Seemingly endless summer
In which I travel and sweat a lot.
As I sit writing this, nearly halfway through October, it is 80 degrees out in Los Angeles and only set to get hotter later this week. Bleh. As the seemingly endless summer continues despite it actually being fall, I thought it pertinent to write an update about what I did over the actual summer.
This year’s Monterey Car Week was the best one I’ve ever been to, partially because I had free time and could actually relax at every event. The level of excellence from the cars this year was pretty unbelievable, and as always it’s wonderful to go to all the parties and catch up with friends. I did actually do some work, though. For Motor1 I interviewed AMG product manager Kevin Wilde about the second-gen Mercedes-AMG GT, which has been transformed into a much more practical sports car. Also for Motor1 I interviewed Lamborghini chief designer Mitja Borkert about the awesome new Lanzador concept. There’s a lot of great quotes in this one, but the main takeaway is that, more than anything, a Lamborghini just has to look cool.
It’s hard to pick even a top ten from cars I saw both at the shows and driving around the peninsula, but I think my top choice has to be the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport L’Aura, which was delivered to its owner at the start of Car Week. It was staying at the same hotel as me, and I spent at least half an hour every day just staring at the car in every different lighting and weather condition we got.
Another highlight of my summer was getting to experience Mercedes-Benz’s Drive Pilot from the driver’s seat, which I covered for The Verge. The Level 3 automated driving system is the first of its kind anywhere in the world, and it is game-changing. A personal first was my trip to Vienna to drive the new Mercedes E-Class, my review of which is in the latest issue of The Star. I had never been to Austria before, and it was stunning. The car is great too, and I saw an Audi A1 Quattro, so it was a great trip all around.
That E-Class trip included a roundtable with Mercedes CEO Ola Källenius, which I covered for Heatmap in this story about Mercedes’ decarbonization plans. I flew to Denver to review the updated Polestar 2, another Motor1 story; its new rear-wheel-drive configuration has solidified its spot on my list of favorite EVs. I also made my debut in The Autopian with a story about Audi’s customizable lighting technology, and the next issue of Werke will have my review of the phenomenal BMW XM.
Last month I went to Rennsport Reunion 7, my first time at Rennsport, and it was phenomenal. When walking around the paddock on my first night before the reveal of the GT3 R Rennsport I kept saying “wow, maybe Porsche really is the best car company to all of my friends.” My favorite part of the weekend was easily getting to do a ridealong at Laguna Seca, my first time actually experiencing the track. I just hopped into the first GT4 RS in line, since I haven’t been in one, and my driver just happened to be Timo Bernhard—one of just nine drivers to have the endurance racing triple crown, and the guy who set the all-time Nürburgring lap record. Whenever I get to do a ridealong I always tell the driver that I don’t get carsick or scared, so they can drive as fast as they want, and it really paid off this time. I’ve gotten to do a lot of amazing ridealongs in my career, but this was the best. Porsche kindly provided dashcam video with telemetry, too!
On my Rennsport trip I had enough free time to finally go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which I’ve been wanting to visit for years. I smoked a joint and queued up the Avatar: The Way of Water soundtrack in my noise-canceling headphones, it was incredible. The new deep sea exhibit was a highlight—there’s even a type of jelly that is so new it hasn’t been named yet—but by far the best creature were the giant isopods. Not only is it the only aquarium in the world that has been able to keep them alive, you can pet them!!!
Right after Rennsport I flew to Vancouver to drive the new Mercedes-Maybach EQS SUV, which I reviewed for The Autopian. I’ll have a couple more stories about the Maybach coming in different outlets soon, and I really gotta do some more insta posts and tiktoks about that trip. We took two different seaplanes, both of which were incredible, and I went on a whale watching boat where we saw whales, otters and even a bald eagle. It was my first time in BC, and now I’m dying to go back.
I’ve really been keeping up with my G-Wagen Spotter’s Club account, which has passed 500 followers! It’s really fun to see the enthusiasm for the model, and the variety of Gs that people submit. I’ve got stickers for sale now too, and have been leaving them on peoples’ cars that I see on the street. (Like, I leave the sticker wedged into the window seal, I’m not actually applying the stickers obv.)
My favorite film of the summer was Bottoms, maybe the funniest movie I’ve ever seen. I’m trying to watch at least a few movies every week, so I’ve been going through all sorts of action and horror flicks I’ve never seen before. I marathoned the entire Chucky franchise—that little freak always scared me too much to ever watch them before—and while I loved most of them, Bride of Chucky and Seed of Chucky instantly became new favorites.
I’ve already been on a big Girl Power kick this summer, but after watching the Beckham documentary on Netflix (which I loved!) I’ve been listening to a ton of Spice Girls. This is just a perfect song:
Oh, and I turned 30. It’s crazy how I used to be so cute and I’m still so cute.
