Aston Martin has done a deal with Harrods, the historic London department store, to display a trio of cars in the Knightsbridge display windows. The cars are all new — a DB11, V12 Vantage S and Vanquish S.
The display is part of a month-long celebration of British heritage.
Pity they couldn’t make room for a couple of historic British motorcars, like 007’s DB5.
Classic Cars, the song
I’d never heard of the alt-folk group Evening Darling (OK, I’ll admit it, I’d never even heard of the alt-folk music genre) until I received a news release about Evening Darling’s latest song, “Classic Cars.” Accompanying the release was a photo of the six-singer/musicians against the backdrop of a late-’60s-looking drawing of a classic muscle car.
Included was a link to an audio preview of the song. I listened, and while I liked the group’s sound — vocalist Erica Lane’s plaintive voice and the bands “smoky instrumentation,” I was disappointed with the lyrics.
The song, the release notes, is about nostalgia and “the way that we tend to rose-color the memories of people who actually weren’t very good for us.”
But don’t expect anything like “She’s Real Fine my 409” or “The Little Old Lady from Pasadena.” The song takes its title from this lyric: “A-listers crashing in classic cars.”
But while I didn’t enjoy the lyrics, I did like the sound and look forward to hearing more of their debut album, which is scheduled for mid-April release.
Speaking of crashing…
The FIA may be best-known for sanctioning international motorsports, but it also has other functions and recently launched the #3500LIVES program. The 3,500 figure represents the number of people killed each day on the roads of the world. Further, FIA said, “road crashes” are the No. 1 cause of death around the world for those ages 15 to 29.
“This is an alarming trend,” the organization said, “a plague that needs to be stopped, a human, economic and social cost which has become unacceptable.”
As part of the campaign, FIA has recruited a group of celebrities to remind people of such things as “don’t text and drive,” wearing a helmet when on two wheels, using child safety seats, stopping when tired, and “never drink and drive.”
Legislative update
According to SEMA’s Washington office, the following legislation has been introduced:
U.S. House Bill 1315 to cap the amount of ethanol blended into gasoline at 10 percent and to prohibit the sale of E15. The bill also would eliminate the mandate that 15 billion gallons of corn-base ethanol-blended fuel be produced in the U.S. annually.
In California, legislation is progressing through Senate committees to use funds collected for the off-highway motor vehicle recreation program to be used for other purposes without having to be repaid to the off-roading program, threatening not only expansion of OHV areas but closure of existing lands open to off-road recreation.
In Massachusetts, legislation has been introduced to require antique vehicles to meet the same emission standards that were in place when those vehicles were produced and also that those vehicles to be maintained in good and safe working order.
In Nevada, legislation requiring that those seeking “classic” vehicle registrations provide verification that those vehicles are not driven more than 5,000 miles a year and must be covered by collector vehicle insurance.
Speaking of insurance, or lack thereof
You may have heard recently about a fire that destroyed a collection of some 40 classic cars and an equal number of vintage tractors near Olds, a Canadian town between Calgary and Edmonton. CTV News, a television station in Calgary, Alberta, reported that Bert Curtiss’ collection, worth an estimated $3 million, was not covered by insurance.
Curtiss kept his collection in a 27,000-square-foot dairy barn.
Curtiss told the television station it is unlikely that he will return to his car-collecting hobby in the aftermath of the fire.
And if the shoe fits…
After 20 years as a designer at General Motors, where he was responsible for several concept cars and the Hummer H2 and H3 programs, among others, Clay Dean is leaving to become chief innovation officer at sports equipment maker Under Armour.
