Used Car Sales - Sunshine Coast

Sep 10, 2012 6:00 PM

The McLaren 12C Spider Live At Classic Car Club Manhattan

Raphael Orlove

 

McLaren unveiled the 12C Spider at the Classic Car Club Manhattan last week, and they invited Jalopnik along. There was an F1 car, three new Maccas, fashionable men and beautiful women and us two galoots.
I suppose the event was pretty swanky and wonderful, and we got a chance to rub elbows with some Silicon Valley tech heads and too-cool-for-school Manhattan millionaires, but we couldn't pay attention to any of that. No, McLaren wanted to show off some of their F1 cred by bringing Lewis Hamilton's 2011 MP4-26 to the affair. Travis and I must have spent a good half hour just staring. Well, not just staring.

Me: Hey Travis, think we can touch it?
Travis: Please don't.
Me: [reaching for the front right upper control arm] You really think they'd get mad?
Travis: Please, Raph, we want to get invited back.

Now we've already seen the 12C Spider live at Pebble Beach, in its fairly fantastic yellow paint job. That scheme has green metallic spheres in the paint as a Senna tribute. We got a red car at Manhattan, but it looked great.
In fact, before they took the cover off, you'd swear you were looking at a reinterpreted new NSX. That is, if Acura hadn't decided to build a fiddly Audi R8-lookalike.
So there we were with a $265,700 drop top, delicious hors d'oeuvres, and a bunch of seriously rich people. We focused on the cars. Apparently you can drop the top at up to 35 miles an hour. McLaren pointed out that it would be helpful when you're on a long drive. We would like to point out how useful it will be sitting sideways in upcoming southern rap videos.
McLaren also brought a regular coupe and a customer car there, the latter kitted out in some of the Project Alpha regalia we've already leaked here. White paint, black accents, red interior. Sexy.
What did we learn from the evening? Travis and I love the restrained look of the 12C, convertible or coupe, millionaires really like dump truck jokes, and free beer + real F1 cars is the best way to spend a Wednesday night in Manhattan.
Click through the gallery for all the pictures, and hit "Expand" in the lower right to get them in wallpaper size.

Car Sales Sunshine Coast

AU survey results suggests men rely on GPS more than women

By  George Kennedy Posted Jul 31st 2012 8:28AM

Remember the days before GPS? When it was just you, the open road, and a Rand-McNally mapbook tucked beneath the seat? We certainly do, but with the advent of GPS and smartphones, using electronic devices for guidance has become second nature. And it has turned one of the great stereotypes of the sexes sideways.

According to a study conducted by the Australian Association for Motor Insurers, men use GPS navigation more than women. The AAMI claims that 64 percent of men use nav systems while only 50 percent of women rely on them.

Reuben Aitchison, AAMI Corporate Affairs Manager, pondered the old stereotype of men never asking for directions, "It was a point of honour, sometimes known as stubbornness."

The poll also asked what voices from which people would be most and least likely to take directions. The most popular voiced included Morgan Freeman, Stewie Griffin, and Christopher Walken. The least favorite? Batman, Ozzy Osborne and your significant other.

A quick look over to the Garmin site reveals that none of those voices are available, but you can get Erine & Bert, Wallace & Gromit, Yoda, and Darth Vader.

The significant other? That's a no-cost option.