The Return of Automotive Truth

It is with no small amount of astonishment that we have watched our daily hits maintain a steady 80-120 hits per day, even after announcing our move over to Blogger.  How does this happen?  It is still beyond our grasp to determine how many of these hits are avid readers and followers, and how many are random hits generated by our tagging.  If any of you word-placement-type gurus are out there, do please get in touch with us at zfclubsport@yahoo.com, and we will compensate you accordingly.

Seemingly, the intelligent choice would be to not ignore obvious traffic passing through, and thus keep on posting content here for the world to enjoy.  Therefore, we return to our regularly-scheduled outlook on automotive spotlights and tuning trends — starting with the rare instrospective post below.  Happy reading, fans!

We have watched with some level of emotional detachment for the past year as the media has stirred everyone into a frenzy over the “recession.” Not saying that there isn’t a recession, but in all honesty, everyone would be much less depressed if they didn’t read about 90% of the news. TV and newspapers seem to thrive on putting a melodramatic spin on every subject they touch, with the effect of changing the public’s mindset from neutral to either worry or frothy nervousness.

We have also witnessed the realities around us. Yes, downsizing is occurring and budgets are tightening. And yet . . . our local Panera Bread, which we frequent when researching articles and brainstorming for projects, has nearly doubled in attendance over the past nine months. Business at our shop has slowed some, but not stopped. People are making the room for new wheels, tint, power and handling upgrades, and more.

The truth that has struck us is this: the general populace will spend money on things they want (that are not necessities), regardless of the economic state. They may cut back on a few other things, but if they are after something they would like, they will find a way to get it. Last fall when the gas prices were through the roof, we watched an older gentleman, clearly somewhat well-off, pull into our parking lot with a brand-new Cadillac Escalade and a 40-foot boat in tow. It took him a few minutes to maneuver into position while we looked at each other. He ended up dropping nearly a grand on cleaning and detailing, as he was headed out to the lake that morning. For some, the price of gas or an ongoing recession has no meaning and no relevance.

With that in mind, we happily bring you coverage of cars & trucks that we care about, rather than what is “politically correct”, a useless and time-wasting term if there ever was one. As the brand-new 2010 Porsche 911 Turbo release clearly demonstrates, you can have your monstrous power with good mileage to boot (500hp with 25 mpg, in this case). So all this talk of alternate fuel should not worry the true petrol-blooded among us. Long live internal combustion!