Some years ago there was a lot of discussion at the Minnesota State Legislature about rapid transit investment. Republicans opposed it and said more roads needed to be built. One, in particular, said it took her two hours to go from St. Paul to Minnetonka on the freeway. I drove city streets and did it in less than a…

Typical of the WSJ to pick the cities most unlike the rest of the country, and to pick the start and end destination — megalopolis downtown to airport — which are not the norm for most people’s travel needs. In big cities, most people travel between suburbs, not back and forth to downtown, and the airport is an…

The original Mopar minivan was a box that was large on the inside and small on the outside. That was its secret to success. And then it kept getting bigger and heavier and more expensive, but the original concept was never really improved upon. It’s a box for moving people and stuff. Citroen has come up with the…

My auto mechanic friend said to me that tires, brakes, shocks, tight steering linkage are the essentials. Everything else is optional. I can do without the electronics controls inside the car. I turn the LCD display off. It’s distracting and annoying. I want haptic HVAC controls. I like the old keys that cost $5 and…

Carry a folding shovel in the car in the winter. You can’t drive yourself out of a deep snow bank, and you can’t do it if there’s compacted snow up to the frame under the car.

Aging is mandatory... growing up is optional.

It’s a no-brainer, a minivan, specifically a Mopar minivan with stow-and-go for all back seats. And if you worry about your kids, tell them my granddaughter wants a minivan to drive when she gets her license. And a good Mopar minivan won’t cost you $25,000. I’m driving a 2012 Town and Country I bought for $5,800 four…

It’s primarily a storage area. That’s been a problem with pickups, no storage area. The seats would be only marginally useful.

I’ve never bought a new car and never will. Cars are wearing, depreciable commodities and their cash value goes down faster than their functional value. One would think an executive, even one as young as 34, would grasp that. She should just keep driving the car and ignore its residual value. I have four vehicles,…

There are too many things wrong going on with the Cybertruck, indicating serious engineering and manufacturing issues. Time to start over. The whole concept is poor. Take a look at the Citroen OLI and start from there.

I’m a retired specialty crop farmer. I had no federal safety net and had to eat all my losses. There were times when I had to decide to stop investing in an unprofitable crop, no matter how much money I had already put into it, and cut my losses. It’s time to cut losses on the Cybertruck. It is a product not ready for…

One-third of human beings at any time at any place hunger for an authoritarian leader. That a large group of Americans wants an authoritarian is not surprising. What is surprising is that they’ve chosen such a poor quality leader. The majority of humans are conservative, thank evolution for that, but there is nothing…

It’s already happening. Even Republican states like Iowa are huge producers of wind and solar power. There’s money in renewables. I’m a retired farmer, and for us it’s a valuable new revenue stream. The problem is the grid. If the GOP were truly interested in keeping America great, they would get on board with…

What about the buggy whip industry? Isn’t it time to bring back their glory. Why stop at the 20th century if going back in time is good?

Typical Consumer Reports... not a single domestic on the list. A new car is exactly the wrong vehicle to give a teen. That’s show-off bait. I’d opt for an old minivan, like a Dodge Caravan, that is nobody’s idea of a show-off vehicle. Just make sure the brakes, steering, shocks, tires and alignment are in good shape.…

No minivan on the list? It can do everything better than most vehicles. My favorite was a 1993 SWB Dodge Caravan with the 2.5 liter and 5-speed manual. It drove like a car, hauled like a truck, and got 30 mpg. overall. I think I would like a Citroen Berlingo, but I can’t get that in America. The unasked question is…

These are not slow times. Try driving a 50,000 pound farm truck with a gas engine. Glacial. My first “fast” car was a Saab 99 with early electronic fuel injection. I was astounded by the power. I got a 0-60 of 14 seconds. My first generation 2.2 liter Caravans would run in the 17 seconds range. All cars have far more…

That’s a ridiculous amount of money for a midsize truck.

I’m old enough to remember Henry Ford II railing against safety mandates, saying that consumers are not interested in making cars safer and air bags are too expensive. He was very wrong.

Back in the pre-fuel injection days, it was common to have engine block heaters on cars in cold places. There would be plug-ins in parking lots all over the place. Winnipeg was full of them, and people had extension cords running from their houses and across the sidewalks to their cars parked on the street.