Fiat 500 on Fast Track to America

While we were in Italy, Amy fell in love with the Fiat 500 and decided that she wanted one. Well, lucky for her, it's on its way to America!

The Fiat 500 is coming to America, and it appears to be on a fast track.

Richard Gadeselli, a Fiat spokesman at the automaker’s headquarters in Turin, Italy, sent an e-mail message to confirm plans to take the 500 — voted as Europe’s Car of the Year in 2008 — to Chrysler dealerships just in time for Christmas 2010. That’s barely 18 months away — just around the corner in auto development terms.

Jessica Rabbit

Here's my brand new ride. I just bought it today. It's my first:

• Imported car
• German car
• Car with remote keyless entry
• Car with MP3 player
• Car with switchblade key
• Car with alarm
• Car with 6 speed automatic transmission
• Car with Tiptronic transmission
• Car with trip computer
• Car with Auxiliary audio input

There may be some other firsts, but that seemed like a good start.

So long, old friend...

I bought my truck soon after Amy and I got married. It was January 2002 and I had just started seeing the ‘new’ Dodge Ram 1500s (that body style debuted in 2002). I was interested in a Nissan King Cab and I think it was selling for about $17,000. I then saw an ad for Maxwell Dodge in Taylor. They had a Ram 1500 for $15,500. It was a lot of truck for the money. It could easily (and comfortably) carry three people, which the Nissan couldn’t.

The RAM didn’t get very good gas mileage (about 15-16 MPG). At that time, it wasn’t a huge concern, because I lived just over a quarter of a mile from work and gas was 99 cents a gallon. Other than the mileage, it has been a perfect vehicle. It has never been back to the dealer for any service. I have had to have two brake jobs (at about 40,000 and 80,000 miles) due to the amount of stop and go driving. The back tires lasted about 70,000 miles and the front ones about 80,000 miles. I had to have a sensor replaced last year to pass Georgia’s exhaust inspection. The original battery is still in the truck, it’s never had a tune-up and it runs better than the day it came off the lot.

There is some wear and tear. Both the outside rear mirrors were missing their cover, so they look funny. The left outside mirror is busted, because I backed into a pole at work (only the mirror was damaged). The dash is cracked in a couple of places. The windshield is cracked almost all the way across. Someone broke into the truck a couple of years ago and messed up the passenger door handle and trim (before busting the window). There’s a bad spot on the right rear fender, where something rubbed the paint off and there’s some surface rust there.

It is as comfortable a vehicle as you can drive. We have driven it from Texas to Alabama and back with and without a trailer. It’s never left me stranded. It’s just gotten too expensive to drive. Recently, Amy has been driving my truck to the MARTA station about a mile from our house. I’ve been driving her Passat, which has resulted in a huge gas savings, but also additional wear and tear on her car. The Passat is 18 months old and has over 30,000 miles on it. We just can’t continue to wear out the nice car at this rate.

Diesel Jetta

The 2009 Jetta TDI's will soon be here. Jim Ellis has one already for test drives. It's rated at 40 MPG. I've spent some time in the new Jetta's and they are roomy. Check out goodcleandieselfun.com for additional information.

ScanGaugeII - Scan Tool + Digital Gauges + Trip Computers

Amy's Passat has a great trip computer that provides a lot of information like fuel consumption (average and current), average speed, driving time, driving distance and distance left with current fuel amount. One thing I learned recently is that most cars made since 1996 provide all of this information (and more) to a port located within a few inches of the steering column. To access it, all you need is something like the ScanGaugeII - Scan Tool + Digital Gauges + Trip Computers which sells for $169

"The ScanGaugeII is an extremely compact automotive computer designed to read and display information about your vehicle in real time.

Simply connect the ScanGaugeII to your vehicle through it's OBDII port using the included cable, turn the ignition key and the ScanGaugeII automatically connects to your cars internal computer - it's that simple."

Poll Results - Car Audio

Suprising!

New Poll - Car Audio

It's located just over there on the right of the screen. Keep in mind that this is in your car, not your spouse's!

My next vehicle

It doesn't currently exist (and never has), but I hope that changes in the next couple of years. What I want is a compact pickup powered by diesel hybrid powerplant. This should get 30 miles to the gallon and still provide a usable truck bed.

2006 Polaris Hawkeye 4x4

This is a picture of the model of ATV I'm buying. My brother-in-law had one to sell, and I was looking for one, so it seemed like a good match.

I'll try to supply some pictures of my first ride (provided I am able to protect my enormous melon).

One Industries Kombat Monster Energy Helmet

This is the helmet I ordered this afternoon. There are two questions that might immediately jump to mind. Here are the answers to those two questions.

• I am purchasing an ATV for the heck of it
  
• My huge head is so large that a helmet must be special-ordered. If I only had a normal (or even an extra large) human-sized cranium, then I could have had my pick of 100 different models that were in stock.
  

Cheap wheels...

I buy tires at Discount Tire Company because they fix flats for free (even if you didn't buy them there). That's service! I took a flat there to be fixed and saw these 20" wheels for $75 each. Good deal, but my 17" tires are expensive enough.

I scream. You scream...

We all scream for ice cream.

Apparently, even Spidey screams for ice scream.

Chevrolet Prism - Hustler Version

Chevrolet Prism - Hustler Version, originally uploaded by eschulz.

This was never the most popular Prism version, but it certainly was an important car in the history of the Chevrolet brand.

Lowered Lincoln

You don't see one of these lowered very often.

Nice rear end...

It's not every day that you see one of these. I believe it's a new Bentley Continental. It was parked outside West Elm, a trendy furniture store in Atlantic Station.

The Amazing Spider Car

Get smart

The smart fortwo is finally going to be available in the US next year and you can reserve one today. 40mpg - $12,000. Be the first on your block...

Atlanta Journal Constitution 2007 Auto Show

Saturday, Amy and I went to the Atlanta Journal Constitution 2007 Auto Show. Check out the photos!

Chattanooga Auto Show

I went to the O'Reilly World of Wheels Custom Auto Show Saturday and here's the Flickr set of photos.

White Magnum

When I was in the Houston area, I rented a bright white Dodge Magnum wagon. I had signed up to get a Charger and got this instead. It looks like it should be fast. This one wasn't, but I'm sure it had the base engine, a V-6. It was very comfortable to drive and I was able to park it as easily as my pickup (which is to say: not very easy). I was a fan of the car before, but after experiencing it, I felt underwhelmed.