3rd Gear: Glad to see some wage inflation out there! The railroad industry is doing similar things; I think one railroad (CSX maybe?) was offering people a $20,000 sign-on bonus recently so it’s not just the trucking industry that’s having a hard time attracting candidates. 

“Prices can be a little higher though”. Shouldn’t they be higher though, since the quality of the product is better, they have a wealth of knowledge, and they (likely) treat their employees better than a big-box?

I think the only sedan from the US-3 worth looking at seriously is the Fusion. It’s a genuinely comfortable car. Drives well. Can even get a hybrid if you drive a lot of short distances... but there’s no reason to buy one new since you can pick up a CPO unit for 1/2 MSRP (or even less sometimes!). 

There are much better options for this kind of money. You could get three first-generation Vipers that aren’t even in terrible condition. You could get an 8-10 year old Aston Martin Vantage that isn’t in terrible condition. Or a Ferrari 360. Or a nice Jag F-Type.

F-150 MACH-1?  F-150 BOSS? Or they could make a 2WD short version and revive the Lightning name. 

Would I do a burnout in a Walmart parking lot with that? Sure, why not!

What happy car do I want?

Just because the budget is $60,000 doesn’t mean you have to spend all of it.

“Do I want to be loved or feared? Easy. Both. I want people to fear how much they love me.” —Michael Scott

After 5 or 6 songs, the sound quality degrades very quickly and you have to replace it.

Part of the reason catalytic converters that are CARB certified are so much more expensive is because of that separate certification process and the relatively small market opportunity. If there was one certification process for all 50 states, the cost of that process would be spread out over many more sales, reducing…

The Cherokee is a great vehicle... my wife just got one in May and she loves it. We looked at a LOT of the competition, too, but the Cherokee was the clear winner.

So kind of like IIHS, but for emissions testing instead? I would think this would be easy to achieve economically, since you don’t have to destroy all of the cars to get the test results... I think the door is there for an environmental group to do such a thing and develop their own “Star” rating system.

No question for me, Nice Price. If I had a garage I’d probably buy it, honestly. I’ve always had a soft spot for Merkurs and the cost of entry is cheap enough to allow room for unexpected repairs without too much pain.

I still get chills seeing pictures of that car.  Such a tragic time for the world, and such a classy move by the Scuderia. 

Is that the development mule for what would become the Jeep Cherokee? 

Affectionately referred to by a friend of mine as a “Satillac” since it looks like a Saturn SL with a Caddy front grille. 

I have LOTS of ideas on this, most of them totally impractical, but the one I like at the moment is to take the classic Volvo 240 wagon and implant the T8 Hybrid drivetrain from the XC60, XC90 or new S60. 400 HP in stock form, with plenty of torque. Theoretically I’d be able to daily drive it very easily and have lots…

3rd Gear: Poor OEM support is one of the reasons we have a strong independent parts and service industry in the US. Even in the collision industry, OEM-quality parts can be supplied by non-OEM sources. Is it not the case in Norway? Seems like a great opportunity for someone to start a new business to pick up Tesla’s…

I generally agree with you when it comes to getting money back on a restoration, but in this case I think it could really be different. This is a very rare Jeep, with a restoration that appears to have been performed very well. It’s a brand with a somewhat cult-like following, so I think there are people out there…