One Man’s Reviews
A friend of mine and automotive appraiser, Dave Kinney, is recreating the Texarkana -> Atlanta run in a vintage 1979 Trans Am. His trek starts later today, and he’ll be journaling his travels over at the Cars That Matter site. Should be a great time, and great stories to come. Keep an eye for the updates as the story progresses.
1979 Firebird Trans AM — our trusty steed for the Smokey and the Bandit Run –at Cars That Matter —
Smokey and the Bandit Run! –at Cars That Matter —
I have to say that I’m mighty thankful for Mr. Tom Cotter. It seems the Barn Find specialist (and author of The Cobra in the Barn, and The Hemi in the Barn), did a little bit of detective work to get to the bottom of this whole Portuguese Barn Find business. And as always, the truth is somewhere between legend and myth.
From the article printed in Sports Car Magazine, it seems that no such retired person stumbled upon the property, buying it and only later discovering the gem in the back forty, but that the property does, and always has, belonged to a former automotive merchant, who had a penchant for picking out the rare, unusual, and interesting cars, and storing them away in his personal barn. The truth is that there truly does lie a barn in Portugal, and that said barn does in fact contain dozens of classic and beautiful cars.
Now, years later, his identity, and the location of the property in Portugal, are kept hidden away. No cars are for sale, and I assume that until this man’s death, these cars will remain in the barn, waiting to be restored until another day.
So, earlier this week I got a call from Roger at PageOne, who informed me that after a several month hiatus, the fleet was back and well stocked, and that I’d be getting my first car of 2007 this Thursday. A Titan. I’m very excited to be reviewing cars again, and will have pictures and a review up as soon as I’m done testing it. So be on the lookout.
I recently was invited to attend both a dinner hosted by Mercedes-Benz and a luncheon hosted by Jaguar. Both were looking to announce some new products and give local journalists a chance at seeing them in action. Mercedes brought their new diesel powered ML 350s and an R 350, both beautiful and stunningly quiet. Our walkaround came at dusk and so apologies for the dark images.
The third-generation CDI brought several improvements over the non-diesel counterparts as well as its previous generation motor. Everyone couldn’t help but comment on how remarkably quiet the motor was, and how smooth the engine revved from idle on up. High marks to the German engineers who’ve improved upon a great engine. Another striking improvement was in fuel economy. Boasting an average 5 mpg rating above its gasoline counterparts (21-27 diesel vs. 17-21 gasoline), it still managed at delivering a 0-60 sprint in under 8 seconds. Not bad…
Each year the Northwest Automotive Press Association (NWAPA) holds a competition plotting the best SUVs around the world in grill-to-grill combat against each other. The test includes both an on-road handling course as well as an off-road mud and dirt track testing all aspects of cornering, handling, braking, and good old fashioned mud. I had the opportunity to attend this years event and had a blast riding around with the generous members of NWAPA (I had gotten my information in a week too late, and therefor missed out on the driving portion… Better luck next year…).
Highlights of the day included a motocross track hosed down to afford about 6-12 inches of deep, sticky mud in which to test the SUVs. Other highlights was Toyota’s FJ Cruiser, which seemed to please almost everybody I talked to, both on- and off-road. I personally had the most fun in it than any other car and was glad to see it in true form amidst steep mud and grime. Author Bengt Halvorson also gave me my most thrilling ride during the on-road slalom course in a loose and sloppy Tahoe Z71. I also really enjoyed getting to ride in the Audi Q7, which I had yet to see ‘in the wild.’
