Automobiles

[Too Tall]

So, do you think that is really better than a base 911? The only weight savings is the rear window and the door handles. Kind of reminds of " paint to sample".

Read the Jalopnik write up than tell me. With better brakes, easy fix, it would be a terrific track rat. Look for these in a few years for just that reason.

[Lionel]

For a track car I would take PDK though. MT is more engaging and more fun but definitely slower.

[Too Tall]

For a track car I would take PDK though. MT is more engaging and more fun but definitely slower.

Yeah yeah yeah. It's not slower, I'm slower.

[rwsaunders]

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the BMW 2002...if any of you are near Pittsburgh for the event, let me know and perhaps we can sneak a ride in between races. It's definitely an awesome event and the venue places you right there with the cars and their owners.

Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix

[dpcompt]

Read the Jalopnik write up than tell me. With better brakes, easy fix, it would be a terrific track rat. Look for these in a few years for just that reason.

The "T" is a great car, but a pretty expensive start for creating a track rat. After buying the car, then the brakes, then the springs, then the tires. Then replacing the clutch with a single plate?
I like the old mid-late eighties Carreras with their simple torsion bars. A lot easier start, and a lot lighter and a lot easier to lighten even more.

[dpcompt]

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the BMW 2002...if any of you are near Pittsburgh for the event, let me know and perhaps we can sneak a ride in between races. It's definitely an awesome event and the venue places you right there with the cars and their owners.

Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix

Wow, a 2002 turbo. I have never seen one in person.

[htwoopup]

I suppose the difference between NYC and Montreal is that in Canada if you have a 5-600 HP Ford daily driver you can park it on the street.

IMG_3525 by Jon Mandel, on Flickr
IMG_3528 by Jon Mandel, on Flickr
IMG_3531 by Jon Mandel, on Flickr

[deano]

Ok need advice about the opposite kind of car from the one above. My beloved 98 Sienna got totaled right about the time we dismantled our lives for the second time and moved back to NC after a brief, expensive season trying out Nashville. Less income, expensive process of selling and buying another "this Old House", and now we po'. Not truly po' as we have been lucky despite a truly hard year, but back to one modest income, baby at home, and an expensive season, and I need a get around with dog/baby/MTB/home Depot car or me and baby gonna be stuck close to home.

Anyway, after buying an old house I need to dip into the 3k$ I got from the insurance company for other stuff plus I am not seeing much around 3k in the van market and I need something CHEAP anyway. What I have seen are a few circa 99-00 Volvo wagons (a 96 860, too) and a few VW Passat and Jetta wagons circa 2000, 02, etc. In the 1500 to 2500 range. We loved our TDI sportwagen and our 2001 Turbo Beetle...I know there are volvo and vw devotees on here... Assuming maintenance records looking good, what years/motors, etc VW and Volvo wagons do you guys trust?

Many thanks,
JZ ,typing on the cheap

[lumpy]

If I were spending $1500 to $2500, I wouldn't be looking at VW's and Volvos, honestly. At that end of the market I think you have to look really carefully at the individual car and not so much at the make and model. Like, does it look like stuff has been taken apart and put back together again? Are screw heads rounded out? Does the wiring all look original, or does it look like the harnesses have been cut open and taped back together when someone was looking for a problem?

If money was really tight I'd try to find a clean domestic sedan at an estate sale.

[xjoex]

This is beyond cool. A Geo Metro truck, truckmo? The finish was really good too.






-Joe

[xjoex]

Also, seriously the bronco is just so good looking.





-Joe

[Too Tall]

Ok need advice about the opposite kind of car from the one above. My beloved 98 Sienna got totaled right about the time we dismantled our lives for the second time and moved back to NC after a brief, expensive season trying out Nashville. Less income, expensive process of selling and buying another "this Old House", and now we po'. Not truly po' as we have been lucky despite a truly hard year, but back to one modest income, baby at home, and an expensive season, and I need a get around with dog/baby/MTB/home Depot car or me and baby gonna be stuck close to home.

Anyway, after buying an old house I need to dip into the 3k$ I got from the insurance company for other stuff plus I am not seeing much around 3k in the van market and I need something CHEAP anyway. What I have seen are a few circa 99-00 Volvo wagons (a 96 860, too) and a few VW Passat and Jetta wagons circa 2000, 02, etc. In the 1500 to 2500 range. We loved our TDI sportwagen and our 2001 Turbo Beetle...I know there are volvo and vw devotees on here... Assuming maintenance records looking good, what years/motors, etc VW and Volvo wagons do you guys trust?

Many thanks,
JZ ,typing on the cheap

Hold your nose and hear me. Get something that nobody wants and has served commuters for eons. A dodge caravan. It is a "get you by" until you have the scratch for a better rig. They run forever and nobody wants them. Pull the rear seats out and you have a cargo van.

[deano]

No suspension of disbelief necessary, Josh... You shoulda seen my Sienna. Was all you described. Vsns are the best.... Just expanding since the Sienna market here is drier than expected... Will consider Caravans, too. Have fond memories of driving around in one with high school buds throwing objexts at mailboxes and streetsigns. But I have been reformed.

[htwoopup]

While some may find this normal, being a native NY City person I am still incredulous (picking up from the Ford GT parked on the street in Montreal)...

Maybe some may find Porsches parked willy nilly in their city, but I never see them parked on a street of a major city..much less with the top down and your personal stuff just tossed in the back seat while you are inside somewhere not even hovering over it....

IMG_3579 by Jon Mandel, on Flickr

IMG_3578 by Jon Mandel, on Flickr

And there was this Lambo....

IMG_3576 by Jon Mandel, on Flickr

The weirdest part of the Lambo...on checking it out I learned that you can rent it to drive it for 20 minutes for 95 CAD. Since I saw a kid (forgive me for the blatant stereotyping) who clearly didn't own it total a Porsche 911 Turbo S right in front of me on the FDR drive this morning while I was driving up to Canada (I checked and he wasn't hurt but whoever's car is a goner and it was brand new), I don't think I am ready to do that for a hundy and sign all that paperwork.

[rwsaunders]

It’s not often that you spot a 1969 GTO convertible towing a decked out (bass?) boat. Check out the headers on the boat engine.

[Too Tall]

He wins. Good eye R.W.

loud as !@#$ hedders open always a winner in my book.

[rwsaunders]

One more for you Josh...dude was motoring around 85mph on Friday just outside of Indy, even with the telemark skis and luggage mounted on the “boot”. I just can’t figure out where he would be skiing in July.

[Too Tall]

Bloody re-enactors!!!!

FWIIW Last year I did a High Performance Driver Ed. with local PCA. It was cold as heck and not really great conditions. All that to place emphasis and laude kudos on the gent who was there hooning his remarkable 1950(something) Porsche Concours car....yep the real deal...basically a priceless automobile. Skid pad no problem etc. etc. Loved that guy.

[rwsaunders]

Just another Monday evening walking on Walnut Street in the Shadyside neighborhood of Pittsburgh...Oh wait...the Pittsburgh Vintage Gran Prix is in full swing and a few boys and girls dropped by for gelato. I mixed it up for you folks as I know that there are some Porsche and Vette fans amongst us. As for Ford GT's, there were only a handful.

[nahtnoj]

No suspension of disbelief necessary, Josh... You shoulda seen my Sienna. Was all you described. Vsns are the best.... Just expanding since the Sienna market here is drier than expected... Will consider Caravans, too. Have fond memories of driving around in one with high school buds throwing objexts at mailboxes and streetsigns. But I have been reformed.

A Ford Taurus station wagon? Saw a super clean one parked in someone's yard...$1500. You can barely buy any running car for $1500 these days.