I thought Torch had posted this until I double checked. I love this Z and I’d probably get along with the owner, but $8k for it is a hard CP.  As a car guy I “get it”.. but even I wouldn’t shell out that much for this... and the vast majority of people aren’t car people.

Jalopy: noun. An old car in dilapidated condition.

How in the world a used FWD midsize is the best sedan you can get for $25K ?

I’ll admit that I almost never use front lockers, since they kill maneuverability. So I’ll yield a bit on lockers at the nose, but out back, I absolutely prefer a locker to any sort of ABS-based traction aid.

The best scenario is to just have both.

(Also, to say BLD is “way, way worse” is obviously a bit over-the-top,…

Not so fast. Toyota’s electronic traction system is very rudimentary, but the next gen systems being used by Land Rover and Ford right now are very, very convincing. I’ll take the electronics on my Ranger over an actual front locking diff. 

For a 2000 with no rust holes, a working top, good seat covers and good dash. Nice Price.

Judging this by the value of the (hopeful) end result, I’d say it’s Nice Price. It needs lots of scrubbing and a bunch of mechanical disassembly, care and reassembly, but I don’t think there’s anything here that couldn’t be refurbished with the possible exception of those pseudo-SU sidedraft carbs.

Yeah. Exactly. They knew EARLY about the rapid progression-forward-of-center-of-lift-upon-pitch. That should have been a deal-breaker in the first project stages... Instead, enabled by managers-intent-on-production-over-safety, they pushed forward with a brain-dead “control system” that isn’t a control system.

My father and uncle were both airline pilots, and would be sad and angry to see how badly Boeing screwed up with this cobbled together mess of a plane. The fact that almost everyone is focusing on the MCAS system instead of the inherent aerodynamic instability of the plane due to the repositioning of the wings and…

Yeah, you run the stats on it?  The 200 was the Gold Standard-- it’s several orders of magnitude safer than the MAX;  the MAX type only managed a few thousand flights with two hull losses and almost 350 fatalities.

Quite to the contrary - an older model plane that has been tried and tested, that mechanics are familiar with and pilots trust, is much safer than a plane that behaves unpredictably and is unfamiliar to those operating it. 

With a background in aeronautics, control systems, safety systems and embedded real-time control systems I assure you that pretty much everything about the MCAS implementation was fatally flawed. Hopelessly fatally flawed.

That is one beautiful little beast.

Damn, even just thinking “Air Cooled V8" gives me a techno-chubby.

Oh dear, oh dear.

Phase 2 may have the power, but phase 1 has the looks.

Wow okay you all took that comment WAY too seriously. Yes that’s way too much power, and something like the 2.3 ecoboost would be much more logical. But it’s never gonna happen anyway so why not have fun with the imagination and dream up a monstrosity with WAY too much power?? 

I was a passenger in a phase 1 version in the rain on a twisty road.. To this day, I’ve never recovered from the experience. You need jedi reflexes to catch the back end when it lets go and it doesn’t take much for that to happen. Yes, phase 2 was more polished, but in the wrong conditions, this car is not for the…

That is only half of the letter they sent. My favorite line is “using Ferrari’s cars as props in a manner which is per se distasteful.”. Lol.