obsession with automotive excellence
excessᴍᴀᴄʜɪɴᴀ / Essays
Interesting Times
Porsche wants to move further upmarket. The ordinary 911’s prices and used-car market show what that ambition could mean for its traditional buyers.
Read the essay : Porsche Thinks It’s Leaving Money on the Table: True Enthusiasts Priced OutAutomotive Excellence
The California-designed Z30 Lexus SC combined Japanese engineering with two compelling powertrains. Its used prices make the case for a second look.
Read the essay : America’s Lexus: The California-Born Lexus SC is the Hidden Bargain in Japanese Sport CoupesAutomotive Excellence
Six decades of racing, engineering, and continuous development turned an unconventional rear-engine coupe into the reference point against which sports cars are still measured.
Read the essay : The Sports Car: How Porsche’s 911 Came to Represent PerformanceInteresting Times
Ford and GM remained broad automakers. Chrysler survived by changing owners, partners, and finally its place inside a global group. The Big Three name outlived the structure…
Read the essay : It Hasn’t Been the Big Three For DecadesInteresting Times
A familiar silhouette conceals several markets, a few real shortages, and a surprising amount of arithmetic performed against the wrong sticker.
Read the essay : The Price of Knowing Which 911Automotive Excellence
The LC500 pairs a 7,100-rpm V8 with true grand-touring comfort. Its distinction is the pleasure it brings to an ordinary drive.
Read the essay : The Best Japanese Grand Tourer Ever BuiltInteresting Times
Electric crossovers can now accelerate like yesterday’s supercars. The harder engineering question begins after 60 mph: braking, damping, heat, steering, tires, and control.
Read the essay : The New Supercar Has Juice Box HoldersAutomotive Excellence
Cadillac built a bespoke twin-turbo V8 for the CT6, gave it a reported run of 1,200 cars, then let it disappear. The hardware deserved a longer product…
Read the essay : Cadillac’s Blackwing Could Have Been the FutureAutomotive Excellence
Chapron’s DS Décapotable did more than remove a roof. Longer doors, cleaner flanks, structural changes, and the DS’s covered rear wheels turned an already remarkable shape into…
Read the essay : Have You Ever Seen Anything as Lovely as a Citroën DS Décapotable?Automotive Excellence / Interesting Times
The manual transmission is disappearing from ordinary cars, but scarcity, margins, and enthusiast demand can preserve it where buyers will pay for mechanical involvement.
Read the essay : Gatekeeping: Profits Will Save the ManualsAutomotive Excellence / Interesting Times
A luxury car becomes absurd when its engineering, theater, or commercial logic travels farther than the benefit it delivers. Some of the best cars ever made score…
Read the essay : The Absurdity IndexInteresting Times
Cars are unusually public possessions. They invite strangers to infer taste, status, identity, and intent from an object that may have been chosen for entirely different reasons.
Read the essay : You Are What You Drive
