Somebody renting to TV/film productions. I used to walk by film shoots in NYC and you’d see a whole city block coned off and lined with gorgeous, period-correct cars, and somebody made a lot of money supplying those.

The shame is when the Jalopnik writer either doesn’t get it, or has a hard time articulating it. High gears on a bike don’t make pedaling easier, they make the bike go faster on flat ground. Pedal up a hill in high gear and you know what happens in an engine when you lug it. I read the Slate article and the 8-speed…

Likewise with a hospital or nursing home elevator.

Just seeing "buyavowel" reminds me of 80% of what I hate about Wheel.

I like to picture myself asking “Hey, am I crazy, or are you talking about Pol Pot?” But I'm sure I'd run out of time.

On the plus side, he wouldn't have to go far for "brains, brains..."

Mine was a car that most people have never even heard of: a ‘76 Mazda RX-4. It was nine years old, I was 18, and it was trashed. Apex seals were shot, the clutch quit six weeks in, ignition and carburetion were both way off, the muffler kept detaching from the mid pipe, the body was 75% Bondo, and one tire got a…

My dad had a couple of Mercedes when he was a pastor in Maine, 50+ years ago. I wasn't even six when I realized there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes. 

I had three VWs in the late '80s/early '90s, and they were all headaches. Later I thought back to my parents' VWs and remembered they were, too. That's ten cars all together. They were cool when they ran, but not worth the trouble.

For people saying they expected better mileage from a “small” car, I had two 1st-gen xBs (another car that was supremely practical and deserved to live a LOT longer) and the Element looks like a Winnebago next to an xB. But here’s an illustrative anecdote: I closed down my repair shop in Hell’s Kitchen, NYC, in 2018.…

There’s a walk button in downtown Schenectady, NY that’s basically an on switch for the yellow light for car traffic; push that button and you’ll be crossing the street in five seconds. I rented a storage locker in Hell’s Kitchen a few years ago, and the freight elevator was absolutely not budging until you hit the…

I never thought of a Monte Carlo as a sports car. I doubt they meant "Intimidator" as describing the car so much as a tribute to Dale Earnhardt.

I think that’s unfair to the 914. You could say it was disappointing based on the brand name, but the original plan wasn’t to call the 4 cylinder a Porsche. Nobody would claim that an MGB or Midget, or a Triumph Spitfire, or a Fiat Spider or X1/9 wasn’t a sports car, and a 914 would smoke any of them. And probably a…

Yeah, there was nothing about this truck that set it apart from Toyota, Datsun, Mitsubishi/Chrysler and Mazda/Ford pickups. I don't see the "ahead of its time" thing.

I’m astounded every day at how many old Ford Rangers are still around, so if a truck will do it for you, that would be my choice. I owned a couple of Toyota Pickups (pre-Tacoma) and loved them, but I assume the Fords must have lower resale. For a car I'd pick the 1st-gen Scion xB, but I'd pick that if I weren't broke,…

I don’t have a car right now, just a 34 year old motorhome, a ‘72 Yamaha and a year-old Chinese 400. But if I were to buy a car now, it would be a 1st generation Scion xB, and it would probably go for less than $5k. "Decent” has never been a requirement in my used car hunts, no reason to start now.

If you're going back to the 1st gen Toronado, then you can go back to the 2nd gen Corvair coupe. And why wouldn't you?

All of those advantages also apply to the boxer twins, which have a lot more character. My R90/6 had over 60k miles when I sold it. And have you forgotten that Kawasaki had a range of triples from 250 to 750cc, including the legendary H1 and H2, or that Laverda’s greatest bike had three cylinders? The Suzuki GT380,…

My first experience with a PT was 20 years ago. I was working for an '80s punk rock hero of mine, and when he gave me a ride in his PT, I said, "Wow, I thought you were really cool up till now." (He was really cool, the car was an outlier.) Later, I had to rent one when my first xB got totaled, and I didn't think it…

Not sure what the point is supposed to be about motorcycle kits—my bikes have usually had room for everything you need short of an engine tear down, and came with most of those tools. BMW Airheads are especially good this way, but even my tiny Yamaha 200 twin has space under the gas tank.