Full disclosure:

This is absolutely true. I still see early 90s Civics and Corollas running around but never an Escort. Even stranger, I still see early 90s Proteges on the road around here but an Escort LX/GT or Mercury Tracer Trio (with the Mazda BP twin-cam 1.8) is a rare sight indeed.

The 351C 2bbl with the FMX was more of a station wagon engine. It was good for about 180 or so HP in early-emissions pre-catalyst tune. It had the low-flow heads and intake/exhaust manifolds, but it was easy to wake up if you invested in some decent heads, cam, intake, and exhaust.

1973 Ford Mustang Convertible - yellow with ginger interior. 351C 2bbl/FMX with yellow steelies and dog dish hubcaps.

The Nissan CVT behind the VQ in the Maxima isn’t bad. It’s at least unobtrusive. Same with Honda’s CVT in the Accord or CR-V. But the company cars at work are Versas with the 1.6 110 hp noisemakers and CVTs. It feels like I’m driving a 98 Sentra with an automatic transmission stuck in fourth gear with slipping…

Strangely my wife and I have had little in the way of quality related issues with our Sport FWD 1.4t. The passenger door panel speaker intermittently buzzes. And the electrical issues that we had before were gone with an ECU reflash.

Tomacco!

Walking to work one day in about 2008, I heard the distinctive howl of a Ford mod-motor accelerating hard behind me. I looked back and saw a bright red Qvale Mangusta blasting down the on-ramp from Mallard Creek Church road to 85 North.

The 5-door Sterling hatch is a truly rare bird. I thought they all rusted away in the early 90s.

I love this. I’ve done the same thing in a borrowed Mini Cooper S (my sister’s car) with summer tires on the old 485 ramp to 85 south in the University City area of Charlotte. It was a decreasing-radius 270 degree curve heading downhill. Behind me was a 90-something Tahoe, flat black everything with giant rims, and…

How about no muffler? That could make things far better.

Made by the parent company of my employer. the shop where I work has done interior in several SEMA cars.

Just FYI that Eliminator is a ‘69. But that gold XR7 has me feeling some kind of way...

67-68 Mercury Cougar.

That is about the best color you can get on the new mustang. It’s a shame it’s discontinued for ‘17...

“limited” is the base model. Because nothing at FCAUSA makes any sense anyway.

Over on Opposite Lock, Kinja commenter Daily Drives a Dragon had a great reply:

That Saturn is clearly an SL2. Alloy wheels, spoiler, and painted bumpers were only on the sl2.

It’s easy to dismiss this as the disjointed ramblings of a crazy person. However, considering the events of the past year it may actually be worth following...

Had I known what was going to happen to M cars, I would have found a way to buy up every $6-7000 E30 M3 I saw between 2001-2009