I get the dealership thing. Our local Nissan dealer is great to buy cars from, but they’re shit at service. They throw in 30k of free oil changes on their sales, and I take them for that, but I take my cars to the next nearest dealer, 17 miles away, for actual problems.

And BMW is one of those manufacturers that’ll actively try to fuck with you on warranty work if you don’t have documentation. My rule on BMWs and MINIs is that I won’t own one under warranty unless all the services are included in the sale. 

Having put down a bike at speed (65mph and, coincidentally, a Yamaha Majesty, a big scooter I’d put up against the Burgman any day), I second the argument for a full face helmet. I slid (bounced, mostly) about 70’ and my helmet was largely perfect, but the faceplate was obliterated. I can imagine I wouldn’t have a…

It is, but, honestly, they’re fun as hell too. Here in Colorado, I prefer the added traction and stability not just because I’m old, but also because our most fun mountain roads are prone to having sand and debris on them year round. Having put down a bike at speed, that’s not something I want to repeat. 

My father came very close to owning an Elan after Lotuses became eligible for the GM employee discount. It was only when he went to the dealership to place an order that he realized the Esprit was a decidedly better car and still within his budget. Now THAT was a fun car and it’s frequent trips to said dealer gave me…

It’s going to be a project no matter how he slices it. Clean XJ shells aren’t super rare out west. Worst case, he finds a tired example with a solid body and swaps in the best parts of this example.

Percentage of potential buyers who may not have any idea which wheels are driven: <50%

It’s funny, but when it was current, I absolutely did not care for the E12 or E28. Now that we’re 20-30 years on, I feel like the design has really stood up in a way I couldn’t have imagined. I’d say part of that is how it’s very much a function driven design, not unlike the Saab 900 and the VW Golf. 

I found the “producer” tag at the start of the Manata: Der Film trailer to be ironic.

I’d be willing to bet that Smart, unlike, say, Saab, isn’t really going to see already in the market cars lose any additional value.

There’s a place just outside OKC doing frankentrucks like this now. (http://www.customautosbytim.com/)

Do you know what would have been awesome?

When these launched with a Daimler/Cerberus era dash, that dash was the worst part about an otherwise not horrible midsize crossover. That said, the competition then was pretty bad.

And instead of stopping the assault, Boomers said “Hold my wine.”

I wish I could retire early (like all the boomers I know). Sadly, at 50, I know I’ll probably never get to experience retirement. But, hey, I hear the 60s were awesome. 

Except that it’s a documented reality. As a Gen Xer, I got to see first hand the actions of Boomers, who’d nursed at the teat of a public education system the envy of the world, vote again and again to decimate that system whilst eliminating the social safety net their parents, the greatest generation, had constructed…

What are you talking about? 😂

This is true, but that was also a time of political upheaval. First off there was the Japanese colonial occupation of Korea. Then there was significant conflict as Japan’s evolution into a parliamentary democracy went on.