Merc Limos x 3

CKY

Out with the Old (Mika), In with the New (Ralf)

I would love to delve into the minds of former F1 drivers Ralf Schumacher and Mika Hakkinen. What are they thinking?

Ralf has two big issues-- issues big enough to keep a phalanx of shrinks employed in perpetuity. First, he is the younger brother of seven time world champion Michael. Though everyone thought highly of Ralf's talents (he was certainly well compensated in anticipation of his potential), his career in Formula One was a big disappointment. I can only imagine how his mediocre career and successful big brother are eating him up inside. Poor guy.

Now that Ralf is out of Formula One, his search for glory continues. After two pseudo-secretive test drives, it looks like he will be driving for Mercedes in the 2008 DTM series. But the two motorsports are so different. He has a steep learning curve and impatient fans waiting for him. Will he succeed? Will failure further destroy this man's soul? Michael has urged him to resist driving in the DTM series. If Ralf heeds Michael's counsel, is he not perpetuating the role of the less talented, and naive, little brother?


On the other end of the DTM life cycle, we have two time F1 world champion Mika Hakkinen. In his three years at DTM, he had moderate success. In a field of young whipper snappers, Mika was definitely the elder statesman.

What's going through his head, as he announced last November that he was retiring from racing? Has he found closure? Is he content? Will his lack of success in DTM pester his subconscious for the rest of his life? In the 2007 season, I always enjoyed his post-race interviews, regardless of whether he won or lost. He seemed at peace with everything. He was focused and competitive, but he saw the big picture. His answers were detailed, entertaining, and honest. I will miss Mika.


CKY

Kickin' Ass And Takin' Names-- Obama Style

Just before Super Duper Tuesday, Hillary Clinton ran so low on funds, she had to lend her campaign $5 million out of her own pocket.


Today at 4p.m. Pacific Time, Tamerlane received an email from the Obama campaign asking for another donation. Apparently, between the closing of polls on Tuesday and 4p.m. Wednesday, people have already donated $3 million to the Obama campaign. The point of the email was to fire up his supporters and try to reach the $5 million mark by the end of Wednesday. This would show the cash-poor Hillary campaign just how powerful the Obama juggernaut is.


It is 9:30pm now and Obama has raised almost $6.2 million since the close of polls on Tuesday! This will definitely be in the news tomorrow. As the venerable (and classic) Emotion Eric would "say", Obama is kickin' a$$ and taking' names.


CKY

Rides of Heads of State (Part 23)

With 151 cars and SUVs identified, we are past the 3/4 mark. Though there are just a handful of countries and vehicles left to identify, they will be tough to find. Many of them are in Oceania, where the countries are poor, small, and have little internet presence. Right now, I'm having one Dickens of a time trying to identify Palau's president's pickup truck based solely on a door handle and B-pillar.

Yesterday was the Superbowl. In the pre-game show, there was a Mercedes S-class ad in which the narrator touted the fact that more world leaders opted for the S-class than any other vehicle. Well, I did not see the ad cite this blog as the source, but I will take its word for it.

146. Cambodia. The King is seen here returning to Cambodia with his older S-class awaiting him.
147. Republic of the Congo. Here we see the president with RSA's prez in Brazzaville in another S-class.


148, 149, 150. Democratic Republic of Congo (PM), Equatorial Guinea (president), Togo (president). All S-classes. I discovered that recently, a gang of assassins in Nissan X Trails (compact SUVs) tried to take the DRC PM's life. The PM fled successfully, but broke both axles in the process. Unfortunately, I found this news piece after watching DRC Pres. Joseph Kabila's nauseating wedding video.


151. Tajikistan. Merc G-wagen. In a propaganda video involving glorious Farsi song and starring the leaders of Tajikistan and Iran in a plush jet, I finally found Rahmon's ride, an all black G-wagen.


Updated tally:
S-class: 51
7 series: 15
Land Cruiser: 15
A8: 8
Maybach: 6
Phaeton: 4
Caddy: 4
G-wagen: 4
Holden-Chevy-Opel: 3
H2: 3
Jag: 2
ZIL: 2
Volvo: 2
Touareg: 2
Mitsubishi Montero: 2
Suburban: 2

One of each of the following: Lancia, Hyundai, Skoda, A6, Peugeot, Renault, Lincoln, VW van, London taxi, Daimler, Toyota Century, Hongqi, Bentley, Rolls, Ford Fairlane, Aston Martin, SEAT, Ford Expedition, Nissan Patrol, Stutz, Suzuki, Camry, Toyota Crown, Toyota Sequoia, Proton, Land Rover

CKY

Rides of Heads of State (Part 22)

As we head towards the bottom of the Third World, the rides of presidents and PMs inevitably end up being SUVs. With few paved roads, high clearance, all wheel drive pseudo-luxo-barges are a necessity.

140. Chad. As President Deby is holed up in his palace, thousands of rebels riding in old Toyota technicals with chopped off roofs are entering the Chadian capital as we speak. I would recommend against escaping to the airport via French special forces escort with his official Hummer H2, as it is a dead giveaway of the occupant's identity.

141. Mozambique. The president of this former Portuguese colony, which has recently been the victim of massive flooding, rides in a white Land Cruiser.


142. East Timor. Gusmao, the charismatic former rebel leader of this ex-Portuguese colony also rides in a white Land Cruiser.

143. Syria. This was an elusive catch. After sitting through a long propaganda video of Bashar planting trees with his wife, I finally learned that he rides in an all black Land Cruiser.

144. Haiti. Preval rides in a big black Suburban with tinted windows.


145. St. Lucia. The only exception to the SUV rule today is PM Stephenson King, who recently acquired a black long wheelbased 7 series BMW.

Updated tally:
S-class: 46
7 series: 15
Land Cruiser: 15
A8: 8
Maybach: 6
Phaeton: 4
Caddy: 4
Holden-Chevy-Opel: 3
G-wagen: 3
H2: 3
Jag: 2
ZIL: 2
Volvo: 2
Touareg: 2
Mitsubishi Montero: 2
Suburban: 2

One of each of the following: Lancia, Hyundai, Skoda, A6, Peugeot, Renault, Lincoln, VW van, London taxi, Daimler, Toyota Century, Hongqi, Bentley, Rolls, Ford Fairlane, Aston Martin, SEAT, Ford Expedition, Nissan Patrol, Stutz, Suzuki, Camry, Toyota Crown, Toyota Sequoia, Proton, Land Rover

CKY

Best Superbowl Car Ad, Ever

Ridley Scott's 300ZX (Superbowl XXIV)

CKY

Rides of Heads of State (Part 21)

When this blog's images and content end up being results on google searches, I know I've covered too much ground. Nevertheless, random word searches on google and trolling through government websites yielded a few more nuggets. I can say unequivocally that the Tajik President's website has the slowest bandwidth out of any third world government, and that is saying a lot.

134. Guyana. When the current president's wife left him, she lost her car privileges. She had to plead with the Guyanese people for a car to borrow to get to charitable functions. Though the separation was amicable, I don't see the president sharing his Land Cruiser.

135. Mali. I was a little bit surprised when I found the president of Mali also riding in a Hummer H2. It seems bad taste knows no boundaries.


136. Moldova. Like his Romanian brother, the Moldovan president rides in an S-class-- albeit a little dirtier.


137. Malaysia. Although the Malaysian PM is always seen riding in classic British convertibles, his official car is the domestic Proton.

138. St. Vincent & The Grenadines. Here is a pic of the PM being driven in a Land Cruiser Prado.

139. Costa Rica. This one is complicated. When Oscar Arias came back into power, he was handed an old Lexus, which was used by the last two presidentes. He then opted for a Kia, which was donated to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by the Korean government. When the Kia was thought unbecoming, Motores Britanicos, whose owner was under investigation, conveniently donated a $58,000 "Range Rover" to Arias. With import duties, the only possible model to fall within that price range is the LR3. To date, Arias has not given up his Rover. I say, give the Nobel Prize winner whatever he wants.

Updated tally:
S-class: 46
7 series: 14
Land Cruiser: 12
A8: 8
Maybach: 6
Phaeton: 4
Caddy: 4
Holden-Chevy-Opel: 3
G-wagen: 3
Jag: 2
ZIL: 2
Volvo: 2
Touareg: 2
Mitsubishi Montero: 2
H2: 2

One of each of the following: Lancia, Hyundai, Skoda, A6, Peugeot, Renault, Lincoln, VW van, London taxi, Daimler, Suburban, Toyota Century, Hongqi, Bentley, Rolls, Ford Fairlane, Aston Martin, SEAT, Ford Expedition, Nissan Patrol, Stutz, Suzuki, Camry, Toyota Crown, Toyota Sequoia, Proton, Land Rover

CKY

The End of the (Toyota) Century

In Casino Royale, a couple of Ugandan goons are stuffed in the boot of a ZiL 117. Only the rear end of the sedan is shown. I love the rear end of that ZiL. For the longest time, I thought it belonged to the back of a first generation Toyota Century, the ubiquitous chariot for the low-profile Japanese CEO. Here are some shots from a lucky Queensland owner named Andy. Pure beauty, that.




CKY

How the 2008 Election Year Is Going to End Up Like F1 2007

As I eagerly await the South Carolina Democratic primary returns this afternoon, I come to the realization of the chilling similarities between America's elections this year and the 2007 Formula One season. Allow me to explain.

1. Obama as Hamilton. The most obvious similarity is superficial: they are both biracial, but seen in the eyes of others as blacks. But there's more. They are both relatively young upstarts in their respective fields. Critics and admirers alike spoke of their potential to be great-- years from now. But instead, they've captured everyone's imagination by being great now. Their meteoric rises cannot be more similar. But alas, Hamilton went into the last GP in Brazil with a razor thin lead and lost it all.

Straight out of Obama's wardrobe.

2. Hillary as Alonso. Both Hillary and Alonso went into their respective seasons believing that they should be the ultimate winner because they've worked hard, paid their dues, and have the talent. They did not expect their younger teammates (fellow Dem Obama and McLaren teammate Hamilton) to take over the spotlight and outperform them. As the season progressed, Hillary and Alonso were portrayed negatively as having a sense of entitlement. Just as the feud between Alonso and Hamilton cost both men's chances of winning the driver's championship, all the mud slinging between Hillary and Obama will cause the underdog, a Republican/Ferrari driver, to win it all.

I deserve to win. Wah!

3. McCain as Kimi. For years, both men have had a reputation of being honest, talented mavericks. But their prior attempts at winning the championship/presidency ended in abject failure. To better their chances, the two sold their souls. McCain hugged Bush and kissed the asses of right-wing religious zealots. Kimi joined Ferrari (which is arguably more shameful). While Alonso and Hamilton (Hillary and Obama) had their hissy fits with each other throughout the season, they ignored the damage they were doing to each other and the team and allowed Kimi to eke by with the championship. That McCain could pull off an equally spectacular upset is very probable.

At the 2009 Inauguration. Note the Republican red racing suit.

But then again, before the 2007 season started, I predicted that Honda were going to take the constructor's title. So there you go.

CKY

Shooting Brakes Redux

W116 shooting brake/estate. Created in England by Crayford using Ford liftgate.

Vette.

MX5.

Lotus Elan.

AM BDS!

Bentley T series.

911 (Yeah, its engine is still in the rear.).

4Porte.

CKY