Most car auctions are rather straightforward affairs where bidders gradually drop out as they hit whatever their limit is. Every once in a while, a hilarious bidding war erupts, and sometimes one of the bidders is in it to get the car at all costs. As it turns out, you don’t want to mess with someone who calls themselves “ILoveMyYugos” online.
Jason wrote about how one of America’s biggest car museums, the Petersen Automotive Museum, couldn’t outbid the world’s biggest Yugo fan.
Jonee Eisen:
As the person here at the Petersen who recommended we try and buy that car, I would like to announce that yes, we would still love to find a pristine Yugo. It’s an important car! Both its American story and its place in world car history is unique and vital as well as amusing. We got to the point where it became obvious that ILoveMyYugos really does love their Yugos and was willing to pay whatever it took. Kudos to them. I’m sure they will be a excellent caretaker and maybe one day they’ll want to see it in a museum and reach out to us. Thank you Jason for documenting what was probably the most unlikely and unexpected auction experience we’ve ever been a part of.
DialMforMiata:
If you really want something pristine, important and even amusing, I hear there’s a Murano Cross Cab in MD 20/20 purple rocking 3-spoke Mustang wheels that’s (probably) available for the right price…
Jonee Eisen:
Yeah, but ILoveMyMuranoCrossCabs will probably outbid us…
Anonymous Person:
Or Mercedes…
Rod Millington:
No one has ever seen those two users at the same time.
Jason wrote about the weird grille of the Opel Olympia Rekord. Canopysaurus:
Ah, yes, the common misperception of the Opel Rekord grille as teeth.
Actually, what you’re seeing is baleen, most recognizably present in great cetaceans like the Blue Whale whose baleen filters are often mistaken for teeth.
The Rekord, like the Blue Whale, was originally configured to run on krill. Germany was in a postwar depression and gasoline was in short supply and expensive. But krill are positively abundant and cheap, therefore the radical decision to rely upon krill as the Rekord’s fuel source.
The great drawback to this strategy, of course, is that to refuel, one had to drive to the sea, enter the surf and force thousands of gallons of seawater through the grille in order to sift out enough of the tiny shrimp to power the car. Germans found this somewhat inconvenient. Also, krill engines were not all that efficient, so range anxiety was thing. Opel was not alone in opting for this approach. DKW was another large adopter of krill technology, as indicated by their full name, Das Krill Wagens. Now you know.
I had no idea what I expected with that one.
Matt wrote a Morning Dump, ending with a question about the best VW MQB vehicle. Ricardo M:
The best vehicle on the Golf platform is the Golf. The gulf between the Golf and the almost-Golfs is wide enough to engulf and gulp up every not-Golf.
Matt wrote about how tourists crashed a Land Rover into crocodile-infested waters. Sid Bridge:
Crocodile 1: Is it me, or does this Wildebeest have some kind of metallic aftertaste?
Crocodile 2: Yeah, I haven’t tasted anything this bad since we snagged that politician from Flint.
Have a great day, everyone!
Top graphic image: Bring a Trailer Listing
Jonee Eisen has a terrific, witty sense of humor. I want to know more about this person.
Well at least it wasn’t shill bidding
I saw that Yugo listing. I know they were a huge joke, and I was alive then. But I admire the refreshing no-bullshittedness of it.
🙂