New Greyhound Buses

More changes here.

CKY

What Book Did Chavez Give to Obama?

A few days ago, Hugo Chavez was seen giving Obama a book. What was it? Some Communist manifesto? A rambling diatribe by El Presidente himself? No, it is Las Veinas Abiertas de America Latina (Open Veins In Latin America) by Eduardo Galeano. Given the recent publicity, the 38 year old book is now #2 on Amazon.
Back in college, I read Galeano's Memory of Fire. It was intense, personal, and raw. A few years ago, I read it again and realized that it was a part of a trilogy. Faces & Masks and Century of the Wind were almost as powerful as Memory. I understand that I did not read Galeanos's actual words as I read the English versions.

I just ordered Open Veins and look forward to reading it.

CKY

Carspotting (15): Alfa Romeo 164 LS

If you had asked me to identify this car from this profile, I don't think I would have been able to do so correctly. Alas, this was the last Alfa sedan to be sold in America.

CKY

Dutch Volvo Compacts (1): Volvo 66

Dutch carmaker DAF introduced the 66 in 1972. It was equipped with tiny Renault engines and CVTs (Take that, Audi!). It came in two door sedan, two door coupe, and three door wagon forms.

Then, in 1975, Volvo bought DAF. Aside from the Volvo emblems, it made a number of upgrades, all in the name of safety. These changes included: larger bumpers, seats with headrests, safety steering wheel, and side impact beams in doors.

Luxurious Volvo?

Spartan interior (1).
Spartan interior (2).
CKY

Citroen CX-Amino

I have shown you a Citroen DS truck and even a Citroen SM truck. Now, I give you a Citroen CX truck. It's apparently a work truck for Centreville Garage, a Citroen specialist in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne.

CKY

Citroen CX Taxi Cabs

I am doing research on Dutch-built Volvo compacts. While looking for stock images of the Volvo/DAF 66, I came across this picture of a Citroen CX taxi cab in the background. Intrigued, I then found this picture, taken in 1985 in China, of a cab driver washing his CX cab, complete with monoblade wipers.

CKY

Obama Y Chavez

CKY

Shanghai GP Circuit Inspiration

The above are the Chinese characters for the city of Shanghai. The word on the left is shang and the word on the right is hai.
Here is the track. Rotate it 45 degrees clockwise. It is the word shang.

CKY

Tahoe Rides: Toyota Corolla All-Trac And Range Rover Classic

For a mountain town, you'd expect all the locals to drive either F150s and Subarus. I was surprised to count at least half a dozen Range Rover Classics and about the same number of Corolla All-Trac wagons driven by Lake Tahoe denizens.

CKY

Carspotting (14): Runnels Automotive, South Lake Tahoe

During my stay at Tahoe this week, I noticed for the first time an eclectic automotive collection known as Runnels Automotive. It is a repair/restoration/used car lot at the Tahoe Y (intersection of Highways 50 and 89).

View Larger Map

What first caught my eye were the THREE (3!) Merkur XR4Tis facing the sidewalk on the lot. Three Merkurs, next to each other. What are the chances?

What was more shocking came later. I decided to go to the lot this morning at 7am so that no one would bother me. I found three more XR4Tis in the side lot! Six XR4Tis. In. One. Lot.

After I recovered from my Merkur-induced shock, I noticed the other automotive oddities on the lot.

These three Volvos were cool. The red P1800 looked sinister and ready for a brawl. The Amazon wagon wedged between the P1800 and PV was absolutely pedestrian...

...next to three more of these PVs.

I wish this picture turned out better. I sneaked a peek into the garage. An old non-descript car was on the lift but there was another one underneath. A third car was parked in the interior stall to those two cars' left. As I looked in and took the picture, you can see the reflection of a pick-up truck that was parked outside on the window pane.

CKY