At this moment, my 1966 Mustang is on a slow boat ride to the southern coast of France. I sold the car during the waning days of fall, eager to get some cash and clear some garage space, thinking that the car would end up with someone local, or at least somewhere in the Midwest. I definitely was not expecting the car to go across an ocean. (more…)
Car is sold, and is in fact on its way to France!
Up for sale is my 1966 Ford Mustang. I have literally driven this car all over the United States, making a trip down to the Carolinas for the Mustang 50th Anniversary celebration, a round trip to the West Coast and back, and a trip out to Alaska and back. Between me and several friends, I’m pretty certain that we’ve put approximately 30k miles on the car in the past seven years that I’ve owned it.
The car was built to be a highway cruiser and a comfortable road trip car. I wouldn’t hesitate to hop in this car and drive it to, well, Alaska and back. That said, it is a bit rough around the edges, and is probably best thought of as a driving project car. Hopefully, I will pass this on to someone who will have the time and effort to make this car the “nice car” that I had always hoped it could be, since I don’t have the time and effort to do that myself. Otherwise, you could just buy the car and drive it as-is, and simply do the basics in order to keep the car streetable. (more…)
During one of my daily lunchtime Craigslist browsing sessions, I came across this car, up for sale right here in my neighborhood. Intrigued, I sent the seller an email on Thursday morning and arranged to see the car on Friday afternoon after work. After work, I stopped by the bank and withdrew some cash just in case I decided that I wanted to buy it.
I arrived at the seller’s garage, an older gentleman by the name of Bob, and took a look at the car while he relayed the car’s history to me. Bob bought it off the original owner, a fellow in Arizona, who had owned the car for 36 years. The original owner bought the car and kept it in Arizona, and the car has some dealership add-ons such as these funky yellow plaid seat inserts as well as air conditioning (which while weak still works!). Car has no rust, though the left side of the car was hit early in the car’s life, so the original owner had the left side of the car repainted, and the repaint is showing its age now. Car has a 4-speed manual with an electric overdrive, though the overdrive doesn’t consistently stay on when switched on. There are a couple of little things here and there, but overall, it’s a really nice example of an early Volvo wagon.
Bob brought the car back to Michigan and parked it next to his beloved Volvo Bertone 262C. As you can probably tell, this guy loves his Volvos. He had always wanted a wagon, having bought sedans in the past, so when this car popped up, he grabbed it. Unfortunately, he’s getting older and it’s getting harder and harder for him to operate a clutch, hence the sale.
I had always liked the idea of owning an old Volvo wagon, having spent a lot of time carpooling to school in a friend’s Volvo 240 wagon, but was unsure about the wisdom of putting another car in the fleet so soon after getting rid of the Morgan. At the end of the day, I figured that the car was only 6 grand, and if I ever needed to get rid of the car, I could probably recoup the purchase price as long as I don’t ruin the car (though I admittedly have a tendency of doing that). So cash changed hands, and I took this car home on Friday night.
As a friend said, “congrats on the long term rental.” He’s exactly right, haha.
Checking out some leftover 2017 Focus RSes. Justin asked, “do I need a front diff, or can I just get a cheaper 2017 model?” I told him that if he had to ask, he’d be better off saving the money and getting a leftover 2017…
Today, in “John has car ADD”: I test drove this 6-speed manual transmission pickup truck. I really like how it drives on the street. The big question is, how much would I hate myself if I had to tow with this truck?
I tried to buy another quirky 80’s Subaru and failed. I was the second highest bidder at $3500 for this Subaru RX Turbo, but you don’t win an auction by being runner up. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1988-subaru-rx-turbo-sedan/
Still waiting for word back on the Fiesta ST, but I’m already fantasizing about replacing that car with something else. The Honda dealership here in Southfield has this really pretty Civic Si in blue, and I kinda really want one. After hanging out on Woodward, I swung by to take a look at the car in person. Hmm…
So, there’s a reason why I drove the Morgan yesterday, and it’s not just because it was a beautiful day to driving around top down in the depths of winter. There was a local Craigslist ad listing a 1971 BMW 2002 for sale with as asking price of $12,500, a low enough price for a roundie that I was seriously tempted to grab some cash out of my savings account and go buy the thing just to check “own a roundie BMW” off my automotive check list.
Doing so would require replacing a car in the fleet. The only car in the fleet I can replace right now is the Morgan. So I drove the Morgan in the cold, through rush hour traffic, one hour to Rochester Hills to check out the car, and then drove it back. Nothing like a drive in the car to be replaced to make you really consider if you’re willing to sway it for a different car… (more…)