Most Interesting Entry at This Years Baja 1000?

If not, its certainly the most unique...

The Quigley Motor Company of Manchester, PA has been creating hard core, 4x4 van conversions for over 35 years and been passed down from father to son.  Currently Quigley builds conversions for Ford, GM and Nissan vans.  These vans have been all over--from 4x4 parks in PA to your typical Moab rockcrawling adventures.

Running a Quigley LIFS system (Lifted Independent Front Suspension) on a GM G2500 Express Van, though not likely the wheels shown in these pictures and will be attempting to run this weekend's Baja 1000 in the Stock Full class which contains entries such as Joe Bacal's Lexus LX570 (LandCruiser) and a pair of F150s.  This class is a fairly limited class in terms of vehicle modifications which makes them vulnerable to mechanical breakdowns.  Additionally with the Quigley team coming from PA, I'm assuming prerunning and Baja experience is a tad limited.  They do look to be using Quigley vans for their support/chase vehicles as well, so at least those should be quite durable for their purpose.

Tracking the Baja is pretty easy as is listening in on the race...so if you get the chance and so desire, following along with the Quigley team is pretty easy.  Now you just have to dedicate some 40 hours or so to following along as that's likely about the time limit for the event and I'm betting if Quigley finishes the race, they might be quite close to that limit...

Quigley 4x4...

Baja 1000 Site and Coverage...

Book Review: Detroit--An American Autopsy

This is the first work of Charlie LeDuff's that I have read but it probably won't be my last.

I picked up this book shortly after its release about a month or so ago as I am interested in the debacle that is the American auto industry and the city of Detroit.  I ended up learning a lot more than I had anticipated and that's one the best things you can say about any book.

I learned why Detroit, while firmly located in the Northern United States, is a most Southern city.  I learned about the horrific series of politicians in charge of Detroit over the past 50 years.  I learned that the 3,500,000 square ft. Packard Automotive plant that is set on 40 acres of land has been shuttered since 1958 remaining substantially abandoned.

I learned that I never want to move to Detroit.

To me the first half of the book is the most interesting as it goes into detail regarding the current state of Detroit and the myriad causes for its destruction.  LeDuff doesn't fail in his sskewering of pretty much everyone, from the automotive executives, to Wall Street bankers, to over indebted citizens, to corrupt black and white politicians, to drug abusers, to damn near every privileged and not so privileged class of people we have in this country.  Even LeDuff himself is not immune to his own pen as he pulls now punches in revealing his own faults.

The amount of information contained here is near staggering in its ability to depress and shock a reader over the status of this city.  Detroit belongs with the favelas of Brazil and the ghettos of Johannesburg, not in modern America and its all our own fault.  LeDuff turns an honest eye to it all and is needed reading for those examining modern urban America.