Its Friday, its the Vroom Room, come in make yourself comfortable, we have cappuccino and biscotti, join the conversation. In case you did not notice may has 5 Friday's...take a look.

As we often mention time is a scarce commodity, and the great equaliser for everyone, lately for a myriad of reasons we could use more time. Instead of the 55 minute hour we could use a 65 minute hour, agreed its not going to happen and its wishful thinking on our part.

This we we were musing about driving a car, the day of self driving cars, and perhaps even the driveless car. Not as fooling as it all sounds, since most planes today fly "pilotless" most if the time. Think about this for a moment.

The similarity is even more striking when Mercedes-Benz in their traditional/structured Teutonic fashion (some things never change) chooses to launch the new S Class from the Airbus facilities in Hamburg...reflect in the symbolism...Airbus were the first passenger planes take the fly by wire to the next level a few decades back.

It will be fascinating to see where it will all lead in the future. Just remember that the self parking car did not resonate with many folks, perhaps its the fact the increasingly we no longer park on streets.

It will come down to, how do you enjoy driving your vehicle? What you your preferences, and expectations.

A few days ago our trusty lawn mower of over 10 years started for the first time this season, but would not run as if the gas was not flowing, probably something with the carburetor. We checked the fuel line its was OK, the mower starts but does not run without pumping the primer. Interesting situation, need to mow the lawn, 10 year old mower not running...the quick solution get a new mower.

Here is the deal: 

Sears has what seems to be an interesting mower advertised on special with a huge saving for $199, first blush how can you go wrong with a mower for $199...we go to Sears, they have a tent outside the store with a wide variety of mowers, we immediately spot the mower for $199, looks pretty good. Here is the catch...they are presumably sold out, taking orders for June 3 delivery...which does not solve the problem of mowing the lawn. This sounds funny, lawn mower, taking orders, June 3rd, with the assistance of a smart device we call another Sears, same story none available June 3 delivery.

Why would anyone advertise a special, and not have mowers for immediate delivery, presumably sold out since the day before, and June 3rd delivery. Not only is Sears missing the opportunity, upsetting folks that need a mower now, they are also selling mowers for the competition.

From Sears, we proceed to Lowes, and acquire a self propelled John Deere mower...obvious for more than $199, put the box in the car with folding rear seats, bring it home, and mow the lawn. 

Thank You Sears, we now have a self propelled John Deere mower from Lowes, and the lawn is mowed! In addition to enjoying a wonderful Saturday family lunch on the patio at Lone Star (close to Lowes)...yes great fajitas!

Photo gallery of the Mille Miglia....enjoy!

Quotes from the Honda press release...

Commenting on this exciting development, Takanobu Ito, president and CEO of Honda Motor Co., Ltd. said:

“Ever since its establishment, Honda has been a company which grows by taking on challenges in racing. Honda has a long history of advancing our technologies and nurturing our people by participating in the world’s most prestigious automobile racing series. The new F1 regulations with their significant environmental focus will inspire even greater development of our own advanced technologies and this is central to our participation in F1. 

Also, Martin Whitmarsh, CEO of McLaren Group Limited said:

“The names of McLaren and Honda are synonymous with success in Formula One, and, for everyone who works for both companies, the weight of our past achievements together lies heavily on our shoulders. But it's a mark of the ambition and resolve we both share that we want once again to take McLaren Honda to the very pinnacle of Formula One success. Together we have a great legacy – and we’re utterly committed to maintaining it.”

Jean Todt, president of FIA said:

"I am very happy to hear about Honda’s important decision to return to Formula One with McLaren from 2015.The introduction of the new power train next year, in the form of a 1.6 litre, 6 cylinder engine with direct injection and energy recovery, is a very exciting challenge and demonstrates a vision for the future of the sport. I am sure that Honda will become a strong contender in the years to come. ”

Bernie Ecclestone, CEO of Formula One Group said:

"It is a great pleasure to see Honda back in Formula One. Their engine technology and passion for motor sports make them a natural Formula One contender.”

History of Honda Participation in F1 Racing:

1964 - 1968: Participated as an “all Honda” team including both the engine and chassis

1983 – 1992: Participated as an engine supplier (Won both the driver’s and constructors’ championship titles for four consecutive years from 1988 through 1991)

2000-2005: Participated as an engine supplier and joint developer of the chassis

2006-2008: Participated as an “all Honda” team including both the engine and chassis

Think about this for a moment...reflect on the fact that the driverless or self driving car is no longer a far fetched idea...we all know that they exist.

Going back a few decades when technology and luxury started intertwining themselves from the perspective that emerging technology (think ABS) was only available on luxury cars since it was too expensive at the time for mass production vehicles.

Fast forward to today, and the near future with the inexorable advances in technology, its to be expected that luxury vehicles will increasingly adopt a self driving vector to push the technological envelope further; similar to the days of ABS.

Obvious that the technology will then migrate to mass production vehicles.

Ask yourself...do you still want to drive, or do you want to be nervously driven around by technology.

Just like many folks cannot deal with a clutch pedal, and shifting gears, will the day come when folks cannot deal with a vehicle that requires a driver.

Although some days can be aggravating crawling through congestion, and traffic, from our perspective driving remains a satisfying experience. Especially if your driving experience is part of your daily "digital detox" regimen.

What do you think? 

Its Friday, its the Vroom Room, with a long week end on the horizon, come in make yourself comfortable, join the conversation.

If you got the feeling that we are busy, yes we have been extremely busy with a myriad of activities during the past few weeks, and are perhaps playing catch up at this stage. Its turning around, and slowly coming back to where it should be. Yes we will have more details as we go along.

Have you noticed that long auto finance terms are starting to blip on various radar screens of various folks, we were musing about the same a few months ago. The sweet sopt of the auto industry is 36 months, and as much as everything changes, 36 months remains the sweet spot.

In case you missed it Money for the Deal.

The same with luxury, when manufacturers start looking all over the place to cover all the market possibilities, and eventualities, something gets diluted, something gets lost, and somehting will come back and bite some individuals in the you know what....by then they will have moved on to other levels of their career. 

It becomes a case of the "cheap luxury" being all over the place. Agreed at some point we should share our thoughts on "cheap luxury". 

We installed a new set of high performance summer tires on one of our cars....wow what a revelation, and it reinforces our belief that the second half of high performance tires is not as good as the first half. Especially when you have summer and winter tires on different wheels, and cycle them through a few years, you tend to forget how good they were when they were newer....

With a new Governor at the Bank of Canada, there is renewed thought vector to raise interest rates, an informative white paper from CD Howe.

Our habitual old race cars from Mille Miglia Concorso 2013