Without a doubt, my ‘73 VW Thing named Astro (Rust in Peace). I used this car to get out to our camp on Nauset Beach off the coast of Chatham, MA, on Cape Cod. Never left me stranded or got stuck, so long as you let the tires down to about 6psi.

HA! Nicely played.

My friends and I had a case of blow-up Grimace dolls, tactically relocated from a McDonalds stockroom upon the hasty end of another friend’s employment there. We also had a case of beer, a case of senioritis, and a Nissan Pulsar. Over the years, we tormented a professor with these grimace dolls. For every one he…

My then-finance had a Corolla CE. It was white, with beige interior, and lacked ALL of the niceties of the LE model. It even had crank windows. She bought it for 2500, drove it for two years, and we sold it at our yard sale before moving to the West Coast. It fetched 2500. Strangely, I also sold my ‘98 New Beetle at…

Pffft. That’s nothing compared to driving in Boston after a hard winter.

What you don’t see, just off camera:

2.8, I believe, shared with the Hilux...

We went to rural Costa Rica a few months ago, and spent most of our time off-pavement (the nearest paved road to where we stayed was about 1hr 20min away). I rented a Toyota Fortuner turbo-diesel. While it didn’t have a stick, it was pretty stripped down with its cloth seats and lack of tech. I absolutely LOVED it. …

Well, not really. He’s been dead 25 years.

“A permanent reminder of a temporary feeling.”

Sad but true. I’m not in the rotoscoping business any more, thankfully.

Where was I on September 11, 2001? - Sitting at my workstation now in my 5th or 6th straight day of rotoscoping out the various SS / Nazi emblems from film footage of these cars at the race track. Audi was doing an ad campaign that featured the Silver Arrows and needed to revise their history a bit.

Why do you have to be so stern?

That’s it. We need to ban baseball size hail at car dealerships RIGHT NOW.

These grilles seem all the rage with our local high school population. Those who aren’t driving BMWs and MBZs frequently suffer with a brand new Jeep. I think they just make the Jeep’s appearance match the personality of their driver.

I think this is a Hypermiler’s shift pattern. R-1-4 being the most common gears used. And, once underway, you can opt for a slightly higher range of 2-5 / 3-6, depending on grade and prevailing winds, etc.

Holy ship. A rudder disaster.  I’m sure the person responsible wants to just keel over and die.

Yes. Yes you do! You’ve got my permission, for what it’s worth...

I haven’t done Chloride Cliff yet - maybe next trip in the Thing I’m building now... I’ve done The Racetrack (was thankful for my durable tires and lightweight vehicle), Artists, and a few other BLM back-country treks around DV and Joshua Tree. So much to see. Maybe I’ll see you out there in your MBZ! Are you in the…

Titus Canyon in the G Thing... I’ve since sold this particular car, but am building another orange 73...