Author: Eric Peters

Volvo – the famously Swedish car company now owned by the Chinese – was famous once upon a time for the crashworthiness of its vehicles. You may recall. They were built heavy and boxy, specifically designed to withstand rollovers (the roof would support the weight of the car) and to be survivable in wrecks that would probably not be in lighter, less sturdy cars. They were also stodgy and (generally) not speedy – things esteemed by parents of first-time teenaged drivers. Volvo sold safety – and it sold very well. It built the company. But now all cars are Volvos. Instant … Continue reading →

The post Whatever Happened to the Volvo? appeared first on LewRockwell.

You can’t inflate it – and you can’t puncture it. It always runs flat. Potholes don’t faze it – and there’s no possibility of bending the wheel because there isn’t one to bend. That’s the hype for the non-pneumatic tire (NPT) and wheel – an integrated assembly made of a flexible polyurethane material formed into a spoked/honeycomb-like lattice around a central hub. The wheel/tire combo can deform with road imperfections and eliminates even the possibility of a flat tire, as well as the need to worry about keeping track of air pressure.     Why are the most advertised Gold and Silver … Continue reading →

The post A Tire Too Good To Be True? appeared first on LewRockwell.

The Corvette used to be America’s sports car. It will soon be America’s exotic car. Something gained – maybe something lost. The next one – on deck for 2019 – will apparently be mid-engined, exotic in itself and certainly by Corvette-historic standards. The pushrod/two valve V8 will still be there, of course – one assumes – but beyond that and the name, what else will this Corvette have in common with all the ones that came before? Very little. Probably this will also include the car’s price. Why are the most advertised Gold and Silver coins NOT the best way … Continue reading →

The post America’s Exotic Car appeared first on LewRockwell.

You’ve heard the saying that history repeats . . . as farce? Well, here we are. Not quite ten years after the government paid people to throw away perfectly good used cars to “stimulate” demand for new ones – the despicable Cash for Clunkers program – the government is doing the same thing again. Only this time, the cars are not “clunkers” and the government is forcing VW to pay people to throw them away. Almost 600,000 of them. These cars are not high-miles and worn out, on their last legs. Many are only a year or two old. Nothing … Continue reading →

The post Another Gov’t Orgy of Destruction appeared first on LewRockwell.

Given how expensive traffic tickets are, it’s amazing so many people won’t buy a good radar detector. Unlike the car you’re driving, it actually is an investment – and not just in terms of the money it will save you. A good radar detector will also make driving enjoyable again. Instead of hewing to the letter of every ridiculous speed limit – or living in perpetual fear (and inevitable actuality) of being ticketed for exceeding them – you’ll be able to drive again. Which, incidentally, is also a safety advantage. You spend more time watching the road than the speedometer … Continue reading →

The post SkyDiving Without a Parachute appeared first on LewRockwell.

There is nothing wrong with insurance … provided you can say no to it. Then it’s like any other thing you choose to buy. Whether it makes sense to buy it – a subjective value judgment, by the way – isn’t the point. Exercise makes sense, too. The point is – or should be – if insurance is something you want, or feel the need of – then you have the right to choose to buy it. What you haven’t got is the right to force others to buy it – and thereby take away their free choice. Insurance at gunpoint is dark … Continue reading →

The post Sick and Evil appeared first on LewRockwell.

This business of varying rights – based on what’s between your legs (or where you put what’s between your legs or what gets put into what’s between your legs) or the color of your skin or some other characteristic… it’s like exchanging Pesos for dollars – but vicious because it devalues human beings. Gay rights, women’s rights. Rights for people “of color” (the translucent ones had better shut up and sit down). Rights for the “differently abled.” Rights defined by the “community” – the collective – you’re (supposedly) a member of. Physical Gold & Silver in your IRA. Get the … Continue reading →

The post Your Right to Yourself appeared first on LewRockwell.

Usually, when a Porsche gets permanently parked it’s because it’s a treasured museum piece –  retired from heroic deeds on street or track (sometimes both). But the 1,500 Porsches that have been sitting for the past year-plus have been idled by Uncle. 1,500 brand-new but no longer “new” 2016 model year Cayennes will eventually be sold (perhaps next year sometime) at a discount – as used cars – when Uncle finally gives Porsche dealers permission to sell them. With Porsche dealers (and salesmen) eating the loss. These are Cayennes powered by 3.0-liter diesel engines, marked – like Hester Prynne  – but with a … Continue reading →

The post It’s Not Just VW appeared first on LewRockwell.

We live in a society driven by debt. Cars, for example, have become hugely expensive (even on the low end) relative to what people can afford – because of the easy availability of credit. Which is the nice word used to speak about debt, intended to encourage us to get into it. It takes at least $15,000 or so to drive home in a “cheap” new car, once all is said and done. And the “cheap” car will have to be registered, plated and insured. It runs into money. And most new cars cost a lot more money. Which most … Continue reading →

The post Life in Hock appeared first on LewRockwell.

There are laws in many states forbidding “distracted” driving – but what about the laws that encourage it? The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has given GM – and presumably, other car companies, too – the go-ahead to offer cars that can drive themselves for extended periods while the “driver” doesn’t. GM’s system – marketed as SuperCruise – will be available next year in certain Cadillac models, including the CT6 sedan. It’s an advanced form of adaptive or “intelligent” cruise control that steers the car as well as maintains speed – accelerating and braking as needed with the ebb and … Continue reading →

The post The Self-Driving Catch-22 appeared first on LewRockwell.

Here’s the trouble. Most people can’t read… and so, can’t think. Not quite literally, perhaps. But, meaningfully. They have been taught – very deliberately – to be sloppy and fluid with words. A given word has a vague, constantly shifting meaning – that meaning transmitted and accepted by a kind of semi-conscious collective osmosis. You “get the drift” – and the word is henceforth used accordingly. It is not necessary to formally announce the new meaning. It just sort of happens. Examples include liberal and fascist. A liberal was once a person who believed that people ought to be let alone; … Continue reading →

The post Oppose the Huddled Masses Yearning To Lift Your Wallet? appeared first on LewRockwell.

What just happened (Friday) tells us much about what Trump must do on Monday. Thirty thousand people just lost their jobs – as opposed to the not one person actually harmed by VW’s “cheating” on the government’s emissions tests. The jobs go away because VW’s profits have. In order to pay the government (and shyster lawyers), the company can’t afford to pay wages to those 30,000 people. So, they’ve been pink slipped. This is just one – very real – measure of the human costs of an out-of-control regulatory apparat that imposes these costs on the basis of speculative or … Continue reading →

The post Anti-VW Racism appeared first on LewRockwell.

What just happened (Friday) tells us much about what Trump must do on Monday. Thirty thousand people just lost their jobs – as opposed to the not one person actually harmed by VW’s “cheating” on the government’s emissions tests. The jobs go away because VW’s profits have. In order to pay the government (and shyster lawyers), the company can’t afford to pay wages to those 30,000 people. So, they’ve been pink slipped. This is just one – very real – measure of the human costs of an out-of-control regulatory apparat that imposes these costs on the basis of speculative or … Continue reading →

The post Anti-VW Racism appeared first on LewRockwell.

It takes a lot for a major car company or engine manufacturer to deliberately circumvent a regulatory fatwa. As policy. Not a “rogue engineer.” The entire engineering department; the upstairs bosses… everyone in on it. It is happening a lot lately. VW – and now Cummins, a major manufacturer of diesel engines used in heavy commercial and street vehicles, including Chrysler (and lately, Nissan) pick-up trucks. Both have been caught (apparently, in the case of Cummins, which hasn’t yet admitted to it) diddling with their engines’ software – which controls the hardware –  in order to “cheat”  the EPA’s emissions tests. … Continue reading →

The post Next To Be Hanged by the EPA appeared first on LewRockwell.

Remember that song about making an ugly woman your wife so as to be happy for the rest of your life? It applies to cars just as much. Like the pretty girls, everyone wants the pretty cars. This drives up the cost of acquisition. Also, one tends to put up with more hassles than one otherwise might. Ugly girls, on the other hand, are appreciative – and inexpensive (usually). Same goes for ugly cars. Consider, as a for-instance, the notoriously unattractive Pontiac Aztek. And – even more so – its almost-as-homely sister, the Buick Rendezvous. Neither were bad rides. Just ugly … Continue reading →

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