#qotd

I promise that today's QOTD is (likely) the last one I do based on my international travel last week.

It's also something that was already on my mind long before I booked this vacation since I am an American working for a Canadian company.

Yup, we're gonna talk about the metric system.

As I noted yesterday, I was spotting a lot of unusual (to us) vehicles while I was out of the country on vacation last week.

So, naturally, I wanted to ask you about forbidden fruit and what cars you'd bring here if you could. But there's a twist.

I was on vacation over the past 9-ish days -- don't ask me the exact number, since there was a lot of time-zone crossing and I don't want to do the math. I was in Tanzania, and while the focus of the trip was spotting animals in the Serengeti, I also was doing some serious car spotting during the time we spent nearer the large cities.

We know that local news loves to do service journalism, and last month, KSAT in San Antonio published a piece about five ways to save on car insurance.

Years ago, teenage me was leafing through an issue of Car and Driver that was already a bit old when I happened upon one of those rare magazine/newspaper columns that changes your life, or at least how you see things.

Come Sunday, I am blowing this pop stand for an overseas vacation. I'm skipping across the pond with one of my parents on a family journey -- though thanks to the magic of advance scheduling, you may still see my byline here and there while I'm out.

I've seen the itinerary, and it looks like I won't be driving a car from the moment I return a press car today until I am back.

That's fine -- but it got me pondering something.

I am almost certain we've asked this question, or a variation of it, relatively recently, but I want to ask it anyway in light of recent stories -- are YOU going to, or at least willing to, buy an EV any time soon?

Ford's long-awaited revitalization of the old Michigan Central train station has begun.

Today's Chevrolet Bolt news means that while the number of EVs on the market is growing overall, there aren't many EVs out there, at present, that would be considered "affordable."

We talked last week about how the Land Rover name will be retired and the models currently on sale, along with Jaguar, will become subbrands.

We've covered the Honda Civic Type R's Nurburgring time twice already because we find it pretty interesting to see what a FWD sports car can do.

That said, we also know that manufacturers love to tout the 'Ring times whenever they can.

We're wondering, do you care?

I am a big believer that cars have a feel, based on their brand. Meaning that the way materials look, feel, and even smell vary from brand to brand.

In other words, I think if you blindfolded me and sat me in any Honda made within the past 20 years, for example, and then moved me into any Toyota from the last two decades, I'd probably guess which brand car I was in (not sure I'd get the model, though).

Last night I walked past a parked older -- early Aughts -- Honda Accord, and then I heard it start up and I immediately recognized that sound, in part because I owned a '97 Accord myself.

A piece of news crossed my desk concerning toymaker Playmobil striking a licensing deal with Ferrari.

Today's UCOTD got me thinking -- what now-dead '90s brands do you miss?