I did imagine it. I want others who haven’t considered the possibility to imagine it too.

As appalling as that algebra is, that is somewhat reassuring.

I’m not sure if I understood the phrase “well respected and influential Twitter account” correctly.  Inside my head I translated that as “known source of BS.”  Was I close?

I think your comment about turbo engines is on point.  The goal was always to make same power with less weight.  Before the idea was to optimize the engine’s weight, now the idea is to wring more power, reliably, out of a smaller engine.   Even with the added plumbing of the turbo the smaller engine brings lots of…

You’ll get a shitload of Middle Easterners and Eastern Europeans, every last one of them driving the most clapped-out yet irrepressible Ford Transits, and they will shovel that ship out to the walls in under a week using nothing but bare hands, Red Bull and cousins.

This was the first thing through my mind. How many smuggled people are trapped in this thing?

Polimotor was building the block from plastic and I think the stresses experienced by the block are pretty dynamic - I’m not an engineer so if I use the wrong word, please bear with me. I don’t doubt that metallurgical improvements and computer modeling have made it possible to home exactly in on where more material…

“unenthusiastic offerings disappointed fans”

Achilles’ Wheels. Wheels on axles and steering wheels are the main places where this thing falls down. Inside I can’t look away from the awful steering wheel, outside the wheels are just wrong. Spacing, sizing, even finish, they’re just bleah.

The exterior is uninspiring. The rear, in fact, looks pretty weird and if I were paying extra money for a bespoke car I would see that arse and demand some of the money be returned.

Meh. People who are going to take doors off, even if the car isn’t made for it, will take them off. Remember Bronco tube doors?

Self-flagellatey: n. the casual passtime of collecting stomps.

I have the money now, but I value peace and quiet and reliability far more than the fleeting thrill of a throttle stab.

I wonder if you could make a sheet metal piston and then back up the sheet with plastic to provide sufficient rigidity? You’d need some non-deformable reinforcement around the wrist pins to ensure relationships didn’t warp, and probably some really big oil squirters under the piston crown to keep things cool.

Yes, but then I got out of my 20s.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say I liked it, I liked its looks and the unabashed way it harkened back to the original. If they had built it, they wouldn’t have been able to keep them in stock. But it would have been stupid and people would have bought them and wasted them, being wasteful with them every minute…

What the valves need: lapping compound.

Tesla’s build quality is notoriously spotty but I haven’t heard the same about Ford. They’re not stellar but they’ve got things figured out. I think in terms of things for the eye to land on, where Tesla stans are quick to blink lest they see something that detracts from their opinion of Tesla, Ford shoppers won’t…

ECU meddling plus resonator delete = asshat owner and abused car. No sale.

If I’d hit this thing with my truck, primitive as it is (the truck, though that does describe the turtle too), it would have done some damage, no mistake.  It’s built out of Japanese willpower and bridge abutments but the turtle is built out of anti-meteor shielding so it would have been a bad day for everybody.