Heh, the original R-12 AC system in my ‘85 Scirocco still works great, despite the car having sat unused in a shed for 15 years. No idea how, but I’m certainly thankful for it, even if I do have to switch it off whenever I’m going uphill or trying to pass someone!

Certainly looks clean, and it’s rare to come across one with a dash that isn’t horrendously cracked. Even on my 35,000 mile barn-find Scirocco, the dash looked like it had the Grand Canyon running through it.

I love the 156! My parents bought a Sportwagon a while ago, manual transmission, with the 2.0 JTS engine. I was lucky enough to borrow it for a few days the last time I visited them. I can’t get enough of that interior, and the driving experience was just lovely and full of character. If they sold them in the US, I’d…

My review of the Volvo 850R touched on that. Off boost, it’s mild-mannered, even a bit slow. However, as soon as the turbo hits its stride at 3000 RPM or so, it undergoes a complete personality change, pinning you to the seat as it scrabbles for traction, exhaust snarling in a way entirely unbefitting of a…

Aaaah! A Corrado! I've always wanted one of those (I own its predecessor, an '85 Scirocco). Shame it got totalled :(

Aww, I missed the question post, but I might as well add my story here. We had two wedding cars – a 1976 Triumph 2500 sedan for the bridal party, and a 1968 Triumph 2000 station wagon for the bride. As well as simply being characterful cars that fit with our wedding's colour scheme and retro vibe, they both were of…

Do they have any usage stipulations? I was looking to insure my MGA with them, but I got the impression that they were really restrictive on how and when you can drive. For a car that I plan on daily-driving in the summer (brave? stupid? both?) that wouldn’t be an option.

Definitely, but as with everything, there is an exception. Flare wrenches. Sure, most people work on brake lines so rarely that they're not high on the list of useful tools, but nothing good can come from cheaping out on them.

Yeah, never was much of a fan of Holmes. Nor Paul Henry, but on the whole, there's some very good journalism going on there. It's a shame that some excellent programs got cut when they shut down the short-lived noncommercial channel TVNZ 7 a few years ago, but even so, I think that the state of broadcast news media in…

I'm from Auckland (or, more properly, its soulless but gorgeously-situated northern suburbs) – grew up there, but I moved to Minneapolis four or so years ago. Not a bad place, by any stretch of the imagination, but I definitely miss home. In fact, thinking about this ended up with me finding a recording of Pokarekare…

Heh, I'm an NZ expat, now living in the US. Getting the nostalgia-feels, too.

I learned to drive in a 1976 Triumph 2500TC, and then daily-drove it for another three or so years after that. At the time I started driving it, it had 300,000ish km on the clock, faded paint and a slightly cantankerous transmission (4 speed manual + overdrive, like a proper British car). The perfect thing for a…

The show's pretty old, so the malaise-era criticisms were still hanging around.

Here's a great video of one being fired up after decades of neglect, by the inimitable (and thoroughly Jalop) Robbie Coltrane (skip to 17:08):

I just can't get over that dash either. Sixty years on, and it STILL looks like it could be from the future.

Citroën's BVH semi-automatic transmission, fitted to the DS, definitely ranks up there. It's a conventional four-speed manual box (in fact, the exact same gearbox as in the manual DS), but the clutch and gear engagement are all controlled by hydraulic wizardry. You still have to select a gear yourself, but everything…

That was the previous-generation ST. The current ones use a 2.0 turbo four.

On to the inside and things looks just as good on this one-owner Pug. The thickly bolstered seats seem to be intact as does the dash and door trim. The ad notes the presence of a Blaupunkt stereo, which… well, I don't know if I like the idea of a German radio invading a French car. Easy enough to change, I guess.

Heh, I actually agree. Bugs the hell out of me, too. On one of my old cars, I ran the cable behind the dash and had it come out through the ash tray. That way, there wasn't too much cable lying about, and I could store the adaptor in the ash tray when I wasn't using it. A while ago, though, I came across a bluetooth…

Heh, my old Triumph (a thoroughly worn-out, but well-loved, '76 2500TC) wore its original AM radio ("NINE TRANSISTOR" emblazoned on the dial) with pride until the day it died. Who needs music when you've got the sound of a lovely straight-six anyway?