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Love all the patina!  A bit too rough for me.. but cool!  

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/price-result/1935-pierce-arrow-model-1245/

So I like these Hudson Boattails.  Kruse just sold one for 100k plus at Auburn and I'll link it below.  There are very few attractive ones and some ugly tries at it.  I don't think its as easy body to pull off.

Many here might already be familiar with this, but I thought some might be interested to see what’s involved in painting or repairing a 3-stage paint job like a white pearl or a candy color. The name 3-stage is misleading because it takes several more steps than a regular 2-stage base/clear paint job.

I had a pearl white bumper cover to repair and it seemed like a good opportunity to explain the process on a small part. The first thing to do is pick the best paint chip to match the car. There were five for this Nissan and none of them were great but I picked the best one. Then I mixed the solid white base color and the translucent pearl midcoat. A spray out, called a letdown panel, has to be done to see how many coats of pearl will best match. Here you see the card with 2,3, and 4 coats.

With some of the notoriety, prestige, and media exposure of McPherson College and their auto restoration class, it got me wondering how many high schools still offer auto mechanics.

I used a couple AI platforms and was a little surprised that it couldn’t give me an answer.  Some offered responses that focused on budget cuts and the curriculum being cut out in the last 20 or 30 years as a trend. That didn’t surprise me. I’m wondering if the majority of high school schools do not offer it any longer?  High schools try and prepare young people for jobs that wouldn’t be overly vulnerable to AI influence, it got me, wondering if local high schools could pivot and do some modest version of a McPherson model with the focus on vintage/collectible cars.  There are so many car clubs scattered across the country with old guys who have a lot of knowledge.  The AACA reports over 350 active chapters regions.  It got me, wondering if some type of joint cooperation could be stood up. Selfishly, I think it would be great for the hobby to introduce young people to these cars we love. Additionally, it might be helpful as a pipeline for employment for some of the students after graduation.

Is anybody aware of any partnership with car clubs and a high school to have an interesting auto shop class that teaches some of the fundamentals mechanically and historically?

I had some doubts that this would actually get signed by Newsom.

https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a73762000/california-classic-car-smog-exemption-lenos-law-signed-into-law/

Look at the shape of this thing. The long, flowing fenders, the teardrop body, the way the roof and rear quarters all seem to melt into one continuous line. There’s nothing that feels like it was added just for the sake of adding something.

And honestly, I think there’s a automotive design lesson here: know when to stop.

Modern cars can sometimes have ten different character lines, vents that aren’t really vents, fake trim, aggressive details everywhere you look. The designer keeps adding things until there’s nowhere left for your eye to rest.

This Talbot-Lago does the opposite. The basic shape is so good that it doesn’t need much else.

That’s probably one of the hardest things to do in design...knowing that the next detail might actually make the whole thing worse.

Nearly 90 years later, this still looks beautiful. That’s not an accident. That’s restraint.

Share your favorite example of well-executed automotive design. I'd love to hear what you think represents good design execution.

I feel like I must have done this one already.   But BAT just put this SAAB Sonnet up and I have always had a strange attraction to them.   They are not very big.  4 speed front wheel drive with tiny 1.6L engines.   

Do you have a guilty pleasure car?

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1971-saab-sonett-iii-3

According to the Standard Catalog of American Cars, there were more than 450 different steam automobile manufacturers in the United States.

The king of the steam cars is clearly the Doble. After that, you have Stanley, Locomobile, White, Grout, and hundreds of other makes—many of which most people have never even heard of. With some of these obscure makes, only one example survives today.

So here’s the question for the steam-car crowd:

If a Doble is off the table because you don’t have a spare million lying around, what steam car would you most want to own and why?

I’ve owned four Stanleys over the years: one condensing car and three non-condensing cars.

Random picture from the internet I saved at one point.