Walt worked harder than most people, and served his community more than most people do. That’s not a knock against anyone else. It’s just a testament of how tireless the man was. But he wasn’t looking for any special recognition, no grand displays of gratitude or accolades. All he wanted was a ‘55 Chevrolet Bel-Air…

With a few exceptions (I’m looking at you A-Team van), the van tends to be just an unremarkable, utilitarian vehicle. Each day the vans of the world drive the city streets and highways while coupes and pickups, SUVs and roadsters, muscle cars and luxury vehicles pass them by, getting most of the attention. To most, a…

I’m a sucker for a good underdog story. Give me the person who shows up to the car show with the rusted Plymouth Valiant with a bog-standard slant-six over the guy with the garage queen Ford Mustang any day of the week. Maybe that’s why I love this story so much—a story that pits a lowly base-model four-cylinder 1961…

There was a time when the manual transmission was everywhere, enough to be known as the “standard.” Now, especially in the United States, it’s a rare thing that’s only getting rarer. So, for this episode of Tempest, we explore the magic, the mystery, and the occasional misery that comes with learning the manual…

It’s 1981, and a man pulls up to an intersection in his ‘52 pickup. He looks left to check for traffic. All clear. He looks right, but the van next to him is blocking the view. The man driving the van waves him through. The man in the pickup proceeds. Moments later, he is thrown from his truck, his skull cracked on…

A man whose life revolves around automobiles searches for the very first car he ever rode in. It sounds simple enough, but that’s just where this story begins. For this family, the past, the future, loss and joy are all hung together in the present. There’s a stranger, a son, a sibling, a spouse, and a woman who loves…

In a desolate and empty parking lot, two young men work to revive a dead Nissan 200SX. A stranger comes to their aid, then appears out of nowhere again later, offering words of encouragement—and leading to an inexplicable story that both of them would carry for 20 years.

A man whose best and worst memories revolve around cars, even as a brain injury makes him lose them. A longshot emergency repair of a Nissan 200SX that may have been overseen by a guardian angel. The magic that happens when you figure out how to drive stick for the first time. Everyone has a story about a car, and…

Last year, I became a regular contributor to Jalopnik, writing essays about people and their relationships with cars. Some of those relationships were haunting, some were heartbreaking, some were endearing, some were all of those things and all of them were complex. Those are the kinds of stories that move me. They…

Even though they generally looked like peeling, faded crap after a few years of real-world use, the squishy plastic Endura snouts fitted to 1968 Pontiac GTOs were pretty good at retaining their shape after hitting stuff. Go ahead, line up a crowd of screaming, white-coated lab employees, hand them a big ol' crowbar,…