Please tell me these two owners are dating.  Please tell me they both parked next to each other once and knew it was love at first site.

The Mini Cooper is sporty, but fun, somewhat practical, and genuine.  The Jeep is offroady, but fun. somewhat practical. and genuine.  Two vehicles marketed at completely different lifestyles.  When put right next to each other like this, however, you can clearly see how the owners have a lot more in common than one might assume.  This blue is also one of the most fantastic car colors ever.  World Rally Blue, Estoril Blue, Blue Candy, Hydro Blue etc.  Most brands seem to offer a color similar to this.

If you’re this worried about rust, get a different brand.

Unfortunately, the owner should have dipped the whole car, not just the bottom.  Rust. Everywhere. 

SLR 1

Are vanity plates cool?  They always attract attention, and I enjoy a good “NTAJEEP” plate on a Defender (see previous posts), but they can be a little tacky.  At what point does a custom plate change from funny, clever, and interesting to overwrought?  This SLR 1 plate is clearly too much of a look-at-me plate.  The car would look better with just a standard issue DMV plate.  I like the low key aspect of pretending you don’t care.  Like driving an Continental GT with road dirt splashed around the fenders.

Some people would hate that, but it clearly demonstrates the owner appreciates the car for its ability to drive, not its show-off quotient. The SLR 1 plate is so obviously tacky that I lose a little respect for the owner.  Look at the Top Gear Bentley above.  The plate is standard issue blandness. Badass.

The owner of this great Defender definitely gets that a lot.  We get that a lot with our ’70 Series II, as well. Even from people who know better.

Amazing how well Jeep has cornered the market on durable offroaders amongst those who don’t know any better.  Why did it take Jeep so long to capitalize on that brand equity?  The new Grand Cherokee, Cherokee, and Renegade are selling better than anyone could have expected during Chrysler’s bankruptcy in 2009.  Despite the Cherokee and Renegade being entirely polarizing designs, the Jeep brand is strong enough to overcome the ugly schnoz.

I wish I could have gotten another photo of this.  It’s almost as dumb as the thin blue line bumper sticker that reads “police lives matter”.

I wonder how often this Accent driver gets confused for a Lyft driver?  Lyft should start an Uber Black competition with these pink lips called Lyft Luscious.

I’m willing to place a bet on what this likely Simmons sophomore dresses up as for halloween every year…

In keeping with the questionably badged Hybrid Jeep Wrangler of earlier this week, may I present to my exponentially growing readership- the Hybrid™ Chevy© Express® Boston Transportation Department van.

Upon further research, this might not be utter bullshit in the same way that the hybrid Wrangler absolutely was.

However, I’m willing to bet this is utter bullshit in a different way.  25% increase in mileage, but no quote for cost of installation and parts.  Something tells me this is a terrible way for municipalities to increase their hybrid fleet percentages.

Online research turns up some numbers though- about $8,000 for a conversion with a claimed payback period of 3 years.  That’s not too bad.  And considering the amount of city driving and idle time these vans see every day, I would predict an even faster payback time.  Does this make it worth it, though?

In a city like Paris with serious smog issues due to diesel exhaust fumes, I would say converting municipal vehicles into hybrids probably does make sense.  In urban United States, though, the $8,000 would be better spent fighting pollution in more meaningful ways, like the Green Line Extension that has been delayed so frequently, the original plans are actually written in hieroglyphics.  Bad joke, I know.

And he is in Montreal, not Sydney.

A little hardcore for the city, don’t you think?

Oh, what’s that down there?

Ahhhh, a HYBRID.  Short, good visibility, and for the first time ever, it’s good on gas.  Better than a Smart.

What’s that?  Buddies!   When I asked my friend to describe the Globe car he drove to video shoots, he just said it was a small, boxy Jeep.  Naturally….

But no! It wasn’t a crappy “Patriot”.  It was a genuine Jeep.  Color me surprised.  With ever decreasing resources, I bet the Globe mechanics love the XJ for being simple, reliable, and cheap to maintain.