Reminds me of a Chrysler Concorde from the side. The tail definitely looks like a lift from Maserati (which would make sense) and the interior screams 90s lounge chairs. Wouldn’t mind teal leather making a comeback personally. ... View more

When you decide to part with Commodus if Godzilla is still in running order it would make a wonderful replacement for the 5.0 in my Lincoln Mark VII. Think it will fit or is the engine too tall for an old school low slung luxury coupe? I’ve seen Ford advertising crate 7.3 gas motors for under 9k and can imagine a junkyard find would be a very affordable proposition in a few years. ... View more

If the police cleared him of wrongdoing I would imagine he could argue for improper impounding and not be responsible for any storage fees. I’m sure he would have gladly picked up the car at any point in time if he was given the option so the fault is 100% on the authority that impounded it and then decided to keep it impounded even after he was cleared of any suspicion. I’m a Georgia native so very unfamiliar with Kansas law but I don’t see how any government or business could justify charging the owner anything here. If anything they are open to potential legal damages for holding his car for so long almost like wrongful imprisonment. My 1971 cutlass was painted in the early 2000s by the previous owner and he painted OVER the vin tag on the bulkhead. Almost can’t read it. Georgia still let me register it and the police officer verified it even though he couldn’t read it either. Some things are definitely easier down here. ... View more

Truly incredible that one 2-barrel carb fed 16 cylinders through a supercharger at over 6 liters and still had so much fuel left unburnt it had to be ejected before it backfired. Can think of several American muscle cars with 6-8 barrels of carburetor on half the cylinders without super chargers. ... View more

I let a blown head gasket on my running and driving 71 Olds Cutlass turn into a full engine and transmission overhaul with performance upgrades, which then led to cooling, electrical, fuel, suspension, brake, and wheel/tire repairs and upgrades. I think that it is impossible to truly know what a project is going to turn into until you are too far down the track to turn back. Sometimes the project can swallow the budget and then spit out a new problem an owner wouldn't have even thought to consider. The machine shop that bored my engine block lost the plugs that seal the oil passage in the bottom of the block. I had to pay a racing machine shop almost $200 to have new plugs machined as they were not available anywhere to purchase already made. It had been months since I picked up the engine block from the machine shop and they honestly had no idea they were even missing. I've gone through two camshafts trying to find a satisfactory engine note and manageable amount of vacuum. Plus the kickdown cable seized and snapped from excess heat due to the long tube headers I installed and had to be replaced. Long winded response to say that best laid plans almost never remain the same from the start of a project to the finish. ... View more

I absolutely loved the Solstice until I sat in one. The dashboard is the hugest, cheapest hunk of hard and brittle plastic and the accessories feel like the designer sneezed them into place on the dashboard. I know that Pontiac, and GM as a whole, could have done better. GM has always lagged behind its rivals in interior design and luxurious accommodations, usually commanding a lower starting price point than similar cars from the big three. However, the Solstice had little competition and none of it was domestic. The only two cars at the time that were similar were the S2000 and the Miata. Major missed opportunity in my opinion. ... View more

I ordered a set of long tube headers from Hooker for my 1971 Olds Cutlass. The UPS driver that delivered them came to the door with a human sized cardboard box with the word "HOOKER" in bright yellow on a red heart printed on the top. He set the box on the porch and then asked "What you got in there?"   Without skipping a beat because I had yet to see the giant logo on the top of the box I told him they were headers for the project in the garage.    It wasn't until I got the box inside and told my wife about what had happened that we both busted out laughing, and still to this day get a good chuckle from it. Now every time he delivers a package he always asks me "What's in there?".     ... View more

Your comments about the colorful and checkered ownership of the Camaro made me laugh, and also reminisce about Top Gear's special where they drove from Miami to New Orleans in three $1,000 American cars. Jeremy bought a late 80s RS Camaro from a "murderer" and it had the clothes of the previous owner's "victim" in the trunk. The episode does not shine a flattering light on my part of the U.S. but it was quite entertaining. ... View more

I've watched some classic BTCC touring car racing from the 60s and 70s and completely agree with you. My racing experience is near nonexistent, but I certainly get the most excitement from watching a varied field of cars compete with one another. Some of the 1960s BTCC races I've seen pitted V8 Ford Galaxies and Camaros against Mini Coopers and Lotus Cortinas. Really amazing races with no real clue as to who will come out first even though there were 100s of HP differences between the cars. ... View more

Some of those vipers look a lot like corvettes, particularly the four in the back corner of the first shot. ... View more

Chrysler made less than 30,000 units over a 25 year production run, and quite a few of those cars are in a spotless private garage being "preserved". I don't care personally if you put the car under glass or drive it every day, but locking them away and never using them seems like a waste. There are probably more Vipers with low or no mileage than there are ones with more than 50K. I know for a fact that almost every modern Ford GT produced was sucked up by an "investor" and bubble wrapped in a secret garage somewhere. The auto manufacturers might as well just start selling the clay models as sculptures and never make a functioning sports car. ... View more

Excellent article! I too have both sets of sockets in both standard and metric (the affliction of owning a small fleet of antiques and a modern car for the wife). I find myself using the impact sockets much more often than my chrome ones, and never could justify why. They just seemed to bite better, even on hand tools. For what its worth, I purchased the metric and SAE sets of 1/2" drive deep-well and standard impact sockets from MATCO and the wall thickness is very similar to a chrome socket. I rarely have clearance issues unless I'm trying to use the 8mm deep-well impact socket with a 1/2" shank (not the sockets fault). The set was not cheap at all though, all in I think it was $2-300 per set (standard and metric sold separately) but hugely worth it. Lifetime replacement warranty for any reason, and never broken one, even putting 200 pounds of torque on them. ... View more

Speaking from my experience as a technician for Mitsubishi a few years ago, CVTs are cash cows for auto makers. The maintenance cycle hits twice as often as standard automatics ($200 fluid flush every 30,000 miles by Mitsubishi service manuals) and they are not serviceable at all. Meaning if something breaks in the case, anything at all, say hello to a brand new CVT in your car! This means that techs do not need to know how to rebuild the transmission, only how to remove and install it. Pure profit from a corporate view point. To everyone else it is the raw end of a bad deal and most people don't even realize that the transmission is a CVT to begin with. Mitsubishi would not put any CVT transmissions against turbo cars (Ralliart or EVOs or V6 cars (Outlander Limited V6) until the Eclipse Cross was released, but everything else was a CVT. Hyundai and Kia resisted the swap longer than anyone else but now their small cars (Elantra, Rio, Accent, Soul, Venue) have CVTs as of 2021. What's worse is that you have no choice at all on many cars any more. Try to buy a Honda, Nissan, Subaru that doesn't have a CVT; you can't. I guess this will get resolved with the push to electrification as transmissions are unnecessary on most electric vehicles. However it is very unfortunate for anyone who wants to drive enthusiastically in a new car. ... View more

I'm sure you know this already but you are very lucky it was an extended cab truck, and not a double or crew cab as you would have been removing the windshield to extract and replace the headliner. The ONLY way to guarantee a headliner will be installed without damaging it on most vehicles (pretty much everything except for extended cab trucks, which Chevrolet dropped in favor of a Dodge style double cab in 2014) is to install it through the windshield opening. Some vehicles can sneak the headliner through the passenger front door opening if you remove the seats and console but it's usually quicker to take out the windshield and reinstall it after you are done. Fun fact: the main reason that extended cabs are mostly extinct now is not that they weren't popular (they were much better IMO than double cabs), it was that they took twice as long on the assembly line to hang doors as single and crew cabs. Excellent article though, always an enjoyable read. My wife recently purchased the wash and dry kit from the chemical guys for me and I was genuinely impressed with it. I also really like the towels they included with the kit too. ... View more

I'm sure that there are many reasons to use plastic as intake manifolds, valve covers, and timing covers (cost of manufacturing, weight, etc.) but I can't help but think that Chevrolet missed a big opportunity to do something flashy with the flagship V8 they are building. LS and LT motors have always suffered from being unpleasant to look at while generally being the best V8 for power and longevity at reasonable prices right out of the box. How hard would it be to do a set of cast aluminum valve covers and a semi-polished or painted aluminum intake? Ferrari and Lamborghini put their engines under glass for all the world to see. Chevrolet did that with the LS9 ZR-1 corvette and all they showed was a plastic supercharger cover. Just my two cents, offered for free. ... View more

I will look into that, I used the vacuum venturi system with my air compressor to fill it (which always overfills these systems) and then let the excess run into a pan on the floor under the overflow line. That should have eliminated the possibility of an air bubble but wouldn't be the first time that there was a stubborn air bubble.  ... View more

Yes the kit included new sending units for the temperature and oil pressure gauges, and those were replaced when the gauges were installed. I don't think there is an urgent problem as the vehicle does not actually run hot but I installed a gauge to have more information than an idiot light and not being able to trust the gauge defeats that purpose. ... View more

My 1980 Fiat spider has a cable operated clutch with a five speed stick. The actual pedal box that held the clutch, brake, and gas pedal had a spot on it that would rub the clutch cable every time the clutch was used. Eventually it would sound like a banjo string popped and the clutch pedal would disappear up under the dash. The rest of the drive was all manual shifting with no clutch, including bumping the starter over in first gear to get going from intersections. Always made for an exhilarating albeit terrifying drive back home from wherever I was when the cable snapped. ... View more

Seems like car manufacturers are widening the gap between "affordable" and "flagship" cars on their lots, especially in the US. VW, Volvo, Hyundai have all dropped everything except the top tier trims in their hatchbacks and station wagons. Ford, Chevrolet, and Dodge all expect a minimum of $45,000 MSRP for any full size pickup truck on the lot except the work trucks. Mitsubishi has nearly gone extinct altogether after dropping the Lancer and Galant even though they offered a cost friendly alternative to similar Japanese makes. Nissan is rebranding as an upscale "luxury-lite" and new Sentras cost over $20,000. Ford doesn't even make cars anymore, opting only for bigger (i.e. more expensive) CUVs and SUVs. Eventually the average consumer will be left choosing between the modern day equivalent of a Yugo or dropping $600 a month on a car payment for something they weren't looking for in the first place. ... View more

Being of the aforementioned "under 40" generation from your article I do have to dive in a little deeper to understand every metaphor. I find that makes it more enjoyable. On a side note while I've only been married to my wife since last October (we would have celebrated our one year anniversary in May if not for for COVID) we have been together for thirteen years. In that time she has owned three cars, and I have owned 13. The only car I ever financed was her current 2019 Hyundai Sonata (yes for 6 years) because I know she will keep it. I guess that makes me an old soul as my wife calls me. Thank you for providing some outside perspective and insight! As always a thoroughly enjoyable read. ... View more

Is that the 5.0 from the late 80s, early 90s? Seems like a more inexpensive option for a vehicle completed recently. The coyote or even the 6.2 from the first gen raptors have twice to four times the grunt right out of the box in a smaller package. A lot of the parts on that rig seem to be on the more inexpensive side, like the stick on flares, fuel wheels, and tires, plus the lack of a hardtop. I do appreciate the three point harnesses though, been considering adding those to my Cutlass so the wife will feel a little safer on the road. Don't get me wrong it's definitely not a bad way to build a Bronco but star power will sell that rig way easier than the build and parts choice. I'd rather spend 25k on a salvageable Bronco (if there are any left) and use whatever is left from this sale to build my own. ... View more

AMC Pacer-maker ... View more

There's absolutely no way that is a good candidate for a restoration. Sitting in a garage for more than 20 years wrecked is bad enough but there is absolutely nothing salvageable about the whole front end or the right quarter. Where would you even begin to locate the myriad of decommissioned parts for it? I guess since it still has a seat in it there will be a butt to fill it. From the photos the radiator is collapsed in two directions, the entire front suspension and steering assembly is wiped out, all the sheet metal is gone, its likely that the cooling fan is laid up on the water pump inside the engine bay too. The windshield is broken, no doubt the driveshaft got slammed into the transmission casing in the crash. Congrats to the seller and good luck to the lunatic *ahem* buyer who dropped cash on this. ... View more

Ludicrous Speed, engage! We're going plaid! ... View more

Comparing a transmission to a dog with a Kong had me on the floor laughing. Best left alone is exactly the right description. Excellent read! ... View more

I have been a "promiscuous" car owner since I started driving 15 years ago. So far I've owned 13 cars including three 1997-98 Lincoln Mark VIIIs, a 77 Ford F-150 ranger, 88 Ford Bronco, 1980 Fiat Spider 2000, 1971 Olds Cutlass, 2019 Hyundai Sonata turbo (my wife's but a truly awesome ride anyway), 04 Silverado, 88 Jeep Grand Wagoneer, 91 Jeep Cherokee Pioneer, 01 Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder, and a 98 Expedition. I started with Ford products and learned my way around the toolbox with them but have since branched out to anything that looks like a good deal, can be at least hand cranked, and isn't consumed with rust. From my standards I'd say that was money well spent. Take the badges off the 308 and it could easily be any one of Bertone's more famous styling adventures from the 70s and 80s (Lamborghini Jalpa, Fiat X1/9, Alfa Montreal, so many more). I can't wait to hear about your adventure with it! Congrats! ... View more

There are other, better ways to adapt than to sacrifice a personal pleasure for a global goal. How about working two extra hours at work four days a week and having an extra day off? If we adopted a four day work week standard that would reduce commuter traffic by on average 20% during the week in the US. There are plenty of examples that measure workplace productivity and show no discernible difference in quantity or quality of work output between a four day and five day week. I'm not sold that mining nickel, cadmium, lithium, and lead (all of which are primary elements and in limited non-renewable supply) and then chemically refining them into usable materials for batteries is the solution to end climate change or minimize our effect on the world. I am not denying that climate change is a problem, it is a huge problem. But it seems like all the eggs are in the electric car basket. Do we even know the true environmental cost of operating an electric car? If you charge the car on a traditional coal (unlikely) or LNG (highly likely) power grid are you truly offsetting tailpipe emissions? Does the extra effort and raw materials required to make high powered batteries offset the lack of a tailpipe? ... View more

That is a crossover befitting it's title. The Mustang Mach-E is a decent enough looking vehicle but it is definitely leaning on it's name for stability and appeal. I doubt that Ford would have sold as many if it was named the "Edge-E" or "Flex-E" (although that would make for a hilarious conversation starter). But I also appreciate that production will happen in the US. I understand that manufacturing a car, especially an electric one, is a global process that cannot all happen in the US but it is good to hear that assembly and production will happen here. Maybe Ford will take a note from Jeep and build a manual transmission to to attach to the electric motors on a regular cab short bed body truck to give us a throwback to the 99-04 Lightning's. There is no reason why enthusiasts can't enjoy electric cars, but manufacturers have to be willing to make them appeal to enthusiasts. The way I see it the more direct control a driver has over the operation of his or her vehicle, the more of an "enthusiast" they will become. ... View more

I own a carbureted 1980 Fiat Spider and absolutely love it. Four wheel disc brakes, no power steering, 5 speed gearbox, just enough interior space to catch fifth gear without bumping my wife's shoulder (barely) and a shelf behind the front seats my dog can fit nicely on. I have been watching the new 124s very closely but always thought the new car asking price was too high. Most of the cars on showroom floors had window stickers north of 35k for a mid-tier model. If they have depreciated that much it might be time to consider a purchase. I have heard good things from owners of the Dodge Darts that the turbo multi-air engine is fun and economical. Of course my own bias on the track records of reliability for Dodge and Fiat have always given me pause. Dodge has made a habit of pairing with brands that don't extend an air of solidity to their base (Nissan, Renault, AMC, Daimler-Mercedes, Fiat) even though they have made some real gems the last few years. Think you can squeeze a 392 and ZF 8 speed into it? ... View more

This article is depressing from a buyer's perspective but I guess any sellers reading this would be pleased. Gentrification is generally regarded as unpopular when applied to a real estate or urban planning mindset. If this is the car equivalent of gentrification it will certainly leave a lot of truly enthusiastic new drivers in the cold. I have seen values growing on everything around me lately (inflation? price gouging? over-valuation?) and my wages have remained effectively flat. I can't speak for anyone except myself but from my perspective this is unsustainable. Everyone seems to expect that every investment or purchase made will garner some form of return. How long this will remain the case is open to speculation but I don't see how this can continue (How long will the Fed suppress interest rates? How high will inflation go? How big will the real estate and stock bubble get before it pops? How far can you stretch a rubber band before it breaks and smacks your finger?). As an owner of two classic cars that probably fall neatly into the bottom of your #4 valuation, I hope that they don't appreciate anymore. I like to drive them and work on them and could not care less if they appreciate. I understand that there are many sides to classic car ownership but every day that these older cars appreciate the smaller the pool gets for potential customers. Eventually there will be "collections" owned by a select few and never seen again because everything is unaffordable. ... View more

When I worked at the local auto auction handling inventory and assessments of repos and donation cars we received a 1994 Corvette ZR-1 as a repossessed tow in. It was very temperamental to keep going and the interior was in less than desirable condition, showing 150,000 miles on the odometer. We were shocked when it grabbed $12,000 at the dealer auction. We looked them up to find out why when most cars sold there as non-driveable, including miatas, were lucky to fetch 10% of that. Apparently Chevrolet only made 500 ZR-1 C4s each year for the last three years of production (93-95) and this one was black on black with a six speed manual. It had the DOHC LT-1 which was built to a 425-hp spec when new (undoubtedly lost a few steps in the twenty five plus years it was abused). Hopefully it has found a loving home and is being refurbished, not too many of them around and quite powerful for its time. C4's are underappreciated but they are certainly not perfect. The convertible top operation on the roadster is complicated, manual only, and not user friendly. LT-1 engines were a giant step forward for GM in the early 90s but they don't hold a candle to the absolute indestructibility of the LS. I fall into the camp that looks for a fun car to drive. For me condition and value for investment take a backseat to my familiarity with the vehicle, ability to perform repairs, and most importantly how much time I can spend behind the wheel. Excellent article though, always an enjoyable read. ... View more

If I remember correctly Cadillac was the first to release a vehicle with the "Standard" driver layout (Gas pedal on right, brake in the middle, clutch on the left, steering wheel and floor mounted shifter) in the early 1920s. Not exactly an "invention" but definitely one of the most underappreciated advancements made that everyone takes for granted today. ... View more

Brilliant! The most common place to see overpowered Dodge anything is at the body shop. This story had me floored laughing. Reminded me of the Suburban High Country review on this site and the Caiden's and Camden's. Awesome read, and thank you. ... View more

I don't know for certain but if I had to guess I would add that enthusiast cars are not as profitable to manufacture. The main reason Porsche made the original Cayenne and Panamera were to build cars that made larger profit margins to support the ones that don't like the 911 GT2 RS4 3.8 Turbo Cabriolet Speedster Classic Edition. If I remember correctly when Lexus launched the LFA after more than a decade of R&D it sold for more than $350,000 MSRP, however it cost twice that just to make one. That was Lexus' ultimate enthusiast car, and they lost money even when they sold one. If it wasn't for the RX350 and GX470 I doubt Lexus would make profits at all. I think that many people see cars as more hassle than joy. They own it to get from A to B and occasionally see the extended family on a vacation. That person will buy what makes them comfortable, has a good warranty, and fits their budget. Which is why the crossover remains supreme on the car lot. ... View more

How is anything that is 5000 years old sustainably sourced? By that logic oil could be "sustainably sourced" because every one of us that isn't cremated will eventually become it in a mere 20 million years or so. ... View more

I truly enjoyed this article and your insight. Being of the "younger generation" (turning 30 this year) I more often than not hear that I should be OK with my wages and I ask for too much too fast. I realize that my presence on a collector-car only members magazine comments section means I am probably doing better than most of my generation, and am grateful in many ways for my achievements so far. Not trying to spark an existential or political debate, just wanted to say I always find your column an enjoyable read. Thank you! ... View more

Turbocharged, Direct injection, VVT and variable lift, CVT transmission with AWD, and now variable compression to boot! Infiniti will be testing the limits of their warranties for sure. I'll pass, too much inaccessible parts with high dollar price tags. ... View more