pennellotref

Imho, non c'è nulla di male nell'ampliare la propria clientela - lo fanno tutti, anche sua maestà Ferrari - ; è quindi perfettamente giustificabile che si ritenga necessario "andare dove sono i soldi" e quindi Medio Oriente, Cina, India ecc.....

Però un conto è allargare la clientela ampliando ed adattando ai mutamenti del mercato la line-up produttiva, pur rispettando il proprio DNA, almeno per ora (piacere di guida, performance ai massimi livelli),- vedi produzione FF e l'ipotesi per alcuni modelli di nuove unità motrici meno penalizzanti fiscalmente parlando (V6 per Cina ad es.) - un altro conto è perseguire lo stesso obiettivo, mantenendo una gamma produttiva ristretta per non dire congelata, cercando di rendere il più possibile "dinamicamente digeribili" i propri modelli, strategia quest'ultima che con il tempo porta inevitabilmente alla "neutralizzazione" dei modelli ed alla perdita d'identità.

Mi chiedo, è questa una conseguenza inevitabile della massiccia condivisione di tecnologia-piattaforme-architetture in voga in VAG ? Imho, non credo, anche perchè se così fosse non si assisterebbe all'assurdo di avere una R8 dinamicamente più esaltante di una Lambo......

Allora mi chiedo, perchè farlo? Che senso ha? Qual è quindi il ruolo di Lambo in seno a VAG ? Fa solo numero? Se numericamente parlando si ampliasse un po' la gamma produttiva, non avrebbe la casa di Sant'Agata più libertà di "esprimersi tecnicamente", tenendo sotto controllo i conti ? Non credo che questo porterebbe danni a Porsche, anche perchè, in termini di fasce di prezzo coperte, non vedo particolari sovrapposizioni; inoltre, l'immagine storica di Lambo è quella di un marchio "estremamente" sportivo e non solo sportivo e basta come Porsche, che storicamente appartiene ad una lega diversa sia da quella di Ferrari che di Lambo stessa .

Imho, una fusione fra soggetti europei è da escludere perchè avrebbe implicazioni a tutti i livelli da "mal di testa cosmico a vita"; basta ricordarsi cosa è avvenuto con Opel anni fa ed immaginarsi cosa sarebbe avvenuto, soprattutto alle fabbriche, se Sergionne avesse convinto la Merkel . Io credo che FCA abbia soprattutto un problema di "copertura" geografica: il gruppo si è in questi anni notevolmente internazionalizzato, ma certamente non è ancora sufficiente. Credo che l'eventualità, secondo me dopo il 2018, di una fusione/accordo di vario genere terrà conto soprattutto di quest'aspetto.

Io non lo davo troppo per scontato questo risultato

Scontato certamente no, prevedibile però si imho, considerando i giudizi espressi dai vari tester internazionali .

- - - - - - - - - - AGGIUNTA al messaggio già esistente - - - - - - - - - -

Chi ha vinto?

Non ha vinto quella nera........e manco quella argento..........Fai tu........

Lamborghinis Are The Perfect Cars For People Who Can't Drive

Lamborghinis Are The Perfect Cars For People Who Can't Drive

Chris Harris

The problem with writing a column with the working title 'the problem with Lamborghini' just before a major motor show is that it doesn't account for the possibility that Lamborghini might unveil its best concept car since the Miura. But even post-Asterion unveil, I think Lamborghini has regressed into being a caricature of what it thinks the world wants it to be.

The genius of Lamborghinis in the past was that they justified the pornographic styling by being brilliant to drive – well, post Miura. But the Miura gets away with being a bit rubbish to drive because it's a stunner and it has a transverse V12. An idea so bat-shit it deserves the Nobel for just existing.

But the Countach is truly amazing. People forget that Walter Wolf got hold of that thing and made it a proper drivers' car. Mate of mine you might know called Harry Metcalfe has a four-valve version and it still feels fast enough to scare the crap out an unsuspecting passenger. But it kind of stops and the steering is pretty delicious at speed. Anything that looks like it should deliver the ultimate driving experience and then gets very, very close is a hero car.

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I've had my problems with the boys and girls in Maranello over the years, but the cars have been spectacularly good for a very long time now.

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And in period, a late Countach QV would laugh at a Testarossa. Because the Testarossa claimed to have 390hp, which was way down on the Countach's 455hp, but might have just about been enough pant-bulge to bring to the 1987 generic supercar shootout – if indeed those 390 horses were actually in attendance. Sadly, unless you were in dense fog by the ocean on an especially chilly morning, a Testarossa has never ran three ninety. It had more like three seventy. Or sixty.

These were the bad days of Ferrari. And I know this is supposed to be about Lamborghini, but bear with me because I want to suggest the beginnings of a conceit that links the two Italian supercar houses as their fortunes change over time.

Il Commendatore didn't really care about Ferrari street cars, and the Testarossa epitomized that thinking. It handled like a drunk lobster and it wasn't very fast – but it looked flipping awesome. Maranello had become a styling show by the mid '80s – the cars were poorly built, dynamically shabby but people bought them because they looked good and had a decent badge. They were entirely style over substance; at a time when Lamborghinis were the opposite. So much so that when Luca De Montezemolo arrived in 1992, he was shocked at how bad the cars were. He forced changes.

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Lamborghini is now the purveyor of understeer

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The first all-new LDM Ferrari was the 355. It was an instant classic, and it started undoubtedly the greatest unbroken lineage of great Ferrari road cars in the company's history. I've had my problems with the boys and girls in Maranello over the years, but the cars have been spectacularly good for a very long time now.

And after the Countach, Lamborghini continued to support the outer-limits of acceptable car styling with real power figures and great driving characteristics – oh, and scissor doors. You have to have silly doors. Even when Audi got involved it gave us the 6-litre Diablo which is still one of the best supercars I've ever driven. You could argue things improved even more with the Murcielago, and the final LP 640s, with a stick and three pedals, were perhaps the definitive analogue Italian supercars.

Then came the Aventador, and with it came some trouble. It looked, and it still looks, like it landed from Mars. It's the best looking supercar of them all, I think, and that's why it sells in such obscene numbers. This proves that styling and noise are everything in supercarland – because it's not very good to drive. The Aventador is the first Lamborghi I've driven that can't support its looks with adequate dynamics.

The Gallardo pictured above never had that problem, but then the Gallardo lived too long a life. Endless special editions, facelifts and tweaks during the period that Ferrari sold the 360, the 430 and the 458. Watching the Gallardo go all Gandalf made me think Lamborghini was in trouble; driving the Aventador on a track confirmed it. After three laps the brakes caught fire. But that didn't really matter because the understeer was contaminating the driving experience so much that I wanted to stop anyway. Only I couldn't because the brakes were shagged.

Then I drove another Aventador, and it understeered less, but its brakes were still combustible. And this worried me because there's only one thing worse than a car shaped like a spaceship that doesn't deliver the goods, and that's one which appears to be inconsistent from example to example. So I phoned mates who do the same as me for a living and they all said, yep, they'd never driven two Aventadors that handled the same. That's not a good thing.

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Until then, Lamborghinis are the perfect cars for people who can't drive and want to be seen.

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How many photos have you seen of the new Huracan fully-sideways? Of course that's a puerile way of assessing a car's dynamic attributes, but find me those images. They don't exist because Lamborghini is now the purveyor of understeer. They haven't let me drive one yet and this column probably won't alter that situation, but everyone I speak to whose opinion I trust says it just pushes. Lamborghinis should not push. And some honcho from Sant Agata was quoted on the launch event boasting about how the most impressive aspect of the new Huracan was it being easy to drive for the Chinese market.

And that statement is the one that links back to the mess Ferrari was in in the late 80s – Lamborghini has lost the plot. It has become the purveyor of jewelry. Its cars exist to be seen and heard; not driven. Style has superseded substance. Their natural habitat has now been reduced to revving when stationary on the King's Road in London – not Imola or the Futa pass or Valentino Balbone scorching the back- pistas of Modena, but with some mindless billionaire's offspring pushing the right pedal to get himself seen on some equally mindless YouTube channel. Never has a car brand skulked so far from the origins that defined its past greatness. Typing that makes me so sad.

So I really do think Lamborghini is in trouble. Even after all these years of German ownership it doesn't sit easily within the VW Group. The Huracan will have the new Audi R8 – effectively the same car – snapping at its heels and it can't (thankfully, some might say) expand into SUVs and big sedans because that's Porsche and Bentley's role. Of course, what Lambo should be doing is making million-dollar low volume specials, but when it does that we get the Veneno, which next to the LaFerrari and friends looked like a self-build by someone harboring severe penis-envy.

Can the Asterion stop the rot? I hope so. It's a brilliant concept and were it to make production it would be the perfect antibiotic to counter the germs of understeer, if indeed they can purge the thing of generic Lambo-understeer.

If they don't build it, then I think the future is bleak, at least until someone asserts themselves in a De Montezemolo-style intervention. Until then, Lamborghinis are the perfect cars for people who can't drive and want to be seen.

Nuova "mina" giornalistica lanciata dal famigerato Chris Harris (il lupo perde il pelo ma non il vizio....): voi che ne pensate ? C'è del vero in quello che dice ?

trovata su tumblr

chi sa a quando un confronto tra le 3

E' una delle tante foto rilasciate da Top Gear negli ultimi tre giorni: è si tratta proprio di un confronto a tre condotto dalla rivista tra l'11 ed il 13 novembre, se non sbaglio, in Italia dalle parti di Maranello. Tutte e tre le auto sono di proprietà delle rispettive case madri. Questo è il resoconto con verdetto annesso:

LaFerrari vs McLaren P1 vs Porsche 918: the verdict - BBC Top Gear

LaFerrari vs McLaren P1 vs Porsche 918: the verdict

After two days in Italy, the TG mag team have picked their winners. Which hypercar wins?

Posted: 14 Nov 2014

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So here we are at last. After 48 hours of intensive/gruelling/pinch-me-is-this-actually-happening road-testing, we've come to the end of the ultimate hypercar showdown: LaFerrari vs McLaren P1 vs Porsche 918 Spyder. Three hypercars that define this era, tested in a whole range of road conditions over two days.

And now it's decision time. If you followed our live road-test here, you'll know that each of the three contenders shone in its own unique way at different points over our two days of hard driving.

Truth is, if you're one of the absurdly lucky millionaires preparing to take delivery of any one of these hypercars in your titanium-skinned underground lair, you'll be delighted with your purchase. Each of these cars fulfils a subtly different brief, and each does its own thing in utterly superlative fashion.

But which is best? Depends who you ask, and when. As Italy's weather and roads changed, we veered from car to car, and so the conclusions that follow represent each tester's personal verdict.

Disclaimers over. Without further ado, click on for Charlie Turner's verdict. Check back later today for the assessments of Messrs Ford and Marriage.................

Indovinate chi ha vinto ????????

P.S.: è una domanda retorica......

Andiamoci piano imho con discorsi di cessione, perchè se è vero che FCA è un gruppo non ancora sufficientemente solido per quanto riguarda i dati di stock, i dati di flusso ed i trend dicono ben altro..........FCA è uno dei pochi gruppi per es. che ha confermato le stime per la fine dell'anno e certamente questo dimostra che la "cura" è buona ma altrettanto certamente non ultimata .

l'entrate dall'offerta pubblica del 10% di Ferrari vanno pure ad FCA

Probabilmente si, ma non è detto......

lo spiegava bene oggi Malan sul sole. In pratica ha molte similitudini con quello che hanno fatto con fiat industrial. Ne riporto uno stralcio:.......

link: Fca, maxi-cedola da Ferrari - Il Sole 24 ORE

"...........dovrebbe invece ritrovarsi con un debito netto di 900 milioni.........."

Beh...........interessante, dovrebbe essere più o meno il valore del famigerato 10% da quotare.........Speriamo che glielo lascino !

Sarà interessante sapere se la raccolta legata alla quotazione del 10% rimarrà nelle tasche di Ferrari o meno e comunque non coprirà mai i 2 mld e rotti; se va bene 1 mld $. Inoltre sarebbe interessante sapere se la cifra che intasca FCA da Ferrari sia o meno comprensiva del trasferimento della quota di debito dalla prima alla seconda anche se contabilmente non c'è differenza dato che o Ferrari assume una quota del detto debito oppure no ed in tal caso magari s'indebita in banca per una cifra analoga. Boh.......vedremo .

P.S.: ora che ricordo...... da un'intervista a Felisa di circa un anno fa, quest'ultimo affermava che i grandi successi commerciali della Ferrari dell'ultimo decennio erano figli della disponibiltà della Fiat a rinunciare agli utili di sua spettanza. In buona sostanza, Fiat non incassa nulla dalla Ferrari negli ultimi 10 anni..........Mo se li ripijano tutt'insieme

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anche perché non si e' mai visto un comunista su un audi..........ma nemmeno su una 4C:lol:

Ce stanno, ce stanno.....................e pure tanti so !

Ho perso qualche puntata io lo ordinata a fine dicembre 2013 forse l'ultima settimana........

mettiamo che l'ordine sia partito il 10 gennaio al rientro delle vacanze , perché ho la data di inizio lavori per la terza settimana di gennaio 2015 ??

e la consegna ...........nessuno si sbilancia........

Tu l'ai ordinata dopo e ti arriva prima ???????

Va be che abito ad Arcore ma non sono il figlio di mister B ...ma tu di chi sei figlio:smog:....per averla prima di me??

Dai Piersilvio fai outing e non te la prendere, lo sai che in Emilia Romagna sono tutti comunisti !

E' abbastanza buffo che, almeno in questo specifico caso, ci capisca di più il lettore, che posta a piè di pagina, che chi ha fatto la prova comparativa !

1050bhp LaFerrari XX lands this December - BBC Top Gear

1050bhp LaFerrari XX lands this December

Exclusive: TG gets the inside line on Maranello’s most extreme production-derived car in history

The track-only ‘XX’ version of Maranello’s hybrid hypercar, the LaFerrari, will be launched at the firm’s World Finals in Abu Dhabi in early December, company insiders have confirmed to Top Gear.

And we’re told most extreme production-derived car in Ferrari’s history will make a monstrous 1050bhp, some 100bhp more than the road-going version. Yep, that's about 50 per cent more power than a 2014 F1 car. Sheesh.

Though it was rumoured the race-spec LaFerrari could use an F1-issue turbo V6, TG is told the XX will employ the same powertrain as the road car – so a naturally aspirated V12 and electric motor – but bumped up to a total output of around 1050bhp, 60-something horsepowers north of the similarly track-only McLaren P1 GTR. It seems that extra power has been found from the V12 rather than the electric modules, which are said to produce the same 161bhp as before.

So it’ll be biblically powerful, but won’t be road legal. Expect the full gamut of track goodies: racing rubber, yet-more-extreme active aero, and a race-spec, bucket-seated cockpit. The, ahem, standard LaFerrari manages 0-62mph in 2.9 seconds, and 124mph in under seven. Just imagine how brutally fast the XX will be.

The XX will qualify for no existing race series (so no XX vs P1 GTR paint-swapping, sadly), but – like its predecessor, the Enzo-based FXX – will get track time at Ferrari’s Corse Clienti programme of eight annual races around the world.

Because, like the FXX, the LaFerrari XXs will be kept at Maranello and maintained by Ferrari’s technical team. “We don’t want them going to collectors,” admitted our insider. “We want them to be driven.”

No prices have been revealed, but our sources suggested the LaFerrari XX’s tag was in the same ballpark as the £2m that McLaren asks for the P1 GTR. The Enzo FXX was limited to a run of 30 cars (the last, of course, being Michael Schumacher’s old company car), and the LaFerrari XX is expected to be produced in similarly limited numbers.

As it won’t wear a licence plate, the LaFerrari XX won’t qualify for TG’s Power Laps board, but – considering Mr Schu’s FXX got round in a blistering 1m10.7 – just how quick do you reckon it could lap our test track? Under a minute? Surely not…

Molto bella nella galleria di foto pubblicata alcune pagine fa. Secondo voi il frontale della 500X così come i fanali posteriori potrebbero dar vita al nuovo family style della futura 500?? .........

E' quello che ha detto Giolito alla presentazione parigina; testuale: "Guardate la 500x ed avrete un'idea della prossima 500".........Se dovemo preoccupà secondo voi ??????

Non so a voi .. ma a me questa 500X non sembra neppure una ''FIAT'' ... . Mi spiego, e' noto a tutti che generalemente il nostro amato marchio avesse delle cadute di stile sulle '' Piccolezze'' (Es. Sistema di bloccaggio del portellone a vista, bagagliaio non rivestito, pianale di carico poco sfruttabile perche' non allineato). Sto notando che questi errori non sono presenti ed anzi nel complesso questa 500 sembra progettata davvero BENE .. ma bene nel COMPLESSO. Motivo per cui arrivo a pensare che questa 500 sia davvero la prima Fiat ''Word wide thinking oriented'' della storia del marchio. Non so se ho reso l'idea di cio' che volevo dire ..

Concordate ?

Credo che semplicemente siano i primi effetti lato Fiat dell'integrazione con Chrysler: prima investiva solo uno, ora s'investe in due, con tutti i vantaggi connessi in termini di cura progettuale ed in sede di sviluppo, aumentato potenziale in termini di zone geografiche commercialmente raggiungibili, economie da integrazione ecc...... Che prima si facessero "le nozze con i fichi secchi" (cit. dalla "Buon'Anima" ), Fiat ne era perfettamente consapevole..........purtroppo all'epoca il modo, e per un certo periodo anche la volontà di fare diversamente, non c'erano......oggi fortunatamente è tutto diverso ed ovviamente speriamo che duri .

Scusate non vorrei polemizzare . Però alcune volte volete proprio le mazzate. A dire che gli ammereghani non capiscono una mazza di auto qui in passato sono state le stesse persone che ora vedono gli Yankee come I depositari della verità a scapito degli inglesi....insomma stessa cosa di quando QR viene paraculeggiato se parla bene delle VW e poi improvvisamente diviene il non plus ultra della editoria quando fa una Bella recensione di alfa...viva l'obiettivita'

ps - precise che sono completamente d'accordo che 4c sia il best buy tra le sportive, non c'è ombra di dubbio.

Dato che l'articolo è stato postato dal sottoscritto, con annessa battuta sugli albionici , ne deduco che è (anche) a me che ti riferisci. Quindi dovendo risponderti, mi limito a sottoscrivere quanto detto dai seguenti gentiluomini che sintetizzano perfettamente quello che intendevo nel mio post .

QR come tutte le riviste, va dove ti porta chi ti compra le pagine della pubblicità.

Dei magazines inglesi , onestamente alcune critiche mi sono sembrate un pò troppo pretestuose.

La questione non è tanto chi ne capisca di auto e chi no, ma le siderali distanze fra i parerei dei recensori.

Che poi le incoerenze maggiori siano nelle recensioni provenienti dall'isola proud home of lotus è una pura casualità.

P.S.: la battutina è rivolta non a caso a quei "fenomeni" di EVO.............lo ricordate questo ?

Questa non è una recensione........questo è dileggio bello e buono senza imho, ad uso e consumo di chi non lo so e manco lo voglio sapere ! Dal min. 13

[h=1]2015 Alfa Romeo 4C: Motor Authority’s Best Car To Buy 2015[/h] By Nelson Ireson

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Picking the best performance and luxury car of the year is a difficult thing. Determining which is the best, or at least your favorite, from a crowd of very pleasing choices, can often come down to purely qualitative elements.

So it is with Motor Authority's Best Car To Buy 2015, the 2015 Alfa Romeo 4C.

Quantitatively, the Alfa Romeo 4C is around the upper mid-pack of the 15 nominees for this year’s award. Its 4.5-second 0-60 mph time is quick, but by no means tops. Its 237-horsepower output from a pint-sized 1.7-liter turbocharged four-cylinder is actually near the bottom of the heap. But its carbon fiber monocoque chassis, mid-engine design, and low curb weight make for a knockout combo punch.

Especially when you get back to the qualitative side of the equation.

Styling, while always in the eye of the beholder, is definitely one of the 4C’s strong suits. In our eyes, Alfa Romeo hit a home run with the car, creating a design worthy of Ferrari for a fraction of the price.

2015 Alfa Romeo 4C

Steering feel, too, is often open to wide interpretation, but the all-manual rack of the 4C, while heavy at parking lot speeds, comes to light and lively life on the open road, naturally gaining weight and resistance as grip rises, naturally falling off as grip wanes. It’s a refreshing experience in comparison to the hyper-simulated electric steering of most of the rest of the nominee field, and one of the core aspects of the 4C’s visceral appeal.

Sound also plays a big role in the 4C’s appeal, from the spool of the turbo and the blow-off valve’s whoosh to the raucous hammer of the engine itself, mounted seemingly just behind the driver’s ears. There’s very little sound insulation between driver and engine bay, but, for those with the right mindset, that’s an advantage—a bonus—just like the sound of the contact patches as they scrub, squeal, and slide their way across the tarmac. The information, the sensation is unreal. Unfiltered. Unlike almost any modern car we’ve driven since the 458 Italia.

Throttle response is quick; shifts are precise; there's an immediacy to every control and interface of the 4C.

All of which is to say: The Alfa Romeo 4C is not just a car, it’s an experience. It’s something every enthusiast should drive just to know what passion and lust and sensuality are about behind the wheel of a car.

There are faster cars out there, yes. There are cars that handle better, or more desirably, at the absolute limits.

But there aren’t any new cars this year that deliver the incomparable quality of being like the 2015 Alfa Romeo 4C.

2015 Alfa Romeo 4C

Salve....di umorismo non c'è un granchè, anche se, leggendo l'articolo, qualche risatina (amara ) all'italiano medio verrà pensando alla burocrazia italiana:

The Japanese Drivers License Center Process Is A Model Of Efficiency

The Japanese Drivers License Center Process Is A Model Of Efficiency

Kat Callahan

On Thursday morning I took a half day off school and went to the Japanese Drivers License Center to finally pick up my brand new gold license. The process was a model of efficiency, and as a gold license holder, my process was expedited. I was in and out of the process in a mere 55 minutes.

For those of you who have spent any time in Japan, you might be tempted to consider my gold license no big deal. Why? Because so many "paper drivers" have them. Speaking to Brian Ashcraft of Kotaku yesterday he said he knows many older women (like his mother-in-law) who never drive, so they never get in any trouble, thus they easily "earn" a gold license. That, dear readers, is not me. I have driven almost my entire seven years in Japan. I drive an average of 60KM roundtrip every Monday to Friday, and often on weekends. When you're in a vehicle that much, earning a gold license is hard. Really hard. When I told my supervisor at the Board of Education I took half a school day off to go pick mine up, he sent me a lovely email reading, "Woohoo! Congrats! Welcome to the club." As a fellow commuter, he knows, one wrong move, and your chances at a gold license vanish.

But back to the process. I often call the Drivers License Center the "Japanese DMV" for short, so non-Japanese will know what I'm talking about. However, it's actually not a department of motor vehicles. There's actually a car registration center which is an entirely different building in an entirely different city. This center really only handles licenses and testing. Not vehicle registration, taxes, etc.

The DLC is run by police, mostly, and not civilian clerks. So you'll see a lot of people in plain clothes, but they'll still be wearing badges, and the uniformed police are pretty much everywhere. They're mostly old men, and I hear the DLC is where retir(ed)(ing) policemen go after they're too old for patrol. Other clerks are young to middle aged women in matching black vests and skirts. A few of them are also police officers—you can tell because in addition to a nametag, they are also wearing the badge (usually the thinner silver type).

So I get there at 8:17, but the process won't officially start until 8:30. One of the plain clothed (yet badged) older policemen direct us to form lines of four and to get correct spacing. I feel like I'm back in school. Or at least I feel like I'm still at school. I am usually one of the teachers checking to make sure my own seventh, eighth, or ninth graders are lined up. It's weird to be back on the other side, but this is typical for Japanese crowd control, and it's instilled in Japanese children from a young age (and me, now, too). I've long since turned Japanese.

I immediately follow the directions, and again, like school, group representatives are selected for each line to pass out the official forms and notices (pictured above is Kobaton, the area mascot, as a member of the police force informing me that my new license will have an IC/RFI chip and that placing it next to a bank card or train card will screw it up). It's maybe 8:22?

(Thanks, Bird Cop! — Patrick George)

At 8:30AM on the dot, we are ushered to four identical looking clerks (one in front of each line) who ask us if there is any change to our information as it has been listed or updated on our current license. I inform my clerk that nothing had changed. She drops my license into a slot and (holy crap this was amazing) the current IC/RFI chip is read, the slot spits out the card, and it immediately prints out a sheet with photos of my current license and several fields already filled out. I then am immediately directed to a desk where I sit down and fill out any remaining fields. From there, I am directed to purchase currency stamps (seen at the top of the printed form in the picture above). Once affixed, I am directed to yet another group of lines where I once again asked if everything is correct. I say yes.

A door opens and I am passed onto a group uniformed officers (and I put away my phone; no pictures from this point on, I am warned politely but firmly), one of which checks my vision. He signs off and sends me to yet another line, where within about two minutes I am in front of a female police officer who looks over my paperwork and matches it against my zairyuu card (my Japanese "green" card or residency card) and the previous information in the system. That's when her expression turns confused and she cocks here head. She's found an error (or so she thinks).

Her finger traces something on the screen I can't see. Then she looks at me, then she looks down at the paperwork, her finger tracing over my selection of 女 (F, for Female) on the form, then her finger tracing that same symbol on my zairyuu card. She does this sigh, shrug, apologetic look which says clearly, "This stupid system, what a glitch, right?" and she makes the correction from 男 (M) to 女 (F) in the system. She apologises for the delay (which was MAYBE a minute, if that). She directs me to third floor, and I try to stifle my laughter at the experience.

I meet another police officer at the top of the stairs. He looks over my paperwork again, and directs me to another female police officer who then sits me down and takes my picture. She directs me up to the fourth floor. There I meet two female non-police officers (no badge) who check my paperwork again, and then direct me to go all the way down a long hall to a group of plain clothes old policemen in matching police blue blazers, police emblem buttons, and red ties (and miniature versions of their badges on their lapels. Pretty fraternity-esque, actually, well, you know what they say about the brothers in blue). At this point one breaks off and ushers me into a room with a mere six others. Out of that huge crowd this morning only six are in the expedited process for the gold license. Safe driving hath its privileges.

The blazered, red-tied elderly policeman lectures us on DWI, on the costs associated with being caught, and he spends quite a bit of time one the various jail time associated with each potential DWI level. Don't drink and drive in Japan, kids. Not after one drop. He then shows some videos, quickly goes over what the police department has decided are issues even for gold drivers (roundabouts, parallel parking, proper use of handicapped and elderly tags), and lets us go. He directs us downstairs, where we are greeted by a uniformed policeman who calls us by our numbers, bows, presents us our gold licenses, and thanks us for our due diligence in adhering to Japanese laws.

Here's the result (of course, my full name has been wiped, my birthdate has been zeroed out, my gold license acquisition number has been zeroed out, and my drivers license number has been erased... Oh, and my picture has been covered with Fumi Manjoume, who I typically use as my Kinja avatar):

Images via Kat Callahan/Jalopnik, police badges via Arundou Debito.

- - - - - - - - - - AGGIUNTA al messaggio già esistente - - - - - - - - - -

Una breve spiegazione di cosa è una gold license:

http://www.longcountdown.com/2008/09/26/i-got-a-gold-drivers-license/

A gold license is given out to people who don’t have any points on their current driving license. From what I’ve heard, this is an achievement usually limited to “paper” drivers – those who have a license but never actually drive! The card itself looks the same as a standard blue license except the color of the stripe through the middle is… yeah, you guessed it… gold.The biggest difference is that I don’t have to renew it for five years as opposed to the standard three. I’m also eligible for a SD (Safe Driver) card which gets me discounts at various hotels, hot springs, car rental places and gold courses (!) around Japan.

Capitalism Explained. This Is So Accurate It Hurts.

[h=1]Capitalism Explained. This Is So Accurate It Hurts.[/h][h=2]29th October 2014[/h]

http://www.autonews.com/article/20141106/BLOG06/141109881/lexus-rc-media-test-drive-canceled-in-japan-for-lack-of-interest

Lexus RC media test drive canceled in Japan -- for lack of interest

The event was supposed to showcase the Lexus RC sports coupe, the lineup's new halo car.

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November 6, 2014 - 12:08 pm ET

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TOKYO -- Well, this is embarrassing. For Toyota Motor Corp. as well as Japan’s so-called automotive press corps.

Toyota notified journalists last week that a long-scheduled new-car test-drive event was scrubbed -- for lack of interest.

And it was not just for any new car. The event was supposed to showcase the new Lexus RC sports coupe, the lineup’s new halo car in a post-LFA world and definitely its best-looking one.

Also on hand: the RC F high-performance version.

The drive, which was to be held Friday in Yokohama just south of Tokyo, “has been canceled due to insufficient attendance,” Toyota said in an apologetic email to non-Japanese media based in Japan.

Both Japanese and non-Japanese media were invited. Automotive News, for the record, RSVP’d to show up and drive.

Toyota’s cancelation is all but unprecedented. It begs the question of whether it would have saved more face just to go ahead with the event, even with a pathetically low turnout.

Toyota public relations was stunned. A baffled spokesman said it was just one more sickening example of the auto-alienation syndrome gripping this country and its young.

It’s a common refrain these days: Japanese just don’t get geared up about cars anymore, not even sexy ones like the RC.

Some journalists had a different take.

“Why would I go all the way to Yokohama to test drive a sports car like the RC and just sit in traffic?” quipped one German business reporter who was put off by the hour trip out of town.

To be sure, the event lacked the cachet of Lexus’ weekend country road trip in rural Japan for the GS. Or even the Scion FR-S’s mountain pass drive through the foothills of Mount Fuji.

But the miffed German journalist, comparing the Lexus RC offer with similar events sponsored by Mercedes-Benz or BMW in his homeland, said it also spoke to a deeper disconnect in Japan.

“If it’s a luxury brand, they need to radiate a certain image,” he said. “Even to journalists.”

Ma si è mai sentita una cosa del genere ?

P.S.: al tetesco di Cermania nun j'è parso vero di poter sputare un po' di veleno sulla concorrenza........

Già lo sapevamo

Lo so, lo so........è positivo che il piano trovi conferme da un punto di vista operativo senza intoppi e ritardi .

http://europe.autonews.com/article/20141106/ANE/141109899/fiats-turkish-jv-will-invest-1-billion-to-build-bravo-successor?cciid=email-ane-daily

[h=1]Fiat's Turkish JV will invest $1 billion to build Bravo successor[/h]The Bravo, shown, will be replaced with a car built in Turkey instead of Italy.

Staff and wire reports

Automotive News Europe

November 6, 2014 11:22 CET -- UPDATED: Nov. 6 16:00 CET - adds correction

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misstated the production plant for the Bravo.

TURIN - Fiat's Turkish joint venture, Tofas, will invest $1 billion to produce a family of compact cars that will replace the Bravo in Europe.

Tofas today said it will produce three new cars starting in 2016, mainly for export, without providing any details of the models.

Automotive News Europe sources say the family will include a hatchback, sedan and station wagon. The hatchback will replace the Bravo and the sedan variant will replace the Linea that is currently sold only in central and eastern Europe and Turkey.

Fiat has been without a compact wagon since the Stilo Multiwagon was discontinued in 2008.

Tofas said last year that it will spend $520 million to build 580,000 units of a new sedan model. It said today that it would also build new hatchback and station wagon models -- 700,000 units in total -- bringing its overall investment to $1 billion.

The investment will begin this year and production will run from 2016 to 2023, Tofas said in a filing with the bourse.

"A significant portion of the total units are slated for export. Talks with the Fiat Group Automobiles on the details for the conditions of investment, sales and procurement are in the final stage," it said in a statement.

European sales of the aging Bravo have slumped, falling by 59 percent to 3,078 units in the first nine months, according to JATO Dynamics market researchers. Fiat ended Bravo production at its plant in Cassino, Italy, in July.

The three new models will be underpinned by Fiat Chrysler's small US wide architecture first used for the Fiat 500L small minivan. The architecture also underpins the Renegade and 500X small SUV with the addition of a four-wheel-drive option.

Tofas's plant in Bursa, Turkey, builds the Linea and car-derived vans - the Doblo and Fiorino for Fiat, as well as the Citroen Nemo, Peugeot Bipper and Opel/Vauxhall Combo, according to Automotive News Europe's Guide to European Assembly Plants.

Export hub

Turkey has Europe's fifth-biggest auto industry. Total production is expected to hit a record 1.25 million units this year, the Automotive Manufacturers' Association said in July. The country's geographical position between Asia and Europe and relatively cheap labor costs have encouraged global carmakers to shift some of their production here.

Automotive sales account for 14 percent of Turkey's overall exports. The country exported 828,000 vehicles worth $21.5 billion last year, with European markets accounting for 70 percent of that total.

Luca Ciferri and Reuters contributed to this report

Quindi se ne desume che la new Bravo e derivate saranno delle "seg. b", quindi niente CUSW .

Minki@ [email=Minki@............il].....................il "nuovo corso stilistico":mrgreen:...........era proprio ora!