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.

World Leaders Cars (16)

151. Spain: Audi A8. 2007 car: Audi A8.

152. Switzerland: Mercedes S-Class. 2008 car: Audi A8.

153. Central Africa Republic: Toyota Land Cruiser. 2008 car: FJ40 Land Cruiser.

154. Italy: Lancia Thema. 2007 car: Lancia Thesis.

155. Morocco: Mercedes E-Class convertible. The king has a huge car collection. I picked this kitted out E-Class because it's ridiculous. 2007 car: Mercedes S-Class.

156. Montenegro: Mercedes S-Class. 2007 car: Audi A8.

157. Uruguay: Toyota RAV4. 2007 car: Chevy/Holden/Opel Vectra.

158. Yemen: Toyota Land Cruiser. 2007 car: Mercedes S-Class.

159. Bhutan: Toyota Land Cruiser. 2007 car: Toyota Land Cruiser.

160. Nauru: Toyota Land Cruiser Prado. 2008 car: Mercedes E-Class.

Tally
Mercedes S-Class: 44
Toyota/Lexus Land Cruiser: 32
BMW 7-Series: 15
Audi A8: 10
Lexus LS: 9
Toyota/Lexus Land Cruiser Prado: 7
Chevy Suburban/GMC Yukon: 6
Mercedes Gelandewagen: 6
Jaguar: 2
Land Rover Discovery: 2
Range Rover: 2
Aurus Senat: 1
BMW X5: 1
Cadillac: 1
Chevy: 1
Citroen DS7 Crossback: 1
Hongqi: 1
Honda Accord: 1
Hyundai Equus: 1
Hyundai Santa Fe: 1
Isuzu MU-X: 1
Lancia Thema: 1Lincoln Navigator: 1
Mercedes E-Class (old): 1
Mercedes E-Class convertible: 1Mercedes GL: 1
Mercedes-Maybach: 1
Mercedes ML/GLE: 1
Proton: 1
Rolls-Royce: 1
Skoda: 1
Toyota 4Runner: 1
Toyota RAV4: 1Toyota Sequoia: 1
VW Touareg: 1
VW Transporter: 1

Carspotting in Austria, Denmark, and Sweden

S went on vacation and shared these photos with me/us. Thanks, man, and welcome home!

Reindeer Wrap at Oslo Airport

Falco (Rock Me Amadeus) Special Edition of the famous Austrian Mozartkugeln

Lots of cool Land Rovers and Range Rovers in the greater Copenhagen area

A rare original G-Wagen Convertible

 Radwood Ford Probe in Copenhagen

An old French van in Copenhagen (plus a Passat Wagon cop car)

An old Volvo C303 Laplander in Copenhagen or actually in Freetown Christiania which considers itself totally independent and NOT part of the EU, it’s like a commune

‘70s Opel in Copenhagen

’80s Mercedes van in Ystad (Sweden), yes it’s that Ystad used in the Inspector Wallander movies, cool town (Ed.: This is my favorite.)

Street  parked very clean yellow 944 in Malmo, Sweden. I saw it parked in a different location again later in the day so I guess it’s a DD.

Pan Am 50 flew over North and South Poles in 1977

This is a fun documentary. Thanks to C for the tip. And by the way, there is supposed to be another pole to pole flight this October, but I can't find many details.

Eating the Globe: Sudan

Sudanese done! Lentil soup that tasted like peppery split pea soup, watery beef and okra concoction, lamb shank. pic.twitter.com/vIrtVXu5oe

— Tamerlane's Thoughts (@TamerlaneBlog) September 25, 2018

Countries tried so far:
Africa: Algeria, Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Liberia, Madagascar, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tunisia, Zimbabwe
Asia: Afghanistan, Armenia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, Cambodia, China, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, North Korea, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen
Europe: Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine
North America: Belize, Canada, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Trinidad & Tobago, USA
South America: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Venezuela
Oceania: Australia, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga

Professional tag

Cleaning up plastic in the Pacific

Brilliant, simple idea.

World Leaders Cars (15)

141. Somalia: Land Cruiser. 2007 car: Mercedes S-Class.

142. Sri Lanka: Mercedes-Maybach. 2007 car: BMW 7-Series.

143. Ukraine: Mercedes S-Class. 2007 car: Mercedes S-Class.

144. Bosnia: Audi A8. 2007 car: Audi A8.

145. Cambodia: Mercedes S-Class. 2008 car: Mercedes S-Class.

146. Oman: Range Rover. The sultan has been ill for years and the last sighting of him in a car was 2015! 2007 car: Maybach.

147. Austria: Mercedes S-Class. 2007 car: Audi A8.

148. Armenia: GMC Yukon. 2007 car: BMW 7-Series.

149. Barbados: Mercedes ML/GLE. 2008 car: Mitsubishi Pajero.

150. Cameroon: Range Rover Klassen. 2007 car: Mercedes S-Class.

Tally
Mercedes S-Class: 42
Toyota/Lexus Land Cruiser: 29
BMW 7-Series: 15
Audi A8: 9
Lexus LS: 9
Chevy Suburban/GMC Yukon: 6
Mercedes Gelandewagen: 6
Toyota/Lexus Land Cruiser Prado: 6
Jaguar: 2
Land Rover Discovery: 2
Range Rover: 2Aurus Senat: 1
BMW X5: 1
Cadillac: 1
Chevy: 1
Citroen DS7 Crossback: 1
Hongqi: 1
Honda Accord: 1
Hyundai Equus: 1
Hyundai Santa Fe: 1
Isuzu MU-X: 1
Lincoln Navigator: 1
Mercedes E-Class (old): 1
Mercedes GL: 1Mercedes-Maybach: 1
Mercedes ML/GLE: 1
Proton: 1
Rolls-Royce: 1
Skoda: 1
Toyota 4Runner: 1
Toyota Sequoia: 1
VW Touareg: 1
VW Transporter: 1

Bentley alternatives

Does anyone watch Fifth Gear? It's a bit boring, but so is Motorweek.

Rowan Atkinson's Aston Martin

Honda LaneWatch

I saw a Clarity with a camera appendage below its passenger side mirror. I had no idea this has been available since 2014. Has anyone used it? Is it any good?

Hammerhead shark x-ray

2018 highlights so far

The year is 3/4 over! The lowlight has been Bourdain's passing. But we should definitely celebrate life.

January: Finishing the Pan-American Highway. One of the greatest accomplishments of my life.

February: Baku gifts from Tarlan.

March: @rchen starring in Autoweek's cover story.

The writings of @bzrong have nudged me into a 300ZX, Seiko Giugiaro watches, and seriously consider the new NSX. And now, he has me traveling in questionable cosplay all the time. Read about #Radwood in the latest @AutoweekUSA pic.twitter.com/2DT89IKN9B

— Crazy Rich Chen (@rchen) March 10, 2018

April: Spring break in Palm Desert, California.

May: Wedding in Sedona, Arizona.

June: Austrian dinner with an old friend. I got to catch up with a college bud and I got to check a country off my list.

July: Lake Michigan vacation. So serene. Summering in the Midwest is very underrated.

August: Bonneville Salt Flats. My travel bucket list is now one item shorter.

September: We spent a few days down in Laguna Beach. The last time we were there, we were on our babymoon (vacation before birth). The boy loved it.