There Has Never Been A Car Commercial More Ridiculously Awesome Than "Cadillac Style"

The lyrics will forevermore be seared into my brain: The only way to travel is Cadillac style. Some people want more. Not just a little bit. This is your life, you're the only one who's living it. Let's go. Let's live. Let's love every mile. The only way to travel is Cadillac Style.

Cadillac, Cadillac, Cadillac style.

Cadillac, Cadillac, Cadillac style.

And why shouldn't they be? This ad's got it all -- yachts, tennis, fencing, shotguns, jumping horses, aerobics, explosions in a quarry!

Hell yeah people want more. You know what I want more of? Ads like this!

I dare you to name a car commercial that's more ridiculously awesome.

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Here's How To Rally In A 4000-Pound BMW

That's not in weight, of course. That's the meager price of this BMW 325i rally car -- in herculean Blightybux -- that Chris Harris and his buddy Dan Prosser drove in the Wyedean Forest Rally, recently. Did they have fun without spending a shite-ton of cocks-and-hens? Yea, verily.

This week on Chris Harris on Cars, Chris and Dan go rallying in the misty marches of the Forest of Dean and Lower Wye Valley, along the Welsh-English border, with Dan manning the pace notes for the first time ever. Chris puts on his most stolid driver's face and goes oppo'ing off into the woods.

The point is that having fun with cars doesn't always take megabucks and a childhood devoted to the karting fast track. But it does take a good, cheap car and a few clicks' worth of misty marches.

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'The 2005 Chrysler Crossfire SRT-6 Is A Furious Firefly'

The Crossfire SRT-6 might be one of the most forgotten cars of all time. But MotorWeek says it's a car that ever street smart racer dreams of.

I'm not sure what that means, especially the part where we find out it has a respect for pavement.

The 330 horse beast gets to 60 in 5.4 seconds. Gears are shifted through quite the plastic center console. Throttle response is immediate, especially when you push it down with your foot.

And don't forget the safety features, which John Davis says makes it thoughtful for a hot bodied racer. Yes. That was said.

Ok, enough of me. Watch the SRT-6 parade around suburban Maryland and bask in its excellence.

MotorWeek Theater is our showcase of some of our favorite classic reviews from public television's finest motoring program. How does this video only have 70,978 views? Actually wow. That's a lot of views.

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Even At 73 Years Old, Mario Andretti Is Way Cooler Than You

If you ask someone who doesn't like motorsports to name a racing driver, there is a good chance they'll only know a few names. One of those names will almost definitely be Mario Andretti, arguably America's greatest ever racer. And today is Mario's 73rd birthday. Here is what makes him far cooler than any of you reading this... unless you're Mario.

In terms of what Mario has accomplished in a race car, it's almost easier to name the major circuit races he hasn't won. And I really only count two: The Monaco Grand Prix and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. And even then, he won his class at Le Mans in 1995 and finished second overall. And he was 55 when he did that.

Mario won the 1967 Daytona 500. Mario won the 1969 Indy 500. Mario won the 1978 Formula One World Championship. Mario won the 1972 24 Hours of Daytona. Mario is a four time IndyCar champion. Mario won the 12 Hours of Sebring three times. Mario is a dirt track champion and a two time IROC champion.

That's staggering. Mario won his last IndyCar race in 1993 and retired from full time competition in 1994. After his retirement, he raced at Le Mans four times and even tested an IndyCar in 2003 at the age of 63 for his son's team. The intent was to qualify the car for the injured Tony Kanaan.

As you'd expect, he was damn fast. But a massive crash that made Mario flip a bunch of times cancelled those plans. Some say the crash had something to do with the famously bad luck that the entire Andretti family has had at Indianapolis. But he walked away and just had a small cut on his chin. Sounds like good luck to me. Sounds pretty damn cool too.

There are very few drivers that are in Mario's league when it comes to how well rounded he is in different formulas. In my opinion, AJ Foyt is his only rival in that regard.

Mario's success is also something that will probably never be recreated. Motorsports have become very specialized since Mario's huge success in multiple formulas of the 1960s and 1970s. Most modern drivers tend to choose a specialty and focus on it, which makes them less adaptable to other formulas of motorsports.

Many also have ironclad contracts that restrict them from driving all other sorts of cars as well as really doing anything dangerous. There are just a handful of modern drivers that have jumped formulas AND found success everywhere they've driven. Tony Stewart, Robert Kubica, Juan Montoya, and Kimi Raikkonen are ones that immediately come to mind. Even then, their successes aren't really as grand or varied as Mario's. Their careers also won't last nearly as long as his has.

Add in the fact that Mario accomplished much of his success in the incredibly dangerous '60s and '70s, and it makes the accomplishments that much more impressive.

And he's still active with IndyCar. He goes to all the races and watches his grandson, Marco, race. He also works with the IndyCar two seater program. Just last April I got a ride around Laguna Seca with Mario at the wheel (That's me in the back, below).

He's definitely still got it, although I wonder what it's like driving around a track that has a corner named after yourself. That's how freaking cool he is. A race track that didn't kill him named a corner after him.

Bad. Ass.

Tanti auguri Mario! Here's to 73 more.

Photo Credit: Getty Images

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UPDATE: Jeremy Clements Also May Have Said Something About Danica

We're still waiting on MTV blogger Marty Beckerman to post a story explaining what it was NASCAR driver Jeremy Clements said this weekend that resulted in Clements being suspended from the sport. But now a self-proclaimed NASCAR photographer has chimed in to say that the remarks were directed at a woman, and possibly more sexist than racist.

UPDATE: Initially, a person named Allen Bedgood tweeted that he learned of the remarks that resulted in Clements' suspension, but did not go into detail about what they were, heavily implying it was about Danica Patrick. He later deleted those tweets claiming he was misled by Beckerman in an email conversation.

Upon further review we're not comfortable enough to say whether or not Beckerman did have that conversation, nor do we have confidence in Bedgood as a source. It is possible that they spoke, but without seeing the emails it's hard to confirm. It's possible Bedgood picked up on chatter about another remark Clements made about Patrick over the weekend.

USA Today NASCAR reporter Jeff Gluck said he found an interview where Clements made comments about Danica Patrick.

Dunno if this is it, but I just found an interview with Clements from last week in which he speculated NASCAR fixed the pole for Danica.

— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) February 27, 2013

A source close to this situation told us that the comment Breckerman overheard was definitely not a sexist comment.

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Just When You Thought The McLaren P1 Will Be Rare

McLaren will produce 375 P1s while Ferrari will top that with 499 F150s. Back in 1985, they finished the 288 GTO's production after just 272 units. If you run into one on the street, take a deep breath and take some time to look it over. There's a lot to see...

Photo credit: Ed Callow

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Here We Have The 1140-hp Koenigsegg Engine

Having used the Ford Modular V8 as a launch pad, Koenigsegg reengineered this berserker mill for the Agera R hypercar from the ground up at its headquarters in Ängelholm, Sweden. Its goal? Specifically to get as many horses galloping as possible.

On this episode of Inside Koenigsegg, Christian Von Koenigsegg gives us a walk-around tour of the five-liter, 1140-horsepower V8 that provides the Agera R with its cornea-popping performance. It's the "heart of a hypercar" if you will.

Weighing around 436 pounds, the V8 is bolted right onto the Agera R's carbon-fiber monocoque to act as a stressed member, like engines often do on purpose-built racecars. 

Interesting to note, cars headed to Brazil are factory-tuned to run on straight ethanol (E100), which is heavily used in that sugar cane-rich nation, where nearly all new cars sold are flex-fuel capable.

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This Is The Skoda Citigo Nuts

Volkswagen AG's cheapest minicar got some steroids for the Geneva Motor Show, but since the engine remained the standard 1-liter unit with 60 horsepower, even Skoda refers to the Citigo Sport as a car that is "seemingly powerful." The Czechs are remarkably honest.

Available with both the 3-door or the 5-door bodies, the Sport can be ordered in only three colors: Candy White, Tornado Red or Deep Black, all with contrasting stripes. 15-inch black alloys, fog lights, tinted windows, front and rear spoilers and a rear diffusor tries to make it up to you for the lack of power, while the sports suspension lowers the ride height by 0.59 inches.

Inside, the black and red sports seats and a two-tone grey and black dashboard should make you feel special, and the five-inch touch-screen comes standard with satellite navigation, Bluetooth and as much connectivity as you would expect. The three-spoke steering wheel, the handbrake and the gearstick are all wrapped in leather with contrasting red stitching, naturally.

Still sounds slow, but fun nevertheless.

Photo credit: Skoda

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Ten Ways To Justify Buying A Stupid Car

We love cheap, weird, unreliable cars, but buying one doesn't always make sense. Jalopnik readers came up with ten justifications for taking the plunge.

Welcome back to Answers of the Day - our daily Jalopnik feature where we take the best ten responses from the previous day's Question of the Day and shine it up to show off. It's by you and for you, the Jalopnik readers. Enjoy!

The world is full of reliable, affordable cars to buy. A rational buying decision is not hard to find. We'd die before we finished counting all of the Civicorollas and Camcords for sale in the US right now.

But there's more to the car world than beigemobiles and there's more to life than being stuck behind the wheel of a car that refuses to die on you. Sometimes you need a little excitement, like dropping $13,000 into a beat up Mazda RX7 that feels like it wants to destroy you. Sometimes you just have to go out and get the car of your dreams, even if it has a welded diff, semi-functioning doors and the World's Cheapest Paint Job. Sometimes you just need a stupid car.

So we put together these ten justifications for buying a questionably-advisable vehicle. We're sure that there are more rationales, so let us know in Kinja below of any tricks you use to convince yourself or someone else to go for that lovely beater.

Photo Credit: Andrew Davies

10.) Use The Four-Part Formula

Reader ranwhenparked's stupid-car buying formula is simple. Just make sure you can check off these four items.

1. Do I want this?

2. Can I afford it?

3. Do I have space for it?

4. If yes to all of the above, go for it. No other rationalization needed, really. If you've got the money and space and it won't kill your budget, then "I want it" should be reason enough.

Suggested By: ranwhenparked, Photo Credit: Kerem Tapani Gültekin

9.) I Won't Let Reliability Be My Only Concern

When you're buying a single daily driver, reliability should be a high priority. If you're just buying something dumb and interesting, don't be afraid of a few possible trips to the mechanic.

Suggested By: CobraJoe, Photo Credit: Adam Singer

8.) Remember: No Car Payments

This only applies to cheap cars (Aren't most stupid car-buying decisions for cheap cars?), but you can always remember that you don't have to take out a loan to buy your low-priced dream car. Of course, you'll probably end up paying its list price over again in repairs.

Suggested By: CobraJoe, Photo Credit: Brian Wotherspoon

7.) Disguise An Onslaught Of Numbers With Kitties

If you're trying to justify a purchase decision to a spouse or family member, you can follow the lead of this man's epic PowerPoint justifying buying a Corvette Z06. Assault the reader with numbers, then distract him or her with pictures of kitties.

Suggested By: The Swedish Bandit, Photo Credit: Roy El-Rayes and kittens

6.) Owning a Boring Car Is A Fate Worse Than Death

When you're stuck behind the wheel of an autotragic mid-90s Civic and you feel like driving into trees just to have an excuse to buy a beater Camaro, it's time to make the jump.

Suggested By: subbzz, Photo Credit: Roland Brunner

5.) The Car Needs My Rescue

Reader wheatieboy explains how sometimes an old car is like a rescue dog at the pound. You know it's been neglected or abused, and you know it has no pedigree, no 'value,' and it will come with a lifetime of vet bills. But you buy it anyway because someone has to take it in, and you know you'll get love in return.

Suggested By: wheatieboy, Photo Credit: Dan Ciminera

4.) It's Like That One Thing I Totally Needed As A Kid

Why buy a Ford Mondeo in drag Jaguar X-Type? Here's My X-type is too a real Jaaaaaaaag's explanation.

When I bought my Jag I bought it it because it almost looked liked the cars from the White Snake video that had Tawny Kitaen dancing across the hood in her underwear. That image was important to a 9-year-old boy and filtered down to the supposed adult car shopping over 2 decades later.

Suggested By: My X-type is too a real Jaaaaaaaag, Photo Credit: White Snake

3.) It'll Be A Parent-Child Project

Buying an old car isn't just a means of transportation; it's a project. That project can be something you do with your son or daughter, which is how Brian, The Life of convinced his wife to allow a $3,300 1955 Ford Fairlane into the home.

I lobbied for the car because it presented an opportunity to do something with my son that was only about him and me. My son is 17 and the years I've had to raise him to be the promising young man he has become have flown by. Next year will be his senior year and, since he has always been a highly self-motivated, straight-A student, I am sure he will be leaving the nest to move on to college and there is little chance he'll be a "boomerang kid" that comes back home after graduating. This next year will likely be our last opportunity to do something like this together...

Bottom line, my justification is that my son and I will be adding one more wonderful father/son memory. That alone is worth everything.

Suggested By: Brian, The Life of, Photo Credit: Brian, The Life of

2.) There's Never A Perfect Time

If you're waiting for the 'perfect time' to make a purchase, it'll likely never happen. There rarely ever is a 'perfect time' for anything. If you really want that car, you've got to bite the bullet.

Suggested By: smalleyxb112, Photo Credit: ASR Photos

1.) Because It Makes Me Happy

If you can't meet this requirement, leave the car behind. If you do, just about everything else falls into place, as Who needs sway bars anyway anyway explains.

I'm in the process of trying to buy a '68 Falcon Futura I found on craigslist for $800 bucks. At first I was just scrolling through craigslist looking for cars under $1000 and when I came across this car I knew I was going to try and buy it. I immediately started coming up with reasons why I should buy it. From I could flip it and make money, It would be a good backup if my Jeep was broken, Its cheaper than dirt, all the chrome and glass is there, IT RUNS!, I've always wanted a Falcon....etc...etc....etc.... but at the end of the day I am going to buy it because it would make me happy. I would drive it with a huge smile on my face and even when it inevitably broke down I would much rather brake down in a 68' Falcon than a POS Toyota Camry or Honda Civic.

Suggested By: Who needs sway bars anyway, Photo Credit: Ford via OldCarBrochures

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Even Sergio Perez Had To Drive A Camo'd McLaren P1

Or maybe they didn't even let him drive it. After all, he is the new guy. What's certain though is that he will present the McLaren P1 with Ron Dennis on Tuesday. We will be there.

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Really Obvious Road Signs

It’s a volcano! 20,827-ft Parinacota on the border of Chile and Bolivia, to be specific. Seen any hyper-explicit, obvious or just plain hilarious road signs lately? (Photo by Dan Lundberg)

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Professor charged for crashing his Maserati — we found his stupid forum posts

Brandon P. van Zyl wrecked his expensive car and got himself charged for impaired driving at 11 am on a weekday, in a small-town crash that also injured the driver of a pickup truck. But before all that, he left a long list of eyebrow-raising posts at the Maseratilife.com owners forum. Then he left some more after the crash.

While most people associate the Maserati Quattroporte with scenic drives along Tuscan roadways or casino-lined Rivieras, this four-door Ferrari-powered import is also sold in far away places like Canada. Which is how a 2011 QP GTS, owned by Mr. van Zyl, came to be ruined in the Nova Scotia town of New Glasgow, pop. 9500.

The 42 year old associate physics professor and soccer dad is scheduled to stand before a judge next week, after pleading not guilty to charges of dangerous driving and impaired driving from the October crash. 

Mike Smeltzer, a member of the Subaruclub.ca forums, happens to work at the tire shop across the street from the crash. He snapped these pictures and shared the story on that forum.

"Maserati pulled out to pass a line of cars, lost control and this was the end
result"

Other local Subaruclub.ca members familiar with the black Maserati added their thoughts.

"When I was up there, the driver was always keen to play the exhaust note thats
for sure. I could never hook with him, but he wasn't afraid to please the crowd."

"We've all been saying since the guy got the car that it was just a matter of time
before this happened. He was a total douche driving around, tailgating and
reving his engine trying to get anything and everything to race him on the main
streets."

Mr. van Zyl teaches a few miles down the road at St. Francis Xavier University. Reviews on ratemyprofessors.com (where we found the photo above, clearly from his younger days) describe him as "childish" and "a bit full of himself." He's also seen as a tough marker. Others purr that he's "hot." His score is 3.2.

Since 2011, he's been an active member of the Maseratilife.com owners forum, posting under the user name bvanzyl.

A reading of his 600+ posts reveals this crash might have been prevented, had van Zyl heeded multiple warnings from police, friends and his wife.

Instead, he wilfully ignores them. Furthermore, he chooses to post online, bragging about his exploits and defending his questionable driving habits to a sympathetic group of fellow Maserati owners.

In May of 2011, van Zyl claims to have hit an impressive top speed.

"170 mph ... For the cops reading this, maybe I'm joking. Lol."

A year later, he's pulled over at the side of the road, talking his way out of a ticket.

"I was pulled over yesterday and warned that I was not allowed to use engine braking in the town limits.

My car is a fully auto QP GTS. I was driving in sport manual mode, and downshifting.

Anyone else ever had this happen? I explained to the officer that the car is an automatic. Is this strictly engine braking? I love the blip on downshifts in sport manual mode, and would hate to have to now drive in auto just to avoid the po-po. The officer informed me that they will ticket next time. WTF?"

A couple of hours later, in the same thread:

"Lol. I think I'll roll the dice. Cops have NOTHING better to do here. RCMP R a
joke. Funny, all crotch rocket bikes are ignored. I know the radio chatter - black
Masearti, pull him over."

Same thread, two days later, van Zyl gets another warning, which he prophetically ignores.

"The police have been looking out for me ever since I got the car. A local officer
(who has a kid that plays soccer with my boys) told me to be careful. Several
people have complained about the noise and claim I was speeding ... Anyway, I'm
going to continue to drive the car as usual, and when/if I get stopped again, I'd
rather go to court."

Besides:

"The father of one of our friends is a judge, but alas, he doesn't handle traffic cases. I'm sure I can always call in a favour or two regardless.

Of course, my wife likes to remind me that she warned me that this would happen. Lol. Her mantra last year was "Why do you have to drive that thing in sport mode? It's so loud".

Then, just days before the crash, he describes another warning from the police:

A few weeks ago, there were flashing lights in my driveway! Someone complained, and the RCMP paid me a visit a few hours after I had parked the car. Verbal warning, etc, and the conversation quickly went to the car, how nice it is, and how fast I've had it up to (off the record). Lol. I was told that the complainant said I had made an unsafe lane change.......hell, I was only picking up some milk.

Up until this point, Mr. van Zyl simply feels he's being persecuted for showing too much flash in small town Nova Scotia. He worked hard, and now he wants to drive the dream car he
rightfully earned.

Except, he didn't:

"I wonder how many of the gents here actually purchased their cars? In my case, I could NEVER afford a brand new Maser on my salary. LOL. My wife paid for it, but interestingly, she has absolutely no interest in driving the car, or any of the others for that matter.

We have a fleet of cars, some of which are more expensive than "our" new QP, but she still drives our 11 year old Honda Accord!!!!!!! ...
I've said it before, and I'll say it again "It's nice to be a kept man""

Despite the arrest, the legal bills and the costly front-end damage, van Zyl, who says his other cars include a lowly Audi S8, isn't done with the Maserati life. 

After taking a four month break from posting at the owners forum, he recently returned, indicating he's taking a serious look at the 2014 model (which he says starts around $150,000 CAD, if you have to ask).

Though van Zyl regretfully had to turn down an invitation to the Toronto launch event, last week he posted asking for impressions of one crucial detail:

"An important factor for me is the exhaust note, as my current QP GTS is nothing short of outstanding in that category."

"I'm also looking forward to a test drive, I just have to find the time to fly to either Montreal or Toronto to take one out for a spin."

Mr. van Zyl has never acknowledged the crash on the Maseratilife.com forum, and it's not clear if his car has been repaired. It's winter now anyway, so something lesser from the family fleet might have to get him to court on Monday morning. Not that he's likely to take advice, but he might want to plan for a ride home and hold off on booking that test drive. If convicted, he faces a lengthy licence suspension and up to 5 years in prison on the dangerous driving charge.

That is, unless he can call in a favour from the judge on this one.

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The Mini John Cooper Works Paceman Is Pointless

The motoring press keeps complaining how Mini is turning its lineup into a bloated mess with pointless cars, to which Mini responds by making even more of them. Meet the new Mini Paceman JCW.

The Paceman is a two door, therefore less practical version of the Countryman with a chopped roof for less headroom in the back, and an unnecessary all-wheel drive system so you can go through some snow. It's too big to be a great urban explorer, and too soft for the occasional forest duty. So what would make it better? Mini thought giving it more power and getting rid of the ground clearance by adding a sports suspension and 18-inch alloy wheels.

They call it a "sports activity coupé with a racing flavor and intoxicating performance." I call it slowish. 0-62 in 6.9 seconds and a top speed of 140 mph. Or 139, in case you choose the optional automatic. But it's not like the engine is not doing its job. The 1.6 has a twin-scroll turbocharger, direct injection and variable valve control, which gives it 218 horsepower and 207 lb-ft. Torque can also rise to 221 lb-ft for short periods between 2,100 and 4,500 rpm thanks to overboost. The Paceman is just too heavy.

Firmly tuned springs and dampers, strengthened anti-roll bars a 0.39 inch lower ride height supports the power, just like red brake calipers and stripes everywhere. And now some practical information: the Paceman can only seat four, it has a 11.65 cubic-feet trunk, and will do 30 mpg if you don't use the John Cooper Works performance too often.

It's also very nice inside, just like all Minis. Still, I say no, thanks.

Photo credit: Mini

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Authorities in Mexico recently seized this truck-mounted "marijuana cannon" capable of fi

Authorities in Mexico recently seized this truck-mounted "marijuana cannon" capable of firing 30-pound cylinders of pot over a border fence into California. Click on over to Gawker for the full story. 

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What's The Best Car You've Seen At A Drive Through?

Earlier this month I was in Bahrain taking some photos of the McLaren P1. While I was there, my assistant Paul from LoveCars got given the key to this lovely McLaren 12C Spider for a few days to drive us round in.

While I woke up early to shoot on the second day, I let Paul have a little lie in as long as he brought us breakfast. He later sent me this picture of the 12C outside a very under developed looking McDonalds drive through. Apparently they didn't even bat an eyelid at the car... They must be used to awesome cars turning up there!

So what's the best car you've seen at a drive through? Feel free to post your pictures!

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‘There's A Difference Between Driving With Enthusiasm And Being A Douche Nozzle’

We all love driving, but at a certain point you can cross a line of social acceptability. We saw a crash today that reminded us of this line.

The crash was that of a Canadian professor behind the wheel of his Maserati Quattroporte. He injured another driver in a truck and he wrecked his car. One reader wondered why it seemed like we were bringing an unnecessarily harsh view on the incident.

I'm not cool with persecuting a man on the internet for owning a nice car, driving with enthusiasm, and getting in a wreck. I'm not sure that the slant of this story matches the facts, and it feels like the writer is just trolling for a bunch of "what a douche" and "he didn't earn it" reactions.

Reader TurboLag23 responded with some words of wisdom that are not only useful in interpreting this case, but should be remembered every time you put your foot to the floor.

There's a difference between driving with enthusiasm and being a douche nozzle.

I drive enthusiastically when there's nobody in front of me and it's a sunny day on Mulholland Highway between Las Virgines and Decker and the windows are down and the iPod's in on my awesome playlist.  All that in my automatic 2008 Acura TL or 2004 Subaru Outback H6.

People drive like douches when they have cars with modified/loud exhaust systems (Maser is included because of the sport exhaust), and they just sit there revving the piss out of it at stoplights trying to impress the 60-year-old elementary school teacher in the Accord next to them.

I would agree with you if he fell into the first group, but since he falls into the second group, I can't cosign on your post.  Sorry bro.

It’s a tricky subject because most car would be happy to cheer for a McLaren doing a burnout on the street, but would hate a guy doing the same in a trashy Nissan. What’s the worst case of dicktastic driving you’ve seen on the street, and would you have been more forgiving if the driver was behind the wheel of an exotic?

Photo Credit: McLaren

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Hit and Run Fatality Help Please

We had a hit and run this Tuesday night that took the life of 43 year old Kimyonis Palmer. The only clue is a teal paint chip. Any ideas?

Female Pedestrain Killed in Hit and Run

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Video: 2013 SLS GT AMG Review

There's nothing like track time to see what a supercar is made of. That's why I was optimistic that, not only had Mercedes and AMG re-worked the SLS for 2013, but also they invited me to  the track to drive it. They say it's faster, sharper, more responsive, and will return more feedback to the driver than the outgoing "standard" SLS AMG, but were they right? Only one way to find out. 

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John Z. DeLorean's $2.18 Million House Sadly Does Not Have Gullwing Doors

Hey, wanna buy John Z. DeLorean's house in California? It's not as cool as you'd think it is. But it's pretty nice. And crazy expensive.

For just $2.18 million, you can find yourself in John Z.'s 17-acre, four-bedroom 1960 ranch house in the Pauma Valley Country Club in San Diego County. There are also horse stables. I would have expected a garage full of muscle cars and DMC-12s, but horses are nice too, I guess. Insert the cocaine joke of your choice here, please. 

Fortunately, the country club it's in has a private airport of its own, so maybe you can convince them to let you engage in some airstrip hoonage. John Z., who as you all know died in 2005, would have wanted it that way. And no, the doors are not gull-winged, sorry. 

Photo credit The Davidson Group

Hat tip to Adrian at Curbed!

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Exclusive Cars from Canada Eh!

Many people seem to want to lump American cars and Canadian cars into just one big category but, there are several companies who created Canadian unique cars to fit with Canadian needs. Just like in every Country – some cars make it, some cars don't. Several cars were simply renamed in order to seem like completely different cars, however some auto companies actually listened to Canadian wants and needs and strove to create Canadian exclusive cars. It took several trials and errors, but in the end, these companies and consumers were ‘rewarded’ with Canadian exclusive cars. Here’s a list of the ones that stood out:

HTT Pléthore

This baby has rightfully earned it's place as the first Canadian supercar to ever grace the northern markets. It was first proposed on Dragon's Den, the Canadian equivalent of Shark Tank – a show where hopeful entrepreneurs feature their ideas to investors with the intention of making their dreams come true. It's body is made entirely of Carbon Fiber and is rumoured to have a power-to-weight ratio of a formula one racecar. You can thank this car for putting Canada on the map for high end supercars.

Bricklin SV-1

This Delorean/Corvette lovechild is the only car in automotive history to have powered gull wing doors that opened and closed at the touch of a button. Take that, Marty Mcfly! This car was branded as a safe and economical sports car and was assembled in New Brunswick, Canada from 1974-1976.

Acadian

Made in an effort to have Canadian Pontiac-Buick dealers to have a compact model to sell since other compact models were unavailable in Canada. They were sold with four cylinder, six cylinder or V8 engines. They also came in three or four speed manual or two speed power glide model.

Asuna Sunfire

Only made during the 1993 production year as a response to Geo. The first cars to introduce rear wheel steering. Production was limited to a 1.8 litter engine, and a hatch back body. Due to poor sales however, Asuna was shut down. The Sunfire was moved over to the Pontiac line.

Pontiac Tempest

Innovative in its time for the rear mounted transaxle, which coupled with front mounted engine gave the Tempest a very near ideal fifty-fifty front rear weight distribution.

Pontiac Pursuit

A Canadian only version of the Pontiac G5 that had a four door option instead of only two doors. It came with a 2.2 liter engine. It offered your choice of either a five speed manual transmission or a four speed automatic transmission.

Meteor

A Canadian only subsidiarity of Ford. Used the flat head V8 engine in all of the Canadian models. Also a six cylinder engine for all its models. The only difference between Meteor models came from using different instrument panels and dashboards.

Mercury M-Series

Produced from 1946 to 1968 by the Ford Motor Company of Canada. It contained a flat head V8 engine. It was introduced as a way to market more trucks to smaller communities of Canada.

Dodge Regent

Built as a Canadian exclusive car from the Chrysler Corporation of Canada. It was a rather low priced line filled with mismatched parts, and poor body engineering due to the rush to get it in production.

Acura CSX

Although called a Honda Civic in other markets, this car is an exclusive car to Canada. Some variations in design make it unique from the Honda Civic. These variations include a longer nose up front. In the rear the Acura CSX has jeweled tail lamps making it look more upscale then its counterpart.

Although a lot of car companies simply added a few new features to existing cars they helped to create the Canadian exclusive car market. These cars are meant to cater specially to the needs of Canadian consumers. However, none of these cars have ever made it to the top ten cars in Canada. These cars were meant to be designed with Canadian specific needs in mind. I have no idea how these car companies collected this research or if it was trial and error. One thing is for sure though, it sure makes us Canadians feel special.

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