Svelte Supercar: The $240,000 Lamborghini Superleggera
Congratulations! Your membership in the recession has expired. Throw off that sad shade of Gray Austerity which hardly becomes you. It’s time to abuse your bank account.
But what to buy?
Proud owner: Okay, not so much
You might consider a diamond-encrusted Victoria’s Secret bra. Or perhaps a Greenwich mansion with a dollar-sign shaped swimming pool. Or a Lamborghini. Yes, how about a nice Lambo for the six-car garage?
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(Bloomberg) By Jason H. Harper – Jun 10, 2010
This is a love letter to the manual transmission. Or perhaps its obituary.
Still ballin': The Ford Mustang still has a six-speed manual... for now.
I understand the emotion that a stick and clutch engenders. Passionate drivers often feel they’re better connected to a car which can be shifted manually. Others go even further. A fellow once told me, “I’ll let go of my stick when you pry it out of my dead, cold hand.” (more…)
By Jason H. Harper – May 27, 2010 (Bloomberg)
A friend recently argued that it’s hard to find a bad car these days. He may be right.
Boring, generic, ugly and pointless cars? Sure. But astounding crap-cans with engines that sound like a bout of tinnitus and can’t handle a 2 percent grade? Much harder to find.
Just look at Kia Motors Corp., South Korea’s second-largest automaker after affiliate Hyundai Motor Co. Once the butt of jokes from comedians like Jay Leno, Kia expects to boost global sales by more than 25 percent this year, and a recent survey by ALG Inc., which tracks residual values, found that the public’s perception of Kia’s quality is rising — while stalwart Toyota Motor Corp.’s is dropping. (more…)
By Jason H. Harper – May 20, 2010 (Bloomberg)
There’s a $1,300 option on the 2011 BMW 5 Series called a head-up display. Your digital speed is projected on the windshield so the driver never has to look down at the gauge.
The fighter-jet technology just may pay for itself within the first year of ownership.
Why ante up? Well, I’m placidly motoring along a divided freeway in a new 535i that lacks that option. It feels like I’m doing 50 mph but I glance down and — gee whiz — 93 miles per hour (150 kph). And is that a state trooper up ahead? (more…)
