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CarNucopia

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Everything posted by CarNucopia

  1. I'll need to give two answers, one local and one destination. In the Chicago area, the Geneva Concours is the must-attend event I put on my calendar each year. There's always a great array of cars and the show is very well run. I've been fortunate enough to display a car on two occasions which was an honor. As for a destination, I love participating in the Rally for the Lane at the Lane Motor Museum. The Lane is my favorite museum because of the eclectic displays. For the event, participants get to drive a car from the collection for a few hour to lunch and then a few hours back. The route is always fun, particularly for someone usually surrounded by boring roads. Plus, the other participants and folks with the museum are a great group of people to spend the day with.
  2. I had what I think was similar challenge. A car I bought had a bezel on the hood for the logo, but at some point the logo fell off. I haven't been able to find a replacement, so I wanted to make something passible to fill the void. I took an image of the logo and pasted it to a jpg photo file by simply using Microsoft paint. I then resized it a bunch of times so one image file had a range of dimensions. I printed it at Walgreen's on photo paper and cut out the one closest to the bezel. Since it's on the outside of the car, I laminated it to help it last.
  3. That's crazy about the bridge. I'm glad she likes the car and gets full use of it. I'd just like to be able to do what she did; select a vehicle I want instead of having my choices legislated for me. Hybrids (which I apparently didn't invent) do that too.
  4. Sounds like it would be an incredibly efficient way to light your car on fire. šŸ˜²
  5. Yes, it's logarithmic. (That'll be a helpful tool for me to explain away my own spending reductions. šŸ˜‰) Thing is, people spend dollars, not percentages. Sure, cutting cost by 40% is nice, but it pencils out to $4,900 (based on current Tesla battery size), which is not enough to bring cost parity with ICE cars. GS estimates an 11%/year decrease. This computes to about 8.5 years to get to another halving of cost. Again, not enough to bring parody 12 years from now. Another measure of the gap are the subsidies required to sell EVs. It's close to $10K currently, not including indirect subsidies. Even if batteries were free, the need for subsidies would still exist. Another point on battery costs. The US lags China by 30% in cost. Bringing production stateside will erase four years of reductions. And, that assumes all the geo-political barriers are resolved. Please report back when you've done 900 miles in one day. You have the luxury of owning an EV because you have another car that is substituted for this task. Great for a two car family, but what is a one car family to do? If only there was a single car that could use electricity for short trips and gas for long trips..... šŸ˜œ A hybrid of sorts.... The other thing your example illustrates is the gap between the real value provided by an EV vs. it's cost to produce is even bigger. Your essentially new car is something the market is voting against with its own money. Which means more subsidies. I have no doubt owning an EV can be pleasurable and economic on a personal level. But is your experience really something that can be projected on the larger market? Are there enough suckers to take a 70% hit for the rest of us to buy on the cheap?
  6. I didn't pronounce anything, I posted a meme. I'm certainly open to being persuaded it's not based in reality. First off, the chart above also shows a flattening curve, so you're supporting my earlier point. The idea that a breakthrough technology is just around the corner that lowers cost is pure speculation. Better batteries are always 5 years away. And the folks projecting this narrative are generally trying to raise capitol, not actually build stuff. If it happens, its a game changer. Right now, nobody is close. It's also a nice mathematical trick to pick a base year for the 40% decline as the year after a 22% increase. But hey, the GS guys do know math... About half of change in Goldman Sachs' prediction is based on a current softening of commodity prices. If demand for EVs is as proponents expect, demand for "green transition" commodities will outstrip supply. Take a look at what the International Energy Agency has to say about meeting the increased demand. And these folks are pro-EV.
  7. Presumably an abbreviation for Hellinois. šŸ˜
  8. This topic does relate to antiques because as the old adage goes: "Those who don't learn from history are destine to repeat it" As lovers of old cars, we're accused of letting nostalgia cloud our judgement. Guilty. But, when it comes to EVs, we're of a limited group of people who know the history of the automobile and why certain things fail. The current pursuit of EVs is just chasing windmills (figuratively and laterally). Another reason people like EVs is the purchase is subsidized. Were they required to pay the actual price, not one supported by the largess of governments, profitable ICE vehicles and venture capitalists, they would not have bought it in the first place.
  9. Itā€™s other countriesā€™ governments that are pro EV, not its citizens. While China is the EV leader, they are building 6 times as many coal burning plants as the rest of the world combined. Their interest in EVs isnā€™t to make the world better, its to surpass the West as the industrial top dog. Why on earth would we want to take our cues from a country is essentially a dictatorship? They want EVs because they have natural resources they give them a competitive advantage in an EV mobilized society.
  10. The important signal in cost is not comparing current prices with beginning prices. What is relevant is costs relative to competitive products. A century ago, the cost of an ICE Model T dropped significantly compared to EVs and steam cars, making them uncompetitive. They were just too complex to be manufactured inexpensively. While the chart you provided shows an impressive decline in battery costs, the rate of decline has slowed significantly. The benefit of low hanging fruit from scale has been realized, as you can see from the line flattening. Even with the illustrated decline, EVs are considerably more expensive then comparable ICE cars. They sell thanks to subsidies. Remove the subsidies and sales tank. The policy towards EVs is economically absurd because they started with goal that doesn't measure the progress desired. Policy aims to raise the percent of cars sold that are EVs. What it should be trying to accomplish is increasing the number of miles driven electricity. The scarce resource is batteries. Policy incentivizes passenger cars which spend 22+ hours a day parked instead of, say, urban postal vehicles. An orthodontist driving a Tesla isn't what will move the needle, it's the Amazon delivery van. Yet we squander resources for people to feel good about their green appearance. I'm not anti-EV. I test drove a GM EV-1 back in 1999 because I was curious what they offered. I'm anti EV policy because it is wasteful and ineffective.
  11. Using the "anti-EV" description is a bit of an oversimplification. I'm not interested in EVs for the same reason I don't care much about Toyota Camrys or $1M Supercars: They're just not something that will bring me motoring joy. I wouldn't bother discussing EVs at all if they weren't being forced on us through force-of-law. And unfortunately, these policies make up for being overbearing by being ineffective and wasteful.
  12. This Venn Diagram sums up my opinion of the EV transition. Batteries are prohibitively expensive to produce which is a big part of the reason the market voted against EVs a century ago. The same thing will happen now if people are allowed to buy what's best for them.
  13. I posted this in the ā€œnot mineā€ section, but though someone here might be interested.
  14. If anyone is looking for a stash of ā€˜32 Buick parts this might be worth a look. Iā€™m impressed by the interior woodwork. Its a shame this effort will likely be wasted. https://auctions.yodersold.com/auctions/10048/lot/17650-1932-buick-car-body-w-lots-and-lots-of-parts
  15. It seems to me that determining the perfect early-year cutoff for a tour is impossible. The drivability difference between my '30 Buick and '39 LaSalle is huge. In my opinion, the advancements made during the 30s were the biggest in the evolution of the automobile. Picking the "sweet spot" is dependent on what manufacturer you're considering and the owners' willingness to push hard. I'd rather see the AACA error on the side of allowing cars that might be too slow then excluding cars that are more than adequate. Let the owner decide if it's appropriate.
  16. An article in Hemmings claims the collector car market is experiencing a correction. Combine that with the demographic shift happening and it's not surprising that Prewar cars are declining even more. https://www.hemmings.com/stories/auction-market-reset-2023/s
  17. There was one on Bring a Trailer that was implied to be original. Maybe the photos from the auction can help? https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1940-buick-special-2/
  18. I think @58L-Y8 is right that it's a 68. It's definitely not a 40 series car. The difference between the 58 and the 68 is 8" in the wheel base and it's hard to tell without looking at it in profile. If it is a 68, it's a Full ClassicĀ® My 1930 64C has the same drivetrain, which I have had up to about 60MPH. And while the repair manual shows a chart with RPM at 65MPH, the car really feels most comfortable at 35-40. It looks pretty complete, with the exception of the seats. The hood ornament is from a '31, IIRC.
  19. Thanks everyone for the tips. Your car looks beautiful @Stude Light. Iā€™ll pick up some of the product you used and seal some of the small openings. Below is a picture of my rubber trim, which looks to have aged well. Hopefully, its as sound as it appears. Iā€™ve been afraid to even wash the car for fear of leaks,
  20. I thought the rumor was they would be selling chocolate covered dates at the Fall Meet. Sounds delicious.
  21. About 8 years ago, I decided I wanted to buy a late '30s GM car to do some touring. My target model was a '38 Buick Century, but I ended up finding a 26K-mile original 1939 LaSalle sedan. During my search, I noticed most of the cars from this era seemed to have water staining on the headliner, presumably from water leaking at the windows. My car is a survivor and it has taken me a few years to get past the notion I needed to pamper it to preserve the low miles. Now that I'm getting it ready for so real drives next year, I want to prevent any avoidable damage of the original parts. Any advice on how best to protect the headliner? Thanks
  22. Bobā€™s Automobilia had one previously, but I donā€™t see it on their web site. I bought one for my ā€˜30 and have been happy with it.
  23. ā€¦and probably shouldnā€™t be yours. šŸ˜ https://hibid.com/lot/170946027/1930-buick-2-door
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