<![CDATA[Comments from harumph]]> <![CDATA[Comments from harumph]]> <![CDATA[harumph commented on Golden Poo Award For Worst Company In America Unveiled]]> I love how swanky the Japanese is on the box. It just says "poo of gold" on the left hand side, yet it still looks classy.

As for the Diebold debate, I think you need to have a serious repudiation of Occams razor to think that Diebold had nothing to do with the shenanigans in Ohio. If you want to berate me with a response, don't bother. I am logging off and will be paying no attention.

]]> <![CDATA[harumph commented on PCH, Turbo Offenhauser Euro Sedan Edition: Peugeot 404 or Rover 2000?]]> Nothing is more hellish than a Rover. Great looking car but pure hell. I had a friend who bought one and spent months and thousands of dollars just to get it to pass inspection. It broke down on a regular schedule thereafter.

]]> <![CDATA[harumph commented on Emmys Outrage]]> I second the Ugly Betty de-nomination. That show is just dreck.

As for 30 Rock, I have to say that I hated Tina Fey on SNL. However, she has really nailed it with the sitcom. It may be the only show on network tv that actually makes me laugh for real. The scene with Alec Baldwin role playing Tracey Morgan's parents was totally brilliant and I am sure it made a lot of people uncomfortable.

]]> <![CDATA[harumph commented on Can You Come Up With A Better Auto Product Placement Plot?]]> I really think the 100 monkeys at typewriters approach could outshine most of the plot "ideas" on television these days.

]]> <![CDATA[harumph commented on 2008 Dodge Charger SRT8, Part One]]> @Van Sarockin: The new track seems good. It was my first time there so I cannot compare it to the old track.
I do have to say that the Corvettes were the most brutal sounding machines I have ever heard in my life.

]]> <![CDATA[harumph commented on 2008 Dodge Charger SRT8, Part One]]> @Van Sarockin: Lime Rock Park is in CT and had the American LeMans Series race this past Saturday.
It was a pretty great race.
I took a ton of photos which I plan to post somewhere soon.
One of the best sights was a pristine 84 ElCamino parked in the infield amongst Astons and Porsches. Very Jalopnik.

As to you points on the GT, you are spot on. My point was just that they built that car with such a spirit of absolute love for what they were making, that is apparent just looking at the thing. If even a small sliver of that care and devotion to good automotive design came through to the rest of their cars, they would not be in trouble right now.

That is where Honda has the U.S. beat, they make a cheap car feel better than it is, purely through decent design. People here may find an Accord to be bland but the average consumer feels like they are getting more for their money.

]]> <![CDATA[harumph commented on 2008 Dodge Charger SRT8, Part One]]> @harumph:
bad punctuation on my part.
dang.

]]> <![CDATA[harumph commented on 2008 Dodge Charger SRT8, Part One]]> @Mad_Science: A further point is that if American automakers can make something like this, not everyone will swoon over it but some people definitely will. Why haven't they put their mind to making all their cars with a similar mindset? Maybe not all muscle cars but at least not bland garbage like the rest of their offerings. I was at Lime Rock Park this past weekend and all the rich people haul their expensive machines out to show off in the infield. I looked at the Ford GT and, while I have always liked the way it looks, it was doubly good looking in person. It begs the question: how can Ford (or the other big 2) just get one single car so right while offering so little aside from pure dreck otherwise?

The point: even if you love all the muscle car retro, I think Americans should be demanding better from our automakers, across their whole product line. Don't forget that classic muscle cars were at one point just the regular cars the big 3 offered, not rarefied boutique items.

]]> <![CDATA[harumph commented on PCH, Fear And Loathing On The Campaign Trail '72 Edition: Mercury Cougar Or Volvo 1800ES?]]> @schoolpsych: You live in the wrong neighborhood.

]]> <![CDATA[harumph commented on PCH, Fear And Loathing On The Campaign Trail '72 Edition: Mercury Cougar Or Volvo 1800ES?]]> Volvo, no contest for me. Despite the Sisyphean task ahead, this is one of the best looking cars ever produced. It's worth saving.

]]> <![CDATA[harumph commented on 2008 Dodge Charger SRT8, Part One]]> @MΩJΩ: Actually, the type of person who doesn't belong here is one who has knee-jerk reactions to other peoples' tastes. I will not enter the fray between everyone and Mr. Hannity... but I also think this car sucks. Not because it wouldn't be fun to drive up and down the street a few times but because it represents why the American auto industry is so crappy. Their only solution to their hemorrhaging of sales is to phone in another retro throwback. How lazy is that?

I was originally attracted to this site because it represented a haven for people whose tastes did not automatically fall in lock-step with gearhead stereotypes. The Charger is nothing aside from a bad stereotype to me. If you like it, power to you. Buy a few of them. I, however, will never buy an American car until the big 3 stop insulting my intelligence.

If you want to start making rules as to who should and who should not state their opinions here, this blog is going to get boring and predictable, fast.

]]> <![CDATA[harumph commented on 2008 Dodge Charger SRT8, Part One]]> A lot of retro muscle cars being thrown Jalopnik's direction these days, huh?
I find all of these cars as conceptually dull as the c.e.o.s who greenlighted them.

]]> <![CDATA[harumph commented on Renaults, Citroens And Talbots... Oh My! French Cars On Bastille Day]]> God bless the French auto industry. They make you fall so hopelessly in love with their cars that you are forced to overlook any foibles.

]]> <![CDATA[harumph commented on Hummer H2 Assembly Line To Produce Just-As-Boxy Standard Taxis]]> @narf: We may be fat but we are not that squared off.

]]> <![CDATA[harumph commented on Hummer H2 Assembly Line To Produce Just-As-Boxy Standard Taxis]]> I'm sorry but function and style are not exclusive of one another. This thing just looks like nobody cared enough to try at all. Even the hubcaps look like they were bought in the sale bin at Pep Boys.
It makes the VW Thing look overwrought.

]]> <![CDATA[harumph commented on What Muscle Car Should They Revive Next?]]> @BeerDearthair: Of course, to each their own. My own opinion is still that the new retroism is the worst kind of phoning it in.

@p.r.o.t.o: Thanks for the thoughtful, intelligent musings.

]]> <![CDATA[harumph commented on What Muscle Car Should They Revive Next?]]> None! I think it is a stupid, lazy trend in automaking. How about come up with something new instead of warmed over retro?
The great muscle cars were great because they had their own style. New cars should have their own style as well.

]]> <![CDATA[harumph commented on Porn Valley Citroen SM Drives To The Strip Mall Like Any Other Car!]]> Isn't this thing supposed to settle down to a low height when not running? Mayhaps something is wrong with the mysterious system of spheres.
Great cars though. One of my fantasy cars for when I become wealthy.
Any day now.
Really.

]]> <![CDATA[harumph commented on Molly Ringwald Trapped In A Robolympics Of Death]]> Wow, I saw this in 3-d as a kid. If I am not mistaken, this same movie has a shot where you can see a movie studio parking lot in the background. Oops.

]]> <![CDATA[harumph commented on Are You Proud To Buy American Cars?]]> @3wheeler: Good point on the cultural aspect. We do not demand quality in our products in the U.S. for the most part. We also do not demand a shred of responsibility on behalf of our citizenry. We act like spoiled babies and the government and industry treat us as such.

]]> <![CDATA[harumph commented on Are You Proud To Buy American Cars?]]> I worked for GM in the 90's and it cured me of ever deisiring an American car. I have owned mainly Toyotas and Hondas in my adult life and have never had a serious problem with any of them. I also refuse to be browbeaten into buying American out of some misplaced sense of patriotism. If we believe so heavily in free markets and open competition, we had better begin competing with the global market at some point. As it stands now, the big 3 just rely upon the government to bail them out whenever times are tough.
Plus the fact that everything coming out of the big 3 looks like a complete piece of garbage, including the Camaro and the Challenger. Just my opinion but I really think they are pandering jokes.

]]> <![CDATA[harumph commented on What's Your Favorite Dealer Brochure?]]> The best brochures come from automakers about to go out of business. Through the lens of history, their brochures become poignant examples of a stoic public optimism displayed while their ship is obviously foundering. Often they roll out new models, produced by the questionable judgment of desperate higher-ups.
All this makes the Challenger a very fit jumping-off point.

]]> <![CDATA[harumph commented on Commenter Of The Day: USA #1 Edition]]> I don't know why anyone is surprised at this. I prefer Japanese and European cars but I will give the Corvette respect. The fact that it is one of the only American cars that can competitively race at LeMans year after year sort of obliges GM not to screw it up. It would be a major embarrassment if it were slower that the smaller engined GT-R. I think Garb has a valid point that it is only 2-3 seconds faster than the GT-R despite a huge HP differential. Instead of the analogy which dculberson advanced, I think it is more akin to a politician running for president and barely winning their home state.
I also think we have not seen the last of the GT-R as competition either.
That said, the Corvette deserves props either way.

]]> <![CDATA[harumph commented on Bands Vs. Fans: The Greatest Hits]]> In a reversal of this, I once saw three guys in Mudhoney throw their guitars down and chase a bouncer who was beating the hell out of some kid who got onstage to stagedive. They successfully got the guy away from the bouncer and returned him to the crowd too. It was 1990 in Tijuana, the bouncers used to be super violent.

]]> <![CDATA[harumph commented on 7 Moments of George Carlin Greatness]]> @SybilDisobedience: I think that is accurate.
Those who dig George Carlin should really check out Lenny Bruce. His material is tough to follow as it is delivered very fast and is filled with obscure cultural references from the 50's. If you put a little effort into him it is very rewarding however.

]]> <![CDATA[harumph commented on 7 Moments of George Carlin Greatness]]> To be fair, Lenny Bruce paved the way for George Carlin. Carlin acknowledged that frequently.
Not to diminish George Carlin though...

]]> <![CDATA[harumph commented on Porsche Boxster Destroyed For Finnish Radio Promo]]> Well maybe now we can finally get some hard data on the survivability of being dropped backwards off a 300 ft crane.

]]> <![CDATA[harumph commented on Quote of the Day]]> @raphaela: I read a really good book called "Loaded". It was about some total slacker hippy who got into pot smuggling in the late 60's in order to finance a movie about pot smuggling. He bailed out in the 70's sometime when cocaine got really big and guns started showing up at every opportunity. Interesting to know how different it once was.

]]> <![CDATA[harumph commented on Quote of the Day]]> @intothelight: To be fair, drug dealing was a much less violent thing before the advent of cocaine.

]]> <![CDATA[harumph commented on 2009 Ford F-150 Raptor Inching Closer To Full Monty]]> Drive up Toyota's ass? Is that an image they want to be conveying to the fragile masculinity of this demographic?

]]> <![CDATA[harumph commented on "Don't Cry For Me, Fresno Free Clinic..."]]> I am sure glad people are still paying attention to her. I was worried she might become irrelevant someday. Phew!

]]> <![CDATA[harumph commented on Seven Reasons The Segway Still Sucks]]> As The Onion put it: "ergonomically designed to maximize loss of dignity"

One check mark in the plus column was that the Segway has sense enough to reject George Bush.

]]> <![CDATA[harumph commented on Can A US Version Of Top Gear Succeed?]]> @fresnel: I see your point but speaking as a person who has worked at a GM dealer, I saw what horrible build quality and little imagination those cars were made with. We are a nation that touts free and open markets but when we are manufacturing far substandard products we suddenly appeal to nationalism. Our auto industry has never really competed with anyone. They ride tides like cheap gas and fads(SUVs) and remain completely oblivious to coming trends and market forces.
Furthermore, I have yet to find an American car that I actually like to drive in any way that doesn't just involve going fast in a straight line. In short I find the offerings of the big 3 to be largely unimaginative and positively garish and ugly. I would gladly buy American if I thought we made decent cars but I think the opposite and I refuse to support these dinosaurs out of nationalistic guilt.

]]> <![CDATA[harumph commented on Can A US Version Of Top Gear Succeed?]]> @fresnel: The problem being that it is tough to say that about most American cars whilst maintaining a straight face.

]]> <![CDATA[harumph commented on The Ten Best Craigslist Cash-Waver Remixes]]> All this attention has to have translated into at least one date for the guy.

]]> <![CDATA[harumph commented on Can A US Version Of Top Gear Succeed?]]> @1300ccsoffury: That still doesn't solve the whole "how to be interesting within the constraints of NBC" problem. I would argue that to be the most insurmountable of obstacles.

]]> <![CDATA[harumph commented on Can A US Version Of Top Gear Succeed?]]> @fizzer: Owing to the popularity of professional wrestling, among other things, I would say that most Americans really ARE that dumb.
We are a much too culturally isolated nation for this to have any wit or personality. Like someone else said, it will probably be a big puff piece for GM and Ford garbage.

]]> <![CDATA[harumph commented on Can A US Version Of Top Gear Succeed?]]> No way. Corporate bigwigs will eviscerate it and leave no shred of interesting qualities to be aired. It would take a monumental feat for it to be anywhere close to the UK version.

]]> <![CDATA[harumph commented on 2010 Shelby GT500 Mustang Is A MESHY Mustang]]> @DonSchenck: I doubt it could get any uglier.

]]> <![CDATA[harumph commented on 2010 Shelby GT500 Mustang Is A MESHY Mustang]]> They are just aping BMW's cloth covered machine from yesterday.
Looks like they inflated the Ford though.

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