signature: One thousand Americans stop smoking cheap cigarettes every day - by dying.

Amazonca

KeefeMDK

madderhatter

Heftyjo

hobocline

dziekiel

SwapMeat

Chalk me up for the topless Wrangler too. Managed to talk a friend into trading my Maxima for her Jeep for 2 months right after a breakup with a long-term girlfriend. Man do chicks dig Jeeps.

Bo Darville

fixittogetithome

mytdawg

Euromobile

Mrb00st

mytdawg

waynecramp

charles_barrett

I just bought my first convertible recently (the Sunbeam Alpine in my avatar) but the car that makes me think of summer the most is my grandfather's 1965 FJ40 Toyota Landcruiser. In every family photo album, it's in nearly every picture taken during the summer: Towing a boat to the lake, towing the camping trailer, and just driving around in the Sierra Nevada. Of course, the top and doors were left in a corner of the garage every summer. Grandpa's FJ40 represented the idealized late '60s California experience for me-- an experience blissfully untainted by having actually been there. In 1968, RFK and Martin Luther King got shot, riots broke out in the streets and the war in Vietnam raged, but in the pages of the photo album there were just young, happy people and a little truck that could take them anywhere they wanted to go. Growing up in the '90s I always imagined that there was something missing from my life that my parents' generation had, something special. The world somehow seems different when it's recorded on Kodachrome film.
We sold the Landcruiser when I was a young boy, but the memories of it have stayed with all of us.

Armand Bengle

But seriously, thanks. I do appreciate the nice comments. And just to bring it home - At the end of the summer there was a Cars concert at Castle Farms in Charlevoix. I was going to the concert with my dad. My friend, knowing that I was going to be there, apparently got a hold of some tickets. He died in a single car accident that day, on his way to pick up the guy who was going with him. Probably got distracted trying to change the damn 8-track. They were going to try and find me that night.

So the other guy goes to the concert anyways and isn't able to find me but he does get to the stage and lets somebody else know what happened. The Cars start out the show by saying a guy died on the way to the concert and the concert would be "for Dave". Of course, it never registered at the time.

I find out he's dead when I get home and find out the rest at the funeral when the third guy from Leelanau shows up. He went through all that and he virtually had never met us before that summer. I think his name was Tom and his dad had a Lincoln Continental and a home made kegerator in the garage.

What a long strange trip...

mytdawg

I put off repairing my garage door opener because of rainy weather, so my partner and I were forced to get out and open it by hand... in the rain! Finally fixed last Sunday between SoCal storm fronts.

Your backstory about your lost friend is itself moving. At 44, having been out and promiscuous through the mid 1980s, and very active in the L.A. GLBT community socially and politically, I miraculously remain HIV-. I buried so many friends before the drug therapies improved in 1995, I stopped counting after 100, many of whom were close friends to my parents as well as myself. Your writing is testimony and validation that he was here and made a difference. Invaluable and worthy of envy.

charles_barrett

@Tocsin: You Jalopnik Fabio, you! Bow-chicka-wow-woww,
that's Dope man!

POLAЯ is taking his work underground. He can't let it fall into the wrong hands again!

SundaySunday

mytdawg

It had a flat bed carefully constructed of random scrap lumber and they had tried to put 3/4 ton springs on it but they broke the frame mount on the one they got installed. So they just put "things" in the 1/2 spring until they were roughly the same height. There was piece of a bumper jack in there and a couple other pieces of scrap metal.

We used it to haul our old (even at the time) dirt bikes the 200 miles up north around the Kalkaska area. My dad had a few acres with a 1959 travel trailer (a Yellowstone) on it. No heat, water, or other amenities. I've since upgraded the property to include a 1970 FAN travel trailer. Still no heat, water, or other amenities. And I've moved up to a 1994 conversion van with 250,000 miles on it for a bike hauler. Still got the same damn dirt bike though. A 1979 XR250.

We'd drink and dirt bike all day and then we'd drive the Deadly Dirt Truck (tm) down to Torch lake. It's kind of a snooty place and we didn't really fit in, drinking beer and tanning our mullosk-like bodies on the back of an old flat bed. We'd hang out up there until we ran out of money then try to get 200 miles back in a piece of shit truck with about 8 bucks for gas between us. There were no cell phones. I have no idea how we made it all those times.

That would be me and the third guy in the picture. The last remaining and most dysfunctional of the bunch.

We got it stuck trying to 4 wheel it on the 2 tracks once but that's another story chock full of stupid.

mytdawg

In the summer of 2001, a good friend and I decided to spend our summer in California... We loaded up his Jeep Wrangler and set off across the country from Massachusetts.
We took the Southern route and it was a blast... Make sure you stop at Midnight Rodeo in Amarillo, TX - they have a night where beers are a quarter and they play early 90's hip-hop in the back room!! I went out with $20 planning on not drinking that much... whoops.
On the through AZ into CA, his radiator was acting up. The day before he got a sunburn because he was riding shotgun and took a nap while the top was down... nice white seatbelt mark across the chest.
So we put the top up and turned the heat on to keep the jeep running cool enough. We stopped and got a foam cooler, filled it with ice and water bottles and set off through the desert highway... It was 109 degrees outside the car and we had the heat on. I never though San Bernardino would be a welcome site. It soon got much cooler out and we could kill the heat.
We lasted about a month and a 1/2 in the Corona Del Mar-Newport Area (His uncle lives in CDM), just going to bars and hitting the beach, until the money started drying up and it was time to hit the road back. This time we took a more central route.
Driving through Colorado was interesting as neither of us had done that before... it was late at night but you could not see the sky too well because the mountains covered your view! That 4-cyl was working overtime that night...
We made a few stops, but after we woke up in Des Moines,Iowa we decided to push the rest of the way home... 22 hours straight through to Winthrop, Mass.

What a great summer... this post was getting too long so I left tons out, but here is one last piece.

We stopped in AZ before we made the last push into CA. it was a small motel, but it had a bar in a separate building. We went in to watch the Stanley Cup finals. The bar shut down but the bartender said we could keep watching the game. The "bar" was just a room separated by a small window where teh bartender poured beers from a keg.
We were the only ones left in there... the window opened with a quick flip of a credit card (it was just latched on the other side) and the beers continued to flow for the rest of the night. We got fairly drunk. I went into the bathroom and saw a cool framed Route 66 poster that I thought would look good on my wall, yet I didnt notice it was nailed in place... I went to pull it off by grasping the top and pulling down. The top 1/2 shattered and it just bent right in the middle... I walked out of the bathroom with little trickles of blood dripping from various points as my friend asked what the fucked happened!
We decided to split, packed real fast and bolted... but we forgot the laptop! Luckily we left the door partly open in our haste (already returned the keys though). We stayed until arbout 5am, split again... and decide to see the Grand Canyon since we were now ahead of schedule.

Braff Wayne

Her: "You know we've never had sex. We should."
Me: "You think?"
Her: "Sure."
Me: "Okay."

And so we did.

We might have been a tiny bit under the influence of certain less than legal substances at the time as well. I suppose that answers Polars original question too - sort of.

@mytdawg:
Friendship that leaves such a lasting mark can't be anything but the purest sort, the envy of any man who's never known it. Very beautiful and tragic at once.

Also like UDMAN said; COTD.

@UDMAN:
Very much appreciated the kind words.

Tocsin

brandegee

Murdoc

Thanks for the nice words, it's hard to write about it because it still chokes me up after all these years and I look silly sniffling in the middle of my department. I believe we were talking about off road adventures the last time I brought it up. Every once in a while I flash back to that summer, often prompted by a QOTD.

Teens is such a hard time for many people anyway and I've always hovered around outcast status. Only child, withdrawn, few friends, divorced parents with shiny new spouses. I could have been a textbook serial killer. He tried really hard to "socialize" me. That loss probably set me back 10 years in maturing. It's obviously a defining moment.

mytdawg

charles_barrett

charles_barrett

1986elcaminoman

UDMan

DoctorNine

mobilene

The 924 had a huge, gargantuan removable sunroof and a melodious bursch exhaust. The 16v Jetta that took me on a 20,000 mile road trip one summer, all through the pacific northwest as well as lots of late summer night blasts down storrow drive in boston.

Nothing in the world beats driving on two lane country roads on a summer night..or better yet a warm spring night when you know you'll have a full six months of freedom from the misery of michigan winter.

Also, I am more than a little tired of working in a cold garage. 19 degrees last weekend when I was swapping axles on the family car. That's just not fun. My beer should not be freezing in between sips.

God, I can't want for this winter to be over. Especially since my e28 bimmer never got snows this winter and as a result is unable to move on anything other than dry pavement.

ppiddy

Matt Hardigree

dolo54

z974647

POLAЯ is taking his work underground. He can't let it fall into the wrong hands again!

His parents had a cottage in Sutton's Bay Michigan which is a little town north of Traverse City on the Leelanau peninsula. We fixed up the little car with a radio (I believe it was an 8-track, this was '79) and some carpet remnants and we even painted the wheels silver.

We drove it all over northern Michigan that summer, listening to the Cars Best Friends Girl (that sticks with me too), wandered around in the woods, sat on hills and smoked dope, sailed their 17' sailboat, canoed the Pine river, made a few new friends (he was a girl magnet and I still drive them away) and drove through the cherry orchards just looking for scenic overlooks.

I had to leave early, before we had to be back in school. There was, and always is, a crisis of some kind in my family. That's why we had to move in the first place. He and that car died together up there that summer, I never saw him alive again. He's still in 1979, frozen forever in youth and summertime.

mytdawg

Matt Hardigree

mjgolli

mofoturbo

@POLAЯ:
Running dope? Perish the thought, after all we Finns are renowned for being such good law abiding-- I'm not fooling anyone, am I? Damn.

@neredowell:
Hah, I agree with you. The cold and snow aren't things I miss about Finland (Haven't lived there for quite a few years) but getting to stand at the biggest jumps on Ouninpohja to see rally cars flying sideways over them? Totally made it worth it.

Tocsin

@POLAЯ: I don't know....that rear spoiler still looks a little high to me....

lemondriver

ThnderbltDoherty

bzrchero GT

B

Andrewpetty

Because there's this girl that lives in Pensacola and every time I visit her we drive around the beach with the windows down and the sunroof open and smoke cigarettes and blast happy indie rock and enjoy life in general and it's the best feeling ever.

A strolling player

amblito

POLAЯ is taking his work underground. He can't let it fall into the wrong hands again!

Garebear

NovaloadMissesPolar

Matt Hardigree

Slantsick goes hybrid: Burns Oil and Rubber

Yurikaze

UDMan

Smitty

[IMG][i254.photobucket.com]]

Smitty

I usually run the soft-top with no windows. Topless is cool for like 10 minutes, then you start to roast alive and burn yourself on anything you touch.

But yeah, today's rainy weather excepted, SoCal FTW. Serious winter attire consists of wearing a long-sleeve shirt under your sweatshirt.

Mad_Science

charles_barrett

Paul Y. -- Now With More Sodium!

On another note, Chet, you sure it was a Monte Carlo?
How about a Chevelle or Malibu?

htrodblder

Lotucris

Number_Six

beercheck

My problem is I love dark colors, they show off the chrome so nicely, but they are a poor choice in L.A. due to hot weather. My navy blue '88 Continental was bad enough, but the blue velour seats weren't too bad.

I bought my '97 E320 to replace it, black paint and black leather seating. Like stepping into a blast furnance if parked in an uncovered lot...! White or silver is so much more paractical in the southwest, but I never seem to follow that course...

charles_barrett

Froggmann

AlfaCharger

Slantsick goes hybrid: Burns Oil and Rubber

JoSCh

SundaySunday

POLAЯ is taking his work underground. He can't let it fall into the wrong hands again!

LUV_TRUK

[en.wikipedia.org]

two ugly "vettes" in two days - [jalopnik.com] - i am canceling my subscription :o)

Ben Simons

My high school buddy had a K-car that we hooned into oblivion the summer between junior and senior year. The nice thing about K-cars is you didn't feel guilty if you hurt them.

neredowell

Teds

GreenMeanie

I was seventeen and had just moved out (Long ugly story) and found myself taking up residence on floor of a friends apartment in Pori. I had to spend that whole day inside, dead of summer when the weather is utterly divine in Finland, on account of some summer bug I'd caught. I'm not certain if it was the fever or the boredom (student friend; no tv, no computer and the radio was broken) but I ended up sitting on the abnormally large window sill and watching what was happening on the street below. For one day I watched the 2CV and the owner (a pretty young lady with red hair) as they went about what I would judge to be an exceedingly hectic day judging from the number of times she went off in that car.

I remember it clear as day too, in the morning she rolled up the canvas top and went off and I really thought that'd be the last of it, barely thirty minutes later she was back with breakfast. At one poin the cloud cover thickened over the city and there was a brief drizzle and she rushed out with barefeet to get that canvas top back up. I know I fell asleep between bits where she was off because I'd wake up and the car would be back, it was utterly fascinating.

I know that seems a bit stalker like, but with the fever and the lack of entertainment it really was as interesting as any movie. Anyway, a few days later I was feeling better so I went down, summoning up what courage I had, and talked to her. Greeting someone for the first time by telling them you were watching them for a day? Not so good. She laughed about it though.

I asked her out for coffee and she agreed. We went to a place she liked in her 2CV - it smelled like apples on the inside even with the roof rolled up - and ended up talking for a long time over many cups.

I'm a lot older now, she's got a new car, and we're still pretty good friends. Funny how stuff like that works out.

(Damn long-winded and sappy - but hell I figure I might as well tell it.)

Tocsin

Edward

I'm with JB Jeep on the musclecar thing, except I would amend the statement to "a few WEEKS or the year" for summah in Maine.

Slantsick goes hybrid: Burns Oil and Rubber

So, same car as every other month of the year.

Stoatmaster

arowsell

EDogII

DoctorNine

UDMan

POLAЯ is taking his work underground. He can't let it fall into the wrong hands again!

I think a Boxter S would be the perfect summer car.

piththeelder

Oldcarguy

A close second would be any Detroit muscle from the late 60s early 70s. They usually only come out in New England for a few months of the year during summer. So by default, I see one and think summer...and ultimately thoughts of when the next local car show is come to mind.

JB_Jeep

reefer

I think there is a pattern there somewhere...

smalleyxb122

Chyeah!

Unevolved 8.04

You can never look back

Dr.Danger, Shogun of Jalopnik

selfhatingotaku

cyclopticgaze

The Jeep Wrangler comes pretty close, though, for all the trips to the beach in one in high school.

fussball

SVENSSON

We rolled in that like a Cadillac.

Bright Red and black rag top.

-chet

and this was just last summer!

Unregular

I live in Alabama. 8 months of the year, we go outside, work in the yard, play sports, have barbecues. Then for 4 months, we sit inside and complain.

Ash78

long_live_the_E36

Early Z31 300ZX with the tops off... Awww jeah!

Though if you are just driving short distances, a jeep with the tops and doors off is pretty awesome... for long trips I would rather kill myself... I drove cross country and back in a 4-cyl wrangler... I had to drop to 3rd driving through Colorado... though on a long downhill outside of Vegas I managed to get the needle pointing due south... scary... very scary.

Braff Wayne

On an automotive front, the late-model Subaru Legacy wagon (with the giant sunroof), seemed like a great road trip car. I'd love to take one of those, pick a point on the compass and keep driving that direction until I don't feel like it anymore.

Maymar - now with 37% less anonymity

I guess my ideal Summer vehicle would be a nice Triumph Bonneville. Or maybe a BMW R60.

graverobber- Two BEER minimum

EDogII

Well, maybe except for a VW thing.

Al Navarro