THINGS THAT GO WHACK IN THE NIGHT.

By Peter M DeLorenzo

Editor’s Note: After nearly 21 years of doing Autoextremist.com, I have become used to Peter’s battle with sleep (or the lack thereof) and the fact that I receive emails at all hours of the night as his mind churns and turns and burns. Early morning is usually when he does his most creative thinking and has his most provocative thoughts. So, in the interest of doing something a little different this week in the midst of this debilitating pandemic, I thought I’d share this completely unedited email with our readers from Peter (which was time-stamped 2:46 a.m.). The Subject Line? “Things That Go Whack in The Night.” These stream-of-consciousness emails are the real Peter, unfiltered, I have added a few comments, too, when appropriate, and his traditional salutation at the end. Enjoy (I think). -WG

Detroit. I mean, WTF? I have Once Upon A Time In Hollywood on for about the seventh time and I’m still not tired of it. The party scene with Margot Robbie resplendent - and incandescent - in her bright yellow outfit is priceless, as are so many other scenes. The constant driving shots in Hollywood and environs throughout the movie are riveting, with the storefronts, night clubs and backgrounds art directed to the last detail. It reminds me of one of my all-time favorite things to do when I’m in L.A., which is to drive down Sunset Boulevard in a convertible after midnight. It’s a kaleidoscope of visuals that never gets old, and It remains one of life’s memorable pleasures. 

Another one of my favorite movies has been running of late too, Wild Things. This is a highly underrated caper film from 1998 with Neve Campbell, Matt Dillon, Bill Murray, Kevin Bacon, et al, and it has enough twists and turns to keep you guessing right until the end. It remains oddly satisfying to this day. 

This sheltering in place thing is getting old, even for me, The King of Social Isolation. It’s true that I am a lifelong veteran of it; in fact, I have it down to an art form, but it’s like everyone else is now encroaching into my territory and I don’t like it. Except that they’re really not. People all over are cracking under the pressure, you only have to look at the cray-cray on Twitter to see that. I don’t mind the animal stories and pictures, I’ve always liked animals more than people anyway (this is so true -WG), but the recipe sharing, abject stupidity and tedious fights over nothing are even more rampant than before. Yes, the sober thing to do would be to quit Twitter all together, but it’s like a train wreck that never ends and it’s so hard to look away. When I tried to do a Zoom session with AE readers this week, I naively thought that it would just be something cool to do for a little diversion. The session was instantly overrun with assholes trying to disrupt it. I had to shut it down within two minutes. The only way to do it is by private invitation, obviously. Live and learn the hard way, I guess. 

As for the biz, it is very hard to stay focused on it with the rapidly mounting deaths of American citizens and people around the world. If we open back up too soon in a hell-bent rush to get back to “normal” I think we’re going to unleash a second wave that may take as many lives as have been taken up until this point, if not more. I’m in no rush, and this just in: there will be no getting back to “normal” anyway. Life as we knew it is gone, and our lives going forward will be disrupted and altered permanently. I like the fact that certain state governors are taking the lead in this fight, as the leadership from Washington is nonexistent. But the asshole governors out there really stand out as in, how the hell did they get elected in the first place? Oh wait, uninformed people voted them in on a whim, or a misguided set of beliefs. A lot of people are going to die because of their astounding level of incompetence. 

Back to the business. I am quite certain of one thing in all of this, and that is that the hyper-luxury/performance automakers are going to really take a hit. Yes, the rich are different from you and me and everybody else for that matter, and before the pandemic a lot of people in the upper strata never gave a thought to the fact that their personal gravy trains would ever end. But take a look around and read up about the big businesses and gold-plated companies that are now reeling from this shit. Which means the pie for these hyper-luxury/performance automakers is going to get much smaller. I can’t say that I feel sorry for them, however. When you build a business model on excess for excess’ sake, the chances that things ultimately can come crashing down are very real. And with economies around the world crashing, it’s going to take a long, long time for things to come back. So even for the ultra-rich the idea of going out and spending $400,000 (and up) for a rolling indulgence is not going to be nearly attractive as before. 

I think I’m tired, but then again, I’m not really sure. I am in and out of consciousness as a matter of course (this is also very true -WG) night after frickin’ night. But when it has been going on for years, it has become sadly matter of fact. 

Oh well. Maybe I just need a good whack in the head. Over and out for now.

And that’s the (unfiltered) High-Octane Truth for this week.