Hellooo Camaro

Hey guys!  So this week I was inspired to write about the Camaro.  If you must know where the inspiration came from, it honestly just comes from driving by all the Chevy dealers in the area.  Every dealer has their pretty little different color Camaros in the front, tempting every car person daily.  We just all wish we had that kind of money sitting around, huh?  Maybe it's just me or something!

Anyway, let's talk some history and travel all the way back to to 1966.  After the Mustang had sold a whole bunch of their models in 1966, the idea of rivaling the Mustang came to a guy by the name of Henry C. Haga.  From there, he and his team designed the body, shape, and outside appearance of the car.  However, the interior was put together by a man hired by Haga, named George Angersbach.  When they finished the first model, their plan was to unveil the product in 1967.  The people, even though they knew it was a complete copy of the Mustang, loved the idea of the Camaro.  Production was going great until about 2002, when they decided to discontinue the Camaro.  This set back was only to be temporary, for in 2009, a new model of the car came out.  Now they are back on the radar for sure.

Ah, the 2015 models are somewhat of a masterpiece as far as cars go.  They have gradually moved away from the Mustang look and have built their own type of body and design.  As far as the car person I am, I respect that they decided to start their own kind of looks.  So the first model is the standard Camaro with a V6 engine starts at $24,000.  Second, the Camaro ZL1 comes out, which starts at $56,000.  The last version, and one I will be talking about, is the Camaro Z/28.  This model starts at a minimum of $72,000.  Below are pictures of the model and a couple specs from Chevrolet’s website:

-7.0 L V8 Engine

-505 Horsepower

-481 Maximum Torque

-Height of 52.40 in.

-Length of 192.3 in.

-Width of:

-Front is 66.14 in.

-Back is 64.65 in.

Quickly to recap, over the years the Camaro has become a beautiful “eye candy”.  Depending on what model you get, the engine can be pretty too.  I'm happy that they went from stealing Mustang’s look to creating their own, and quite frankly, I think it looks better when it's not a duplicate of another sports cars style.  In my opinion, the Camaro is a good buy and will not disappoint any car lover.

The Maserati Life

Hello ladies and gentlemen! Today, I was stumbling across the Internet, looking at different car models to break down for you guys, and then it came to me; Maserati.  I myself did not know a lot about this car until I researched a little bit and I also still have yet to ever see one in person, but be still and know, I’m looking.  Ever heard of it?  If not, after this post, you’re going to know all you need to know to impress that one person who you never can impress, because you don't know cars like they do. 

The original idea of the Maserati came from one by the name of Rodolfo Maserati.  His oldest son, Carlo Maserati, primarily inspired by his father, designed and built his first single cylinder engine that is acclaimed to be the first Maserati engine.  But not until around 1929, did Maserati start to really make its name known to all of Italy.  The youngest of the Maserati family, Ernesto, won the Maserati car company its first race.  After that, production began and they started selling many more cars.

Enough about the past, let’s get to the new 2015 models, shall we?  Starting off, the first model is the Ghibli.  This is their overall cheapest model, thus, the most affordable.  This model comes out to about $70,000 to $80,000.  Next, we have the Quattroporte.  This model sells for around $100,000 to $140,000.  Then comes the GranTurismo.  Not very cheap, this model sells for $130,000 to $170,000.  Last but not least, the GranTurismo Convertible.  This model is the most expensive Maserati model, selling for $182,000.  And yes you guessed it, this will be the model I am going to go into detail on!

As you can see in the pictures below, this model is very sharp looking.  To me it looks kind of like a fancy business car.  Here are some of the specs which I found on Maserati’s official website.

Maserati GranTurismo Convertible MC Centennal Edition specs:

Height-53 in.

Width-about 75 in.

Length-194 in.

Horsepower-454 hp

Maximum Engine Speed-7,200 rpm

Top speed-185 mph

0-60 mph-4.7 sec.

Engine-V8 4.7 L

In summary, does it look sweet? Check.  Does it have room for that chick you’re gonna ask out on a date once you buy it, because it gives you confidence? You betcha.  Does it go fast? Check.  Now that I know more about this car, I think I might have to change my top 10 sports car list a little bit.

"It's Like Going to the Future, but Faster"

Hey guys! So I was hanging out with friends in downtown Midland a couple days ago, and something caught my eye.  Who would expect to see a red Lamborghini just cruising down Main?  I sure wouldn’t have expected this, but sure enough, there was a nice cherry red Lamborghini driving down Main.  My jaw was on the ground, considering I have only seen one of those in person before.  The first time I had seen one was when I was thirteen.  A brand new shiny red one going down US-10 with the top down.   Imagine that kid that licks the ice cream off his cone in shock; that was me at that moment. 

In that happening a couple days ago, I decided that it was destiny that I would write about the Lamborghini this week!  One time in 1960, a guy by the name of Ferruccio Lamborghini, a millionaire type, decided that all that was missing in his life was his own car company.  With that thought, he founded the car company “Lamborghini”, which was made to rival the Ferrari.  The first model came out in November of 1963.  Oddly enough, I found it funny that the he had bought out Ferrari’s engine designer to come design his Lamborghini engines, just so they would be better.

Now back to the future, as in 2015.  This year, Lamborghini came out with four new models of past Lamborghini sports cars.  First is the Lamborghini Huracan, second is the Lamborghini Aventador (which is my personal favorite), then third came the Lamborghini Veneno Roadster, then the fourth is the Lamborghini Asterion.  All of these models include the classic cut-ins, shape, body, and ferocious look of the Lamborghini brand of sports cars.

Because the Lamborghini Aventador is my favorite, here are a couple pictures and specs of the 2015 Aventador LP 750-4 Superveloce Roadster.  

                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Here are a couple specs, provided by the official Lamborghini website:

Model: Aventador LP 750-4 Superveloce Roadster

Engine: V12

Maximum Engine Speed: 8500 RPM

Minimum Engine Speed: 850 RPM

Top Speed: 350 km/h (217 mph)

0-62 mph: 2.9 sec

0-124 mph: 8.8 sec

Height: 44.72 inches

Weight: 3,472 lbs

In quick summary, the Lamborghini is an almost perfectly designed sports car.  If I myself could buy/own a Lamborghini Aventado, I would own one literally in a heartbeat.  Quoting Lamborghini’s website about their cars, “it is like going to the future, except faster.”

Dreams Becoming Reality

Hey!  This is my first blog ever and I am ecstatic to share with you a more recent story from my life.  When I was about eight years old, I saw my first Ford Mustang.  Well, not only my first, but my first couple of them.  They were driving down the highway, one by one.  Honestly, it feels like it was just yesterday.  There was something about them—smooth body, perfectly placed indented curvatures, leather interior.  Seeing them for the first time, knowing from that day forward, that was my new dream.
 

Being only eight years old, the dream had lived for about a week.  But every time I saw another one driving around, the dream was reborn.  As I got older, I started to get into other sports cars, such as Lamborghinis, Corvettes, and Ferraris.  So as you could guess, the Mustang dream was moved into the same category as the other vehicles.  Sports cars started to become my passion.  At that age, I was one not to look at the price tag, rather the beauty of the car itself.

Moving through high school, at about age fifteen, my parents started to encourage me to start saving money for my first car.  After all, being the third of four children my parents had, they were not going to buy it for me.  So I started working summer jobs—babysitting, working at a daycare, and umpiring baseball.  These jobs made me some cash over the next three years, in fact, almost six thousand dollars.  So as this summer was coming to an end, I needed a car to get me to school and back.  I had been looking around for good school cars, you know, good fuel efficiency, and reliable.  It seemed as if my dream had slipped away from my mind, and I had forgotten completely about it.  I even was preparing to drive my parent’s gas-hog truck and pay ridiculous amounts of money for gas.  It seemed as though the dream had died.

Well, at least, until my dream literally drove into a sales lot two miles from my house. It was a white, convertible, 2003 Ford Mustang in almost perfect condition.  As you can imagine (and tell by the pictures above), I ended up buying the car.  The reason I chose this topic is because I would love to learn more about all of my favorite types of sports cars.  Also, I could learn a lot more about my own dream car that became reality.