JANUARY 27, 2021

(Ram Truck)
The first – VIN No. 001 – Ram 1500 TRX Launch Edition - in exclusive Anvil exterior paint - rolls of the line at FCA’s Sterling Heights (Mich.) Assembly Plant. Ram will auction VIN 001 of the all-new 2021 Ram 1500 TRX - the quickest, fastest and most powerful truck ever – during the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale Auction in March. The Ram 1500 TRX Launch Edition VIN 001 auction will take place on Friday, March 26 with the entire sale price benefiting the United Way for Southeastern Michigan’s 2-1-1 helpline to provide services to veterans and their families. Those interested in bidding in person, online or via phone can go to Barrett-Jackson.com and click on “Bid.” The Ram 1500 TRX VIN 001 being auctioned at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale is one of 702 Ram 1500 TRX Launch Edition models. Commemorating the most powerful truck with 702 horsepower straight from the factory, the 2021 1500 TRX Launch Edition is limited to 702 units – and sold out in less than three hours.

(Buick images)
On the other end of the spectrum, the 2021 Buick Envision is lower and wider, "with proportions and styling that combine the expressiveness of a car with the practicality of an SUV," according to Buick PR minions. Ingredients? Buick Driver Confidence Plus package: A suite of nine standard advanced safety and driver assistance technologies, including Forward Collision Alert, Front Pedestrian Braking and Rear Park Assist; Next-generation Buick infotainment system with the brand’s first available 10.2-inch-diagonal color touchscreen; Available Amazon Alexa integration, along with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto; A direct-injected 2.0-liter, 228HP Turbo engine and nine-speed automatic transmission with electronic shift control; Available all-wheel drive with electronically controlled twin-clutch operation; Available Continuous Damping Control suspension and Hands-free programmable power liftgate (standard on Essence and Avenir and available on Preferred). The three trims – Preferred, Essence and Avenir (available for the first time) – each incorporate specific design features. The Preferred and Essence trims have an available Sport Touring package with "a more agile appearance," darkened exterior touches and 20-inch wheels with a darkened finish. All models feature LED headlamps and taillamps and daytime running light signatures, as well as a welcome/walkaway lighting animation, which activates when using the key fob. The new Buick Envision is available now, with prices starting at $32,995 (including destination, excluding tax, title, license, dealer fees and optional equipment).

(All photos by Patrick Ernzen/2020 RM Auctions)
Editor-in-Chief's Note: We don't have a particular reason to post these photos, except that the Jaguar D-Type is one of our all-time favorite cars. This gorgeous machine - in its rare, correct-from-the-factory Red - was purchased new from Bernie Ecclestone by British racer Peter Blond; other notable former owners include racer Jean Bloxham and Peter Grant (Led Zeppelin's manager). It just changed hands at the RM Sotheby's auction in Scottsdale, Arizona on January 25, 2021 for $6 million dollars. -PMD 

AE Song of the Week:

I'm packed and I'm holding
I'm smiling, she's living, she's golden
And she lives for me
She says she lives for me
Ovation
She's got her own motivation
She comes round and she goes down on me
And I make her smile
It's like a drug for you
Do ever what you want to do
Coming over you
Keep on smiling, what we go through
One stop to the rhythm that divides you
And I speak to you like the chorus to the verse
Chop another line like a coda with a curse
And I come on like a freak show takes the stage
We give them the games we play, she said
I want something else
To get me through this
Semi-charmed kind of life, baby, baby
I want something else
I'm not listening when you say
Good-bye
The sky it was gold, it was rose
I was taking sips of it through my nose
And I wish I could get back there
Some place back there
Smiling in the pictures you would take
Doing crystal myth
Will lift you up until you break
It won't stop
I won't come down, I keep stock
With a tick-tock rhythm and a bump for the drop
And then I bumped up
I took the hit I was given
Then I bumped again
And then I bumped again
How do I get back there to
The place where I fell asleep inside you?
How do I get myself back to
The place where you said
I want something else
To get me through this
Semi-charmed kind of life, baby, baby
I want something else
I'm not listening when you say
Good-bye
I believe in the sand beneath my toes
The beach gives a feeling
An earthy feeling
I believe in the faith that grows
And the four right chords can make me cry
When I'm with you I feel like I could die
And that would be all right
All right
When the plane came in
She said she was crashing
The velvet it rips
In the city we tripped
On the urge to feel alive
But now I'm struggling to survive
The days you were wearing
That velvet dress
You're the priestess, I must confess
Those little red panties
They pass the test
Slide up around the belly
Face down on the mattress
One
Now you hold me
And we're broken
Still it's all that I want to do just a little I
Feel myself with a head made of the ground
I'm scared but I'm not coming down
And I won't run for my life
She's got her jaws just locked now in smile
But nothing is all right
All right
I want something else
To get me through this life
I want something else
I'm not listening when you say
Good-bye

 "Semi-Charmed Life" by Third Eye Blind from the album "Third Eye Blind" (1997)*. Written by Stephan Jenkins; Publisher: BMG Rights Management; Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind. Watch the video here. 

*In our interview with Third Eye Blind lead singer Stephan Jenkins, he said this song is "about falling apart." It relates specifically to a drug-induced high that makes everything fleetingly better. Said Jenkins: "Perfection is the moment right before gravity comes back in." This song describes a drug user's descent into crystal meth addiction. The line, "I want something else..." contains a reference to crystal meth in the song. Stephan Jenkins explained on the HBO show Reverb that they intentionally put a chipper melody to the dark lyrical content. Said Jenkins: "When I wrote 'Semi-Charmed Life,' the guitar riff was intended to have this sort of bright duh-nuhnuh-nunt, this shiny thing, because that was a feeling of speed. You know, it's sort of a bright, shiny drug. And we all were sort of into hip-hop, and so it has a hip-hop flow over it." The line: "Doing crystal meth will lift you up until you break" was a little racy for some radio stations, who played an edited version with the words "Crystal Meth" distorted. Talking about the deeper meaning of the song on Reverb, Jenkins said: "It's a song about always wanting something. It's about never being satisfied, and reaching backwards to things that you've lost and towards things that you can never get. I think everybody has some identification with that. The story line between the people, the demise of this relationship, is just an extreme example of that condition. I think that's what makes people really relate to 'Semi-Charmed Life.'" The band has admitted that they borrowed the doot doot doot part of the song from Lou Reed's "Walk On The Wild Side." (Knowledge courtesy of songfacts.com)