Author Archives: Jay B.

The Brick vs. The Cube

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Today Autoweek posts a comparison of the Volvo 240 and the Nissan Cube. The author begins by saying “Much has been made of the demise of the market for the truly awful car.” I assume he is conflating the awful with the unusual, but I don’t really think they’re the same thing. While the 240 may have been unusual, saying that it’s awful is just plain wrong, and puts our beloved bricks in league with the Pontiac Aztec. Does he really want to go there?

The article outlines an imagined competition between the 240 and the Cube, brought together by their boxy shape. “Experience has shown that if you ask the average 3-year-old to draw a car, he or she will come up with something remarkably similar to either the Brick or the Cube.” Ultimately the Volvo wins out by virtue of its longevity and unassuming style.

The lifespan of a 240 is essentially unlimited. With cylinder bores lined in a mixture of titanium, Kevlar and diamond dust, a Volvo B23 engine with 200,000 grand on it probably equates to Nissan 1.8-liter with 19,000 miles on it. Show me a Cube with a million miles on the clock and we’ll talk, but I suspect that if that ever happens, you’ll be holding a séance to let me know.

Which wheel is not like the other?

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It’s been over 2 years since I painted my Virgo 15″ front rims but I never did the rear. The difference between the new paint and the old rim isn’t really noticeable to the untrained eye.


In the image above I rotated the side wheels, so the clean one is on the rear. I thought of trying a 2-tone paint job but now I’m not so sure. I think it might be cool to go with a neutral gray color, non-metallic, and then use a super glossy clear coat. Similar to the beautiful Aviator Gray for the Audi TT. Considering my budget, I may just go with a primer and clear coat.

Car Maintenance App Documents My Inefficiency

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I’ve been using the app “Car Minder Plus” for the past year and a half to document my gas mileage and repairs. It allows me to enter a garage of different cars and keep track of maintenance and service. Since I don’t have a fuel gauge it helps me keep track of how many miles I’ve gone since the last fill up, then shows my overall fuel mileage over 3 months, one year and lifetime.

This charts MPG over the course of 18 months. Note the dip after AMM broke.



Whenever I have a problem with the car I document it in the app so I have dates and mileage of when the problem occurred. I can also enter the expected time and mileage between services so they will come to my attention later and show me how dreadfully behind I am on my maintenance schedule.

My mileage is low enough that it's the date intervals that trigger the red light, not always mileage. Each of these items and their intervals can be set by the user.


These screen shots document the problem I had with my air mass meter. In the first you can see my mileage dive from over 20 mpg to below 15 mpg after I stalled in flood waters last August. I was pumping out unburned fuel for months before the problem was diagnosed and fixed. I was sure to document it all for future reference.

The "Repairs" area allows you to document anything and everything that happens to your ride.

Each repair item records date, mileage and your notes.


A bonus for “Car Minder Plus” is that you can email all your records from you iPod or iPhone. They come in a PDF file that you can print and hand to a mechanic if need be. Overall a useful app, I just have to be careful not to get my iPod Touch covered in motor oil and PB Blaster.

Out of gas in Potomac, Maryland

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Out of gas in Potomac, MarylandThursday I drove the brick from Hoboken, NJ to Springfield, VA. My tank ran dry on the Capital Beltway and I had to pull off in Potomac, MD. I’d gone exactly 300 miles since the last fill up and I hadn’t been paying attention to my mileage. Since my fuel gauge doesn’t work I rely on the trip odometer and usually fill the tank at 200 miles.

There weren’t any gas stations off the exit and I sputtered over the hills of River Road looking for precious fuel. I eventually stalled and called AAA for a couple gallons. I drew this picture while waiting, painting it in watercolor later in the studio.

Labor Day Car Wash

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Living in the city there aren’t any opportunities to hand wash my car. I couldn’t even tell you where I’d be able to get to a water spigot. So I deal with the muck by going to overpriced, brushy car washes in Hoboken.

Luckily my daughters jumped at the chance to wash the brick while we were visiting my parents. I applied a little Scratch X to the hood to smooth out the paint before waxing. Claire managed to wash all the window glass, which is no small feat with a car that looks like a rolling greenhouse. Now we’re slick and Rain-Xed.

The Lives of Others

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Recently the 2006 German film “Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others)” has been popping up in articles I’ve read and I finally got around to seeing it. This is an excellent film about life in East Germany in the late 1980s and explores the inhumanity of stifling personal freedom and the inevitable corruption that comes from a system of spying and secret police.


I wouldn’t be writing about the movie if there weren’t an old brick in it and I have to say I was surprised to see one. If a member of the Stasi, Germany’s state security service, was going to be riding around in a limo I would have thought it would be a Benz. But bloated Minister Bruno Hempf is driven around in a gorgeous, dark blue 200 series Volvo limo throughout the film. Unfortunately the interior shots are from a Mercedes or BMW.

According to comments on the Internet Movie Cars Database entry for the film, Volvo/Bertone created these limos specifically for the German government.

Nomadic Invasion

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Just got back from Raceway Park drag strip in Englishtown, NJ. They had their annual Nostalgia Old Time Drags and were filled with classic autos and funny cars. I was pleasantly surprised to see some station wagons, mostly Chevy Nomads. I don’t remember what the car above was, but it had a little remote control inside to lower it to the ground. Below are pics of some of the show cars, plus a couple Nomads getting ready for the 1/4 mile.

Sunken Wagon

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While station wagons are known for their CARGO capacity, they should not be confused with cargo SHIPS. Luckily no one was injured when this BMW wagon was driven into the Newark Bay in NJ, as posted by the Hudson Reporter.

We had some flooding outside the studio this week, but not as bad as last year. There was a moment when I was driving during the storm and heard hail stone pinging off the roof. With such a huge surface area and no insulation I felt like I was in a pop-corn popper as I watched stones the size of marbles bounce off the hood. No damage and I was sure to park on high ground.