As you can see, It’s a 2015 GT Premium Fastback/Performance Package/50th Anniversary/401/Manual/Black on Black on Black with some black too.

Pros:
Looks awesome, drives very well, strong power and torque anytime you want it, the familiar Mustang “locomotive” straight line feeling, but this time with very good handling, super sweet gear, very good grip (much of it thanks for the P Zeros), surprisingly well put-together, Sync less horrible than it used to be, very good seats,

Cons:
Ride in slow speeds/city way too harsh with the performance package (much better on highways), Not as fast as the numbers would suggest, 1-3 gears with very short ratios, bigger car but still useless back row, mix of great + subpar materials inside, no sunroof option.

Bottom line:
Great car, don’t get the performance package (too harsh), don’t get the Recaro seats (manual), best value for money sports car for $40k ever, and the looks you get are priceless. Oh, and get it in black.

Enjoy.

Eighty-something years old Leonard Cohen recently released a new album, called Popular Problems.
I think it’s actually one of his best albums; swan’s song or whatever you want to name it, it’s simply wonderful, and I know all his work oh so very well.

One of the songs in it is “My oh My”, and upon hearing it for the first time while driving,
I suddenly became pretty sure he wrote it for my 911. Or his. Or anyone’s. Or not.

Lyrics:

Wasn’t hard to love you,
Didn’t have to try,
Wasn’t hard to love you,
Didn’t have to try,
Held you for a little while,
My Oh My Oh My.

Drove you to the station
Never asked you why,
Drove you to the station
Never asked you why,
Held you for a little while,
My Oh My Oh My.

All the boys are waving,
Trying to catch your eye.
All the boys are waving,
Trying to catch your eye.
Held you for a little while,
My Oh My Oh My.

Wasn’t hard to love you,
Didn’t have to try.
Wasn’t hard to love you,
Didn’t have to try.
Held you for a little while,
My Oh My Oh My.

Popular Problems:

http://www.amazon.com/Popular-Problems-Leonard-Cohen/dp/B00MJJ37BE

Ps. The 30-foot Stig-Statue is making its way across Northern Europe, and I’m sure it’ll end up topless in some secret TopGear shrine somewhere; look for #bigstig for more details.

*Offer not extended to Argentinian citizens

I remember the day my mother told me not everyone is handsome, good looking, or even attractive — and this can be an advantage. It was many years ago, and I’ve always oscillated between remembering it vividly, and/or denying it with Freudian super-powers, all for the fear she was actually talking about me; mitigating my expectations for life. Of course, It’s obviously irrelevant as I’m handsome as a young Harrison Ford, talented like John Ford, fast as a Ford GT, and connected to life in ways similar to the ones Betty Ford excelled at. But still, her point has taken hold in some peculiar way; is being ugly sometimes in your favor? Does it make you stand out? Do people find it easier to identify with you because of your less than good looks?

This old question comes back to my mind whenever I see a modern BMW on the road. I seem to have developed a Love-Hate relationship with the brand; whenever I love it, it hates me right back. Nothing is more illustrative of this relationship than the design decisions BMW has taken in the last years. When Chris Bangle was designing the 7-series (E65) and the 5-Series (E60), it was as if my mother’s prophecy/poetry was delivered; ugly, stunning and remarkable designs that caught your eye and captured your emotions like almost no other beamer ever did. Revolutionary, in-your-face cars that you either loved or hated, and incidentally sky-rocketed BMW’s sales to new highs.

Then Bangle left, or got fired, or simply completed his role in car history, and someone else took over. Well, I’m not actually sure it was someone; it feels more like he was replaced by a committee, or a primitive AI, or by the US congress. Nice cars, solid designs, vehicles that if you missed the logo could be easily mistaken with Korea’s latest offerings. I can almost hear the strategic meeting, urgently held after Bangle’s departure: “Ve need to make zis brand appealing zu a much vider audience ya? No more crazy Americanz making cars that look like a Messerschmidt from ze second vorld var ya?” All supported naturally by idiotic research held in the USA, clearly showing that buyers prefer “classic”, “Inclusive” and “Non-threatning” designs – or in other words, make it fucking borrrrrrrrrrrring so no one knows what you really bought unless they purchased the very same boredom machine. The perfect boredom machine. The perfect boring experience. When I lived in Germany many years ago, Mercedes drivers used to say BMW (Acronym stands for “Bayrische Motoren Werke”) actually means “Bayrischer Mist Wagen”, roughly translated to “Bavarian Garbage Wagon”. When I first saw the F10 5-series I finally agreed whole heartedly; it wasn’t beautiful, it wasn’t ugly, it actually wasn’t there at all. Right after that the famous M division secretly sent out a memo informing everyone that from now on “M” stands for “Mundane” and the transformation was completed.

So what’s next with BMW’s beauty choices? I’m getting mixed messages. On the one hand, most of the best sellers are pretty lame and show no ambition to be anything more than their boring siblings. On the other, the i8 and the i3 are showing promise. The i8 unfortunately feels like a a halo car move, pretty much in line with what Lexus did with the LFA; let’s spend shitloads of money on a non-for-profit dream car that very few oligarchs will ever own, with the hope that the other idiots will buy more of our boredom machines and tell themselves it’s the same thing. The i3 actually shows real promise for a completely new and real-life design metaphor for BMW and I really like it. It probably means it will be put on ice very soon, and its designer will soon move on to work on a brave new Lada in Siberia.

Some people say a Carrera is a Narcissistic sports car, but two young ladies, 9 and 6yo, say these people are clueless. Here’s the Video Star production of “911, The True Family Car”.

Car abuse. It’s a frightening, complicated, sensitive subject. But CharlieAlphaRomeo believes someone needs to address this taboo. And we will. We’ve all seen it on the road or in a parking lot along a shitty strip mall in New Jersey. Sad, hurt, neglected cars; sometimes heavily abused cars. And we’re not talking age here. Cars that age with love are easy to spot. Despite the model year and the imperfections, they have this healthy shine about them that your car-mind absorbs intuitively. It’s also not about money. You can see a car that’s worth a few hundred bucks radiating health and pride, and all too often you meet cars that are just a couple of years old and look so sad you just have to look away.

let’s stop taking our eyes off this topic. Let’s work the problem, the people, the drivers behind it — without fear. People that abuse their car are just as likely to abuse other people’s cars. Yes, your own vehicle could be an innocent victim too.

We believe that no car should be left without care, and we will follow our vision of “wecare4cars” until we bring about a dramatic change. We want to live in a world where no one can scratch your car without a good neighbor making sure they pay for it. We want to drive on roads where it’s part of car-care culture to stop an asshole and tell him/her their car is in desperate need of an oil change and a front- wheels alignment. Not because we want anything to do with this particular driver, but because we care. For their car.

We want to begin this campaign today by talking about one of the major perpetrators; car rental companies. They are after all car companies, allowing people access to these wonderful machines, and they should know much, much better.  Why is it then that we feel rental companies are willing to break every code of honor, every aspect of civilized and respectful motor behavior towards their own metal and glass? What’s wrong with these people? As a first part in our journey, we will share with you a secret video, shot just a few months ago while driving an Avis Chevy Cruze. This miserable car was in such bad shape it could hardly shift its own gears, quietly screeched for help every time it had to slow down, and frankly, I’m afraid that by now, unless it has been adopted by someone with a heart, it may already be gone. Please watch this horrible video, and send us stories of car cruelty and abuse. We will let the world know about it.

(Please be advised the following video contains some graphic imagery)

I was cruising peacefully in my E60 M5, all ten cylinders humming right in front of me under the hood of my beloved Batmobile. Black on black, fully original, every possible option selected, stealthy and carrying 500 horses. It was the perfectly balanced lifestyle choice. Yes, some people were amused to see two baby seats in the back row of an M5, but I knew better; she was a batmobile disguised as a 5-series BMW, and according to my wife, a dramatic improvement over my previous Boxsters, Carreras, S2000’s etc.. And please. Please don’t mention the motorcycles.

It all happened, as I recall, while I was driving uptown on the west side highway in New York City. It was late afternoon, and a beautiful autumn sun was setting to the left, shining through my open driver’s window, blissfully masking the ugliness of New Jersey on the west bank of the Hudson. The Phone was ringing, and Adam, young, bright, and running a CPU way faster than his output device, was speaking too quickly. The symphony of wind combined with the V-10 and the fleet of Honda Odyseeys surrounding me (Research demonstrate a direct correlation between owning an Odyssey and becoming the worst driver on the road) made sure the only part I got from Adam’s mumble was “911”.

Suddenly worried, I asked Adam what happened and why did he call 911 — Maybe due to the homicidal streak I sometime feel when passing an Odyssey. I was wrong, and Adam actually called to tell me he traded his Audi TT for a Carrera. I was very happy for him, and warmly congratulated him on buying a real car and for leaving the realm of hairstylists motor vehicles. I was only partially right, as Adam’s 911 turned out to be a cab.

Little did I know at the time that Adam’s first 911 would be exactly that; his first 911. She was a 997, quickly replaced by a 997 CS4, which was followed by a shiny, fully specced new 991 CS4. All black. All cabs. He’s nowadays deeply torn between his his deep passion for a GT3, and his his intellect that keeps telling him to go for a Turbo S Cab and seek and thoroughly humiliate any other street car at a traffic light near you. Not an easy choice.

To cut a long story short, he purposely infected me with it. Having owned a 996 years ago, It wasn’t too hard a job. What the hell, I thought to myself. We already have an SUV for the family trips, and my daughters are young and don’t eat a lot. They will fit right into the 911 “back seats” which I always suspected were either a teutonic joke, or more likely designed for people that own cats. The girls won’t even need a booster. So efficient. So, under Adam’s relentless harassment, I ended up trading my Batmobile for a 911S Coupe, manual, midnight-blue and absolutely gorgeous. I now commute to NYC every day in my Porsche, memorizing my path between the potholes (GPS really stands for “Governmental Pothole Strategy”), getting plenty of healthy exercise for my left foot and right hand, and on lucky days going all the way to 3rd gear. Recently I started thinking that I strongly, urgently need a PDK box. Perhaps It’s time I called 911.

We’re going to write about cars. We’re Alon Adam and Oren.
We’re also going to show pictures and video of cars and talk about cars. A lot.

We think that many of the people who talk about cars do it in a… well, deeply boring way. They either drive them for a few hours and then copy/paste parts of the press release, or they do burnouts and drifts in slow-mo captured by multiple Go-Pros. It all looks and feels the same.

It’s booooooooooring.

It’s not like true love in the movies you know, more like they’re into flings with a new fancy car every week. No commitment, no real investment in the relationship. We sometimes even suspect they don’t care about their cars, and don’t even try anymore, like just take the car for a ride with no reason, or just wash her themselves.

We, on the other hand, truly love (almost) all cars, and enjoy finding the apex in a rusty Volvo 240DL – no need for a Lambo every day thanks very much. We love our old, new, ugly, broken, dirty or shiny cars come rain hail or police. We love driving them to shopping, to the school run, and on very special days, even to bring our in-laws for dinner. Really. we love it that much.

If you want send us your love story with your car, road test your old Chevy, brand new Mustang or your wife’s SUV* we’d be happy to share it with everyone else.

Ps. If you’re not sure what CharlieAlphaRomeo is please google “nato alphabet”

*Not including Honda Odyssey. We too have our red lines.