Tesla CEO Elon Musk has made it clear for some time that the future of his company is not in building regular cars. That’s been the genius of Elon Musk’s version of Tesla from almost the beginning. Initially, this meant building electric cars when almost everyone else said they were decades in the future. Now it’s robots, self-driving taxis, and artificial intelligence.
That’s what Musk says is coming, but it’s mostly not here yet, and until it is here Tesla is still mostly a carmaker. In fact, Musk said something yesterday in an all-hands with employees that made me realize something: Tesla is now the ‘legacy’ automaker that’s long been the target of his ire. The core of what made Tesla special or unique as a car company is largely not there anymore.
It’s easy to look at the news and assume it’s just the politics that are hurting Musk. They certainly aren’t helping, but if it were just an issue of politics then the issue might easily be fixed. I don’t think this is easily fixed. As I’ve said before, when you remove the huge benefit-of-the-doubt given to Musk you have to evaluate Tesla as an automaker, and there’s new data from Edmunds that shows Tesla’s cars are more replaceable than they’ve ever been.
Maybe Foxconn and Mitsubishi will replace them? The Taiwanese company didn’t invent the iPhone, it merely made gobs of money producing them. Foxconn seems to be planning a similar path with Mitsubishi.
It’s Friday, so let’s end this last Morning Dump of the week on an up note: If you live in England you might be able to buy John Entwistle’s big ol’ Caddy at a surprisingly reasonable price.
‘I Can’t Walk Past A TV Without Seeing A Tesla On Fire’ Elon Musk
Musk hosted an all-hands and Q&A with employees yesterday and, as usual, it was mostly a rah-rah affair seemingly designed to excite investors as much as actual employees (Tesla is historically good about providing shares to employees, so the lines are probably blurry in that crowd).
If you follow Musk on Twitter/X you know his skin can be as thin as a Motel 6 pillowcase, so the questions weren’t particularly probing. This doesn’t mean that Musk didn’t acknowledge the huge drop in share price or all the vandalism surrounding the company. He did make a mention of it, somewhat randomly in between points.
“So… Teslas will be worldwide. So, overall, you know, it’s good. If you read the news, it feels like Armageddon. I can’t walk past a TV without seeing a Tesla on fire,” said Musk. “Some people…. listen, I understand if you don’t like our product don’t buy it, but you don’t have to burn it down.”
That’s not unfair. Destroying someone else’s property is bad. Not only does it hurt a random person you don’t know more than it hurts Musk, if that’s your aim, it’s also probably not as effective as actual protesting, encouraging your pension fund to divest from the company, or asking lawmakers (if you live in California) to exempt the company from being able to sell carbon credits to automakers.
What Musk didn’t mention was why people might feel this way. To pick out something entirely random from the last 24 hours, there was a New York Times report that Elon Musk would get a briefing that laid out how the United States would fight a war with China, an absurd thing to give someone who desperately needs help from China and has so far acquiesced to China’s current government. President Trump has since called this “fake news,” which is a giveaway that this may or may not be true.
Musk ended his interlude by saying: “Like this is psycho, stop being psycho, OK… So we launched the new Model Y!”
That’s quite the transition.
Getting to the point I made in the headline, Musk also mentioned that Tesla was likely to sell its 10,000,000th car in the not-too-distant future. “That’s a lot of cars man,” exclaimed Musk, who acknowledged that building and selling cars is a difficult business. When Tesla hits that number it’ll be quite the accomplishment and prove that it is about as established as an automaker can be at this point. But a “legacy” automaker? I know that’s a charged term so hear me out.
Lamborghini was founded in 1963; is that a “legacy” automaker? Probably. There’s no set age for what is or is not a legacy automaker. Tesla might be a young company when compared to, say, a Renault or a Ford, but the company is newer than a bunch of startups like Lucid, Rivian, and this version of Polestar. It is the legacy electric carmaker, no doubt, but in this new era, I’d argue that it’s also just a legacy automaker.
Why? Because “legacy” was a term practically invented to pit Elon Musk’s Tesla against old car companies like Ford, GM, and Volkswagen. It was, more than anything, a bit of a ‘pejorative’ that implied that those automakers weren’t capable of catching up with Tesla by building a product as good or desirable. But now it’s Tesla that’s on its back foot in China as it faces competition from companies building more interesting products — ones that outprice Tesla and even offer free self-driving that’s built specifically for the market. In a younger market like China, Tesla is definitely a “legacy” automaker.
In the United States, it’s a little different, but many of the things that gave Tesla an edge (ADAS, direct-to-consumer sales, OTA updates, Supercharging) have been matched or even surpassed by the competition. I’ve spent the last week with a Cadillac electric car that can go over 300 miles on a charge, drive itself hands-free on the highway, accelerate at nauseating speeds, and even looks cool. All at a price that’s competitive with Tesla.
Oh, you want more evidence that people think they don’t have to buy Teslas anymore?
Tesla Trade-Ins Now Approaching Record Levels
While the share price seems to have stabilized in the $225-$250 range for the moment, here’s a bit of data for you, from Edmunds, that shows the politics of this all does seem to be working against the automaker. For the first half of March, MY2017 or newer Teslas represent 1.4% of all vehicles traded into traditional dealers, up from 0.4% in the same period the year before. This would be a record for Tesla if it holds, and surpass last month’s 1.2% turn-in share.
Note: This isn’t people sending Teslas back to Tesla to get a new vehicle, nor does this cover people turning them into Carvana or similar companies. These numbers are people who are, for whatever reason, over the idea of owning a Tesla so they’re turning vehicles in for something from an automaker that still has dealers.
Here’s something from the Reuters report on this that caught my eye:
“Brand loyalty is becoming a bigger question mark as factors such as Elon Musk’s increasing public involvement in government, Tesla depreciation concerns and its increased saturation in major metro areas leave some longtime owners feeling disconnected from the brand,” said Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds’ head of insights.
[…]
Tesla’s sales likely fell 10% in February, hurt by declines in its Cybertruck pickup, Model 3 sedan, and Model Y SUV, separate estimates from market research firm Cox Automotive showed on Thursday.
“These shifts in Tesla consumer sentiment could create an opportunity for legacy automakers and EV startups to gain ground,” Caldwell said.
Jessica Caldwell is a pal and also one of the smartest analysts in the game, but I think this data points to Tesla being a legacy automaker now. If someone can easily swap one of its cars for a Ford Mustang Mach-E or a Hyundai Ioniq 5 and not feel like they’re losing out, that competitive advantage is gone. There is no moat. And with most automakers offering NACS-style adaptors that play nice with Tesla Supercharging and more, like GM, offering hands-free driving, what Tesla can offer that other automakers can’t has shrunken dramatically.
Even before the robots and robotaxis arrive, it would be silly to call Tesla a traditional automaker. That’s going too far. A legacy automaker, though, I think is fair. It’s older than roughly 500 Chinese EV startups and at least two versions of Chrysler.
You can’t ruin a legacy if you don’t have one, and — while there are plenty who have recently become fans of the brand and love its CEO — the numbers imply that quite a few people think that’s exactly what Musk is currently doing.
Foxconn Will Reportedly Make EVs For Mitsubishi
Hon Hai Precision Industry Company, better known as iPhone producer Foxconn, has reportedly finally gotten what it’s long wanted: An agreement to produce electric cars for someone else. Specifically, Foxconn landed the Mitsubishi deal that Honda is rumored to have wanted.
Per Nikkei Asia:
Shares in Mitsubishi Motors rose significantly on Friday following Nikkei Asia’s news that Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn is finalizing a deal to collaborate with the company on electric vehicles, in what could be the latest in a series of partnership initiatives by Japanese automakers to boost their electrification plans.
Mitsubishi’s shares hit 465.8 yen at one point in the morning, up 21.4 yen, or 4.8%, compared with the previous day’s closing. The shares ended the day at 443.1, off 0.3%.
The Taiwan-based iPhone assembler aims to expand its presence in the EV industry, with plans to manufacture EVs for Mitsubishi, Nikkei Asia reported Thursday. Mitsubishi is believed to be looking to sell these EVs in the Oceanian market from 2026, and then expand to other markets.
This doesn’t preclude Honda or Nissan from making a deal with Foxconn, of course. A big appeal of Mitsubishi is that it performs well in Asian markets that Honda doesn’t necessarily reach, so starting in Oceanian markets sounds reasonable.
Check Out John Entwistle’s Big Black Cadillac
Auctioneers H&H Classics will have an event on April 9th and if you’re in the area, might I suggest buying The Who bassist John Entwistle’s 1971 Cadillac Fleetwood Series Seventy-Five Limousine? The car, which is rumored to be the inspiration for his song ‘Big Black Cadillac,’ is estimated to fetch between $20,000 and $35,000.
That seems like a good price to me. Here’s how H&H describes it:
The car was imported by John Entwistle from America during The Who’s heyday and became part of the legendary bass player’s entourage, with period photos showing it parked outside John Entwistle’s house and also in the grounds of bandmate Keith Moon’s estate.
The rare model is finished in black with black leather upholstery and appears to be substantially original. It is now offered for sale from a private collection.
John Markey, motorcar specialist at H&H Classics, said: “This American classic has lived a fascinating life and if only cars could talk then I’m sure it will have plenty of tales to tell.
Even without the rock connection, this is a handsome car.
What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD
I had to do it, here’s The Who performing “Magic Bus,” though I’m sure some of you would have preferred “Pinball Wizard.”
The Big Question
What is a ‘legacy’ automaker? How would you define it?
Top photo: Tesla
“The rare model is finished in black with black leather upholstery and appears to be substantially original. It is now offered for sale from a private collection.”
Seems to me that if your car has a load of aftermarket landau bars/grille surrounds/opera lamps/continental kits/chrome dreck riveted and double-stick taped to it – it’s not completely original?
I don’t know it seems like eight or 10 years ago there were lots more burning Teslas on television than there are now.
As a matter of fact, I haven’t seen a burning Tesla on television in a year or so. Maybe there’s something wrong with Elon’s set? Are television still a thing?
Being a “legacy” automaker is like being “legacy” media. Doesn’t mean crap!
Thanks Matt for reminding me I need to purchase ROBOT INSURANCE.
Is there a legacy automaker with a 13 year old new car in the showroom?
The Chevy Express dates to 1996 so it is closing in on 30 years old. It got a minor facelift in 2003 and is maybe the only new vehicle today that ships without a screen in the dash.
From what I’ve heard from people in the know, Tesla may be good at giving out shares to its employees but is even better at firing its employees right before they get them.
Tesla will fully be a legacy automaker when the UAW gets in. Which will happen sooner or later now that the stock can’t keep going up, placating workers. Much of what Tesla has been able to accomplish is not due to Musk, but due to not having the union baggage every other automaker operating in the US has, especially in its home country.
As much as I dislike Musk it’s not true that other EVs are as good as a total package. Tesla software, route planning, and charging are all great. The quality of the cars can be debated but owning one as a user experience is unsurpassed. It’s dead simple for route planning and then just driving.
That being said other makers are closer so it’s less of a strain to go to another brand. Route planning being the biggest differentiator. So you can get a nicer car with better options but that worse software is not as bad. Route planning in other cars is more cumbersome still and you have to set a route, then add charging, then tell it only fast chargers. It’s crazy.
That being said I would get a Dodge Charger EV before I get another Tesla.
The Tesla charging system was the best idea. Going full Henry Ford for better and worse was the other thing. Elon basically copied the Rouge plant idea. Other than that, Tesla used the fact that they had no investment in legacy systems to use a first principles approach to making cars. Much like Ford. They should be in the driving cost down phase now like Ford did with the model T if they weren’t distracted by Covid brain. Soon the world will catch up just like what happened to the Model T. Actually China has caught up already.
I dislike Tesla in general and can’t stand Elon in particular. But the automotive Golden Rule, “Never fuck with someone else’s ride”, should stand as a unifying principle in these divided times. Just flip ’em the bird if you feel the need to express an, umm, political statement.
“Legacy”? More like “lethargy” given their lackluster product development.
Their product development is concentrated on making the cars cheaper and improving them without stupid changes for no reason. GM keeps starting over and over making small incremental steps, then bailing out and starting over yet again.
I feel like a legacy automaker(besides Subaru, joke already made, too late getting to the comments!) is maybe one that’s spanned a generation, so like a 20 year run. I don’t think Tesla is there yet, almost.
Like I wouldn’t consider Geo, Scion or Saturn legacy automakers, partly because they were ventures of other existing automakers but also because they didn’t last that long. Pontiac/Oldsmobile/Mercury I would consider legacy because they made cars for decades.
But with Tesla, they came out in 2008, only 17 years ago, and really with just 1 car, the roadster until 2012, so going by that just 13 years. Saturn lasted 15 years, Scion lasted 13 years, both launched with several models, so not quite there yet,
Still young enough to fail and be a footnote where people 15 years after will go “Oh hey a Tesla, you hardly see those any more, remember their gimmick about just having a giant screen and no buttons?” Like how we talk about Saturns and their plastic body panels. But I’d still take a Saturn over a Tesla.
I wouldn’t consider Geo, Scion or Saturn, Pontiac, Oldsmobile or Mercury legacy automakers at all because none of them (with the brief exception of Olds, at it’s inception) were actually automakers.
They were just brands of GM and Ford – which are themselves automakers.
Fair point, I’ll stick to the 20 year measure though, to be a legacy I feel like it’s something one generation bought and then it’s still there for the next generation. Like anyone buying a Tesla the last 15 years, it’d be there for their kid/grandkid that was born in those last 15 years to buy when they can afford it.
“What Musk didn’t mention was why people might feel this way.”
Maybe because it absolutely doesn’t matter why, when your tender feelings lead you to commit property crime, vandalism, assault, terrorism, and general mayhem.
I wouldn’t even support this sort of behavior toward AMC Matador coupes or Fiat ProBastard vans, the absolute two worst vehicles ever made.
The hatred for Musk didn’t come out of nowhere. Through DOGE he is illegally and thoughtlessly messing up the lives of millions of people because he knows they can’t stop him, and using the money he made with Tesla to fund a fascist takeover of the US goverment. He is also an open Nazi sympathizer who betrayed the ideals he sold the Tesla brand on.
He made himself the face of Tesla, and its insanely overpriced stock has long been his main source of funding. Tesla stock is collapsing, and his VP Trump is illegally hocking Tesla’s from the white house lawn. That makes you think that maybe the hostility toward Tesla has had some effect. While I don’t endorse vandalism, this is about more than “tender feelings”.
The reason people feel this way does matter.
Sounds correct to me.
I don’t have to care why people are blocking traffic on the freeway. I care about the thousands and thousands of people who are not left alone to move freely, including many who might be on their way to the hospital with an emergency, or simply on their way to work. They have rights too, and they care even less about your cause than I do.
I don’t have to care why someone defaces or destroys a priceless work of art. I care about the priceless work of art that has been lost, or that may be lost from public access because of the threat to it. The people who deserve access to this art have rights too.
I don’t have to care why literally anyone destroys something that does not belong to them because they are so convinced of the righteousness of their cause. You do not have the right to destroy things that do not belong to you just because you’re pissed off about something. It literally doesn’t matter what you’re pissed off about. You have become a criminal – not a “political dissident,” a literal by-the-book petty criminal or worse – in the name of your cause. That means you go to jail for your crimes.
And normal people who do not support destructive criminal behavior get turned off to your cause. Not only is it selfish, destructive, and illegal, it also drives away people you might have attracted otherwise.
Also, point of order: Even before DOGE was instituted, or even discussed, it was already a matter of public record that the Medicare program alone loses at least $80 billion per year – EVERY YEAR – to improper payments, accounting errors, and plenty of good old-fashioned fraud and abuse. And that’s without DOGE even looking under the hood to see what else is under there.
If you care at all about Grandma’s healthcare, why are you not interested in tabulating all the billions of dollars lost on the way to providing her with that healthcare? What part of saving American taxpayers $80 billion a year has anything to do with denying Grandma’s benefits? Wouldn’t eliminating all that waste and fraud actually secure Grandma’s benefits, and not the other way around?
Why do these people hate Grandma? Why do they not realize that the biggest threats to her benefits exist in the very agency charged with providing them, and the apparatus charged with funding them?
And how is setting a third party’s Tesla on fire supposed to help, other than to provide an opportunity to furiously jerk on a justice boner in the public eye?
There’s the simple question at the bottom of this: precisely how is all this destruction supposed to help anyone?
I completely agree that the destruction is wrong, wrong-headed, and helps no one. It should not happen. At the same time, the “I don’t have to care” attitude is not smart. Even though the people committing these actions are dead wrong to do so, it’s important to understand where those urges come from. I will always firmly believe that attacking the US capitol was one of the most heinous acts in our history, but that doesn’t mean that I want to be blind as to the motives of those disgusting morons who did that.
If it’s important, it’s important enough to explain to people rationally. To persuade them. To tell them why they should care, in language they speak, so that they listen and choose to agree.
I’m so old, I was taught in school that the reason picket lines had to pace around was because while it’s legal for you to petition for redress of grievances and have your voice heard, it was illegal to impede others going about their business. The price of that right of expression, we learned, was the understanding that you have no right to stop others in their tracks and force them to listen. That’s why we used to not let people block traffic without a permit – because it’s not only selfish and dangerous, it’s thoroughly un-American, and incompatible with a free and civilized society.
I don’t care what’s on fire this week, sugarbritches. I care that I’m trying to go to work and feed my family, and you’re in my way. Whatever you’re for, I’m against it for as long as you’re in my way. You’re taking food off my children’s table, you self-absorbed prick. How dare you. If your issue was that crucial, I’d just agree with you. It must not be, because you have to block traffic to tell at me about it. Virtue signal received. Good for you. Now MOVE.
Well, of course, Medicare loses money because it isn’t supposed to make money.
But mainly it’s the insurance companies. Every cent of profit is waste in the system. All the people that have jobs dedicated to denying care are wasting miner. All the people who have jobs dedicated to dealing with the first group are wasting money.
But I agree, setting fire to privately owned Teslas is only hurting the people who bought them.
The amount of money year in and year out that Medicare can’t account for – my money and your money – is more than triple the total annual profits of the six largest private health insiders combined, none of whom come near your money or mine unless we are their clients. We can refuse to do business with private companies. We can’t refuse to do business with Medicare.
That poor bastard who took one in the dome from that kid on the sidewalk in New York? Even if his company stole every dime it cleared, it still stole a percentage of a third as much as Medicare steals from you and me every year.
And none of that has anything to do with what it costs to provide Grandma an EKG. Only grave malfeasance or complete incompetence explain losses of public money like that. I’m sure it’s one or both depending on the situation.
Elon/DOGE does not have the right to destroy USAID, The CFPB, the Department of Education, the FAA, etc. These institutions do not belong to him. Elon & DOGE are common criminals. Do you see where I’m going with this?
You want criminal? I’ll show you what’s criminal. We are being robbed.
https://imgur.com/gallery/4FK5qQ2
Every American who ever set foot on the moon, and every American on earth who helped get him safely there and safely home, was educated before the DOE existed. Ever read a high school graduation requirement checklist from the 1940s? There are prep schools today with lower standards.
Throwing out all the piss and vinegar, just looking at Teslas as cars, only the Model S is good looking. When you’re still making payments, a car should at least make you feel good when you look at it. Looking like an old Motorola PEBL isn’t enough to keep loyalty. Then add in that a foreigner is using profits to buy his way into various governments, and it’s a recipe for losing. If you bought a Tesla before Nutjob McBoingboing showed his colors, you have my sympathy. I will be happy to dance on Teslas grave.
The Model S is, was, and will forever be a gorgeous car. Unfortunately it was all downhill from there…in myriad ways
I’m not defending the guy but he got his US citizenship in 2002, unless you’re not from the US and that is a foreigner to you, in which case do you have a brochure?
I didn’t know he held U.S. citizenship, so I’ll take the hit on that one. I’ll bet he laughed his ass off swearing to, “support and defend the U.S. Constitution and laws against all enemies.”
I’ll join that dance party
I guess they exited their startup phase built factories but didn’t really innovate the same way the rest of the industry did. I’ve always looked at tesla like apple. Proprietary some good ideas maybe first to market on some idea but expensive and falling behind not long after. I’m not sure Tesla fits in with all the other legacy autos yet but it’s definitely in a weird middle area. Maybe they will learn from their mistakes as others did and they will get to that status they probably don’t really want or it will all fall apart. BYD almost seems to be in that legacy phase or some kind of middle phase now as well especially with their gigantic 32k acre factory they are building. But they continue to innovate in more proven metrics. Maybe part of legacy status is when you start trying to sell nonsense to people instead of actual features and innovations.
Tesla can only hope your Apple comparison holds up. Apple is consistently one of the most profitable companies and has been for decades now.
I fear Tesla is more like Atari
They were almost done in the 90s. I could see byd or other oem giving them a loan like Microsoft gave apple. They might pull a SGI or a SUN as well too early to tell. Those guys over built but weird proprietary stuff Tesla underbuilds weird proprietary stuff.
Tesla was founded in 2003, which makes them about 22 years old now
The original incarnation of Chrysler was founded in 1924, by the time the company was 22 years old (1946), it was definately already considered part of the traditional, legacy establishment as the third member of the Big Three
Yes, Chrysler was *technically* a restructuring of Maxwell, in the same way Fox was technically a revival of the DuMont network, but, still
DuMont is a good pull. Always interesting to hear about them once in a while.
Waaay back in the 70’s when this was a thing. I was visiting an economist and we were watching the news as some UAW folks were taking a sledgehammer to a Toyota. He calmly reminded us in the room that Toyota still booked a profit on that sale. Leaving it in one piece would have done more harm to Toyota in that it would have been around to compete with a new sale, instead it induced demand for another.
I would be more than happy to see Elon standing in line at a food bank someday, but performative destruction is just so stupid.
The same would apply to those big displays of police departments destroying seized property, like driving tanks over super cars.
Also, I know five people who have bought/leased Teslas. None traded them for another. Four got other EVs and one aged out of driving. All of this happened before Elon went certifiably nuts so he may or may not have been a factor, but I think it was more likely they made their choices on not having been happy with the Teslas or were attracted to more competitive options.
That’s a good point the union Toyota hate was strong. I still remember their strange saying “you can’t eat your Toyota”. From a North American standpoint they were the new guys but had proven engineering and manufacturing in Japan with ideas that worked well in a down economy with oil crisis. I guess at a certain point maybe the mid 80s or early 90s? they become mainstream
“What Musk didn’t mention was why people might feel this way.”
And that’s where Musk is putting effort into being disingenuous… or merely incredibly stupid. He needs to learn about “political blowback”… And why it’s a good idea not to to do business and politics at the same time.
And people who think that “running government like a business” is a good idea are naive morons.
“What is a ‘legacy’ automaker? How would you define it?”
To me, it’s an automaker that is still heavily invested in and is still making new versions of ‘legacy technology’ such as vehicles with internal combustion engines.
I don’t think he has to put in any effort into be disingenuous, and it isn’t a matter of stupidity. I think it’s an utter absence of cognitive empathy. He just doesn’t seem to understand the impact of all of the job dismissals on the affected people, nor the resulting knock on effects on the communities they served. The jobs being eliminated are just lines on a payroll report -in his mind, why/how could anybody be upset about that?
Also, he seems to have trouble interpreting social cues. Normal (non-neuro divergent) people can connect “people firebombing my cars” with “maybe they don’t like what I’m doing in Washington”. He really doesn’t seem capable of understanding there’s a connection. (Hence the “stop being psycho” statement, that the rest of us consider a gigantic self-own.) In his mind, one thing shouldn’t have anything to do with the other. Convincing him they do is going to be a challenge for the Tesla board.
“In his mind, one thing shouldn’t have anything to do with the other.”
Great points. And now I’m thinking some should ask Musk “Do you believe the vandalism of Teslas and Tesla stores is not tied to the things you are doing with Donald Trump?”
Might get an interesting answer to that question… and maaaaybe it might force him to connect the dots.
I don’t want to give him that excuse. He can get therapy like the rest of us. He chooses not to. Ef him
I wasn’t trying to excuse him, merely to try to help others understand his worldview.
He’s presenting a master class in the Dunning Kruger effect – so grossly incompetent at government that he can’t even begin to fathom how bad he is at it. So’s his boss, and pretty much all of the rest of the clowns he’s hired.
My self-awareness detector just imploded.
Musk stupidity aside, I predicted this would happen when everyone adopted NACS. The real competitive advantage for Tesla has long been the Supercharger network. Once that stopped being exclusive, the biggest reason to buy a Tesla over anything else was gone.
Elon is one of those people who, when his time comes, will be found alongside jars filled with his toenail clippings.
When he only trusts and employs Mormans, he will have been reduced to a known and somewhat established pattern of crazy without the actual positive accomplishments of the last guy of that description. But he will set before Congress and testify trying to support his actions. And only escaping to Mars is going to stand in the way of that.
How’s that for an elevator pitch?
I’m curious as to which electric Cadillac you’ve been testing out. I was fortunate enough to test-drive a Lyriq at the 12 hours of Sebring IMSA race last weekend. I still remember the first time I got to drive a Tesla and was utterly amazed by it. The Lyriq brought that feeling back and unless Tesla has something newish and interesting to offer, they’re going to have a tough time with the current competition. And that’s not even counting Elon’s current maximum-dipshitery antics.
Anyway, back to the Cadillacs. I got to do that right after test-driving a V-series Escalade. What a fun juxtaposition – old school hot rod combined with an insanely luxurious interior up against a rock-solid, whisper-quiet, amazingly-quick EV. I would’ve liked to bring both home, yet neither quite compared to the experience of the CT5 V-series Blackwing with the six-speed manual. Holy Shit… that’s the first time I’ve experienced Tesla-style acceleration in a gas-powered car and it was Glorious.
And speaking of Glorious, I’d sure like to bring that ’71 Fleetwood home and park it next to the triple-black ’71 Sedan deVille currently in my fleet.
Your car is absolutely beautiful.
Thanks! I’m the third owner, and the car is still mostly original including the paint. It had sat outside after being poorly stored for awhile, but the paint did come back to life and the interior cleaned up nicely. Up close it’s just starting to show hints of primer in a few places though as that’s how far I had to buff to get it shiny again.
I love how you love it! By the way, in real life my last name is Glorius (no second o), really.
That’s awesome! In fact, I’d call it a Glorious coincidence 🙂
Gott in Himmel – that is one beautiful chariot!
That Cadillac is a work of art, in the sense that if you shine a black light on the interior it’ll look like a Jackson Pollock.
Tesla is cooked as a brand at this point. They are Elon, and Elon is them. The lack of new models that arent a rolling vanity project shows. FSD has been 6 months away for 5 years it feels like.
Just a matter of time until they get pushed out of china, or I could see that government kicking them out as retaliation for a ban or tariff on Chinese brand EV sales in the US. Europe is fed up with him as well, especially Germany with the
AfD-ebacle
And to think, we can trace his decline all back to a bunch of poor 12 year olds wanting to check out a cave. Buying his way up the path of exile leaderboards is hilarious though, its the most fragile thing I’ve ever seen.
I agree rando Teslas should not be lit on fire.
The ones at the dealerships, though…
“We don’t need no water (wouldn’t help anyway)…”
Ah the real reason he didn’t want dealerships now becomes clear. Mostly I’m sad that it besmirches the name of the real genius in the room. In the future management models college course they will analyze how he was able to turn a sky high goodwill asset into a hated product in so short a time.