I’ll be curious to see how this is going when the kid’s six months old. Had a Mini when our first was born. The giant rear-facing infant seat basically made it impossible to have a passenger (and it was AWESOME to get in and out).

The turbine of the Burton Batmobile was deeply stupid in that it was basically an actual jet engine that propelled the car by shooting flames out the back.

Took my two oldest (5 and 7) to see it on Saturday and really enjoyed it. Far more than I thought I would. The “message” seemed a bit too front and center for my tastes, in that its obviousness took me out of the narrative at times, but I could say the same for Disney’s other recent outings like Wreck-It Ralph and Big…

Yeah, true enough. But Saabs actually had some cache and desirable qualities. Back when the Elantra GT was ripping off Saab, Hyundai’s reputation was cheap shitbox cars, and I was still like “hey...fastback!”

I don’t hate the X6, but probably because I just really like fastbacks (I actually kinda liked the probably two or three generations-gone Elantra GT for its fastback). But I think it works better on the smaller X4.

Well actually I said it’s the secondary kid-hauler. Lots of two-car households out there, and I’ve seen plenty where both parents drive massive SUVs/etc because they have to haul the kids. There’s a stigma that small car = not for hauling kids. And that’s just crap.

So I’ve had an ‘06 Cooper S, ‘08 Clubman S and am now in a ‘13 Countryman S.

Meh. I’ve got three kids and a Countryman. If we’re going around as a family, we take the wife’s minivan. I mostly commute to and from work, occasionally take one or two of the kids to school, etc. As a primary kid-hauler, yeah the Clubman might be a challenge. As the secondary though, not a problem.

The ‘88 RR started at $33K - pricey for the time, sure, but nothing like the $100K+ it lives in nowadays.

I’m going to say 1993/94 with the arrival of the P38 Range Rover and the Jeep Grand Cherokee.

The “Classic” Range Rovers were offroad utility vehicles that just happened to have some touches of luxury. By which I mean leather seats, HVAC and power windows that would work when they weren’t blowing fuses.

I honestly don’t know if I’d blame the defense contractors. Boeing, Northrop, Lockheed, they’d all chomp at the bit for a chance to develop a next-generation A-10.

Just one problem there (well, lots of problems, but yeah) - the Navy needs something to fly around. And the Air Force does need something to replace the F-16 at some point.

Pilot Varsity - Disposable Fountain Pen

Pilot Varsity - Disposable Fountain Pen

You’re thinking about it all wrong. The interior layout screams minivan...and compared to any minivan out there, the Model X is sexy as fuck. The problem is that it’s also $90-100K more than the Odyssey/Sienna/etc.

Totally a photoshop, but I could see something like this going over rather well, particularly in Europe.

It’s a brand name. Land Rovers rarely rove land anymore. Most car brands don’t actually mean anything. You can’t eat your iPhone. Etc.

“Buy a wagon”

It is totally confusing and I wouldn’t be surprised if Mini drops it at some point. The brand is recognizable enough on its own, and I don’t know any Mini owner who goes around calling their vehicle the Cooper S Countryman or whatever.