Well, praise be to the heavens, the DMV did a good job today. I arrived at 8:50am for a 9am appointment at the Daly City DMV. When I checked in at the take-a-number lady, she asked questions that led her to direct me outside for my car inspection. (They had to confirm the VIN numbers matched everywhere on the Miata, part of the out-of-state transfer.) Then, back inside, a 2-minute wait after I got my number, and off to the counter to interact with a friendly and competent guy. Paperwork was reviewed, I filled out the one form I’d missed, check was written (still no credit cards accepted, ugh) and I was off to pick up two sets of plates from a different woman.

I was outside at my car at 9:10am with plates in hand, titles to be mailed out within two to three weeks. In short, everything was accomplished and in an unbelievably short timeframe. Go DMV!!!

Last week, I saw a CHP car cop shooting people with what was likely a laser gun, with a bike cop sitting next to him, waiting for the green light to go catch speeders. Today, there were 3 bike cops out, although no sign of any car cops. Bummer.

Annoyingly, the embeddable version is of shite quality, so I recommend you click on the high-res option in the embedded video, which opens up a new window with higher quality video.

Re-enact Bullitt With GPS Maps | Autopia from Wired.com

More to come.

This old feature from Motoring File (the best Mini-focused site) provides a good overview of what it is like to take a car out on the Nordschleife.

The back story on the TC: Chrysler worked with the Italian car company Maserati in the ’80s to glitz up a K-car based convertible with some surface touches and then charge way too much money for it. The vehicle was built partly in Europe and included a Maserati trident badge on the front grill. For additional detail, this web site has a very good history of it, including some hilarious photos. Maserati currently makes two appealing vehicles, but prior to Ferrari/FIAT’s purchase of the company, it was chronically underfunded and plagued by quality problems.

Back to the headline for this post: why would you buy this car and make it your special vehicle for weekend drives? It’s slow, drives poorly, bland in appearance, unreliable, has no history to make it interesting and is not a vehicle that you would buy as an investment.  I’d rather get a used Miata. I wonder if there are TC owners’ clubs…yes!! Here’s a link. I’d like to go to a gathering and just make fun of all the stooges with their “special vehicles,” as the owners’ club page describes the TC. And it turns out that this year’s national meet is being held May 6 through 9 in Carmel, California…which is where I am right now. (That explains seeing them around.) I may be taking part of Monday’s workday off to go find these guys and mock them.

As a post script, Cadillac’s Allante convertible had a history that, on the surface, is similar to the TC. Cadillac worked with the noted Italian designer and coachbuilder Pininfarina, Ferrari’s designer of choice, on a convertible with bodies built in Italy and then air-freighted to the U.S. Cadillac then performed final assembly. The end result was a bland design with some initial quality problems and a very high price. What distinguishes the Allante from the TC is that the fundamental engineering on the Allante was much better from the start, as it was designed from the ground up on a new platform, and Cadillac continued to devote engineering resources to improving the vehicle and addressing its flaws. The final iteration, with a Northstar V8, was a solid vehicle. However, as GM has done before (see: Fiero), it killed off the Allante shortly thereafter.

Here’s a Ted Leo interview from Pitchfork for your reading pleasure.

If you are a car aficionado, perhaps you are as jazzed as I am (hmm, that expression looks pretty lame when typed out) about the new M3 due out in 2008. Time to start checking what I can get for my Mini… Here’s a photo of the hotness.

Not related to music or cars, but check out this ridiculous photo of Don Imus. He makes Al Sharpton look normal:

-Apples in Stereo, New Magnetic Wonder.

-Apostle of Hustle, Folkloric Feel, from 2004.

-The Walkmen, Pussy Cats (cover album).

-Sunset Rubdown, Shut Up I Am Dreaming (Wolf Parade-related).

Also, here’s a link to a PDF of Ezra Dyer’s latest amusing article for Automobile Magazine. Pretty wild how much tech the Gumball ralliers pack to evade John Q. Laws.

And finally, Chris read Absurdistan recently, thought it passable. I was going through my files and saw that I had saved an Esquire page with a strange counterpoint on the book.