February Car Spotter

[G. David Felt]

Saw my First Hyundai Ioniq in the wild. A white one that was actually doing better than the Prius next to it in a crazy winter dump of snow.

[G. David Felt]

Yesterday leaving the Gym I came out and saw these two:

Shelby F150, nice stance, great looking truck.

Maserati CUV, Talk about an ugly mess of a car.

[balthazar]

^ It really is absolutely nothing special whatsoever. Could be anyone of a dozen, hugely cheaper SUVs.
I'm sorry, some brands should just not bother with SUVs.

- - - - -
At some sort of mechanics business saw the nose of a circa '70 Challenger, and right next to it was a full-size '66 Chevy with a blower & carbs stacked pretty damned near roof-high coming out the hood-less engine bay.

[trinacriabob]

Spotted in late February, so I wanted to add this.  I couldn't help but photograph it.  Had these units sported a 3800 V6, this would be my current sled.  I remember how wigged out I was about Chevy's conversion from a regular 60 degree OHV 3400 V6 to the OHV 3500 Chevy V6, but with a new twist - their introduction of VVT done in a then unconventional way ... not by adding another set of cams up top, but by putting the solid state unit that regulated the VVT at the front of the camshaft pulley.  As it turns out, over 10 years later, many 3500 VVT V6s are still powering those Impalas and Monte Carlos and doing just fine.  I've talked to mechanics and they've told me that they've occasionally seen the actual solid state unit or the sensor up front replaced, but not too often.  Also, having driven several 3500 VVT V6s in rentals in the late 2000s, they returned an unbelievable 33, and sometimes 34, mpg on the highway, which is amazing for 3,600 pound cars.  They could keep the extra 89 horses that came with the now very common OHC 3600 V6 that came along later ... I'll take the extra 5 mpg on the highway.

I'm happy with what I bought but I will have to admit to some cognitive dissonance when I see the very last of GM's venerable personal luxury midsize coupes, having driven a one GM coupe or another since I got my driver's license until now.  And it was sad to see them clean up the Monte Carlo so nicely for its last 2 years and then see it disappear altogether.  (It was funny when one forum participant here said he couldn't warm up to this car and referred to it as "the white trash car of America.")