About Flashman

Flashman

Thanks for succinctly and accurately, in your own unique way, describing the "reimagined" car phenomenon.

Flashman

Your articles make me think. Thanks (I think).

Flashman

Laurence Stroll is the Jerry Jones of automobiles. Can't keep his fingers out of the pie and it's his way or the highway. Both the F1 team and automobile company (and executives) have not fared well since his takeover.

Flashman · ‎23-04-2022

I wanted the Suzuki 350 back in the day but when I found out it was only 305 cc (I remember 315?), I couldn't justify the price difference from the 250; and I despised that sort of dishonesty. I suspect marketing got ahead of technical ability. Suzuki couldn't make anything bigger live until they figured it out and released the 500cc Titan. But the Titan wasn't as fast as a Kawasaki Mach III.

Flashman · ‎23-04-2022

Trenchant, insightful, and as already mentioned, not what you'd normally find on this site. I feel sorry for "kids" today, who listen to MP3 files transmitted via Bluetooth to their earbuds and think that's good enough. A decent stereo system does not have to be loud to be good and, since it isn't in favour, you can pick up excellent 70s, 80s, 90s equipment pretty cheap. Eventually some folk will want something better than the current crap and the prices will go up. Just like some cars. Hi-fi, like a lot of hobbies, gets into how-many-angels-can-dance-on-the-head-of-a-pin arguments at the apex, but that's as much BS as phoney branding. Love the Bose quotation, with a caveat: do not trust your ears all the time (Bose is designed to deceive them); trust a respected manufacturer. Good equipment will enhance your ability to discern the difference.

Flashman · ‎22-04-2022

The Supermarine aircraft which won the Schneider Trophy was a seaplane called the S.6B, not the Spitfire. The fighter was a descendant of the seaplane.

Flashman · ‎22-04-2022

My teenage beginner bike was a Honda Cub, but I soon graduated to the GT250's predecessor, the X6, aka Hustler. It was heaven and my choice over the comparable Yamaha: 33 HP (for about 100 RPM) and 6 speeds, which no other bike could touch. It was plenty fast for me (it would run away and hide from a Triumph 500); we were both lightweights. Of course, it's easy to become accustomed (i.e. addicted) to speed, so my next bike was a Kawasaki triple, but that's another story. Still love that two-stroke sound (and the smoke), however irresponsible.

Flashman · ‎22-04-2022

"Jeager" clock? Maybe you mean Jaeger.

Flashman · ‎22-04-2022

I've never heard them called the "Tough Thirties" before. (I have heard Dirty Thirties).

Flashman · ‎16-04-2022

Miles Collier epitomizes noblesse oblige.

Flashman · ‎10-04-2022

"dammed"?

Flashman · ‎10-04-2022

I think your writing style is more refreshing than sophomoric, but FOAD is uncomfortably close to the limit. You make a good point about new technology always being problematic. You missed "squeeze" from "suck, bang, blow".

Flashman · ‎09-04-2022

Thanks for taking me on your flights of fancy.

Flashman · ‎09-04-2022

"Intake: BMW and Mercedes signed..." Bad start to the second article.

Flashman · ‎09-04-2022

I was going to make a semi-snarky comment but yours is way better.

Flashman · ‎08-04-2022

Really, “The Lunatic Fridge,”? Wouldn't Fringe be more likely? "Wrangliator" is cute but then you spoil it with "...to retain its stick axles, suspension, and transfer case". Grammerly can't help when you can't proofread.

Flashman · ‎08-04-2022

An excellent review; you've captured the essence of the vehicle for potential buyers. I appreciated the history lesson as well as the use of the word "morpheme".

Flashman · ‎07-04-2022

I've enjoyed every episode of this series and admire the qualities you found (and developed) within yourself to do it. An excellent odyssey, enhanced by your ability to communicate it. I likewise admire your optimism that you'll live to 120.

Flashman · ‎06-04-2022

Seriously, Hagerty is publishing a précis of a 65-year-old what-if pie-in-the-sky fantasy article from Mechanix Illustrated? Is there nothing else happening in the automotive world?

Flashman · ‎03-04-2022

The authors have apirations (or perhaps illusions) of being professional writers in an organ, likewise. If you're going to blog, feel free to write in emoji-studded ebonics, but when you write formally there are rules that apply. If there are errors in a piece, the entire article loses credibility. How do you know what to believe?

Flashman · ‎02-04-2022

You're a brave woman reviewing the same car that Mr. Baruth did. You've put your own spin on it (so to speak) and written an excellent article. which captures the 'Vette's essence and explains its appeal. A pleasure to read. It may even have been proof-read.

Flashman · ‎02-04-2022

When I read your articles I feel I'm being educated as well as entertained. Thanks for that. I also appreciate your liberal use of appropriate photographs to illustrate your points.

Flashman · ‎31-03-2022

Very cute and original.

Flashman · ‎31-03-2022

Jenson Button is a *former* Formula 1 World Champion.

Flashman · ‎31-03-2022

Bugatti is no longer Volkswagen. It's a Rimac.

Flashman · ‎30-03-2022

cul-de-sac is French and means literally, the bottom of the bag.

Flashman · ‎30-03-2022

"floatation"?

Flashman · ‎29-03-2022

Anytime NASCAR is compared to F1 I stop reading. NASCAR is a show for the rubes. F1 is war without the bullets.

Flashman · ‎29-03-2022

Has anyone considered how incredibly ironic the name Ferrari Purosangue is, when attached to an SUV?

Flashman · ‎29-03-2022

Or, you could have waited a day and written a real story.

Flashman · ‎26-03-2022

As always, a wide-range of disparate, sometimes obscure references, illustrating an original, salient point of view. Another treasure.

Flashman · ‎26-03-2022

Such an interesting entertaining take on the race. I had to look elsewhere for the results. Luckily, this is easy nowadays.

Flashman · ‎26-03-2022

Impressive adventuring. I wonder how that spare wheel is affixed to the roof.

Flashman · ‎26-03-2022

Impressive cars, impressive museum, impressive number of errors: "...endurance program was shuddered."; "...are on display curtesy of the..."; "...Depending on who you ask..."; "Delivery Flacon"; "Beautifully complimenting...". And probably others. And was the "...2.0-liter six-cylinder found in the base Ace..." a WWI-era engine or WWII?

Flashman · ‎24-03-2022

Finally a bureaucracy corrects an oversight. Truly a noteworthy event.

Flashman · ‎23-03-2022

Ouch, Mr. Mehta. "...as much as us Americans do." That's "we Americans", as you should have been taught in the 6th grade.

Flashman · ‎23-03-2022

"...while the in the U.S., the 49 models sold..." It doesn't take much proofreading skill to note the plethora of "the".

Flashman · ‎22-03-2022

Small typo "Calling the car “a dream come true,” Fuchs says he was introduced to reborn..."

Flashman · ‎21-03-2022

Oooh, "...Subaru’s puppy-dogs-and-trail-mix aesthetic". Is Mr. Baruth your mentor?

Flashman · ‎21-03-2022

Another excellent informative article; looking forward to the continuation. You don't see many people using "bodging". Since I am old and didn't have an American childhood, I missed Hotwheels, but I fondly remember my Matchboxes and Dinky toys. I treated them as any single-digit-aged kid would and I have no regrets Eventually you put aside childish things.

Flashman · ‎19-03-2022

You are the most entertaining, insightful, politically-incorrect rabble-rouser I can imagine. And yet you do it while avoiding sinking to the bottom. Always a treat to have my mind expanded non-chemically by reading your work. The last paragraph is magic. Not to mention "Trustafarian-Trotskyite granola redwood-and-Patagucci lifestyle..." or "...increasingly insane and ersatz affectation of woodsy skinny-fat cosplay..." et al. I liked Treme too.

Flashman · ‎19-03-2022

"HSS are the highest quality and least prone to wear, but they are also pricey and more suited to occasional use." I suggest HSS are more suited to regular use.

Flashman · ‎17-03-2022

An excellent well-written article with pearls of style scattered thoughout. Like "...by cars whose carbon emissions are hidden at a power plant" Not only stylish but insightful. Or "Electric cars are the torque of the town". Or "...amphetamine-crazed opera singer...back end wiggles like an exotic dancer..." Even "lust for thrust". I'm not so sure about "...speeds are diminishing small." Maybe you mean diminishingly, a fairly obscure word. I hope to read more of you.

Flashman · ‎17-03-2022

You have a knack for translating your life to ours. I now know more than I ever thought I would about pilot training. I look forward to the next lesson.

Flashman · ‎17-03-2022

Rather an abrupt ending.

Flashman · ‎16-03-2022

Trenchant timely social comment with the tone to match. No wonder Mr. Baruth hired you. You have style, insight, and attitude; I hope to read more of it.

Flashman · ‎16-03-2022

I was going to let "midship-psitioning", go and even the tortuous "In a world where on sipping overpriced coffee while waiting for EVs to charge will inevitably become a norm...", but when you end the piece with "... its not getting any..." , even the volume of words you produce cannot explain such carelessness.

Flashman · ‎15-03-2022

This is fantasy. Keep the dark side shining!

Flashman · ‎11-03-2022

In our winner-obsessed culture, it's refreshing to see some attention paid to the other contestants. At this level, the "winner" is almost completely subjective. Any of these are equally worthy. More attention to should be paid to those who do (most of) it themselves.

Flashman · ‎11-03-2022

You may have surpassed even yourself this time. Nobody else could expand an experience to a treatise as you have done, complete with two references to Douglas Adams (and provoked the usual numerous responses). But "immanentized the eschaton" may be a tad too much, especially if being used ironically. Have you copyrighted "midwit"?