Ask Autopian Writers Whatever You Want (Within Reason) Right Here, Right Now

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It’s been a while since we’ve had a chat — one between just you, dear Autopian member, and us Autopian writers. We can talk about whatever you like. You can ask questions about not-cars if you can think of any (I cannot), and you can of course give us feedback on the site. Or you can just say”what’s up”! It’s all up for grabs!

It’s October. The Autopian has been around for 1.5 years now. How are we doing in your eyes? How are YOU doing? What does your car-world look like these days? Wrenching? Visiting car museums? Photographing cool machines you see on the streets? Racing? Gaming? Reading? Cruising (like Huibert below)?

 

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Car culture is so multifaceted, and there are so many ways to be a car-person. How are you doing it today?

OK, I need to stop asking all these questions — it’s your turn! Hit us in the comments!

Topshot Credit: Bring a Trailer

About the Author

Jason Torchinsky

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258 thoughts on “Ask Autopian Writers Whatever You Want (Within Reason) Right Here, Right Now”

  1. A question about Autopian TV – are there any plans to add a link in the top navigation so that we can head straight the video content? Maybe this is just a quirk of my browser, but I only ever see the videos when they’re embedded half-way down a story, and I’m not a fan of watching a video when I’m mid-story, so I prefer to read the whole article and then come back to the vids later.

  2. Is there a specific car that you associate with your first car-oriented childhood memory?

    For me there is an image indelibly stored in my brain of a 1973 silver Ford Escort that my dad had when I was a kid – it’s parked in the grass near a cabin my grandparents rented in Scotland, and if I close my eyes I can almost feel and smell the red vinyl seats.

    1. For me it’s my earliest memory full-stop.

      Dad had an early-80s blue Chev C10 dual-cab with dually running a 6.2L GM Diesel. Not common in Australia at the time, parents had a school photography business and needed the size and towing capacity for all the work gear.

      I was maybe three years old, bouncing from one end of the front bench seat to the other as we went into the paddock to get some firewood.

    2. At 4 years old, living in my parents’ 1-1/2 story insul-brick on dirty Woodbine Ave in Toronto 1973, I would beg to go outside at 5:20 each weekday, lie in wait under the lilac bush, and watch from ground-level as the neighbour returned from work in his white Citroën DS. Each day, I enjoyed the drama of whether and how its front-end would again climb the low sidewalk curb onto the dirt driveway. It looked like a levitating spaceship, if only I knew what a spaceship was. From that point on, I made a point of memorizing the model name of every car I saw, whether my mother wanted to hear it or not.

      1. I think at the age of 7 I could identify every car on the road (in the UK at least) based on the taillights alone, and would call out the model name for every car we passed. Curiously, my family did not find that game as entertaining as I did.

    3. Lamborghini Countach. The one with all the 80s gimmicks stuck on top. My dad had a diecast model of it where you could open the doors and trunks. That was the coolest thing ever to young me, and it’s now proudly displayed in my home.

      1. I’m not sure any car has come close to the countach for pure, exotic appeal. Back in the day I had a 1:18 scale countach model with opening doors (I think it was by Bburago), and was absolutely heartbroken when I dropped it down the stairs. The rear wing snapped off and I think the little windshield wiper too, so it got replaced on the shelf by a Jaguar XJ220.

    1. I’m about a third of the way through Daisy Jones And The Six. Enjoying it so far. On the plane back from France, I read a really good noir crime novel called Lucky Supreme, by Jeff Johnson.

    2. My reading pile is out of control. I’m currently reading Moby Dick, 1982 the inside story of the sensational grand prix season by Christopher Hilton, and Postmodernism by Glenn Ward. Earthly awaiting delivery of my signed copy of Rowland White’s new book, Mosquito (I have all his others in hardback and they are all brilliant).

    4. Last book I read was Casino Royale, I don’t read much lately and so am mainly reading in airports/planes when I have work conferences.

      If you want an insight into the proto-Aussie mindset, Here’s Luck by Lennie Lower was written in the 1920s and is absolutely hilarious.

      The author is the namesake of my Valiant Ute, and he grew up in Dubbo.

        1. There’s some old-Sydney references that might be a bit incomprehensible, and a bit of the humor is off-colour for today’s sensibilities but I still love it and try to read it once a year.

          If you enjoy it as much as I do, there’s also a book of Lennie’s best columns and sketches from when he wrote for the Sydney Morning Herald called Here’s Another

    6. Race Car Design by Derek Seward. It helped me wrap my brain around a lot of physics behind cars. It’s nerdy as hell, chock full of equations but if you like science and automobiles it’s awesome.

  5. Did you have a family member or family friend that was an automotive influence in your life when you were a kid? Did they have a specific car, hobby, or skill that was a major influence to your interests later in life?

    2. I have been a gearhead forever, but my dad and my grandpa definitely supported and encouraged my interests. Both of them were mechanical engineers, car guys, and had a lot of car guy friends.

    4. My dad worked at British Leyland in the 70s before it shut in Australia and was a mechanic after that, so I think that tinkering mindset passed onto my brother and I.

      He passed away when we were quite young, so we kinda learnt as we went and there were uncles and tradies that would fix stuff on the farm we would watch and learn from as well.

      One of dad’s best mates was a car dealer, so we got some swag from him from time to time and my first fast car I’d been in was his 1999 WRX Sti Version V so that definitely was one big influence

    5. My father was a UPS truck driver for 25 years before he delivered his last package.

      He told me stories of that big brown truck sliding sideways down a steep hill of black ice with chains on the tires in rural Upstate NY (in the 80s-90s) in a sideways, white-out blizzard that forever solidified my interest in anything with wheels and motion.

      I took a shop class in high school and took off from there. Thanks for the great question!

  6. If y’all ever find yourselves in Minneapolis and want to have a little reader get together, I’d be happy to host you at my brewery. We have a tiny parking lot, but I reckon we could get creative if folks wanted to turn it into a gathering for cars as well. During the warmer months, we do host a monthly moto-night.

    Also – how about the revival of a “what car should I buy” type of thing? I’ll be in the market in the near future, but am struggling with the prices of used cars that are remotely appealing to me.

      1. A healthy amount of German influence; originally intended to be an homage to the working class; taproom feels like a modern dive bar, but with tall ceilings.

          1. Not officially (yet). Just tell a bartender it’s your first time there and you live or work in the neighborhood. They should give you a neighbor discount.

        1. If its any indication, my saved searches contain ‘Triumph TR7’ and the like. I am a glutton for punishment. That said, wonder what a 5-6k Boxster will look like!

          1. In that case, buy the nicest 986 Boxster you can afford, or even a 987 if your budget stretches. On 986s, the ignition switch, Variocam pads, early model chain tensioners, and of course the IMS bearing are the things to watch out for, but the last three can be done at the same time as a clutch change, and the first one’s actually a $20 Volkswagen part.

  7. Always wondered how much you guys get into the “lifestyle” side of automotive enthusiasm, or do you make a point of never ever?

    By now we know you’re all accomplished in the actual mechanics of the pursuit (wrenching, designing, racing, etc.) but does anyone prize their Champion spark plug tee, wear a chronograph watch, sport a tweedy driving cap while in his Ferrari, etc.?

    1. No. I can’t stand that stuff. I have one Ferrari t-shirt that was €30 from an Italian petrol station. I have souvenirs from events I’ve attended but that’s it.

    2. Admittedly, I do wear stringbacks in the Boxster to prevent my hands from getting cold on autumn nights. Otherwise, I generally shy away from automotive merch. Hoonigan had a cool collab with itsaliving a few years ago, and I have a Skreetcar shirt because their photography’s awesome, but that’s about it.

      Oh, but I do like watches, to the point that I used to write about them. The sapphire-backed Nomos Tangente Neomatik Platinum 39mm has been calling my name for a while now, but I should really get my converted IWC pocketwatch tuned up first. Of course, I also wouldn’t turn down a Kurono Chronograph II or anything from Studio Underd0g either…

      2. Figured someone might, but I was half expecting one of you to say “oh yeah Torch wears a Paul Newman Daytona” or something unexpected like that!

        (my tastes are much more toward the low-end but historic – bought a Hamilton intra-matic a few years ago that I adore for its simplicity).

            1. The market for them has calmed down a lot, but you’re still not getting one retail, despite what Swatch said about making as many as they cold and selling them online (which hasn’t happened). Mine was a present, but I found it on a reputable collector site for £350, above the £220 retail but a far cry from what the scalpers wanted a year ago.
              The non-moon Moonswatches will be even less.

      3. I read “stringbacks” and not being familiar with the term my brain went immediately to thong-style underwear. I had just enough time to think “weird but okay, to each his own” before reading on enough to understand you were referring to gloves.

    5. I have a few Lane museum t-shirts I wear the crap out of. And I like stupid $5 Chinese smartwatches that don’t really work, or old calculator watches.

    6. The only real “lifestyle” stuff I have that I’m proud of is a 1993 Detroit Grand Prix volunteer T shirt, and a 1994 Reno NV Packard club meet sweatshirt. You can find some cool stuff on etsy.

  8. The car purchase you are most proud of and why? Not just a car I liked buy DT maybe the that I3 cheap plus new battery for free plus I can drive it where children hang out and not get the cops called on me.

    2. My very first Smart. Buying that car was physical proof that if I worked hard enough, never stopped dreaming, and ignored the haters, I could achieve my dreams.

    3. In terms of what it gives me, and what it gives other people (I’ll let kids sit in it and have Dad/Mum take their photo if they want) the Ferrari definitely. It’s fabulous to drive, everybody loves it and talks to me about it, and it was a relative bargain.

      1. Hey I am loving these answe8rs so far. SWG gets points for a story column to back up the answer. Matt proposed what I said avoid but I get what he was trying to say “sometimes the fun is in the hunt”

    5. Well, my wisest purchase seems to have been my ex-Forest Service Chevy truck. It’s the vehicle that got me on DT’s radar, back in the Jalopnik days. And it has been a hell of a companion for the past five years. Like Adrian’s Ferrari, everyone seems to love it.

    6. For me, definitely my Valiant Charger.

      I’ve loved 70s cars since before I can remember, my brother and I watched The Blues Brothers so much we wore the VHS out.

      I had a Valiant Regal, but the Charger being a coupe in rough but running condition and sounding like thunder was a sign to me that I’d made a good decision.

    7. My Datsun 280Z. It’s the very first unsafe car choice I’ve ever made. I had nowhere to store it when I got it, I couldn’t wrench for shit and I severely under budgeted the restoration. However I’m proud to have had faith in myself and to be seeing this thing through no matter what.

    8. I bought the “Nice price or crack pipe” NSX that was on Jalopnik for $25K. Wasn’t the best car for Detroit roads but I’m glad I had a chance to own one and its pretty much the only car that I’ve ever made money on. Definitely a special car and unique driving experience. With prices now I doubt I’d ever be able to afford one again.

  10. I am really digging the little responses to my comments button now that I found it. It is a good design too. But did I miss the reason notice? I first noticed it when I had like 300 comments and too many to respond.
    I really miss the antics of DT & JT, I realize very busy maybe assign an intern to a stupid stunt?
    Whatever happened to the Autopian RV Rolling Office?

    1. Smart Fortwo CDI. 40 HP, 70 mpg, puts out the tiniest puffs of smoke.

      Second place would be any General Motors bus powered by a Detroit Diesel.

        1. A colleague’s 6.2L T1XX Yukon popped its engine with fewer than 20,000 miles on the clock, so I think I’ll take my chances with the diesel for the duration of the warranty period.

    2. Unrealistic: Audi R8 V10, specifically a first-generation model. Also, I’d love an early Tesla Roadster in that electric blue color.

      Realistic: Smart Roadster (2027 is coming soon, baybee!)

    6. AMC Javelin or Rebel Machine.

      Always liked the underdog brands, and there’s just something about AMC that’s drawn me towards them since I was a teenager and saw a Rebel at a local car show and a Javelin later on.

    2. Ford Festiva without doors…

      During my ownership of that car, I ate a huge sub while on a road trip. When I got the fixings on my shirt, I just brushed them off and out of the car. In hindsight, I wonder if someone got a piece of lettuce on their windshield. lol

    1. Ha! Can you even imagine what it would cost to ship it over there? I did 2500 miles in 9 days going to Italy and then Goodwood the other months. It was faultless.

      1. Actually, I can!

        RoRo FOB from Southampton to Baltimore, you’re roughly looking at about £1200-1500 one-way (not sure on current entry fees for non-permanent.) About 12 days journey. But you need to schedule MONTHS in advance.

        1. Even if the expenses were reasonable (and borne by the company), I wouldn’t blame Adrian for wanting to be on the same side of the pond as his regular mechanic. At least if he breaks down in Italy, he’ll likely be able to find somebody to service a 40-yr-old Ferrari, and even if not, a tow all the way up Europe probably still costs less–and is faster–even than finding a mechanic and parts in the lower 48!

    2. Music, food, wine, photography, my friends, in no particular order. I’ll put it to you this way: I’m making buffalo chicken bites while sampling a riesling, looking at filters, listening to Fred Again, and putting together a Halloween costume right now.

    3. Swimming. As my bio says, I love swimming in literally any body of water I can find. I just found a new swimming spot and I’m bummed summer is already over. Coldest water I’ve been in was 47 degrees on a 55-degree day. Still some time left to try out that new spot. lol If there’s anyone here likely to die from those waterborne brain-eating amoeba things, it would probably be me.

      Maybe I might do a polar plunge this year…

    4. aside from the people and animals I love and all that mushy stuff, probably art projects I want to do, archaic computers and video game stuff to find/fix/do dumb things with.

    1. It’s the only way it really has value for us. It’s hard to do an equivalency between membership and the player, but we’d need way more members than we have now to be sustainable without it.

      1. I totally get the value of video, but autoplay specifically– my personal reflex to anything like that, a video, an ad, even an animated gif, is to just get it the hell out of my face as fast as possible, whether by stopping it, closing it, scrolling so I can’t see it, or using an addon. The absolute last thing I’ll ever do is stop reading in the middle of a sentence to watch an unrelated video that’s already 30 seconds in. Again this is just me, but I’d personally be far more likely to actually watch a video if it were an eye-catching thumbnail with an interesting title than something that autoplays. I will never see the ads on the ones you’re running now.

        1. Again this is just me, but I’d personally be far more likely to actually watch a video if it were an eye-catching thumbnail with an interesting title than something that autoplays. I will never see the ads on the ones you’re running now.

          It’s definitely not just you. I will do everything in my power to avoid an auto-playing video. I would gladly click on a link to a video related to what I’m reading, and watch said video right after, but stuff moving around while I’m trying to read drives me bananas, and I’ll just stop reading and close the page.

          I’ve unfortunately had to resort to an ad blocker to block the auto-playing videos, which as a paying subscriber, I really hate to have to do, but I have no other option if I want to read the content.

        1. It’s actually a common misconception that clicking on ad necessarily gives someone more money. It helps, maybe, in terms of people paying a higher CPM. BUT, mostly, it’s the viewing of the ads.

  18. If the rest of you are here, who is supervising David Tracy to ensure he doesn’t buy ANOTHER basketcase heap he really doesn’t need?

    … oh, wait, David’s here. Whew. Bullet dodged.

    In that vein: worst automotive purchase ever?

      1. Dear gods. Mark, I said worst automotive purchase ever.
        Not “the point in your life where you found something below rock bottom.” (And I say that as someone who has owned one of those generation J-bodies!)

    3. An ’85 V8 Cougar with a crankcase full of sawdust that made it to the bottom of the sellers’ driveway before throwing a rod.

      I could’ve set that $500 on fire and at least had a nice fire for a moment as opposed to that monumental headache of a bad decision.

      You live and you learn though.

    4. 2005 Volkswagen Passat TDI wagon. Or to be more specific, the third one I purchased. lol

      So, after selling my first one because I was too depressed to fix it, I bought a second one a few months later. The second one was great for all of a day before the transmission started grenading and the engine lost all oil pressure. I paid $1,200 for the car and scrapped it for about half that. I also managed to nab good parts before sending it away. So, that didn’t hurt much.

      In 2021, I bought a third 2005 Passat TDI wagon. I paid more, $3,500 because this car was supposed to be mechanically perfect. Had a rebuilt transmission and nearly two decades of service records to go with it. On the test drive, I floored it, allowing the car to redline gears 1 through 3. That was good enough for me and I tossed the seller my money.

      6 months or so later, I’m driving the car to my mom’s house, and just for giggles, I punch it, trying to find the car’s top speed. It tries to shift out of 3rd gear into 4th, stumbled hard, and slammed into 4th gear as if the car got hit by Thor’s hammer. It didn’t even attempt to go into 5th.

      I parked the car in my parents’ garage over the winter and when I came to retrieve it, there was a puddle of trans fluid on the floor with metal flakes in it. That’s a sealed transmission…

      When I took the car out in the spring, I tried to do another top speed run. That time, the transmission stumbled and failed so hard that the car just went into limp mode, locking the transmission in 3rd gear. The car hasn’t worked right since. Sometimes the torque converter won’t go into lockup and now, there’s some vac issue causing hard brakes and underboost.

      The car’s worth maybe $500 at best now. Projected repair costs are about what the car would be worth in perfect working order, so either way, I lose. Didn’t even get to drive it much before all of this crap.

  19. Hi! I like Autopian enough that I actually gave you money, which is something I almost never do to a web site. It was worth it for the handmade Torch drawing and grille badge (though I don’t really have the kind of grill that makes those look good).

    This year has partially sucked for cars for me. Last year to celebrate 10 years without cigarettes, I picked up a ’22 Civic Si and loved it very much. But just after its ten-month birthday, I got t-boned by a red-light-running Mercedes GLC 300 and totaled. I replaced it with the fancy version of the same car, a ’23 Acura Integra A-Spec, and despite it being mostly exactly the same car, I’m not sure I love it as unconditionally as I did the Si. It’s a real shame.

    Hmm, I guess I don’t have any questions for you after all…

      1. It’s been a mixed bag. Objectively it’s a better car. Largely it drives the same, as you’d expect. Same engine, same clutch and transmission, same gearbox I think. It’s got the LSD which is what made the Si so fun. So it handles wonderfully, and I never feel sluggish. I can be going 70 up a mountain pass in sixth gear and still can simply drop my foot for extra power.

        The extra weight doesn’t bother me like I was worried about. But I don’t find myself wanting to push this car at all, and I’m not sure why. At first I thought that was just nerves after a pretty big accident. But now I wonder if it’s because the Integra doesn’t pipe in engine noise like the Si did. I kept the Si in Sport or Individual mode full time, and there’s no way to turn off the piped-in noise in those modes, so you just get used to it. Not having that makes the Acura seem more mature, even if just on a subconscious level.

          1. I mean, maybe? It *shouldn’t*, though. The Acura’s cabin is so well-damped that unless I have the windows down or the sunroof open, I can’t really hear the engine much at all. So I think there’s part of me that kinda misses that extra engine noise, even though most of me thinks that feature is cheesy and childish.

            Case in point, I drove McKenzie Pass in Oregon (a beautiful twisty mountain road that’s only open like two months a year because of weather) in both cars, and it was noticeably more fun in the Honda. I never revved that engine so much as on that drive. The same road in the Acura was much more subdued. Probably more comfortable, but it wasn’t worth the trip like it was in the Honda. So in the case of McKenzie Pass, I would say that the noise did actually make a difference.

      2. One thing I will say is that the safety features of that Honda pretty much saved my butt from any serious injury, and I will never ignore that section of the specs again, when shopping for a car.

  20. I’m curious to know if you guys are planning on continuing the members rides series. It seems like it’s been a while. I really enjoy seeing what others have in their garages.

  21. FWIW I think you guys are doing a great job. Today brought a noticeable increase in content, all of it solid – not bad at all for a Thursday. 🙂

    How are you (meaning the staffers) doing? It seems like there are some times where one or more of you will end up 100% exhausted. I think it’s safe to say we definitely appreciate the effort you (collectively) expend on our behalf, but encourage you to take care of yourselves as you do.

    Related to that, how are things going on the hiring front? Are you interviewing candidates for the various editor roles?

    1. I agree with this 100%. Burnout is not an option here. I would be ok (and my boss probably would be also) with a little less content to distract me from my job.

      1. The drawback is there is no practical location to punch life back. However, glad to see (hear? read?) you’re doing better. No more ambulance rides, all right?

    3. I think I’m doing fine. The only thing I’m currently frustrated with is not having enough money for all of the things I want to buy. Remember the CFMoto Papio SS I wrote about?

      THEY’RE HERE! I want to buy one today, but I also want to buy like one or two Honda Motocompactos, and I need to buy Christmas presents for like a half-dozen kids, pay to go to Florida in a couple of weeks (brother’s marriage proposal to his girlfriend), and, and…gosh everything is so expensive nowadays. lol

      1. HOLYCRAPHOLYCRAPHOLYCRAPHOLYCRAP!!

        Thank you for the link! I want one too, even though I would be picking on a 125 – and both sentiments go double for the Motocompacto.

        Family can be expensive but they’re worth it. Mostly. 🙂

    4. You’re a peach to ask! I’m feeling a bit burned out myself, mostly noticing it’s taking me longer to write things, and I’m working on a solution to the pile of car drawings that always looms. My solution is Apple II-based. But I still love doing this.

      1. You had some long days and some interesting travel in there; I think that would cause most of us to char a little bit.

        I appreciate the ][ approach. If you need a hand, I can fire up the SPARC5 in the basement. RISC POWER!! 🙂

  22. I just want to ask if you’ve ever been to Speedway Motors out in Lincoln, NE? If not, I’d call and see if you can get a tour of their facilities and their car museum! (shameless plug for a local car attraction)

      1. They have a lot of rad stuff and it’s rotated in and out often.

        Plus, cost of living is dirt cheap out here, you could drive in, spend a couple days, and leave full of Runzas for next to nothing.

    1. You know, I drove to Sweden back in 2020 in my diesel manual Chrysler minivan.

      I gained a lot of respect for Volvo, especially the old ones. ESPECIALLY the EPA Tractors.

      I love the old DAF-based Volvos, and brick-style Volvos.

      I think the modern XC90 is fantastic, and I appreciate the ICE Polestar cars.

      The EV Polestars are unique, which I think is a hard thing to pull off in the EV world sometimes.

      I respect the hell out of the brand, and of Swedes in general, because they all — deep down — would love nothing more than to have an American V8-powered machine in their garage (but only to cruise on the weekends).

      1. Respect on all counts! I feel the same way about Volvos both old and new. Love everything you’ve done creating The Autopian and if you ever need any website-related help I’m around

  24. Have you guys read that new Walter Isaacson book about Elon yet? Did you see the bit about the Model S having to have a physical glovebox latch because some law prevented it being placed in the touchscreen? Has that law changed or did Walter just get this all wrong? Can we get this law put back on the books?

      1. My girlfriend is reading that! I’ll steal it from her when she’s done.

        Did we just witness an Autopian Canon Event of the transition from “friend” to “girlfriend”?

  25. I’m tempted to ask what other foods David eats in the shower, but what I really want to know is what vehicle each contributor most regrets getting rid of.

    1. For me it’s a toss-up between my old ’94 (green-over-gray leather) Firebird Formula and my ’90 Dodge Daytona.

      Both were sold due to being a broke college kid and both are sadly hard to replace due to scarcity these days.

      Great question and thanks for hitting it off!

          1. Probably my 99 Ford Explorer XLT (also green over gray, but not leather or quite as interesting a green). The 4WD sometimes didn’t want to disengage, the transmission was slipping, and I had probably run it too hard a couple times, but it was a good size and had good capabilities.
            Traded it in on a 2008 Focus for reliability and gas mileage. And because I thought the Focus would be more fun than it was.

            1. Those trucks have a handsome quality about them that wasn’t initially apparent until after the 90s-00s. At least not to this guy,

              I think the design is aging quite well. Cheers Drew.

    2. Weirdly, I don’t regret getting rid of anything. If I like it, it stays and I find space for it. If I fall out of love, it goes. I’m really glad to have experienced the mix of vehicles I’ve owned, but I’m more than content with my current fleet.

      1. That’s mostly where I land, though I sometimes sort of wish I still had my 99 Explorer. Not enough to, y’know, deal with one again, but enough to miss it.

    3. There’s a few, but that’s mainly because I couldn’t afford to keep them on the road and now they’re worth a lot of money. My Mk2 Escort RS2000 was a rotten as a pear and back in 2001 you couldn’t get the parts for them. If you could FIND a set of inner wings they were £500, which was half what I paid for the car. Those Escorts are making over £40k now.
      But the one that I really miss is my Husqvarna 125 two stroke supermoto I learned to ride on. Obviously I traded it for a bigger bike once I passed my test, but I want another badly and they never come up for sale.

      1. Oh, that is rough to see something that was a money pit become valuable. I haven’t done it with cars, but I’ve definitely gotten rid of stuff and later seen the value shoot up.

    5. For me, it’s my first Volkswagen Passat TDI wagon. I’ve now owned four of these things (I haven’t written about the fourth yet) and none of them were quite as good as my first one. That car never let me down, even when I let it down. It was easily the best $850 I’ve ever spent, but I just wasn’t in a place mentally to do the one repair it needed (a FREE repair, at that) to get it to 100 percent. I was so depressed back then that I second-guessed my own diagnosis. The problem? Split boost hose causing underboost. The previous owner apparently threw $2k fixing every conceivable cause for underboost but the boost hose, so the car was basically bulletproofed.

      On many days I sort of kick myself over being too depressed (back then) to fix that car. It would have taken me 30 minutes at the most and wouldn’t have required any real tools. Admittedly, I wish I got a second chance with it.

      Thankfully, the car was sold to someone who not only confirmed that my diagnosis was right on the money, but the car drove great after a 15-minute fix.

      1. Depression is a hell of a thing. I totally get not making that repair, even if you’re kicking yourself now. I’m glad you have been able to get back into them, even if that first one’s gone.

        1. It sure is. I’m so much happier now, but it’s fascinating (perhaps the wrong word) how depression can change so much about you. I stopped working on cars, I stopped doing any hobbies. I was just going through the motions of life, not really caring what happened to me.

          I wish I kept that car’s VIN somewhere. I’d try to track down the current owner and get myself a second chance with it.

    6. Two for me: first, a 1988 Olds Calais with a Quad 4 and a stick. Not even sure why I wanted to get rid of it. I remember the air conditioning not working, maybe that was it.

      And I traded in my one and only new car, a 2002 Mazda Protege, on a one-year-old Focus ZX3 (at Galpin, ironically) and regretted it almost immediately. The Focus was OK, but I didn’t get a great deal on it (sorry Beau) and I really liked that Mazda. But I was super-possessive of it, and my then-fiance (now wife of 17 years) thought we should have an “our” car instead of a “my” car and a “her” car. Oh well, I’ve had some great cars since then.

      1. We all make some less-sound decisions about cars, and it’s easy to feel possessive, especially when you have that emotional attachment to your first new car.

        And repairing an older AC unit can be a pain (especially if someone tried to recharge it with the wrong refrigerant), so that might have been perfectly reasonable.

    7. I’ve probably used David’s shower more than he has the last week and it’s full of toothbrushes, toothpaste, and those little (I presume used) floss picks.

      2. I’m not going to judge him for brushing his teeth in the shower (though I insist on colder water for my teeth than my skin). Leaving used floss picks in there is a little more iffy, but it’s probably less iffy than shower spaghetti.

    9. I’m with Thomas on this, every car I sold I did because I didn’t want/need it anymore.

      I don’t really miss my R34 Skyline GT-T all that much. My 2006 WRX does all the same things with half the running costs and much more parts availability. Sure I miss the handling, but I don’t miss the 90s style turbo-lag which meant you couldn’t have fun with the boost anywhere much except merging onto a highway.

      I had an absolutely mint ’75 Valiant Regal sedan, but I sold that as it basically felt like the Charger with two extra doors. It’s gone on to be loved by a whole other group of people, which I think is much better than it just sitting in my shed doing nothing.

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