Why is it odd? They were primarily there to call the volunteer firefighters in to the station. They needed to know they worked. Best way is to just do it once a day. Handy bonus, everyone in town knew when noon was without needing a clock.

Interesting - there must be some distinction between “sirens” and “foghorns” because I am pretty sure there is a BIG warning sign at Portland Head Lighthouse saying that the foghorn can be over 150dB, and to stay well back away from it. But that isn’t continuous, so there is that.

Sound waves are directional like most waves.  Notice how loud a fire truck is when it’s approaching you as opposed to when it has passed you.  Sitting behind this thing would be loud, but nothing that some earplugs and muffs can’t control.  

Hey, Shannonville is great!

Lol. That’s certainly why the F1 sells now for bazillions, from 5 to 10 times the price of the cars you quoted.

It re-wrote the supercar rulebook from the ground up in the early 1990s.

I guess winning Le Mans doesn't count for anything?

IIRC - First carbon tub, first active aero, first fan effect, first semi-structural engine, first magnesium alloy wheels. I’m sure there’s a lot more.

I think the takeaway is that the Alpine A110 is a really good drivers car. 

Yes... those transmission have to be designed, engineered, and produced. No one said that a manual transmission can't handle that power level.

They didn't say that manuals are too weak to hold up. They said that they didn't currently have a manual transmission to hold up to that power level, and designing a new one would increase the cost of producing said vehicle.

Jalopnik conspiracy theory, nothing more.

I don’t know if it’s a matter of blame as much as it is change.

Problem with this conspiracy theory is plenty of automakers did it the right way, and people still didn’t bite. Infiniti couldn’t justify bringing the manual back with the Q50. BMW offered the 6MT on the 340i AND xi..... no dice. Audi kept hope alive with the S4. Again, no takers. What makes you think things would…

BMW offered a manual on all trims and engines for the F30 3 series. No one bought them. Corvette offered a manual on all engines. Less than 25% bought it with a manual. Even in the enthusiast market with the 911, less than 20% go for the manual. The broader market doesn’t want manuals, it’s simple as that. They could…

What a stupid remark....

“new cars are unsafe because they have crumple zones?”

I feel like if there was ever a Platonic ideal of “You can be correct and still be an asshole,” it’s this situation.

I don’t know the details of Ghosn’s case, but I will say this: Japan has a 99.9% conviction rate. Their justice system has flaws that I can’t quite support. When he says it’s a rigged justice system, he’s not wrong. Getting a fair trial, by American standards at least, is impossible in Japan.

I credit him for the stagnation at Nissan. Make of that what you will.