For some reason, that’s just the way Fiat did it. Yeah, I’ve seen that look on other X1/9’s.

Interesting: I’m also 6’ 2” and owned a 74 X1/9 - and don’t recall any problems fitting into the car. I do remember not have much extra space inside. I also remember enjoying it in the curves (well, after replacing the timing belt - and the head - on the interference engine...).

If that’s the approach you want to take, Midwest Bayless makes a conversion kit to put a Honda/Acura K20 into an X1/9.

I had a ‘74 X1/9 for a short time; in spite of being a beat-up project when it entered my garage, it remains my definition of a go-kart-on-rails driving experience.

The other weak point - based on what I discovered - is the rear axle. In the era of models I was researching, rear axle rating for 1500 models is about 4000 pounds - and jumps to 5500 pounds for 2500 models. In particularl, I heard from one 1500 owner who had 4 rear axle failures relating to towing - before moving to…

You know it. I was truly surprised at just how *few* 1500 Suburbans from this era show up in the used market with the full heavy duty towing package (if you’re familiar with GM RPO codes, what you’re looking for is the K5L heavy duty cooling package). Many people automatically presume their 1500 Suburban is equipped…

Having recently purchased a used ‘05 Suburban 2500:

Sadly, slowing down enough to orbit Pluto would require about 1,000 times more fuel than New Horizons can carry. The entire mission was designed to limit risk and budget; that required some significant tradeoffs.

I haven’t seen a private rail crossing that includes an automatic lowering-arm barrier and signal...

Speedvision still greatly missed. RIP.

The verse is actually from Proverbs, in the Old Testament - so it could be that Abraham is your spotter, too...

Powering a 2000 watt inverter from a 12 volt battery would take... Wow! About 170 amps, before accounting for inverter losses, etc. Don’t count on microwaving for very long! I hope it has a really high-amperage alternator...

The design, engineering and manufacturing was certainly handled in a most cavalier manner.

It’s easy to work on! Though I was annoyed: A friend had one and I volunteered to do a tune-up. The parts store only sold plugs for this engine in 4-packs. Sort of an automatic “do-3-tune-ups-get-an-extra-set-of-plugs” plan. I don’t think the car lasted past the second set of plugs; my friend gave up on it after the…

This is the nicest price I’ve seen in some time. I want to drive it to work tomorrow!

Agreed. Though even that project might end up costing more than the resulting car would be worth...

Feisty feedback makes for an interesting Friday afternoon!

Take a look at the Japanese car inspection system - which appears to exist mostly to help subsidize the domestic car industry by forcing drivers to buy new cars every few years.

No, but I’ve seen some that act like government-supported money grabbing schemes, pushed by lobbyists for businesses that benefit from the scheme. Which is little different than a government money grabbing scheme...

Yes, the EIA chart suggests that CA is the big area where diesel is reliably cheaper than regular.