Ferrari Mailing List: Re: Not So "Smart" Car (was Tulsa Event)

[BRIGANDBAR (BRIGANDBAR]

Tom, Tom, Tom:
 
Small cars should at least be powerful and maneuverable enough to get out  of 
the way of us dinosaurs who refuse to honor King Al of Nobel by giving up our 
 right to be an American and do as we damn well please.
 
I saw, but fortunately IMNSHO, declined a ride in the allegedly "Smart"  
(though I don't know what is so smart about joining the Teutonic version of the 
 
Kamakazi) car. I don't even want to think what would happen to me if I were  
unfortunate enough to be in one that, rightfully or otherwise, pulled out in  
front of my Excursion, F-350, MB G-Wagon, or even the hearse (or select any  
other one from the list in my signature) and were to be hit head-on, "T"-boned, 
 
or rear ended. My guess is that the skid plates would probably need to be  
repainted in the first three, and I'd be ready to ride in the rear compartment  
of the latter.
 
How cheap does one have to be to accept the risk-reward equation of fuel  
economy in one of these cars. And, more realistically, just think about driving 
 
around Manhattan in traffic with those yellow used up Crown Victoria taxicabs  
many driven by individuals from cultures where the traffic guidelines are the 
 old "Saigon Rules" we used in Vietnam where the largest vehicle, driven by 
the  operator with the biggest hang down parts ALWAYS has the right of way.
 
They are simply mobile deathtraps. Can you imagine a drive on the Indian  
Nations Turnpike in one of those on a cold winter day with icy roads in Eastern 
 
OK?
 
I just thought of one good reason to own one. If I were to ever run the  
F-350 out of diesel fuel it would be handy to have one in the bed to unload and 
 
drive on down to the next fuel station.
 
I  guess there might be such a thing as Global Warming, but then again  
something like it must have ended the Ice Age and Homo Erectus had not, as of  
yet, 
begun to use vehicles powered by internal combustion engines to commute  from 
cave house to work and back. Tom my friend, I know you are one of us. You  
probably are more likely to aspire to one of those new Cirrus single engine  
personal use jet airplanes with a parachute in the nose compartment than you do 
 
one of these silly little toys that belong in your backyard for your  
grandchildren to drive when they graduate from their go-karts. No EPA mpg 
rating  is 
worth dying over or even looking that silly in traffic. They remind me of  that 
old, Messerschmidt I think, little three-wheelers where the door was on the  
front and it opened, steering wheel and all for ingress and egress. If you 
need  a fix please just come on down here and drive my 348 with the top down 
for 
a day  or two to clear your head. You are always welcome and it will be  
therapeutic.
 
Dr. Steve
[Incidentally, I just inadvertently filled up the tank on  the 348  with the 
money that I had saved up for the "Draft Al Gore for President"  donation I 
had been wanting to make since Dec. 2000 but I guess he can afford  to get 
along 
without it since he has all of that Nobel Prize money and it  only costs him 
about $2,000/mo to air condition his mansion in TN]
 
1964 Rolls  Royce Silver Cloud III 1975 Pontiac GV Conv.
1980 MB 450SL 1982 RR  Corniche
1985 MB 280 GE G-Wagen 1988 Rolls Royce Silver Spur
1990 Cadillac  "Eagle" Hearse 1994 F-350 Powerstroke 4x4 
1995 Ferrari 348 Spyder 1996  Bronco
2000 Lincoln Town Car 2004 Excursion
+ Audrey's 2x  MB's


Dr. Stephen B. Spies, CES, CFI
Director,  Forensic Sciences Laboratory
Explosives Engineering  Technologies

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