Posted on 07/18/2007 8:28:59 AM PDT by 3AngelaD
Vandals Batter D.C. Man's SUV, Slash Its Tires and Scratch In an Eco Note
On a narrow, leafy street in Northwest Washington, where Prius hybrid cars and Volvos are the norm, one man bought a flashy gray Hummer that was too massive to fit in his garage. So he parked the seven-foot-tall behemoth on the street in front of his house and smiled politely when his eco-friendly neighbors looked on in disapproval at his "dream car."
It lasted five days on the street before two masked men took a bat to every window, a knife to each 38-inch tire and scratched into the body: "FOR THE ENVIRON."
"The thought of somebody vandalizing it never crossed my mind," said Gareth Groves...
Now, as Groves ponders what to do with the remains of his $38,000 SUV, he has been the target of a number of people who have driven by the crime scene in his upscale neighborhood and glared at him in smug satisfaction...
Neighbor Lucille Liem, 37, who owns a Prius hybrid, said that a common sentiment in the neighborhood is that large vehicles are impractical and a strain on the Earth -- and Hummers in particular are a symbol of consumer excess... Liem added quickly that she does not condone violence...
Investigators said they are searching for the vandals but don't have many leads. Witnesses saw two men about six feet tall with bandanas or masks over their faces smash up the car about 3:30 a.m. Monday and then run off...
He bought the used 2005 vehicle a month ago from a dentist in Fairfax County..."I'm worried about what I do now," he said. "If I get it fixed, do I put it back in the same spot three weeks from now?"
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Well, Hi there!! I see your family has grown quite a bit!! Autumn is getting SO big, and the two little ones are precious!
I was just thinking that myself. In fact, if I was that guy, I would fix the car, park it in the same spot and spend a few nights in the bushes with my shotgun.
Rusty, please, do not eat the Truckster!
The Shelby Super Snake was Cobra sold for $5.5 million, there were two made, Shelby kept one and one was sold to Bill Cosby.
Here is the story on its sale:
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=119302
A "stretch" minivan. :-)
i don’t know. what do you call one...?
is that near the Four Seasons hotel? it sounds familiar.
It can be! A while back an African American family awoke to find swastikas painted on their garage door and their vehicle. Along with the damage from the paint, who ever did it caused damage to the car's windows and tires. Based on current law, it was classified as a hate crime.
“Thirty years ago” is a bit of an exaggeration, no?
I give you the 1996 Buick Roadmaster.
Good luck finding one.
“Thar She Blows!”
“The neighborhood in general is very concerned with the environment,” said Liem, whose Prius gets about 48 miles a gallon compared with the Hummer’s 14 miles a gallon.
“It’s more liberal leaning. It’s ridiculous to be driving a Hummer.”
WWJD ?
Yeah, I can appreciate that. Except sometimes, it has to go NOW - and now, it’s pouring!
The multi-champion Colts are Baltimore’s team.
(ducking)
I personally own a
.
1969 Mustang 428 6 miles to the gallon
.
1977 corvette 8 miles to the gallon.
.
1997 H1 Hummer 14 miles to the gallon. (This gets great milage)
.
2000 Land Cruiser 10 miles to the gallon
.
2007 Navigator 11 miles to the gallon
.
2000 Ford Ranger 18 mpg
.
2004 Sport Track 17 mpg.
.
I would like to personally thank you for driving your eco car as this leaves more gas for people like me !!!! :) :)
You misunderstand — completely — the driving force behind SUV ownership. It has ZERO to do with off-road anything. It is centered entirely around this one, simple market-driving mantra, “Because I want to”.
Automakers sell SUV’s by the score simply because — unlike a certain legislative body we love to hate — they LISTEN to their customers and manufacture things that their customers want to buy.
More chrome gets popular? Manufacturers add more chrome.
Ridiculously big rims get popular? Manufacturers offer tire/wheel packages with ridiculously big rims.
Folks love their iPods? Manufacturers add an iPod dock to the dashboard.
On and on it goes...all so that the customer writing the check, when asked “Why?” can respond, “Because I want to”.
The station wagon was the original All-American family vehicle up into the mid1980’s when it was finally drivin into automotive extinction by envirozealots.
With a hearty laugh and a stiff-middle-fingered wave right back at ‘em, though, Lee Iacocca replaced the old four-wheeled nemesis-of-all-things-living with a NEW All-American family vehicle — the minivan.
So, it was out of the frying pan, into the fire for the envirozealots.
Some All-Americans realized, however, that this passenger car/van fusion thing would be just that much better if it were more...more “truck-ish”; dare I say “Suburban-ite”. So the Bronco and Blazer sprouted another pair of doors, making the back sets truly usable, and donned new names, “Explorer” and “Tahoe”.
Still stinging from the irony of having brought the minivan to American life, the envirozealots were not idle. They needed something, though, a moniker, a label, some kind of new stereotype to be against so they could re-energize thier funding campaigns. In an odd confluence of events, automakers were, at the same time, in need of a category for things that were not cars, not trucks, not vans, and not minivans.
Sailing in to save the day came the automotive press with the term “Sport/Utility Vehicle”, and both Detroit and the envirzealots were, again, off to the races. And it’s just like those sentimental old times sparring over the station wagons. The envirozealots screeching about MPG, and Detroit responding with even MORE cubic inches of displacement and cargo volume.
So, what’s a station wagon? Your SUV might just call it “Grandpa”.
Taller...
1977 corvette 8 miles to the gallon.
You need to check that out. I bet your cat is clogged or your EGR valve is crusted up.
My 69 350-300 got 12mpg no matter how I drove it.
I don't think any one in America has to justify their transportation to you or any one else. My dream drive is a big Kenworth or Peterbuilt and I will never haul a commercial cargo but I would haul a boxcar full of busy body wannabe fascists to the dump for free.
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