Top 5 best Ford Mustangs

 Ford sure has put together quite the stable of pony cars over the years. Why not put together my own (unpopular opinion-filled) list of the best ones? Well,that's what I'm gonna do.

1. Mustang Mclaren M81- This is the greatest Mustang ever built. From the beautifully aerodynamic body to the Mclaren tuned four-cylinder engine and suspension,it is the pinnacle of Mustang-dom.

2.Mustang II Mach 1- It handles really well. It's also more of a Mustang than the Mach E(ry).

 

3. 1964 convertible- The first gen Mustang was quite the car. It may not have been very fast,but it looked good and seemed to drive well.

4. 2009 Lee Iacocca 45th Anniversary Edition- I love the Bentley-like body. It's the best looking Mustang ever built in my opinion.

5. 2015 Mustang- This thing was brand new when I was still in elementary school. I loved the way it looked then,and I love it now.

Car Alternate Histories: Merkur

 Welcome to me trying my hand at making my own version of Merkur (pronounced Mare-Coor) with more models and different variants of the models they already had. Also,Land Rover is still owned by Rover,(and they also own part of MINI) and Ford would have bought them both in the 1980s and not the 2000s just to fit the narrative. With that,let's begin.

The Sierra and Scorpio would have come to the U.S,still but the specific models would be different for my Merkur. I'd sell the RS500 Cosworth as simply the "Sierra" (because in this timeline Olds and GMC never used the name) in place of the XR4Ti . (Note: I know that the Rs500 didn't exist at the time,but that's where alternate history comes into play.) The Scorpio would be the Estate (Wagon) version. I would also throw in the Mclaren M81 Mustang,known now as the "Stallion" as the first new model. The other new car would be the Riley Elf (AKA luxury MINI) thanks to Ford having bought Rover group. It would have all the high performance bits of the Cooper S and would still make use of the "Elf" name. I would market the brand by changing the Ford sponsorship of the Tyrell Formula 1 team to that of Merkur,alongside entering the Hornet in rally races. I would also air T.V,print,radio,and billboard ads portraying the cars as luxurious,yet exciting. Also Merkur would get its own dealers that would follow the Saturn formula of haggle-free pricing and salespeople that don't try to pressure you into buying their vehicles. The end result would be targeting the people who normally be buying a BMW or Audi,like the one we actually got,but the approach would be different. And that would conclude the Merkur lineup of the 1980s. There may be a part 2 if I come up with more ideas for the brand's future.

All Of The Transformers Bumblebee Camaros,ranked

 The Transformers movies are some of my favorites,and one yellow Autobot has become known for being a Chevrolet Camaro. So I thought it would be fun to rank all of the Camaros (Including the one from Rise of the Beasts) that have played Bumblebee. 

8. The Last Knight

This isn't even a Camaro anymore,it's been so mutilated. Welcome to ugly city,population: This thing.

 7. Transformers Version 2.

I like the Camaro concept car,but it doesn't have as much personality as some of the others. It just feels like the bare minimum.

6.Dark Of The Moon

It was cool looking,but still not the best Bumblebee. I liked the carbon fiber (because I'm a sucker for the stuff),but nothing else really stood out to me.

5. Revenge Of The Fallen

It was a good Z28 tribute,but the scrapped idea of a black convertible with yellow stripes was just cooler. That's all I gotta say.

4. Age Of Extinction Version 2

I don't know why,but I really like this one. It just looks so cool.

4. Bumblebee ending scene

This one is good looking.  I dig the '70s Camaro look,but you'll see the ones that do it better for the next two.

3. Transformers Version 1

I like this "beater" version of the above car. It's got this rat rod charm.

2. Rise Of The Beasts

I also really love the offroad version of the '77 Camaro. It just looks epic.

1. Age Of Extinction Version 1

I love hotrods and this thing is one of the coolest hotrods around. This is the one I would be most likely to drive in real life.

Top 5 Formula 1 cars

 Welcome to this ranking of some of the best cars in the world. Warning: It's mostly going to be Lotus cars with the Cosworth DFV engine.  

1. Lotus 79

Aerodynamics are beautiful. By that logic ,this surely must be the automotive Mona Lisa. It was unstoppable during its time due to its wind-cheating abilities.

2. Ferrari 641

Built to be the best, it succeeded and in the process became my favorite Ferrari ever. Period. You can't convince me otherwise. 

3. Lotus 25

The first real moncoque in F1 looked good while innovating. It truly was an amazing car for its time. I love this mean green machine.

4. Alfa Romeo 159 Alfetta

A legendary race car from a simpler time. I love old school racing and this car is the epitome of that. It truly is a special car.

5. Lotus 72

This thing could have been championship material. Due to the passing of Jochen Rhindt it never happened. Never the less, it was a really good racing car and invented the "John Player Special" paint scheme. 

(updated) top 5 Pixar Cars Characters

 Welcome to the updated version of my Pixar Cars ranking. The rules are still the same: Only movie characters are allowed and I have to pick best and worst. Other than that,there are no rules. So let's begin.

1.(Best) Lewis Hamilton- The greatest F1 driver ever playing himself. Plus, he gets to be a Mclaren GT car.

2. (Best) Rusty and Dusty- Ah yes,the Car Talk guys acting like themselves. Did I mention that I love this franchise?

3.  Junior "Midnight" Moon- Junior Johnson,the bootlegger,racer,and voice of a Ford Coupe that he himself owns. That's awesome as I'll get out.

4. Doc Hudson- Based on a true racing story,I really enjoy this one. It also helps that I love the (real) Hudson Hornet quite a bit. 

5. Micheal Schumacher Ferrari- It pains me to put another one of my favorite F1 drivers so low. But his character hardly did anything in the movie. (I know that Lewis Hamilton didn't either,but he at least got to race some.) 

1. (Worst) Mia and Tia- Annoying,that's what these two Miatas are. Nothing more,nothing less,just annoying.

2 (Worst) Harv- No face to go along with him,just a voice? Wasted chance if you ask me.

3. (Worst) Minny and Van- They share one brain cell,they go from one being the smart one,to the other being smart. I just don't get it.

4. (Worst) Francesco Bernoulli- We finally get a F1 style car in the movies,cool,but his actual character is so egotistical and unlikable. They almost had it right.

5. (Worst) Sven-  He was just a parody of "Ah-nold" In the vein of Hans and Franz,but not actually funny. I just think his time on screen was blissfully short.  

Building my dream garage

If I could have any cars in my garage,I know what I would pick,but I would have to do it by category. Said categories help me narrow down my car choices. With that out of the way: Let's jump in.

Movie Car (in general): Herbie unit 2 from The Love Bug

JDM Legend: Mazda Rx-7 FC

American Muscle: Hudson Hornet convertible

Race Car: Kasey Kahne's number 9 Charger

Ferrari: 641

Lamborghini: Espada 

BMW: 502 convertible 

Porsche: 914 limited edition "creamsicle"

Motorcycle: Vespa Sei Giorni 

Daily Diver: VW Type 2 Camper Conversion

Bond Car: Lotus Esprit Turbo (copper) from For Your Eyes Only

Batmobile: The 1966 Batmobile

MINI: MG Type M prototype 

Mustang: Mustang McLaren M81

Camaro/Firebird: Pegasus Ferrari powered concept

Charger: The General Lee

Corvette: XP-897 Rotary Engine concept

Welcome to my blog

 Welcome, all! My name is Joe Swenson and I have Autism. I am extremely obsessed with cars and want to become an automotive journalist. So this blog is here to give me some practice. With that intro out of the way, here's some facts about my taste in cars. My dream car is a VW Beetle, but I wouldn't be caught dead in a Fiat Multipla (pre-facelift). My favorite Dodge Charger is the Shelby GLHS turbo. It doesn't matter that it's front wheel drive and doesn't have a V8,what matters is that it seems to be fun to drive and still keeps the sports car nature of the original. I haven't driven anything outside of a DMV training Chevy and my Mom's Caravan ,so I wouldn't know. My favorite Mustang is the Mclaren M81. My favorite Camaro is the 1992-2002 "Catfish" Camaro because of how easy to tune it is. Hopefully this helps you realize, I like weird,quirky cars. I am not a sucker for supercars, Numbers on a sheet don't mean a thing if it's not fun to drive as well as being fast. For styling, I love the chrome and finned '50s,but hate the "high-tech" (I.E generic) look most new cars have.  And for engines, I don't hate electric cars, but I much prefer gas. My favorite engine ever built was the Cosworth DFV Formula 1 racing engine. My least favorite without a doubt is the Volkswagen "clean" diesel that caused the emission scandel. My favorite General Motors brand is Buick, for Chrysler I like Eagle, and Merkur for Ford. They're also all dead due to budget reasons. My favorite car movie is The Love Bug. My favorite F1 team was Team Lotus but because they no longer exist,I like Scuderia Ferrari. My favorite driver is Lewis Hamilton. Finally, my favorite modification type is the hot rod style and my least favorite is the donk/giant wheels style. So hopefully this little intro helps you learn more about me and the types of car stuff I cover.