DOTS: Pandemic Oddities Edition

"Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available" (whoistheleader2) 04/13/2020 at 16:54 • Filed to: Dots

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I rode as a passenger on a short trip to retrieve a bike that frankly shouldn’t have been necessary. I did get to get out though and see a few cool rides along the way. Oh and also someone stealing cable. I didn’t know that was still a thing.

I liked this old square body Chevrolet Caprice. Behind it you can see the stupid raised reversible toll lane that really should have been light rail. Yes it is that wavy for much of its length. Sometimes even wavier.

I didn’t get a good look at this Beamer.

Camry wagon at the same intersection.

Nice square body.

I still can’t get a good picture of this surprisingly clean old Camry (thanks Pip) . I really like the creamy off white color in person.

Clean Lexus SC400 is clean. No, Panamer a, I wasn’t talking to you.

Bonus unnecessary car tetris.

Ash78, voting early and often > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 04/13/2020 at 17:12

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Every time I pass through ATL, I try to hit that elevated, dedicated HOV lane. Especially at night. It’s like unlocking one of those secret shortcuts in an arcade racing game that takes place in Tokyo.

I guarantee you that Caprice is just on his way to (or home from) the rim repair shop. If it’s not riding on 26" most of the time, it’s a crime against humanity.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Ash78, voting early and often 04/13/2020 at 17:29

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26" won’t fit, though now that you mention it I do see more donks than stocks. I actually have never driven the elevated toll lane and don’t often end up in the HOV. Are you talking about the HOV only exits? I’m not that familiar with the lanes.

fintail > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 04/13/2020 at 17:35

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SC is a late run model with those wheels I think, nice color. I saw a clean E30 out this morning too.

I suspect with Porsche and MB now having operations in metro Atlanta, there’s a significant amount of entitled dbag jerk suits driving like shit in company cars in some areas.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > fintail 04/13/2020 at 17:50

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Doubtless you are right but that is on the other side of Atlanta. Mostly just the clapped out muscle and tuner crowd making noise around here along with a few higher budget mods.

You have to get closer to the city and closer to the new money to see the truly crazy stuff. There is a big motorcycle crowd that is very visible around midtown. I once even saw the most unbelievably ornamented motorcycle I’ve ever seen, shows included. It would even have looked extravagant in a rapper’s music video but this guy was just out and about. Imagine something like this but like way more blinged out and completely and entirely white.

And man would you just look at the size of the wheels on that SC compared to the Panamara or even the Fusion next to it? And that is nothing compared to the tire size of that fintail Mercedes I see every day. Yours has equally petite wheels, right?

AdamB > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 04/13/2020 at 18:20

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What years were that gen Caprice? My father had a blue one of that gen which used to be a highway patrol car, but no one knows the year.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > AdamB 04/13/2020 at 18:41

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I am the last one to ask, but Google is always helpful.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Caprice#9C1_Police_model

fintail > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 04/13/2020 at 21:05

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What side are the jerks on? Ugh, I wouldn’t ride that thing if you paid me, not my style. The tuned domestic crowd is probably more fun than the drone in a company Panamera anyway.

Lots of new money in my area too, techdork, finance-realestate bro s and HB-5 types. Not “new” per se, seems to often be from affluent backgrounds who just became more affluent. Very bland people, some are enthusiasts and find something fun, but most prefer another sterile “supercar” that never sees more than 5 over, or a cloned Tesla.

For much of the 90s, anything more than ~16" was unusual. I had a 1998 AMG model MB with 17" wheels. I remember going to a Bentley dealer with a friend in 1999, and he was gawking at an Arnage with 19" wheels, they seemed huge. Today, my non-sport model MB wagon has 19" wheels. 98% of fintails have 13" wheels, which were just a little small even then.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > fintail 04/13/2020 at 22:14

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The wheels do really affect the proportions though, twisting your perception to make it look longer, wider, and lower than it is. Does yours have just a drivers side fender mirror?

Yeah I would never sink that much on a bike but what was awe inspiring was the fact that not a single surface remained - besides the tires - that wasn’t an extraordinarily expensive looking metallic white. I kind of had to hand it to them that it was absurd and almost beautiful. 

fintail > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 04/13/2020 at 22:19

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Exactly. It was to make the car look more substantial, and maybe give it more appeal for the North American market where MB was working hard to gain cred. Yes, only a driver’s mirror - passenger mirror was an optional extra that few chose.  The mirror moved to the door sometime in 1963, I think. Most cars from before the 70s have just one mirror, optional on some cars into the 90s.

Probably cheaper to paint a dream bike than a car anyway, paint and bodywork is expensive. I’ve estimated bodywork and a truly good paint job on the fintail would easily pass 10K, maybe closer to 15K.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > fintail 04/13/2020 at 22:25

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Paint can be ludicrously expensive indeed. Funny what features considered “essential” on a modern car didn’t use to be common or even exist.

fintail > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 04/13/2020 at 22:28

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Even on premium cars. Power windows or seats weren’t even an option on fintails, not possible. Radios and AC were not possible from the factory, installed by the dealer. However , they could be had with fuel injection and disc brakes, high tech for the time.  They also pioneered crumple zones, had 4 wheel independent suspension, etc.  

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > fintail 04/13/2020 at 22:41

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They were remarkably advanced for their time and also lasted quite a long time. Great driving and very good looking cars; also quintessentially German which is a good thing as far as I’m concerned. I always find it interesting what features are added or removed to make cars more palatable to Americans, since sometimes the tiniest detail is addressed while a glaring incompatibility is overlooked. Is there any detail that you think the average American consumer would have found very strange?

fintail > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 04/13/2020 at 23:00

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They were technically advanced, but could rust, and had one big issue for the US market - small engines. MB didn’t gain real traction until introducing V8s in higher production models in 1970/71. From then on, it was constant growth. American drivers don’t want a little engine that needs to be revved, they want a big lazy powerful engine for interstate cruising. Once MB learned that, it gained a real foothold.

For my car when it was new, the fuel injection would have been alien to many people . The relatively small size (2.2 liter) of the engine would have also thrown some people off - almost no US cars had an engine so small during that era, and definitely none at that price point . One funny thing is the gas gauge isn’t in lowest terms - it has 2/4, 4/4 - MB did that for awhile.  Fintails also have a unique speedometer - a vertical ribbon rather than round or horizontal.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > fintail 04/13/2020 at 23:34

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Interesting. Big lazy engines are great for driving long distances on wide open roads but so is an efficient fuel injected engine. It really is remarkable how ahead of the curve they were. And a 2/4 fraction would probably irrationally annoy me.

fintail > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 04/13/2020 at 23:40

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The problem with the little FI engine, for traditional American taste anyway, is that it probably revs at 3500 or maybe a little more at 70 mph. Th e market wanted a V8 that’d be at 2000 rpm tops. You also have to drive it revved a bit or the plu gs will eventually foul - just not designed for this market. But MB learned, and created havoc in the lux market.  The gauge always made smirk. 

pip bip - choose Corrour > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 04/14/2020 at 02:43

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that Corolla is actually an SV21 Camry

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > pip bip - choose Corrour 04/14/2020 at 08:22

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Thank you. I will correct it. Yeah that looks a little too large for a Corolla now that I look at it.