CARS

I am a car person I guess.  I have always had a favorite car, a dream car, a car for different occasions/fantasies.  The car is always an important feature for me.  I can remember most of my favorite cars from childhood, teenage hood.  They haven't changed much.

Ladies and Gentlemen: the XK-E

This has been my dream car since I was 5 years old and will be my dream a car till I die.  It's the car that made me a car girl.  I mean look at it... I will always love you E type!

This dream car knows that it's a dream car right from the start.  I thought the red Ferrari in Vacation should have been a Corvette.  ( I have issues with the red Ferrari I will talk about later).  Prince understood!

Volkswagen made this cool little Carmen Ghia (or Karmann Ghia).  I had a baby sitter who drove one and she seemed like the coolest teenager that ever was.  Lucky for her, her father puttered around the garage on weekends.  As amazing as little classic cars are, they need attention.  This car fits my cartoon car category as well.  I love vintage cars from the 50s and 60s that have a kind of Hannah Barbara quality.

The 350 SL.  So 70s, Charlies Angels, Malibu... A very Southern California car.

2 tons of Detroit steel.  A definite cartoon car.  Made for road trips to semi glamorous places like Austin, Texas, Palm Springs, Niagara Falls, St Louis.  But the best stretch of road I can think of for this bad ass machine is New Orleans.  Perfect.

I know my dream cars are not everyone's dream cars.  These cars have a wacky romance for people who think a road trip on route 66 stopping at Diners, Drive Ins and Dives from the food network would be super fun. And sleeping in theme motels and playing local radio stations...

The luxury cars of today just don't do it for me.  Who in their right  mind would drive a Bentley?  Bentleys are for drug dealers, gangsters and Kardashian moms.  Red Ferrari?  We all know it screams small penis.  I don't want to drive a car that is screaming small penis.

Who do you suppose was driving this?

  The luxury brands have really slacked off lately.  BMW, Mercedes, Range Rover have all had my attention at various times but not now.  Actually, BMW has nice bikes:

You never know, I might take the plunge someday.

The SUV craze seemed to drain the auto industry's creativity dry.  Some of the lamest cars ever - the BMW SUV, the Mercedes SUV, the Porsche Cayenne.  The Cayenne is ok I guess but come on.  I would rather drive a pick up than any of those.  Come to think of it, there is a pick up on my list of 'some day I will buy' cars with major Hanna Barbera aesthetic:

Bite it Cayenne!

So to wrap up my Ode to Automotive Joy, I give you the visual crescendo, composed of snapshots in time.  The world's most graciously kickass car ever. EVER: the Duesenberg.

In every way elegant, excellent, powerful, modern, chic and ball-busting.   All the elements of a dream car, a classic car, a work of art...

Dream away:

OMG!!!