"I Almost Gave Away The Ending" December 2, 2022

[Kwyjibo]

On shore...

I need to learn when I see a [redacted] that makes me....
-Chuckle
-Think that's [redacted]
-Or what a [redated]

that it is probably Meta.

[hcbirker]

OK, if we're talking cars, here's my favorite. A 1990 Mazda 323. Don't laugh! It was a great little car.

When it was 5-6 years old, my husband said the radiator is leaking; you need to get a new car. I said, if the radiator is leaking, I need a new radiator. He was amazed I wanted to keep it but put a radiator in it for me. It was nearly 20 years after that I finally got rid of it.

My 323.jpg

I had one of those too! Great car, was sad when I had to let it go.

[Bob cruise director]

Good Sunday morning muggles

We have had a steady progression to the shore (among the car stories) so we have 12 on the ship with Isaac and 167 on the shore.

Joining Isaac in the ship's lounge are
Tom S
Kas
Collegetowngirl

And making their way to shore are

sharkicicles
Berto
Mister and Mrs. Squawk
Ben B and son
mrmd
Lee-Ann
Janet
Joes and Natasha
Jean
William
Kwyjibo
edestlin
Penny_Keatley
bread-girl
Limerick
JRS51
JAQT
phofer
ricky
jimbo1
Colin


Good luck to all winning the mug

[SusieG]

TD? TF?

In ancient times I had a girlfriend who had an MGA. And a St. Bernard. It made for interesting road trips.

A 1952 TD in British Racing Green and a tan leather interior. The windshield folded down. I loved it. My second was a 1960 MGA.

Real sport cars.

Wow! I lusted after that car from a very young age. A true classic. When I bought my first car however I settled for a used Fiat 850 Spyder with the rear engine. It only lasted a couple of years before the unibody frame rusted beyond repair but I have never owned a car as fun to drive since
1EEC6F85-22E3-4A54-9BBA-639FDFA8BBCD.jpeg

I had a Fiat Spyder years ago. I sold a very sensical car and bought the Spyder. Although it was a very fun car to drive, I was constantly repairing something on it. I still miss it sometimes, anyway.

[JeanneC]

Car story:
Dad had a used 1953 Hillman Minx. He also had a wife, three growing kids and a dog that got carsick. No seat belts or ac back then.
Older brother and I would put little brother on the back seat floor and let the dog hang out a window.
Car sickness solved!

[michaelm]

Beautiful car pics this week.
First car: hand-me-down 1972 Super Beetle (Orange). “Semi-Automatic”.
Kinda remember the floorboard rusting/rotting.
Definitely Point A to Point B.

[MarkWoychick]

All the car talk has taken me down memory lane
First car: 1967 Delta 88 (the White Whale)
Car I had the longest - 17 years: 1992 Mazda MX-3, 167,000 miles, still had original clutch when I traded it in on
Current car: 2005 Acura (3 years new when I got it). I've owned it 15 years and it has 97,000 miles on it, so I think it will surpass the Mazda

[HunterX]

...I got one of the last rotary engine cars in production, the year before they discontinued it--a 2010 Mazda RX-8....

Do not make Wankel pun, do not make Wankel pun, do not....

Oh, give us a brake and go for it! You could floor us with your wit. You do always come through with a clutch pun after we've all exhausted ours. Have I ever steered your wrong on something like this?

And, take it away @DrTom...

[debbierudy]

I was ready to give up after spending way too much time in a single rabbit hole, trying to make it work. And then, an AHA moment and an easy solve!

[HunterX]

I hate to be the grinch in the group, but I want my cars to get me from point A to point B reliably at the least cost. So, I keep my cars until they fall apart

My track record
1969 Dodge Dart 11 years 185K miles
1977 Plymouth Volare 10 years 145Kmiles
1985 Dodge Aries wagon 9 years 145K miles
1987 Nissan Maxima 10 years 203K miles
1993 Nissan Pathfinder 10 years 172K miles
1996 Toyota Avalon 10 years 250K miles
2006 Toyota Camry 15 years 253K miles

Current cars
2008 Toyota Sienna 14 years 183K miles and mechanic yesterday said it was good for many more years
2020 Toyota Camry a baby with probably more years left than I do.

Yeah, I used to do the "practical" car routine. Had my Honda Accord for 11 years. Moved to Subarus (and Toyotas for my wife). But when I moved into the city and hardly ever needed to drive, I decided I was tired of driving a Legacy Wagon for my jaunts out to see my parents, or whatnot. Got the Mazda. The once or twice a year that I was taking the kids on a vacation someplace, I'd just rent something bigger that could hold all our stuff.

Then I got a new Subaru last year when we bought the place in the mountains. The Mazda doesn't do snow. And the wife doesn't drive manual transmissions.

[Relic]

Whew, that was a close one, but ashore! Finally got the mechanism, but had to retrace my steps to find the pieces I initially overlooked to get the solution. Credit again to my wife for talking it out with me, and pointing me back to double check my work. Good to be back in the land of the living!

[EVJ]

A 1952 TD in British Racing Green and a tan leather interior. The windshield folded down. I loved it. My second was a 1960 MGA.

Real sport cars.

Wow! I lusted after that car from a very young age. A true classic. When I bought my first car however I settled for a used Fiat 850 Spyder with the rear engine. It only lasted a couple of years before the unibody frame rusted beyond repair but I have never owned a car as fun to drive since
1EEC6F85-22E3-4A54-9BBA-639FDFA8BBCD.jpeg

I had a Fiat Spyder years ago. I sold a very sensical car and bought the Spyder. Although it was a very fun car to drive, I was constantly repairing something on it. I still miss it sometimes, anyway.

My very first car was a 1970 Fiat 850 Sport Spyder, bright yellow, with all the chrome add-ons just like the car in the photo. How I loved that car! But boy was it finicky. If it wasn’t tuned exactly right it just quit. Remember what FIAT stands for: Fix It Again, Tony! After a few short years it was traded for the more sensible Toyota Corolla.
Don’t we all wish we still had our first car? They’d all be classics and really be worth something.

[EVJ]

All the car talk has taken me down memory lane
First car: 1967 Delta 88 (the White Whale)
Car I had the longest - 17 years: 1992 Mazda MX-3, 167,000 miles, still had original clutch when I traded it in on
Current car: 2005 Acura (3 years new when I got it). I've owned it 15 years and it has 97,000 miles on it, so I think it will surpass the Mazda

Mark, I know you are a runner. Is that how you keep from putting miles on the Acura?

[EVJ]

Then I got a new Subaru last year when we bought the place in the mountains. The Mazda doesn't do snow. And the wife doesn't drive manual transmissions.

I love my 2004 Subaru Outback! It served me very well during the Snowmegedon that we had a few years ago.
It has 167,000 miles on it. Lots of life left. I want my next one to do the driving for me. And probably electric or hybrid. Subaru is pretty advanced with all their driver-assist stuff but I haven’t heard a word about electric vehicles from them. I’ll probably be driving my 2004 for many more years

[HunterX]

Then I got a new Subaru last year when we bought the place in the mountains. The Mazda doesn't do snow. And the wife doesn't drive manual transmissions.

I love my 2004 Subaru Outback! It served me very well during the Snowmegedon that we had a few years ago.
It has 167,000 miles on it. Lots of life left. I want my next one to do the driving for me. And probably electric or hybrid. Subaru is pretty advanced with all their driver-assist stuff but I haven’t heard a word about electric vehicles from them. I’ll probably be driving my 2004 for many more years

We love our 2021 Crosstrek. And I remember how well my Legacy wagon handled the snow. (Didn't get the chance to try it out last winter.) There is a hybrid version of the Crosstrek. But we got the Sport model. The EyeSight Driver Assist technology is pretty cool. I love the cruise control in traffic. The car just does all the stop-and-go-work so I don't have to constantly switch between brake and accelerator. But the automatic steering ("Lane Centering") isn't my thing. We argue about exactly where to be in the lane when there's a truck on one side, and my arms get a bit of a workout fighting with it.

[Hidden in 3D]

Time for an Old Speckled Hen, a nice British Ale that was named after an MG, my first sport car!

As Ken Miles said of the MG in "Ford vs. Ferrari":
"So, that there, is a sport car. You have to drive her like a sport car. If you drive her like a school teacher, she'll clog up. Try changing up at 5,000 RPM's, not two. Drive like you mean it. Hard, tight, she'll run clean."

Well, I guess it’s time to share my MG story. When my future husband and I met on Thanksgiving weekend of 1980 he was driving a 1978 Rally Yellow MGB. We had a couple of disastrous dates that fall, then didn’t see much of each other even though his apartment was just down the street from mine. A few months later I was heading out for a run when I saw him washing his car. It was in the early spring and I made some comment about it being a perfect day to drive with the convertible top down. He agreed and we did just that. I have a very vivid memory of seeing a sign that posted a weight limit for a nearby bridge. Before I knew it, he had slammed on the brakes and, as a joke, told me I’d better get out and walk across to be on the safe side. Can you believe I still married this man?! A few months later we were engaged and my Navy pilot fiancé was deployed to the Persian Gulf. I was in charge of taking care of both of his cars, the MGB and a Pontiac Grand Prix. Gotta’ admit I sure enjoyed driving that MGB – even though I didn’t know I was supposed to drive it like a sport car! I was indeed a school teacher, but don’t have a clue if I drove like one or not!

[MatthewL]

Car Talk: I never owned a classic sports car as many of you have. But I'm hoping some day my current car will be considered some sort of a classic. I got one of the last rotary engine cars in production, the year before they discontinued it--a 2010 Mazda RX-8. Super fun to drive. Six speed. Redlines at 9,000 RPM. (Loved a Dan Neil review that described the front grille as having a "happy mushroom eating grin."

That's funny -- my first car was one of the earlier versions of the rotary engine. A 1972 RX-2. Loved that car. Unfortunately got totaled in an accident (not my fault), just shy of 100,000 miles. Still love those early ads "And the Mazda goes Hmmmmm".

[EmilyW]

On shore!

[ZooAnimalsOnWheels]

Sunday Car Talk!

First car: 1965 Ford Mustang purchased in 1986. 289 V8 with the 3-speed manual. Don't remember how many miles it had on it, but I got it cheap.

Next car: 1983(?) Ford Econoline 150 van I took from my parents to go out to college. If you want to be popular on campus, have a van to haul many people, furniture, and kegs!

First post-graduation car: 1992 Dodge Stealth RT Twin Turbo, purchased used in 1992. A clone of the Mitsubishi 3000, that car had everything!: All wheel drive, 4-wheel (same phase) steering, electronically adjustable shock valving, and a 6-speed manual. Despite all the gadgets which could break, I still kept it for 9 years and 120,000 miles until it started to really fall apart.

Longest-held car: 2001 Audi TT AWD coupe. The only car I have purchased new. Kept it for 17 years and 140,000+ miles.

Current car: 2015 Mercedes SLK 350. Purchased in 2018 but with only 11,000 miles on it. My first car with an automatic transmission and my first convertible. I always wanted a convertible living in Southern California and I traded the practicality of the previous two hatchbacks for that convertible hardtop and only 2 seats. Still, I have found that you can haul a surprising amount of stuff with one passenger seat and no roof!

[LittleGood]

I'm with Isaac.