Tuesday, July 05, 2011
What's South Sudan's president's ride?
A few of you may remember my Rides of Heads of State Series. Through a lot of detective work, I figured out and catalogued the cars of every world leader.*
Well, very soon, we're going to have a new country-- South Sudan. You may have already seen its president, Salva Kiir Mayardit, a.k.a. the dude with the black cowboy hat. So what's his ride? In a country the size of France, it only has 50 km of paved roads. So of course, he has a Land Cruiser.
This is the only picture I could find of the president in a car. So I had to use my sleuthing skills to identify the make and model of the vehicle.
Here is a picture of a Land Cruiser's interior for comparison. Note the shapes of the windows, locations of the hand grips, and locations of the vents next to said grips.
Here is the (revised) final tally:
S-class: 61
Land Cruiser: 23
7 series: 16
A8: 11
Caddy: 7
Maybach: 6
Suburban/Yukon/Escalade: 6
Mitsubishi Montero/Pajero: 4
Phaeton: 4
G-wagen: 4
Holden-Chevy-Opel: 4
H2: 3
Toyota Crown: 3
Lincoln: 3
Jag: 2
ZIL: 2
Volvo: 2
Touareg: 2
Merc E-class: 2
Lancia: 2
One of each of the following: Hyundai, Skoda, A6, Peugeot, Renault, VW van, London taxi, Daimler, Toyota Century, Hongqi, Bentley, Rolls, Ford Fairlane, Aston Martin, SEAT, Ford Expedition, Nissan Patrol, Stutz, Suzuki, Camry, Toyota Sequoia, Proton, Land Rover, Ford F150, Mitsubishi Galant, Hummer H1, Chrysler Imperial, Mitsu L200 pick-up, Mazda truck, Hyundai Tucson.
The Mercedes S-class trounced the competition, beating the second place Toyota Land Cruiser by a margin of nearly 3:1.
Ratio of cars versus trucks/SUVs: 143:54
Vehicle nationality:
German: 109
Japanese: 38
Other: 27
American: 23
Most surprising: Tonga's London taxi, Malta's Cadillac CTS, Chile's Peugeot 607 (tied)
Most undignified: Thailand's VW van
Ugliest: China's Hongqi
*All 192 U.N. members plus Taiwan, the Vatican, Palestine, and Kosovo.
Well, very soon, we're going to have a new country-- South Sudan. You may have already seen its president, Salva Kiir Mayardit, a.k.a. the dude with the black cowboy hat. So what's his ride? In a country the size of France, it only has 50 km of paved roads. So of course, he has a Land Cruiser.
This is the only picture I could find of the president in a car. So I had to use my sleuthing skills to identify the make and model of the vehicle.
Here is a picture of a Land Cruiser's interior for comparison. Note the shapes of the windows, locations of the hand grips, and locations of the vents next to said grips.
Here is the (revised) final tally:
S-class: 61
Land Cruiser: 23
7 series: 16
A8: 11
Caddy: 7
Maybach: 6
Suburban/Yukon/Escalade: 6
Mitsubishi Montero/Pajero: 4
Phaeton: 4
G-wagen: 4
Holden-Chevy-Opel: 4
H2: 3
Toyota Crown: 3
Lincoln: 3
Jag: 2
ZIL: 2
Volvo: 2
Touareg: 2
Merc E-class: 2
Lancia: 2
One of each of the following: Hyundai, Skoda, A6, Peugeot, Renault, VW van, London taxi, Daimler, Toyota Century, Hongqi, Bentley, Rolls, Ford Fairlane, Aston Martin, SEAT, Ford Expedition, Nissan Patrol, Stutz, Suzuki, Camry, Toyota Sequoia, Proton, Land Rover, Ford F150, Mitsubishi Galant, Hummer H1, Chrysler Imperial, Mitsu L200 pick-up, Mazda truck, Hyundai Tucson.
The Mercedes S-class trounced the competition, beating the second place Toyota Land Cruiser by a margin of nearly 3:1.
Ratio of cars versus trucks/SUVs: 143:54
Vehicle nationality:
German: 109
Japanese: 38
Other: 27
American: 23
Most surprising: Tonga's London taxi, Malta's Cadillac CTS, Chile's Peugeot 607 (tied)
Most undignified: Thailand's VW van
Ugliest: China's Hongqi
*All 192 U.N. members plus Taiwan, the Vatican, Palestine, and Kosovo.
Monday, July 04, 2011
Sunday, July 03, 2011
Aston Martin V8 and Lagonda videos
If I could have just one car, it would be the Aston V8.
If I could have just two, the second one would be the Lagonda.
Has anyone been to Retromobile in France? How was it?
If I could have just two, the second one would be the Lagonda.
Atypical California afternoon
When outsiders think "California", they think pristine beaches, sunny weather, and cool cars. Well, that applies to about 1.2% of California. The rest consists of industrial farmland, backcountry mountains, and exurban sprawl.
On this three-day weekend, we had no trips or activities planned. On our way to pick up a watermelon, I saw this convergence of automotive awesomeness within the span of three minutes. Trust me, this never happens in real life.
I parked the car because I saw that orange Lambo getting towed. I wanted to see if it could be done without inflicting thousands of dollars in body damage. But then, I noticed the other, yellow, Lamborghini parked around the corner. That's gotta be the fanciest Panda Express* parking lot in the world.
*Tangential story. My father and the founder of Panda Express were childhood pals. Pops taught the founder everything he knew about the restaurant business. One ended up an underemployed victim of the Japanese bubble. The other ended up as a multi-millionaire living the American Dream (tm).
Back to the story. The pair of Italians did not have license plates. They only had "Beverly Hills Lamborghini" license plate frames. They belonged to three twenty-somethings. I asked what happened. One of the triumvirate replied: Fuel light went on. Ookay.
But then I got distracted by that Corvette behind the Orange One.
Aside from a big nick on the rear black license plate, this C2 non-split window Stingray was mint.
And while gawking at the 'Vette and Lambos, I see this red European R107 (distinguished by the headlights and smaller bumpers) zoom by.
I'm not a cognoscenti of late model Lamborghinis, so I don't know why the yellow one is lower and wider than usual. Can anyone shed light on this possible mystery?
This is the scene as we drove off with our melon. As you can see by that banner, in America, we are constantly reminded that we are in the Land of the Free (tm). Happy Independence Day!
On this three-day weekend, we had no trips or activities planned. On our way to pick up a watermelon, I saw this convergence of automotive awesomeness within the span of three minutes. Trust me, this never happens in real life.
I parked the car because I saw that orange Lambo getting towed. I wanted to see if it could be done without inflicting thousands of dollars in body damage. But then, I noticed the other, yellow, Lamborghini parked around the corner. That's gotta be the fanciest Panda Express* parking lot in the world.
*Tangential story. My father and the founder of Panda Express were childhood pals. Pops taught the founder everything he knew about the restaurant business. One ended up an underemployed victim of the Japanese bubble. The other ended up as a multi-millionaire living the American Dream (tm).
Back to the story. The pair of Italians did not have license plates. They only had "Beverly Hills Lamborghini" license plate frames. They belonged to three twenty-somethings. I asked what happened. One of the triumvirate replied: Fuel light went on. Ookay.
But then I got distracted by that Corvette behind the Orange One.
Aside from a big nick on the rear black license plate, this C2 non-split window Stingray was mint.
And while gawking at the 'Vette and Lambos, I see this red European R107 (distinguished by the headlights and smaller bumpers) zoom by.
I'm not a cognoscenti of late model Lamborghinis, so I don't know why the yellow one is lower and wider than usual. Can anyone shed light on this possible mystery?
This is the scene as we drove off with our melon. As you can see by that banner, in America, we are constantly reminded that we are in the Land of the Free (tm). Happy Independence Day!
North Korean airline in-flight video
Air Koryo, North Korea's air carrier, just began non-stop service between Shanghai and Pyongyang. Note the intro at around the 2:00 mark.
"Welcome to Air Koryo's airplane of Juche-oriented Korea vigorously advancing towards the Socialist powerful nation by the Songun politics of the Great Leader Comrade Kim Jong Il."
I shudder to think what's in the flight manual.
"Welcome to Air Koryo's airplane of Juche-oriented Korea vigorously advancing towards the Socialist powerful nation by the Songun politics of the Great Leader Comrade Kim Jong Il."
I shudder to think what's in the flight manual.
Saturday, July 02, 2011
Carspotting: Ford Mustang ASC McLaren
In the 1980s, Peter Muscat came out with a modified Mustang called the ASC McLaren. The roof was chopped off by American Sunroof Company (ASC) and a McLaren suspension was inserted. I've never seen one of these in person before, until today.
At first glance, it just looks like a regular 5.0 GT convertible. But you'll notice the fabric top is smaller and the taillights are shorter.
There's a Limited Edition plaque on the dash and heavy duty seatbelts.
More info about the ASC McLaren here.
At first glance, it just looks like a regular 5.0 GT convertible. But you'll notice the fabric top is smaller and the taillights are shorter.
There's a Limited Edition plaque on the dash and heavy duty seatbelts.
More info about the ASC McLaren here.
Friday, July 01, 2011
Monaco wedding car convertible is a Lexus LS600h L
The royal family had a long wheelbased Lexus LS hybrid converted by a Belgian coachbuilder into a landaulet!
H/t to Ripituc.
Dyson Air Multiplier ad
I'm still getting over the amazing Dyson Air Blade in public restrooms. This Air Multiplier seems neat, especially on this hot summer day.
Grabbing Sarkozy
Sarkozy is not having a good week. First, he gets roughed up by this guy protesting France's military involvement in Libya. Then, news emerges that his nemesis in next year's presidential election might be freed.
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