Geez, just how bad is the infrastructure in the US?
Forget asking your local council to fix potholes in the road; you may as well ask a fast-food chain to do the work instead.
Oh, you did? And they said yes? Ah ...
The world’s largest pizza chain, Domino’s, has taken a “Well, someone’s gotta do it,” approach to road maintenance, and is paying for the remediation of stretches of urban roading in several US cites.
It’s a marketing ploy, of course — Domino’s says it is sick of bad roads ruining “hand crafted” delivery pizza — but it’s also a rather neat way of shaming local governments into fixing crumbling arterial routes.
The “Paving for Pizza” campaign has already paved roads in Bartonville, Texas; Milford, Delaware; Athens, Georgia, and Burbank, California.
Every patched-up bit of tarmac is sprayed with a Domino’s logo, just to remind residents (and inert councillors) who footed the bill for the repair. And the American Society of Civil Engineers is applauding the fast-food giant too; late last year it released its annual Infrastructure Report Card, which rated US roads “D”, citing roads throughout the nation as “often crowded, frequently in poor condition, chronically underfunded, and becoming more dangerous”.
There’s no word on how long Domino’s will continue on their cross-country road repair regime, but there will be plenty of communities — and, let’s face it, pizza fans — who will be rather grateful, regardless.
What’s next? EV fast-charge stations brought to you by Burger Fuel? Hey, actually that’s not a bad idea ...
Storm damage uncovers an abandoned classic
As unrepentant nosey buggers when it comes to fossicking about in old garages, we love stories like this at The Good Oil office.
At some stage many, many years ago, a man in Richmond, Virginia, USA, drove his 1951 Ford convertible into his garage, locked the door and walked away.
He passed away a few years back and, following his death, the house and garage were abandoned. While the dwellings rotted, the garage door remained steadfastly in place, hiding away from the world a car that had been driven in there at some point, and never saw the light of day again.
Until a month ago, that is, when a fierce storm ripped through the Richmond area and – with the help of crumbly decay already evident in the structure – tore the roof and door off the garage. The apparently forgotten 1951 Ford was revealed to all.
According to Richmond’s local ABC TV news affiliate, none of the locals are exactly sure how long the car has been sitting, but judging from the garage’s condition, it’s safe to say the car has been there for a while.
There’s a fair bit of creeper interaction with the car, so it’s hard to see what condition it’s in… probably a bit beyond a cut and polish though.
Perhaps if relatives of the deceased previous owner can be found, they might take a nostalgic view of the old banger – or at the very least part ways with it to the trusted hand of a restorer for cash money.
If not, the City of Richmond will no doubt cart it off to the crusher. Which would be a sad end indeed.
And the best taillight ever award goes to ...
We’ll admit to being shameless fans of the current automotive designer penchant for a cheeky Easter Egg hidden somewhere in the details of the latest cars.
A wry Bigfoot window graphic here (Jeep Renegade), a James Bond submarine-Lotus menu setting there (Tesla). Car designers have a sense of humour too: who knew?
The endlessly arrangeable LED and HID bulb clusters in modern head and tail-lights have offered the chance for a bit of tongue-in-cheek crypto-design for some time too. You might never have noted it, but McLarens feature a facsimile of the company’s swoopy Kiwi-style logo in their headlights, for example.
This one’s definitely on the obvious side, but our absolute favourite feature of the recently face-lifted Mini three- and five-door hatch range are its Union Jack taillights.
Less in-your-face-guv than a similar flag decal on the roof (remember the first-generation cars and BMW’s eagerness to retain that sense of Brit traditionalism?), the illuminated nod to the not-so-mini Mini’s origins is a winner.
Maybe a fragrance canister containing the delicate scent of fish and chips and vinegar for the interior too?