In the parking lot at work
Mind the crappy cellphone pic. A friend once, on driving a new WRX STI, said ‘Most boring car I ever drove’. This lady drove a restored X1/9 at speed down Stelvio, so it isn’t like she don’t know how to drive.
I’ve been driving the Barbie car (the Ogwife’s former Escape, known variously as the Barbie Car, The Magic Bus, the Yellow Submarine, or You POS) for a couple of months, now, and it’s ok, smaller than the sploder but my favorite price (Free) and it has coils and struts so it handles well and corners OK for a tall ride, but it’s…. boring.
Now I fully understand what she meant. The Sploders, which I’ve been driving for well on 15 years, have a specific set of things they will NOT do. Making them do those things, though it pushes the ability of the vehicle dangerously close to the edge, is what makes it fun. Like driving a 911, which you know is out to kill you if you chicken out and lift, or using a 1951 new Yorker as a rally car.
Most anyone with a tiny modicum of training can take a well mannered car around hot hard curves and survive, and do well. It takes a special kind of nutcase to do it with a car utterly unsuited for the process, and push it till it almost kills you. And do it every day in rush hour traffic surrounded by half a million fucktards. I miss my sploders.
I will keep an eye out for another one, from time to time they show up, perfect rust free examples. it will always be my favorite vehicle and from then on I will probably just keep one in the stable for joyriding purposes.
Doesn’t rule out buying an old SHO Taurus or a W8 Passat, though.
16 comments Og | Uncategorized
Those highly engineered cars in out price bracket can be very expensive to keep alive. Fun, but anything but cheap.
It’s the difference between driving a fast car slow and driving a slow car fast. The fun is at the limit and it can be difficult to find the limit of a fast car during the daily commute.
Some of the most automotive fun I’ve had was tossing around a ’73 Olds Cutlass Supreme, try to scrape the door handles on the pavement.
A 1995 Ford Escort LX can outdrive a same-year BMW 318i. It depends on who is driving which.
I had a ’91 Escort LX. That car kicked butt. Don’t know if it would have kicked a BMW’s butt, but it would move if you needed it to.
Sold it to my sister for a grand in 1999 and took over the lease on her ’97 Ranger in return. Sometimes I wish I hadn’t let her have it. (Then I remember why I bought the Escape three years ago…can’t get in and out of those low-slung sedans anymore…)
My first car was a 1985 Escort L, I’ve owned lawnmowers with more horse power. If it ever traveled 85 mph I’d know it had fallen off a cliff.
My next was a 1989 Mustang LX 5.0, which I still drive. Quite a step up in horsepower, and I’ve written several scholarly articles on wheel spin in inclement weather. First time I made a right turn from a side street onto a main road I forgot I wasn’t in my Escort (where I’d floor it and hope the guy a half mile away saw me), left about 20 feet of brand-new tire on the road.
Fun times.
Stelvio is awesome fun going up, too! With training from Hwy 9 we beat Rainer the Edelweiss tour-guide to the top in ’89. At the top I cajoled some of the group to take the gravel side-road – the OTHER road – back down. With that and I could luxuriate in my off-road Enduro-world, sliding through turns with just *enough* throttle – none of the Harly riders could keep up…
Going up in a normal X1/9 wouldn’t be that much fun NotC. While this lady’s is equipped with a hot cam and dual downdraft webers, it’s in the downhill that the old icsunonove still screams.
I’ve not experienced it at Stelvio Pass, but at St. Bernard’s Pass. That was quite enough. :)
The last generation of Exploders, just before the current line, might be a good platform for you to …. Explore?
Body on frame, independent rear suspension, rack & pinion steering and a good front suspension, too.
Tighter and slightly wider body than your aged ones, and a considerably lower center of gravity. The body isn’t just bolted to the top of the frame, but actually has recesses in the door sills that are “pockets” to accommodate the frame. Hence the body sits down “into” the frame, about 6″ lower CG, but with the same or better ground clearance.
Methinks you’d really enjoy that series. Same V-6 and V-8 engine lineup, a bit of upgrade in the trannies. The 4×4 equipment is beefier, too.
Look into ’em, I think you’ll like ’em.
Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX
I drive a 98 Durango. Since I cut wood and haul some heavy ass trailers I had some very stiff springs built for the rear, so body roll is minimal. Last year the bosses son ditched the family Subaru in some S curves just down from the house.
As I was winching it onto the flatbed I harassed him about it. I told him could hit the curves in the Durango at 60 and not spill my beer.
I did almost wreck from laughing at his screams.
Roger
Nope. Don’t care about the body and frame, it’s the drivetrain. 2001 was the last year for the Windsor cast iron block with the GT-40 cast iron heads. The “Modular” engines are not my favorite.
Had an 88 SHO, great car, but damn did I go through some clutches and brakes…
Most fun I ever had was in a 280Z up US 27 between Cincinnati and Oxford. Biggest surprise in a 65 Mustang up I-75N between Erlanger and Ft. Mitchell in Kentucky. Hit 120 at around Kyles Lane. Didn’t realize it until my passenger freaked.
M
I raced a Formula Ford for a while (manufacturer- Titan, model -Mk6B) and never had more fun driving anything. What made it really interesting is that pretty much all the weight, which is you and the engine, is from the middle of the car to the rear. A friend of mine captured it perfectly by saying it was like driving a hammer – handle first.
Titan: I have also been in one of those on a track- though with less than splendiferous results, and it was, indeed, hella fun to drive.
Only those foreign sports cars get to park in front of fire hydrants.
The owner is the poster boy for white privelege.