Comment: The need to lead; on dinner with Bob Lutz and other things

AS I TOLD “MAXIMUM” ROBERT A. “BOB” LUTZ BETWEEN SIPS OF A BLACK COFFEE AFTER THE OTHERS LEFT, I grew up in a non-domestic family. Save for the two Ford Aerowindystar minivans my mom needed to haul us kids around in. I watched Formula One intently from the age of naught — Alain Prost, then Michael Schumacher were my favourites — while laughing at the American, Michael Andretti.

I could list for you, at age five, all manner of European sports cars. At 10, I was on to things like the Isdera, Alpine, Ruf Porsches, and a few odd Japanese cars — like that “V6 supercar,” the Honda/Acura NSX. I attended the Detroit Auto Show every single year with my father, and while I can guarantee I was blown away by the Ford Indigo, GT90, and Dodge Copperhead, I would make a complete circuit of the show and purposely cut through the domestic wares to get to the next–closest Euro or Japanese show stand.

Comment: Hyundai Elantra Limited

Why do you not lie awake at night yearning for the day when you can own a Hyundai? Simple. Because Hyundais are not made to plunge their hand into your pants. Only to plunge their hands into your bank account. – Jeremy Clarkson

I’ve been driving around in a Hyundai Elantra Limited since Monday. No, it’s not the soon-to-be-released (and possibly amazing) Touring model, it’s just a regular sedan that someone spec’d to the milligram. Clarkson, as always, has a point. The worst crime a car can commit is by having no discernible soul.

Comment: Alltop RSS aggregate

If you’re not up on the latest Web 2.0 trends, fear not: neither am I. But RSS aggregates seem to be a huge traffic-driver these days, mostly because people still like their date categorized. Just like a newspaper. And searching requires typing? Oh noes!

Comment: Unplugging

I joke around with my friends and family that I came out of the womb programming a VCR. It’s probably close to the truth, though. I had my first Nintendo at five, and from there on in I was hooked on the burgeoning virtual potential of computers and video games.

Analysis: Subaru WRX

From Wikipedia: Lomography emphasizes casual, snapshot photography. Characteristics such as over-saturated colors, off-kilter exposure, blurring, “happy accidents,” and alternative film processing are often considered part of the “Lomographic Technique.”

So what better car to photograph using my new Holga 135 than the new and apparently ugly Impreza WRX sedan? My shots and analysis after the jump.

Comment: Overheard at a dealership

Salesman: Man, I’m driving the same car as you, same colour and everything. It really gets going when the VDC light kicks in, eh?

Customer: Uhh…?

Salesman: Yeah, most cars, in this weather, want to fishtail. The VDC, you crank the wheel hard and – boom – it gets you going through everything. With this car, you drive it hard – don’t lift off the gas because the car gets confused. It doesn’t know where you’re going. I tell you, I drive right in the snow, I drive it hard; that VDC gives you so much speed and traction.