Hey Mr. Smith, I don't want to see you running against me for president of the Procrastinator Society which I am going to be next year or the year after. But it sounds like you could succeed me some time down the road. Our problem basically is that anything that needs to be done requires something else being done first which requires etc., etc. ... View more

The Kia minivans since 2006 are good news and bad news. Good news -they were relatively unknown and consequently cheaper and better buys than Siennas or Odysseys. Bad news - now the word is out that they are good cars and they are now lower in price but not much. They have better safety ratings and equally low maintenance. Almost every one you see has high mileage, especially the repos that get serviced every leap year if they need it or not and still plugging along. But I think the previous generation Sedonas (2006 to 2012, no 2013, and 2014 revivals) are maybe a little less sophisticated but are better than the current models (and better that the contemporary minivans in the past) for driving quality. If you grew up in MGs and TRs and married a widow with 4 kids, you definitely won't look cool but you'll feel OK driving an older Sedona. I am a semi-retired second generation used imported car dealer and I have owned just about everything. Not AN MG or TR- hundreds. Over 200 Miatas. Everyone on the internet is an expert. But I have actually been there in multiples (and had 3 Multiplas for that matter). And now with an an arthritic spine, my 14 Sedona is easy to get in and out of, is more comfortable and drives better than many "sportscars" I have owned. It makes an Odyssey feel like a moving van and a Sienna feel like a blimp. Great road feel and response, I know this is heresy to all the armchair experts but it is real, long term experience. Everything in life is a compromise, but here is an excellent blen of practical for hauling stuff and all the widows of my deceased friends whle I still navigate the Grand Prix du Roadhome. ... View more

One day a man came into my dealership to sell his Siata Sping. He told me it was one of only 4 in the USA. I answered (correctly) that I had already owned 4 different ones myself and I didn't think I had the market cornered. He called BS and left in a huff (well, a Siata Spring). What a comedown from the great small sportscars Siata had constructed. But actually the Spring sold well. It was a fun sub-compact second car ala Fiat Jolly. We had one in a parade and it was great. It caught everyone's eye and it had no trouble keeping up with the high school marching band in front of us. And it was much better quality and more comfortable than the Mercedes classic knock-off kits for VW chassis that were so common then. Economical, could easily out-drag parked cars. Safe? Meh- safety is just trying to defeat Karma. I once had a guy tell me that he wouldn't want to get hit by a semi in one of those. I asked what car he would want to get hit by a semi in. ... View more

"rapidly diminishing Michigan manufacturer plate" ... View more

My personal Bob Lutz experience: Years ago I was pulling onto I-75 in Northern Kentucky (after a luxurious lunch stop at the drive-thru at White Castle) and as I accelerated into the right lane, next to me I saw a Lamborghini LM002 (the mammoth 4x4 4-door with a back porch that could seat 4 at 100 mph) and as I gawked I recognized Mr. Lutz and Lady Lutz. It was when he was at Chrysler and Chrysler owned Lambo. He glanced at me, smiled and stomped it. The lasr I saw was a apidly diminishing Michigan manfacturing plate. ... View more

Fabulous alternate universe tale! Sadly in this universe we got a Fiat 500.  A minicar designed in Italy and assembled in Mexico by Chrysler ( the master of great designs ruined by beancounters). What could ever go wrong there? ... View more

A " Hella-va" good ploy. I think a good Kluge should 1- Work, 2- Be safe and 3. Be out of sight. Love live Mickey Mouse shortcuts. ... View more

I wonder what redline is on Enzo turning in his grave about now. ... View more

What a shame about the Felicity Ace. Bet there are thousands of trophy wives working overtime to fill the vacuum left by all those sunken cars. ... View more

Faith and begorra. it is cool. But what ever became of the car? Still around somwhere? ... View more

Woodie kits for Wagoneers? So do you get your SUV Ziebarted or Terminixed? Or both? Some splinter group will say this goes against the grain. Final vinyl joke: It will help with those Trex to the store. ... View more

Brrrrrrummmm, putt, putt, putt, berrruuummm., put.putt, putt, berrrruummm. (Two stroke shifting.) Ah, the Saab 2-strokes. I once bought a Saab without oil injection in Detroit and went in a like Saab with my wife to pick it up. She had to get back, so she dropped me off and I pointed her back and mentioned down the road was a full service gas station. Stop there. Here is a quart of two-cycle oil. Ask them to pour it in the fuel tank with eight gallons of regular and you'll get home fine. She did that and the attendant said, "You want oil in your gas tank?' Yep. "Oil in your gas tank?" Yep. "Lady, it's your oil. I'll stick anywhere you want" all the while shaking his head knowing this was one crazy lady. After I finished my purchase I drove to the same station and made the same request as I handed him a can of oil. He smiled and said there was a lady here a few minutes ago with the same request. I replied that was my wife. He inquired why I wanted to put oil in the tank. I couldn't resist. We were very near a Ford proving ground. I told him I worked for Evinrude and we were trying to get Ford to put outboard motors in cars. He was astonished and asked to see the motor. So I obliged and there was the really small engine under the hood. He said, "I'll be G--damned." I wonder if he ever found out. Any later Saab he probably said "Got one of them outboards" and they thought he was joking. Probably never found out. ... View more

I think Ford was inspired by this video: https://youtu.be/jj_rrlZOBrw ... View more

So true, and also oddly missing the obvious and iconic Fiat-Abarth 750 Double Bubble Zagato coupes. ... View more

Ronin, Bullitt, French Connection are obvious choices. But how about great chase sequences in sub-categories? Like the original, European "Italian Job" for the most fun, or the driving  scenes In "A Man and a Woman" for the best soundtrack orchestration with a close second for "harold and Maude",  or continuous on the edge-of-the-seat "Duel" (Steven Spielberg's  first full length film) ??? ... View more

I used to be a Saab and Lotus dealer. Should have called it Don Quixote Motors, GM bought Saab and held them for eleven years when Saab had 4-cylinder turbos. Lots of late model GM cars have 4 cylinder turbos. A co-incidence, I'm sure. At that time GM also had an intereest in Subaru and sold the Saab 9-2 which was basically a rebadged Impreza (which made for a classy AWD compact) and the 9-7 which was a rebadged Blazer (built in the Swedish part of Moraine, Ohio) which made a classy SUV for folks who wouldn't be seen dead in a Chevrolet. ... View more

Always wanted to get one of these, drop a Plymouth engine in the back, and make a Prinz Valiant. ... View more

The Taurus/Sable/Continental 3.8 V6 had a strong propensity for head gasket leaks. We used SteelSeal (expensive and you have to follow the directions to the letter) on numerous cars and it worked every time,. Not just to get it over the curb but way down the road. When my mechanic used it on his own Continental and retired 6 years later, he still had not needed to make any further repairs. and it ran fine. Being a second generation used car dealer, I've heard of a few temporary fixes. My father told me of water-glass to repair cracked blocks in Model A's, bananas in differentials to quiet them down (it worked but the combination of smell of rotten bananas and hypoid oil after several months when the noise came back? Whew!), one time he had an old Chevy 6 with the chronic bottom-end rattle and he soaked a leather belt in neatsfoot oil, cut it into sections, dropped the pan and rod caps and put the strips in over the rod bearings and torqued it down. Worked for months. But they didn't always work. One time he needed to grind the valves on a Model A, which involves removing the flat head. He removed the head bolts but the head was frozen /rusted to the block and would not separate. So he put the plugs back in and started it to let the compression loosen the head. It sat there for an hour and ran with the same miss as before but a still tight head. So he got the bright idea to remove the plugs and put a little gunpowder down each cylinder and literally blow the had loose. He started it and it blew a piston into the pan but the head stayed tight. The prvious owner must have used some 'mechanic in a can' on the head gasket. ... View more

Ich sprechen kleine Deutsche und parlon un per Francais, but being a native English (American redneck basically) speaker, I am still trying to parse the sentence above, "Might as well put that nine-inch pumpkin and open diff to good use and give the gift of a Tiger Paws tires neutral-dropped directly into sublimation!" into my edittion od commonly used phrases. ... View more

One of the gutsier tourists I have ever seen was in the late 70's. I was heading south on I-75 in northern Kentucky and I passed a Lada with Ontario plates. Ladas were sold in Canada and here was a brave snowbird making the trek to Florida for the winter. Not at all uncommon. But going in a Lada? Can you imagine having a breakdown in Southern Georgia and eliciting a "Doo Whuut?" ... View more

Actually ... View more

Then you can go to the other extreme with people who reside much closer to their cars- all the homeless who are acrually sleeping in their cars. ... View more

I think the craziest wproduction (sort of) car dash was the Aston-Martin Lagonda 4-door https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aston_Martin_Lagonda Pure electronics from England- for three days before they fried themselves. ... View more

First and cheapest mod- How's about some air in the right rear tire of the Moel T in the picture on the lead-in to this article? ... View more

See the USA-with a Chevrolet ... View more

Some correct comments mentioned Morgan V8 (talk about chassis flex!), TR-8 (made a decent car out of the TR-7- one of the worst cars ever- but I once drove a TR-8 800 miles in ice and snow and talk about scary), and MGB-GTV8 (Yes they were never imported to my knowledge but seemed to be OK cars) and of course lots of Land Rover variations. The MGC was not a V8, it was a 3 liter straight six truck engine like a late AH 3000 with torsion bar suspension and so nose-heavy it understeered like an aircraft carrier. I sold my Elan (#110) and took in trade a TVR Griffith- the original. (talk about trading ice water for chilled piss!), 260 Ford with a Ford 4-speed in a glass body with a tail like a Manx cat. The drivetrain blocked part of the passenger compartment and the center console had a level top like a coffee table. My wife drove it to work while pregnant and folks would gather to see her get in and out. Lots more common in the USA than most of the cars shown. . Correct on the Jensen Interceptor but it was preceded by the 541or C-V8. One of the ugliest cars ever, styled by amputees, but glass body and a 383 and quick- capital Q. Once motoring about 65 on I-75 I was next to Mr. Sports Car in his Karmann-Ghia convertible with the top down and his British flat cap. He gave me the V-sign and I smiled back, punched it and was GONE. Tigers were great until you had to get on your knees to replace the rear plugs through the sides of the console. Maxwell Smart drove an Alpine, Britney Spears to Tiger's Serena Williams. The Marcos shown looks like a Pride parade but I think is called a Mantula. Marcos made Straight fours and sixes, V-4 and V-6, and whatever other proprietary emgine was available. The previous model was a Marcos GT originall with a wooden chassis so you didn't know whether to have it Ziebarted or Terminixed. No one mentioned the Daimler Dart aka SP-250 V8. Ugly but quick and went though clutches more often than brake pads. GT-40 was indeed a British car but very much modified by Shelby, enough to be American. Under the heading of totally stupid, I once took in trade a Bugeye Sprite into which the owner had dropped a 383 Chryler. The new firewall occupied most of the footwells and the headers just the the side of it burnt the right calf if you could even drive it, Went like stink till it overheated and it took three men and a boy to try to bend it around a corner. I have was a used British car specialist from 1958 on, so Been there, Done that . ... View more

I'm bored with all dis placement arguing. ... View more

This Plymouth Rocks !! ... View more

Said the Tatra salesman, "Zo, Herr Hagerty. Drive the Tatra- You will flip over it!. Czech it out! PS- Do you have Insurance?" ... View more

It was an accomplishment to just change men's deeply ingrained attitude toward women. I have a 1913 Ford Model T advertising booklet that says, "The simplicity of the Ford is one of its most popular features with the ladies. There is no shifting of gears- nothing of a complicated nature to confuse a woman." Ford Motor Company knew that with a Model T women need not worry their pretty little heads, assuming there was a man around to get it started. ... View more

The value of a car matters only if you plan on selling it. Original is best as my father ,who was a used car dealer, told me about 1952. Even if you are keeping it, a full change will cost a lot if completely stripped and if not, then every time you open the hood, maybe the door, the old color will jump out at you. A stone chip can show the original color and if your body man gets a call at work and forgets where he was prepping ( a not unusual occurence from my experience) the paint starts lifting down the road. The old saying that "the best makeup on a woman looks like she isn't wearing any" still applies. Speaking of color change ask me sometime about the orange XKE roadster with leopard skin top and interior I used to own. Talk about hard to sell! ... View more

meant "umpteen" ... View more

Great idea for an article How about Pontiac and Ferrari GTO. Morgan Plus 4 and current Morgan-Hino (I don't think they will get confused) Pontiac and Triumph Bonneville (bike) And the winner for ubiquitous- GT used by upteen brands deservedly and not so. ... View more

Charming article that brought back many memories. Thank you. Congratulations for retiring and keeping your sanity after a career as a warranty manager for some of the the most warranty intensive vehicles in history. But then, British Leyland's warranties were Egyptian style- "denial, denial"., Having eaten and slept British cars since 1951, my experience is they would say there was no WWII-. the French made that up! I could write an extensive article about B-L service.. Land Rover? No comment, but the old joke about Ford Premier Division's two happiest days: buying Jaguar/Land Rover and selling Jaguar/Land Rover. And there is a great joke extant about that sale as well. The Morris Minor (my father was a BMC dealer) was underappreciated. Rudolph Leiding, the head of VW when the Beetle was at the height of popularity, was quoted that immediately after the War the Allies helped VW get back on its feet and at that time VW's greatest concern was the Minor. Leiding himself said at that time the Minor was a better car and if the British had only focused on quality control and follow-up service, British Motor Corporation would be on top instead of VW. Early Minors cornered and stopped much better tham early Beetles. Neither was very quick (0-60? You get Social Security when you get to sixty). Of course, there then were large problems in Britain with labour and rationing. I always wanted a Morris Minor Traveler woodie or, even better, a Minor pickup. I would put twin exhausts up the back of the cab, mudflaps, and a sticker on the back like a real trucker that said, " Last year this truck paid $8.57 in gas taxes" . ... View more

In college I had a beautiful dark green 48 Ford Sportsman woody convertible. But it made me so confused- I didn't know whether to have it Ziebarted or Terminixed, so I got both. ... View more

Lord save us. That kind of money for one of these. This is, if ever there was, a GIGO car. Like computers: garbage in, garbage out. This was a terrible car and just proves the saying that the best thing about the "Good Old Days" is that they're gone. California wanted to ban these because because they were too slow and unsafe for freeways, They would race parked cars and the parked cars won half of the time. As a 64-year used imported car dealer, I've seen a lot of lousy, but this is the paragon of lousy. Subaru now builds one of the safest cars but they sit upright in bed at 2 AM when there's a whisper somewhere about these. As a footnote, an employee once showed me you can do a "wheelie" in a Subaru 360. It is quite tail heavy, so you put it in reverse in a big lot and go as fast as you can backwards. Then with both feet stomp the clutch and the brake and it will lift the front wheels off the ground. ... View more

A new car franchise is not a gold mine, Everything has a pat answer but nothing is simple. There are many reasons for anything. If you check, the bulk of the Cadillac dealers taking the buyout are multi-line dealers who don't rely just on Cadillac. The franchise is just plus business and this will kill its ROI. Example: as a friend in a small town relatively nearby found, when the OBD came out Chevrolet required him to buy a $10000 diagnostic machine which could be had elsewhere for much less but did not say Chevrolet on it. Pontiac also required him as did Buick to buy an identical machine for $10000 from each that had their respective decals. They also wanted him to build a new multi-million dollar facility and cancelled his franchise later when it became possible after the government bailout. Many dealers for GM and Chrylsr lost their franchises at that time because they balked when the guys in the ivory towers wanted them to spend a lot of money on some hairbrained "upgrade" of signage, corporate symbolism or gadgets.  They disappeared or became import dealers. GM spent most of the US taxpayer  bailout money in China. Mary Bara, CEO since 2014 has said that is their future. But the bailout made GM and Chrysler  quasi-government agencies. Before that you had to be Satan's little brother to lose a franchise but the new situation let them cut any dealers that did  not  or had not done  their bidding.  You are right that Cadillac lost its way (as it did with the likes of Cimarron and Catera). It was a symbol of luxury and prestige. An awful lot of people (sadly for the auto enthusiast) buy a car or truck to be seen in. You want others  to see you as you think you see yourself. That is why VW couldn't understand why people didn't buy the Phaeton. Because the buyers didn't want to spend $75000 when they weren't going to hear anyone say, " GEE, he's got a VW!". Admit it or not it's about "Look at me!". Are Rolls-Royce cars really magnificently better driving or trouble-free? Not from my experience. But they have that sign on the back that says "Look at me, I've got a Rolls!" If folks want a  l uxury car that is comfortable and trouble-free they buy an Avalon. But it doesnt have the cachet. Do most people drive their cars to the cars capabilities? My daughter has a car that can go 135 mph to drive around LA where rush hour traffic is more like 18 mph. Do buyers of Cadillacs buy because Cadillac is a high-performance race car?  I don't think so. They buy roomy,comfortable and "Look at me-I've got a Cadillac."  Something to strive for, not something  that  is "whazzat?" Actually the same for clothing, housing and location, and dogs- everything is image. They may say they appreciate it but deep down it is all about being seen as they visualize theselves.  In sum and there is still much more, Cadillac is faced with cities and states that are mandating electric vehicles in the future. Tesla has made an image of being cool  and eco-snobbish  while eco-friendly which is a good position. To a dealer  200-grand may seem like a lot for a fancy extension cord.  Hopefully an alternative will pop up where the cars aren't so expensive to buy and you can jump into it and drive more than 250-300 miles without  then having to stop and refuel for 30+ minutes. And electricity costs will go up- the old supply and demand. Like I said, no simple answers to anything -i ncluding this diatribe.   ... View more

Just what i need-another project. My wife says I never finish anything, but she's wrong, I have everything from 1974 done. I'm going to be president of the Procrastinator Society next year or the year after. ... View more

Ron Carlsten's answer to the Mustang Bullitt. Nice work ... View more

My favorite quote from the Rally was one year Pat Moss (Stirling's sister, married to Paddy Hopkirk) was a competitor and was being interviewed by reporters before the event and they asked her what she would do if she got stuck on some farmer's road.  They all spoke 'North American' English as opposed to 'English' English and were taken aback when she answered, "I suppose I would go and knock up a farmer". ... View more

My favorite quote from the Rally was one year Pat Moss (Stirling's sister, married to Paddy Hopkirk) was a competitor and was being interviewed by reporters before the event and they asked her what she would do if she got stuck on some farmer's road. They all spoke 'North American' English as opposed to 'English' English and were taken aback when she answered, "I suppose I would go and knock up a farmer". ... View more

My favorite Dodge experience was years ago when my dealership was selling a Dodge to a man who wanted to finance $1250. The bank called back and said he was NG but they knew his brother. If his brother would co-sign they would finance them. The man's reply? "You think I'd waste a co-signer on a Dodge?"   ... View more

$81000 for a Dodge Charger? And no family room or basement? That price isn't a car, it's rental property. ... View more

The ultimate automotive oxymoron. An electric Mog. Turn on those Hella floodlamps and cut your range in half. ... View more

For originality, Felix Wankel should be included. ... View more

Here's a link to more bizarre amphibious vehicles (not necessarily cars) https://youtu.be/jtHNRxVZy9g. And it comes complete with Hagerty advertising! ... View more

Years ago Werner Hartman, a bodyman friend in Cincinnati, stuffed a Crosley engine into an Isetta 300. It would lay two black rubber strips (kept the original two wheels with a very narrow track in back). But he never could figure out a cooling system- it would overheat in a few minutes. He was an odd person anyway. He had a wooden leg. When strangers would come into his shop he would sit and talk while crosslegged. He would keep pulling up the sock on his wooden leg and finally grab a hammer and nail the sock to the leg, freaking out the visitor. My father had one of the first Isettas in town. His trick was to nose into the curb in front of the bar and walk straight out of the front of the Isetta into the bar. ... View more

Great and insightful article, but some of us have dipped our toes in the camping pool and believe camping is driving for hours (or days) for conditions you wouldn't accept if you had stayed home. As for me, I just got an email that I have a free night at Red Roof coming. So I won't get to watch the next campsite as they pull up in a converted schoolbus and their eight kids put up their party lights and their custom carved "We're the Jones family from Johnson City, Tennessee" sign. ... View more

Love 'em all. Well maybe not the Dodge so much, as I always thought it looked like it was designed by a committee that wasn't on speaking terms.  The Astons ? Thumbs and big toes up. P-1800ES? You betcha! Woodie wagons are neat but they make me schizo- I never knew whether to have them Ziebarted, Terminixed, or both. ... View more

This is an ad for a Lincoln I sold over the weekend to a Chrysler engineer who wanted one like this since he was a kid- and he's happy. I sold it for the estate of a close friend and thought it would be tough selling a luxury car with a stick shift. Not at all. Several responses and sold in three days! Check the last lines. RARE BIRD !!!  2000 Lincoln LS 4door with a 5-speed. Yes, a stick and a clutch in a luxury car.  "Drive me to drinkin' with that HotRod Lincoln". This is not my car. I am selling it as a favor for the estate of one of my oldest friends who passed away 3 weeks ago. I got it for him in the first place, and finding one is no small feat. This is from the period when Ford owned Jaguar and this is basically a Jaguar S-Type with American electrics. Quick, agile, comfortable, actually defines the overworked term "Sports Sedan". I obtained it for Bob in December, 2001. He was always a car guy and when he passed he owned a 1966 Pontiac Bonneville (stick) that he purchased new, a 39 Ford street rod, a 67 Eldorado convertible, a 2016 Accord EX-L daily driver and others  He was a mechanical advice columnist for the national Cadillac Club newsletter. He was an expert on auto maintennce and any inspection of this Lincoln will show what good and regular care can do for a car. He was more than that- he was **bleep** about his cars. He always bought a "beater' to drive in the winter and kept his babies in the garage in any inclement weather, The brake calipers and rotors, always first to rust, are shiny like they are two months old. This is a great road car- before he became ill he and his lady friend would drive the Lincoln on long summer trips to visit car mueums and used it to once drive the length of Route 66. Actual 80, 571 miles, looks like 5000. Body, finish and interior sparkle like it's one year old instead of twenty. Perfect? No, the only defect I can find is the A/C needs a recharge. That's it. Tires, brakes, all mechanical and cosmetics excellent. Bad news? If you only have one leg or are a just plain shiftless person you won't be able to drive this. We want to get you in our clutches. Get on the stick and see what mint means. ... View more