Of course. So why is this a news story?

Yeah, winning the fucking hearts and minds right there. Nothing ridiculously contrived about any facet of this situation at all.

To be fair, the Rolls-Royce umbrella thing isn’t just for rain. It’s also designed to serve as a privacy curtain that the chauffeur uses for exiting passengers in paparazzi environments. The chauffeur can open the front and rear (rear-opening) doors to 45º, and open the umbrella in the gap to give (primarily female)…

Doug you forgot to tag it “rhd” [sic]. It’s not JDM unless you tag it “rhd”.

The rearward-facing third row is the fucking best. I love the W124 wagon for this reason (and recently bought my second for that very reason). The seats are also great to use the car for film and photography work.

That’s the one I was looking for.

Correct, although the 840 only came with a stick in Europe (850i and 850CSi were the only ones sold with sticks in the US).

No, no, I’m sure this year is the year that it’ll actually come out. Totally this year. Not like the last seven years of Audi R8 E-trons that Audi claimed they were going to build.

Working press launches provides a good background.

What are your thoughts on the Evora? I would absolutely love one in a year or two.

Unfortunately, that would never happen. The car wouldn’t get used or even referenced, let alone paid for (the only owner cars used by BMW are pristine, low-mileage, and original, meaning tiny 14” or 15” wheels if that’s how the car was sold, no modifications of any kind, even period ones, and no practicality updates…

No. The car wouldn’t get used or referenced, let alone paid for. There are enough meetings to try to decide which hue of black the kidneys should be painted—anyone who would suggest using a one-off, modified customer car would likely be fired at the next available opportunity. The only possible use is getting free…

If only it wasn’t so true. That is the truly awful Chevrolet Monte Carlo. It was actually the name they choose to use for their NASCAR racers during that time period, and descended from one of the muscle cars of the ‘60s and ‘70s.

Oh, the sled-behind-the-truck thing was so much fun. We only did it uphill on a ski home access road though, so maybe 20 mph max and in a steerable sled. Still was a blast though.

From a distance driving perspective, my answer will always be the E24 BMW 6 series. It’s a gorgeous grand tourer with a silky smooth engine that creates a sound and feel akin to a slowly accelerating Boeing 737 when you lean into the gas in gear to pass at highway speeds. The driving experience is connected and…

You lost to Juan Pablo Montoya?

I wanted to do diamond racing steelies, a rally bar, and meaty tires, but it made too much sense to move on to bigger and better things. I still miss that car though, deer strikes and broken handles and all.

And as we all know, a light bar absolutely does make any car look cool.

Of course it is. That’s why they cost $11-13k and climbing for a reasonable example instead of the $5-7k or so it was a while back.