Newmark's Door

"Comparing it to any other car is pointless"

That would be the $2.1 million Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport.

By now, the Veyron's stats are legendary: 1,001 horsepower from a mid-mounted, 8.0-liter, 16-cylinder engine that gets air stuffed down its ravenous gullet by four massive turbochargers. All-wheel drive. A seven-speed, dual-clutch transmission that switches gears faster than a state staffer ducking questions about the Appalachian Trail. Depending on how you define "production car," it is the fastest in the world. In the quickest Lamborghini ever produced, the Murcielago LP640, you can hit 60 mph in 3.2 seconds. In the Grand Sport it takes a hair under 2.5. How does it feel to command that pace? Godlike.

The acceleration is so immediate you can feel your eyeballs deform under the G-forces. It's a sensation of isolationist joy, an out-of-body awareness that you're moving faster than the world can react.

Read the whole thing.

For extra fun, watch a Veyron race a McLaren F1.

"Time to Click and Drag Car Sales Into the 21st Century"

Fine column by Charles Lane in the Washington Post on why the U.S. should have fewer car dealers. Conclusion:

To be sure, dealers are pillars of communities around the country. They create jobs and spend some of their state-protected profit on Little League sponsorships and other charitable works. For many a small town, the demise of a local dealership is a wrenching event.

But many a small town mourned the village blacksmith. Greater efficiency would destroy some jobs -- and free resources to create new ones. The truth is that cutbacks of GM and Chrysler dealers fall far short of the radical change that the car-buying process needs and the car-buying public deserves. Instead of contemplating putting taxpayers on the hook for the "economic rights" of a long-favored few, Congress should be making car-buying cheaper and simpler for everyone. Instead of "restoring" the past, it should be building the future.

"What's Inside WD-40?"

"WD-40 is mostly a mix of baby oil, Vaseline, and the goop inside homemade lava lamps." (Wired, 4/29.)

The Enzo II is coming . . .

. . . and no, you can't buy one.

To paraphrase Crocodile Dundee . . .

. . . That's not a car review. This is a car review:

It’s terrible. Biblically terrible. Possibly the worst new car money can buy. It’s the first car I’ve ever considered crashing into a tree, on purpose, so I didn’t have to drive it any more. . . .

Good only for parting the smug from their money.

(Link via Don Surber.)   

"The Five Most Feared Drivers in Formula One History"

#1 is Jim Clark:

Without a doubt, Jim Clark is the most badass F1 driver ever. 

This cop probably should get a raise

"Oregon trooper reels in line of Ferraris, Lamborghini".

It takes all kinds

"Norwegian man caught having sex with girlfriend while driving over 100kph". (Via Digg.)

"Why Your Car Isn't Selling -- Econ 101"

Seven funny but true reasons.

#5 is "Learn to read the market. This is a recession. Your car has been up on CL at the same price for 3 months. LOWER THE PRICE!"

"Who's Driving What?"

"A survey of West Executive Drive, where White House staffers park, revealed only five American cars out of 23 --a Dodge Grand Caravan, two Ford Escapes, a Jeep Cherokee and a Cadillac." (Politico, 3/9, via Instapundit.).