Buick Grand National, an American muscle car?

There's one type of car that I don't have all that much interest in. This also means that my knowledge of them is as extensive as my knowledge of the American civil war. So, since the last post about the Alfa Romeo 4C attracted no interest at all lets talk about American muscle cars.

Buick Grand National in the only colour, jet black.

American muscle cars have a large fan base which is also apparent on this blog, since the highest view counts are on posts about muscle cars. I don't share that passion of American muscle cars, which means that only recently was I introduced to a car which existence surprised me. The car in question is the Buick Grand National. The car is actually a 1980's Buick Regal but with a 3.8 litre turbocharged V6. This in my book is very uncharacteristic for a Buick or for any American car in fact. In the early years of the Grand National the turbo V6 developed a frankly embarrassing 200 HP. But in the last two years of production (1986-87) the improved and now intercooled engine boasted an acceptable 245 HP. This means the Buick is capable to achieve 100 km/h in 5 seconds. That's faster than a Ferrari of that period, the 328 GTB. The top speed though is absolutely appalling at only 200 km/h but you're not likely to ever go that fast on roads anyway so who cares.

Familiar shape from the 80's

That's it on the technology part of the Grand National, as it usually is when it comes to American muscle cars. Large engine = big speed and noise, there's no need for a chassis, suspension or brake upgrade when it comes to American muscle cars.

This particular car had the owners name printed on it.

The Buick Grand National looks quite similar to the basic Regal except the fact that the Grand National was only available in jet black and it has Buick "6" badges. Otherwise it looks like many other American "coupe" from that era. But the jet black body colour, including the grille, does give it a sinister look. The marketing people also recognized this and they made some impressive posters with the Grand National. It looked so evil and malicious it was referred to as Darth Vader's car. I know it's weird, but I quite like it.

And this is the view drivers of muscle cars saw back in the day, and even today.

The Buick Grand National has a presence and a mean attitude. Other cars like the Camaro, Mustang and not to mention Ferrari turned their noses to at the sight of it. And then a couple of seconds later looked at its Buick behind when it went past in a sea of turbo whistle.

In many ways this car is like many other power hungry American muscle cars but then again it isn't. If only it had a Nissan badge to go with that unique engine it would be hailed around the world as one of the great turbocharged cars.

The all important badge. Could any of you tell me who is Troy Spencer?

Formula 1 - How was Sochi?

So how was Sochi? Well at least for Mercedes it probably could not have gone better, at least if you don't count one weird stop on lap one.

Again a one-two finish and secured their constructors championship. It would have been a perfect sweep if not for Valtteri Bottas stealing the fastest lap right at the end on the final lap.
That being said Hamilton lead every single lap and the race wasn't very exciting to say the least, but that's how the whole season has been so far so nothing new to report. Only Rosberg can challenge Hamilton for the championship with 16 points separating the two teammates...yay...hoping next season won't be as boring.

Now back to the Sochi course. We saw it in action and can I be the first one to say it was pretty good. I enjoyed the Olympic sights and the overall layout of the track. Enough corners and straights, I think they hit a pretty good balance. It also felt very fast and I believe the average speeds were quite high during the race. Also it doesn't seem to be like any other track, so any complaints about it feeling like track X should not be in the discussion.

Overall I think Sochi was a decent addition to the F1 calender and I hope to see it more, though in a more competitive field.

Not making it easy

Last post was about the Ferrari 458 Speciale. This will be about another Italian super car manufacturer who does the same thing that Ferrari but only on a whole 'nother level.

Lamborghini takes a different approach when making a car than Ferrari does. The approach is more stylish and over the top than precise and analytical. So that had to change when Audi took over Lambo. But I think they never lost the art of extravagant presentation. The common opinion is that Lamborghinis have become more boring and more, well, German. There are versions of standard Lamborghinis that seem like there were less German watchful eyes over the Italians. I'm not talking about the "one offs" like the Sesto Elemento or the Veneno. I mean the tweaked versions of standard Lambos that make them more, lets say, exclusive.

But with the Gallardo it has gone a bit far I have to admit. There are probably a dozen of "special edition" Lamborghinis.  There's the Tricolore, Balboni, Super Trofeo and many others. To me they just seem like filler episodes to a TV show when the writers are working on a new story line.
But there's one that is like the 458 Speciale i wrote about earlier, it's called the Performante. What it is is a Gallardo Superleggera but with the roof taken off and replaced with fabric. It has the same slightly tuned engine as the Superleggera, 562 hp (10 more than the standard V10).
I have long thought about what my favourite car is and the Gallardo Superleggera comes very close to my beloved R8. The Performante may be the car to take the crown away from the R8.

So Lambo is not making it easy,  no no. They have tens of different versions of the same car to confuse everyone. And one of them has even got me questioning my choices.

Those stripes are very ungerman. 

Even though the policeman isn't impressed, I am for sure!

This is the hard top Performante, better known as the Superleggera. 

The posterior is real

When a car is described as good looking or even pretty, it's the front of the car that then usually is the defining characteristic. But there is one car in my opinion where the prettiness comes from the... behind.

The rear of the Ferrari 458 Italia is so exotic and fantastically proportioned that i'd like to sleep on the rear window. I think it's the Ferrari F40 inspired tailpipes that get my attention most of all. I'm less of a fan of the convertible rear end though. It lacks the smoothness of the roof and the hips are more well defined.

The car all in all looks obviously excellent, but what gives it the look of a future Ferrari classic is the memorable round taillights combined with the operatic V8 echo.

Oh My God! It's like the best angle ever! And that roof!

It's a bit too pointy for my taste. 

Mind you, the Ferrari 458 Speciale around the Monaco hairpin ain't bad either. 

A white and black 458 is a nice change to the Rosso Corsa.

It strikes again

I'm sure you car enthusiasts are aware of the new sports car that came out last year. The seventh edition of the only sports car ever to come out of the US of A, the Chevrolet Corvette C7.

But no, that isn't its whole name. It's actually called the C7 Stingray. And in my opinion that's an issue. The original C2 Stingray is a motoring icon like the E-type Jaguar or the Mercedes-Benz SL300 Gullwing. So why would you call a car by a name that has become a legend? The reason is just to make a greater sale. Chevrolet seems to think that 6.2 litre American V8 (455 hp) isn't a good selling point anymore. And they might be right, but that still doesn't make it acceptable. 

How weird would it be if Ferrari suddenly decided to call their next grand tourer the Daytona. 

Chevrolet Corvette C7. I'm never going to refer to it as the Stingray.

Chevrolet Corvette C7. The 4 exhausts next to each other are a nice touch.

And apparently it handles quite well.  

If I write about a car that also is found in Gran Turismo, I'm going to take photos of it in action there. That way I don't have to "borrow" pictures from the internet. The game has such great graphics that you really can't see a difference anyway.

Gumball 3000

It's time for the Gumball 3000 pictures. The cars entering this years rally are absolutely incredible. And the drivers list is almost as incredible. People like David Hasselhoff and Tony Hawk are competing in the rally this year for crying out loud.

The 15th anniversary of Gumball 3000 logo was on around 100 exotic cars.

It was a hugely impressive arrival by the Gumball competitors here in Finland. They caused a huge spectacle directly after disembarking the boat. Policemen were everywhere trying to keep everything under control, and failing at it. 

As I said in the last post I'm so sad that I can't share with you the incredible sound these cars made. But there's always youtube for that. I'm not going to put every picture here but I will use them in other upcoming posts and maybe put some of them to the older posts as well. 

Enough talking. Here are the pictures.

Yes it's a camouflaged Lamborghini Aventador. It's invisible until you start it up.

Could someone please tell me what this monstrosity is.

The awe inspiring Mercedes-Benz SLR Stirling Moss. Only 75 in the world.

Koenigsegg  CCXR. It can be powered by ethanol and biofuel. So it's an eco-car , almost.

The loudest car of the day. A highly modified Chevrolet Camaro.

The one off Galag TG1. Don't be fooled. It's just an extremely modified Nissan GT-R.

There were three Ferrari F12 Berlinetta's disembarking. Three!!!

And a Ferrari FF

And one of the 599 built, Ferrari 599 GTO.

The oldies were also represented by the magnificent Lamborghini Countach S

The new Aston Martin Vanquish

It was quite the show at the petrol station.

It was hard to choose just twelve of the 300 pictures I took. But fear not, I will put up more pictures because I want to. If there's someone who cares to comment, please feel free to do so.
And if you live somewhere near the planned route of this years Gumball 3000, I urge you to go and experience some of the most rear cars in the world.

Hello again!

After some three weeks of no new content, TheSeatHeater is back. As it turns out it's not all about the cars, even though cars are a pretty big deal.

This post will not be like the others where I talk/rant about a car or a type of car and put up some pictures, no. This will be a hype up post for the upcoming motor show that I will visit this Saturday with my brand new camera. So clear and crispy pictures for all of you to see and behold. It will be a live motor show with both newer and older cars. For example many Lamborghini's, Ferrari's and some American cars will be attending. I still don't know what kind of event it will be, but hopefully I'll get real close to the cars.

In other news (if someone cares) I saw my first ever Fisker Karma. Which is odd since they make the car here in my home country. But still it was an impressive thing to witness. If you're not familiar with the Fisker Karma let me explain it a bit. It's an electric car for the really rich people. But what makes it unique is that it has an on-board power station in the shape of a 2.0 litre petrol engine. It doesn't drive the car at all but it makes electricity for the pile of batteries that then drive the car. So it's a long-ranged electric car. It's actually a GT (Grand Tourer) car.

So there I managed to squeeze in a small thing of the now two year old must have Hollywood accessory. But hey, this is a car blog after all with a slogan of 'It's all about the cars'.

Oh, and I almost forgot, it looks superb.

If you look closely you can see the solar panels on the roof.

No flora or fauna was damaged to create this interior.

TheSeatHeaters favourite new cars of 2012

When this car first came out in 2004 I thought it was one of the most useless cars ever made and that the manufacturer just had too much money on their hands. I'm obviously talking about the Mercedes-Benz CLS. It was just a more expensive and flashier E-class. But after that other big car manufacturers have copied the idea of a four-door coupé from Mercedes and made something that competes directly at it, e.g., the Audi A7. Then Mercedes decided that they'd had enough and produced the new and improved CLS in 2011 and in 2012 this: Mercedes-Benz CLS Shooting Brake. 
At first I thought they've made the same mistake again as with the original CLS, it's completely pointless. But when I saw it for real in a showroom and sat in it I completely understood the point. It was big, brash and in especially in matte silver it was pretty. The shooting brake isn't even much more expensive than the normal CLS. Which makes me wonder, why anyone would buy a normal Mercedes-Benz CLS when you could have something really special?

Normal CLS for comparison

Mercedes-Benz CLS Shooting Brake

Best supercar of the year in my mind was not the new Pagani or the imposing Lamborghini Aventador it is more mainstream. The Ferrari F12 Berlinetta.

The F12 has the same 6.3 litre V12 as the Ferrari FF developing 730 hp but without the awefully hideous body of the FF. The F12 has sometype of elegance to it I don't know what else to say of it's looks. It's the best Looking front-engined Ferrari since the 365 GTB or simply known as the Ferrari Daytona. That body combined with the most powerful engine Ferrari has ever made for a road legal car is a symphony of power, beauty and excellence.

Ferrari F12 Berlinetta

The Toyota GT86 and Subaru BRZ (if you didn't know they're the same car). As a powerplant they have a 2.0 liter, 200 horsepower boxer engine and rear wheel drive.
When I saw this car the first time I gasped and thought that's the best looking Toyota/Subaru ever. It looks like it's built with beauty in mind which is something I never thought I'd be saying about a car coming from Japan, the land of boring, cheap and reliable family hatchbacks. But hey! It's a new drift car from Japan. Something the Celica should have always been. 

Toyota GT86

 -tgmatti