Minor vandalism is an auto show hazard, but what happened Wednesday night may be a first, as three southwest suburban men did about $30,000 damage to seven vehicles at the Chicago Auto Show because they were angry at U.S. jobs going overseas.
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The three were caught in a blue Toyota Camry, damaging the interior with razor knives and flathead screwdrivers, according to a police report. A security camera caught footage of them inside the car. Besides the Camry, a RAV4, a Prius, a Land Cruiser, two Tundras and a Lexus ES350 were damaged, the latter having its back seat punctured and a turn indicator broken, according to the report. The men allegedly told police they were angry about American jobs going overseas.
[…]
While three of the makes they targeted – the Prius, Lexus and Land Cruiser – are made in Japan, the others are assembled in the United States or Canada. The Camry is assembled in Georgetown, Ky., and the RAV4 in Canada, McAllister said. The Tundra, “in terms of U.S. content, is the most American-made truck in the U.S,” he said. It is manufactured in San Antonio, Texas. McAllister noted 60 percent of Toyotas sold in the U.S. are assembled in this country. “I think that some stereotypes die hard,” he said. McAllister said the company uses about 500 U.S. suppliers of various sizes, and noted that using U.S. parts and content is what makes the vehicles so “American.”
Okay, I lied. At 40 miles across, I wasn’t exactly “crossing the state” since Missouri is 240 miles wide. Still, for me, with a cheap Wal-Mart bike in the middle of a humid midwest summer, it felt like crossing an entire continent.
My plan was to leave early in the morning and make it to Washington where I would ride Amtrak back to Kirkwood. The optimist that I am, I figured I’d arrive hours ahead of schedule with enough time to eat lunch.
I wasn’t entirely a stranger to cycling. In high school I made a habit of cycling for 10-15 miles each evening, but after discovering the joy and freedom of motoring, my affection for biking faded away… until recently.
After failing to find a deal on Craigslist, I wandered into Wal-Mart late one night and picked up a “Next” mountain bike for $89. I piled on accessories including a headlight, bottle cage, parcel carrier, lock, tire pumps, cargo pouch, upgraded seat, upgraded handles, and water bottle. The steel bike was already quite heavy before loading it down with junk.
To begin planning my trip, I put together a list of supplies:
Netbook
Blackberry
USB tethering/charge cable for Blackberry (so I can Priceline hotels or dick around online by the river)
Parcel carrier
Flashing LED headlight
Helmet
80 oz of water (3-4 hour trip, 20 oz per hour)
Small first aid pack
Extra socks, underwear, shorts, t-shirt
Deodorant
Toothpaste
Sonicare
1000mg ibuprofen
Printed map
Tire pump
Additional seat cushion
Allen wrenches
AM/FM radio
I arrived at the trail head at Creve Coeur Lake at 6am while it was cool and pleasant outside.
All of my gear was strapped and tied, ready to go.
$13 Sony radio from Sears, tuned to NPR
Crossing the Missouri River alongside highway 364
I arrived at my first trail marker/rest area.
Well, I didn’t bother taking a dump.
Goal: Go from just east of Greens Bottom to Washington. Crossing through St Louis, St Charles, Warren, and Franklin counties.
Most of the trail was beautiful and shaded.
Crossing under highway 40/I-64
The Missouri River
Stopped at this bike shop in Defiance MO (town named after its rivalry with nearby Matson MO).
I chatted with an old couple about my trip. I told them about how exhausting it was, traveling just under 40 miles in one direction. They then asked me if I had done the entire trail yet — apparently they had! They routinely did 20-30 miles a day.
That’s right, the elderly are in better shape than I am.
Bought some juice and a fruit bar.
Defiance is a tiny town with two bars and a winery.
Augusta MO, a larger town with a large fire department, several blocks, a brewery, a library, and a 24-hour old gas station.
lol
My ass was hurting like hell and my legs felt like jelly.
It was getting pretty obnoxiously hot, approaching 100 degrees.
I took more breaks than I intended and was traveling quite slowly. My intention was to maintain 10-13mph. I’m pretty sure I did half that. Off in the distance, I heard a train horn — the train I was supposed to take home. I missed it. I was supposed to arrive in Washington around 9-10am. Instead, it was almost noon. The train was scheduled to leave at 11:26a.
I fired up my computer and started searching for hotel deals.
I ended up booking a room at the Super 8 in Washington for $57 including tax through Travelocity.
I had another 3.5 miles to go and a narrow bridge to cross. The next 3.5 miles would take me nearly an hour, part of it on foot. I called for a shuttle but they wanted $25 and said it would take 45 minutes to get a van to pick me up, so I said screw it and kept pedaling.
Must… keep… pedaling. At this point my head was pounding. I had plenty of water but it was hot and humid outside. I got off the trail and ended up on a very rough dirt road that seemed to take forever to ride. Meanwhile, cars and tractors were passing me, kicking up rocks and dust in my face.
This is the hellacious bridge I crossed to get from Dutzow to Washington. It was a mile long and went over the Missouri river. As you can see, there are only two narrow lanes and NO shoulders. There’s nothing more unnerving than being passed by semis. The guard rails were low too. One little bump from a vehicle and I’d be tossed into the river.
This bridge is due to be rebuilt within the decade and the future version will include four lanes plus a separate bike lane.
Washington MO has a population of only 13,000 but serves as the hub for the area. There’s a Sears, JC Penney, Schnucks, Wal-Mart, Lowes, St Johns Mercy Hospital, and just about every service you could imagine. I think people in New Haven, Augusta, and Union come here to do their shopping.
FACT: The first Wal-Mart Supercenter opened in Washington.
Far off in the distance I see the Super 8. I’ve never ever been so happy to see a cheap hotel. At this point, I’m on foot. Even when I was using the designated and marked bike lane, a-holes in pickups were honking at me.
OH THANK GOD
Cold AC, high pressure shower head, and comfortable beds. Its was PARADISE!
And a clean toilet.
Its actually a very nice Super 8.
The closest thing for food was the Dairy Queen next door. I ordered a banana split, lemonade, and turkey sandwich. People looked at me funny, probably because I looked like I was close to death and covered from head to toe in dirt and pieces of gravel.
I think I said something to the cashier about the weather but it all came out as a delirious slur of nonsense.
I was dying for potassium. Never in my life has a banana split tasted so good.
After eating and showering, my head was still pounding. They were out of ibuprofen at the front desk so I walked over to the gas station… which was closed. ARGH.
Thankfully I found a Schnucks grocery store. With my head and body aching, that short walk across the street in 100-degree heat felt like an eternity.
This turkey sandwich actually worked better than ibuprofen.
I dozed off around 5pm, woke up, and called my brother at 3am to come get me. I could have taken the train back to St Louis County, but today it was going to be 101F with high humidity. I didnt want to ride 3 miles across town in that.
My brother arrived. Bungee cords make everything fit.
It was an unusually LONG drive from the Super 8 in Washington to where I parked the Saab in Creve Coeur. I finally made it to the trail head at 5:40am. Even though the distance is reasonable, the road is dark and winds back and forth, up and down.
Back where I started.
The sun is rising, and I walk in the door at 6am, 24 hours after I began.
That was quite an adventure.
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That bike was sold last fall for $50.While it clunked, creaked, and felt like it was ready to fall apart, I was impressed by how well it performed for so little money. I had to replace an inner tube because the rubber was so poorly made it had pores in it, probably from air getting into the machinery. The front brakes were constantly rubbing and slowly me down, so I disabled them completely.
Thankfully, my mom got me a Trek for my birthday in November. Best $1000 I ever spent (at someone else’s expense).
With winter approaching, days were getting short so I picked up a Magicshine 808 from Nova Bike Lights on eBay.
At 900 lumens its insanely bright. I expected about 2.5 hours from the battery which is .5 hours longer than most of my evening rides. It doesn’t have a flashing mode so the two other lights will stay mounted for flashers and as backup lights.
The moment temperatures drop below freezing, suspension components creak, tires harden and vibrate, lubricants turn to gel, and soft rubber bushings turn to stone. And every morning I hear at least five of my neighbors’ cars and trucks whining like howling cats, usually because of power steering issues.
A friend of mine works as a BG salesman and suggested I try BG 330 Power Steering Conditioner in my 2001 Cadillac Seville. I’m usually skeptical of fix-it solutions in a bottle, especially after trying every product on the shelf at Wal-Mart and Autozone without success.
I already tried bleeding the air and flushing the system with little success. (The flush corrected a hard steering issue but the whine remained.)
Furthering my skepticism, EVERY off-the-shelf product makes the same claim as BG: “BG Power Steering Conditioner is specially designed to help prevent power steering unit leaks, provide smooth operation and eliminate squealing. It fortifies any power steering fluid, cleans and smooths internal springs and valves to help eliminate sticking, and reduces parts wear. It also conditions and helps protect seals against drying and shrinking to prevent fluid leakage.”
I figured at this point, I had nothing to lose, so I found a bottle on eBay (search for “bg power steering conditioner”) and ordered one for $14 including shipping.
On a 5-degree morning I started my Cadillac and got an earful of noise, as usual. I opened the cap for the power steering reservoir while the car was idling and with a turkey baster, I removed about 6 oz of power steering fluid, the same quantity as the BG conditioner I was adding.
In less than 30 seconds, the noise was completely gone. I went for a drive and the steering felt dramatically lighter, smoother, and more precise.
The first thing I noticed was that unlike other stop-leak and conditioner products on the market, BG’s #330 conditioner had the look and consistency of apple juice. Most steering products are red, thick, and honey-like, which may plug small leaks but can’t be very good for cold starts.
Dealers and shops, even if they’re listed on bgfindashop.com, are unlikely to sell BG’s #330 conditioner because unless there’s a leak, the customer can avoid paying for power steering pump replacement. Selling a user-installable $10 bottle of conditioner is far less profitable than charging parts and labor for a flush or a new pump.
With my Cadillac, the issue is actually a bit more severe, caused by a major leak somewhere in the system that will require a mechanical repair. The BG product gave me smooth and quiet functionality for only $14.
You remember her as Jackie from That 70s Show and you might have seen her in a new film called Black Swan, which I think is about a ballerina or a unicorn or something. Most importantly, she’s in a lesbian scene with Natalie Portman. I haven’t seen it, but I’ll probably rent it for private viewing.
Kunis also does the voice of Meg Griffin, the nerdy, unattractive cartoon teenager on Fox’s Family Guy.
Until last month, she dated Home Alone star Macaulay Culkin for eight years.
A few years ago she was photographed driving an EG Honda Civic Hatchback similar to the one I reviewed in 2005. Unfortunately, she’s recently been seen cruising around in a black Lexus SC430, a step up in luxury, but a huge step down in automotive credibility.
An early 90s Civic Hatchback fits a young woman like a pair of black leather gloves, never drawing attention to itself but reliably and subtly performing its duties. The driver of an older Civic (excluding the Fast/Furious crowd) comes across as sensible, low-maintenance, smart, and casual.
The Lexus SC430 is the Honda’s polar opposite: a fat, ungainly boulevard cruiser typically preferred by upscale women with rich husbands. Even with its silky 4.3L 288hp V8, the SC430 is numb and lifeless from the driver’s seat and woefully uncompetitive against the Mercedes SL, Jaguar XK8, and Cadillac XLR.
It does have one point in its favor: a reasonably well-made interior with lots of wood and leather.
One photo shows Kunis parking in a handicapped space, but its unlikely she qualifies as being disabled, unless you count her endless hours playing World of Warcraft as a social handicap. The SC430 has the same effect the Nissan 350Z has on men — it turns them into douchebags.
In a move displaying unexpected wisdom on the part of heavily criticized CEO Dan Akerson, GM’s top management are calling for the return of Bob Lutz, the product guru that transformed Chrysler’s lineup in the 90s and revamped GM’s brand portfolio in the 2000s.
The US Treasury Department is opposed to his return due to his age. At 79 years, its a move perceived as a golden parachute for his coming retirement.
Why Lutz? Here’s a list of a few successes during his time at GM:
CTS
Malibu
Acadia
Silverado/Sierra/Suburban
Volt
Equinox
Lacrosse
Camaro
Mixed successes and duds:
2005 STS
GTO
Solstice/Sky
Lutz played a major role in shaking up GM’s corporate culture and gave designers and engineers greater authority. Akerson and the board want him back to shorten product development cycles and continue changing GM’s stodgy, bureaucratic atmosphere.
Its not really a Town Car as we traditionally know it. Its an MKT wagon/van/people-mover-thing that’s been toughened and lengthened for cab service. With the departure of the rear-wheel drive Town Car sedan, built on the Panther platform dating back to 1979, Lincoln hopes you’ll call for one of these when you need a ride to the airport or when your daughter celebrates her quinceanera.
It looks competent enough on paper thanks to all-wheel drive and a 300hp 3.7L V6, and it seems more like an upscale office than a limousine thanks to its tall roof, easy ingress/egress, and ten-foot stretchability. With a more natural step-in height, celebrity upskirts will be a thing of the past — no more glam clams for TMZ.
Still, I can’t get past how brutally ugly it is. The MKT looks more like a hearse than a glitzy people mover with its wagon shape, tall roof, and hateful looking full-height grille.
There will by, by the way, a hearse version of the MKT (additional photos at link), which looks more like a modernized pedophile van than a dignified conclusion to human life.
Car and Driver perfectly described the MKT hearse:
Lincoln previously told us that the MKT would be filling the Town Car’s livery roles. What we didn’t expect was that any such results would be so unsightly. While the MKT is a bit awkward looking to begin with, stretching it a couple of feet between the wheels, adding about six inches of rear overhang, and then capping the roof with what appears to be a swamp boat that flipped over and crashed makes a strong case for cremation.
We find it inconsistent that funeral directors spend so much time and effort beautifying their clients only to transport them in the back of this thing.
Personally, I’d rather be hauled off to my burial hole in a John Deere.
My prediction: Expect Hyundai to take over the livery market with the Equus in the near future.
I like minivans. At least, I want to like them. I carry lots of cargo and never go off road, and I don’t want to step down or climb up to get into a vehicle. Unfortunately, too many of them are styled, inside and out, like they were dumbed down for dogs and babies. Nissan, recognizing this problem, has offered Americans its Japanese-market Elgrand van platform, which has been widened to accommodate our fat asses and Costco excursions.
Becky and Greg of NICO Club, two parents, went for a test drive in a new Quest. Wider than the Titan and longer than a suburban boulevard, the Quest minivan could hardly be called mini.
The first luxury minivan, the 1996 Chrysler Town and Country, dominated nearly three quarters of the market until the turn of the century thanks to upscale styling and leather captains chairs inspired by large conversion vans. Over time, the Chrysler van fell behind in luxury and refinement, though it gained unique features like fold-flat Stow-And-Go seats, Sirius Satellite TV, and an interior picnic table. For a while, it was the preferred way for a stylish 90s family to spend the money it earned from dotcom IPOs.
Above: 1996-2001 Chrysler Town and Country LXi
The innovative middle-row picnic table is no longer available and the Town and Country’s interior has been disappointing over the last few generations. Reliability has typically been below average. See Allpar’s review of the 2000 Town and Country.
Honda and Toyota offered upscale versions of its Odyssey and Sienna, but none looked or felt like luxury goods. The Nissan Quest, meanwhile, was awkward and goofy, until now.
Bonus: Quest is equipped with an air scrubber, so if one of your six kids (or you) rips one, you don’t have to open all the windows.
