Random auto thought
From 1950 to 2000, Jeeps were the only cars that didn't look like cars.

Since 2000, Jeeps are the only cars that look like cars. They have headlights, grilles, bumpers and fenders. All other cars are grotesque deep-sea monsters.

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Another random auto thought. In 1954 Nash held a 'name this car' contest. They built a custom roadster using the same Austin engine as the Metropolitan, and invited entries to submit names. Did the winner get the car? NO. The car would be given to baseball star Ted Williams. Nash wasn't cheating. The ads for the contest were perfectly clear that the car would go to Williams. It wasn't fine print. But WHY? Why bother to enter a contest to give a prize to a rich dude who can afford anything he wants? Sucker Filter doesn't really fit. Nash wasn't trying to find gullible fools. In the end Williams hated the car and never drove it. He took the endorsement money without giving any value for the endorsement, then sold the car to some other rich dude, making money on both ends. Bastard.

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A perfect opposite of Williams: Ricardo Montalban seemed to be just a paid endorser for the Chrysler Cordoba. He was a lot more. According to a stylist writing in Collectible Auto, Montalban took a proprietary interest in the car and visited the studio several times to watch the stylists at work. He wanted to know the car he was endorsing. That's impressive.

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Separate random note: The quail are showing up this year, after several years of absence. They're fun to watch and easy to watch. Unlike Default Brown Birds, quail are confident. They don't fly away when they sense that I'm watching. Two of them have been standing on the porch for 15 minutes, just hanging out and observing the world. I've walked past the door several times, and we exchange glances every time.

Next morning, I found this on the porch:

So the quail wasn't standing on the porch, she was laying on the porch.

Undoubtedly an accident, an avian miscarriage. Still, I put it on the grass after picturing it. I don't want to be the one who forced the loss.

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Later: The universe took revenge on Williams in a delicious way.

Labels: Asked and unanswerable, Entertainment

  ¶ 4:00 PM