I agree Tim, up to a point. I watched a Ferrari F40 burn before my very eyes at a DE many years ago (a fairly famous incident), and both instructors in it got out, but they both got burned. I bought a fire suit that weekend, and wore it for a season, but eventually stopped. I balanced the heat and dehydration against the risk of fire, and decided it was overkill. I absolutely agree on a HANS device though in a car with harnesses. One saved me in a nasty crash at a DE. ... View more

Great article, Jack. Hilarious depiction of your first track day. As a 20-year PCA driving I structor, I ran into more than a few of these types. A couple thoughts--I started in SRF in 2000, ran part of one season in a leased car with a $10k budget, then ran out of money. After about 4 races, I was a mid-packer (I had already done 5 years of DEs and was an instructor), but was not having fun because SRF, due to its rugged (i.e., Rubbermaid) construction, seemed to be a bash-to-pass class. We'd race for 20 minutes, then spend the next 45 minutes in the paddock while the steward visited with folks who had had contact. I spent a fair chunk of my budget on repairs to the rental from incidents where I got punted. The kid whose dad spent $100K on his season won the regional championship. That's like $160k in today's dollars. I went back to DEs. I went back to racing in a Spec Miata in 2005, this time in a car I owned, and went through the SCCA DC Region's driver's school and ran a couple races. In a typical race weekend, I'd arrive Friday night, go through tech, get a 20-minute practice and a 20-minute qualifier on Saturday, and get a 20-minute race on Sunday, much of which was spent doing parade laps under caution because somebody had crashed. Put 50 Spec Miatas on a track like Summit Point and you get carnage and then parade laps. So 60 minutes of track time in a three-day weekend, much of it at 30mph. I went back to DEs again, where I happily instructed for 15 more years at a dozen different tracks. I guess the moral of my story is the same as yours: know what you want to do, and don't be ashamed if racing isn't for you. I did way more actual driving at DEs, and learned a bunch more than in my brief adventures in racing. It fit me just fine, and I have no regrets. ... View more

My #3 2002 Boxster S was $15k with a new clutch, fixed IMS bearing, and $5k Fabspeed exhaust system. In my opinion, these cars are amazing values. And I happen to love Boxsters' looks--the modern-day 550 Spyder. As time goes on, 6-cylinder naturally aspirated Boxsters and Caymans will become more rare and desirable. ... View more

You keep saying that EVs are mandated by the government, Jack, but it isn't true. There is not a single federal regulation that mandates electric cars. Period. Full stop. So stop saying it--it isn't true, and you are degrading both yourself and Hagerty by continuing to do so. ... View more

You made the right choice, Mike. But they are wonderful cars. My first car was a 1970 124 Spider, and I soon acquired a non-mobile 1969 Sport Coupe just for the engine, as the one in my car had a bad cylinder. I forget why it didn't run, but it cost me $50. Also had a friend with a 1971 SC that he rallied. It had dual Webers on the side of that cool gem of an engine. ... View more

Jack is but long, proud tradition of conservative automotive writers railing about the government. Pat Bedard and Brock Yates come to mind. ... View more

Correct. But he executed the vision I described. ... View more

Holy cow, Jack, that was a quick transition from EVs to gun control. I keep hearing doomsday predictions on both of these, but the facts belie them. Gun sales are at an all-time high, regulations are being eased, not tightened, and there are no, and likely will be no, political mandates that EVs be built or that ICE engine be banned. You're sort of throwing out political buzzwords and emotional hot-button arguments as chum to gain support, but that is doing no service to your arguments. ... View more

Imagine the audacity of Musk: "I'm gonna start a brand new car company from scratch, take on all the other gigantic car companies, build an all-aluminum, battery powered car, price it at $100K, make it faster than virtually anything on the road, and people are gonna wait in line to get them." All of which he did. That's kind of a big deal. Could even qualify as an "authentic miracle." A couple of my neighbors have solar arrays on their houses that they use to charge their EVs at home. They only use the cars locally, and they never--never--have to visit a charging station. Their operational carbon footprint approaches zero. That's also kind of a big deal. As I said, I dislike EVs, but my dislike, as yours, is based on feelings and emotion, not technology. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, but let's be honest here. ... View more

I need a visit from a support animal! ... View more

The fact that Tesla relies on government subsidies is irrelevant with my point--that they developed, from scratch, an electric car that works, that people want, and without any sort of government mandate. Ponder the stunning magnitude of that achievement before you claim that EV technological barriers cannot be overcome. And by the way--virtually every US industry is subsidized by the government. Oil and gas? Yup. Defense? Please. Tech? You betcha. Even Farmer Jones gets a spliff from Uncle Sam. So it's hardly just Tesla. But you are indeed right, sir, we don't have a pure democracy. You get a cookie. Forgive my outrageous ignorance of civics. And I agree, a mandatory switchover would be soundly defeated. Americans hate mandatory anything. But nothing like that is happening. Companies are building EVs because . . . people want them. That's freedom, baby! Stay curious, my friend. ... View more

"I have direct sources in the OEMs who tell me that they would stop electric development TOMORROW if the government wasn't forcing their hand. Plain and simple." I have no doubt there are folks at those companies that say that. But Tesla, the most valuable car company in the world by several orders of magnitude, showed the OEMs the way without a lick of regulation. What has the government done to force the others' hands? There is no electric car mandate. They can choose to meet emissions requirements however they choose. They've chosen electric. They're in a complete panic to catch Tesla, and it wasn't caused by regulation. It's because people like Teslas. and OK--you, Jack, you don't have to accept EVs. Or colonoscopies. You can rail all you like, wave your fist at every Prius you see, and roll coal into the open cockpits of Miatas. But . . . your personal preference has been noted and outvoted. Battalions? That's not how we do things here. That dang democracy thing again. Yup, regulations are expensive and a pain. It took me months to get a permit to build a garage. I hated it. But . . . take regulation away, and bad things happen. Ask Boeing's shareholders and a bunch of grieving families about the relaxation of FAA oversight that led directly to 737 Maxes boring holes in the ground. Or check out what unregulated social media is doing to democracy. Remember the crash of 2008 that came after regulations on banks were eased? Even worse than the exorbitant cost of fixing Fallingwater. Deregulation is great until it isn't. Cheers, Jack! ... View more

This rant, though amusing and a good read, like l your stuff, seems to be driven more by your personal distaste for EVs, which you've written about for awhile now, than on any insurmountable risks or defects inherent in EVs. We get it, Jack: You don't like them. And, doggone it, you don't like politics intruding on your favorite personal freedoms either. Nobody does. It sucks to be a member of a democratic society sometimes, where every damn-fool idiot has a say. Mocking climate change concerns (with your clever over-strikes) does not negate what anyone who cares to look can see all around us, with catastrophic weather abounding in recent years. I've lived in the same coastal place for over 30 years and can track the changes first-hand. They exist. Science, like democracy, also sucks sometimes. But unlike democracy, it doesn't care about your feelings or your politics. It just is. The infrastructure argument also doesn't wash. We humans have shown a irrepressible capacity to develop infrastructure when necessity or market forces demand it. We electrified the US in the 30s, built the interstate highways system in the 50s, and have built a nuclear infrastructure around the world that defied similar dire warnings and, with a few rather notable exceptions-all technologies cary risk--provides lots of relatively clean power around the world. The idea that building EV charging stations is beyond our grasp ignores technological history. Like it or not, EVs are here to stay. The car makers have gone all in, not because of government regulation, but because they understand that our current level of fossil-fuel emissions are unsustainable, and that tailpipe emissions are a huge chunk of them (yes, I know electricity currently comes from fossil, among other sources, but that is also changing. That technology thing again.) If EVs were the dire threat you claim, insurers would rebel, and these vehicles, as well as the facilities that store them, would be uninsurable. That hasn't happened. If you want to know about risks, ask the experts: the guys who get paid to quantify and insure against them. Like our hosts. I personally hate EVs. They are soulless golf-carty things, and usually really ugly to boot, as if they have to advertise their virtue through weird styling. But, like colonoscopies, we're gonna have to accept them. ... View more

"No problem, that should be a one-Saturday job." I've said this myself a whole lot of times, only to have the project stretch into three weeks as things broke, didn't fit, etc. ... View more

1974 BMW 2002. I wrote about it here: https://bimmerlife.com/2021/10/30/genevieve-the-2002/ ... View more

How do you appraise a car without putting it on a lift and test driving it? ... View more

I love the fact that for virtually any car on the planet, there is an enthusiast. (Well, perhaps except for the Toyota Paseo.) I've stockpiled hard-to-find pieces for my various cars over the years (a 968 cylinder head, an E92 M3 engine) and then have sold them with the car when the time comes. A spare 968 cylinder head, for example, will be a real plus to a knowledgeable buyer. ... View more

Timely. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1993-land-rover-defender-90-nas/ ... View more

I sure wish the Corvette would lose those Camaro taillights. ... View more

Oh man, finding this really spiced up New Years Day. What an amazing piece of work! My late cousin crewed for a BMW-powered streamliner in the 1990s and said nothing else was quite like Bonneville. ... View more

I get that! I'm right behind you, and find that EVERYTHING in the shop takes longer. The flip side is that I appreciate the time spent more than I used to. ... View more

Great video! Happy 2022 from a happy Hagerty customer! ... View more

What a wonderful piece of writing! And a great tribute to your van. I have a similar vehicle--my 244k-mile 1999 Chevy Silverado. I didn't buy it new--I paid $1800 in 2019 for it--and it has proved to be an astounding value in the 10k miles I've added. It was was a tad spooky when I got it, but less than $300 in shocks fixed that. And it has a small coolant leak that triggers the light now and then, but it starts every single time (provided the battery is charged), does everything I ask of it, is comfortable, and still looks great. Hard to imagine paying $60k for a new one when this one will outlive all of us (except for Keith Richards). ... View more

Well, I didn't expect to spend this next-to-last day of 2021 studying diagrams of Moskvich front suspension, but I'm glad I did! I read the first couple paragraphs out loud to my wife. Loved "After my ear infection had gone away. . . " Hilarious writing, sir! I reads this while doing my own procrastination concerning my E30 build. Some much needed motivation to get out there, cold weather and all. ... View more

Funny stuff, Sam. ... View more

Interesting that many folks have completed classic restorations only to be disappointed at the gap between what the cars are currently and what they are remembered as being. I experienced this with the 7-year restoration of my 1966 Corvette that I completed in 1991. When it was all done, it drove like a 1966 Corvette, which seemed unacceptable even back in '91. ... View more

Sam, so sorry to hear about your mother's passing.  What a beautiful tribute both to her memory and to your father's efforts to endure his grief.  I live in your former west coast town, and he is welcome to park his RV in my driveway anytime.    ... View more