I am waiting for confirmation that the bank from whom I requested a wire to pay for the Maserati has processed and sent the wire as well as confirmation from Mecum that they have received the wire. Although I/we have had wires arrive at their destination in an hour, or even slightly less, all the bank will tell me is that the Federal Reserve “guarantee” is same day.
If I don’t pick up the car by 3 PM local time today, I will be charged $200/day for every day thereafter until I can remove the car from State Farm Stadium. Even though the car started and ran across the block on Saturday, I have no guarantee it will start today.
Like I keep writing, please keep wishing me/us good luck because we still need it.
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Before sharing multiple links to pieces around the Internet, I wanted to show this photo.
While at the Mecum auction, and thinking I was not going to buy a car there, I showed basic information about two Cadillac XLRs listed on Autotrader to my wonderful wife. When we returned on Saturday, I wrote “NEITHER!” on the piece of paper.
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Let’s begin the linkfest:
This article from Why Evolution Is True quotes Bill Maher saying, “Why are sports by far the most popular thing that Americans watch on television? Sports are the last refuge of meritocracy of America.”
Trust me when I tell you that merit does not always win out in sports, it definitely does not in non-playing roles, but certainly does so more in that field than in any other.
This post, titled “J.K. Rowling answers her critics” begins, “There’s no figure more inflammatory in popular culture than J. K. Rowling, once the world’s most beloved author but now demonized by many as a transphobe.” People who believe without sound footing simply resort to name-calling when someone disagrees with them AND makes valid points.
This CNBC article is about how social media can change and has changed the dynamics of bank runs. From the piece, “While information [which can be true or false, my note] can spread within seconds, money can now be withdrawn just as quickly. Mobile banking has changed the fundamental behavior of bank users, as well as the optics of a financial collapse.”
Switching to cars, this MotorTrend piece is about the least collectible modern cars, in their opinion, of course. None of these cars is anywhere near my radar screen and, obviously, after the recent Maserati purchase I am not looking to buy anything in the next 2-4 years, barring a financial windfall.
I want to add that I believe the C4 Corvette will also never command big money in the marketplace with the possible exception of the 1990-95 ZR1. At the recently concluded Mecum auction in Arizona, seven of 16 C4 Corvettes offered sold for $11,000 or less all in, meaning they hammered for $10,000 or less. Only three sold for more than $20,000: a 1995 Pace Car edition, a 1993 ZR1 and a 1988 Callaway model. Indicative of how few photos I actually took at Mecum, I could not find a pic of a C4 Corvette. This Internet photo will have to do.
Here are links to three pieces that are less than complimentary about electric vehicles. The first is titled, “EVs Are The Yugo Of The 21st Century.” Even I think that title is hyperbolic, but read it at your leisure.
The second article is a recent one that reports a Tesla Model 3 was hacked in less than two minutes at the Pwn2Own contest. I have always maintained that a real motive by the EV zealot lemmings is that they want to control your mobility by being able to track everything you do in a car.
The third piece is from Jalopnik and it reports that Stellantis’ CEO Carlos Tavares believes that not enough raw materials exist to replace every ICE-powered vehicle with an electric one. Here is part of what he said, “Not only the lithium may not be enough, but the concentration of the mining of lithium may create other geopolitical issues.”
Maybe the recent decision by the European Union to allow ICE-powered vehicles to be sold indefinitely as long as those vehicles are powered by synthetic fuels is the first turn in the right direction, maybe not. That news has certainly not been reported here in the US.
I am at an age where I will almost certainly never be forced to drive an electric car. I don’t think anyone should EVER be forced to do so, though. #DeathBeforeEV
#MonsterMondayLinkDump
#DeathBeforeEV
#somanyCARSjustonelife
#disaffectedmusings
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Disaffected Musings 
“I am at an age where I will almost certainly never be forced to drive an electric car”
I hope both of us are in that group. I’m pretty sure that out in my rural area it will be a long time before that happens. And yes, I also believe there is an element of TPTB wanting to have more control of we subjects, errrr citizens, movements.
As for the story about the insurance problems with EVs, I can confirm some of the issues. I know a couple of salvage yard owners and towing company owners and they all say there is an uptick in EVs that are totaled with what seems to be, at a glance, fairly minor damage. They have set up a separate area for the storage of them also, due to the fire risk from them. And the fire risk is real. I know a Captain in the FD of a nearby county who was on scene at a wreck involving an EV. It was loaded on a rollback to haul away. Shortly after they had to respond to a vehicle fire. Yep, it was the rollback that towed the EV, which caught fire while being transported. They had nothing that could extinguish the fire in the EV and it ended up burning both vehicles to the ground.
Were there similar issues when we moved from hay power to gasoline power? I’m sure there was. Difference is the market worked out the problems without the heavy hand of government forcing the issue, or picking the winners and losers.
Just my anecdotal input, and worth what you had to pay to read it.
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Many thanks, DDM. I meet many people who share our viewpoint, and not just “old” car guys, but that sentiment has been blocked from entering the discussion. #DeathBeforeEV
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I do qualify as an “old car guy” (I am a 1969 model), and therefore I love “classic machines”. The first time I saw a 426 Chrysler HEMI in front of me, I gently touched it with my hand and I could not hold the tears in my eyes.
But I also hold a dreamer’s vision of all technological things. In my opinion, internal combustion engines should have been replaced with something else a long time ago. I have this romantic vision that human ingenuity would give us the perfect substitute for an engine that was conceived in the 1880s. But as I see, EV is not the correct answer.
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Thanks, sir.
“But as I see, EV is not the correct answer.” OK, so what is the correct answer in your opinion?
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“internal combustion engines should have been replaced with something else a long time ago”
I will submit that the innovation that has advanced the ICE in the last 50 years and compare it to the previous 50 years is staggering. We have progressed to where 300 hp from 3 liters is the norm. 65 years ago 283 hp from 4.6 liters was considered unbelievable. Then compare that 4.6 liter engine to one only 40 years older where it took 10 liters or more to produce maybe 30-40 hp. And the amount of emissions from an engine has decreased to where they are now practically negligible.
At the turn on the 20th century electric vehicles seemed poised to rule the roads. They turned out to be acceptable for city use, but for rural folks not so much. As there were, and still are, far more rural areas than urban, ICE took over. Yes there were growing pains, just as there currently are with EV’s. Difference is, at present the technology just isn’t there to convince many folks to take the plunge. I can’t hook up a 15K pound trailer to a Tesla and tow it 600 miles in one day. My diesel truck will do that day after day.
Besides, my 451 cubic inch V8 with Dynomax mufflers sounds SO much better than the whirring, clicking and humming of an EV. 🙂
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An opus on ICE innovation, DDM. Because we have lived through the innovation it is not that apparent to most of us, just like your spouse might not be able to fully ascertain the extent of your weight gain/loss as much as someone you haven’t seen in years.
Automotive emissions are barely 2% of what they were in 1960. Cars and trucks account for only 20% of global CO2 emissions.
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No doubt it isn’t easy to beat all the conveniences of the ICE, after all, we have been using them for over a century. A modern ICE requires minimal maintenance, is extremely reliable, (not all of them, I know), and all the electronics around it make the engine efficient and almost worry-free. I know my car will start at a -25 Celsius morning on the first try (if the battery is good, I know).
But as efficient as they became, ICE are notorious energy wasters. Doesn’t matter the myriads of electronic processors you hang on them, they will throw away more than half of the energy received. The whole concept of a piston going up and down, generating power only once out of 4 cycles is an aberration in terms of physics. It does look like the 1800s technology. As much as I love the sound of a V8 engine, I thought we would be driving something more “sci-fi-ish” by now.
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No doubt, efficiency of a system is important, very important. However, so is practicality, achieving a desired goal at the lowest cost. Quick mass extinction of ICE-powered vehicles is far less practical and far more costly than switching to synthetic fuels.
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I don’t have the answer, I was expecting the brilliant minds of this world would give me that. The kind of mind that created the cure for many illnesses and put a man on the moon. But yes, I agree with you, since the bright minds didn’t come up with anything else, synthetic fuels might be the best alternative.
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Thanks again.
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DDM’s comment about the local county FD not having the means to extinguish an EV fire is real and dangerous. The National Fire Protection Association, is doing studies and developing standards for Fire Departments on how to handle EV fires. The thermal runaway that occurs in damaged lithium-ion batteries is a very serious hazard for the everyone involved especially the fire personnel. Water is the general means used to extinguish fires. With lithium in the batteries once the fire starts, water just adds to the problem. There NEEDS to be more research done and done rapidly to determine the best means to handle EV battery fires and NOW!
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Of course, the mainstream media almost certainly under-reports EV fires. Don’t want anyone to think EVs aren’t safe…
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