Welcome to Louis (Lou) Dawson's backcountry skiing information & opinion website. Lou's passion for the past 50 years has been alpinism, climbing, mountaineering and skiing -- along with all manner of outdoor recreation. He has authored numerous books and articles about
ski touring and is well known as the first person to ski down all 54 of Colorado's 14,000-foot peaks, otherwise known as the
Fourteeners! Books and free ski touring news and information here.
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POS compared to my brother’s Pontiac GTO of a year or two earlier vintage–he let me borrow it one day when I was in college and the ride was thrilling, the tank needed filling, and my wallet was empty of the very last shilling!
LOL!
Nice car there Lou! is it a local RFV vehicle? When I was a senior in high school a good friend and I drove to Denver and picked up a ’69 Z28 for him. Before his mother died a few years ago, she told him she would love it if he spent some of his inheritance refurbishing his car. He spent 80 grand on a full body off restoration, and it is beautiful, and factory original. It is hugger orange with black stripes and a black vinyl top. His redneck muscle car is way more special than any fresh off the line car today. Most cars made today will be recycled/crushed two or three times before their steel is forty years old.
Sweet ride, but if you feel there has been a lack of innovation in ski boots, compare the latest iteration of the Camaro, the Mustang and the Charger with the same models from 40 years ago.
The Prius may not be the best looking car in automotive history, but I look at today’s retro muscle cars and am reminded of boot laces and lignostone edges. Sure the mechanicals are updated, but the aerodynamics and overall design are driven by marketing, not performance.
See, yep, I’d agree. Al the Camaro owner and I were joking around about how the early muscle cars were designed to last all of about 3 years, and were most certainly not practical. They’re more of a total luxury consumer item and have to be taken at that, but one can’t deny that the designers behind them had some chops, and still inspire.
Only two things come to my mind when I see this. Holley double pumper and the smell of black vinyl seats. Take your girl to the ice cream shop for a coke float. OK we’re old. Now, tell me Lou that there is an 8 track player bolted to the dash with a 3 dog night tape.
Regarding relevance to ski design inspiration: are you thinking about how new skis are more and more becomming tools for straight lining, and turning seems less important? 😉
Christian, I’d say yes, and more!
An owner of an early Camaro emailed me:
“Classic stuff Lou. The 69 Camaro was used as a model for the new Camaro. It is still considered the best design of all the Camaros. At a car show I parked next to a totally restored ’66 427 Corvette. It was gorgeous and I loved it because my dad had a 66 Vette. But more people were admiring the Camaro than the ‘Vette. In my view, that was because the Camaro was an “everyman” car. More people could afford them, there were more made, and ten years later all the high school kids could buy them for $200 and customize them. Even now, people that don’t know what it is admire the design.”
Hmm, there was a Rossi ski which that car’s paint job reminds me of. Can’t remember the name; just remember it was a lousy ski (but pretty)!
“Bitchin Camaro, bitchin Camaro, I ran over my neighbor……”
Hey Ryan-who did that song? Dead Kennedys?
The Times of London did an interesting test where they compared a BMW 520d SE against a Prius in a 500+ mile real world driving test. The results:
BMW top speed 144mph. MPG 50.3
Prius top speed 106mph. MPG 48.1
I’d still take the Camaro over both!
Hauling around 300 lbs of batteries is not exactly conducive to highway efficiency. It might help around the city, with regenerative braking etc., but out on the open road it’s just dead weight with a bit of electricity in it. Prius has a lot of mythology associated with it, and I’m feared that many people buy them just as much as a status symbol as a person might buy an expensive sports car. In truth, where you get the most green efficiency and overall cost savings for on and off highway is probably more in something like our Nissan Versa. A rather boring car that works.
Regarding the BMW vs Prius Times of London test, the BMW 520d is a diesel which brings up a caveat I feel isn’t brought up enough: Diesels release more CO2 per gallon than gas engines. 2,778 g for a diesel vs 2421 g for gas (source:http://www.epa.gov/oms/climate/420f05001.htm)
So though the BMW gets better gas mileage, its CO2 emissions are greater, so from an environmental standpoint the Prius is indeed better. Though both are very good and the BMW will likely be better for highways as Lou points out.
Just a little pet peeve of mine when talking about diesels. More on point, skied off of Torrey’s yesterday and it was beautiful! Especially being on top of the clouds settled over the front range.
But, there is more energy in a gallon of diesel than a gallon of gasoline, so the question would be, how much CO2 per mile of transportation rather than per gallon. Beyond that, what a ridiculous exercise even talking about gasoline vs kerosene (grin), in terms of carbon dioxide. (grin)
Wait, don’t trees use CO2 to survive and in turn release oxygen……. Nice car by the way.
Certain girls do turn their heads when I drive by in my Subaru…but then they realize I’m male and they’re not interested.
Great car!! Cars that time looked pretty cool!!!
Back to the Prius vs BMW. The BBC show Top Gear had a very funny test where they took a 500hp BMW and a Prius to their test track. Both were filled with the same amount of gasoline. The driver of the Prius was told to drive around the test track as fast as possible and the BMW would follow. One of the most pathetic looking races in history. Anyway, the BMW which looked lilke it was standing still, got better mileage. In another episode Top Gear built their own “hybrid.” Go to You Tube and check out the video. Hilarious!
Here is the Prius BMW challenge vid link. Indeed, quite amusing.
http://youtu.be/badoMjA_rW0
>>>Even girls turn their heads, do they do that when you drive by in your Subi?
This may be true…but it’s safe to say my ‘Ru has a lot more space in the back than the backseat of your Camaro, especially with the rear seatbacks folded flat….which can come in handy, you know?
Hmmm, good point there Pat.