Artistic Photo #12

Citroen 2CV in Rome, Italy (Taken on August 11, 2015)

Car Lyric of the Week: Can't Tell Me Nothing and Mercy by Kanye West

     Can't Tell Me Nothing:

     "Let up the suicide doors
     This is my life homie, you decide yours"

     Mercy:

     "Let the suicide doors up
     I threw suicides on the tour bus
     I threw suicides on the private jet
     You know what that mean, I'm fly to death"










     On the defiant, yet introspective "Can't Tell Me Nothing," Kanye calls out the haters while reflecting on the consequences of wealth and fame. However, Yeezy also makes a small blunder: he mistakes scissor doors for suicide doors. Suicide doors are hinged at the rear and open backwards, and can be found on modern Rolls-Royces. Scissor doors are what Ye actually meant to rap about, as these open vertically, and these expensive contraptions have been made famous by Lamborghini. This is an excusable mistake on West's part, but unfortunately he made the exact same error five years later. On "Mercy," a Lamborghini Murcielago-dedicated banger off his collaboration album Cruel Summer, Kanye yet again messes up. Making the mistake once is understandable, but the fact that he spits essentially the same line five years later makes me wonder if no one told him he was wrong in the first place in fear of bruising his sensitive ego.

Suicide doors on a Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe at the 2015 New York Auto Show

Scissor doors on a Lamborghini Murcielgao at the 2015 New York Auto Show

BMW E24 6 Series

1987 BMW L6 in Baruch Houses in the Lower East Side, New York, New York 

In 2004, BMW resurrected the 6 Series nameplate on a slinky coupe which was adapted from the Z9 Concept. Designed when Chris Bangle was BMW's chief of design, the 6 Series' controversial exterior featured a bulbous rear end, squinty, upturned headlights, and snout-like grille. While certainly striking, the reborn E63 6 Series wasn't reminiscent of the aggressively handsome original. Introduced for the 1977 model year, the E24 6 Series replaced the CS coupe (which had spawned the legendary 3.0 CSL), and with its "shark-nose" styling the E24 is an imposing presence.

The 6 Series's good looks are entirely due to the front-end styling. The sharp forward-leaning grille and headlights give the impression that the BMW is charging forward, slicing through the air. This windswept look gives the coupe visual speed and a healthy dose of attitude. Like all '70s and '80s Bimmers, the twin headlights are integrated into black rectangular vents. However, this element looks best on the E24 due to the extremely skinny kidney grille that separates the vents. This causes the 6 Series to look wider than its BMW brethren, even though the width is similar to the 5 Series and far less than the 7 Series of the time.

A thin rectangular hood bulge that rises out of the kidney grille gives the car a powerful appearance. BMW was able to minimize the visual damage of the strict U.S. demands for bumpers by topping them off with chrome. The 6 Series features a subtle beltine, a light crease that flows from the headlights to the taillights uninterrupted. Around back, things are kept simple, with bland, blocky taillights outlined in chrome. The twin tailpipes peek from underneath the bumper, hinting at the 215 horses under the hood. Overall, while the rear fascia is a bit ordinary, the dramatic shark-nose front makes the 6 Series a handsome grand tourer.

Grade
Front: A
Back: B
Overall: A-