Meatloaf thinks it’s a Red Bull.

Sheesh, it’s 2023 and cars still look like 1995. Not even pointing the finger at Mazda, which makes less offensive cars than many brands, but car design is much less breakthrough and exciting than it should be.

I see it coming, but I’ll really miss driving simple cars with manual transmissions. I find driving automatics really boring, and with cars turning into appliances I can’t see that improving. Plus, all these “zero to 60 in 2 seconds!” claims just seem stupid and encourage more people to drive like morons.

Pipe down and show me your license and registration. And stop eyeing my “Official Police” badge!

This era just looks flimsy to me, like an oddball Midwestern college professor’s car or one of those movies set in London where everything seems cold, bleak and polluted.

So basically somebody took the shell of an unusual old car, bolted some stuff to it and wants 14 grand. No thanks.

They accepted my ‘90s BMW but insisted on no reserve. Like, really insisted. Like, annoyingly insisted. As if insisting was a “quirk and feature” of the site. All with “we find no reserve really builds excitement and leads to a better price!” comments.

I’ve been driving a ‘98 Tacoma 5-speed for a year (my gf inherited it). It’s got a camper shell, AC and a radio—that’s about it. The simplicity is refreshing. I kinda love it.

1983 Cutlass, much like this one. I was in my 20s so it was especially uninspiring, the only good thing was that sometimes I had to take it into Manhattan so its bland anonymity was perfect for those streets.

I was looking at them last year. Not crazy expensive, but the lack of a manual makes them a little more bland (I wish SUVs and even crossovers came with manuals, since now it’s almost none). Also, the entertainment/GPS display is outdated and can’t easily be upgraded since Lexus incorporated some AC controls into it.…

So I guess the next generation of GTA will have carjackers holding dead victims’ faces to the camera before tossing them out and driving away.

It’s like a European version of walking through Costco in sweatpants. A hose and some Armor All could have gotten it to 3K.

Land Rover, a grossly overpriced, unreliable car that is somehow a status symbol. “I spent six figures for a logo glued to a poorly-built automobile!”

Lexus says what?

Having recently sold an older BMW, I can say that a big selling point was the binder with 20 years of maintenance receipts chronologically arranged. I think that alone was worth $2K.

1970s child me remembers our family stopping into the Howard Johnson’s on the NJ Turnpike with its globe pendant lights and waitress service like something out of Mad Men, plus cool vending machines with metal puzzles and Superballs for kids to put their eye out or choke on.

It probably just feels like 66,000 tons.

The rest of the paint isn’t bad, I’d take it to a good shop and have them redo the panel and repair/blend the other roof area as best a possible and call it a day.

Shoulda mentioned that Caddy is a manual (and I’m not sure what’s going on with that clutch pedal).

SO true. They already produced a six hour complaint, now they’re adding books?