5 Years Later, Previous Investments Pay-Off
Last year I totalled my expenses and found I averaged $2177 a year to buy and maintain the brick, not including gas and insurance. This year, things are looking better.
Next Year: Snow tires
The Brick’s anti-lock brakes have engaged twice as much this winter season than in the 6 years I’ve owned it, combined. The past few years have had low snow fall and good plowing. This year, not so much. I used to be able to just let the car hibernate in the winter, but now that my kids go to school further away and we have to drive to gymnastics every weekend it’s become more of a bother. I just fishtailed around Hoboken and there’s barely any accumulation.
I hate the feeling when the ABS engages. It feels like someone threw a bunch of rusty ball bearings into my rotors, and swapped the pads with sandpaper. I thought they might be screwed up but a mechanic tested them and me they were fine, that’s just the way they feel.
Riding at a 45° Angle Was Never This Much Fun
Sweet airbrush work on this ad from 1980. Don’t think I’ve ever seen a performance image from that era that included a driver wearing a seat belt. Click image for full ad.
Via productioncars.com.
Leaning Towards Great Handling
I can’t imagine an ad for a car these days that would show this much body roll, especially when the text talks about great handling. Click image for full ad.
Via productioncars.com.
Wagonized’s Wicked Watercolors
This Flickr stream by “Wagonized” features some great ink and watercolor drawings of older cars, including a bunch of 240s and Amazons.
Riding in a Wagon is Utter Humiliation
My hatred for the latest Toyota Highlander commercials knows no bounds. Yes, children, you should feel humiliated if your parents can’t afford to buy the latest, super-ginormous monster truck laden with electronic garbage to tote your entitled asses to and from your rich suburban school.
While Jalopnik protests the disparaging remarks made against the Corvette-engined Buick Roadmaster, Sociological Images nails the underlying shame the ad is intended to invoke: “If you’re too poor to buy a brand new mid-range SUV, you suck.”
Another ad in the series, entitled “Kid Cave“, is particularly disgusting because it tells kids they should just plug in their headphones and cut off all communication with their parents, as if it’s a good thing. The scene of the wedding-singer parents is funny, but in my car it’s rare that I get to listen to my own music with the kids.
Rather than enjoying listening to music TOGETHER, I guess I should be isolating my kids by covering their ears with headphones and listening to whatever I want. Seems the Toyota ideal is to have all the members of the family walk around plugged into their own electronic devices, silent on the outside and ignoring each other.
BONUS: More analysis on Hipster Runoff
Snow Block Brick
This is how I found my car on Wednesday morning. It had snowed overnight and the wind up the street had formed an almost perfect rectangular cube on the roof, about 4-5″ thick. More, larger images, after the jump…
Salty Brick
The car above was “just visiting” and not attempting to race the Bonneville Salt Flats at 200+mph. Still looks cool tho.
A tip from a reader sent me to the site of “Stealth” and his “Streak“, a 1984 242ti. Lots of useful info and photos of RWD turbo projects.
IPD Newsletter features My Black Brick
I was contacted late last year to do a “Volvo Story” feature for the IPD newsletter “The Brick”. I happily obliged and am excited to see it online today.
The photo used on the site was taken at a chicken farm in NY state, before I installed sport springs. I may go back this month so I should take another shot to compare.