There are a lot more than 17.  They had that many in 2011.  There were some models that were only offered in manual so the total number would be in the hundreds, maybe thousands.  Sadly no manuals are available now.  

Suggest that they avoid crew cab models and make a straight up single cab and a extended cab. Good reason. There are many thousands of vehicles doing parcel delivery, courier service and security that carry only a driver and less than 500lbs. In times long past they used small trucks to great effect. As the trucks…

This is brought to you by the same folks that made the Phaeton. Say no more. 

No wonder why Europeans find older German cars acceptable: their costs of ownership are mitigated by the availability of standalone authorized service centers and the availability of remanufactured components that are not available here. I suggest it is not the inconvenience of the repairs but their outrageous costs…

I bet you would wet yourself if you found a low mileage Ford Granada.  

Polling ignorant individuals about a product that has not been implemented is a waste of time. Blogging about a worthless poll is an even greater waste of time.

Go on a tour of an a vehicle assembly plant and you will invariably hear boasts about how they can efficiently produce any mix of vehicles. I believe them after seeing Miatas and model 3 sedans being assembled on the same line at their plant in Hiroshima. In the US distribution model vehicles are to be sold out of…

A worthless parlor trick. If they were only trying to demonstrate their capability why not transport a dozen doughnuts?  At best drones would be the last resort to transport critically needed organs. If conditions barred traditional methods of transport what is the use of delivering an organ if the transplant team…

BMW doesn’t understand rich folk. If they want a track car they get a track car. If they want a street car the house manager has several ready to drive. It’s only the poor mother fuckers who have only one car and try to do more than one thing with it. Same thing with houses; the Maui, Vail and the Hamptons houses each…

If planes were built to current automotive standards none but the suicidal would fly. Southwest has the best safety record for good reason: they prefer military pilots who typically depend on automation only to blow things up and they order their 737’s with the minimal amount automation “we expect the pilots to fly…

Japanese are too polite to say it but they think American toilets are akin to wiping your butt with leaves.  Once you have a washlet in your home you’ll agree with them. Yes, you’ll still use a little bit of toilet paper but only as a QA measure.  

The SAE has traditionally set headlight standards and is dominated by the Big Three and submissive OEM’s. For over 60 years this group has set headlight standards to frustrate foreign interlopers and keep US production costs down. Europe introduced quartz halogen lights to great effect but the SAE declared them…

Many years ago I ordered an ML320 new with 16" wheels. Before it came it I found new MB 17" wheels for $160 each delivered. Took them to Discount Tire and had new tires mounted. When the car came in I took the set to the dealer who installed them and put the originals inside before delivery. Listed the originals on…

You’re furious? How about the folk that buy the $2,000 rice cookers seen in the Akihabara shops?

Renovated bathrooms are good but are they going to spiff up the buckets they place in the middle of the concourse to catch the rain? Not everybody has to “go” but everybody has to navigate the buckets. Oh, and can we have another color other than orange?

Undermining this BS is the prediction of “peak oil”. A legion of much smarter folk have been embarrassed by their errant predictions of such. The US is a net exporter of oil which was not the case in earlier times. The only way you will see a smaller car revolution is to place substantial taxes on large vehicles and…

There is little attention paid to responses to emergency vehicles. Most drivers hear sirens and in their own sense of self preservation will stop or slow down to avoid being struct. I have yet to read about audible sensors to attempt to deal with this issue. There has been discussions by government personnel that…

The Soul is so often requested by car renters that at some locations (National) it is often placed in a group with larger cars and SUV’s that cost more to rent.  They must be doing something right.

I’ve seen chains dangling from an overhead beam to the clearance height of the low obstruction ahead and placed at a safe braking distance from it and in time to take an alternate route. A few of the chains were missing so it wasn’t damage free but I expect it worked for all but the truly impaired.

The real problem is the fact that politicians of all stripes believe it is they who create jobs. Jobs get created by innovative companies that make goods they can sell at a profit. Giving big money to those that are treading water has never been the route to greater employment. We can argue whether Elon Musk is making…