@monsterajr: ah, that's cool then - you just took a car with an engine that hadn't been broken in yet, abused the shit out of it and then sold it to someone for 30k in '80s money.

@Prismatist steers with his right foot: I know counter-rotating coaxial rotors have definitely been done. The LYNX does not appear to be one (I am not very familiar with it, but pictures on wikipedia only show a single set of rotor blades as well as a tail rotor). When it was discussed at Sikorsky, the general…

@Joe_Bloe: True, but at almost any velocity, a decent chunk of the retreating blade is seeing "negative" wind speeds. The variable lift produced by the blade at different points in the rotation is compensated for by a pushrod that constantly adjusted the angle of attack of the blade throughout the revolution.

@snap_understeer_ftw: Yeah, I think my 2nd term co-op was 2005, and they had a billboard of the thing outside, but at that point it was just a set of design goals. They had just cancelled the Commanche the year before AND lost the presidential helicopter fleet contract to the english / italians. I think they were…

@RB26Skyline: Helicopters are limited by the velocity of tip of the leading blade. Once that gets up to about mach 1, you can't continue stable flight. Same is true with propeller blades - you can't spin them any faster than mach 1 at the tip.

Holy shit, they actually built it! I was co-oping at Sikorsky when this thing was proposed and it was kind of laughed off as not feasible due to the wind shear between the counter-rotating blades.

@Wunno Sev: What about Harley?

So the Guggenheim can host a collection of motorcycles as an art exhibit, while an auto blogger tells me that cars can't be art? I'll agree that BMW art cars are contrived, but that doesn't mean that cars are not art.

As in, this car will be supra lame.

@monsterajr: And that kids, is why I don't ever leave my cars with valets or shops.

@BlueBomb - that's not rust, it's called patina.: I know what you mean - I have an '88 635csi - no M30B34 for me, I got the 208 hp B35. I have to finish rebuilding the shifter linkage, though - I didn't get the rubber one that connects the console to the transmission when I had it apart last time.

@Matt White: The 525e has the 2.7 liter eta m20 that put out a grand total of about 130 hp if I recall correctly. The 528i had the 2.8 liter M30, which made about 180 hp and had a timing chain instead of a timing belt. Definitely two completely different cars.

@solomonrex: yeah, ever now and then an engadget, jezebel or other gawker blog commenter somehow finds their way over here and starts extolling the virtues of some truly awful car.

@IN THE FACE!: hey, i'm not a hunter either. that just demonstrates a certain degree of character right there.

@IN THE FACE!: that's a keeper

@Jackie: I suppose it also varies a bit depending on what you're driving. As most people who live in Armadillo territory drive pickups or suvs, I'd imagine it's quite rare. I haven't actually hit one myself, so I can't say for sure, but I'd best my Miata would scoop it up onto the hood at the very least.

Actually, the Armadillo is the dumbest animal on the planet. Their defense strategy against the car is to jump vertically into the air. As a result, they often go right into your windshield. Fortunately, they're not nearly as massive as the deer, and only live in southern states, so they still aren't quite the same…

at least they have good taste in paint color...

Toyota and Lexus have pretty much gone to a Camry based vehicle lineup, right? If I'm not mistaken, it's at least the RX, ES, Camry, Venza, Solara, Highlander, and even the Sienna.

soo... it's not so much as a sunbird boat as it is a boat with a sunbird on it for some reason.