That Toyota is money.
My brother and I are fighting over who gets to buy this '68 off my dad when he gets tired of it:
http://mjr77.tumblr.com/photo/1280/3...c4wvf8v1qg7g9s
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That Toyota is money.
My brother and I are fighting over who gets to buy this '68 off my dad when he gets tired of it:
http://mjr77.tumblr.com/photo/1280/3...c4wvf8v1qg7g9s
When it comes to cars, low mass is it's own reward.
As the late great DED Jr.said, cogito ergo zoom.
http://www.rocket-car.co.uk/
G-d love the Brits, this is street legal in Britain.
Awesome intel, thanks bud. We've got some friends here through the cycling scene that have two of them and seem to be having good luck.
That S40 is so friggin' 'spensive to get parts for to work on myself, let alone pay somebody else to do it. We had what would otherwise be a <$20 flex pipe fail, and Volvo uses a proprietary ovalized pipe that of course can't be purchased and welded in separately. Required purchase of an entire catalytic converter assembly from the turbo back, cost of about $600-700 plus labor. Eek. Managed to save some cost by dropping the old assembly out and buying parts online and picking up in person, but the high-temp bolts going in to the turbo exhaust flange had rusted and completely seized in place. After pipe torches and PB Blaster and some bleeding and burns, I eventually cried uncle and brought it down the street for a local shop to work them out.
We have lots of customer cars in here for government required testing and the story is the same on all of the turbo cars with any sort of mileage on them. Even our very experienced shop technician ends up cutting/drilling a lot of those cooked bolts out - the turbo gets friggen hot. I'm impressed that you had a decent go at it.
Those high-temp bolts are so friggin' hard. I can't remember the exact temp., but I think a mechanic told me that flange gets to be something like 2K* F? Bolt heads rusted to the point they just crumbled when I took a socket to them, yet still so hard that it took a carbide bit on my Dremel (yup, Dremel), about four trips to Sears for more carbide bits, and a lot of anger and and a bit of delicacy to get through them, and eventually I was able to drop it the whole thing out.
Fortunately, I have a very competent mechanic in walking / beach cruiser distance who is quite forgiving. He was able to pop the headless bolts out with some sort of extractor - no more cutting or drilling. Impressive.
Do I get bonus points for doing all of this outside, during the winter, after work, and in the dark with a headlamp? Dear Lord I hope I never have to go through with that again.
Brilliant! Just a bit of heat here, a hammer there, we could go full-rigid. Who needs a flex pipe anyway.
i love my mustang bullitt- it's the perfect car for american roads, speed limits and massive cultural superiority complex. it's loud, handles as well as my old e46 coupe, but doesn't drive nearly as smooth and is geared so fucking low you'll never look down on a dark desolate highway and go, oh shit i'm driving 130mph which is a real problem with an m3.
but that's not the car for you- the car for you is a mid nineties ford escort wagon. i had one after i rolled a '84 gti... it sucked but it was so fucking cheap to fix to fill up and to own. plus you could live in it. get the baby blue.
or if you want the modern equivalent buy pontiac vibe/toyota matrix.
A viable option. Could be a female companion for my mid-90's Ford F-150. I ha've done pretty well living in my truck, although that only lasted about ten days.
I think I'd actually be better off in one of these (bit more roomy), although gas mileage would surely suffer:
http://www.stationwagon.com/gallery/...y_Squire_2.jpg
I'm off to the quickie mart to peruse an Auto Trader while pretending to shop for kleenex.
I am a huge fan of the VW Passat I have. Its got 158,000 miles and runs perfectly. I would love to grab a wagon version to replace my suburban for an event transport I can sleep in before heading home.
I'm not above something like an Escort wagon, and I already own a Matrix that my wife drives.
The beauty of these little shit-boxes is that it's obvious you don't care about them. They're just transportation, pure utility. And the ability to treat them like the crap they are is what saves them from being undignified.
Eddie, I can help you find a wagon.
In addition to four motorcycles and a metric shitton of bikes, Baggins and I own three cars. Hers is a 2006 Subaru Outback. Tons of tubo lag and the transmission sucks like there is tomorrow. Beyond that it is a wonderful car and we will own it until the wheels fall off. I have a 2003 Subaru Baja (in yellow of course) that I bought new. It has 135k on it and drives like I bought the sonofabitch last week. It is ugly as hell but I can take it camping, haul seven bikes with it, haul 8' lumber, and it drives like a car. I also have a 2007 BMW M- Coupe. 335HP in a car that weighs less than I do. It rides like a buckboard log wagon, loads of road noise because you sit right next to the rear wheels, is a bitch to get in and out of and if you are over 6' 1" or so you can forget about it. Impractical as hell but more fun than should be legal and I absolutely adore it.
So, what does that say about me? I genuinely don't give a shit.
http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2...57161.3-lg.jpg
http://car3bmw.co.cc/pictures/car/im...oupe-4-lg1.jpg
Bajas never sold much but those who have them, love them dearly. The first few test protoypes (before they decided on the Baja name) came with leather seats that had Brat embossed in them. I held onto a set for 3-4 years after the proto got crushed, but when we moved I must have gotten rid of them. There are two Bajas in my neighborhood. One guy is a carpenter and he uses the $hit out of his.
I want one of these:Attachment 31103
I can put a cap on it and use it for events where I may have to sleep after.
I was checking out a 58 Edsel last weekend, pretty sure I could be comfortable sleeping in the trunk. Massive, massive, car.
My take on Bajas is that they're a classic auto industry fumble--an ugly utility vehicle that they try to prettify. Own the ugly and speak to the DIY crowd. Paint that sucker a dark matte color that you're not afraid to lean lumber against. Give it steel work wheels that look good dirty instead of wheel covers that look good at the mall.
Just to follow up on this one - last weekend, I tried to get my bike in the back of my '11 Impreza. My 58 would require pulling both the seatpost and cranks to fit in the very back, without seats folded. It's not a very tall car. But I find it fits the bill otherwise. The Impreza is geting bigger for the '12 model year. I got an '11 cause I wanted a small car, something manufacturers don't seem to get.
The two small cars I want in my driveway.
A perfect balance atmo - The smaller one easily holds a couple bikes. The larger one will take you across the country in style and comfort.
I'm waiting for the Volvo D5 diesel engine or the Subaru diesel boxer. They can wrap whatever kind of body around it, I'll take it.
Bring Subaru Diesel to the US! | Facebook
If our XC70 dies before either of these are available, I'll be a V-Dub TDI owner.
:shaggy:
I want Volkswagen to come through on the mothballed return of the Microbus: Volkswagen Microbus - Concept Cars - Motor Trend
Every year at the Philadelphia Auto Show, I ask the Volvo reps to give us the diesel. I explain that their current offerings are a 1/2 ton heavier and get worse gas mileage than my 17 year old Volvo, and if they want me to take them seriously they need bring the diesel here. A V70 that got 40-45 mpg would be phenomenal, but I do not hold my breath.
Practicality has a beauty all its own. I saw nothing wrong w/the Pontiac Aztek.
I'd take any one of these:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LMBo9ukqe1...ncro%2Bwith%2B
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AbcjkuLehi...7.%2B-%2B3.jpg
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-f9AJyjMkHo...s.%2B-%2B2.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WJKBKnRhyp...uebird%2B2.jpg
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UL_0CpzTrv...o.%2B-%2B3.jpg
stare at more parked cars
It's a shame they don't make these anymore.
http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets...aForza-suv.jpg
Not sure, but you can do redneck shit like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGrw1...layer_embedded
It basically has Ford Explorer guts, so maintenance shouldn't be too bad.
There are vans like that all over Japan. I think they're mostly Subarus.
http://www.yellowhorse.co.jp/img/eve-pepa-1.jpg
more here.
They're TINY little 660cc engines, fun to drive though and surprisingly spacious.
The Sambar. My favorite one:
http://images.uncyc.org/pt/6/69/Suba...uningTruck.jpg
2010 Jetta TDI Sedan.....
Stick; diesel (32-35 around town; 45'ish on the highway). Seats fold down in back and I have no problem getting my 56 bikes in taking the front wheel off. Lots of low end torque (it's a diesel, no?). Great ride.
Some at work tell me that guys my age have been known to get their teenage daughters Jettas when they get they need a car; I could give a sh*t if that is the image, I don't have a daughter, and it really doesn't matter to me.
When looking 18-24 months ago I was frustrated by the lack of diesel options in America; almost all of the models I was looking at have diesel offerings in Japan and Europe.
I'm shopping for a car and will purchase sometime this summer. Like Marco, I want a diesel but am frustrated by the offerings. I've wanted a diesel since the early Rabbits hit our shore with them back in about '78 or so. Diesel or not, I want something that gets reasonable fuel economy. LOTS of vehicles will get you 30mpg, but that isn't really very good. My '81 Civic gasser got over 40 easy.
What I'd like is 35mpg+ in a vehicle I can stand at least two bikes up in w/o front wheels. If I can't get it I'm going all out mpg and will probably get a VW diesel wagon. I can then at least get good mileage and carry them broken down.
I just bought a Golf TDi, amazing little car, Saab has a GTi and can stand his bikes up with the seatpost removed. I lay my Goodrich down and it fits just fine with the front wheel removed, 63.5 frame over 101cm wheelbase. I still in the breakin period but my last fill up was 33mpg. I average around 30k miles a year for work, the difference in fuel cost was amazing when I ran the numbers.
Craig,
Check out the Honda Fit. The rear seat folds in such a way as to create a huge well in the floor right behind the seats. Two bikes can stand in there perpendicular to the center line of the car. EPA ratings on these are conservative, high 30s are obtainable on the highway.
Amie and I are in the process of buying a Fit now. It is somewhat maddening. I am accustomed to purchasing vehicles from the family mechanic who can get anything via auction. He was quoting me some prices this morning, and until you get done with auction fees, inspection, transportation, and a small profit for the dealer, a 2009 with 20K will cost more than a new one.
Lightly used small cars aren't the deals they used to be. I think this is the first time in my life that the best value is to just buy new.
I did the same thing with my Subaru. Could barely find a used with a manual trans., but they were all more than just buying a new one.
When you can buy new for well under invoice, and at a good interest rate, it seems like new is the new used, as far as deals go.
I bought ours new last October, and it was almost painless. I called every Honda dealer in a 25 mile radius of Boston and told them I wanted their best price on a new Fit Sport with an automatic - price, destination, tax, title, everything. Some were great and gave me exactly what I asked for. Some started the stereotypical car salesman bullshit. They got dropped from the shopping list. We went to the lowest price dealer first and drove the car. We liked the car and the dealer. After briefly considering driving around all day to see if someone might beat the price, we bought it. From my first call to buying the car was about 10 days. It cost less than I expected - a combination of the end of the model year and end of the month, I think.
Interestingly, the place the dealer tried to gouge us was accessories. We wanted wheelocks, floormats and a cargo net. They quoted us prices above MSRP. I went online and got them for 30% under MSRP, delivered to my door the same day I picked up the car...