Merc and BMW I6s are like butta, but once you’ve driven a Nissan VQ or the Yamaha SHO, they don’t seem unassailable anymore. I love the edge on those Vs.

Yep. In my neck o’ the woods, school bus drivers are required to wait until those children who need to cross the road have done so (preferably in front of the bus) and only then proceed. I have a funny feeling that the bus driver in this video got a talkin’ to after this event.

Any 60s Buick would rock - honorable mention to the LeSabre and Riviera. The Wildcat would be a bit to, you know...wild.

Gah! Beat me by seconds.

With slushbox.

Have you even watched the video? If so, who was at fault? I’m supposed to watch for and react to someone wearing all black running at full speed from the sidewalk on my right in the dark and the rain? I did manage to see him and brake a second before he hit me. I’d love to see you do better, officer.

OMG this very thing happened to me on a dark rainy night as I was making a [legal] right turn. Same deal - man running while wearing a hoody. I stopped when I saw him, but he bounced off of my right fender before I had completely halted. He then rose up and continued running as if nothing had happened.

Another layer:

It’s not so subtle, but rabies is perhaps an example of a virus manipulating it’s host in order to survive. It makes it’s host so crazed that it (thinking of animals here) is very likely to bite it’s brethren so that the virus is transmitted repeatedly. It’s definitely not fun for the host either.

You know, it’s kinda sad, but manual transmissions are going the way of the buggy whip. When I first started driving, we called automatics “slushboxes” because they were slip-prone and worsened fuel mileage. I bought manuals for two reasons - they were more fun and got better fuel economy besides.

Funny. I grew up on Long Island and I’m an amateur historian. I was under the impression that the Vanderbilt Cup ran from Queens Village to Lake Ronkonkoma. I did some digging and the Wikipedia article states that the Motor Parkway (which my racing dad just loved driving on) was completed in 1911 and extended to Lake…

So that was what was rattling! It didn’t sound like a heat shield. Mine had a loud rattle that stopped after it warmed up a bit. Since it did, I didn’t bother to have it looked at. Problem solved - 31 years later.

I bought the ‘81 SR-5 version of this same liftback new - in white as well! With the factory louvers and some cut alloys with black insets it looked badass but went nowhere lol. I swore that the engine felt like it came from some base model Kubota tractor. I bought it in San Diego, but drove it back to Long Island 3…

Election fraud is a non-starter. I believe you meant voter suppression.

I’ll never forget the first time a saw the ‘67 Shelby fastback. It was at Ramp Ford in Port Jefferson Station on Long Island. Being a “preferred” dealer, they had a convertible GT350 and fastbacks in both 350 and 500 flavors on hand in the lot. They may have been crude by today’s standard, but they were amazing just…

I hear ya, but there are exceptions. I had a buddy (about 6'3") who was so claustrophobic that, in the dead of a NY winter, he had to roll the window down in his full-sized ‘80s Chevy Blazer to keep from freaking out. I’m sure that a panoramic sunroof would have helped set him at ease.

Well, you said:

Trouble is that it cannot compare with either Rolls or Bentley in any meaningful measure of performance save perhaps ride comfort.

Now that looks like a Toyota.

Thanks for saying this. Rawlings is an ass, but he will say that he’s an ass all the way to the bank. It seems today that there really is no such thing as bad publicity.