Going Like Sixty

Politics are a carnival of life. So why not make a side show out of a torture technique like waterboarding. Ya pays yo money, ya gets a show that “Don’t Gitmo Better.” Steve Powers opened the sideshow in the shadow of the famous Cyclone rollercoaster. After peeking in a small window you will see a lifesize figure in a hooded sweatshirt lean over another figure. Plug in a few bucks and the waterboarding scene is played out for your viewing enjoyment, including convulsions. Does it get any better? Is it worse than putting Mayo on a Nathan’s Hot Dog? If it’s OK as an interview technique, why is it called a side show?

Mexico introduced the Mastretta MXT, the first car to be designed and built in Mexico, at the British Motor Show to rave reviews. the two seater coupe used aircraft construction techniques to create a very light and therefore very fast car. The power is from a Cosworth engine which is turbocharged to create 240 BHP. It should top out at about 150 mph, with a price of about $64,000.  The first model will run on gas, with a compressed natural gas engine promised for the future. The designer Daniel Mastretta went for a retro Can-Am racing car with wide body and muscular stance. He promises that the car will be easy entry and easy exit. 

“Initial drawings of the car were like slashes on the page and these lines are integrated into the design of the car you see here today,” Mastretta says. “I was trying to evoke emotion with the MXT. It has a dynamic tension that I believe drivers will love. “We have a passion for design in transportation which goes back for 20 years and that is fundamental to this car. It looks fantastic, but there is function there too. Great aerodynamics and low weight combine to maximise performance and handling and the low nose and high wings which enclose the wheels allow the driver to place the car very precisely on the road or track.” (gizmag) 

Aw, heck if you got it flaunt it, that’s what they always say.

A Sheik spending $47,000 to have the oil changed on his Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 was probably chump change.

To make sure the maintenance was performed right, he had his luxury oil change done in London. He had his car flown all the way from Qatar to London just for the oil change. The supercar only costs about $380,000 and is the same car Bruce Way (Batman) drove in The Dark Knight movie, so yeah, it’s special. The bill for the service was $7,000, the other $40,000 was for transporting the car.

The Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 is one of the fastest production cars to come out of GM, and at the heart of its stunning performance is the LS9 engine. Debuting in January of this year at the Detroit Motor Show, the 638hp (476kW) and 819Nm (604lb-ft) LS9 powerplant is capable of pushing the ZR1 from standstill to 60mph in just 3.4 seconds and onto a top speed of 205mph.