Saturday Car Thread 03/15/14 - [Niedermeyer's Dead Horse & Countrysquire]

Welcome to the I'm exhausted so you get the shaft edition of the Saturday Car Thread.

Countrysquire loves Whealers Dealers, the English show which has aired on Discovery’s Velocity channel for a while now. The show started as Mike Brewer buying modern classics in need of a little attention, then 6’7 mechanic Edd China doing the repair work in order to get them ready to sell. Finally, Mike would try to sell the car for a profit, finalizing the deal with “’old out your ‘and, you’ve bought a crackin’ motor!” They have done a lot of different types of cars over the years, but the premise has remained the same. In a sea of auto related shows which either have phony deadlines and drama, or spend half the time advertising some crap, this one stands out. Before you wade in, be aware that the English have some different terms for auto parts. Our door panels are there door cards. We have aluminum, they have aluminium. The chaps over at lotus-europa.com have prepared a chart to convert from English to…err…English.

Now armed with the English-to-English translator above, have a look-see:

The Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance was held, last weekend, in beautiful Amelia Island, FL. This event, which benefits Community Hospice of NE Florida, draws car lovers from around the world and the media coverage expands with each passing year.

Two best in show ribbons were awarded: The first, the Concurs d'Elegance Award went to a 1937 Horch 853 and the second, the Concours de Sport, went to a 1958 Scarab.

The weekend’s biggest sale belonged to R.M., which sold a 1937 Delahaye 135 Competition Torpedo Roadster for $6.6 million. That figure set two records: highest price paid for a Delahaye at any auction and highest price paid for a car at the Amelia auctions.

It didn't occur to me this year but, perhaps, next year, we can make a Moron meetup out of it. It would be great fun.

Update re the UAW attempts at unionizing VW Chattanooga: The workers aren't sitting still this time as management and the union collude.

Three workers at a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tenn., filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board Wednesday saying it must prevent the German auto company from providing any further assistance to the United Auto Workers in its efforts to organize the workers. The complaint is a reaction to the UAW's own request to the board that it order a revote of an organizing election at the Chattanooga facility that the union lost last month.

The VW workers allege that a prior "neutrality" agreement between the company and UAW regarding the election violated the National Labor Relations Act because the union gave "things of value" in exchange for the company making it easier to organize its Chattanooga workers. Essentially, the complaint argues that the union bribed the company by offering it favorable terms for an eventual contract — a situation that would benefit the union leaders and the company, but not the workers.

God Bless the workin' man.

This week's cruising tune will make you pine for those sultry Summer nights of long ago:

A little bit of scruff for the Moronettes:

And a reminder to the Morons of what real-life car elbows look like:

Ah... what the heck. Here's a bonus shot as well:

Please feel free to send any complaints or commendations to us at Twitter: Nied's Dead Horse and Countrysquire

posted by Open Blogger at 02:40 PM

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