When Life Imitates Art in the Automotive World by Kwicko

REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

When Life Imitates Art in the Automotive World

POSTED BY: KWICKO
UPDATED: Sunday, September 27, 2009 18:00
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Sunday, September 27, 2009 5:58 AM

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)

First, a little background...

The car in this video, the GTbyCitroen concept car, was "designed" by Citroen and Sony's Gran Turismo team, for inclusion in the upcoming Gran Turismo 5 video game for the PlayStation 3.

Now, Citroen has decided to actually build the car for sale to the public. But only a very few very lucky - and very rich - buyers will be able to have one. They plan on making six of them, at a price of approximately $2.1 million each. And at that price, I'm guessing they'll be losing millions of dollars.

Here it is on the streets of London, with some footage of it from the game mixed in.

Personally, I think only a complete fool would buy this ugly-ass monstrosity, but that's just me. As an investment, it's likely a sound one - IF you can afford to just put it in a time capsule for 50 years or so.

Mike

The percentage you're paying is too high-priced
While you're living beyond all your means;
And the man in the suit has just bought a new car
From the profit he's made on your dreams

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Sunday, September 27, 2009 8:53 AM

ANTHONYT

Freedom is Important because People are Important

Hello,

I think this car looks exciting. Mostly because it looks like a jet fighter, with the side air intakes looking like they feed twin jet engines.

For the price tag, I'd rather drive a Prius, pay off my debt, and make sure I don't have to work again a day in my life.

Then I'd self-publish a lot of drivel no one will ever read or buy. ;-)

--Anthony

"Liberty must not be purchased at the cost of Humanity." --Captain Robert Henner

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Sunday, September 27, 2009 10:41 AM

KWICKO

Exciting, yes, but it doesn't look *good*, or sexy - just exciting.

And I'd say the Lamborghini Reventon does it better:

You may recognize it from The Dark Knight. It looks exciting, aggressive, fighter-jet-like, but still manages to look at least a little bit decent, as does the Audi R8:

And to think, either of them would give you back more than a million-and-a-half bucks change compared to the Citroen. Heck, the Audi would get you back TWO MILLION BUCKS!

Of course, if you really NEED something expensive, exciting, and French, there's always the more hum-drum Bugatti Veyron, what with its 16-cylinder engine with FOUR turbochargers and 1001 horsepower...

That one will cost you only a cool 1.3 million. And it's the fastest production car ever made. In fact, its top speed is LIMITED to 253mph; it could actually go faster, if anyone made road tires that could withstand higher speeds.

Mike

The percentage you're paying is too high-priced
While you're living beyond all your means;
And the man in the suit has just bought a new car
From the profit he's made on your dreams

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Sunday, September 27, 2009 12:13 PM

WHOZIT

Quote:
Originally posted by Kwicko:
Exciting, yes, but it doesn't look *good*, or sexy - just exciting.

And I'd say the Lamborghini Reventon does it better:

You may recognize it from The Dark Knight. It looks exciting, aggressive, fighter-jet-like, but still manages to look at least a little bit decent, as does the Audi R8:

And to think, either of them would give you back more than a million-and-a-half bucks change compared to the Citroen. Heck, the Audi would get you back TWO MILLION BUCKS!

Of course, if you really NEED something expensive, exciting, and French, there's always the more hum-drum Bugatti Veyron, what with its 16-cylinder engine with FOUR turbochargers and 1001 horsepower...

That one will cost you only a cool 1.3 million. And it's the fastest production car ever made. In fact, its top speed is LIMITED to 253mph; it could actually go faster, if anyone made road tires that could withstand higher speeds.

Mike

The percentage you're paying is too high-priced
While you're living beyond all your means;
And the man in the suit has just bought a new car
From the profit he's made on your dreams

The only place you could drive these cars at top speed is the Daytona Super Speedway.

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Sunday, September 27, 2009 1:21 PM

KWICKO

Quote:
The only place you could drive these cars at top speed is the Daytona Super Speedway.

And?

Aren't you the one who always raves about wanting a Hemi? Are you saying that all cars should be limited to a top speed of 75mph?

I find all these cars to be pretty useless, but I'm in awe that they're being built at all. The Bugatti especially - it's said that VWGroup, Bugatti's owner, is losing $5 million on each one it sells, but is still building the Veyron as a halo car, a showcase model to show what it's capable of. Think of it as the automotive equivalent to the Concorde. No real reason for it to exist, but still amazing that it does - and it's not likely to be equalled or exceeded in our lifetimes.

Besides, I know a few places in West Texas where you could take these cars to their maximum speeds. Heck, one guy already got a ticket for doing 242mph in his Koenigsegg CCX!

'Course, if you sign up for one of the open-road races, you get to do it all LEGALLY. Fun stuff.

And, to be fair, I don't think Daytona has long enough straights to get up to top speed. The Bugatti's record run was done on VW's 13-mile banked oval. Oh, and in "top-speed mode" (yes, you actually have to change settings and confirm things a few times to make sure the car KNOWS you are planning on going above 220mph) the car will drain its 30-gallon gas tank in 18 minutes.

Mike

The percentage you're paying is too high-priced
While you're living beyond all your means;
And the man in the suit has just bought a new car
From the profit he's made on your dreams

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Sunday, September 27, 2009 1:27 PM

DREAMTROVE

Green machine

Reminds me of my parent's car

They used to rent the Obama's garage, as I said.

Small world. Nice cars. I don't know what Obama drives, does anyone?

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Sunday, September 27, 2009 1:46 PM

KWICKO

The Morgan's nice. It's a "Plus 4" (+4) model, isn't it? The Tesla ain't "green" - it just doesn't have TAILPIPE emissions. But there are still emissions - the vast majority of our electricity in the U.S. still comes from burning coal...

Don't get me wrong - I like the Tesla. But I'd rather just have the Lotus it's based on. Toyota reliability, longer range, 1000 pounds lighter... what's not to love? By the way, the Dodge Circuit concept electric car is also a rebodied Lotus, the Evora.

Mike

The percentage you're paying is too high-priced
While you're living beyond all your means;
And the man in the suit has just bought a new car
From the profit he's made on your dreams

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Sunday, September 27, 2009 5:28 PM

DREAMTROVE

You are correct, that's the Morgan Plus 4, Not the only four cylinder car that could do 110, my honda civic with 330,000 miles on it could as well. Damn nice care though. Lotus rules. The electricity cost to run the Tesla is nothing compared to the fuel. I don't believe the global warming story, I think global warming comes from desertification and deforestation and can pretty much prove it, and has nothing to do with car emissions, I just don't like breathing the fumes.

I was in a very very bloody car accident at 19, which is when i was torn in half and my face was torn off. I lost 4 pints of blood with is correct, 50%. Blood pressure 60/40, temperature 84. When I got out of the car, in total shock, a guy stopped, and stopped someone else, who called the ambulance, which took me to a hospital which had no doctor on staff. They gave me a choice to move or to wait. I said "transfer me to the next hospital, or indicated, lacking a mouth and all.

So they did, it turned out there was one doc on duty there, who happened to be finishing up his residency as a plastic surgeon, and so had to put in his hours in the ER for $80/hr. He did the best job I think I've ever seen. He said the only thing holding my face on was my optic nerve.

Anyway, after that, recovery docs put me in intensive care and cleared me for a blood transfusion. They said that I was more than likely not to last the night, and it would take three days to test the blood, but he couldn't give me the transfusion without me consent. He then said you're a very lucky guy, but it would take a hell of a lot of luck to survive without the transfusion. All I said was "I feel lucky" and gave him back the pen. He was sure I was making the wrong decision, but I didn't get the blood which turned out to be tainted with HIV.

I was lucky, very lucky... But here's where it all started. There was a flaw in the car ever since my mom hit a deer at around 5AM coming home from a long trip. Carbon Monoxide was slowly feeding back into the car, and having hit my head earlier that day...

In a dumb exercise, the teacher had asked us to race across the pool on our backs with our hands at our sides. I thought at the time "this is dumb, whoever wins will hit their head" Well, of course, everyone else there was city kids and I'd been swimming all my life so I won by a large margin, and didn't think to intentionally lose, which I should have.

Anyway, after that, you're more susceptible to this sort of stuff. I then went and took the college writing exam. It was a 500 word essay for a literacy test. I failed because I refused to count my words, of which there were only 499. Then, I went to my next class, there was a note on the door, sorry, class is cancelled, Kit Morgan.

And so I got a Jelly Donut, got into my car and put the seatbelt on, and drove home. It was sunny, hazy and cold, and so I had the windows up. I passed the "Moo" sign with the cow crossing, and the word "Moo" spray painted on it, which is two miles from my house, and thought "It's kinda stuffy in here, maybe I should roll the window down." When you think of it, do it, because you have less than two seconds. That was my last thought.

Later they determined I had passed out from carbon monoxide poisoning, which had subsided when the car was completely demolished. It sideswiped two trees and ran smack into a third. The cops first words to my mom were "You mean to tell me that *that* was a stationwagon?" There was a tree and an engine in the front seat. I was very thin and wearing a Woolite coat that I used to call "My battle armor." And it really was. The collapsable steering wheel failed, and the column struck me full on in the chest, collapsing one long completely, and the other minorly. Minor bruises to internal organs under the coat. Elsewhere I was hacked to pieces. The plastic rim in the bottom of the dash was sufficient to cut right through my leg to the bone. The gearshift went straight through my head, breaking my jaw, knocking all of my teeth out of their sockets, but not one lost a nerve, and they were all put back in more or less their proper positions. Some of them were sideways. One still is.

We don't think of this side of it very often. I tend not to think of it either. We are dealing with something that is very toxic and flamable, and vehicles that are in no way designed for you to survive a crash at 55mph, which is all it was.

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Sunday, September 27, 2009 5:36 PM

ANTHONYT

Freedom is Important because People are Important

Are you saying that all cars should be limited to a top speed of 75mph?

Hello,

I don't advocate limiting car speed against consumer wishes. However, I'd love to have a programmable speed limiting device in my dash. Just because I sometimes exceed the limits unintentionally. I'd love to be able to turn a dial, set my car for Max 65 MPH, and floor it without concern.

--Anthony

"Liberty must not be purchased at the cost of Humanity." --Captain Robert Henner

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Sunday, September 27, 2009 5:55 PM

AG05

Yall've seen Top Gear, right?

Mercy is the mark of a great man.
Guess I'm just a good man.
Well, I'm alright.

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Sunday, September 27, 2009 6:00 PM

FREMDFIRMA

Quote:
Heck, one guy already got a ticket for doing 242mph in his Koenigsegg CCX!

That wasn't David B, was it ?

Cause if it is, I so get to laugh at him about it.

-F

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