buy without all...
2019 BMW M35i
Why sell the same basic car two different ways?
Well, first of all, you make it not quite the same - in order to appeal...
2019 Mercedes G63
A Corvette getting to 60 in 3.7 seconds is kind of meh at this point. A Mustang GT can almost do the same.
It’s just...
2019 BMW 3 Series
Is a Three with a four enough?
It's actually more. And in more than one way.
The first way is much more power from the rebooted...
2019 Ford Ranger
The name’s the same - but a lot has changed since Ford last sold a Ranger pick-up in the United States.
For openers, the new...
The Upsizing . . . Sort Of
The Ranger is back - and bigger.
But not everywhere.
Out back, for instance. The new Ranger's bed is actually smaller - relative to the rest...
2019 BMW 3 Series Walk-Around
Here's a quick look at the 2019 BMW 3 Series sedan - which is also available as a wagon! The bad news is that...
2019 BMW M850i
Ultra high-end cars are easier to buy - assuming you can afford one - because there are fewer choices at this altitude.
The BMW 8...
Smart Car Fades to Black
Mercedes is giving up on the not-so-Smart Car, citing "declining micro-car market" in the U.S. and Canada.
U.S. Smart sales in 2018 plunged 58 percent...
2019 Mini Countryman Hybrid
There’s an old Motorhead saying: Speed is just a question of money. How fast do you want to go?
That’s been updated for our time....
2019 Mercedes E-Sedan
Given that almost every car - including $25,000 cars - either has or offers climate control AC, seat heaters and an LCD touchscreen, is...
Classic Cars
Old Car Pre-Flight!
Pilots usually don’t fly before they make sure the plane will. Or rather, that it will probably continue flying once it’s up in the...
Classic Cars and Classic Owners
Are old cars for old people?
It seems to be so - if you go by what one typically sees at an old car show....
Why You Can’t Afford to Not Buy a Classic Car!
If you like cars, you probably like classic cars. Like looking at them, at least.
But if you’re like most of us, you probably don’t...
Doomed: Pontiac G8 (2008-2009)
There are many examples of too little, too late in the automotive world. The 2008-2009 Pontiac G8 is perhaps the only example of more-than-enough ...
Heartbreaking – and Heartwarming
I came across something on YouTube that brought back memories of a car I once owned - and which someone else just found.
Well, he...
Life is Short
Local guy - a guy I know - got killed last night (news story here) driving his rat rod VW Beetle. No one knows...
Gearing Matters
Weight - and gearing - have a yuge effect on fuel economy. Even to the extent of almost eliminating 40 years of “advanced” technology, including...
High Water Marks: 1973 Pontiac SD-455 Trans-Am
As a guy who reviews new cars, I am often asked which cars are my favorite cars. Almost all of them are old cars...
The Cost of a Time Machine
The good news first.
You can legally buy a brand-new car without a single air bag or any of the saaaaaaaaafety equipment mandated by the...
The Motor Law
It’s strange to find myself an uncle, with a country place - and an Orange Barchetta out in the garage.
My 1976 Trans-Am.
It is a...
The Bandit is Gone . . . And Not Just That
Burt Reynolds is gone and with him a different America.
He was in his early 40s when Smokey and the Bandit appeared back in 1977...
Motorcycles
Cycle Therapy
There are sound, practical reasons for owning a motorcycle that transcend fantastic gas mileage and low buy-in cost. I speak of the therapeutic aspects of...
Little Stinker Emerges!
Yesterday was one of the first warm/dry days we've had up here in The Woods of southwest Virginia, so I decided to step away...
Motorcycles in the Saaaaaafety Crosshairs
Motorcycles are the last vehicles still largely free from Uncle’s asphyxiating grasp. That is about to change.
The unelected regulatory apparat known as the National...
Does Biker Deserve Death Sentence?
You may have seen the video below that documents a road rage incident which occurred the other day in California.
A motorcyclist is riding adjacent...
2018 BMW K 1600B
Motorcycles aren't subject to Uncle's fuel-efficiency fatwas.
Not yet.
Which explains why BMW is putting its sixes in its bikes . . . while removing them...
Motorcycles Can’t be Automated
What happens to motorcycles in a world of automated - not autonomous - cars?
Don't you hate that slippery shuck and jive? "Autonomy" means independent;...
The Not-Disposable Bike
Just as there was a sweet spot for cars - a moment in time when they were just modern enough to start perfectly every...
VW May Dump Ducati
Apparently, Volkswagen Group is considering selling off Ducati as the automaker seeks to streamline operations to fund a strategic overhaul after the emissions-cheating scandal, two people...
App Before You Wrench
Back in the day, when your bike wasn’t running right, you had to wrench to figure out why. Now, you can tap an app...
Two Wheeled Red Barchettas . . .
Motorcycles will probably prove to be the real-life Red Barchettas.
You may remember the great Libertarian anthem by the classic rock band, Rush. It depicts...
A Slingshot Around Uncle
There is a way out.
Of half a dozen (or more) air bags and seat belt buzzers and back-up cameras and narc-you-out black boxes and...
AGWs Protecting AGWs
Here's news coverage about the firing - for once - of five AGWs who watched one of their own beat the crap out of...
Latest Radio: Bryan Hyde Show 6/18/19
Here's the audio of my chat earlier today with Bryan Hyde out in Utah. I'll be talking with Bill Meyer over at KMED in...
When “Diversity” isn’t Our Strength
Sometimes, “diversity” is not our strength - as GM is finding out.
The Chevy Silverado pick-up is now number three - behind the Ram 1500...
Watching is “Obstructing”
Here's video taken by a man of AGWs rummaging through a UHaul for reasons unclear. The man is recording the action from several feet...
“Emotional Needs”
H.G. Wells wrote about a time machine but Aldous Huxley - author of Brave New World - may actually have had one. And used...
AGWs “Make Sure” 55 Times
AGWs in Vallejo California have just been absolved of shooting a man apparently passed out in his car 55 times.
News story is here.
The investigation...
E-Rant! The Safety State
America may be the only country sliding into authoritarian tyranny on the basis . . . . saaaaaaaaaaafety!
In Russia - and Nzi Germany -...
E-Rant: Auto-Immolating Teslas
Here's a little rant about cars that light up even when they're standing still!
...
Got a question about cars - or anything else? Click on...
Another Tesla All Fired Up
Tesla is on fire - literally.
The rent-seeking EV company ought to be required to indemnify against fires - which erupt spontaneously, when the car...
The In-Car Checkpoint
A new principle forms the basis of American criminal justice. It is that innocence is irrelevant. More accurately, it is an obstruction.
It gets in...
Latest Radio: Bill Meyer Show (KMED) 6/12/19
Here's the audio of this week's chat with Bill Meyer over at KMED radio in Oregon; e talked about a bunch of coercive control...
E-Rant: The Appreciating Old Truck!
Here's a rant about an interesting trend; old vehicles - like my '02 Frontier pick-up - are increasing in value at the same time...
Cycles
1975 Kawasaki S1 Saaaaaaafety Ride!
Here's a quick thumb in the eye to Uncle - the government - which demands I wear a helmet for saaaaaaaaaaafety, on the bizarre...
MOCs and Conceptual Thinking
When someone does something wrong, punish everyone who hasn’t done it yet.
This is the new American legal doctrine - which seems to be based...
The Fleeting Feeling of Freedom
Every now and then, I do something "risky" and illegal, to remind myself what it was like when we were still relatively free.
I roll...
Little Stinker Emerges!
Yesterday was one of the first warm/dry days we've had up here in The Woods of southwest Virginia, so I decided to step away...
Reader Question: Obscure Honda Bike Parts?
Here's the latest reader question, along with my reply!
John asks: Do you know of a source for the four hard chrome plated "collars" in...
Spandex Harleys
There's a classic episode of the TV cartoon series South Park lampooning Harley riders. Not bikers, the young guys who used to ride Harleys....
The Electric Suicide of Harley-Davidson
Imagine a Harley that doesn’t vibrate. No bark through the straight pipes when you push the starter button. No nothing through the pipes -...
Rat Bike Cleanup!
Here's a video of "after"... the result of several days' worth of OCD scrubbing and polishing my poor ol' 1983 Honda GL650 Silverwing.
This is...
Motorcycles in the Saaaaaafety Crosshairs
Motorcycles are the last vehicles still largely free from Uncle’s asphyxiating grasp. That is about to change.
The unelected regulatory apparat known as the National...
If You Don’t Ride Your Bike . . .
One of the things I learned after getting divorced has nothing to do with women. My small herd of bikes sat for a long...
Video Rant: Rotted Fork Seals & OCD Chain Cleaning
Here's a quick ran about leaky fork seals and a neater/easier way to clean a bike's chain:
Look for a new rant - tomorrow, hopefully...
New Car Reviews
2019 VW Beetle Final
In 1979, VW stopped selling the Beetle - at least, in the United States.
Uncle would not allow it.
The car designed back in the 1930s...
Saaaaaaaaaaaafety-Free Beetle. . .
Well, almost.
The VW Beetle, which is being retired after this year, is one of the few new cars you can still buy without all...
2019 BMW M35i
Why sell the same basic car two different ways?
Well, first of all, you make it not quite the same - in order to appeal...
2019 Mercedes G63
A Corvette getting to 60 in 3.7 seconds is kind of meh at this point. A Mustang GT can almost do the same.
It’s just...
2019 BMW 3 Series
Is a Three with a four enough?
It's actually more. And in more than one way.
The first way is much more power from the rebooted...
2019 Ford Ranger
The name’s the same - but a lot has changed since Ford last sold a Ranger pick-up in the United States.
For openers, the new...
The Upsizing . . . Sort Of
The Ranger is back - and bigger.
But not everywhere.
Out back, for instance. The new Ranger's bed is actually smaller - relative to the rest...
2019 BMW 3 Series Walk-Around
Here's a quick look at the 2019 BMW 3 Series sedan - which is also available as a wagon! The bad news is that...
2019 BMW M850i
Ultra high-end cars are easier to buy - assuming you can afford one - because there are fewer choices at this altitude.
The BMW 8...
Smart Car Fades to Black
Mercedes is giving up on the not-so-Smart Car, citing "declining micro-car market" in the U.S. and Canada.
U.S. Smart sales in 2018 plunged 58 percent...
2019 Mini Countryman Hybrid
There’s an old Motorhead saying: Speed is just a question of money. How fast do you want to go?
That’s been updated for our time....
Reader Question: Mercedes Sprinter Diesel Dinosaur?
Here's the latest reader question, along with my reply!
Ricky asks: I'm saving to buy a Mercedes Benz Sprinter 4x4 diesel. I plan to convert...
Reader Question: Saturn?
Here's the latest reader question, along with my reply!
Mark asks: The other day I saw a Saturn for the first time in quite a...
Reader Question: “AGWs”?
Here's the latest reader question, along with my reply!
Scott asks: You posted some video and referred repeatedly to AGWs. I have no clue what...
