A Podcast as Uplifting as Car Sales in August

It was an awesome summer for me in the PacificNW, but most car dealers and auto makers had a great summer too. Car sales were lush and green in August for almost every brand, and the good news trickled down all the way to electric cars like the Volt and Nissan Leaf.

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Car sales were like a day at the beach

But what is good for car makers may be bad for consumers. Inventories are tight across the U.S. and that may mean higher prices and less choice.

If you love old cars, and rare cars, that is a good place to park your assets. The Economist found that classic luxury autos are a great investment.

But few of those investment vehicles spend much time on the road, especially because traffic is going to get much, much worse because there are few plans to increase the amount of roads.

Do transportation planners take into account how bad (or good) drivers in their regions are?

Driverless cars would help take more of those bad drivers off the road and they are one of the five things that are coming in near future vehicles. Nissan and GM are promising at least semi-autonomous vehicles by 2020.

Will they be safe enough for passengers to skip the seatbelt? That might not be an option if ignition interlocks are connected to seat belts. But that might have lots of other benefits for car design.

Finally, we dissect a goofy list of 15 things you should always have in your car and Mathew convinces me that jumper cables are still a good idea.

Saving Up for Our Vehicular Country Club Garage to Admire Our Pontiac Aztek

In David's golden years he is looking forward to sitting around and admiring whatever awesome vehicle(s) he will be able to afford. Detroit is building the perfect place for that to happen: A car-focused country club.

Heros or goats? We pick apart a list of 10 totally awful cars. And a list of four cars that should get more credit than they do. One model makes both lists.

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Finally, safety is becoming a differentiating factor for car buyers, but few are likely thinking about tornado safety.

Pontiac Aztek: Awesome or Awful?

We're Not Lying, This Automotive Podcast Is 'Focused' on Best-Selling Cars

Yet again there is debate about the top-selling car of the year for 2012: Is it the Ford Focus or the Toyota Corolla? We don't care but the debate is interesting.

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Both of those cars are fairly inexpensive to own and run, which is important because the AAA says that the cost of vehicle ownership is rising. Perhaps that is why most people want a better deal more than they want a good-looking car.

But as competition heats up, vehicle interiors are getting more important and Ward's Auto named its best looking interiors for 2013.

A future classic from China, the Wuling Sunshine 

Many classic SUVs have very spartan interiors, but that probably won't limit their appeal to vehicle collectors, who are predicted to take an interest in the segment.

In the future, cars might have motors in the wheels instead of under the hood.

It's not a lie that men more than occasionally bend the truth. Especially about car accidents and insurance.

Finally, Mathew admits that he is a steering-wheel drummer, and a company has introduced a gadget that we need to get him for his pending nuptials.

Looking Forward to Seeing My New Neighbor, the LeMay Car Museum

LeMay Museum in Tacoma.

The LeMay Museum in nearby Tacoma opens this weekend. Unfortunately, I will miss the opening ceremonies for the distinctive new building and refreshed collection. But I'm looking forward to a visit in the near future to the aluminum and wood construction near the famous Museum of Glass.

The LeMay collection is one of the largest collections in the world, but it's been pruned a bit as part of the re-imagination that culminated in this opening.

The interesting part of this NYTimes piece about the collection is the work that the organization has to do to pull in people who aren't necessarily car enthusiasts.  I would have thought that there were more people in the U.S. who consider themselves passionate about cars.

Of course, I am enthuiastic, so that colors my perception. But I think the unique vehicles and supporting displays will draw lots of folks from the Pacific NorthWest, and those in the area.

Here is a slideshow from the NYTimes of the new space and some of the vehicles.

Even a Banana Dictator Would Like This Cadillac of Car Podcasts

If you know about something do you think it is of higher quality? Well, a new study links perception and quality for auto brands with Honda coming out on top and Smart coming out at the bottom.

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Consumer Reports confirmed that the fuel-savings options on some small cars might not be worth what they cost. Fuel prices are coming down and that is pulling down the prices of used small cars.

This list of the most dangerous cars has some questionable logic behind it, but the vehicles aren't surprising. 

Those vehicles would be hard to insure, and now State Farm is offering a deal for Ford Sync owners who are willing to share their mileage.

Meanwhile, states are looking to raise tolls to fund road improvements since gas taxes are off the table. We debate.

Then we debate the merits of high-speed lawnmowers.

Finally, the Seattle-Tacoma area is getting a new car museum. The LeMay museum opens this weekend and David hopes to visit soon. They may even have some vehicles that would have interested this list of dictators who were car crazy, as well as just plain crazy.

Flash Your Headlights If You Just Podcasted About a New Car

Those of you who are avid listeners to our podcast know that David is perpetually car shopping. But after this week, he'll be taking a break for at least a few weeks after trading in the big Benz for a VW GTI.

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More images of the new ride to come.

It may not have been a graduation gift, but many parents and grads are out car shopping right now and Joe White offers some ideas that are more interesting than a Toyota Camry.

The Facebook IPO didn't make as many millionaires as folks thought, but there are apparently enough wealthy car collectors that the high-end classic car market remains strong.

The rest of us working stiffs are at least getting to work faster thanks to the weak economy, which may have helped clear the roads of enough cars to make traffic less of an issue in most cities last year.

GM is hoping to save money next year by skipping the Super Bowl. We think it's a penny wise and pound foolish plan.

Finally, we enjoy the right of free speech, especially with this podcast, and now so do Florida drivers. A judge ruled that flashing your brights to alert other drivers is protected under the Constitution.

Photos From the Kirkland Concours

I took the kids to the Kirkland Concours and saw some absolutely spectacular vehicles. For those who don't know, a concours is a very high-end car show with either perfectly preserved or restored vehicles.
Other than the extreme heat (hands down the hottest and sunniest days of the year here in the Pacific Northwest) it was an impressive show.

There were vehicles from the very early 1900s, including a 1913 Waverly electric car that was in rough, but original condition.

The featured marque was Pierce-Arrow and there were at least a dozen examples of this high-end brand from the 1910s-1930s.

A small collection of motorcycles and even several gorgeous wooden speedboats made it a complete show. Even the cars in the parking lot were interesting and there were some new cars in the promenade including an Aston Martin Rapide sedan and the Lamborghini Aventador in flat black.

My favorite part of the concours was the "Working Girl" display of commercial vehicles that included a mail truck that was exactly from "The Seven Little Postmen" book that I loven when I was a kid. I chose it as the best in show, while my daughter preferred the bakery truck and my son the orange single-axle Corvette.

Check out this slideshow with some of the cars and imagery of the concours.

Our Show Is Back From the Road

And we are back from a long summer break, that was enhanced by vacations, hurricanes and earthquakes.

We missed car sales, but got to see lots of car commercials as the end-of-model-year sales get going in earnest.

Drive, don't look at the screen.

Unfortunately, deals on Saabs might be great because the Swedish car company filed for protection from creditors, but might not get liquidated.

Telematics, infotainment, connectivity and the like are all the rage for auto makers and they are racing to develop new services to vehicles. Mercedes, Ford, Kia and even software company Nuance are getting in on the act.

Car games are always big on consoles, but how about a Sim City style online game that allows you to design cars and build a car company? Try Automation.com.

Gas prices are holding steady, despite weaker demand, as refiners export gasoline. At the same time, car makers such as Chrysler and Porsche are adding more gears to their transmissions to squeeze out even more efficiency out of their drive trains.

Finally, car collecting is an ongoing passion around the world and as new generations get into the hobby, different vehicles become more popular to collect. The newest collecting trend: Country cars.

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