OT: If you had a Porsche or Bentley on order, you might have to wait a bit longer
A 650-ft long cargo ship carrying 1,100 Porsches and almost 200 Bentleys is on fire and abandoned in the middle of the Atlantic.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/02/18/cargo-ship-fire-porsche-bentley-ocean/
February 18th, 2022 at 4:52 PM ^
Instead of an MGOReunion Event, let's put together a team and claim that ship. I'll be the Bruce Willis character.
February 18th, 2022 at 4:54 PM ^
Ocean's 911
February 18th, 2022 at 5:00 PM ^
I'm Lt. Dangle
February 18th, 2022 at 4:58 PM ^
Pretty sure finders keepers is a real thing under maritime law, so let’s do it
February 18th, 2022 at 5:49 PM ^
Unfortunately, there is a boat on the scene keeping an eye on things. So, you’ll need to go Pirates of the Caribbean to claim the burning RORO ship.
February 18th, 2022 at 8:55 PM ^
I'll wait for the "Fire Sale".
February 18th, 2022 at 4:59 PM ^
Are we talking "Armageddon" or "Die Hard" Bruce Willis? I'm not signing up if we're doing "'Die Hard', But on a Boat". "Die Hard" Bruce Wills doesn't really have a team. There's really just an aggrieved partner and incompetent law enforcement. Everyone else is a mook for the slaughter, and I wouldn't look good wearing a "Now I have a machine gun Ho-Ho-Ho" sweatshirt.
February 18th, 2022 at 5:48 PM ^
I'm up for the Moonlighting Bruce Willis.
February 18th, 2022 at 5:10 PM ^
Follow-up question: how many MGoBloggers have ever owned a Porsche?
February 18th, 2022 at 5:57 PM ^
All I ask for is a Golf R. The rest of you can have the Porsches.
February 18th, 2022 at 7:31 PM ^
I used to drive one - a 2001 Carrera Cabriolet. Drove it for 15 years and loved it, but would never get another one. Had an engine issue in 2013 and Porsche claimed I needed a new engine even though it only had ~55k miles and was serviced every year, which was going to cost 18-20k. Took it to Flat 6 Innovations in GA and turns out all it needed was a new air-oil separator and new spark plugs. Had them retrofit the IMS bearing (and a few other things) while they were in there, and it ran better than when I first bought it.
Finally decided to sell it when we had our second kid and we needed to have two functional all-season cars. That, and the car started to fall apart - central locking system quit, the ac started to spit out foam insulation from somewhere in the frame, and the right rear tire kept losing air slowly even though I replaced the rim. Too many issues to deal with.
It honestly drove like a dream - after a while, it felt like an extension of my body and the feedback when driving it was amazing. It turned like it was on rails, and the stopping power/distance was unparallelled.
Also had UofM personalized plates!
February 18th, 2022 at 8:21 PM ^
Have test driven a few, loved them all. They are a wonderful driver's machine. Balanced, very precise, with well defined "edges". Have declined to purchase every time.
February 18th, 2022 at 10:05 PM ^
Have owned 5. Currently a 2019 911 Turbo and waitlisted for a new 911 GT3. This will certainly extend my waitlist period.
February 18th, 2022 at 11:35 PM ^
Nice rides, very. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: my fondness is for ZO6s. Good for adrenaline dumps, subtle as sledge hammers, :-)
February 19th, 2022 at 12:26 AM ^
I have a Porsche Taycan Turbo S that I cruise Mexico with. In Forza 5.
February 18th, 2022 at 4:54 PM ^
Dayam - there goes the Bentley!
February 18th, 2022 at 4:55 PM ^
Will there ever be a rainbow?
-C. Montgomery Burns
February 18th, 2022 at 4:55 PM ^
Maritime law is a funny thing.
February 18th, 2022 at 4:57 PM ^
Dude. I've been waiting for a Cadillac Lyriq for lord knows how long.
February 18th, 2022 at 6:24 PM ^
You bought a car named after a musical element, intentionally misspelled. You are getting what you deserve. Just buy a Nissan Juke and end it already!
February 18th, 2022 at 4:58 PM ^
And you might want to turn in your "I'm from Michigan" card.
Buy a Cadillac or a Corvette or a Lincoln or get hired by GM or Ford, as a Michigan grad, and produce the car you want. What's so hard about that?
February 18th, 2022 at 5:10 PM ^
My Hondas have been better than any GM/Ford car I've ever had, and with a dad that worked for one of the Big Three, growing up we had a LOT of them...
February 18th, 2022 at 5:22 PM ^
So fix the problem instead of complaining that all the Michigan grads working for the big 2/3 can't compete with Japanese companies like Honda / (ahem) Takata because they are only Michigan engineers instead of Japanese ones.
Yeah, you didn't actually say that in so many words, but come on. The Michigan grads working at GM/Ford are as good as any engineers anywhere, as are the B-school grads working therein.
February 18th, 2022 at 5:24 PM ^
This is all great until the Chinese invade the N.Amer. market with the best EVs at the lowest cost.
February 18th, 2022 at 6:45 PM ^
Due to, uh, suspiciously reduced labor costs and, ahem, significant government subsidies?
February 18th, 2022 at 9:12 PM ^
Yeah, you didn't actually say that in so many words, but come on.
I didn't say that at all. Your original post implied that you should "turn in your 'I'm from Michigan' card" unless you drive a GM/Ford/Stellantis (or whatever Chrysler is calling themselves these days). I disagree. Maybe your identity as a Michigander is tied to the auto industry, but mine is not. I love my Hondas, so that's what I buy; not having a GM, Ford or Chrysler doesn't diminish my ties to the state.
February 18th, 2022 at 10:35 PM ^
American auto manufacturers source 75% of their parts.
But you have to compete. It’s a small world.
February 19th, 2022 at 3:23 PM ^
The extent to which the University of Michigan is tied to Ford and General Motors cannot be overstated. Can you contribute to the endowment fund at Ohio State and nothing to Michigan while claiming to be a pure supporter of Michigan athletics? "I love my Hondas" absolutely diminishes your ties to the University of Michigan and the state. It is pure fantasy to think otherwise.
February 18th, 2022 at 6:25 PM ^
My civic was not super reliable. I also had an accord that was a high maintenance machine. Maybe just bad luck. My Toyotas on the other hand, rock solid.
February 18th, 2022 at 9:44 PM ^
1965 Lincoln Continental or GTFO.
February 18th, 2022 at 5:03 PM ^
Mark Harmon should turn this into an "NCIS: Azores" pilot episode.
February 18th, 2022 at 5:05 PM ^
There's a whole lot of balloon payments up in smoke. It gives their owners a whole new definition of 911.
February 18th, 2022 at 5:11 PM ^
Whatever London bar happens to be the favorite after work watering hole for Lloyd's of London execs will be a somber place tonight
February 18th, 2022 at 5:07 PM ^
They are on an ocean fergodsakes... how about having ten heavy capacity pumps, and simply put it out with saltwater.... geez....
February 18th, 2022 at 5:25 PM ^
“The ship is burning from one end to the other,” Cabecas said. “Everything is on fire about five meters [16 feet] above the water line.”
Given the extent of the fire and the fact that the cargo areas appear to be almost completely sealed off from the exterior, I'd guess that even if pumps were available it would be almost impossible to actually get the water into the interior cargo holds.
February 18th, 2022 at 5:33 PM ^
That and dousing a cargo of vehicles with millions of gallons of saltwater isn't going to save anything. And if it were possible to get that saltwater to the holds the boat would probably sink since it's currently un-powered and adrift.
February 18th, 2022 at 9:36 PM ^
Yeah, sure, much later, it's lost cause..
... but not once it started. Can nip it in bud.
February 18th, 2022 at 6:27 PM ^
"Isn't it ironic" should be playing on a loop with the video
February 19th, 2022 at 9:46 AM ^
there are Li-Ion batteries that are igniting. if you recall a roadside Tesla fire took several hours to burn itself out despite efforts by a fire dept to extinguish it. Imagine trying to put something like that out x100s from a considerable distance.
February 18th, 2022 at 5:08 PM ^
Shit, I’m waiting on one of each. The Porsche is for days my penis feels small, and the Bentley for days when I feel like my neighbors don’t fully understand how much richer I am than them…
February 18th, 2022 at 5:16 PM ^
We should start collecting money so you don't lose out on your two cars.
Maybe GoFundMe. (I think that's how it's spelled.)
February 18th, 2022 at 6:29 PM ^
Better save the gofundme dollars for the crew of that ship. Ain’t no way they are getting another job after letting a bunch of Bentleys and Porsches sink to the bottom of the ocean. They’ll be lucky to be transporting rubber dog shit out of Hong Kong! (I paraphrased)
February 19th, 2022 at 1:08 AM ^
I think you may be overestimating the recruiting process for ordinary crew on Panamanian flagged cargo vessels.
February 18th, 2022 at 5:21 PM ^
... richer than they.
Clearly, you don't know how to do this properly.
February 18th, 2022 at 5:50 PM ^
Yeah, I’m definitely driving my Bentley by your house
February 18th, 2022 at 5:26 PM ^
I feel the same disappointment. I was going to get 3 of each, but now I'll have to settle for just one. Of each. But still.
February 18th, 2022 at 5:29 PM ^
I think you have Porsche mixed up with every raised American truck.
February 18th, 2022 at 6:30 PM ^
Seems odd to buy a Bentley if you’ll never have the opportunity to drive it. ;)