Carspotting in Oakland

I quit Twitter cold turkey three days ago because of him. So I'm going to post photos of cars I've spotted here. In a sea of Model Ys, I saw these gems. Enjoy!

My Daily Driver: @Mattlinn01's Tesla Model S

1. How did you come to the decision of buying this car?

Being a Realtor, I spend a lot of time and money on fuel in my car.  I needed something that had space to have clients ride with me in a nice vehicle while at the same time saving me money.  The Tesla Model S did exactly that. 

2. What has your ownership experience been like?

Saying the word “amazing” does not do it justice.  The level of customer service, Over-the-air updates, and Autopilot has truly changed my life when it comes to working and living with my car. 

3. What is your fondest memory with this car?

My three year old son has a dance party before every single ride in the Tesla. 

4. Why do you love cars?

I’ve loved cars for as long as I can remember.  One of my first memories was hanging out with my dad while he did repairs to our VW Van.  Some cars have a soul, other cars can simply be a means to an end.  I gravitate to those cars that change something in me while I’m driving them. 

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If you would like to participate, just answer the above four questions and submit one to three photos of your daily driver to milhousevanh at geemail. Thanks and have fun!

Water leaking through Tesla Model 3 glove compartment

Totally fine and legit.

That Tesla is at $638.88 per share right now tells you everything you need to know about American capitalism. https://t.co/W4AyuTFib5

— Tamerlane's Thoughts (@TamerlaneBlog) January 30, 2020

Carspotting in St Petersburg

F40Sanchez was kind enough to share these photos:

 A Peugeot with a Luhansk People's Republic (breakaway Ukrainian proto-state) plate!

 Evo IX wagon being towed by an E61 wagon.

Shop with two Pontiac Solstices.

Model X behind Kazan Cathedral.

Mitsuoka Galue convertible (based off of a Mustang).

Old Lincoln Continental.

Tesla Model 3-amino

I got tired of waiting for @Tesla to release their pickup truck so I made my own.#TRUCKLA pic.twitter.com/jqT97v3L0c

— Simone Giertz (@SimoneGiertz) June 18, 2019

Battery location in an old Tesla roadster

I was reminded recently that the Lotus on which it was based was very low to the ground. So the battery wasn't in the floor. Where was it?

Abandoned VW diesels

Last week, during my commute, I saw four trucks full of dirty Tesla Model 3s headed TOWARDS the Tesla factory. That's strange. On Twitter, there have been rumors of thousands of Model 3s sitting mysteriously in rural parking lots. I decided to investigate yesterday.

I headed out to Antioch, where one of the lots is supposed to be. Instead of Model 3s, I saw tons of recalled VW diesels, and one Audi Q7 diesel. I only saw two Model 3s. Bozi (@hoonable) confirmed my theory-- that Tesla is just not very good at logistics. The "abandoned" Model 3s aren't defective or hidden for dodgy accounting reasons. I suspect that the trucks I saw last week had taken away all of the Model 3s (with the exception of the two I spotted).

I suck at industrial espionage. The two Model 3s (one with hood up) are behind the barbed wire.

Bonneville Speed Week 2018 photos

I'm here! And it's amazing.

The salt flats are/is about 1h45m west of Salt Lake City, on the Utah-Nevada border. I checked into the casino hotel last night and made it to the cars first thing this morning.

The layout is interesting. Once you take the freeway exit, you travel north on a paved road on BLM land for five miles. Then, you are on salt. Vehicles stretch for another five to seven miles. This week, three straights are open. Two long ones parallel each other. A shorter rookie straight is perpendicular to the long ones. To the west of the long stretches, you have paddocks, concession stands (not many), and the scrutineering area. Because of the heat and low humidity, walking from end to end is not advised. I parked my car at three or four different spots and walked in between. This is what I saw.

Many of the cars need to be pushed to begin the speed runs. And on the returns, the cars have to be turned off and pushed/towed back. So these rigs are everywhere.

This old Autocar tractor brought everything to the venue from Montana.

I was particularly drawn to mundane 80s and 90s cars that have been turned into racers, like this Citation.

The salt was extremely flat and fairly smooth. Aside from a few divots, passenger cars can go 45. Someone told me that railroad ties pulled behind trucks were used to groom the surface of the straights.

This Dodge Shelby Charger was neat. It was never registered for street use because it was a test model for Chrysler/Shelby. It's owned by a former Shelby manager. It should be capable of running 200 miles per hour once the clutch is replaced.

I learned that the field was most crowded at the beginning of Speed Week (last Saturday and Sunday). Once the teams have broken their respective class records, they pack up and leave. Today, Wednesday, half the cars are already gone. That may be why I was able to get a hotel room so easily.

I did not take that many photos of motorcycles because I don't know anything about them. But this one looked cool.

I've been following this Jensen since it was in England.

This could be a GM ad.

Rotary pickup!

This is the line to do the speed runs.

Note the Crown Victoria being used to push the yellow dragster.

Another cool looking bike.

This badass Ford Torino Talladega was by far my favorite car today.

There were a lot of Kiwis at Bonneville.

This is the start line.

What a weird HHR.

Dodge truck pushing Dodge truck.

I had to go back to that HHR.

A lot of people commuted between the hotels and the track in rusted hot rods.

Isuzu!

I took this parting shot of an RV because Independence Day was filmed here. Tomorrow, I see where the trans-continental railroad connected. Just a short three hour drive from here!