Hope is Not Lost
Not every kid wants an Uber.
Some kids - one kid, at least - wants a 1972 VW Beetle. And now he has one. This is my young apprentice, Gage. He is...
The K-Car Reconsidered
Lee Iaccoca gets blame - or credit - for the 1981-1989 Dodge Aires and Plymouth Reliant K-cars, but unlike the minivan, this one’s really not his fault.
He simply took the ball...
Worst Things About Old Cars
There’s a new reason for buying an old car. It’s not nostalgia, it’s not a love for classic lines - though those still come along for the ride. It’s a desire...
Great Pumpkin Test Drive
In the Halloween Spirit, here's a look at The Great Pumpkin, plus a test drive! It is very patriarchical as well as heterosexual and profoundly unsafe. No air bags. Not even...
Chrysalis Cars
The "real" muscle cars of the mid-late 1960s and early 1970s have been financial instruments since the '90s, if not earlier. Out of reach of the average person. Because the average...
In the Rearview: Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona (1968-1973)
The last of a thing is often a cause for nostalgia, even regret. The new thing may be objectively superior and hard to fault by the numbers. But something’s been lost,...
Doomed: Honda S2000 (1999-2009 RIP)
Race cars make terrible street cars - but every now and then, one will be offered for sale to the general public.
Usually, briefly.
L-88 Corvettes with lumpy solid lifter cams and three...
Air-Cooled Oddballs
Cars used to be like motorcycles still are (for now). You could even buy them with air-cooled engines, just like you can still buy bikes with air-cooled engines. No radiator to...
The Shitbox, Fondly Recalled
The late and very great Brock Yates coined the term.
Shitboxes.
They don't make them anymore - not really. Modern economy cars are not shitboxes.
A shitbox is something like an '80s-era Ford Escort...
Old School Economy: Chevy Chevette (1976-1987)
In some ways, the Chevy Chevette had a lot in common with a new Mercedes - or similar high-end luxury car.
It wasn’t, for openers, front-wheel-drive. Like the Benz, the 'Vette was...