Among other things, the engine raises the floor height considerably. The original VW bus and later Vanagon had a small rear hatch that would be a total non-starter for a cargo van, and wasn’t particularly good for a passenger van either.

If he’s not using it, it would be fun to sell it at auction on the green at Pebble during the Monterey weekend. The sale itself is a whole event.

I would guess that they couldn’t get it to perform well in frontal collisions with a blunt front end and an incompressible engine inside it. And they’re not going to do a rear engine again. But with electric, the short nose could be all crumple zone.

This article is all heat and no light.

I’m very familiar with it. It is a third-order effect that gets brought up to cash out the self-evidently untrue claim that road capacity is the driver of demand.

In a society where capacity lags demand, of course usage will increase with capacity, but capacity is not the driver of demand.

Climate control that regulates temperature effectively has been available for decades. It is not new. It was not invented by Tesla. It is not uncommon.

When in reality, you chilled the car to your preferred temperature 15 minutes before you got in, thanks to the phone app. It’s way more ‘set and forget’. This whole idea of having to fuss with the HVAC is a bit contrived from people’s past experiences in other cars.

Suit yourself.

Everyone I know who is bonkers for the Karmann Ghia is a woman.

You could dispense the same snark against anyone whose car was damaged by contact with their own garage. Or during a repair. Or while washing. The only variable is that this car is expensive.

Glossy “wood” trim is just as bad.

Yes there is. Night. You’re wearing sunglasses at night.

I can confirm that. The Supra’s traction control was lethal. If it was especially bad in the rain. Imagine that: traction control that you have to turn OFF in the rain.

Yes. I drove one for two days around Sears Point. It was fast and handled very well at the limit.

I’m perfectly happy with keeping all rules as local as practical.

“(8) If the vehicle does not display license plates previously issued by the department, the dealer or lessor-retailer shall attach the temporary license plates issued by the reporting system.”

It’s as long as the car model could plausibly be sold as new. How would they know? In California you can drive a shiny 2009 Mercedes E-class with paper dealer plates and you won’t get pulled over. Actual plates will finally be required starting in 2019.

Meets all your criteria except it was only available with an automatic.

Her job no longer exists because she had the temerity to ask for a raise.