B&W Name Change Theory

I can speak for Volvos. The first "driving vacation" that I ever went on was in a used Volvo 144 my parents had when I was about 4yrs old that we had borrowed. A railroad tie came off the back of a truck when we were driving 70mph; we hit it, ran over it, broke both front rims, then kind of wobbled down the road to the nearest service station. That vacation ended early but that was 1972 and my parents have had at least Volvo all the time since. The only real complaint I have ever had with one was that one broke a piston rod (while we were on vacation) after it was 11yrs old and the car had 120k+ miles on it. I guess the other complaint was that the 740 wagon with intercooler and turbo which followed that one had very low gearing in 1st, meaning that the only way to beat my friends off the line was to quickly shift into 2nd (the turbo kicked in at around 2200rpm from what I remember) and let it run... (hope my mother doesn't see this...). Since then, none of the Volvos we have had has racked up less than 100k miles and we have always sold them on for a much better price (as % of new) than you could sell an American car w/ 100k+ miles. And even back in the day, fully loaded with family of four on a week's ski trip, we could average 25mpg (skis on top kept that down from 28-29).

Gratuitous addition... the P1800ES was soooo cool and I have always wanted to buy one and swap out the engine for something more powerful; huuuuge rear window - perfect for putting lots of yuppy college decals on the back :^)

And now back to your regularly scheduled program...

I have wondered for years why B&W didn't us their full name on their speakers (as I have wondered about Boothroyd Stuart). For me, having the full name on them lends a feeling of "boutique" rather than "monster brand". By the same token, I have always thought the name "supratek" was terrible marketing because of its 'plastic' corporate sound. The power of names never ceases to amaze me, despite the fact that in the end, they mean nothing.

I ain't looking for the last word either. The last one my family has was bought in 1992 or something like that - and it still is a good car 15yrs on. I personally happen to like Bimmers better ('cept for the iDrive thingy). I also happen to like mid-60s Ferraris, and early 30s Bentleys better, and they are no safer (lucky if you have belts), get worse mileage (if they take unleaded), have no place to stick your 2.2 kids and golden retriever without getting cleat marks, saliva, and hair all over the place (and even worse if you consider the dog), and repairing the dented fender from the bonehead in the Safeway parking lot who can't see how far back their Suburban actually goes when they are trying to back out (no offense Albert, but I've seen this a lot) can get expensive.

And back to B&Ws, I agree Albert. Good bang for buck and size. Great value used on the older models where I live. But, when I'm tooling around in any one of my garage full of 1960s Ferraris, I'm listening to the tune of a V12 and a beautiful exhaust note rather than a car radio. Much nicer... Oops, Travis, head out of the clouds... Rather, when I am in the subway, I have my ipod.