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Scrapple, Your Guide To The “meh”-Worthy News! This Week: Charging Taxicabs With Magic Panels


Scrapple, Your Guide To The “meh”-Worthy News! This Week: Charging Taxicabs With Magic Panels

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1. Rambo Lambo II?

Lamborghini’s Urus SUV has taken off like a shot sales-wise, but from our viewpoint, all Lamborghini did, really, was cave to the SUV craze and played the safe bet. The Urus is like the Porsche Cayenne or the Bentley Bentayga: it offers up all of the best traits of a known luxury brand, but with a gigantic ass end and cargo space. Lamborghini did better with the LM002, the V-12-powered beast roughly based upon the failed Cheetah military vehicle prototype. Apparently Lamborghini has floated the idea of a reborn off-road biased SUV around lately, as was hinted in a Motor Trend article, but that’s all that is known at this time. Lamborghini: if anybody is going to make a supercar SUV that is off-road capable and properly effing bonkers, it’s you. Not Porsche, not a British old-luxury name, and certainly not the read-heads down the road. You know the line about taking a bull by the horns? Yeah…get on it.

2. Oh, oh, oh, it’s maaaagic, y’know…

Norway’s government-shoved movement towards an all-electric automobile fleet by 2025 keeps moving right along. The taxi fleet has to be all electric by 2023, and that presents some interesting infrastructure issues. Apparently the answer to offset charging times for taxi drivers will be induction charging plates at locations where taxi drivers queue up for passengers. This will effectively charge vehicles on the fly while drivers wait for passengers, or so the everybody hopes. The first induction plate charging locations will appear in Oslo, Norway.

3. Is it really an antique, though?

Ever see a car wearing antique plates and think that there is no way in hell that THAT is an antique/collector vehicle? Apparently an Arkansas state representative thinks the same way and for the second time is pushing to mark the cutoff for antique plates in the state from 25 years old to 45 years old. State Representative Jack Fortner has pushed the bill twice, with the current version, H.B. 1496, introduced last month. The push might stem from Fortner’s personal viewpoint on anything made after 1972 (“I don’t think anything good happened in the auto field after ’72.”) but the main theme is that the bill is designed to crack down on residents who are using antique plates as a way to get cheap registration on their vehicles.

4. Imitation isn’t just the sincerest form of flattery.You might want to blink twice…that isn’t a Land Rover Evoque, that’s a Land Wind X7, which is as close to a carbon-copy shape that you can get. Jaguar Land Rover has thought so, and went to court in China to battle it out with Jiangling Motors over the issue, and won a victory in the Beijing Cheoyang District Court. Jiangling has to immediately cease production, sales, and marketing of the X7 and owes Jaguar Land Rover compensation for the vehicles already sold.

5. Test the system if you dare.Here’s some interesting food for thought: the Supreme Court has ruled that a middle finger to the police is considered an exercise in free speech. This came about after a woman was pulled over for a second time and ticketed (instead of the first time, when she was shown mercy) because she flew the digitus impudicus at the cop as she was driving away. Ignoring the court case, it blows our minds that after a cop threw her a warning, she’d drive off and extend the finger at said officer. We’d just quietly get the hell out of Dodge and be grateful that our license was intact and our wallet wasn’t dinged. But when the cop pulled her over a second time for the same reason, that’s when the line was crossed. The court ruled that the middle finger was a demonstration of free speech. So offer up the single-finger salute if you must…but good luck with the blowback, regardless of the court case.


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3 thoughts on “Scrapple, Your Guide To The “meh”-Worthy News! This Week: Charging Taxicabs With Magic Panels

  1. 69rrboy

    I guess the “is that really a classic or antique” question has been around forever. I remember Model T guys getting mad that those young whippersnappers in their Edsels are parking at Fall Hershey in the late 70s. It was definitely an eye opener the first time I saw an antique tag on an Omni!!

    Not sure who came up with the “ONLY 1972 or earlier” law at car shows but can we PLEASE get over it?! I don’t know if it was a Ford guy who detested Mustang IIs or some Chebby guy who hated 73 Chevelles but I think it’s MORE than worn out it’s welcome.

    Ask any Chrysler guy to explain how his 1972 Challenger or Charger or Barracuda is “different” from a 1974 and he’ll just laugh at you. At least I do. Absolutely ludicrous this is still at the top of virtually every car show flyer I see!! Just my 20 cents.

    1. Jason P

      The thing that gripes me is the shows that have a year cutoff but at the same time give an exemption for certain year cars. That results in pawpaw wearing a flairhair visor showing up in new Corvette that is absolutely bone stock. I saw a picture from last year’s Tupelo Blue Suede Cruise where someone entered a late model V6 Mustang convertible. Looked like a rental car sitting amongst the show field. If you are going to have a year cutoff, then have a year cutoff……

      1. BeaverMartin

        Stock new cars at car shows really grinds my gears! I had a neighbor who literally bought a Challenger and drove it straight to car shows. Had hats and matching chairs made and everything.

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