Selling a Fiat 500 at a Dodge dealership. Now these guys were ahead of the market!
Jeez, look at the clouds of rust coming from the Bel Air - no wonder it imploded!
You underestimate the power of the luggage rack and infinite headroom!
Jalopnik, I am disappointed! Are we really advocating cargo space and reliability with "above-average" hoonability? Are we going to colege or family planning?
The fact is, if you live on or near campus and your college isn't way out in the middle of nowhere, you don't need a car at all. A bicycle will get you anywhere you want to go and you won't waste gas doing it. Chances are there's decent public transport in the area too.
But what about the move, you ask? Well, your parents have payed your way this far. Chances are they won't mind you borrowing the Explorer for the 4-8 trips home you will make throughout the next four years. And if they do, why are you packing up everything you own to see them anyway? They obviously don't like you.
My point is, every other aspect of a college student's life is EXPECTED to be irresponsible and experimental. Why are we suddenly supposed to get all tight-laced when it comes to cars? Buy yourself a bike, and then get something crazy - MGB, notchback mustang, Citroen, Alfa spider, Porsche 914, 4th gen Thunderbird - use your imagination; they are all cars that you can pick up in decent shape for the price of a good beater
The fact is, if you live on or near campus and your college isn't way out in the middle of nowhere, you don't need a car at all. A bicycle will get you anywhere you want to go and you won't waste gas doing it. Chances are there's decent public transport in the area too.
But what about the move, you ask? Well, your parents have payed your way this far. Chances are they won't mind you borrowing the Explorer for the 4-8 trips home you will make throughout the next four years. And if they do, why are you packing up everything you own to see them anyway? They obviously don't like you.
My point is, every other aspect of a college student's life is EXPECTED to be irresponsible and experimental. Why are we suddenly supposed to get all tight-laced when it comes to cars? Buy yourself a bike, and then get something crazy - MGB, notchback mustang, Citroen, Alfa spider, Porsche 914, 4th gen Thunderbird - use your imagination; they are all cars that you can pick up in decent shape for the price of a good beater
As someone with four cars and an average HP of 55, I am seeing a lot of fast cars here. Let's try something truly slow - the Fiat 850 Spider. Rear-engined, less than 2000lbs, and all the right Italian noises with an Abarth exhaust. It's like the offspring of a Lamborghini Miura and a Vespa scooter.
Two years ago I learned to drive in an E Type that we basically pulled out of a barn. It caught on fire the first time, so we grabbed the extinguisher from the XJ6 (which had also recently been on fire) and put it out. Then we cleaned the powder out of the engine bay, replaced the leaking float, and went on our way. The lessons were only 15 minutes at a time or else it would overheat.
Given the Ferrari's reputation, I have a feeling that this kid will soon be joining the "drives with a fire extinguisher belted to his hip" club.
Given the Ferrari's reputation, I have a feeling that this kid will soon be joining the "drives with a fire extinguisher belted to his hip" club.
Smokey and the Bandit, countless music videos, and the guy at the trailer park agree: second generation trans am.
I've only ever driven three cars in my life: my 1975 VW Bus, my 1972 Fiat 850 Spider, and a friend's 1969 E-Type. Since the Jag was overheating and only running on three cylinders, I guess the fastest car I've driven is the Fiat, with 52 HP.
My father mostly stuck to customizing harleys. He had a couple interesting American cars - namely an AMX and a '69 C10 a couple years ago, but never had the patience to even change the oil in a car.
He had a distaste for slow cars, small engines, and fuel injection; he outright hated Italian cars.
I've got a (fuel injected) 1975 VW Bus and two Fiat 850 Spiders
So thanks, dad! The look on your face when you saw my 850 motivates me to this day.
He had a distaste for slow cars, small engines, and fuel injection; he outright hated Italian cars.
I've got a (fuel injected) 1975 VW Bus and two Fiat 850 Spiders
So thanks, dad! The look on your face when you saw my 850 motivates me to this day.
@Nick: I live in Nashville; apparently the police aren't so busy that they can't still keep a patrol car on every speed trap in town, so my sympathy is somewhat curtailed.
Can I nominate Chip for COTD?
Spring - it's mating season, and despite the dealer's best efforts he couldn't keep the Mito from the Cygnet for too long. Thankfully, the kind people at Ford took their little offspring in, its eyes not yet opened.
@Pete Gaines: Agreed. Checked out the "Vw Abortions / Home-Made Bastards" thread on the samba to remove any doubt.
My cousin is on her fourth car after having her license for about a year. The story goes as follows:
Car 1 was a '95 Ford Taurus (not an SHO thankfully) that our grandfather bought her. She had it for a few months before she rear-ended a car at a stop light and totaled it. Texting and driving was the most likely culprit, but instead of a lecture or revocation of her license her parents (who are not at all wealthy) bought her Car 2.
Car 2 was a 1999 Chevy Cavalier. It lasted a couple months before she flipped it (due to texting and driving) Her parents are still making payments on this car, but since it too was totaled they bought her Car 3
Car 3 was a 2005 Chevy Cavalier (my family has a weird thing for Cavaliers. I and my Fiat suspect I'm somehow not biologically related) They'd started making the payments on this car when she totaled it and an innocent tree last week. Guess why.
Car 4 is a Honda Accord, also being payed for by the parents. Maybe when it goes it will take her license with it.
I will admit that I used to be ashamed of the types of vehicles I liked. I remember growing up; my father wanted so badly for me to grow up to love muscle cars, and why wouldn't he? It's a much easier life out here in the southern U.S if one has a Chevy or Ford or Dodge in the garage.
I think he could tell there was something a little off about me for some time. One day we went to the junkyard, and past the usual rows of Monte Carlos and Thunderbirds sat the tiniest car I've ever seen. I asked my father what that little car was, at which point he closed his eyes and said, "I don't know, son."
But he did know, and soon, thanks to the internet, I knew as well: it was an MG Midget. We went back to the junkyard a few weeks later and I found an Alfa Romeo Spider.
"Wow," I said, "What a beautiful car!"
It was the last trip we ever made there. My father didn't want me exposed to that dark world anymore.
I tried - really tried - to be like him. I pretend to like trucks, muscle cars, anything American. I even had a brief stint with a '69 Chevy C10. But it just didn't feel right.
He was disappointed when I finally told him. "We'll get you through this," he said. But I didn't want to get through it - I wanted it.
He cried when I bought a Volkswagen; yelled when I started working on Jaguars. He hasn't spoken to me since I purchased a Fiat.
But I'm still not ashamed, and neither should you be.
"Will it work?"
Well, it was co-developed by GM and Segway, so - no.
I'd rather have a Bricklin - I like my gullwings orange and my interior suede!
Of course it's destined for production. No one designs luggage for a car that's not going into production.
I learned twice - first in a 1969 Jaguar E-type around an empty country road and then in my 1975 VW Bus through the middle of downtown Nashville during Friday rush-hour. This was only a year ago, so not only was I learning to drive a stick in the middle of a crowded city, but everyone was looking at me and my "cool old bus" too.
