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Detroit, 6:46 PM
Sun Nov 8
8 posts in the last 24 hours
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BTW... the little arrow at the end of the comments is the reply button. It'll put your reply under the comment.
09/30/09
Story One.
On my drive to school last year, I used to see a Chrysler Lebaron pretty frequently. A really nice Chrysler Lebaron. Paint was perfect(probably better than new), chrome perfect... generally looked brand new. One day I was getting gas, and the Lebaron pulls up. This very kindly looking old man got out, and I made the comment that I had seen his car around and was amazed how nice it was. I half expected some haughty obsessive maniac, but no... He said "Well, yeah... it's probably the nicest Lebaron in the world. I guess it's good to have the nicest of something. Doesn't mean I don't wish it wasn't a damn Lebaron though."
Story Two.
I have a friend with an '84 Nissan Pickup. He paid $700 for it, I think. It may be the most fun I've ever had driving a car. It has no power, so starting it on a hill makes you feel like superman. It used to have power steering, but doesn't, so turning it makes you feel like superman. There is a vacuum leak in the brake system, so if you press the brake pedal too firmly, the truck stalls. So coming to a stop requires left foot braking and rev matching for all the wrong reasons. The fuel gauge works in reverse... so you have to remember when it's full to make it empty again. But despite all of this, it's magnificent. Driving it feels like a challenge, a sense of occasion, an accomplishment. It burbles, the syncros whine like a Mini with a rod-change transmission. It's so bad... it's... it's just amazing.
And thus, I vote nice price. But only if it isn't nearly as good as it looks.
09/30/09
@AustinMiniMan: I had a similar problem with my brake. It's a super easy fix if you want to tell him. Unbolt the master cylinder from the brake booster. The brake booster has a pin that goes into the master cylinder. This pin has an adjustable tip that screws to adjust. It's probably just adjusted too short, just unscrew it to make it longer. Play with its length til the braking feels right (there is a tool that a shop uses to vacuum the booster to make the length perfect, but I've just eyeballed it before). That may well fix the problem. If it doesn't he probably just needs either a brake booster or new hose for the booster.
09/30/09
Interesting. Well, it's a third vehicle for him, and past driving it to the dump and back he doesn't really drive it. So, a ten minute fix is even probably more than he cares to do to that truck. But thanks for the info.
But... did you completely miss the point? Charm? Panache? Skill? Etc?!?
09/30/09
So 2 years ago the company I work for was sold, and I, now the fleet manager, was called into a meeting with the new owners to assess the fleet and decide where and when we should allocate funds for replacement of equipment, and what to get rid of. So as we're going down the whole list of rolling stock, I'm giving them brief, one sentence or so assessments of each:
"88 IHC....?"
" Donor truck, don't sell it, we need it for parts"
"92 Bluebird Bus....?"
" Exceptionally finicky, but the guy that drives it knows it inside and out. Sell it the day he leaves."
This goes on and on, until, way down near the bottom of the list, we get to:
"84 Nissan Pick-Up......?"
" It's not for sale."
They all look up from their lists, because they, like I, assume this quite uncomfortable meeting (I think all meetings are uncomfortable) is almost over, and the Big Boss says:
"What?... If these service records are correct, we put less than a thousand miles per year on it. Why don't we sell it?"
"It wasn't for sale when I started here, and it's not for sale now."
"Um... Err... O.K..... That'll be all for now..."
While not nearly as quirky as your buddies truck, it's just as fun to drive, and any time you see it out on the road, it's guaranteed that the driver is smiling, especially the boss.
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Hahaha. Love it. Kind of reminds me of my Dad's Volvo 122s. It might get 300 miles a year, but it always runs, has for the past 25 years we've owned it, and it just can't leave.
Character does not transfer well.
There's a pic there of the Nissan in question, next to my Landcruiser.
09/30/09
It's actually a few dollars more than double its original MSRP. I just can't see that. Hell, I can't see more than five without a more thorough Fiatisation.
Pipe.
09/30/09
Sure, the interior materials were cheap, they were meant to be. The engine revved forever and the little car weighed next to nothing (~1800lbs) so that 55hp (the 45hp model wasn't sold here) propelled the car with alacrity (no really).
Mine was a fine college driver and served me well until being rear ended by a Plymouth Satellite going 35 (I was stopped) driven by an unlicensed, uninsured, minor who was sneaking out to visit his children. Don't worry, the Satellite survived the impact unscathed.
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Anyway, leaning in, you could see a little sticker on the dash of the Yugo.
"Do not drive for extended periods above 55mph."
There was no such sticker in the Lambo.
09/30/09
Having the nicest Yugo on the planet is like having the prettiest hemorrhoids.
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So there I was, walking around a car very similar to this featured GV. Out came the salesman to expound on the virtues of frugal motoring. He showed me round the car & spouted fuel economy figures. Then he asked me what I was looking for.
I answered: "I want a car that will get me from point A to point B in the shortest time for the least amount of money".
You could almost hear the gears in the salesman's mind going as a few seconds ticked by. Then he responded:
"The Yugo's a kinda fast car..."
Sanity prevailed and I never plunked college kid money on the car. But I'll always remember the day I went Yugo shopping.
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09/30/09
I can see that many lurkers here anyway. Most posts will have views in the thousands, but the most legit comments I've seen don't get above 500, and that is on really popular story getting 10k+ views.
All that being said: Crackpipe!
09/30/09
10:51 AM
"How are there sooooo many votes every day, are there that many lurkers here??"...
...asks a guy who just posted his first comment....yesterday.
Here's to becoming part of the solution!
Take off your coat, stay awhile. Help yourself to some brefass scotch.
09/30/09
Pass the pipe.
09/30/09
09/30/09
Given the following formula:
B + Y - ($ * X) = C
Solve for X when:
B=buyer
C=crackpipe, &
Y=any member of the set of all surviving Yugos
ANSWER KEY:
X=the set of all positive rational numbers.
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