Hmmm - a 9 year old, quasi-exotic Audi ...

That’s in part because for people in that age range, the Celicas were a nice combination of fun, inexpensive, and readily available. For the teenagers getting their first cars, 70s era Celicas were fairly cheap, and the 80s models were really attractive “first new car upgrade” models (if you could persuade your…

At first I was thinking “well, take that godawful mess of a pod off and put the original truck bed back. Then I noticed the bit where the back of the cab had been sawzalled to create a pass through.

Eh - it doesn’t resemble current light truck offerings from GM and Ford - both of which have come to resemble angry bricks of metal. 

Hard CP.

I’d consider $7500 ... if this was the Celica AllTrac ... 

Risk calculation is multifaceted (legitimately so), and the complexity of the vehicle does come into the picture. The issue that has already begun to emerge is that the cost of repair is starting to exceed the value of the vehicle:

First Gear: Automation & Insurance

I’m fairly certain you’re correct on the standard shift ... you would have to go to the Laser/Daytona to get the manual.

I’m speechless. He’s lucky to be alive after pulling that stunt.

Getting on the highway was his first mistake. 

Reminds me of this scene from Babylon 5:

Turkey has been distancing itself from NATO and the US for some time.  (Most notably since Trump came to power)  There are reasons for this that include regional political considerations. 

5th Gear: China’s Belt and Road Initiative

Yes, they have. What’s your point? Are you saying I shouldn’t critique the F-35 program because “people always bitch”?

I never said aerospace was “easy”, did I?

I’m critical of the program for a variety of reasons. It’s been riddled with problems from the get-go, and the results haven’t exactly impressed me. From where I sit, the F-35 is mostly a tech development platform.  It _might_ serve to show the way for the generation after it ... maybe.  

Turkey has clearly made a political calculation that says they can afford to not be part of the F-35 program. (In truth, I think the decisions go much further than that - more likely I expect they will withdraw from NATO in the near future).

Boohoo ... a bunch of aging boomers are pissed off because their icon car is changing.

This is what I call ‘winter beater’ territory. It’s cheap, probably half of the electrical accessories are either dead or on their way out to failing (the car _IS_ 20 years old now, and there’s a lot of fancy in these things).  I’d say give it a spin. If the engine and transmission are solid (and you’re up to…