"A common myth about Alcantara is that it's made from the skin of the wild Alcantar — a llama/ostrich hybrid from the borderlands between Peru and Greece whose massive thigh haunches are used to make those huge cones of gyro meat."
You mean this little guy? They are a bugger to catch. You have to be real quite.......you have to listen for when they fart. Makes a awful sound when they do.
You guys are weird. Everybody knows Alcantara is named after the island prison in San Francisco Bay, where the fabric first was manufactured by inmates who didn't have the necessary skills to work in the prison laundry. Workers on the Island of Alcantara produced the namesake fabric until the facility closed in 1963. Today, Alcantara fabric is produced by sophisticated robots in dozens of factories run by automotive parts suppliers around the world.
Sadly Naugha's have become extinct. Their luxurious hide was only one reason. Seems they were pretty darned tasty if prepared correctly. I hear the Leatherette is on the endangered list.
I was about to place my R53 order back in 2004 when I was hit by a 20% corporate 'reduction in force'... AKA: I was laid off. It took me a few years to recover from the unemployed time after that event, but in late 2005 I was ready to write the check and place my order. I went to a dealership where I had done a test drive a few weeks earlier... it was a Saturday afternoon at 2:30pm. When I got to the front door of the dealership, I was surprised to see that it was locked. I could see a receptionist inside, sitting at a desk. I tapped on the glass, tugged on the door and gave her a pantomime shrug to ask nicely "WTF"? She shook her head "no" and tapped her watch. I pointed to the "Hours of Operation" sign on the door (it said they close at 6pm) and nodded "Yes" back to her. She just shrugged and went back to her computer. Funny... I was there with my checkbook in hand and my order specification. I drove 30 minutes to another dealership and ordered my MINI. The admin had cost them a sale without even getting out of her chair. Lucky for me... I had a GREAT MA at my new dealership. He knew that I was a 'sneezer' (a viral marketing term for someone who spreads the word of the brand) and treated me well. I had a stack of his business cards in the glove box and got a thank you note from him every time (over 10 times) that I sent him a referral. I know that I sold at least 3 cars for him. Anytime I was in the dealership, he would toss me a set of keys for whatever fun car they had outside for test drives and would tell me to go out and flog it. In for an oil change? Take the new JCW out for some lunch! I sure miss Neil! Recently, I bought a new car (a non-MINI). I went to my local dealership, and test drove with a very nice sales guy. They only had 2 cars on the lot that were near my specification... neither one a huge favorite. I sent him an email the next morning saying "Thanks for your time and the test drive. I don't really like your 2 in stock cars. Here are 2 cars located at another dealership in-state that I'd like to make a deal on... please provide pricing on a dealer trade for these 2 cars... If needed, I can fly down and pick it up myself." I did the research, manually looking at every California dealer's inventory... I served the sale up to him on a silver platter. He came back with "Here's a deal on the white one in my showroom right now". Really? Were you not listening? I did all of the work for you and you still couldn't be bothered to do what I wanted? I picked up the phone and 10 min later had a deal done directly with the other dealership. They picked me up at the airport, took me to sign the papers and I was driving home in the new car about 1 hour after the plane landed. My lesson to car sales guys: The world is much smaller than it used to be. There are LOTS of new car dealers and I can very easily go to another one. I can see their inventory on-line, see average sale prices in my zip code and transmit docs via emails. I don't want to be an ass... I just want you to listen to me, respect my wishes and then work a deal honestly with me that makes us both happy (you get a fair profit and I get a fair price on the car). Is it that complicated?
Nauga hides were way too popular when I was growing up. My Dad had a furniture upholstery and repair business so we had rolls and rolls of the stuff. The worst part? The most popular version looked almost exactly like this, but shinier.
My Grandmother had that plastic covering for as long as I can remember. The carpets has plastic runners on them too, you could only walk on them, stray onto the carpet and the scowl was enough to curdle milk.