iamsuperdan

Lots of updates for us truck fans. I see two I need for sure. And that new 1/12 Lancia. Very nice.

Block heaters are actually standard equipment here. On most cars/trucks anyway. On a number of my personal vehicles, I've added battery blankets as well in the winter months. Like a heating pad that wraps around the battery. Although none of our current vehicles have them. I know a lot of people that put pan heaters on their trucks too, and a lot of diesel guys install those Webasto pre-heaters.

100% that's what it is. Would have been nice to see AMT do a full re-tool on this one, like they did with the International 4070 a couple of years ago. I'm guessing these molds are a little tired now and could do with a proper updating.

VERY interesting!

Interesting. Looking at those bodies in white, they don't look like EVs. The shape of the floor, engine bay, and trunk area look like an ICE car to me. EVs usually have a very flat floor, and the engine bay typically wouldn't be open like that. Leads me to believe that these are for the ICE version. Very curious to see what's coming. The official launch is supposed to be here before summer.

I know where you're going with this. Are people buying neutral colours because that's what is on the lots? Or are dealers stocking those colours because that's what people ask for? And the answer is...both. When given a choice, most customers will pick a neutral colour, while the more interesting colours sit. As a result, dealers will order more of the neutral colours because that's what moves quickly. And dealerships don't want to pay the interest charges or overhead of having vehicles sitting for 30-60-90-120 days. That's also why you won't find a lot of base model zipper vehicles on the lots. People tend to want features, so the more loaded vehicles move, while the basic models sit. Again, dealers order more of what sells quickly. What a lot of people don't realize is that they can factory order a vehicle. Go to your dealer and order what you want. There is no upcharge for it, and any dealer that tells you otherwise is lying. Of course, most dealers will be more agreeable with discounts if it's something sitting on the lot, so I guess technically you might pay more for an order. But not by much. And you'll get exactly the features and colours you want. And if you order the "unpopular" colours or features, there's a very good chance your vehicle will get built faster than the most popular spec. For example, everyone wants black trucks. Not many want red. But the factory only builds the red trucks when they have enough orders in the system to justify a run. It's usually only 10 units. So order your red. You'll most likely see your vehicle serialize and start production pretty quick.

Thanks Tim! As I said, excellent article. And really, the import kits are plentiful enough that you could have done a full part II just on those! Darn those space limitations!

And even though it's one of my fav movies, I would love to see a remake of Christine, but one that is accurate to the book. Same with Die Hard. And First Blood.

Jeremy Barlow of Clearly Scale fame has passed away. I just received an email from his sister.

Remote starters are mandatory in my neck of the woods. Over the years, I've used two main brands. First is CompuStart. I always recommend their 2-way remote start, so that you know if your car actually started or not. They have one with 2000ft range which is totally fine for about $500CDN installed, and another than I think is either 3000 or 5000ft. Seems excessive. Second is the one I prefer. It's called MyCar and it ties in to your phone. Installation is plug and play, so no splicing or tying in to existing wiring harnesses. The remote comes with a 3yr plan, and after than it's like $10/month. Start your car from your phone, with vehicle monitoring, and from literally anywhere in the world. It's about $750 CDN. As Bill alluded to, make sure you use a reputable shop to install it though, and unless you are very familiar with auto electronics, don't do it yourself. You can seriously mess up your vehicle if it's not done correctly. There are a lot of hacks out there, and some of those chain electronics stores hire those hacks. Pick a shop that specializes in electronics. Custom stereo shops are usually a safe bet. Having said that, we don't do a lot of them anymore, as almost everything these days comes with a remote start, even the most basic models. Fun fact, if you buy a new Ford, you don't even need to order it with remote start to get remote start. The car/truck will come with something called Ford Pass. Connect your phone and boom. Your phone is your remote starter.

Wow. Just wow.

You're right! But it's actually issue 221. Excellent article, but it really only covered the North American kit manufacturers. AMT, MPC, Revell, etc. Other than a short paragraph, it made no mention of kits from Aoshima, Tamiya, Hasegawa, Italeri, ESCI. And those would have covered brands like Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Jeep, Land Rover/Range Rover, and Mercedes; to name a few.

Hey that's kind of like my last red truck! Here's the day I picked it up, last January. Everything I've had since then has been a neutral colour. I miss this one.

Even at it's coldest over the past week, the dog and I would bundle up and get our daily walk in. Admitted, it's much shorter, and much faster than usual, but we still got out there. Even though she's half-Husky, we still have a fleece "jacket" she wears over her harness when it gets this cold. We tried boots and a hat, but she's not having any of that.

We have all the colours of the Ford rainbow in stock here at the dealership. The neutral colours fly off the shelves. The interesting colours tend to linger and sit around. They really are what people tend to gravitate towards. Just going to ignore the fact that my wife's Vovlo is white, my (son's) Tahoe is pewter, my daughter's Kia is black, and my truck is white. Previous trucks were silver, white, black, grey, Race Red (!!), white, white, black... ?

We picked up a 2015 Kia Soul for my daughter....black with metallic lime green accents, black interior with lime green stitching. It's a little different, just a splash of colour.

The auto-moderation is set to 25 posts.

Yeah, no one makes bright and interesting colours anymore. And this isn't even getting into the exotics, such as Porsche or Lamborghini or McLaren that do all kinds of wild and crazy colours. /devil's advocate ? I get what you're saying, and mostly agree. The colour palette was definitely more interesting back in the 50s and 60s. Heck, even into the 70s and 80s. But as someone in the sales side of the automotive world for about 25 years...guess which colours sell the least. If you guessed the loud and interesting ones, you'd be correct. Silvers, greys, black, white...all of those neutral colours are far and away more popular. For the record, I love the crayon colours.

Tough one. Oppenheimer, KOTFM, and Barbie all stand a very good chance at winning. I've seen all three. I think KOTFM probably should win, but Oppenheimer will win. And Cillian Murphy will get best actor, Lily Gladstone will get best actress.

The book is so much better than the movie! Would love to see a "by the book" remake.

I should have taken a video of the sounds my neighbour's truck made after I helped him get it started this morning. Wow, it was NOT happy. Was about -43 C this morning. He had it parked on the street, so didn't have it plugged in. So we grabbed his battery charger, plugged it into the Lightning, and was able to get it up and running in a couple of minutes.

Have been following your channel for some time and just watched this video last night. Beautiful work!

In the 2025 Ram 1500, which will be out by summer, the Hurricane I-6 has to versions. The "Standard Output" has around 420hp, while the "High Output" has about 540hp. Either of those would move the Charger pretty quickly. So what would the inevitable "SRT" version put out? 700hp? I have to think that Stellantis would want it having more power than anything ele, so I'd guess 750hp. Roughly. The EV is a whole different ballgame, and having owned a Mach-E GT, I think this would be the highest performing model, and probably the most fun to drive. Wouldn't sound as good, but it will be the fastest model, and most likely the best handling. But no matter what they do with it, the HO gas engine will be the one most people want.

I still kick myself for trading away the '48 sedan delivery. At least I still have the three axle trailer. Not sure when it'll ever get built though. I should trade that rare piece off too.... ?

Hmm...