Short Takes

Quality is job #?
This Cobalt is less than 1 year old. What’s wrong with this picture? Hopefully the rest of this Chebby isn’t assembled with double sided tape. The really ironic part is the name of the dealer. Should a GM dealer calling itself “Quality” be charged with false advertising?

1982-90 Chevrolet Celebrity

If there ever was a fleet car, this was it. The 80’s Celebrity was not. Maybe in terms of overall sales for GM, because these things were everywhere. If it wasn’t a Celebrity, it was probably one of it’s fraternal twin sisters, the Oldsmobile Ciera, the Buick Century, and the Pontiac 6000. But they should have just put an emblem on them that said “CAR”.

What not to buy your kid

In case you missed it, there was a big-time crash last weekend in Florida that killed not only the 18 year old driver but 4 passengers also. Police estimate the car was doing over 100 mph when it flew off the embankment at the end of a private runway and stopped 200 feet away when it hit a huge tree still 15 feet off the ground. At 3:30 AM. Photos show the various pieces of the car scattered around the huge tree it hit.

1986-91 Oldsmobile Delta 88

(Update: For those of you coming here from a search engine, I posted a 90 or 91 Eighty Eight also.  Check it out.) This will probably come as a surprise, but this is a car I would actually own. As a cheap beater of course, but nice ex-Grandma ones can be had for under $2,000. The one you see here is somewhere between 1986 and 1989. These are a great “cheap” car, most haven’t been abused, they are mechanically solid, and parts are cheap and plentiful.

Escort Service

I should probably go ahead and apologize to the Ford Faithful, because I’m going to call this one what it is. A four wheeled turd. Sure, the Cavalier is/was also, so save your flames. The second generation was based on the Mazda Protege platform and was at least acceptable as basic transportation. But the first generation Escort was pure American crap.

Flashback Friday 7: Truckin’, Part 1

(Updated 4/3/2008 with actual photos)
Since the MGB had to go and we had another seat on the way, I needed to get something that seated 3 and more fitting for my soon-to-be father status. But I still wanted something old and interesting, and I only had about $2,500 to spend. I wanted an old truck, so I got one.

Grand Wagoneer

There are still quite a few of these running around, at least here in the South. The GW is in a dead heat with an old (68-72) Suburban for my personal dream SUV. This one is in pretty good shape considering it is still being used as a daily driver.

Honda 600 Sedan

Those of you who actually looked closely at the photos of the Honda 600 Coupe yesterday saw something odd parked behind it. A Honda 600 Sedan! It wasn’t the best day to be out at the local Honda store, but it paid off big-time.

Honda 600 Coupe

So you thought the Alfa 164L was a
decent find? That was nothing. Try an early 70’s Honda 600 Coupe! Covered in snow, in Alabama! O.K., so it’s more like a dusting of snow than “covered” in snow, but that’s the best we can do here. Even a mention of snow shuts down the city. If you are wondering WTF I was doing at a Honda stealership when it snowed then you just don’t know me that well, do you?