Tuesday, July 31, 2018

World Leaders Cars (11)

101. Venezuela: Toyota Sequoia. (2007 car: 1980s Cadillac)


102. Zambia: Toyota Land Cruiser. (2007 car: Mercedes S-Class)


103. Zimbabwe: Mercedes S-Class. (2007 car: Mercedes S-Class)


104. Kosovo: BMW X5. (2008 car: VW Touareg)


105. Comoros: Toyota Land Cruiser Prado. (2008 car: Mitsubishi L200)


106. Croatia: Audi A8. (2007 car: BMW 7-Series)


107. Cyprus: Mercedes S-Class. (2008 car: Mercedes S-Class)


108. Finland: Mercedes S-Class. (2007 car: BMW 7-Series)


109. Gambia: Mercedes S-Class. (2007 car: Hummer H2)


110. Iran: Toyota Land Cruiser. (2007 car: Mercedes S-Class)


Tally
Mercedes S-Class: 30
Toyota/Lexus Land Cruiser: 21
BMW 7-Series: 11
Lexus LS: 8
Audi A8: 6
Mercedes Gelandewagen: 6
Chevy Suburban: 5
Jaguar: 2
Land Rover Discovery: 2
Aurus Senat: 1
BMW X5: 1Cadillac: 1
Chevy: 1
Citroen DS7 Crossback: 1
Hongqi: 1
Honda Accord: 1
Hyundai Equus: 1
Hyundai Santa Fe: 1
Lexus GX/Prado: 1
Lincoln Navigator: 1
Mercedes GL: 1
Proton: 1
Rolls-Royce: 1
Skoda: 1
Toyota Land Cruiser Prado: 1
Toyota Sequoia: 1
VW Touareg: 1
VW Transporter: 1

Monday, July 30, 2018

Is anyone going to Monterey Auto Week

And if so, which events are you going to attend?


Sunday, July 29, 2018

My vacation in Michigan

We just returned from a 10-day trip to Michigan. My wife's parents are originally from Grand Rapids and their generous friends let us stay at their lake house near Lake Michigan.

We first spent a couple of days in Grand Rapids visiting my son's two surviving great-grandmothers.

We stumbled across a restaurant called Al-Bos. The name is derived from the owners. The wife is Albanian and the husband is Bosnian. There is a large Bosnian population in Grand Rapids and the food was incredible. I spoke with the Bosnian owner. He fled Bosnia via Croatia and ended up at a refugee camp in Germany before being welcomed by America.



Michigan has a lot of American cars. A lot. I didn't spot a single BMW i3. I did see tons of Pontiac Torrents, Pontiac Vibes, and Hummer H3s. It's like an alternate universe.


We visited the Gerald Ford Museum. Ford was a Congressman who represented Grand Rapids before he became president. He seemed like a nice guy and someone the country needed.


The museum houses his and his wife Betty's remains.


A section of the Berlin Wall.


A pen light and wire cutter from the Watergate break-in.


The pen Ford used to sign Nixon's pardon.


Ford also ordered 2,000 Vietnamese orphans to be brought to the United States. When they were flown here, he and his wife flew to California to welcome them. This was a particularly touching photo.


We then drove three hours to the lake house. This map was hanging in the breakfast nook.


One of the things my father-in-law and I enjoy immensely together is eating smoked fish.


This is the road to the lake house. I rented a Dodge Charger and my in-laws recently bought a demonstrator 2017 Volvo XC60 with the T5 engine.


The sunsets are wonderful and different every day.





We climbed up one of the many sand dunes.


My boy also got to hang out with his only cousin, who coincidentally had the same due date as him.


I didn't post many pictures during the trip because the lake house didn't have wifi and I was conserving data. But I had to show you all this beauty.


One of the reasons I enjoyed the trip so much is because the crowds were non-existent. When I take vacations in California or Hawaii, I can never totally relax because there are so many tourists around me.


Every summer as a child, my wife's family would vacation in the area. Her parents tired their kids out by encouraging them to run up and down those steep dunes.




When we got back to Grand Rapids, I was dying for some steamed rice. We went to a pho/Chinese/Thai joint run by a Chinese family from Vietnam. It was an amazing meal because of what they were able to make with limited access to authentic ingredients.


On our final day, we did a bunch of Dutch things. My wife's family is a part of the Dutch community there. We first went to a bakery.


And then we went to a Dutch store. This book's cover caught my eye.


I was hoping to find some Max Verstappen gear, but no luck.



I'm looking forward to my next trip. In two weeks, I go to Bonneville!

Wednesday, July 18, 2018

Bugatti oil change

SIXTEEN drain plugs. I would be so nervous doing this. In fact, I would not even dare touch it.

Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Intense Las Vegas police chase

Go Ford Explorer!

Bonneville Speed Week in less than a month

Barring rain, I will be there.

Here is a strange crash from last year:

Christopher Walken says Foo Fighters

Monday, July 16, 2018

National Auto Museum in the United Arab Emirates

I finished reading about the UAE in my Lonely Planet guide and this would definitely be on my short list of places to visit. A sheikh bought seven W126 sedans, one for each day of the week, and painted them the colors of the rainbow.

Warning, the video has NSFW language. Mostly a lot of What the fucks.

Sunday, July 15, 2018

World Leaders Car (10)

We are halfway done already! This is a lot easier than searching ten years ago.

91. Rwanda: Audi A8. (2007 car: Mercedes Gelandewagen)


92. Senegal: Toyota Land Cruiser. (2007 car: Ford Expedition)


93. Slovakia: Mercedes S-Class. (2007 car: SEAT race car)


94. Thailand: Mercedes S-Class. (2007 car: VW Eurovan)


95. Togo: Mercedes Gelandewagen. (2008 car: Mercedes S-Class)


96. Turkey: Mercedes S-Class. (2007 car: Mercedes S-Class)


97. South Sudan: Toyota Land Cruiser. (2011 car: Toyota Land Cruiser)


98. Tunisia: Mercedes S-Class. (2008 car: Mercedes S-Class)


99. Uganda: Mercedes S-Class. (2007 car: Mercedes S-Class)


100. Trinidad and Tobago: Toyota Land Cruiser. (2007 car: Mercedes S-Class)


Tally
Mercedes S-Class: 26
Toyota/Lexus Land Cruiser: 19
BMW 7-Series: 11
Lexus LS: 8
Mercedes Gelandewagen: 6
Chevy Suburban: 5
Audi A8: 5
Jaguar: 2
Land Rover Discovery: 2
Aurus Senat: 1
Cadillac: 1
Chevy: 1
Citroen DS7 Crossback: 1
Hongqi: 1
Honda Accord: 1
Hyundai Equus: 1
Hyundai Santa Fe: 1
Lexus GX/Prado: 1
Lincoln Navigator: 1
Mercedes GL: 1
Proton: 1
Rolls-Royce: 1Skoda: 1
VW Touareg: 1
VW Transporter: 1

World Leaders Cars (9)

81. Lesotho: Mercedes S-Class. (2007 car: Mercedes S-Class)


82. Madagascar: Toyota Land Cruiser. (2007 car: Mercedes S-Class)


83. Malawi: Lexus Land Cruiser. (2007 car: Toyota Land Cruiser)


84. Maldives: Mercedes S-Class. (2007 car: Mercedes S-Class)


85. Mauritania: Toyota Land Cruiser (in background). (2008 car: Mercedes S-Class)


86. Nepal: Jaguar (or is that a Daimler?). (2007 car: Jaguar)


87. Niger: Toyota Land Cruiser. (2008 car: Toyota Land Cruiser)


88. Nigeria: Mercedes S-Class. (2007 car: Mercedes S-Class)


89. Turkmenistan: Mercedes Gelandewagen. (2007 car: Mercedes S-Class)


90. Portugal: BMW 7-Series. (2007 car: Audi A8)


Tally
Mercedes S-Class: 21
Toyota/Lexus Land Cruiser: 16
BMW 7-Series: 11
Lexus LS: 8
Chevy Suburban: 5
Mercedes Gelandewagen: 5
Audi A8: 4
Jaguar: 2
Land Rover Discovery: 2
Aurus Senat: 1
Cadillac: 1
Chevy: 1
Citroen DS7 Crossback: 1
Hongqi: 1
Honda Accord: 1
Hyundai Equus: 1
Hyundai Santa Fe: 1
Lexus GX/Prado: 1
Lincoln Navigator: 1
Mercedes GL: 1
Proton: 1
Rolls-Royce: 1Skoda: 1
VW Touareg: 1
VW Transporter: 1