From the looks of it, you all enjoyed me messing with the Friday formula, so we’ll keep it up for a while and see where it takes us. We might look at a pair of cars from Copart or police auctions or six-figure Bring A Trailer auctions. But only on Fridays. The rest of the week, it’s nothing but $2,500 clunkers as far as the eye can see. So let’s see which little British car you fancied:...
Also, I always liked the look of these Monzas, this one from 1975, which sort of fit in the same general category of American hatchbacks like the Pinto and the Pacer; they all shared some odd proportions and detail choices from the rear, and I kinda like them: wide butts, rectangular taillights, clean lines, minimal detail, big windows–you get it. I also really like some of the other details of the car that were chosen to be highlighted in the brochure:...
She probably did. But maybe not? Anyway, we made it another week! Thanks so much for sticking with us! More importantly, Charlize Theron or Angelina Jolie for the part of “Greta”? Yeah, every now and then you DO feel like a spy, and then the key breaks off in the ignition between the seats when it’s 12 degrees in December. That was a fun morning. Olaf : Can you drive?...
Still, I’m pleased to say lots of people spent time looking at the humble little orphaned car, enjoying its Yugoslav charms while ignoring the Ferrari right next door. Then on the way out, I was encouraged to burn some rubber, and did, squeaking the tires in a comic chirp, and then immediately having to pull over as my throttle cable broke. I jammed a pen into the throttle linkage to hold it at about 35% open, which was good enough to get home, even if it meant stoplights were loud....
What is it about the face and stature of this delivery van that makes it look like it’s terribly unsure of some decision it just made? I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a van look so pensive and uncertain. It’s worried. Someone needs to tell it everything’s going to be okay. It’s going to be just fine, little van. Just let us know what we can do. Want some 20W-50?...
Now, I get that the pool of forgotten yet worth-considering Mercurys isn’t huge, so I wouldn’t expect this to be a long-term thing, but at least we can say we did our part. And I want to start this one with a car that I think is generally forgotten, at least in the mainstream mind: the Mercury Cyclone. The Cyclone was a muscle car, but when people think of Ford-made muscle cars, even many gearhead people, your list will be dominated by Mustangs, with maybe some Cobras thrown in, maybe even a Torino, and if you absolutely demand a Mercury, you’re going to get a Cougar....
According to the Detroit Free Press, Ford is bolstering its EV supply chain to increase production and pass some savings on to consumers. This makes a lot of sense, as bulk component orders typically get cheaper per unit as the quantity grows, allowing Ford to take better advantage of economies of scale. Price cuts should better position the Mustang Mach-E against competitors like the Tesla Model Y. As Ford Model e (that’s Ford’s electric vehicle divison) chief customer officer Marin Gjaja put it in the aforementioned Detroit Free Press piece, “We’ve been planning to adjust for [the Inflation Reduction Act]....
The officer on the other line asked me if I’m a person named Mercedes Streeter. After confirming that I am, the officer asks me if I own the two yellow Smart Fortwos parked in my apartment’s parking lot. After a brief pause to wonder how they got yellow from two very blue cars I answer that both cars are blue and yes, they are mine. But the police already know that, as they pulled my plates and found that both vehicles are registered to me....
Meet Optimum No-Rinse, a nifty little solution that’s become an indispensable part of my cleaning arsenal. First, disclosure. I’m not sponsored in any way by Optimum Car Care, I just like their shit. Apparently so do a lot of detailers, with Obsessed Garage having called Optimum No-Rinse “the standard” for rinseless car wash chemicals. Now, there are other rinseless car wash options out there and McKee’s 37 N-914 is good stuff, but I just keep coming back to Optimum No-Rinse....
The Douglas DC-3 is one of the aircraft credited with making flying popular with people and profitable with airlines. It’s a plane so recognized throughout history that you’ll even find it in video games only tangentially related to aviation. As I’ve found, even non-avgeeks can sometimes identify one. The DC-3 Changed Aviation Back in 1934, a four-year-old American Airlines (then known as American Airways) approached the Douglas Aircraft Company with a request for a new plane....
Looks like a pretty clear win for the Chevy. I imagine the price disparity had a lot to do with that. As of this writing, the Chevy is still cheaper, but catching up: $2,575 to $5,100. Still a hell of a deal. The longer I write this column, the more I start to figure out what cars are good choices. It’s not always about picking “good” cars; in fact, some of the best discussions we’ve had so far have been about cars that no one in their right mind would buy....
In a typical windshield wiper arrangement, you have at least one blade and at least one separate windshield washer fluid nozzle located on the hood or in the cowl or even on the wiper arm. Hit the control for the washer function and a big spritz of washer fluid gets pumped onto the windshield. While a dose of this cleaning cocktail can help get dirt off your windshield, a fan-style fluid nozzle is hardly effective at evenly covering the entire swept area of the wiper blades....
Here’s the current situation with Operation DT Leaves Detroit: It’s a shitstorm. Out front of my house sit two cars: a 1994 Jeep Grand Cherokee (five-speed manual) and a Scion XB “Autopian Test Car.” The first is a vehicle I’m trying to get to California, except I’ve been unable to secure a loaner press vehicle to act as the tow rig. My plan is to try to get it operable enough to be shipped to CA, though that’s going to be very difficult....
A post shared by Brandon Smisek (@5m153k) From what I can tell, this buggy, which also seems to be called the Stark, originates back in 2011, as a design project from Brandon Smisek, who has been posting photos from the earliest stages of the project, including the initial design sketches and foam models. According to Smisek’s Instagram, he’s a clay modeler for Kia, which explains why he seems to be so damn good at this: it’s his job....
In the early-1990s, Porsche faced slow sales and dwindling cash reserves. With a 240 million Deutschmark loss in 1992 alone, the company wasn’t in great shape. A later analysis concluded that the 911 and the then new Boxster did not have the staying power to keep the brand afloat. Porsche believed that in the long run, it would be trending downward again. It needed a vehicle to pump much needed cash into the brand to help secure its future....
Ooh, a tight race! But it looks like it’s the Thunderbird by a mere ten votes as of now. Yes, I know it actually shows eleven. I used to be able to see the results without voting, but it won’t let me anymore, so one vote for the T-Bird is me. Usually it doesn’t matter, and usually I end up picking the losing car anyway. Now then: It’s common knowledge that automakers share engines, and have for a long time....
I mean, sure, both of the models screened into the background there are lovely people, but there’s something about the attractive yet eerie blankness of the woman’s look that’s weirdly haunting. She looks like a person on pause, a lovely yet frozen cypher. What’s going on here? Does that little Fiat have the power to command minds? Is that what we’re seeing? The other images don’t do much to dissuade this idea, like the singing up there....
Because of the way China’s economy is intertwined with its government, we have to start this discussion about electric trucks with some background on how electric truckmakers are organized. Chinese Truckmakers Tend To Be Government-Owned The Chinese truck market is bizarrely fragmented, with dozens of small, medium, and large truckmakers competing for market share. The market is still strongly regionally divided, with only a minority of China’s truckmakers sells nationwide....
Thanks in part to a 42 kWh battery pack, the Abarth 500e puts out 155 horsepower and 173 lb.-ft. of torque. That might not sound like massive output, but the way electric vehicles put power down means that the new Abarth 500e should be quicker than the old gasoline-powered model. Abarth figures its new car can run from 25 mph to 37 mph in just a second and a half, good stuff for quickly punching out of corners....
Here are Jason and David enjoying it (in front of an Aston Martin Virage Shooting Brake, no less). It’s so good. It’s not too late to RSVP for the party tonight as we have a little room. Just no double-dipping! Debbie will not let you double dip. [Editor’s Note: Meet me behind the Zündapp Janus and I’ll give you a pass to double-dip. I know a guy. Just play it cool....
