Is there any way to watch this in the UK without a Sky or something? (ie, the internets) Love the shows, from what I've seen in other countries and snippets on these pages. #chevycamaro
@Mobius: I tried to find seeded torrents for some of the other factory tours, but no game. Looks like TPB and eztv are having issues right now.
C'mon discovery channel, embrace digital distribution. I'll even pay per show, just let me buy it on the interwebs. #chevycamaro
Like put together a base Elise, then an Exige S, then a Tesla, then another Elise, all without stopping. No idea if it's true or not, but dayum that's a crazy assembly line. #chevycamaro
Window crnks can be luxury itself; machined billet items. They aren't hard to use either. Frankly, this is a lot like the argument that repeating rifles are better than bolt action. I personally like simple stuff, so I usually hunt with a modified Enfield .303 British bolt action. I can't see myself needing the automation of an AR-15. But hey, everybody has their thing, you know...
My parents almost exclusively bought bare-bones Honda Accords and Toyota Camrys throughout my youth. My first car was a hand-me-down Accord with A/C, automatic, mudflaps and floor mats.
As a kid and a young driver, I was always disappointed by my dad's cheapo purchases, but I appreciate them a lot more in retrospect. The simplicity and durability of those cars was like nothing I've encountered since. And I'd much rather have a midsize econocar than a loaded compact.
If FromaBuick6 has to watch one more Chevy commercial, he's going to punch Howie Long in the face was starred
If FromaBuick6 has to watch one more Chevy commercial, he's going to punch Howie Long in the face was unstarred
The $9995 Nissan Versa has crank windows, a 5 speed manual and no radio or AC. It does come with power steering and thats about it. Its the Chevette Scooter of our generation....cept its bettter quality than the crap ass Chevette!
I do not understand why power windows on a basic car is bad. Nor do I understand why it's bad for the manufacturers to move 1990 good stuff into 2009 cheap stuff. I'm with dal20402 on this one.
@dulcamara: It's because less fewer fancy gewgaws leads to fewer things broken, and fewer things between the driver, machine, and road. As a group, Jalopnik commenters seem to be appreciative of no-frills cars. We're collectively cheap, but enjoy driving, and fixing electrical gremlins on a car that's off-warranty is no fun.
@TV's Paul Y.: I like simple cars too, but I think it's about time to stop treating power locks and windows like overcomplicated frills. It's not like an electric motor that moves a lock actuator or a piece of glass is some kind of unproven exotic technology.
Starters and windshield wipers (which I consider to be far more important) also used to be hand-cranked, but you don't hear anybody complaining about those using electric motors today.
@ummagumma82: I'd like to have the option. It's not like an automatic transmission is some kind of unproven exotic technology. And you hear few of us complaining about automatic transmissions, but you understand how close the stickshift is to our hearts.
@ummagumma82: You think power locks and windows aren't unproven technology? Do you know how many GM vehicles under 10 years old have their windows held up with pieces of wood? It's almost impossible to break manual locks and windows.
...and automatic transmissions should be illegal. They make people dumber, and worse drivers.
My girlfriend's parents got a bare-bones smart fortwo recently, and that is pretty damn basic transportation. It's practically a truck cab on wheels. No radio, no power steering, and it would have a real manual transmission if that was an option. Her stepdad told me that he concluded that it is the equivalent of a Beetle -- absolutely minimal transportation that will comfortably hold two adults (and it also happens to be an ass-engined Nazi slot car, too). I haven't seen it in person yet, but next time we go out there, I've been promised the opportunity to drive it. Maybe I should write a review!
@TV's Paul Y.: We kicked the Nazis out of France, which is where the smarts are built. I guess it's an ass-engined surrendermobile.
Once you get to drive it though, you'll probably dig it save one thing - the tranny. It's bizarre and hateful - a manual gear box, with a clutch and everything, buy they neglected to put a pedal and a shift lever in the cabin. Instead, a computer shifts the thing like a spastic 6 year old on meth.
My first three cars were an '86 Chevette, an '88 Horizon and a '91 Escort. I don't want to romanticize the first two in any way, though the 2.2 gave the Horizon plenty of oomph. I really liked the Escort.
But the '80 Accord my wife was driving when we started dating--I had the Chevette at the time--demonstrated the difference between cheap and economical.
@flyingstitch and the hamsters are friends again: My first car was a '68 Plymouth Belvedere 2-door post. Slant-six, 727 automatic, bench seat, AM radio, heater and damn little else. I miss that car at least once a week.
Mike the Dog is sitting by the door with a pair of cow slippers, and a very sad face. was starred
Mike the Dog is sitting by the door with a pair of cow slippers, and a very sad face. was unstarred
Edited by Mike the Dog is sitting by the door with a pair of cow slippers, and a very sad face. at 08/02/09 12:12 AM
Mike the Dog is sitting by the door with a pair of cow slippers, and a very sad face. was starred
Mike the Dog is sitting by the door with a pair of cow slippers, and a very sad face. was unstarred
@Mike the Dog: Rusty or not...it still is a sweet ride. It has been a pattern in my car-life that if I have a soft spot for a particular brand or design of vehicle, I can't help but love them no matter what shape they are in.
That being said...I should introduce you to the newest love of my car-life: (see picture above.)
Dammit. I am not used to this new format yet. I was expecting the picture to show up underneath the writing. But I am sure you get my point. True automotive beauty has many facets which sometimes include rust and dents (and maybe even the occasional lack of a front bumper). So as rusty as that old Belvedere may have been, I'm sure that it was still an awesome car.
I bought a Toyota Yaris last year. Being in Florida, it had A/C ( I would have gotten a/c anyway). 2 door hatch, 5 speed, roll-up windows and manual locks. $11K out the door and 37MPG @ 80 MPH.
Can't beat it, but I miss my 1978 Ford Fiesta. THAT had absolutely no frills.
Having had not one, but three different stripper versions of vehicles, a '67 forward-control Dodge window van (which wasn't really a stripper, 'cause it had a almost all the extras, there just weren't many available (AM radio, deep blue paint, all the windows, both rear passenger seats, the 318 w/a manual, and one-ton suspension)), an '80 F-100 long-bed pickup, and an '86.5 Nissan 720 pickup, I can say, with confidence, there is a need for vehicles like this.
The Ford was the lowest-of-the-low. Rubber floors, no radio, no power nothing, three-on-the-tree, nothing upholstered but the seat, and that was remarkably durable vinyl. Still, for what I needed, a work truck, it was okay.
Wait, it did have a passenger side outside mirror, OEM, but I think it was an oversight.
I longed for A/C, put in a floor shift to replace the crap steering column linkage, oh, and a manual sliding rear window for better airflow in the heat of Texas summer. It was so beat up, though, if making it into a parking space between a post and a wall required stopping, backing up, and taking a second shot, I skipped it and just hit whatever I hit which wasn't another vehicle.
There was literally not an undamaged body panel on it. For six months, the driver's window did exist because it fell off the track and shattered. I just carried a towel on the passenger's floor side, in case it rained while it wasn't moving. Vent windows kept rain out while moving.
Traffic was a drag.
The Nissan had A/C, but that was it for options. I eventually carpeted it, swapped the bench for 1984 leather Corvette seats, and did some work with tunes. Tinted the windows, too. I effectively lived out of it, as much as I drove it, so I was determined to be at least somewhat comfy.
Then I lowered it and put KYB's in all-around. So much for the comfort thing...
Edited by that ain't the way to have fun, son at 08/01/09 7:09 PM
that ain't the way to have fun, son was starred
that ain't the way to have fun, son was unstarred
The current Hyundai Accent isn't a bad runabout. Though, the most basic car I've ever owned was the one I had prior to my current one - a bare bones 02 focus zx3, which had still had a fair amout of equip despite A/C being the only option box checked off. Manual crank windows, manual locks, manual transmission, manual seats. The only real niceties of the car were foglamps, alloy wheels, tach, a cd player, and a leather wrapped steering wheel.
My current car has remote locking, power windows, sunroof, and a bunch of other niceties. Truth is, I miss a lot about that old focus (even though the new car is just a newer, better optioned zx3). The biggest thing I miss id unlocking the passenger door for my wife and having her unlock my door for me while I walked back over to my door.
We've lost so many intangibles because of these luxuries.
By the way I'd still rather drive a Horizon than an Aveo. Dunno about the Accent, though- never got behind it's wheel. A cheap car doesn't have to be poorly engineered or fear inducing with its badness (there were times I was AFRAID to drive the Aveo i had for a week)
The most basic car I've purchased in the last 10 years is my 2005 Ford Ranger. The only options I went for was an automatic and A/C. Roll down windows, Am/Fm 2 speaker stereo, rubber floors, steel wheels and refrigerator white paint. Then I opted for a hitch and a bedliner. Out the door was something to the tune of $8 or 9 thousand out the door.
@Herbie3Rivers: You might be surprised to find out that most dealers will tell you with a straight face that they simply cannot get you a Ranger configured like that.
Mike the Dog is sitting by the door with a pair of cow slippers, and a very sad face. was starred
Mike the Dog is sitting by the door with a pair of cow slippers, and a very sad face. was unstarred
@FP - in black for the Jezebel Nine: At which point they will advise you not to let the door hit you in the ass on the way out. I've had this conversation before.
Mike the Dog is sitting by the door with a pair of cow slippers, and a very sad face. was starred
Mike the Dog is sitting by the door with a pair of cow slippers, and a very sad face. was unstarred
@FP - in black for the Jezebel Nine: My grandfather did something similar: In the early 90s, he was in the market for a Cadillac STS. He stood in the showroom for probably 15 minutes and nobody went to talk to him.
He goes over to the next town, a guy greets him right away, and he points to an STS and says, "I want one of those in pearl white." He paid for it with a cheque.
The week he took delivery, he drove over to the other dealership, walked in and asked to speak to the sales manager. He asked the man to look outside at the shiny new Cadillac. The manager said it was a nice car, and my grandfather told him, "it could have been a sale here, but nobody bothered to talk to me when I came." and he left.
@FP - in black for the Jezebel Nine: He's still going strong at 83. He's on his second S80. The first one he bought was T-boned by some fucking punk in a Del Sol or something that ran a red light; my grandmother's seat actually got closer to the driver's side.
They both walked away from it, and now he's a bona fide Volvo man.
@FP - in black for the Jezebel Nine: I should also add he was a salesman at OTC and Proto tools for a hell of a long time (I'm not sure which companies he was with before I was born. He was the top salesman in both companies, globally, for a long time.
This is somewhat of a thread jack.... I never realized that Jack Baruth wrote for Speed Sport Life.... What has Jalopnik done? It has turned a few commenters into writers.
Let's see, SuzanneD writes for Ride Lust, and there are others I can't remember now...
10/16/09
10/16/09
C'mon discovery channel, embrace digital distribution. I'll even pay per show, just let me buy it on the interwebs. #chevycamaro
10/16/09
To all those guys whining about the boring video, would you rather watch someone assemble these? #chevycamaro
10/16/09
10/16/09
Like put together a base Elise, then an Exige S, then a Tesla, then another Elise, all without stopping. No idea if it's true or not, but dayum that's a crazy assembly line. #chevycamaro
08/02/09
Window crnks can be luxury itself; machined billet items. They aren't hard to use either. Frankly, this is a lot like the argument that repeating rifles are better than bolt action. I personally like simple stuff, so I usually hunt with a modified Enfield .303 British bolt action. I can't see myself needing the automation of an AR-15. But hey, everybody has their thing, you know...
08/02/09
As a kid and a young driver, I was always disappointed by my dad's cheapo purchases, but I appreciate them a lot more in retrospect. The simplicity and durability of those cars was like nothing I've encountered since. And I'd much rather have a midsize econocar than a loaded compact.
08/02/09
08/01/09
08/01/09
08/01/09
Starters and windshield wipers (which I consider to be far more important) also used to be hand-cranked, but you don't hear anybody complaining about those using electric motors today.
08/01/09
08/01/09
...and automatic transmissions should be illegal. They make people dumber, and worse drivers.
08/01/09
08/01/09
Once you get to drive it though, you'll probably dig it save one thing - the tranny. It's bizarre and hateful - a manual gear box, with a clutch and everything, buy they neglected to put a pedal and a shift lever in the cabin. Instead, a computer shifts the thing like a spastic 6 year old on meth.
08/01/09
08/02/09
08/01/09
But the '80 Accord my wife was driving when we started dating--I had the Chevette at the time--demonstrated the difference between cheap and economical.
08/01/09
08/01/09
08/02/09
EDIT: In all fairness, I must admit that it was rusted to hell when I got it, and swiss-cheesed by the time I was done with it.
08/02/09
@Mike the Dog: Rusty or not...it still is a sweet ride. It has been a pattern in my car-life that if I have a soft spot for a particular brand or design of vehicle, I can't help but love them no matter what shape they are in.
That being said...I should introduce you to the newest love of my car-life: (see picture above.)
Dammit. I am not used to this new format yet. I was expecting the picture to show up underneath the writing. But I am sure you get my point. True automotive beauty has many facets which sometimes include rust and dents (and maybe even the occasional lack of a front bumper). So as rusty as that old Belvedere may have been, I'm sure that it was still an awesome car.
08/01/09
08/01/09
Can't beat it, but I miss my 1978 Ford Fiesta. THAT had absolutely no frills.
08/01/09
The Ford was the lowest-of-the-low. Rubber floors, no radio, no power nothing, three-on-the-tree, nothing upholstered but the seat, and that was remarkably durable vinyl. Still, for what I needed, a work truck, it was okay.
Wait, it did have a passenger side outside mirror, OEM, but I think it was an oversight.
I longed for A/C, put in a floor shift to replace the crap steering column linkage, oh, and a manual sliding rear window for better airflow in the heat of Texas summer. It was so beat up, though, if making it into a parking space between a post and a wall required stopping, backing up, and taking a second shot, I skipped it and just hit whatever I hit which wasn't another vehicle.
There was literally not an undamaged body panel on it. For six months, the driver's window did exist because it fell off the track and shattered. I just carried a towel on the passenger's floor side, in case it rained while it wasn't moving. Vent windows kept rain out while moving.
Traffic was a drag.
The Nissan had A/C, but that was it for options. I eventually carpeted it, swapped the bench for 1984 leather Corvette seats, and did some work with tunes. Tinted the windows, too. I effectively lived out of it, as much as I drove it, so I was determined to be at least somewhat comfy.
Then I lowered it and put KYB's in all-around. So much for the comfort thing...
08/01/09
My current car has remote locking, power windows, sunroof, and a bunch of other niceties. Truth is, I miss a lot about that old focus (even though the new car is just a newer, better optioned zx3). The biggest thing I miss id unlocking the passenger door for my wife and having her unlock my door for me while I walked back over to my door.
We've lost so many intangibles because of these luxuries.
08/01/09
08/01/09
08/01/09
08/01/09
08/01/09
08/01/09
08/01/09
He goes over to the next town, a guy greets him right away, and he points to an STS and says, "I want one of those in pearl white." He paid for it with a cheque.
The week he took delivery, he drove over to the other dealership, walked in and asked to speak to the sales manager. He asked the man to look outside at the shiny new Cadillac. The manager said it was a nice car, and my grandfather told him, "it could have been a sale here, but nobody bothered to talk to me when I came." and he left.
08/02/09
08/02/09
They both walked away from it, and now he's a bona fide Volvo man.
08/02/09
08/01/09
Let's see, SuzanneD writes for Ride Lust, and there are others I can't remember now...
08/01/09