I content that the Miata is objectively superior to a diesel automatic coupe, from a jalop perspective. Especially when you take price into account.

Just saw a beautiful one at the Lakeland Lake Mirror Classic. 1/2-scale Corvair. :)

Agreed. So many good roads between there and NE Georgia.. no point in getting yourself into traffic on the Tail. I'm fond of the Franklin-Highlands-Helen triangle myself.

I thought the Smart ED was even slower than the diesel..

Better, but considering the book describes it as looking like a running shoe, I'd say neither quite hit the nail on the head...

..says yet another wiseacre who's never driven one..

..and the reaction is always incredulity when I tell them it is more fun than [name an Audi or BMW here].

I can see this when the car is not manufactured with a manual for other markets. What gets my goat is when a car comes out in Europe with engine & transmission combinations that are 'too expensive to federalize.' I call BS on all those car-makers. Audi, for example, could import and sell a few thousand S3 sedans with…

I'll put my name to your minority report..

My dad bought a Dauphine and stuck with the brand through all that followed - we had a 12, a 16, and last, a bright-orange 5 festooned with racing stripes and "Le Car" logos. After Renault left the market the repair &parts situation became alarming and both our cars (the 16 and the 5) needed work alarmingly often. At…

What could be better than a bespoke Porsche-Audi wagon?

Never.

Save the manuals!

I doubt we'll ever see a big V8 sedan with a manual from the factory ever again.

It looked cool until some of the lights behind the grill cover died.. I used to drive my in-laws 2nd-gen Mercury Topaz around and I winced every time I thought about the patchy look out front.

I'll give you the Elvis line, since he mostly covered other musicians, and the Taurus was a solid copy of the Ford Sierra. I'd agree it caused enormous changes in the American car market, but it was an echo of what was happening in Europe thanks to Ford, Citroen, Audi, and others.

Boo. Why pick on a stranger?

It's cute that you just assume the Russians aren't going to be well prepared for the contest they dreamed up. Or that their equipment bears any relation to the cold war junk Hussein was hoarding.

Yeah, well, don't expect the Russians to be much like the Iraqis.

I'm glad you mentioned that.. since the ad is silly even once you replace MPH with MPG.