Bianco On Cars: Auto Sound – Recession Proof?

Cars By Todd Bianco, West Hollywood, California (Monday, July 20, 2009) - Last holiday season, I treated myself to a Sirius Stiletto hand-held portable satellite radio receiver. The Stiletto is about the size of a cell phone and it's a cool, slick way to listen to the service in multiple locations.

Todd �Evan� Bianco has written about cars and Los Angeles on his website acarisnotarefrigerator.com from his West Hollywood base for many years.

You can listen through headphones or docking station and when you're not in range of a satellite it uses a wireless internet connection. Once you've experienced satellite radio, it's painful to listen to commercial terrestrial radio again.

One of the accessories in the package was a vehicle docking kit that I planned to put in my second vehicle, a sad-looking 2002 Mazda B3000 pickup truck (which is identical to a Ford Ranger). The truck is perfectly serviceable for the occasional run to Ikea, the nursery or Home Depot.

Last week, I finally got around to installing the vehicle docking kit in the Mazda. After a morning of frustration with the antenna installation and the horrible FM transmitter reception, I gave up and decided to pay to get it professionally installed with direct audio input.

Just a few blocks away from me here in West Hollywood is an Al & Ed's Autosound, at the corner of Santa Monica Blvd and La Cienega. This place always seems busy, despite the tanked economy and a 40% decline in auto sales.

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I had to make an appointment for this simple installation. On a Tuesday I booked the first appointment for Thursday morning. At that time, I was the only car scheduled for that day.

A Bentley awaiting sound. Photo by Todd Bianco. WeHo News.

I showed up on Thursday morning at 9:00 am and no one was there yet. They opened about 15 minutes late. No big deal, I wasn't in a hurry. One other customer drove up in a new Bentley Continental GT Convertible. I guess if you can afford $200 grand for a daily driver, why not upgrade the infotainment system?

I left the truck there with the keys and the docking kit, but they wanted me to bring the Stiletto so they could make sure the system worked properly when they were finished. I walked home and in about an hour, I drove back in my MINI to drop off the Stiletto.

Oh. My. God. When I pulled in, the parking lot was full, the place was crawling with installers and there was an eye-popping array of ultra-expensive luxury/sports cars parked in the garage bays and around the perimeter.

The average person may not realize that the lofty price of a car does not necessarily mean it has the latest, greatest infotainment electronics.

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For example, an ultra-rare, $313,350 (base price) Ferrari Scuderia Spider 16M doesn't come with a radio. Ferrari gives you an 16 gigabyte iPod Touch docked horizontally in the dash. If you want a radio, CD player and Bluetooth, that an extra several thousand dollars. Sure the custom-designed Ferrari iPod is cool; but the factory system needs extra amps to the speakers and thumping subwoofer.

Ferrari Scuderia Spider. Photo by Todd Bianco. WeHo News.

There is no substitute for cranking up Born to Run or Thunder Road and singing along at the top of your lungs racing down a deserted freeway at double the posted speed limit. If you can afford the Ferrari, an extra $10 or $20 grand is chump change.

Here's some eye candy from Al & Ed's that day:

New Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder: Base MSRP $217,560

Two new Bentley Continental GTCs (convertibles): Base MSRP $197,500. The optional $6,900 Bentley Premium Audio System probably isn't good enough.

New Tesla Roadster Sport: Base MSRP $128,500 with the $6,000 Executive Leather Interior. I wonder if they got the $12,000 replacement battery pack?

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New Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead Coup�: Base MSRP $434,000 with the $17,000 Brushed Stainless Steel Hood and Teak Deck Combo.

Lamborghini seeking tunes. Photo by Todd Bianco. WeHo News.

2006 Aston Martin DB9 Coupe: Approximate resale value: $75-$80,000 if you can find one.

New Range Rover Sport Supercharged: Base MSRP: $71,825.

New Smart ForTwo Cabriolet Passion: Base MSRP $16,990.

Classic (1967 or 1968?) Toyota Corona 1600 Automatic Sedan: Collector value unknown. This car is a California car in amazing original condition. The owner wanted to put in a good sound system; but it had to be hidden so as not to spoil the original dashboard.

My 2009 MINI Cooper Clubman S: Base MSRP: $23,700. As configured with factory options, $37,800. The factory premium sound system with satellite and high-definition radio is just fine for me, but some audiophiles may want some more punch from the speakers.

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I learned that even in a recession, people in LA have lots of money to burn on cars and high-end infotainment/audio systems. At least it's good for the economy. Spend baby, spend!

For many years, Todd �Evan� Bianco has written about cars and Los Angeles on his website acarisnotarefrigerator.com from his West Hollywood base.

Mr. Bianco�s focuses on the car biz and cars as they exist with us here in WeHo and Los Angeles, not in Detroit. He covers subjects as diverse as hybrid hype, the influence of the Asians in So Cal, trends, etc.

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Mr. Bianco had a weekly radio show on Sirius Out-Q for a year, and returned to the air with The John McMullen Show on KNEWS AM 870 * 1140 * 1250 knewsradio.com on March 3, 2008.

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