My mother had a talking ‘84 Chysler Turbo Laser. Despite its K-car underpinnings, it was a pretty nifty car, with real Bridge of Weir leather seats, 5-speed, and digital dash. It was quick, too. Occasionally it would get confused and randomly announce that the left rear door was ajar.

I bought a 1985 Jag last year that was definitely lady-driven because I found her long-expired gym membership card in the glovebox.The interior of the car smells very perfumey. You can even smell it inside the trunk.

The reason it matters is called the moment of inertia. An object that has the mass located closer to the axis of rotation is easier to rotate than a body with the mass hung out at the ends. A car that has the major masses (such as the engine) at either end will resist changes of direction more than will a car with the…

Seconded. I got a ‘12 Volt a year ago for 12K and I calculate that it saves me $30 a month over the Smart Fortwo I was driving before. Compared to the fuel costs if I had to drive my 17 MPG pickup truck every day it’s almost free. And as you know, it’s quiet, smooth, and the AC will put icicles on your ears.

Whoever at the CIA came up with the idea of getting Howard Hughes to set up their cover story was a genius. “Let’s see, Hughes is fiercely patriotic and a seafloor mining project is just the kind of outlandish scheme he’d actually back. Let’s call him!”

Ugh. “Shabby chic”. Take a nice, well-worn piece of old furniture, paint it white, and hit the corners with a jitterbug sander. Blegghhhh.

In much of the residential parts of Rochester, it’s alternate side, every day. It’s nowhere near as congested as NYC, so it’s not really an issue most places. There are a few neigborhoods, though, where parking is notoriously impossible.

I suspect B2B is the bulk of Ryder’s volume. Although they’ll rent you anything you’re qualified to drive, they don’t seem to go out of their way to court individual rentals.

It depends a lot on the brand. Aspirational brands like Ferrari kinda seem a little questionable, even if you do own the car. Long-defunct names like Packard, DeSoto or Datsun are always OK. 

Yeah.. I recall that one of them was called the “DR-1" because it was built specifically for Don Runkle.

I have a 2012 Volt (an early one, with the smaller battery) and my electric range is almost identical to yours. I can occasionally break 40 miles, but that usually comes down to pure luck. I can’t complain, though; at current prices a first-gen Volt is one heck of a deal, considering how cheap they are to run.

Neutral: Will Limited Options Be Enough For The Model 3?

weelll.... not always. I’m an automotive engineer, but I started out wrenching with my mechanic father. I take my DD’s to a local mechanic not because I can’t fix them, but because I don’t want to bother with them. I do all the mechanic’ing on my DeLorean, my Datsun and my Packard myself.

Wow. The worst I’ve ever had is dominance-behavior tailgating in the right lane from guys in lifted 4x4s with prosthetic ‘nads hanging from the trailer hitch. The most positive responses to my 451s have come from -get this- bikers. I’ve gotten thumbs-up and nods from grizzled guys who I would definitely not want to…

Oh, now. I don’t think there’s anything *wrong* with the looks of the Mondial, it’s just bland. It would have made an awesome Lancia.

My priorities have shifted. I make more money now than I used to, and my time has become much more valuable. I won’t spend a couple of hours to improvise a tool anymore when I can buy the right tool for the job.

In DeLorean’s case the situation was somewhat reversed. He knew how to build cars on a big GM-style scale, and didn’t know how to scale it down. Their estimates of how many cars they could actually sell were optimistic, and the plant was overcapacity. Then, in mid-’81 when they made the decision to add a second shift…

Neato! Is that one of the original TWR cars? I’d love to find a set of those oval Cibie lights for mine to complete the “Return of the Saint” look.

So far, not too bad.. I’ve done all the work myself though, including replacing all of the rubber fuel lines, replacing the brake master cylinder, replacing the mouse-chewed ignition trigger wiring, and making an entirely new fuel injector wiring harness. If I’d had to farm the work out, it would have been expensive.…

They’re both ‘08's; the blue one is a Passion coupe. The color rendition of my cell phone camera is not the best; the Cabrio is really the orangey ‘08 red. Well spotted though!