October 12, 2009The R8 Spyder: YES PLEASE

image via uncrate.com

I’ve been told that people in LA would sooner go into default on their mortgages than be seen around town in anything less than a hot car, but I don’t know if I really ever believed that until I was in LA a few weeks ago.  There are an inordinate number of fancy cars in that city.  And it’s really not like Miami where cars are seen as an opportunity to tastelessly display one’s money.  I would actually want to drive any one of the plethora of expensive cars I saw cruising on Melrose.

That said, the car I was most surprised to see in such abundance was the Audi R8 (a regular on this blog).  In Manhattan, I’ve seen two or three of these rare $120K+ supercars coursing through the city blocks over a very extended period of time (since I first became acquainted with the car during Superbowl XLII).  But in LA, they seemed to be everywhere (I could feel the silent “okay, enough already” vibes coming from Gabby, my traveling, partner after I pointed the 8th or 9th R8 out during the course of our trip).

Just as my enthusiasm for the R8 had begun to wane, my trip to LA served to get me revved about Audi’s super coupe all over again.  And then I read this on Uncrate a little while ago: “What do you add to the fastest, sexiest Audi ever made?  Open air.”

Um, hello.  What are my four favorite car things?  1) Luxurious/Tech-Savvy interior.  2) Speed.  3) German.  4) Convertible.  Check, check, check, and check.  The all new Audi R8 Spyder will feature a 5.2 liter V10 engine that will generate a whopping 525 horsepower (I don’t even know where I would be able to use all of that unless I was driving on the Autobahn).  Unfortunately it will also feature a price tag that’s beyond my reach, but maybe if I move to LA, that won’t stop me.

August 20, 2009EIGHT GREAT CAR-IN-MOVIE SCENES: Part I

(in no particular order)

1) 1962 Ferrari GTO in Vanilla Sky

2) Saudi Arabian Freeway Explosion in The Kingdom

3) Porsche 928 in Risky Business

4) Mini Cooper in The Italian Job

5) 1950 Ferrari 250 GT California in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

6) Audi Q7 in Ironman

AND

Audi R8 in Ironman

7) Gone in 60 Seconds

8) H2 Hummer in Bad Boys II

June 14, 2009Conforming to the Norm

photo via http://www.lookatbowen.com

As is evident by my affinity for Picasso’s ouevre, Justin Timberlake’s brand of beat, and the lobsters at the Palm on Second Avenue, I tend to like what the masses like.  It is really no big surprise that I recently reached a conclusion that countless other gearheads, auto aficiniados, and even luke-warm car enthusiasts before me have conceded: that Ferrari represents the pinnacle of automotive architecture and engineering.

I came to this not-so-original conclusion last weekend, actually…but we’ll come back to that in a second.  Having researched and written for the blog for about five months now, I’ve encountered (in the virtual space) my fair share of exotic cars.  Though Spykers and Saleens and high-end German models drive my RPMs high, time and again, the make that so consistently makes my eyes go wide is Ferrari: past, present, and future.

I am beginning to make sense of the quandary that so bemused me during my Junior year semester in Italy: why is Italian culture so enamored of / obsessed with / enchanted by the red, yellow and black logo? There are hats, sneakers, tee-shirts, even expensive leather jackets emblazoned with the black prancing stallion and sold in every city in Italy (from Rome to Ravenna).   The yellow shield is much more than a brand insignia, it is the mark of an entire culture: a source of pride that excites and captivates those members of society who may never drive, let alone own, a Ferrari.

So, why did I finally decide to throw my card in the hat where so many others’ cards already lie?  Well, I’ve already - right here on the blog - professed my affections for that Ferrari 275 GTB barreling through the streets of Paris in Claud Lelouch’s 1976 video, the drop-dead-stunning 1957 Ferarri 250 Testa Rossa that sold for a staggering $12.1 million at auction this year (a world record), the speedster 575 that was showcased opposite the Aston Martin Vanquish in that Top Gear video, the outrageously beautiful 1959 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder, and the recently-featured-in-Gossip-Girl Ferrari 246 Dino.

But, it was none of these discoveries in isolation that pushed me to capitulate to the norm, no.  For me, the final straw came over the weekend when I had occasion to eye a superb collection of cars, among them: a vintage Ferrari California, an F430 Spider, and a 599 GTB.  Observing these cars, amongst a slew of other rare and outstanding gems, in the flesh and with just a few other bodies in sight (two of my friends), I became acutely aware of just how spectacular these cars are.  Just to be in their presence, to gaze at the carefully crafted architectural nuances that make each model so arresting, and to hear their thundering engines, one cannot help but be enchanted.

To begin, let’s start with the F430.  As Saturday evening was coming to a close, adieu had just been bid to the dinner guests, and those of us staying put scrambled around the kitchen to get things put away, the sound of an F430 maneuvering itself out of a steep gravel driveway offered the ultimate soundtrack to mundane evening chores.  With a roar like the rip of a chain-saw, the just ignited F430 calls to mind the image of a fenced in bronco waiting to spring free at the rodeo, or the road as it were in this case.  Lurking beneath its strapping yet completely refined exterior are 490 horses that are just waiting to storm the streets.  At $217K, the F430 is Ferrari’s entry-level offering (yes, true).

The 599 is not an entry-level Ferrari.  At $320K+, the 599 is the top of the line road car manufactured by the Italian auto-maker.  Not only that, the 599 is the most powerful V-12-powered production car of all time. 0-60 in 3.7 seconds is facilitated by the strength of a 620 horsepower power plant.  For a car with such brute force, the 599’s package is modestly athletic.  Typically, road cars with as much power as the 599 boasts look a bit cumbersome, stocky and sometimes down right clunky (read: the Lamborghini Murciélago, the Audi R8, and the Ford GT).  This is not the case for the 599, which is more elegant than it is brawny.

The classic Ferrari California.  Do I even need to go down this road?  For more on why the Ferrari California makes me weak in the knees, please read my previous post:  Dream Car: 1959 Ferrari 250 GT LWB Spyder California.

See, the thing about Ferrari is that there is no one Ferrari that is so enrapturing.  Ferrari is almost exactly like Picasso: you may like some pieces more than others, but there is no single piece of work that one can point to as the triumph of his career. Instead, one marvels at the body of work and the range of creativity in Picasso’s ouevre.  The same is true of Ferrari.  While there are particular gems that have emerged through the years, the truly remarkable feature of Ferrari is its consistency.  Ferraris are so habitually the most meticulously appointed, impeccably architected, and flawlessly engineered vehicles.  To drive or to ride in one is to experience art with all five senses (well, minus taste - unless you’re riding in a drop-top and you taste the air rushing in as you cannot help but to crack a smile).

Ferrari 430 Spider via seriouswheels.com

Ferrari 599 GTP Fiorano via SportsCarUp

1959 Ferrari California via Luxist

Superbowl XLIII (Audi A6) vs. Superbowl XLII (Audi R8)

While I generally enjoy sports, I really have no use for football other than the excuse it provides to drink during the day with friends, wear team paraphernalia, and cheer loudly.  So, with no New York teams in last night’s Superbowl, I was far more into the Momofuku pork wraps being served where I was and the Bruce Springstein halftime show (I have a bit of a softspot for Glory Days) than I was into the actual game.  Even the commercials, a habitual highlight of the Superbowl, were somewhat lackluster this year with movies, NBC TV shows and Budweiser dominating.  The GoDaddy commercials were dumb, the E-trade commercial was okay, and the Coke and Pepsi commercials were pretty good but were hardly earth-shattering.

That said, one commercial stood out among the rest and, for me, made Superbowl XLIII worth watching…can you guess?

I don’t know if I have words for this year’s Audi commercial.  It struck such a chord for me because it hit on so many of my favorite things all at once.  The homage to Grand Theft Auto was so incredibly awesome…who thought of this?  Did someone scan my brain while I was sleeping because this is the kind of thing I might have dreamt of.  Specifically, the white suit sported by the driver, the ousted yuppie with the Zach Morris telephone in hand, and the “The Mousse is Loose” billboard made the Grand Theft Auto Vice City portion of the commercial some of the best thirteen seconds of visual media that I have ever seen.  This commercial was a total winner for me.  And the A6 is a knock-out.  Audi’s head- and tail-lights are my favorite of any make.  

But let’s not forget the great commercials of yesteryear.  Remember the Audi commercial that aired during Superbowl XLII?  The reinvented scene from the Godfather was memorable and the R8 was a wonder to look at and a delight to listen to (its roar as it tears down the driveway and out of the gates of the mansion gets the adrenaline going even when lazing on the couch).  

And so, now for the MAIN EVENT: tonight, weighing in at 1 minute flat is the challenger, Audi commercial XLIII: Grand Theft Auto and in the opposite corner of the ring, registering at a whopping 1 minute and 3 seconds is the reigning champ, Audi commercial XLII: The Godfather.  Ready, FIGHT (thank you NY Mag’s Chris Rovzar and Jessica Pressler for your Gossip Girl blogs which have inspired my scoring methods for this match up).

+1 to The Godfather because the R8 is (just a bit) cooler than the A6.

+1 to Grand Theft Auto because the A6 (unlike the R8) is in the realm of possibility and in these sad economic times, it’s nice when the (more) affordable option is made an object of desire.

+1 to Grand Theft Auto for the Zach Morris phone.

+1 to Grand Theft Auto for the Pilates reference in the final millennium scene (good call Audi advertisers for coming up with pilates as way of defining the period).

+1 to The Godfather for having John Woltz, the actual guy from the Godfather in the commercial — it would have translated anyway, but the extra mile was greatly appreciated.

+1 to Grand Theft Auto because, it’s true, none of the 90s auto options was particularly appealing (the driver/criminal/chasee was right to skip that decade)…for more on why the 90s were a sad time for auto design, see the Jan 28th post that links to the “10 Most Embarrassing Award Winners in Automotive History”.

+1 to The Godfather for that mansion, it was just right.

…AND the winner is: Grand Theft Auto (4-3)

January 29, 2009Do Shrinking Wall Street Bonuses Mean Less Head-Turning Cars on the Road This Year?

For months, those in-the-know have predicted that Wall Street bonuses would drop precipitously this year from one year ago.  2008 bonuses have now been allocated and are being paid out this week and, sure enough, this year’s bonus payouts ($18.4 billion) amount to about 1/2 of last year’s total (about $32.9 billion).  What I have not yet seen addressed (and I will continue to scan for articles) is anything that considers the average bonus per worker.  With thousands of employees having been laid off in the finance sector, how much is the drop in bonus payouts a factor of the drop in employees to pay bonuses to? While many who worked at Lehman and Bear Stearns got picked up by other firms, many did not, a factor which may have contributed to bonus diminution.  Same is probably true for the consolidation efforts at Bank of America/Merrill Lynch and elsewhere.  

The presence of premium car dealerships in Manhattan’s Financial District and along Park Avenue in Midtown has long been associated with bonuses.  Often, finance guys (or gals) will take the money they received and go buy a ridiculous (read: awesome) car.  This explains the Audi R8, Mercedes SLR McLaren, and the rotating selection of Maserati and Ferrari autos on display on the windows of Manhattan dealerships.  So, will this ritual be affected in 2009?  It remains to be seen. But I’ll be paying attention.