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Jan 12

Sunday Commentary: The January Thaw

I hope where you are today is experiencing the same warm temperatures that we are here in the Midwest. After what has to be one of the worst and most depressing weather weeks I can remember finally we catch a break. I bet the car washes in my area are loving this. Hopefully if the weather is good where you are you are getting out and driving something. I am sure we have plenty of winter left here so it’s a good day to get out and enjoy things.

03-GROUP-SHOTS_lo

It seems finally we are getting back to a bit more normal here at Infinite Garage and our server troubles may be behind us. At least for now. No doubt there will be more bumps down the road but we will navigate those when they come. In the mean time, we still are hoping to do a bit of a refresh to the site which hopefully makes things easier to navigate, read, and a better overall experience for everyone. We have taken some steps to speed up the server and streamline things a bit so hopefully you are noticing that.

Let’s get on with the week in review and give out the last two awards of 2013. (two weeks late)

The North American International Autoshow is coming and in fact if you are one of those people who read the Sunday Commentary at work on Monday it’s already happening. We will have some news on the C7 Corvette Z06 Monday and I promise it will be good. In the mean time last week was CES. CES is a huge tech show out in Vegas that more and more has had a strong automotive presence. With smart technology, wifi, and 4g coming to cars it is no surprise to see them at a tech show.
CES 2014
VW-Beetle

DAKAR
Dakar which is the worlds most demanding race is also on going. The rally challenges the durability of the vehicles, drivers, and their teams. Our own Reno has been covering the event all week.
DAKAR 2014
Carlos Sainz - Action

Viper Meets it’s Maker
Sometimes cars meet a fate they don’t deserve. Usually because of a stupid owner. As was the case when a Viper was crushed by law enforcement because the owner was street racing. I ranted on the topic because there is no reason to crush these cars when they could be used to raise money, but more and more it seems in our society the stupidest choice possible is always the choice made. You can watch a video of the Viper getting destroyed.
Viper gets crushed
viper-being-crushed

Mustang at the Nurburgring
Our Film Friday installment this week was the wizards at SVT taking a Mustang to the Nurburging ring and giving it the what have you. Track video is always fun to watch and when it’s at the Run it’s usually pretty interesting. So is the case with this one.
Mustang at the Ring
boss-mustang-on-track

The Big Awards:
I didn’t give out the final two awards of 2013 yet because of all the hub bub with the server and the many other things I have going on right now. However it’s time to do that before it gets to late. I use a bit of an unscientific approach to picking the Best Muscle Car, and Best Hot Rod of the year. I generally keep note of things like page views a particular car got, likes on Facebook, Re Tweets, likes, on Tumblr, and then things like comments or shares. Basically these two cars are the cars that the readers and fans of IG seemed to talk about the most and I doubt that is any surprise at all when you see them. So without further a due.

Best Hot Rod 2013
We go all the way back to 1929 for this one. I shot this car on a long hot summer day in Carrollton, Illinois. It just looks right. Nothing particularly over the top or no real corny cliche bits and pieces bolted on for effect. It’s largely functional, with a bit of personal touches to create a radical ride that looks and sounds mean.
1929 Rat Rod
29-rat-rod

Best Muscle Car 2013
When you look at the statistics of IG it quickly becomes clear our readers are muscle car people. Four of the top five posts of 2013 were muscle cars and the other of that five was the new Stingray. Of those four muscle car posts two of those posts had our 2013 Best Muscle Car winner in them. So it was kind of a no brainer.
1970 Hemi Cuda Fall Fun Run
Hull Picnic Car Show
Hemi Cuda

I guess that officially puts 2013 in the books for us. Of course 2014 is well underway and off to a good start. Car show season will be here before we know it and everyone I talk to is ready for it. I have a lot of big plans for 2014 and it looks like I have some life changes coming personally for the new year so that’s always exciting if not a bit terrifying. It will be another huge year for new cars with the new Mustang, the supercharged Challenger/Cuda coming from SRT, and I’m sure a few surprises.

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Until next time, keep it shiny side up!