I've shared this image on Deadspin before, out of scorn. Tonight I'm sharing it out of affection.

I had a Mark IV GTI VR6 for 10 years. It was totally fine. I do know some people that got bad VWs of this vintage, but I think that gets overblown a lot around here.

In the summer of 1996, I was in Flagstaff, Arizona, driving past a place called (I think) The Lodge. There were about 20 of these things sitting out front, so I popped in for a look. A whole gaggle of (former) East Germans had shipped their Trabants over here so they could drive them the length of Route 66. Had a…

I read once that the Impulse was originally drawn by Giugiaro to be the 2nd generation Scirocco. But then VW decided they wanted something done by their in-house designers, so Giugiaro sold the design to Isuzu.

For $20k, you could even get a decently-done Subie conversion in a Bay Westy, if the lack of power is a dealbreaker.

I've owned five VWs (two Sciroccos and three GTIs), and they've all been fine. Not as trouble-free as a Honda or Toyota, I'd say, but nothing out of hand. My '91 GTI with the Digifant injection was the worst of the lot, but even it wasn't a trainwreck.

Jesus. Really, dude?

I get it, and I agree with you. Still, the organizers can't prove a negative, and even if they could, "he would've died anyway" is not a great look for the courtroom, where this certainly will end up.

Sorry, but no. This is a major event and has been for a long time. No reason not to have medical at the top and the bottom, at a minimum. That some competitors may not "expect" the barest of adequate safety measures is no excuse for skipping them to save a nickel.

Well, a few years ago, I went to Maui, where gas was ~$5 a gallon. The day after I got back, my ex and I had to run up to Aspen—and gas cost 50 cents a gallon more there than it had on Maui the day before.

I really hate to be THAT GUY, but Durango was great- about 20 years ago. Now it's gotten so tony and expensive that when I'm there I feel like I took a wrong turn and ended up in Aspen. It is beautiful, of course, and convenient in all the ways you mention.

My God, thank you. Thank you. I'm not usually a spelling nazi but just kept going on and on and on...

Saw him last fall, about a three-hour show, he looked great. He crowd-surfed, FFS.

Dammit, somebody has to!

I usually hear that "straight pipes are necessary for my safety" argument from Harley guys who refuse to wear helmets.

Yeah- especially today. Wonder what a new-in-the-box 427 cammer would bring at auction now.

In the 90s and early oughts, when I wrote sometimes for a car mag, and hung around with some other people who did, the GTI was pretty universally seen as a touchstone for car journalists. Seems like every one of them either had one at that time or had owned one in the past.

Interestingly, $3395 in 1964 dollars = $25,605 in 2014 dollars. No wonder they didn't sell very many.

Car designers have told me that, strictly speaking, a "coupe" is a car with no c-pillar, meaning the rear window starts after the b-pillar, just behind the doors. Which makes most of the cars we call "coupes" actually 2-door sedans.

My dad used to use one to do very fine scroll cutting on picture frames. Makes much tighter curves than a jig saw can.