Cogs can think.

To me, TV commercials are a form of art. Good, well-thought out television commercials are a joy to watch. Sony, with their paint, bouncing balls, and claymation commercials for their flat-screen TVs, is at the top of the game when it comes to this art form, if you ask me.

There is one other brand that always knows how to tickle my fancy. Audi. Their new campaign for their R8 is just… Stunningly good. The combination of the music with the almost soothing imagery… I love it. It’s not an easy commercial to grasp though, you do need to know a thing or two about the R8 before you ‘get it’ (hint: the supercar is built by hand).

The music is The Beep Beep Song by Simone White - I love the song. It’s so pure, so sterile, and her voice… Dear lord, what a talent. If Fiona Apple and Sufjan Stevens had a baby daughter (of course, this is never going to happen, since Fiona will be marrying me, naturally), she wouldn’t be too far off from Simone White. Check her MySpace page for some more songs off her latest album. Anyway, here is the video for The Beep Beep Song.

Dear lord. It’s barely 2008! Which reminds me, happy new year everyone.

Hey, look what I fell in love with today.

The Volvo 1800S Coupe.

Just now, on the phone…

Renate: Thommie, does the name ‘Bugatti Veyron’ ring a bell?
Me: …!
Renate: I’m standing right next to one, Apollolaan, Amsterdam…
Me: …!!!

If there is one disadvantage to living in Hick Town, it’s the lack of exciting cars.

It has happened to you too, undoubtedly, as it has happened to all of us. The howl of a V8 or the roar of a V12. You turn your head. A red glare. Gone. It is the sight that makes the worst of moods vanish, that can make your day. The spirit of old Enzo still lives on.
Forza Ferrari.

Taken from the latest issue of Top Gear Magazine.

Yesterday eve, as I was driving home from Amsterdam after seeing Transformers, I popped Bruce Springsteen’s Greatest Hits album into my car’s CD player. When it reached “Better Days”, I remembered how this song used to, like, help me through the rougher patches during my mom’s illness.

Now a life of leisure and a pirate’s treasure
Don’t make much for tragedy
But it’s a sad man my friend who’s livin’ in his own skin
And can’t stand the company
Every fool’s got a reason to feelin’ sorry for himself
And turn his heart to stone
Tonight this fool’s halfway to heaven and just a mile outta hell
And I feel like I’m comin’ home

These are better days baby
There’s better days shining through
These are better days
Better days with a girl like you

All this, of course, after I fantasised about my Micra being a Transformer. He’d She’d be called “Micron”, and have an eternal minority complex.

I stayed in little-boy-mode a little too long.

Writing about Fiat in my previous post, I realised that the American readers of my blog may have never even seen a Fiat - or, more worringly, may have never even seen an Alfa Romeo at all. Since Alfa will be returning to the American market in 2008, a few words for my American friends regarding Alfa are in place.

Every self-respecting American will know at least one Alfa Romeo - the Duetto Spider 1600 driven by Dustin Hoffman in 1967’s The Graduate. When Alfa returns to the States in 2008, they will kick off by selling you guys the sexiest and most beautiful car in existence (apart from the Tipo 33 Stradale): the Alfa 8C Competazione, followed a year later by the world’s most beuatiful sedan, the Alfa 159, the automobile pornography known as the Alfa Brera, and its spider sister, the Alfa Spider. Alfa Romeo’s will be sold at Maserati dealerships throughout the US.

The promotional video, including a few glimpses in Alfa’s glorious past, of the 8C.

Before you think about checking them out, there are a few things you ought to know about Alfa Romeo. Firstly, when referring to the brand as a whole, it is “Alfa Romeo”. When you refer to specific models, you drop the “Romeo” part, i.e. “Alfa Brera” (and not “Alfa Romeo Brera”). Alfa Romeo also has a long lineage, a racing pedigree predating that of Ferrari.

Secondly, contrary to American cars or cars for the American market, Alfa Romeos are driver’s cars. In other words, the suspension won’t come in setting ’slinky’, and it will - in fact - not steer like an oiltanker filled with dead elephants. In other words, when you turn the steering wheel, the car will in fact actually steer in the designated direction. On top of that, the brakes will actually brake.

Thirdly, and most importantly, Alfas appeal not to your brain, but to your heart. Alfa Romeo is about emotion, butterflies in your stomach, love, and passion. An Alfa Romeo is about as Italian as it gets; it’s about style. An Alfa is like a beautiful woman; sure, she can be annoying, whiny, demanding, and dumb; but you’ll forgive her because she’s so darn pretty.

I have a deep love for Alfa. My heart skips a few beats whenever I see one, and jealousy pours out of every pore in my body.

Fiat has seen a miraculous rising the past few years. A few years ago, Fiat, owner of Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Maserati, and others, was basically done for; the company was dead. However, the management was replaced, styling cues were taken from Alfa Romeo and Maserati, and the tide was turned.

It all started with the Fiat Grande Punto, a massive hit (at least) here in The Netherlands. The car sports an obvious hint to Maserati (the nose).

Following the Grande Punto was the beautiful Fiat Bravo, my personal favourite. There’s definitely some Alfa Brera cues in there. Check video too, I love this commercial.

And today, Fiat celebrated the 50th birthday of the legendary Fiat 500 by launching the new 500. Not exactly my kind of car, but hey.

Alfa Romeo didn’t need to resurrect. Maserati did ressurect, followed by Fiat. Let’s hope Lancia is next.

Long live Mercedes!

This will be in production by 2011.

One of my general dislikes is stupid people. I really don’t like stupid people.

I know sometimes circumstances are to blame. When you’re a politician, stupidity is the norm, so you can hardly blame politicians for their stupidity. Kind of like you can’t blame a cat for stealing any food you leave unprotected.

However, when you drive a lot, stupidity is just all around you. My faith in mankind just keeps reaching all-time lows while driving.

For instance. Say you’re out on the highway, doing 140kph. You are the last in a battery of cars. You keep proper distance. The battery is driving on the left lane. Up in the distance, I saw a shimme, on the right lane, you see a big lorry, minding his own business, adhering to his maximum speed of 80kph. About 100m behind that lorry, a lone car is doing 120kph. He is approaching the lorry, but so are you and the battery of cars in front of you. The 120kph-right-lane-driver obviously wants to overtake the lorry. This leaves 120kph-right-lane-driver with two options.

1. He slows down, waits for the faster-driving battery to pass, and starts the overtake when the battery has past, attaching himself behind it
2. He does not slow down. He continues his 120kph, switches to the left lane right in between the battery, causing everybody behind him to brake ferociously, after which all the drivers have way too few metres in between them.

From experience, I can tell you that 90% of the people opt for the suicidal option #2.

Seriously. I hate stupid people.

Marco and I generally tend to talk a lot of nonsense, and among that nonsense, our favourite topic is cars. For 99% of the time, we disagree; you could call me the Italian, and Marco the German. Marco loves Porsche, I’m an Aston Martin and Ferrari guy. He hates alfa Romeo, I adore the brand. And so on.

One of the interesting questions in automotive is which of the Big Three is my favourite? BMW, Mercedes, or Audi? If we were living in the ’90s, the choice would have been easy for me: BMW. During the previous decade, BMW had such a stunning house style; clear lines, straight angles, sharp edges. This style was best represented by the BMW 3 series Coupe and the convertible. During the ’90s, BMW kicked Mercedes’ and Audi’s butt in the design department (save for the butt-ugly 3 series Compact).

These days, things are much more different. BMW adopted a new design style, which resulted in hidious creatures as the new 3 and 5 series. Instead of the sharp lines of the ’90s, they now resort to some weird mish-mash of lines which seem to go everywhere, without any logic in the whole package. Even worse than the 3 and 5 series is the 1 series, who’s design makes little kids cry. Of course it’s not all bad; the 6 series, especially the convertible, are stunning.

Luckily, the coupe and convertible version of the new 3 series are actually quite nice; it’s impossible for me to understand how the ugly sedan version is related to these two beauties.

As for Audi… Well, for some odd reason, I’ve never been a fan of Audi. I don’t ‘feel’ anything when I see the A4, A6, or A8. I know they belong to the best cars money can buy; well-built, extremely reliable, all that jazz. There’s a reason their ads read “Nothing to prove”. But, I just feel nothing when I see them. No connection. No faster heartbeat. Nothing.

It’s not all bad at Audi, though. For some weird reason, as soon as Audi cuts off the roof of an A4, everything falls into place: sheer introvert beauty. Other than that, Audi makes the very sexy R8, and, of course, the stunning new A5 (seriously, so clean, so beautiful… Love at first sight, for me). Also nice: the new A3. Oh, and please forget the TT (gay hairdresser’s car).

This leaves me with Mercedes. As I have said in the past, Mercedes is on a roll, and not too long ago they revised the C class. Not bad.

Which one to pick? I just don’t know. My heart wants to answer ‘Mercedes’, but I just can’t get over the drug dealer’s image of it all. My mind says Audi, because of the quality, but they need to spice up their ordinary sedans before I can choose Audi. BMW has ruined it for me, until they seriously revise their sedan lines.

I just don’t know. I just don’t.