SilerRoad

Autos, travel, and random bits of coolness, as seen and heard by Steve Siler, automotive journalist (who's based in Los Angeles. but is almost never there)

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Re-entering rainy LA last week forced me to raise the roof on my #FerrariPortofino press car (and, alas, slow down a bit). Still couldn’t wipe the #smile off my face. #ilovemyjob #hardtopmodeengaged (at Los Angeles, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/BtzV32-nuMv/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1heneyq9isa0b

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Congratulations to @genesisworldwide for the #G70 sport sedan’s remarkable wins both of a #10best award from my primary client, @caranddriver magazine, and @motortrend’s #caroftheyear. It is not just beginner’s luck, it really is that good. #GenesisG70 #greatcars #newcomer #youcanstay https://www.instagram.com/p/BqxmlnQHFok/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=f3clbb7ezcwm

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The first #LAautoshow-related debut I saw actually won’t be at the show at all but instead stayed well offsite: the new #Bentley #continentalgtconvertible, presented in a Hollywood studio with the simplicity of early academy award shows. Or at least that’s my take on it. #dropdeaddroptop (at The Lot Studios) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bqu0njoHtlo/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=xs3vqaalt52o

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The global first drive of new #GLEClass is the latest new car launch hosted at one of my favorite hotels on earth, @thehotelemma in #SanAntonio, formerly the #pearlbrewery. I could return there every month and not complain. #luxurymeetscharacter. #HotelEmma #ilovemyjob #mbpressdrive #gle450 #gle350 #historicvenue #texas https://www.instagram.com/p/Bp5X8lpnHLG/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=9b8qsbn06hxz

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@mercedesbenz trotted out the first #MClass (aka #MLClass) off the line back in 1997 to the global first media drive program for its successor, the #GLEClass, in San Antonio, TX. The signatures of the workers at its then-new Tuscaloosa plant cover nearly every square inch of the white #ML320 with its gray bumpers. Incidentally, the global first media drive program for the M-Class was my very first #MBpressdrive, and I still have the 1:43 scale ML320 model I got on that program. #job1 #Jobone #mercedes #mbusa #GLEClass #Gledrive #signedanddelivered https://www.instagram.com/p/Bp5F7RGHYV5/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=2nyxie8uz8er

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Some highlights from of Great Autos of Yesteryear‘s #CasualConcours, which kicked off Palm Springs’ Fall Modernism Week. G. A. Y. has been around for a long time and no, the acronym is not accidental. Marvelous land yachts from #MalaiseEra and #Fintastic #Fifties mixed it up with many other things. All as remarkable as their owners. (at Palm Springs, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/BpXhJffHX1r/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=zqxt3oer4lzz

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So #Volvo took us skydiving the other day, and....Just kidding; I was out shooting the gorgeous new #S60 during our drive program in the hills north of Camarillo though, and it mighta been a little #windy. #selfie #easybreezy (at Moorpark, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/BpGMGJGnpSZ/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=he3ufvp1xabk

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For once, I’m looking forward to taking the #redeye. #niceknowingyatires ilovemyjob #Dodge #challenger #hellcat #hellcatredeye #797hp #Widebody #widebodyhellcat #musclecar #musclecarpics #musclecarsonly #musclecarsdaily #seeingred #torred https://www.instagram.com/p/Bo1451GnY8q/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=oyny62gwvdlf

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Enjoying the “sky” part of the #SkyLounge before taking to the sky in a few minutes. Homeward bound! #Delta #SkyDeck #NYC (at Delta Terminal - John F. Kennedy International Airport)

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This was the 2019 #MercedesBenz #CLS450 that @chowderseal and I sampled between Brooklyn and #Natirar, in Northern New Jersey this week. As before, the #CLS gets on much like the E-Class on which it’s based, only it looks sorts of sexier doing so. Especially rendered in this deep Black Cherry hue. #cherrybombshell #carporn #sexycar #fourdoorcoupe #sexysedansunday (at Natirar)

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Lunch venues are seldom chosen lightly for automotive media drive programs, and the one @mercedesbenz chose for last week’s #CLS450 U.S. media drive was no exception: #Natirar is a 35,000-sq-ft mansion built atop a hill in Northern New Jersey in 1912 for the heiress of the Macy’s fortune; in the 1980s was owned by the king of Morocco, who’s said to have visited it only four times. Freshly restored and eclectically furnished, the mansion is exquisite, not unlike the CLS459s we drove on the way there. #90acres #mbpressdrive #Mercedesbenz #mercedesbenzcls (at Natirar)

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Some cars actually can fly, at least with a little help from a crane. Ran outside just in time to see workers lowering the night’s debutant, the all-new #mercedesbenz #Aclass sedan from the site of its coming out party 11 stories up atop the #1hotelbrooklynbridge on Wednesday night. Is it me or did it come down kinda fast? Still pretty cool. #mbpressdrive #thenewaclass #flyingcar #lookoutbelow (at 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge)

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Since the #loungechair in my room was oh-so -soft...I lounged @1hotels #BrooklynBridge. #leisureset #lounge #justkiddingiwasworking #thatviewtho (at 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge)

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A Classy thing brought me to New York earlier this week. #MercedesBenz #Aclasssedan #worlddebut #brooklynbridge #seewhatididthere #legroom (at 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge)

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Orange you glad I fought to be the first journalist to drive the new #Mini #CooperJCW #InternationalOrange edition during MTTS2018? Here it is, brightening the landscape in eastern Arizona and western New Mexico. Oh yeah, and those exhaust pipes, with the Bluetooth-actuated internal flap, made it sound as loud as it looked. #minitakesthestates #orangerverything

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Totally found my spirit dinosaur in the #PetrifiedForest. #Fierceasaurus. 💅🏼 #werq #strikeapose #spiritdinosaur (at Petrified Forest National Park)

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#TwnArrows #MiniCooper #InternationalOrange #MTTS2018 #Thatwasclose (at Twin Arrows Trading Post)