I Couldn’t Help Myself

Yes, I finally bought one:

 

 

OK, where will I keep it? We already have three cars in our three-car garage and our lot has no room for another vehicle. Surprisingly, my wonderful wife was not upset with this purchase at all. Maybe this will make things clear:

 

 

Well, I did finally buy one…a model of a Studebaker Gran Turismo Hawk. Apparently, it was shipped all the way from the UK and arrived in pristine condition. Cleverly, the side view mirror was shipped in a little plastic bag to protect it during transit as was the driver side window “assembly.” Both were easily affixed with a dab of Gorilla Super Glue. Here are some more photos:

 

 

Maybe not so ironically, I would say the probability of my acquiring a real one someday has increased dramatically. Maybe that means that if I publish an Ultimate Garage 3.0, then the Studebaker Gran Turismo Hawk will have to be a part of it.

******************

From Corvette Blogger comes this piece titled, “Corvette is the Fastest-Selling New Car for the Third Consecutive Month.” Here is a chart from iseecars.com via Corvette Blogger:

 

 

Note that the average price of a new Corvette sold in March did decline by about 5 percent compared to the price in February. It is also very sad to me that besides the Corvette, the Lexus IS 350 is the only car on this list. Also notice at least four hybrids on the list, but no pure EVs. From the Corvette Blogger piece, a picture of a new C8 Corvette:

 

******************

I guess I should note the death of POS Bernie Madoff. Yes, he was evil and ruined the lives of many people. Still, all I can hear in my head is that the success of a scam doesn’t depend on its cleverness, but instead depends on the greed of the mark.

Many of those people “receiving” years and years of above average returns must have had some doubts, but decided not to look that gift horse in the mouth. Despite receiving warnings about Madoff’s operation from Harry Markopolos as early as 2000, the SEC did nothing. Even Madoff said he could have been caught in 2003, but:

 

“I was astonished. They never even looked at my stock records. If investigators had checked with The Depository Trust Company, a central securities depository, it would’ve been easy for them to see. If you’re looking at a Ponzi scheme, it’s the first thing you do.”

 

As most people know, it was the financial crisis of 2008 that led Madoff to turn himself in as he could no longer meet redemption requests. As of December, 2020, the total of recoveries and settlement agreements was about $14 billion. How much Madoff actually stole during the years of his Ponzi scheme is a matter of some debate.

Madoff gave capitalism and Jews a big “black eye.” It is ironic that the lunatic socialists in this country want government to control our lives, but government failed to intervene sooner in the Madoff case despite years of warnings. EVERY institution of human beings is flawed, because EVERY human being is flawed. That includes government.

 

#ICouldntHelpMyself

#StudebakerGranTurismoHawk

#C8CorvettePopularity

#POSMadoff

#somanycarsjustonelife

#disaffectedmusings

If you like this blog please tell your friends and share the blog URL (https://disaffectedmusings.com). Thanks.