What a Difference a Few Hours Makes
Just a few hours later...
http://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motoramic/truck-driver-wins-lamborghini-crashes-hours-later-220724449.html
I trust this won't happen to anyone who gets an Eddie robot to participate in the big Microsoft "killer app" contest.
"The Magic Smoke was released just hours after opening the package..."
http://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motoramic/truck-driver-wins-lamborghini-crashes-hours-later-220724449.html
I trust this won't happen to anyone who gets an Eddie robot to participate in the big Microsoft "killer app" contest.
"The Magic Smoke was released just hours after opening the package..."
Comments
My Corvair could hit 115, but it felt like 200 MPH with everything rattling around.
Hey Jim, which tracks have you been to? Have you been to BeaveRun?
I normally do Beaver Run a few times a year. Most of my track days are at Nelson Ledges. Been to Mid-Ohio once, but it was mostly in the rain. That track is no fun.
-Phil
Not a chance with that "right angle" fan belt! Didn't you know they're guaranteed to break off at 85 mph. Or, maybe it could hit 115, but it would have to be down a steep hill, with no brakes, with the engine off.
Back when I drove into Hollywood twice a week, and passed by the intersection of Beverly Glen and Santa Monica, I thought of Ernie Kovacs and Corvairs.
-- Gordon
I saw one at a gas station in Nashua, New Hampshire of all places. I am tall and it did not look like a comfortable ride, but I rode in a corvette once and they are pretty cramped inside as well.
When I bike through Goleta (N of Santa Barbara), I am reminded of the gory details of a Corvair rollover there in the opening of the Corvair chapter in Nader's book "Unsafe at Any Speed".
Of course, when I go out to my garage, I am reminded of my '67 Monza buried somewhere under all my other "must-haves".
'Nader argued that the (Corvair) epitomized the triumph of "stylistic pornography over engineering integrity." '
I ended up buying a 1996 Fiero GT (V-6) to get over my mid-life crisis. That was a joy to drive.
Then surely a '92 Toyota Tercel with 289,000 miles is on your list. Only four (or is it five?) owners.
I recently sold a '74 Plymouth and '73 Datsun that were my "must-haves" but collecting rust. Funnily enough, now that they're gone from the driveway, I wonder what "must" I just had to have them under! What got me to sell them was I took them on project cars with my son, but they're simply too unsafe by today's standards. For the same money -- or even less! -- I could have bought a 5 to 7 year old car that has such silly things as air bags and shoulder seat belts.
-- Gordon
At 16 I was able to drive my step-father's '64 E-Type Jag. By 17 no such luck. I grew a couple of inches, and by 18 was 6'2". The Jag was a hard top, with no moon roof or anything else, made worse in that my height comes from my torso (waist to shoulders). Most compact cars are too small for me unless I lean the seat back.
For my mid-life crisis I bought a '84 Mustang convertable. It was my DeLorean -- as in conking out at various times, including on the freeway -- not in a time machine sense. I traded it in for an Isuzu Trooper, you know, the one with the 4-cylinder engine that used to have issues with warped blocks. Even with the underpowered engine they used to put in those, the faulty fuel pump that required a $700 job to replace because the freaking thing is IN the fuel tank, the transmission that need to be rebuilt at 80K miles, and other issues, it was a better car than the Mustang. (I probably would have hated the Isuzu if not for the 100K mile extra warranty we had. Bet they were sorry they sold the warranty to us!)
Nothing's as solid as that '92 Tercel that I want Erco to buy for his museum.
-- Gordon
What the heck is "stylistic pornography"? Sounds interesting, but I guess it's one of those things that really means nothing.
I was never attracted to the Corvair's looks, this despite Tom McCahill's positive review (he said the Corvair handled better than the Porche -- Nader must have been incensed!). Back then I was much more into British sports cars, perhaps because that's what the family owned. I don't think they were any better made, and that's not even including the electrical system, which everyone knows in British cars was rubbish.
By the late '60s I was more into Pontiacs: Firebirds, TransAms, GTOs. I never owned one myself, but they were fun to ride. Get in, buckle up, and hold on!
-- Gordon
Too bad Pontiac is gone. If they ever come back I'd like to see them make the original Firebirds. A few years ago they had them all at a car show nearby. We were able to walk right up to them and get all sorts of pictures. Talking to one of the people that brought them I was told that the 3rd version still runs well. Don't know about the first two.
One perk being right near the motor city is that there are still some unique vehicles around and you never know what will show up.
Robert
http://autos.yahoo.com/photos/ferraris-wrecked-in-million-dollar-pileup-1323109313-slideshow/
-Phil
Excellent observation! Perhaps they were foiled-wrapped chocolate Ferraris for Chistmas...
"No wonder they handled so poorly..."