Dream Cars

1967 Shelby Cobra 500

If you read this blog regularly, you know I like cars. I really do. I'm not sure what the appeal is to me (and a lot of people) about cars. They are amazing engineered machines and some are fun to drive. Some of them even sound good.

Jay Leno is a car guy. He owns 181 cars (and 160 motorcycles). I'm envious of his ability to do that. There are so many great cars that have been made over the past century.

Like any piston head, I have cars I dream about owning. Here's some of mine:

2015 Ferrari 458 Italia. This was the last naturally aspirated (no turbos*) Ferrari sports car. And 2015 was the last year they were made. After that, Ferrari started putting turbos in their sports cars and shrinking engine sizes to meet EU and US carbon emissions regulations. In Ferrari red, please. Which is actually rosso corsa or "race red."

2024 Ferrari 812 Superfast. This is a "grand tourer," not a sports car. But it has a naturally aspirated V12 engine that makes 789 horsepower. I'd like this car in yellow, or "Giallo Modena" in Ferrari speak.

1967 Ford Mustang Shelby Cobra 500. Not only are these beautiful cars, but they have around 650 horsepower. A little scary with 1967 suspension technology. In blue, please, with a white stripe.

2025 Chevrolet Corvette Z06. An amazing sports car packing 670 horsepower out of its naturally aspirated V8 that sits behind the driver. With huge tires and an amazing suspension, it's designed for racetrack duty. In "Accelerate Yellow Metallic," please. Or maybe "Hysteria Purple Metallic" (which is a new color this year).

2024 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS. This is the last year for the Cayman before it goes all electric. (Maybe. Porsche might be backing off of that.) This model sports 493 horsepower in its mid-engine design. A true old-fashioned sports car that is small with go-cart like handling and lots of power. Either "Guards Red" or "Racing Yellow" are my color choices. (Or, for $14,750 you expand the colors you want so maybe "Acid Green.") Used ones are selling for more than MSRP of new ones.

2024 Ram 1500 TRX. A pickup truck with a 702 horsepower supercharged* HEMI V8. That was the last year it was be offered with the HEMI. It's fast 0-60 (especially for a truck) but its top speed is limited by it's weight and tires. Made for off-road use, it would be fun to barrel through some muddy trails. In "Flame Red" and "Crystal Black" please (all come in two colors).

1967 Shelby Cobra. A tiny sports car from England (the AC Cobra) with a Ford V8. Built by Carroll Shelby, original models today sell for over $1 million. Replicas can, depending on the quality, go for six figures. A very scary car with old-fashioned suspension. But oh so pretty. Blue with a white stripe.

Honorable mention: 2024 Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing. A sports sedan with supercharged V8 engine and is available with a manual transmission. I'm not really picky about the color (believe it or not).

And now Ferrari has a new car, the 2025 12Cilindri two seater. It has a 12 cylinder engine and is beautiful. It is the replacement for the 812 Superfast. I think I still want the Superfast more. Ferrari has announced it will make V-12s until regulations make it impossible.

Do you have any cars you dream about owning? Let me know in the comments below.

*Turbos and superchargers pump air into the cylinder to give it more oxygen to burn, thus increasing horsepower. They work like a bellows in a blacksmith shop, making the fire burn hotter.  In a car engine's cylinder, that means more energy thus more horsepower.

Turbos use exhaust gasses to spin. Thus you often get "turbo lag" where the exhaust pressure has to build up. Somehow, automakers have found ways to minimize that. 

Superchargers are belt driven and don't have "turbo lag." You can hear them whine under the hood as they spin up. The faster the engine goes, the more pressure they put into the pistons.

Huskies Season Wrapup!

The University of Washington Huskies football regular season is over. I was cautiously optimistic about this season even though I knew we'd have some tough games.

The first two games were easy wins against Weber State (an FCS team) and Eastern Michigan at home. 

Our first loss was to the WSU Cougars in the Apple Cup cross-state rivalry game. Penalties at key times really hurt the Huskies. Since this was played in Lumen Field (the Seahawks usual stadium) we still kept our home winning streak alive. But I hated losing to the Cougs.

Next we played Northwestern, a Big10 team, at home. We won that game. Then we played Rutgers in New Jersey. And despite being the better team, we lost. Three missed field goals didn't help. So we were 3-2 going into playing Michigan at home. 

I was worried at this point that we'd be lucky to be bowl eligible (win six games out of a twelve game schedule) and if we did go to a bowl it'd be something like Cooters Bait Shop and Adult Novelty Emporium Bowl. 

Then we upset #10 Michigan! Despite our quarterback throwing his first interception of the season, the Huskies did almost everything else right. The final score was 27-17. We were 4-2 overall. Hope swelled in my chest.

But then we headed into a buzzsaw of a schedule. First up was at Iowa. Iowa was 3-2 but we'd yet to win a game not at Husky Stadium. And we didn't win this one, losing a horrible 40-16. I was seriously wondering if the Hawkeyes were playing second stringers by the end of the game. 

The Huskies had a bye week to lick their wounds and listen to calls to fire Coach Fisch.

 Next they traveled to the University of Indiana who was undefeated and ranked #13 in the AP poll. They played better than they did against Iowa, except for our quarterback's two interceptions. We lost 31-17. We were 4-4 on the season and needed to win two more games just to be eligible for the Cooters Bait Shop Bowl. Wasn't sure we could do it. Our next game was at home against USC. They also were 4-4 and we had home-field advantage. But if we didn't beat USC, we probably weren't going to a bowl game.

We did beat USC. It was a nail-biter of a game as the Huskies were dominant in the first half, but USC came out at the second half, started running the ball, and scoring. They led by one point in the third quarter but the Huskies managed to get a touch down in the fourth quarter while their defense held the Trojans scoreless. The final score was 21-26. Our record was 5-4 and only needed one more win to be bowl eligible. And our home game winning streak rose to 19.

Next we played Penn State at their home field. Penn was 6-1 and #6 on both the AP poll and the CFP (the first CFP rankings came out the Tuesday before the game). I held little hope for winning that game. The game was shown on Peacock and I debated paying NBC for the privilege of watching the Huskies lose. But I did pay, and they lost, 6-35. It was brutal.

Our only hope to be bowl eligible was to beat UCLA at home (because we probably weren't going to beat Oregon). Going into the game, UCLA was 4-5 and we were 5-5. It was a home game, and that gave me some hope because for two seasons the Huskies have been unbeaten at home. It was a Friday night game and shown on FOX. 

And win we did, despite our quarterback throwing two interceptions in the first half. Coach Fisch put in the freshman quarterback he's grooming to be next year's starter for the second half. And he threw an interception! We still won 31-19 and kept alive (at 20) our home game winning streak. And we were 6-5 so we were bowl eligible. Probably wouldn't be a very good bowl (Cooters Bait Shop Bowl).

The Huskies had a bye and then they had to play Oregon who was 11-0 on the season, #1 in the AP poll and #1 is the CFP rankings. It was the only undefeated team in FBS football. And we were playing in Eugene. Winning that game would be a miracle.

And they lost 21 - 49. Coach Fisch put in his true-freshman quarterback Demond Williams who played well, connecting with his recievers and using his legs to make plays. But he was also sacked ten times. The Husky defense couldn't stop the Ducks run at all. This wasn't as bad a loss as the Nebraska game, but it was still bad.

The Huskies went 6-6 on the season, winning all home games but no away or neutral games. Yes, it was a rebuilding year after last year's amazing season. We can only hope now that they improve next year.

On December 8th we find out which bowl we go to. Let's hope it's not the Cooter's Bait Shop Bowl.

UPDATE: The Huskies are going to the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas. They are playing Louisville (8-4). The game is 12/31 at 11am PST. It'll be on CBS.