Removing the instrument panel on a W123 consists of sticking a hook in each side of it and pulling hard. You can make acceptable hooks from a piece of dowel and a length of coat hanger wire. It's just a tight friction fit. Very typical of how the entire car is engineered, it is all stupid easy to work on. That said,…

Hertz is keeping them much, much longer on average. Where once getting one with 20K on it was highly unusual, now 35K is ordinary and my record is a Taurus Limited with 60K. At to Ford and Hertz credit, it was indistinguishable from a new one.

Many Hertz locations put the barcode inside the driver's door jamb. Also, many small rental locations are franchises, not company owned. They often do buy their cars locally, and they will often have dealer stickers on the back of them.

Pro tip - if you are flying on an airline that uses GoGo for their inflight internet, buy a day pass on the ground before you get on the airplane. They are typically 1/2 price or less that way.

The wagon is so much better looking than the droopy-butt sedan. Crying shame we can't get it in the US. I really like this car, but I don't do sedans.

I added the BMW Performance Intake and Exhaust to my 328i wagon. It was exactly what it needed. A little louder, and sounds much better. Previously you could barely even hear the engine below 4K rpm. Just a distant whine. Now it sounds like a slightly quieter and more refined e36 M3. It may not be any faster, but it…

Oh don't get me wrong - if you are not charged with a crime or are not convicted, then I have plenty of outrage to go around. I've driven long distances in the past with wads of cash in the car to buy a car or three myself. But if you are convicted, well, you lose. Don't want to lose your car, don't have drugs in the…

I've driven a Trabant through that tunnel at max revs, does that count? Sounded pretty good!

Ain't no such thing - flat rates are only for JFK.

You'd still be on the hook for full value of the car.

Out of curiosity, what did you do to get "busted"?

I find it most useful when accelerating onto the highway - 1-2-3-3OD then right to 4OD, skipping 4. But I have a relatively high-strung 1296cc dual-carb engine that revs, not a 1500.

You'd be pretty hard pressed to break the OD on a Spitfire, given it is the same unit used on the enormously larger, heavier, and more powerful Volvo 240. Mine has never given a bit of trouble in the 20 years I have owned my Spitfire. Then again, build quality on new Spitfires was a bit lacking... They probably forgot…

There's very little difference in gearing between 3 OD and 4th. I have one too. I wish you could use the OD in 2nd, the gap between 2nd and 3rd is HUGE.

Not all. The late cars had a conventional 5spd. The early 740/760 also had the Laycock deNormanville overdrive as well. As does my Triumph Spitfire, though on the Triumph you can use overdrive in both 3rd and 4th gears.

I find I can just about fill all of my automotive needs with four cars - well, three cars and a British SUV. No way can one vehicle do it all.

People got way over-excited by the unprecedented run up in house prices. And people had and still have a tendency to buy WAY more house than they actually need. Always fun to watch the house porn channel (HGTV) and see what people on the various buying shows turn up their noses at. Always amuses me to see a young…

Depends entirely on where you live, and what you buy for a house, and whether you can take full advantage of the tax deductions. Where I live, rents are insane today. I used to have a nice little 2br apartment in the best part of town back in the late 90's. Cost $600/mo, plus some utilities. Today that same apartment…

Newish cars generally do have enough brakes to lock the tires (up to a point) as long as the brakes are cold. An awful lot of them do not have that ability once the brakes get good and hot. I boiled the brakes on a rented Grand Am in the Black Hills of SD once (in a fit of relatively youthful exuberance), I would…

Dunno, but I wish I had enough money to find out! Like they say, money can't buy happiness, but you can have an awful lot of fun trying. That particular family seemed pretty darned happy from my outsider perspective. We were friendly, but not close friends, he was a year behind me in school.