I don’t know. Standing at the side of a road looking at the now dragging bumper—fallen before I could even get it back home from the shop—and laughing because I could do nothing else at that point ruined Olds for me. But having nearly every part break at some point taught me a lot more about how cars work. Or don’t…

Ten year old me saw an ad for the 1977 Oldsmobile 442 and thought it was wickedly cool. While I never had one, I did have a ‘79 Cutlass Supreme for a bit in college, which is the single worst car I’ve owned (even worse than the Pinto and Chevette). For me, it shattered any aura of coolness for an Olds.

I’m guessing he’s thinking about future government contracts. I mean, “Space Force” isn’t going to want some fancy named “Saturn IX Manned Interstellar Craft, Version TK7026C-42,” they’re going to want “Starship.”

Will they follow this up by sponsoring air guitar competitions?  Maybe a sports team which forfeits its games?  Ads simply showing empty roads and garages? 

Or you could double down on Mazda and go for a Miata and Mazda 3 hatch. The 3 is not a GTI, but it’s a nice mix of engagement and practicality, at a lower cost (at least purchasing, but likely long term as well). That’s my current thinking, anyway, as I’ve had a 3 for a few years. Although I’m also tempted to find an…

As I remarked above, rust hasn’t been a problem (at least yet) on my 2012 Mazda 3, and it’s been down a lot of salted roads.

If it helps, I have a 2012 Mazda3 with 80,000 miles and live in a Great Lakes snowbelt area where roads are heavily salted nearly half the year. Rust was a major concern when buying this car, but so far there aren’t any signs of it. Hopefully Mazda figured out its rust problem, as older Mazdas haven’t fared so well…

In grad school I tutored several English as a Second Language students. It was a fantastic experience, and I became friends with several of them, particularly one from Taiwan. This guy was generally brilliant, an officer in the reserves, and showed me photos of his heavily modified car back in Taiwan and told me…

It may be tough to remember anything other than the flying balls o’ death and Tall Man in Phantasm, but it had a ‘71 ‘Cuda.

I had one, it was even my first manual. For all its faults it was the one car in which no one tailgated me.

That is groovetastic. I have a new life goal.

If it helps, “affect” is usually a verb, while “effect” is usually a noun.  So you can be affected by something, and you can feel an effect. 

Excellent point. My first thought is that the person or people who owned that car missed out on a great deal of fun by not driving it. I suspect the new owner won’t drive it much, either. Granted, even more fun cars may have been available or there were other circumstances.

The first car I clearly remember is the Dodge Super Bee my parents owned. Bright yellow, adorned with cartoon bees, and an angry “face,” it could have emerged from Saturday morning cartoons. Some of my earliest memories are of that car and watching the landscape go by from within it. Mostly, though, was its sound, a…

The first versions of the Ford Taurus SHO. It had a Yamaha-built 220hp six cylinder engine mated to a Mazda-built five speed manual transmission. It was also fairly stealthy, looking like a standard late 80s-early 90s sedan.

At least we can still get the 7 and SE, among others, at a lower price. I decided to finally replace my iPhone 5 recently, checked out the models, and opted for a new 7 with a lot of memory. (I was tempted by the plus’s camera but found the phone too large). I still kind of miss the headphone jack, though. I…

Thanks. You’ve got to dig Monk.  Or as he said, “You’ve got to dig it to dig it, you dig?”

Dude. Check it. Check it. My cars don’t need tailpipes, but we’re gonna put them in. Know why? Reefer. Exhaust. Yeah, man. You know how cool that would be? No more road rage. Everyone feeling groovy. See. ... Pick up a little fine supply of ganja at our charging stations, put it in a little receptacle, and cruise…

Well, the main reason I don’t golf is it’s a lot more expensive and less enjoyable to me than spending a nice day hiking, not because I can’t go without a cheeseburger for a couple of hours.

A local dealer’s shady tactics and my inability to get a straight answer from them is the main reason I’ve never owned a Subaru. I’ve been tempted, especially as I live in a place that gets a lot of snow, but I’ll no longer consider buying from this dealer network.