Motoring Soapbox

Though I finished the post about the Ferrari 812 Superfast less than an hour ago, I just had to share this video commemorating 70 years of Ferrari cars. It's simple, to the point but awesome.

Just in time for the 70 th year of Ferrari, the successor to the F12 Berlinetta has arrived in the form of the 812 Superfast. Its an evolution of the F12 design which was already beautiful to begin with. The 812 builds on that, modifying the lines of the F12 so that the 812 comes out as decidedly aggressive. I suppose if you owned the F12, you'd keep it to use as a sort of  "Gentleman's Express" while the 812 Superfast is what you'd use to sow chaos on the road. With nearly 800 hp (789) on tap, this Ferrari lives up to its name. Here is the official video from the Ferrari Channel Ferrari put together an awesome site just for the 812 which you can access here The photos below came from the Ferrari site and there’s much more material on the official site  that’s sure to keep Ferrari enthusiasts busy.

The old Panamera was the butt of many a joke in the old Top Gear show featuring Jeremy Clarkson and company. Somehow, none of the hosts had a kind word to say styling wise about it. Personally. while I didn't find the car scintillating, it certainly didn't strike me as ugly. In fact, seeing the car in the flesh actually invokes a positive emotional response to its "sedan with Porsche power" looks that cannot be described but is something car enthusiasts know.  But the new Panamera shown in these videos is a different story altogether. It is, to me, a very attractive large sports sedan. Its not a "shooting brake" type of car, its more like a true long wheelbase 911. Very well executed considering that its not a massive departure from the old.  Perhaps Jeremy might find this one to be a vindication of sorts for the Porsche Panamera.  I initially thought that the Panamera would boot a mainstay off my vision board but after por...

As mentioned in my last post, I was going to look into the New Civic Type R vs the Camaro and Mustang. This came about because the quoted range for the Civic R is 2.48 to 2.8M and a search in the local car marketplace showed a 2015 Camaro with 5T kms on the odometer for 2.695M and a 2013 Mustang with 10T kms on the odometer for 2.45M. So clearly, if I were a prospective car buyer and I had 2.8M burning in my pocket, I would take a look around to see what else I could get for that sort of money. Actually there are several other interesting cars like a BMW 630i Convertible or a Porsche 996 but to keep things organized, lets focus on American muscle first. I grew up in an era where American cars were king and the European cars were just becoming popular. At this time, Camaro and Mustang were a whole lot of GO but not much when the road starts winding. All that has changed today. In fact, the Camaro is giving the Nissan Skyline R35 a run for its money...

Photo courtesy of Motor Trend: http://www.motortrend.com/news/styling-size-2017-honda-civic-type-r-vs-competition/ This is of course a purely theoretical exercise. For one, I don’t have the money to buy any of these cars brand new or second hand (in the future). But since the Civic launch was highly anticipated here in the Philippines I figured, what the heck. IF I was getting a hot hatch, which will I buy? The contenders: 1. Ford Focus RS   - AWD - 350 hp 2. Honda Civic Type R - FF - 306 hp 3. Subaru WRX STi - AWD - 305 hp 4. Volkswagen Golf R - AWD - 292 hp There are a lot of road tests by people better qualified than myself so I won’t even pretend to try road testing them. So any evaluation made here is purely based on my subjective observations and conclusions. First, I do like Hondas. I own a CRV which I love and will probably keep forever. I was one of those who were salivating when the...

I've always admired Volvo vehicles because of their reputation for safety and their design. Admittedly, I am really partial to European cars and my garage is 80% European. I have 4 Volvos on my vision board and I will share them on this blog in due time. At the moment though, I just want to share this video which is sure to make the Volvophile's heart beat a little faster.

The 1959 Mercedes 180D (W120) The more common version of the W120 had smaller tail lights. Our version had the bigger tail lights shown here GPL, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=347859 I remember so vividly sitting in this car that I can almost smell the interior again. And the photos of the inside are likewise so clear in my mind. I had one of my first car related misadventure here, an incident which I found both alarming and hilarious at the same time. The 180D "Ponton" had a pull type handbrake under the dashboard, in the area of the steering column. It also had a 4 speed column shifter. This car was usually parked in the sort of secondary covered garage just off our driveway. In our family house then, the driveway was quite long, probably 100 meters or so from the gate. The driveway goes down and it levels off in the main garage which is flat. The 180D however, being in the secondary garage, was still parked on a slope. Directly in fro...