February 14, 2009
June 2, 2007
Autoblog relaunch
Autolog has cleaned up its design, and keeps posting
about twice an hour.
Notable: Relaunch and companion Autoblog Green lusts after
the new MINI Cooper D.
Previously: Autoblog enjoyed the MINI back in 2004, too.
February 27, 2007
Labrador Pictures
February 21, 2007
Nain, Labrador sees the MINIs
Nain reports CBC’s Tony Dawson had some video of the cars
zooming and zipping around Happy Valley-Goose Bay.
The clips were shown on Here & Now.
January 6, 2007
BMW 335i, 328ix, but no 335ix ?
Comment on the joy of all wheel drive.
October 19, 2006
MINI Arctic Expedition 2007
MINI Arctic Expedition 2007 planning.
Previously
June 9, 2006
Matte black on Autoblogging Friday
Matte black looks great on the new Honda Civic Type-R.
Analysis. Would look good on a new Bangled 5er or
Lexus IS, too, with their superflouos stealth
fighter curves.
Update 2006 Nov:
As show-stopping designs go, none proved more popular
with the paparazzi than a black 575-horsepower Mercedes
-Benz CLS55. This wicked witch was built by a noted
customizer, Matthew Figliola of Ai Design in Tuckahoe, N.Y.
The car’s buffed matte black paint looked like burnished
steel. Why did it work?
Because of the “flop”, said Mr. Foose, who is also host of a
customizing show, “Overhaulin’,” on the Learning Channel.
The flop is the break in light and dark shading across a vehicle’s
character lines.
“When you bring in a matte color, it may have a really beautiful
flop to it,” Mr. Foose explained. “You know, a light side and a dark
side, and your eye can focus on that surface. With all the polished
and reflected surfaces around it, it gives a quality texture.”
Mr. Foose uses matte or flat black surfaces to relieve the
“Christmas ball effect” that he says can overwhelm some of
today’s more extreme designs.
“When you have a full-polished surface, all you are looking at
are reflections,” he said. “When you open the hood of a car, and
you look at the beautiful reflective body forms, you are going
down to a chrome surface on the engine, and you’re looking
at a color right next to it that is all polished. It starts looking
like a Christmas ball next to another Christmas ball next to
another one.”
The danger of dull black finishes, Mr. Foose said, is that when
they are poorly executed “it doesn’t convey quality.”
“It’s kind of like, ‘O.K., we didn’t have enough money to finish
this car, so we just matte-finished it.’ ”
-- SEMA 2006.
May 12, 2006
STL BMW CCA
STL BMW CCA aka STL BMW Club gave a great technical event: Gateway Tech.
March 22, 2006
NoNo saga in customer service
March 21, 2006
Viking Trail, Newfoundland
Viking Trail in northwestern Newfoundland:
From the MINI Unofficial owner's manual:
January 3, 2006
White Roof Radio
White Roof Radio
Car Talk for the MINI Cooper.
11-14
#14: Targa Newfoundland
#13: iPods and cockfights.
1-10
#9: with Randy Webb
#5: Mod for mud: rubber mats.
But you don't need rubber mats in So Cal.
It rains on cement, no mud.
November 13, 2004
Autoblog
October 9, 2004
Motoring File
Motoringfile, best MINI Cooper blog.
Based in Chicago, USA.