Too bad they didn’t get the top up before running. It seems like going to jail wet would be at least slightly worse than just going to jail.

Did you ever find out if that magic Aston warranty limits you to only visiting Aston dealerships? I love the idea of what you’re doing with the unlimited mileage warranty, but I also happen to live 400 miles away from the nearest Aston Dealer.

That looks like a small sports car that someone with a rural highway commute in a hot climate could actually buy.

My dad had a non-turbo capri of this era. The non-tubro was deathly slow, but was otherwise an enjoyable car around town at moderate speeds with the top down. It was inferior to any of our four later miatas in every way but one: The capri has a marginally larger trunk, and it has a back seat. While the back seat is…

I don’t have any fireworks at the moment, but I can go do a few donuts in my corvette during my lunch break.

My uncle and aunt had a bronco II in this is exact color and configuration. I always liked it as a little kid.

Last year I owned an very, very clean 2000 E39 528i with the factory sport package. Despite not being an V8, it was a fantastic way to drive to work. With all dampers and bushings in good shape and descent summer rubber, it carried more speed at an apex than any thing that heavy has a right to, and highway miles…

Actually, every auto insurance policy I’ve ever read has similar langue excluding acts war, insurrection, nuclear incidents and the like. The latest renewal on my Statefarm policy included new language also excluding terrorism related incidents.

The parking brake on my 93 corvette works the same way. I’ve gotten used to it, but anyone else that I let drive my car has issues. I’ve also now developed an automatic habit of reaching down the driver’s seat and pulling up to release the parking brake on any other car I get in. There is nothing like reaching down…

I was fortunate to have brought really, really good rain gear to the track, and I stayed dry the entire weeked. The mud in the (distant) park and ride lot was the real bummer after Saturday. That was a muddy six hours of getting the brand new Mazda 6 extricated from a field. Six months later, I’m still finding mud and…

I too went last year. It was a great race and experience, even if the weather was a tad bit wet.

As an auto crosser in the late 90's/early 2000's, an ACR neon was not a bad choice if you want to wear out front tires only. As an overall car, the only positive attributes were that they had four wheels and a seat. A buddy of mine was still driving an early neon until a couple of years ago. That was when a gang in…

I nearly bought a two-owner base Z32 last year that was bone stock, had 100k and complete documentation since new for 6k. The only faults were a broken power antenna and seized A/C compressor. I would’ve paid the sellers price with working A/C, but we couldn’t come to an agreement on the car as is. Working A/C is a…

Later C4 Corvettes have traction control system that GM called “Acceleration Slip Regulation.” In addition to cutting spark and wheel brake application, it has a servo that physically pushes the gas pedal back against your foot. This is yet another reason the first thing I do after starting the car is to push the…

I can relate to this experience. As a five year-old, my grandfather would let me shift his red jetta when driving around town. Between shifts, I would study his feet to learn what he was doing with the clutch. None of my other friends as a child made car sounds with an appropriate approximation of a manual…

I might offer (and Doug Demuro might agree) that it is probably built with more precision than an Aston simply because GM intends to sell more 17 of them this month and warranty service gets logistically problematic if 12% of every one of them ever built are sitting at dealers’ service departments at any given time…

Good answer on the cup holders. My (manual) corvette does happen to have cup holders, but they are purely decorative. Putting anything in the front cup holder outright prevents shifting into 5th and only allows shifting into 3rd if you’re will to spill your coffee all over the console. The rear cup holder prevents…

A good friend of mine is an mechanic who used to work on a fair number of exotics through his independent shop. One of his customers wanted to drive a 550 Marrenello to work everyday. The dude was the probably the slimest lawyer in Albuquerque, but he had good taste in cars. He ended up buying three 550's (blue, white…

Or the entire population of New Mexico outside of Albuquerque, as Bernalillio County is the only one in the state with an emissions inspection program.

Does the warranty specify an Aston dealer has to work on it, or could you take it to the exotic shop of your choice? I could imagine some day doing a pre-owned Aston with that bumper-bumper warranty, but I happen to live about 400 miles from the nearest dealer.