Way back when Mark Tapscott decided to shut down the Carnival of Cars, I wondered why he couldn’t fit it into his week. After all, the content is basically handed to you on a plate. All you need to do is read it and write a little review. Right. After working on this thing for the past year, I’ve come to realize how much time it really takes! It’s fun to read what everyone has to say week after week, but it really does take a chunk of time. Edition #56 of the CoW was partially published 3 weeks ago and I haven’t had time to get it finished up. Today’s CoW will be jam packed full of 3 weeks worth of submissions. From the next while, I’m going to try this on a bi-weekly basis and see how it goes. For now, Join me in front of the fire with a nice cold beverage and we’ll take a fast lap around the auto blogs.

First up, let’s visit one of our old faithfuls. Brian Vermette from RaceDriven has been around the CoW from day one. This time around he asks “What did $1 Million dollars get you at the 2008 Barrett-Jackson?” Maybe the bigger question should be: What didn’t fetch as much as was expected? How about Ol Shel’s personal GT500 ragtop that went for just $675,000!
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This weekend was the beginning of the 2008 racing season, with the Rolex 24 at Daytona kicking things off. We’ve been pretty lucky here in The Garage to get some killer pit lane coverage from Will Faules, while yours truly runs from the SpeedTV coverage to the kids hockey games. Somehow, I even managed to get a nap in this afternoon while I tried to prepare myself for this week’s CoW. That said, it has been a long crazy day with the emphasis on crazy. I’m going to begin this week’s CoW with one quick but striking submission and then I’ll finish up tomorrow.

Over the past months, I have noticed an increasing amount of traffic to The Garage coming from India. Recently the CoW has been flooded with submissions from Indian auto bloggers, which really give us North Americans some idea how many enthusiasts there are in this far away land. None have made me realize quite how different our worlds are so much as CoW newcomer Sidhusaaheb who writes:

It appears almost surreal now. For all of a hundred and twelve rupees, a nearly destitute, sometimes-employed man like me could go and take a close look at some of the loveliest automobiles in the world. Twelve rupees, incidentally, was the to and fro fare for the train ride between home and the venue of the exposition i.e. Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, with the rest being the entry fee.

I’ve been excited to follow our man to Daytona this weekend, while real car guys like Sidhusaaheb hop on a train to grab a glimpse of the vehicles we see every day. The sight of an H2 is a great highlight, where here we see soccer moms battling for a parking spot in them every day. It shows that we are all car enthusiasts, regardless of our location or means, yet our worlds are so very different that many of us experience things daily that others may never even see.

I’m not feeling very eloquent right now, but Sid’s post has affected me.

See you tomorrow, for the rest of the CoW.

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Yet another week of mind boggling car industry wanking here in The Garage, most of it of little interest to readers so I won’t elaborate. Suffice it to say that I’m happy to be hanging out in front of the laptop on a wickedly cold Sunday afternoon reading this week’s contributions. This week’s CoW is a bit light, but we have some fun reading so grab a cold one and get ready for a hot lap around the auto blogs.

First up this week we’ll stroll on over to the Madeline Kane’s fun place. Mad is looking for readers to submit their very own limerick or haiku. Her own creation is a little ditty about the dangers of consuming Italian Fare while driving.
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Here I sit broken hearted. Paid a dime and? Ok, so I’m not really suffering from a bathroom wall related incident. I’m just a tired old fat guy who is sore from taking yet another header during a kid’s hockey practice. Last week, I think I chipped an elbow, so today when I went down I kept my arms out of the way. Big mistake! All 270 pounds of me landed on my right ass cheek! Needless to say, I’m a hurtin’ unit. Fortunately for the CoW, I can still read some great posts and my fingers still work. We’ve got a couple of newcomers this week and Jeff Fisher has been working overtime, so crack open a cold one, strap in and get ready for yet another quick lap around the auto blogs.

First up we have a general rant from Jeff at DrivingEnthusiast about the nastiness that is the fake air vent or hood scoop. This style vs. function debate has been raging as long as I can remember, and it’s not just on performance cars. A neighbour dropped by yesterday to check out the 08 Focus in the driveway yesterday and the first thing he commented on were the odd looking chrome faux vents in the fenders. Dumb.
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Here we are on a snowy Sunday morning in Ontario, while some lucky folks like Gary Faules and Lucky are pacing the 25 Hours of Thunderhill in sunny California. I can’t wait for photos. It was really nice of Mrs. G to shovel the driveway this morning after delivering papers, so I’m free to sit here in front of the laptop and blog away to my heart’s content. So grab a java, strap in and get ready for another quick lap of the auto blogs.

We haven’t heard from Jeff Fisher at DrivingEnthusiast in a couple of weeks. This time, Jeff is reviewing an Autoweek review of the new MINI. While I just love the car, Jeff can’t stand it. It looks like the Autoweek reviewer is on Jeff’s side.
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Watchful readers will have noticed that we had some technical difficulties here in The Garage yesterday which precluded the writing of the newest edition of the Carnival of Wheels. Fear not though, as the problems have been rectified and things are back to some sort of normal, so let’s get on with it.

A Brock Commodore without engine and suspension enhancements can be likened to a meat pie without sauce!

That’s what Craig Wilson from AutoFix has to say about the upcoming release of all new Brock Commodores. It’s great to see Craig back in the CoW.
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Well folks, it’s been an eventful weekend here in The Garage, full of hockey, volleyball and entertaining. Oh yes, there was also to car accident yesterday. Don’t worry, everyone is ok but the Protege5 is going to get at least one new door. It’s a rainy, nasty Sunday afternoon and I think I’m actually going to watch me a roundy round race and enjoy a pint or five. So while we wait for the race to begin, why not grab a cold one and join me for a quick lap around the blogosphere for this week’s Carnival of Wheels.

First on the block isn’t really wheels related, in fact its not even remotely travel related other than the fact that it involves travel. And Sex. If sex is good, then sex related travel must be incredible and Travel Hacker has compiled a list of 25 sexy get-a-ways for you and your co-driver. They all look like fun.
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Welcome back to yet another Carnival of Wheels. Submissions were more than a bit slim this week, with only one submission. In other words, it’s going to be a really quick lap around the auto blogs. Most of our bloggers either spent the week in Tokyo or they are in Mexico cheering for Team California’s Best.

If we’re only going to visit one blog this week, it might as well be a quick topic. Over at Driving Enthusiast, Jeff Fisher is debating whether he should order his EvoX as a 5 speed manual or the new 6 speed SST. Given that the car will be used for some major lapping days, this is a pretty serious decision. So far, Jeff is worrying about top gear speeds. Personally, I’d be waiting to drive the SSt before I made the decision. As my day at Pocono showed, there are vast differences between autoshift systems and a system that doesn’t shift the way you like could make for a miserable track experience.
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It’s been a crazier week than normal here in The Garage. I took a 3 day business road trip to Connecticut and back, while Gary Faules and the rest of Team California’s Best are on the road trip of a lifetime to La Carrera Panamerica. I was pleased as punch to arrive home yesterday afternoon to find my advance copy of The Driver had arrived, complete with a personal note from Herr Roy. I’m already 4 chapters in, so you can expect to hear more on that topic soon. For now, it’s time to strap in and take a hot lap around the auto blogs for another week. It’s late in the day, so crack open a cold one and join me, won’t you?

Let’s start this week’s CoW with some splash for a good cause. On November 11, GM is hosting a night of stars and cars in Dubai with proceeds going to the Dubai Autism Center charity. As one of the most opulent places on the planet, you can be sure that GM is going to pull out all the stops on this one. I’d love to go, but I believe GM is already sending me to Santa Monica on the 12th. Hmmm..let me think a minute. I suppose I could be convinced to switch venues and join Ask Patty for the trip! Look out Jody, I’ll take the seat next to you!
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It has certainly been a busy weekend here in The Garage. We had a visit from Grandpa Bud, which was a great thrill for the kids. It isn’t often that Bud and I get to hang out together, as he lives way out in British Colombia. It was great for me too, as there is nothing better than hangin’ with the old man, drinking far too much wine and hearing stories of the early days of racing in Canada. The next time we get together, I think we’ll take some video of the conversation and drink a little bit less so that I actually retain all the details. As for today’s CoW, submissions are a little on the light side, but that’s a good thing considering my fuzzy state today. Did I mention there might have been some wine last night? Anyway, enough about my hangover, let’s get on with the Carnival of Wheels.

There are many different views of electronic technologies being used in a car. For some, they are considered the root of all car accidents. For others, productivity on the go is what keeps their business alive. CoW newcomer Sagar Satapathy has a post at bootstrapper listing some of the tools available to create a truly mobile office. My personal fave is the Targus WiFi scanner. This cool keychain gadget will tell you what WiFi signal is available and how strong it is, before you even fire up your lappy.
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