OK, not terribly surprisingly the past week wasn't able to hold a candle to the previous week or so in terms of shear significant automotive news, however, it did include a couple of nice little tidbits that certainly merit mention.
A couple of the stories were born (in some shape or form) right here in Chicago, while another one is delivered to us from across the pond. And whether or not you feel that automotive product placement is blatantly intrusive (seems like whenever we see a vehicle on screen these days a red light goes on) or is acceptable when properly executed, there is simply no harm done in going to see the last of the Bourne Trilogy as it a terrific and incidentally uses a neat trick in using last generation vehicles in the film so as to not alert viewers so quickly. That you can do right in your home town wherever that may be.
So, to get to it, the first bit of news includes the famed Oscar Meyer Weinermobile, which apparently couldn't find an appropriate place to park on Chicago's magnificent mile so the driver decided to leave right there anyway hoping the size and vehicle's unique nature would be enough to provide it with so free doggie downtime. Unfortunately, an overzealous traffic cop saw through the Weiner's obvious ploy to receive as much public exposure as possible and went ahead and ticketed them for illegal parking. Not to Oscar, Vienna Beef has a pretty solid lock on the Chicago hot dog market, so don't be surprised to find similar sentiments at other area locales.
That being said, rumor has it that driving the Weinermobile is a junior staffer first year job at the company. Now tripping around to show off the dog at cool places does not sound like a terrible way to spend some time, provided you are aren't a vegitarian or something.
The next story is from Massachusetts where is sounds (or not sound) like state regulators are about to put the out-right kabash on all modified exhaust systems. Now, Massachusetts is a bit of a difficult state to begin with. Just ask anyone who lives there who would like to drive a diesel, for example. But going after the single most popular component in the entire aftermarket industry seems a bit harsh. Lets not skip the intermediate steps of harsher fines and stringent testing. Everybody knows that is annual ritual in the Bay state anyway.
Along a similar avenue, a report out of London helps illustrate how Mass. is one of the closest states to the UK both figuratively and literally. On top of the daily charge for entering the city limits, at least one district is going to aim an additional tax directly at what they call the "Chelsea tractors." (SUV when translated into North American) Mind you, these are the same people who give us the darn Range Rovers in the first place, but at least around Chelsea, all the rich Mums driving around in gas-guzzling rigs hasn't fared much better than it has stateside. Owners in this class will have to pony up an additional $50 per day in the congestion zone to drive their SUVs per the Mayor of London's latest mandate. Cheeri Ouch.
Finally, a more interesting story no doubt from an enthusiasts' perspective is Automobile Magazine's list of the top 25 greatest cars of all time. Nevermind your best of the year, these are cream of the crop, non-legendary status need not apply. These lists have crept up before, but this one delivers an interesting explanation to justify each individual pick of the litter.
So if you had to limit it to just one (and hopefully, walk, bike or ride mass transit the rest of the time) which single automobile would you choose. Not as easy as it looks.
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