Category: Drive Time

I think it was Richard Hammond who, on the old Top Gear show, pointed out that Ferrari’s technical statistics were often flat-out lies:  “How many horsepower does our new model have?  A million!”

It’s not just their statistics, though.  Try this one on for size:

Legendary Italian car maker Ferrari has no intention of phasing out combustion engines and going fully electric or hybrid anytime soon, promising Sunday to keep making the eight and 12-cylinder engines it has made its trademark at least until the end of the 2030s. (May 2023)

And then there’s this one:

An iconic supercar brand is set to launch its first ever EV, with a new factory already in the works.  The luxury car giant is planning to open a new facility in Italy to produce its new all-electric models.

Who could this be, this “luxury car giant”?

Ferrari boss Benedetto Vigna confirmed that the company was on the right track in developing a new electric car.  (November 2023)

I know, I know:  this isn’t exactly a lie:  Ferrari never said that they’d make only internal combustion engine (ICE) cars… but they sure as hell skated around the issue.

Just as they do with their technical specs.

And of course, they’ll cheat when it comes to the sound their new Duracell cars will make.

Bastardi.

It seems as though at least one car manufacturer is thinking straight:

“It is regular users who are the ones who suffer” when government regulations try to shoehorn buyers and automakers into EVs, according to Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda. Speaking publicly as the head of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, Toyoda said, “People are finally seeing reality” as sales growth sputters. “I have continued to say what I see as reality… if regulations are created based on ideals,” instead of real-world conditions, “it is regular users who are the ones who suffer.”

All true, of course.

As an aside, I would love to see the sales figures for EVs that excludes those in California, because I’ll bet that state skews the whole thing. Why do I say that?

Anecdotally, the Son&Heir just got back from a business trip to SoCal, told me that regular gas there is currently costing $7 per gallon (!!) and that just about every Uber or Lyft driver now uses an EV.

Yeah, color me surprised.  I mean, I love me my Dinos, as any fule kno — and this one purports to have only 37,000 or so miles on the clock — but sheesh, nearly half a million?

Stupid money.

Here’s an interesting find:

A Ford dealership that looks stuck in time has been discovered in Germany with a selection of untouched motors still inside.

The showroom displays six 1980s modern classic cars from the blue oval brand in the window that remain unregistered today — three zero-mile Ford Sierras, a Fiesta, Escort and an Orion saloon — and given their unused condition, should be worth thousands.

Considering that almost all Ford models from the 1980s were the blandest cars ever made, that “thousands” must surely be cents and not dollars.

Here’s the Orion, for example:

I could fall asleep just looking at the picture.