His Point of View

If you didn’t know Lamborghini (Lambo) will stop production of the Murcielago soon ( if this has not already been done).  You may ask what car (or cars) will replace this super car, and if you did I would say I wish I knew.  There are a few rumored new Lamborghinis and what I consider to be the front runners are the Estoque and the Jota.  I am excited to see that Lamborghini is considering a 4 door super car (the Estoque) but the mystery behind the Jota is also exciting on its own.  The Estoque has been shown as a concept at car shows since 2008 and there are rumors that production has begun on this model already.   I do like the Estoque, but I am a bit disappointed that it does not appear to be as eye catching as I think a Lambo should be, perhaps they will jazz it up a bit since this car has been shown since 2008.  Although no one has any credible shots of the Jota, there are some shots of the test vehicle, and it appears that the Jota will be a bit wider than the Murcielago and have a more powerful engine (of course).  I won’t post the photos of this test vehicle, as it is just a modified Lambo Murcielago body.

(Lambo Estoque) photo from http://www.lambocars.com

( Lambo Estoque) photo from http://autoworld.wordpress.com

While you are at it take a  look at these prototypes from the 2010-2011 car show circuit.

This is not breaking news to the car enthusiasts out there, and I have known about it for months, but I am just getting around to saying goodbye to the Ferrari F430.  I had set a personal goal of walking into a dealership and purchasing a spanking new F430 but they are going to stop production well before I can realize that goal ( unless I win this $350+ million Mega-millions jackpot tonight).  Well now I will haveto adjust and set a goal to walk in and pick up an 458 Italia.  Like I said the other day people set a goal which appears far out of reach for today and work towards it daily.

stats:

approx. 3,200 lbs

4.5 Litre V-8

562 horsepower

zero to 60 in 3.4 seconds

Retail Price $???,???

images courtesy of www.Ferrari.com

I hate aluminum engine blocks…Yeah they are lighter, but how often do you have to take one out without using an engine lift??? Can you say never…  Why do I hate aluminum engine blocks?   If you were to ask me I would say because you have to use a torque wrench on everything, unless you want to risk stripping out the threads in the block.  And that means you need 2 or 3 different torque wrenches (you need 2 different sized wrences  that measures in foot/pounds  & another that measures in inch/pounds)  to do simple repairs or engine mods, and that’s in addition to all the other regular wrenches and sockets that you will use…and that is a pain.  On top of that you have to be careful to not use the wrong type of engine coolant, or you are in for a not so fun future.  Did I also mention how harmful the process of refining aluminum is to the environment??? 

On another note… what happened to the time when men worked on cars in the driveway/in the garage?  I had to replace my water pump yesterday and I was distrubed on 3 ocassions by grown men stopping by to ask what I was doing.  Two of the three went on to say how they have no idea of what’s under their car’s hood, and they would never attempt to do any work on their cars.  What is the world coming to???

Oh yeah and to any Chevrolet designers/engineers… since when did ya’ll start using metric nuts and bolts?  In the past I have had a 1962 Bel-Aire, and a 1969 Impala, now I have a 2004 model and for the first time I have had to break out the metric tool set, what is really going on????  Pick a side either go all metric or all standard please… If I wanted to use metric and standard tools in the same day I would have stuck with Chrysler vehicles.

Updated 07/22/2009:  

Let me clarify, as I have gotten a lot of response regarding the use of torque wrenches… first this post was made half jokingly. Secondly I am aware that you should use a torque wrench on all engines, but the fact is that unless you are working with an aluminum block you can get away with tightening a lot of nuts and bolts that are not connecting sensitive components without a torque wrench without worry about damaging the block.  That’s all I meant.   So, to all the folks who are determined to use a torque wrench on every single nut and bolt… I apologize for offending you… LoL

Since I saw this car at the Atlanta International Car Show back in 2002 or 2003 I have been in love with Spyker cars. Below is the Spyker “C8″ the car’s interior is probably even more slick than the exterior. I mean look at that interior. It’s aircraft style stitching on leather!!! And the whole interior is leather and chrome… who else in the auto industry produces an interior with anywhere near this level of detail? Look them up at http://www.spykercars.nl and all photos are from the company’s website. This gem starts at about $250,000. Check out the Video: Spyker on youtube

Next on my list of objects I dream of is the Gumpert “Apollo”. Starting at about $420,000 some claim that this could be the next World’s fastest car, but officially the SSC Ultimate Aero still holds the title, and I know you have probably never heard of the SSC either, but frankly it does not look all that impressive, it reminds me too much of the old school Lambo (“Diablo” body style) so the SSC did not make this list. Photos from www.gumpert.de Check out the Gumpert on Youtube

The next car is not much of a looker, but if you google it you will sure be impressed by its performance. The Ariel “Atom” (starting near $70,000) is a tiny dynamo. This car’s performance numbers are impressive, no matter who you are. (photos from http://www.arielatom.com/) What car do you know of that can beat these numbers off the showroom floor? 0-60mph under 3 seconds, 0-100mph under 11 seconds… Check out this video Youtube