Jalopnik 
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Detroit, 7:46 PM
Wed Dec 9
25 posts in the last 24 hours
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Editor-in-Chief:
Ray Wert | | AIM
Road Test Editor:
Wes Siler |
Weekend Editor:
Murilee Martin |
Associate Editor - Houston:
Associate Editor - Detroit:
Editor-at-Large:
Contributors:
John Krewson |
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
09/20/09
09/20/09
The Average American purchases probably the dullest, most mind numbing vehicles offered on the planet. Toyota Camrys, Honda Accords, Saturn Ions, Toyota Corollas, Ford Taurus, V6 Dodge Chargers, the list goes on and on. If they want something with a little prestige, they turn to the Toyota of Luxury, Lexus. Why else would anyone pay $15,000 more for a Camry Clone?
Anyway, when the car starts to run funny, or they forget to change the oil a few times, or they run the brakes until there isn't any pads left, and the tires with no tread and steel cords sticking out, they get rid of it. There is no love for the machine, just contempt.
Buckle up boys, this is the reason why we don't have the G8 anymore, or Standard Transmissions offered in anything sporty, or cars that weigh 1,000 pounds more than they should, and CUV's instead of honest to god wagons. The Average American Consumer doesn't care anymore.
09/20/09
You can say the same thing about domestic appliances: thanks to a global economy, these days it's easier to throw it in the bin and get a new one rather than try to fix it...but that doesn't make it hurt any less when you see a new bike with a flat tyre lying in your local garbage tip.
09/20/09
09/20/09
09/21/09
09/20/09
I accompanied Murilee to her local Pick N Pull not 45 minutes after first meeting her in Alameda last month. The place was chock full of German metal and Jag XJs.
So I wandered down to my favorite yard here in Detroit, Parts Galore, which regularly stocks more than 2000 cars, hoping to snag a super cheap door sill plate for the XJR, which has a slightly bent section. Not only was there not a single cash for clunkers car in the yard, there wasn't a single Jag. I was so sad.
However, I did claim some excellent prizes. The City of Royal Oak retired their fleet of Jeep CJ3 and CJ4 snow removal vehicles and I got a cockpit worth of toggle switches and the coolest gauge I've ever seen.
09/20/09
09/20/09
09/20/09
Do you have a thing for completely trashy Japanese cars (Lexus, Toyota, Acura, and Infiniti, that is)?
You screamed over the ugliest Toyota from the late 80's. Either way there is something seriously wrong with you because A) it is not a Ferrari or a Lamborghini or B) you are THAT broke and wants to drive it in the middle of the most boring road in America under a 103ºF sun.
Oh, not to mention, driving that garbage will upset the treehuggers.
09/20/09
09/20/09
Oh, dear.
09/20/09
We obsess over vehicles -- cars, aircraft, etc. -- that make greenies anxious. We are obsessed with cars that others find revolting. While we are also obsessed with the beautiful supercars, los Jalops would never turn down a Trabant, Gremlin, or obscure Volvo.
You have to understand. Jalops are not your mainstream car guys. We're misfits. We're the outliers. We. Love. Cars. Cars of all kinds. We will rip on certain cars, but if someone were to hand us the keys to a Bangelized BMW, we wouldn't turn it down. Some might just sell it and buy a Wartburg or '76 Jag XJ complete with Lucas electrics. If that's a sickness, then I have it. I don't think that makes me a hypochondriac.
09/20/09
09/20/09
09/20/09
09/20/09
You totaled it.
09/20/09
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09/20/09