not necessarily so....I’ve owned several BMWs, including a pair of 2002s and a 2017 X4. I loved them all, but when I shopped to replace the X4 I wanted something smaller than the X3 or X4, drove the X1 and X2 but found them less engaging than the Mini Countryman S that I settled on. As much as I enjoy it, I wish I had…

In the early 1990's, my wife and I were [older] newlyweds hoping to start a family and buy a house, squirrelling away every penny we could for a down payment. Our vehicle fleet at the time included a Honda Civic, Suzuki Samurai and BMW 2002; they averaged about 15 years of age and 150,000 miles. We were also immersed…

EV impact is optimized by fleet use, with monitored use and centralized charging. Mandate government fleet use and incentivize corporate and rental adoption. Where it goes with rideshare apps.....???

what’s the big deal....take every narrative for an experience someone cares to share and, to brag about it’s highlights, like the ‘67 Chevy I bought for $15, drove from Connecticut to North Carolina and back to New York, where I sold it for $150 to a guy who put stolen plates on it, abandoned it on a parkway after cras…

my ‘71 Grand Prix had an ashtray that held a quart of cigarette butts and only had to be emptied every 30,000 miles

spent a long hot summer driving a 1964 Thunderbird that had no working brakes, mufflers, air conditioning or fuel gauge when I acquired it for $225. I replaced the brake pads, quieted the exhaust pipes with Tiger Patch Wraps, ran out of gas every other week and sold it for $300. I estimate 6-8 mpg

While working for our local government, my buddy Andy and I, along with a pair of police officers, were charged with logistical planning for a big event with thousands of attendees including many VIPs.

I’ve always loved all the C3s, but feel strangely drawn to the 1973, with that one year only look with an ‘endura’ covered front bumper to meet a new impact spec, but still chrome out back. For 1974 both ends were covered.

having been blessed with a somewhat similar but unprintable title by my wrenching friends, I feel your pride...

...better to find a lug wrench to whack you upside your sick little head...which is why serial killers prefer to steal cars rolling on run-flats...

It was never about the money. The $ he conned were the price of admission to track time with the big boys. Wasn’t there a movie...?

electric start, gas engine, if it’s like the one I have

electric start, gas engine, if it’s like the one I have

I’m curious to know whether any manufacturers or even dealers have come up with lease programs targeted to rideshare drivers. Obviously there’s a limit to the number of drivers who could afford the cost of a new car and have the credit to qualify for a good rate, but if you can anticipate your mileage, the net cost of …

it’s got cop tires, cop shocks, cop brakes, cop cupholders

one reason that I don’t see offered as to why someone would “buy” one of these new instead of an objectively better used car is that they can be leased. Leases don’t work out better than a carefully planned buy, but they do when circumstances fit: a need to preserve cash for another use (we bought a house), use…

if so, that would likely have been due to one renegade engineer who strayed from the corporate mantra of planned obsolescence and was probably flogged and reassigned to designing ashtray mounting brackets

the problem with Musou, Vantablack or any finish that denys light an opportunity to reflect is that once it’s scratched, all you’ll see is the scratch. A few years accumulation and your ‘patina’ will be a mass of tiny nicks and random scratches on a car-shaped silhouette

Well said. Note that some dead end tracks of evolutionary of chassis development included things like the Guidobaldi of 1939 that stuck with skinny tires, but added an active suspension with wild camber variability to keep the body mass level while the wheels maintained contact patches that rolled up one sidewall and…

My last three cars were a 2005 Outback, which had terrific outward visibility and a 2013 Veloster turbo and a 2017 BMW X4, which were both good at doing what they did, but truly awful at outward views. That’s why I’m now driving a Mini Countryman, which has better visibility than those or anything I cross-shopped.

...with a 6 carb version of the Corvair engine...