I Couldn’t Stay Away Throwback Thursday

Those of you who picked two days off in the pool can collect your money. Yes, I had originally written that I would take three (maybe four) days off, but I simply had to write today.

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From Jake Novak, formerly of CNBC:

“If you call Israel an “occupier,” you are either a liar or an ignoramus…although these days, most people saying this are both.”

Novak is not one who often uses pejoratives. It is frightening to me that so many people side with a terrorist/criminal organization like ~~Hamas~~ and spurn the only democracy in the Middle East. I think that simply reveals anti-Semitism has always been prevalent, but sometimes less visible. Like the people who voted for Tonald Drump in 2016 or were pro-Brexit, but didn’t admit that to pollsters before those elections, people who are really anti-Semites sometimes hide their views. They’re still wrong, whether their views are overt or covert.

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I have been receiving an increasing number of links in my email to articles about the C4 Corvette. It seems as though interest in the newest generation Corvette, the C8, has increased interest in all Corvettes. First, some C4 photos and then proof that I have spent too much time with The Genuine Corvette Black Book and have way too much time on my hands.

See the source image

Courtesy of Corvette Blogger a picture of a 1984 Corvette, the first year of the C4. The ’84 Vette used the same “Cross-Fire” fuel injection used in the last year of the C3, 1982. No, there was no 1983 model year Corvette. Get over it…

See the source image

Sorry for the different picture size…from an unsecured site a picture of a 1990 Corvette convertible with the auxiliary hardtop. Thirty-one percent of ’90 Vette convertibles were sold with the auxiliary hardtop. In the same way, I guess, that I love the look of the C2 convertible with the hardtop in place, I feel the same way about the C4.

See the source image

From FastLaneCars.com a picture of a 1996 Corvette, the last year of the C4. Here is that proof I mentioned earlier:

YEAR	NUMBER PRODUCED	CONV	COUPE BASE	CONV BASE	BASE HP	TOP HP	PCT AUTO
1984	51,547	0	$21,800	N/A	205	205	87.5%
1985	39,729	0	$24,403	N/A	230	230	75.9%
1986	35,109	7,315	$27,027	$32,032	230	235	80.5%
1987	30,632	10,625	$27,999	$33,172	240	240	86.0%
1988	22,789	7,407	$29,489	$34,820	240	245	81.2%
1989	26,412	9,749	$31,545	$36,785	245	245	84.4%
1990	23,646	7,630	$31,979	$37,264	250	375	65.7%
1991	20,639	5,672	$32,455	$38,770	245	375	71.5%
1992	20,479	5,875	$33,635	$40,145	300	375	73.2%
1993	21,590	5,692	$34,595	$41,195	300	405	75.3%
1994	23,330	5,346	$36,185	$42,960	300	405	74.2%
1995	21,590	5,692	$36,785	$43,665	300	405	75.3%
1996	21,536	4,369	$37,225	$45,060	300	330	70.5%
TOTAL	359,028	75,372

For the Top HP I did not show the Callaway Twin-Turbo cars that were available from 1987 to 1991, inclusive, because that was not a factory-installed option. It was a potent engine, though; for example, the 1988 Callaway Twin-Turbo was rated at 382 HP and 562 LB-FT of torque. The top factory engine was 245 HP/340 LB-FT.

For the nth plus nth time I will write that I was not a fan of C4 Corvettes for a long time, until I was. I think if you can buy one, especially one from 1992 or later, or even better, from 1995 or 1996, then you probably should.

All of this data comes from a spreadsheet I made years ago using information from The Genuine Corvette Black Book. Like I wrote, too much time…

I used to frequent the message boards of a certain car “publication,” in large part as a way to drive traffic to my blog. When it was announced that the C8 would not be offered with a traditional manual transmission, many readers commented that was the death knell of the Corvette, that Vette drivers preferred a manual. When I commented that more Corvettes have been sold with automatics every model year since 1972, the silence was deafening. Yes, never let the facts get in the way of your opinions…sounds like anti-Semites. You can see that automatics accounted for more than 70 percent of C4 production every year except 1990.

Hemmings currently has 84 1992-96 Corvettes listed for non-auction sale. Twenty-three of these cars have an asking price of less than $15,000. I suspect prices for C4 Corvettes have increased along with the price of virtually all used cars, in the wake of the damn virus and chip shortage that have choked production of new cars, and the renewed interest in all Corvettes.

As always, I welcome thoughtful comments.

#ICouldn’tStayAway

#ThrowbackThursday

#JakeNovak

#Anti-SemiticLies

#IStandWithIsrael

#C4Corvette

#somanycarsjustonelife

#disaffectedmusings

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Long Run vs. Short Run

The famous economist John Maynard Keynes once wrote, “In the long run we are all dead.” That remark has often been interpreted as meaning Keynes and his subsequent followers only cared about the short run, that they would always advocate rash policies designed to generate short term benefits and ignore any long term consequences.

Of course, one can argue that politicians love that kind of thinking because they can “buy” votes and support with short term stimulative policies and then be gone when the chickens come home to roost. Anyway…in this piece Simon Taylor, a member of the finance faculty at Cambridge Judge Business School, wrote:

“It should be clear that he is not arguing that we should recklessly enjoy the present and let the future go hang. He is exasperated with the view of mainstream economists [of the time] that the economy is an equilibrium system which will eventually return to a point of balance, so long as the government doesn’t interfere and if we are only willing to wait. He later challenged that view in his most important work The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money (1935) arguing that the economy can slip into a long term underemployment equilibrium from which only government policy can rescue it.”

By the way, the full Keynes comment (written in 1923) was, “The long run is a misleading guide to current affairs. In the long run we are all dead. Economists set themselves too easy, too useless a task if in tempestuous seasons they can only tell us that when the storm is past the ocean is flat again.”

OK, why am I writing about this idea today? Well, it’s because of something that, in the grand scheme of things, is not really important. I am, of course, writing about my Z06.

I have been writing about all of the potential modifications I want to do to the car, both in terms of performance and appearance. Obviously, I don’t have to do anything to the car; it’s great as it is. The amount of money needed to do what I want is a tiny fraction of my available resources, but some would argue (and have) that it is better for me to save the money just in case it is needed at some future time.

This is a classic long run vs. short run problem, in my opinion. No, this is not an excuse to show another picture of my car. I am not going to do so.

I believe that both the short run and the long run matter and that’s why decision making can be so difficult. Of course as one grows older the long run gets shorter. It is very difficult–perhaps impossible–to fully understand the potential long run consequences of many decisions, but that doesn’t mean the long run can be ignored.

So, while I am preparing to spend what I need to spend to modify the car, especially in terms of performance, my brain is waged in a battle of long run vs. short run. Are any of you in a similar situation? Do you classify yourself as a long run person, a short run person, or an it depends person?

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My wonderful wife sent me this link to a story about “vintage” cars we shouldn’t forget. The problem is that the article lists 40 cars and you have to click on them one at a time. (A real tangent: why do I always type tiime the first time I try to type the word time?)

The cars range in time from the 1950s to the 1990s and include such disparate vehicles as the GMC Syclone and the Studebaker Lark. You also might not be able to click on all 40 vehicles as the website gets slower with each successive click and might time you out.

One of the cars listed is one that has been mentioned a lot here, the C4 Corvette. From fastlanecars a picture of a 1996 Corvette, the last year of the long-running C4:

As I have often written before, I have only been a fan of the C4 Corvette for about the last five years. Before, I thought they looked too plain and that before 1992 they simply were not good performers (ZR-1 excluded).

The looks of the car have grown on me and 1992-1996 Corvettes have plenty of performance, thank you. In fact, if you can be that picky, the 1995-96 cars are the best of the bunch, in my opinion, because of improvements like fuel injectors that were revised to better cope with ethanol content in gasoline, improved connecting rods, improved automatic and manual transmissions, various upgrades to reduce rattles, etc.

I’m not in the market for another Corvette, but in the event of a large financial windfall, one of these could be in play, especially a convertible. I guess my wonderful wife’s affinity for ragtops has rubbed off on me.

#LongRunvsShortRun

#JohnMaynardKeynes

#C4Corvette

#somanycarsjustonelife

#disaffectedmusings

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Short-Term Pain…

For Long-Term Gain. Specifically, I am referring to the current disruption in our lives as we are having the original tile replaced with porcelain tile that is much lighter in color, larger and more “modern.” Here is a current photo from our kitchen:

Of course, swapping Short-Term Pain for Long-Term Gain has many applications beyond home remodeling. That trade-off, however, seems to be one that fewer and fewer people are willing to make. We seem to live in a country (I suspect this is true of the entire developed world, but I don’t live elsewhere) where too many people think they are entitled to whatever they want just because they want it, they want it yesterday and they want someone else to pay for it. That attitude is a recipe for disaster. Yes, it is.

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Along the lines of what I have just written is this CNBC article. Whole Foods CEO John Mackey (an eerie name for this native of Baltimore who watched Hall Of Fame tight end John Mackey play) told Freakonomics radio host Stephen Dubner, “I mean, honestly, we talk about health care. The best solution is not to need health care. The best solution is to change the way people eat, the way they live, the lifestyle, and diet.”

Here is a story told by former practicing physician David Banner (not his real name):

“I had a patient who had a major heart attack and was in the ICU getting clot busting meds. When I got there, he had oxygen on and was eating a fried fish sandwich that he bullied his wife into bringing him, and berated the nurses who tried to get him to stop. He died on his couch nine months later.”

If the US has a lower life expectancy than other developed countries that has very little to do with delivery of health care and much more to do with, for example, the fact that US citizens walk far less than people in the rest of the developed world. This country has developed a dangerous streak of lazy and ignorant. Yes, it has.

I don’t know who Dani Shugart is, but this is what she wrote in this piece:

“Everybody who’s in shape fights for it in some way. It’s not given to us. We all have personal disadvantages and challenges to overcome. So unless you’re among the very few genetically gifted and environmentally blessed, you can’t get lean without a struggle. You can’t build muscle without a struggle. And you certainly won’t maintain either without struggling in some way.”

Short-Term Pain for Long-Term Gain (Obviously, this applies to the “pain” of wearing masks and curtailing social activities until the vaccines have been widely distributed; I’m being more than a little facetious. Wearing a mask is a very small sacrifice, if any.)…The truth is often painful, but as Huxley wrote, “Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.”

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Here is a picture I took on New Years Day:

I know that’s a C4 Corvette convertible, although I don’t know the year, and I think those are C5 wheels, but I just like the looks of this car. As I have written (many times) before, it is only in the past few years that I have developed an affinity for C4 Corvettes. Before that, I thought they were plain-looking and under powered, at least until 1992. (I’m not counting the ZR-1 variant.)

Without question C4 Corvettes are an inexpensive gateway to Corvette ownership. It is still possible to find such cars with fewer than 75,000 miles listed at under $10,000.

I know C/2 has a Corvette, but how about the rest of you? Do any of you currently own one or have ever owned one?

#Short-TermPainForLong-TermGain

#C4Corvette

#somanycarsjustonelife

#disaffectedmusings

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Wednesday Update

OK…IF everything goes as scheduled, I will post for about another week and then not for 10-15 days. Yes, we are getting ready to move to the desert. Once again, until the move is done it’s not done (channeling my inner Yogi Berra), but we have dates for being packed, loaded and for flying out. Obviously, we also have tentative dates for closing on the sale of this house and the purchase of our desert home.

I am sorry to have to take the interruption (bloggus interruptus) as blog traffic has been very good this month. The number of unique visitors for the month is already the second highest in the history of Disaffected Musings and even with the looming hiatus may still “break the record.” Thanks for reading and please tell your friends!

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Corvette Blogger recently published a post about an episode of Everyday Driver that featured a C4 Corvette as one of three used and affordable sports cars one could buy. Via Corvette Blogger a still of the C4 Corvette tested in the episode:

[VIDEO] To Know One Is To Love One: Everyday Driver Digs the C4 Corvette

I am not really a fan of automobile racing. I appreciate that some advancements for “everyday” cars were originally developed for racing, and maybe I would enjoy racing if I were a participant (or would have before my reflexes diminished with age), but watching races on TV is virtually impossible for me. I didn’t exactly enjoy the one time I attended the Indianapolis 500 in person, either.

That being said, here is an interesting passage from the Corvette Blogger article:

“It [the C4 Corvette] was also a demon on a road course. In fact, it was so good and so fast, the Sports Car Club of America [SCCA] banned it in the late eighties. According to an article from our friends over at Hagerty, ‘Auto racing might be the only sport that penalizes a team for winning. When that happened to the C4 Corvette in the late 1980s, the incident started an intriguing new chapter in the marque’s racing history. The C4 Corvette thrust Chevy’s sports car into supercar handling territory, if not ultimate speed, when it debuted in 1984. With 0.9-g cornering, reliable Chevy small-block V-8 performance, and excellent brakes, the C4 quickly proved its mettle in SCCA Showroom Stock GT racing. The Vette utterly dominated the podium in the Playboy and then Escort Endurance Championship from 1985–87, relegating the Porsche 944 Turbo to a cameo role in the series.'”

“The Corvette beat Porsche 29–0 [emphasis mine] from 1985 to 1987, says John Powell, who ran a racing school at Canada’s Mosport track in Ontario, Canada, and campaigned ‘Vettes in that series. Corvette fans were happy, but the ‘Vette’s dominance threatened race participation by other brands, as well as fan attendance.”

“And so, after the 1987 series, the SCCA booted the Corvettes…”

I think a lot of car snobs have looked down at the Corvette. “A real car is made in Europe.” Bullsh*t! The base price for a Ferrari 812 Superfast is $340,000 and one can pay nearly a half million for a car fully equipped. The car will accelerate from 0 to 60 MPH in just under 3 seconds. The 812, which debuted in 2017, is the first Ferrari with electric power steering.

My 2016 Z06 stickered for about $100,000 new although I paid far less than that for a used one with 4,400 miles. All C7 Corvettes, the generation that debuted with the 2014 model year, have electric power steering. My Z06, stock, would do a sub-3 second 0-60. By the way, it was a big deal that the C4 Corvette could manage 0.9-g cornering. My Z06 will do 1.2-g. I couldn’t find data for the 812 Superfast, but even with rear-wheel steering I can’t imagine it can beat the Z06 cornering.

Magnetic ride shocks made their Ferrari debut with the 599. That technology was first used on the Corvette.

Hey, I understand the desire of those who can afford to buy a Ferrari to actually buy one. If I could afford one, I would almost certainly buy one as well. I still would keep my Z06, though.

Back to the Corvette Blogger piece…one of the main points of the article is how much the two Everyday Driver hosts liked the C4 Corvette. I used to have that episode saved on a DVR, but at some point the episode developed an inability to play on any receiver in the house so I deleted it. Wonder why we’re jettisoning DirecTV after we move? Oh, many of the saved episodes of all shows that have been saved for more than just a few weeks have stopped playing. Anyway…

As I have written before, if you have an uncontrollable urge to buy a Corvette, a C4 can be a very affordable way into one. I would, though, recommend one from 1992 or later, particularly from 1995 or 1996 if you can find one. A ZR-1 would be an exception, of course, although probably not as affordable as a “base” Corvette.

A Car Gurus search for 1995-96 Corvettes nationwide yielded 19 examples with a list price of under $10,000. Most of them had high mileage, though. Limiting the search to cars with 60,000 miles or less yielded 8 cars listed below $12,500. Would you rather buy a Toyota 4runner for more than $40,000? NOT me!

107,677 Corvettes were produced from 1992 to 1996. I think you can find one if you look.

#WednesdayUpdate

#C4Corvette

#somanycarsjustonelife

#disaffectedmusings

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Throwback Thursday/C8 Reveal Day

See the source image

From torquenews.com one of many renderings by “ChazCron” of the C8 Corvette as well as the announcement of the reveal date, which is today, of course. Since most of us were not invited to the event in Tustin, California I think you can watch here. If you live on the East Coast, the event doesn’t start until 10:30 or 11 PM.

I think that the entire future of the Corvette could be decided by the success, or lack thereof, of the C8. While Chevrolet/GM can rationalize the sharp decline in Corvette sales since 2014—the first model year of the C7—by “blaming” the drop on the rumors surrounding the C8, the American automotive landscape has changed dramatically. In the back of my mind I wonder if the upcoming discontinuation of the Camaro has as much to do with helping the Corvette as with declining Camaro sales. Of course, if that were really true then Camaro production would probably be stopped before 2022 or 2023.

Schedule of Events for the C8 Corvette Reveal Now Public

From corvetteblogger.com a picture of an invitation to and the schedule of the C8 reveal. I really hope the C8 is a success although I have no desire to own one at present. I think it would be a shame if Chevrolet didn’t get to produce the two millionth Corvette, which is about 300,000 units away.

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From cargurus.com a picture of an example of the last year of the C4 Corvette, 1996:

See the source image

While I am not a big fan of their TV commercials, my wonderful wife and I both found our current Corvettes on CarGurus. As I have written before, I have not always been a big fan of the C4. For many years I thought the styling was bland and until the introduction of the “new” LT-1 engine in 1992 I don’t think the cars were great performers. However, I have grown to appreciate the looks of the later models of the C4. In addition, the 1995 and 1996 models had improved fuel injectors that were better able to deal with ethanol content in gasoline, or as I call it, the corn farmers subsidy program.

As almost every Corvette fan or person in the collector car business knows, C4 Corvettes are not expensive at all. A search on AutoTrader, limited to a 100-mile radius of my house, unearthed six 1995 or 1996 Corvettes with list prices under $10,000. A nationwide search, but only for cars with 75,000 miles or fewer, revealed 18 such cars under $10,000. Of course, if you don’t have to have a 1995 or 1996 model then your choices multiply greatly. C4 production totaled 359,028 in the 13 model years it was manufactured (1984-96).

The Corvette world will never be the same after today. I would very much like to read your thoughts, either before or after the reveal or both.

#C8CorvetteReveal

#C4Corvette

#somanycarsjustonelife

#disaffectedmusings

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Frugal Friday

First, my take on the college admissions scandal. TOO many kids are in college. Americans have been brainwashed to think that working with one’s hands is beneath them and their children. Welders, plumbers, automobile techs and the like are in short supply and make a good living.

In 1940 there were 6 high school grads for every college grad. Now, there are 3 high school grads for every 2 college grads. About two-thirds of high school grads are attending college the year after graduation. That’s absurd, in my opinion. Of course, government subsidies of higher education do little except to raise its cost significantly. The price of a good or service CANNOT be reduced by subsidizing demand. Go back to Econ 101. Yes, I am aware of the irony of referring to a “college” course. However, Econ 101 or its equivalent should be taught in high school, if not earlier.

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On to Frugal Friday. Maybe I should have titled the post Frugal Friday, Corvette Edition.

Used 1999 Chevrolet Corvette Coupe ALVERTON, PA 15612 - 509555524 - 1

From autotrader.com a picture of a 1999 Corvette with 49,000 miles. Although the listing didn’t specify a transmission type interior photos indicate the car is an automatic. How much? The seller, an independent dealer in Pennsylvania, is asking $11,900. Oh…this first search was for C5 Corvettes, 1997-2004.

This wasn’t the least expensive C5 but seemed to me to be a good balance of price, mileage and condition. My first Corvette was a C5—a 2002 model—and I liked the car enough so that I will probably be a Corvette guy for the rest of my life.

This next search was for 1995 and 1996 Corvettes, the last two years of the C4. As I have written before, I have not always been a fan of this generation Corvette, but have developed an affinity for these cars in the last couple of years. However, I certainly wouldn’t buy one before the introduction of the new LT-1 engine in 1992 and would strongly prefer to buy a 1995 or 1996 as the fuel injectors for those years were improved to deal with the effects of the corn farmers subsidy program…uh, ethanol in gasoline.

Used 1995 Chevrolet Corvette Coupe FREMONT, NE 68025 - 504940066 - 2

Also from autotrader.com a green 1995 Corvette, automatic transmission with the Nebraska-based dealer (Go Big Red!) asking $8,850 for this car with 69,000 miles. It’s a little suspicious to me that the car was photographed in the rain and the interior is worn, although not torn.

I hear people saying that C4 Corvettes are potentially very good investments as their values will have to increase in the future. NO ONE can predict the future, but if you want a Corvette you can still buy what seems to be a nice one for FOUR figures. Once again, the average “transaction price” for a new vehicle in the US is approaching $40,000.

Any thoughts on these choices for Frugal Friday?

#FrugalFriday

#Corvette

#somanycarsjustonelife

#disaffectedmusings

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Connections

Connections is a fascinating (IMO) TV series created, written and narrated by James Burke, a science historian. Each episode would link people or inventions that didn’t seem to be related at all. From the Wikipedia article about the series here is the synopsis for a typical episode:

“‘Eat, Drink and Be Merry…’ begins with plastic, the plastic credit card, and the concept of credit, then leaps back to the time of the dukes of Burgundy, the first state to use credit. The dukes used credit for many luxuries, and to buy more armor for a stronger army. The Swiss opposed the army of Burgundy and invented a new military formation (with soldiers using pikes) called the pike square. The pike square, along with events following the French Revolution, set in motion the growth in the size of armies and in the use of ill-trained peasant soldiers. Feeding these large armies became a problem for Napoleon, which caused the innovation of bottled food. The bottled food was first put in champagne bottles then in tin cans. Canned food was used for armies and for navies. In one of the bottles, the canned food went bad, and people blamed the spoiled food on ‘bad air’, also known as swamp air. Investigations around ‘bad air’ and malaria led to the innovation of air conditioning and refrigeration. In 1892, Sir James Dewar invented a container that could keep liquids hot or cold (the thermos) which led three men – Konstanin Tsiolkovsky, Robert Goddard, and Hermann Oberth – to construct a large thermal flask for either liquid hydrogen and oxygen or for solid fuel combustion for use in rocket propulsion, applying the thermal flask principle to keep rocket fuel cold and successfully using it for the V-2 rocket and the Saturn V rocket that put man on the moon.”

Each episode in the original series (1978) was fascinating to me. I didn’t enjoy the book anywhere near as much nor did I enjoy the “sequels,” Connections² or Connections³ as much as the original.

In his book Steve Magnante’s 1001 Corvette Facts, Magnante writes about a “Connections” event. Fact #518 links the Chevrolet Corvair, the Porsche 928 and the C4 Corvette. Magnante writes that Porsche developed the front-engined 924 and 928 as a response to the reaction to the rear-engined Corvair. Porsche worried that the US, its largest export market, might ban rear-engined cars. The introduction of the 924 and particularly the 928 led General Motors/Chevrolet to abandon any mid-engined Corvette and re-commit to a front-engine layout in the C4. (In my opinion much of the excessive and vitriolic criticism of corporate America has its roots in the Corvair and the controversy it created. In his book Engines of Change: A History of the American Dream in Fifteen Cars, Paul Ingrassia connects the Corvair to the election of George Bush in 2000. Ralph Nader became so famous that he ran for President and received enough votes in Florida so that the state and its electoral votes would be awarded to Bush instead of Al Gore. That’s a real Connections story!)

See the source image

From journal.classiccars.com a picture of a first-generation Corvair.

See the source image

From momentcar.com a picture of a Porsche 928.

From corvsport.com a picture of a C4 Corvette. This happens to be a 1990 model.

People who think they can predict the future are either delusional or lying. Nature is extremely complex and the only prediction that can be made is that nature is unpredictable. Human behavior, while not as complex as nature, can be inscrutable as well.

#somanycarsjustonelife

#disaffectedmusings

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Gallimaufry

“…a confused jumble or medley of things…”

From this CNBC article comes this chart:

United States	79,595
Japan	17,915
China	16,875
Germany	15,080
Canada	10,840
France	10,120
Hong Kong*	10,010
United Kingdom	9,370
Switzerland	6,400
Italy	5,960

OK, what is it? According to data firm Wealth-X this is the number of Ultra High Net Worth (UHNW) individuals in the ten countries with the most such people. Wealth-X defines UHNW as having a net worth of $30 million or more. By the way, the asterisk next to Hong Kong denotes that it is a “semi-autonomous, special administrative region of China.”

Seven percent of all American households have a net worth of $1 million or more and the number of US households with a net worth of $25 million or more has increased 73 percent since 2008. I have written this data before because I didn’t understand why a wealthy country with so many empty-nester and single-person households seemingly buys nothing but SUVs and pickup trucks. Thanks to my friend Robert I have come to the realization that it is America’s obesity that plays a major role in what vehicles the country’s citizens buy.

I have no problem with wealth as long as it is acquired legally. As I have also written before I believe that money I have legally earned, legally saved and legally invested belongs to me. Government does not have “dibs” on the entirety of a country’s wealth so that it can “fix” wealth distribution. Government exists to protect property rights, not to usurp them.

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Speaking of property:

See the source image

From cargurus.com a picture of a 1995 Corvette, the next to last year of the C4 generation. Five years ago I did not care for these cars. The looks seemed bland to me and until the introduction of the “new” LT-1 engine in 1992 these cars were less than spirited performers. As I have often written, however, as I grow older my tastes have changed and I appreciate cleaner lines more. Not that I am going to buy a C4 Corvette, but if I were I would still buy something 1992 model year or newer, preferably 1995 or 1996 because the fuel injectors were improved in 1995 to deal with the effects of the corn farmers subsidy program…I mean ethanol content in gasoline.

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I titled this photo “WTF Buick.” I wish I could remember the source, but it is a picture or rendering of the Buick Avista concept car. Of course, the first concept car was the Buick Y-Job from 1938:

See the source image

The photo is from cartype.com. From time to time American automobile manufacturers tease the public with stunning concept cars, but most of them never come close to production. Conceptus Interruptus

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The next Barrett-Jackson auction begins soon so I thought it was about time for another Cristy Lee photo:

See the source image

From cristylee.tv…

Monday Musings

On this day in 1809, Charles Darwin AND Abraham Lincoln were born. Americans would disagree, but Darwin had a larger impact on the world. It is surprisingly difficult to ascertain what percentage of Americans believe in evolution. The Huffington Post, which I will admit is not one of my favorite organizations, published a poll in 2013 that about a third of Americans don’t believe in evolution. Other published polls have shown an even larger percentage. Not surprisingly, older and more religious Americans have a greater level of disbelief. I believe in evolution and think the evidence is overwhelming. Of course, as Satchel Paige is supposed to have said, “There are some people that if they don’t know, you can’t tell them.”

February 12 has seen some very bad days in the automotive industry. In 1957, a fire destroyed much of the Jaguar Browns Lane factory in Coventry including some vehicles that were being transitioned from D-type race cars to street-legal XKSS autos.

On February 12, 2008, in a prelude of what was to come, General Motors offered a buyout to its entire US hourly workforce: 74,000 workers. Today, GM is actually doing quite well although its future is uncertain as the automotive industry transitions to electric and/or autonomous vehicles. In the Basque language: “Ez niretzat.”

As a Corvette fan, this day also has a bad connotation as it was on February 12, 2014 that a large sinkhole swallowed eight historic Corvettes at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Three of the eight—the ZR1 Blue Devil prototype, the 1,000,000th Corvette, and a 1962 model—have been restored, but the others are on display as they were recovered.

See the source image

From cargurus.com a picture of an example of the last year for the C4 Corvette, a 1996 model. Five years ago the C4 did not appeal to me, but its clean lines and the introduction of the modern LT1 engine in 1992 have made it a favorite of mine, now.

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