I traded my 2005 Grand Caravan for a 2018 Pacifica Touring L. I was wanting another Caravan, but was told that it, the Voyager, and the Town and Country had all been dropped in favor of the Pacifica. My Caravan was purchased particularly for the Stow and Go function as my previous 2003 Caravan necessitated lugging the seats out and occupying a part of the house that the wife desired for real furniture.  I used it as a multi purpose vehicle, and I have hauled 4'x8' sheets of plywood, drywall (sheetrock), gravel and bicycles as well as other articles. It was my Covered Pickup.  My Pacifica is serving the same purpose - the seats are in the floor until I have need to haul passengers, and I usually have heavy boxes of materials that come and go as needed, as well as empty boxes used for keeping groceries in place whilst driving in traffic. I realize that not everyone is enamored of this beast of burden, but it is in my eyes an attractive box on wheels that makes my life a bit easier. This newest iteration of the Pacifica is interesting, but "out of my league" in that it has so many features that do not interest me at all, and would not be using. I like my 2018 with its 9 speed tranny and its being able to get out of its own way when needed, and it has most of the features that the newer ones have as well, which have yet to be used. ... View more

My dad being influenced by his older brother with his high end Hudsons, bought a Hudson Pacemaker 6, 3 on the tree, with overdrive in 1951. The car was well cared for, and was at length passed on to me, where it stayed for several years. Started having problems with the shift lever connection to the rod going down the side of the steering wheel not staying together. Finally, after several trys over many months to solve the problem, the car was sidelined and later sold.  Sure was a good car otherwise though - not super fast getting to speed, but held its own, and delivered 20mpg. Still think about what it would be like to still have it, especially with the availability of parts nowadays. ... View more

Dear Sam, My suggestion would be to attend as many car shows as possible. The car owners typically if questioned about their cars can "talk your arm off", and show you things about their cars that you can plant in your memory. Plus, there are always a variety of cars, engines, equipment, etc to find out about.  My first car was a 1929 Model A Ford, which I couldn't drive yet, not being old enough, so it was parked in the back yard. I spent many hours in and around that car, and started working on it, finding out all about it and the parts that went into it, and why they were there. I was fortunate to have my father, who was an "old farmer", (not really old), who as a farmer dealt with machinery all his time on the farm - tractors, threshers, combines, etc. He guided me through the process of making the car sound mechanically and helping me understand what everything was for, and what it did. I also learned about metal crystallization due to bolts that sheared off instead of unscrewing. All of the modern cars carry the basics of the early cars, just updated, improved, and more sofisticated. 4 wheel hydraulic brakes with ABS, instead of mechanical 2 wheel brakes on the back wheels, sofisticated shock absorbers, etc.  Talk with car owners at shows, and you'll be amazed at what you learn.  Cheers, and good luck!! ... View more

Many years back, while in Las Vegas to attend my brother in law's wedding, having free time on my hands and not being interested in the usual attractions, found that the Imperial Palace had a car museum. The casino thoughtfully put the museum on the top floor at the back of all the assorted gambling venues, so one could be tempted to stop and play instead. However, I persisted and found my way to the museum, and it was WOW!! They had what was billed as the largest collection of Duesy's in one place, and what a collection. As I recollect, there were about 20 or 25 in attendance, and all but one was really a work of art. The one that I found "out of character" was a black car with the bulging proportions of a pumpkin, but must have been someone's dream car.  They also had the car that was given to Mussolini's mistress (bullet-proof glass, etc), one of hitler's parade cars (1"+ bullet proof glass), and several other interesting cars, but the highlight of the museum was the Deusenberg collection. I don't know if it is still there, but if it is, it's worth a visit. ... View more

When my late wife and I toured Germany, we stopped in Dresden, (one of my favorite cities), and a couple of other guys on the tour and I decided to visit the VW plant there. Always like to take pix of our tours, but other than the main entrance hall, pix were verboten. We entered the elevator and were whisked up to the observation level and observed the assembly line, which moved leisurely along, and workers doing their jobs, but not frantically or in a frenzy.  Quite impressive. The moving floor was wood, and I suspect that it would be less tiring than working on concrete. Anyway, we were ushered back down to the level below the assembly, where there were 2 of the Phetons parked for our inspection. The price per car, if I remember correctly was in the range of $75K, and looking at the cars, the opinion of our group was that it was not really worth that much. We didn't see much difference between them and the mainline Toyotas and Hondas that would warrant such a price.  Beautiful facility though. Got a photo of it from down the street! ... View more

Good luck with the sale, if there is one.  Darwin award for the buyer. ... View more

Used to be that tools were marked with the country of origin. I bought one of the ratchet combo wrenches at Ace Hardware, since they're advertising "buy American". Got curious and started looking at the wrench - nicely chromed, feels good in the hand, but no marks or indication as to its origin.  When I was back at Ace sometime later, I asked to see one of the ratchet combo wrenches, to see if there was any label or anything. Nice little "made in china" notation on the removable wall hanger/label. So once the paper hanger is gone, so is the origin information. It apparently was my misguided understanding that we had a law in this country that merchandise had to have country of origin embossed or labeled permanently on the article, but in our current state, laws are meant to be ignored. So if there is no label on the merchandise, I must figure it came from china. ... View more

Whoever wins the Bring a Trailer one that is up right now will get an excellent example of the marque. Well prepared and cared for. Wish that I had room for it, but with room for only three cars, one being a BJ7 Healey, and the other two that will not be disposed of to make room, just not possible to add another fun car!  Someone elses gain.  ... View more

Exactly right Mike.  Years ago, at work, one of my compadres had a GM car (memory gone) with a fairly simple problem that I stupidly volunteered to fix for him. Took awhile to get it done, and was also glad to be rid of it.  About 2 weeks later, he came to me and said that there was another problem which was completely unrelated to the one I had fixed, but he was blaming me for "causing" the second problem. He had someone else fix the new problem, and I learned my lesson to never fix someone elses car.  Just too much of a hassle, aggravation, and loss of friendships in severe cases. ... View more

Tampa Bay Auto Museum has several Tatras:  T-26, 6 wheel "military truck" type; a T-87; T-97; a Tatraplan; and a 603. Museum is actually in St. Petersburg, and has all kinds of interesting cars. The goal was to show the firsts of inventions or innovations in cars, and a lot of foreign cars are on display as a result. The good thing is that they exercise all their cars, so they are not just sitting idle.  They also had a Fardier de Cugnot (steam powered truck from 1700's France) on loan from the Deutsche Museum in Berlin, and subsequently had their own replica fabricated. Well worth the visit if in Florida.  ... View more

Years ago, in Lost Wages for my brother in law's wedding, went to the Imperial Palace to see their car collection.  At that time, they purportedly had the most Deusenbergs in their collection. I went throught the other cars first, very enjoyable, and then entered the Deusenberg exhibit.  I don't remember how many were there, and all except one were most beautifully executed ART!  However, there was one there that I'd be glad to have Chip do his "magic".  I stared at it and wondered "what was the owner or coachbuilder thinking". The body of the car was like a bloated whale, painted black, and seemed like one of the bloated "British royal coaches" that were drawn by a couple of teams of horses. Not meaning to offend anyone, but to me that was the most hideous travesty rolling on a Deusenberg chassis.  Chip Foose would have a ball bringing that one back to the glory that it should have had when it was new! ... View more

Fresh out of college, and lusting for a Healey 3000, I wisely asked my father in law for advice. He had a fella that wrenched on all his fleet of cars, and had "been around the block" many times, and was invited in on the conversation we were to have. His advice was short and simple.  If I wanted to buy a sport car, I would be in one of two groups - either I would be wealthy, and be able to afford someone else to take care of my car, or I would not be wealthy, and have to take care of it myself. Being in the latter category, and being mechanically oriented and somewhat versed in cars, thanks to my father's tutelage, I took the plunge into the world of British cars. First step was purchasing a workshop manual, and a parts manual. Then it was loads of time poring over the details of the machine that I had just purchased. I have been through the struggles of ownership, and at one point it sat on blocks for 40 years. I was fortunately able to have it restored, and I still have it today, and it was joined about thirty years ago with a sibling who also was restored. Both are loved and enjoyed. The monies spent on restoration will never be recouped, but one has to remember that a special car has been rescued, and that the enjoyment factor is priceless. It is also nice to take it out to car shows and let people enjoy it and hopefully be inspired or put off by the information board showing the long road to where it's at right now. I was fortunate that my first one was only 3 years old, so it was "perfect" when I started. The second one was not. ... View more

WD 40 is a kerosene based cleaner and leaves a residue of protectant on surfaces that are cleaned by it. Owing to the kerosene (oil) it is a mild lubricant as well as a solvent. Very useful for a multitude of applications. ... View more

Everybody has their own opinion of what they like in a car, exhibited by what one sees on the road. In my opinion, there are many that were designed by the ugly stick method, knowing that someone would buy the thing, and then there are the most beautiful cars to wear tires that have ever been seen by humans. In my eyes, this is a beautiful car, excellently prepared, well executed, attention paid to detail, and I imagine a great pleasure to drive. I couldn't be a caretaker of this magnificent machine, the same as I could not be a caretaker of many others, because it would take a lot of love to keep it as it is, but I wish the new caretaker the best of luck in caring for it. Kudos to Mr. Pfaff for his vision and bringing his vision to fruition. Comments regarding other builders are offensive, as each brings something to the automotive world. Not everyone is a Picasso, DeGas, or some other artist that can now bring in fantastic $$. There are other artists that produce exceedingly beautiful works of art as well.  This is automotive ART. ... View more

As a younger person I fantasized about having a nice warehouse that I could store about 100 cars from the '20's up to the present. Old age having taken me in her arms, the fantasy has dwindled, and the three cars that, if I had the room, would be: 1.  1963 Austin Healey 3000 MKII 2.  Jaguar XK140 Drophead Coupe 3.  Jaguar 3.8 MKII Saloon ... View more

The belief system goes all across the board.  I needed some 10-24 slotted head filister screws for my SU carbs some time ago, and went around town, starting with a bolt company, then a speed shop, and lastly an Ace Hardware store that was practically heaven as far as fasteners are concerned.  I couldn't find the right screws in any length where I could even cut them down. An "associate" approached me and I asked him if they had these screws, and he starts looking all over the "bolt room" and comes up with some 10-32 philips round head screws. I told him that I needed the 10-24 coarse thread screws in the slotted philister head configuration, to which he retorted that 10-24 was fine thread and that 10-32 was the coarse thread. We went back and forth a couple of times, and I finally thought, this is a lost cause and just give it a rest.  Don't know where this guy came from, but his mind was firmly made up and don't try to confuse him with facts.   ... View more

The bus is on bringatrailer.com, has 2 days left on the auction, and the latest bid that I saw today is for $50K.  Good luck!. ... View more

Was on a tour of Germany, and one of our stops for a couple of days was Dresden. One of the attractions of the city for gearheads in the tour was the VW factory that was producing the vaunted Phaeton. A beautiful facility with plenty of daylight inside and an impressive assembly line.  We were not allowed to take photos inside the building, unfortunately, as there was some nice architectural features in the lobby.  The tour ended with the traditional gift shop and a couple of phaetons for people to try on for size and feel.  My reaction and that of the group as a whole was shock at the price that was attached to the car. It was small, and didn't seem to us as offering anything worth that much money, and it was no surprise to me that it failed in the marketplace. The Dodge Magnum was a different story however.  I fell in love with the styling, and even got a ride in one once, which was pleasureable.  I would love to  have had a barn and the $$ to have be able to buy one of these, along with about a hundred of my other "dream cars", but unfortunately reality has a bad habit of not allowing that. I was greatly disappointed that there were not enough other people that felt the same about the Magnum as I did.  As far as the Aztek, everyone has their own vision of beauty and what really trips "their trigger".  The car manufacturers have made many cars over the years whose looks have  brought the question, "what were they thinking" to my mind. But these cars have sold, and someone appreciated them, so it's not for me to judge. ... View more