He designed the first turn at China which I think is pretty epic. Drivers have to brake IN the turn, there’s multiple ways to approach it, it tightens up and goes downhill, then switches back the other way.

I’d add Road Atlanta to that list as well, although not quite as epic as the others it’s pretty close. 

I get the safety aspect of paved runoff, but I also want some sort of penalty if you get a little naughty with the boundaries. Like maybe a 2-foot wide strip of gravel along the edge of the track (or even astroturf, which will ruin grip but shouldn’t create debris that has to be cleaned up) then have the paved runoff…

It’s ugly, but it’s not exclusive to capitalism either. You trim back dead leaves and branches to keep a whole plant or tree from dying. To make yourself stronger at the gym you first have to break down muscle. There are lots of examples in nature and other parts of life where that approach is useful and necessary,…

“but I think you can’t look at this without putting a great deal of blame on companies like GM for shutting down whole factories when we’re not even in a recession.”

But are they International Houses of Pie? Maybe that’s the missing piece.

This deserves all the stars... how did I not think of that?!

Since they’re obviously trying to make people aware of the fact that they’re more than just a breakfast joint, I’m going to say your “Pasta” guess might be spot on. Or maybe Panini? Pies? 

They could have a tasting for all of these awful ideas and call it the Trail of Beers. 

Glad this dumb idea got shot down.

His plans for underground electric buses in Las Vegas isn’t anything new. The Silver Line buses in Boston are essentially that; they can run above ground for part of their route, then go into their own dedicated tunnels underground for the rest of it.

No fancy sleds, breakthrough technologies, or low-friction vacuum environments? Just a paved single-car tunnel? 

I would at least look at a Renault. Nothing about the brand would prevent me from including them when shopping.

Given the relatively low value of the vehicle, couldn’t a salvage title be avoided by just not going through insurance? It’s only “totaled” if the insurance company gets involved, right?

Must be an Australian-built helicopter.

But how’s your diesel mileage? ;-)

I shall never forget this car, because after swearing I’d never buy any more 1:18 scale models (after running out of room for all of the ones I had) I found a model of one of these in a Canadian toy store while I was vacationing there. Much better souvenir than a fridge magnet...

I’ve been a huge Bigfoot fan since I was a kid. For my 30th birthday I took a trip to St. Louis to attend the Bigfoot Open House and it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

They had both, actually... Bigfoot Shuttle was the lifted Aerostar on off-road tires. Bigfoot Fastrax was the one on the tank chassis, which actually started with an Econoline body shell before being changed to an Aerostar.

At 133 feet long, it’s longer than a Boeing 737 MAX 8 or Airbus A320.