Let's Ride - Fred Faulkner's Blog About the Road Called Life

Well The Dukes of Hazzard opens today in movie theaters, and as I'm preparing for meetings all day I hear the familiar General Lee horn outside my window. Turns out there are two of them that just turned onto Wacker Drive. Don't know where they are going, but I'm sure it is to promote the movie. I wish I had my camera, they looked cool, even from the 21st floor, but my camera is broken. Oh well. I guess my new banner for the Web site will have to do for a while.

Posted by Frederick L. Faulkner IV at 07:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sweet mother of...Saleen has decided that the original S7 wasn't fast enough at 500hp. Instead it had to revise the S7 to pump out a whopping 750bhp with 700 lb-ft of torque thanks to the addition of twin Garrett turbochargers. **drool**

One more to add to the Dream Garrage.

[Via Autoblog]

Posted by Frederick L. Faulkner IV at 08:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Chicago-based CCC Information Services Inc., an insurance industry tracker of theft and vehicle damage published its top 25 most stolen cars. Surprisingly the SUVs don't top the list anymore (the Escalade comes in at a whopping 24 this year). Due to the enormous eruption of street cars since The Fast and the Furious came out in the early '00s, fast cars are all the rage. Taking over the top 25 has been the Acrua Integra...in a number of model years. Due to fast engines and the fact that they can fit in a Honda Civic body frame, the Integra has become top dog. Here is where the Integra's came out this year.

Of the Top 25 steals, Acura Integra's ranked:

1. 1999 Acura Integra
3. 1998 Acura Integra
6. 1996 Acura Integra
7. 1995 Acura Integra
9. 1997 Acura Integra
11. 2001 Acura Integra
14. 1994 Acura Integra
16. 2000 Acura Integra

Source: CCC Information Services Inc.

The entire list can be found at the Chicago Tribune Web site (free reg. required).

Posted by Frederick L. Faulkner IV at 07:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Chicago Auto Show starts next week and this year we get two treats. First is that the show is growing and now will be in two buildings this year, or "supersized" as they call it. This hasn't happened since before the South building was built back in the 90s. This is exciting, not because there are more manufacturers here this year (maybe one or two more) but that each returning one is having a bigger display. More and more cars are on the market each year and this proves that the industry is "somewhat" healthy.

The second treat comes in a new feature of the show courtosy of DaimlerChrysler. According to Business 2.0's January 28th Marking Focus newsletter:

The U.S. unit of Germany's DaimlerChrysler (DCX) is constructing a test-drive behemoth: a half-mile indoor track along the perimeter of Chicago's vast McCormick Place convention complex. That's 1,100 cubic yards of topsoil, boulders, gravel, concrete, and timber -- the equivalent of four football fields -- all of which will take seven full days of round-the-clock work to install.

Posted by Frederick L. Faulkner IV at 08:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Detroit Auto Show was last week and many images have been showing up on the Internet. Weblog Inc's Auto Blog has probably the best coverage that I have seen thus far.

One of my favorite cars has always been the 'vette. I've always loved the lines, the muscle, and the heritage that comes with the 'vette. I know that the 'vette went through some rough times in the 80's, but I think that those times are over. The C5 was a great departure of the 80's and brought some old school styling into a modern look. An eventual goal is to have enough money to own one of each C model in a garage someday. (gotta have goals)

When the new C6 was announced they didn't have a Z06 model. Detroit got to unveil the 2006 Z06. This just wets my whistle for the Chicago Auto Show coming next month.

Posted by Frederick L. Faulkner IV at 08:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I'm starting a new type of post with this one for when I spot cool/new cars. I have made posts on other cars such as the new 2004.5 Volvo S40, but today I will comment on the new BMW 645Ci that I spotted not too long ago downtown. Now remember, I'm not cool enough to get to test drive these cars, I just get to comment on how cool they are and add them to my dream garage wish list. So here we go!

Car: 2004 BMW 645Ci
Color: Silver
Base Price: $69,300 MSRP
Spotting:

Location 1: Walking home from the train station about a month ago.

It was a quick glimpse and it made me say to myself, "that didn't look like a 5 or 7 series back end. I wonder if it was a 6?" But at the time I didn't think they were out yet, but I have since confirmed it was the 645.

Location 2: Just off Michigan Avenue in the Water Tower district across the street from the Bently dealership.

I was doing some errands during lunch and decided to go to Jimmy Johns for lunch. On my walk over I spotted it and got up close and personal with this beauty. It was an off-white and a drop top. It was magnificent. It reaked style, class, and speed all from a standing still position. I would sure hope it conveyed all of that for a starting price tag of 69 Gs. The size is a little bigger than one might expect. It sits on the 5 series platform which is considerably larger than the current 3 series. I would think that you have a lot of room in this car. I did the Build and Price on the BMW Web site and pimped mine out in Grey Silver Metallic exterior, Chateau Dakota Leather, and all the bells and whistles (heated seats, proximity sensor for backing up, sport package, cold weather package, etc.) for a whopping total of $76,995. Maybe next year.

Posted by Frederick L. Faulkner IV at 10:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

OK, I'm on a car kick right now. One of my good friends from college works for Ford and came into town for the Chicago Auto Show back in February. It was there were we laid our eyes on this car, the new Volvo 2004.5 S40. It was one of those moments where I went "Whoa" when I saw it. I knew Volvo as a brand from my grandfather, who has owned Volvo's for year's for their safety record.

So when we stumbed across the new S40 (which is coincidentally is owned by Ford, so James had some insight into this car) I was impressed. So we took a look and here is what I was impressed with on first glance.

1) The trunk lid opens past 90 degrees to giving you more room to access the trunk.
2) The center counsel in the car is only 3 inches deep revealing a storage place behind it.
3) The navigation system can be completely controlled from a little button on the steering wheel with your right index finger.
4) The rear folding seats (60/40 split) folded flat vs. having that slight incline.
5) The T5 has an inline 5 with over 200 horses and a six speed manual(!) which should make for a fun drive down the highway, or the side roads.

Overall, this is a car that I would seriously consider as a first sedan. I like the size as it is comparable to a BMW 3 series. Styling wise, this is basically a smaller version of the V60, but the small version is really cool. I like the styling. I like the gunmettal silver look too. I would have to do a test drive to be certain. For more information on some professional opinions besides mine (not professional at all) check out this one from the Chicago Tribune. Besides, how can you resist their new commercials?

Posted by Frederick L. Faulkner IV at 08:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Charge up my life with this car. Chicago Tribune Car Editor Jim Mateja has the inside scoop on the return of the much missed Dodge Charger. His article this weekend articulates that Dodge is bringing back the "Dukes of Hazzard" car in style. While I didn't grow up in the prime time era of the Charger, I did get the opportunity to see the concept displayed at the Chicago Auto Show back in 1999. Let me tell you, this car is sweet. 19s on the front, 20s on the back. The "concept" had a Compressed Natural Gas fuel system, the '06 release will have a "hemi" in it. The interesting thing tough is that while it is replacing the Intrepid, it will have one key feature that is not traditional to the Charger name...4 doors. In the picture above, if you click to make it larger, you can see that there is indeed 4 doors on this bad boy. What does this ultimately mean? Well it just might mean more will buy it? Like the Chevy SS (a 4 door concept as well) it doesn't have a 4 door styling which is what will keep the sales rolling IMHO. We'll see, but if this car is indeed produced, the GTO better look out!!

Posted by Frederick L. Faulkner IV at 08:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)