Quick Spin – Drift 101

Almost all of us have done it. There’s a moment when you’re carrying just enough speed through a turn. Maybe it’s a wide open intersection or maybe it’s a tight corner you know well. You’re feeling sly, suddenly aware of all your driving talent, and you punch the throttle enough to step the tail out. If it was the first time you’ve done it this afternoon you might immediately lift off and flail at the steering to settle the car back down. If it was midnight in a rainy nowhere you’d probably been doing it for the last half hour and you keep the throttle pinned until the telltale flare of wheel spinning revs levels out, your grin so large it threatens to shatter the side windows. For those few yards, you felt you were drifting.

You weren’t.

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Around the Corner – Radwood

There comes a point in a car’s lifetime when it is simply a used car. A pile of metal and rubber forgotten to all but the most dedicated owner or poorest college student. Cars that the California Air Resources Board offers you $1000 for every two years. That prompt a swipe left when included in your profile pic. That inform your co-workers that an older car to you is from twenty years ago, not five.

We’re in an odd spot, those of us who appreciate cars of this flavor. It’s even difficult to name this grouping of car so many of us are enthralled by. You can’t call them classic without fear of the homie with a ’70 Charger and matching torque wrench coming after you. Calling them vintage feels wrong, the very utterance of the word clouds your vision in sepia filters and sparks the uncontrollable urge to nonchalantly light a cigarette and exhale toward the ceiling.

I suppose we could call them…Rad.

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Around the Corner – Canepa Cars and Coffee May ’17

I challenge you, dear reader. I challenge you to look deep down inside yourself, to search your feelings, find what’s real, and answer me one thing…

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Around the Corner – NorCal’s Old School Import Meet April ’17

Car season is nearly upon us! The days are getting longer, the nights are getting warmer, and it seems the roads that have survived this winter’s deluge are clean enough to explore again.

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Around the Corner – Bay Area 02 Swap and Show ’17

When you’re the car guy at work, coworkers often feel free to share their enthusiasm with you. Like that dude Jeremey who sits four cubicles down. One day you’ll be at the water cooler at the same time and he’ll give you the ‘sup homie’ nod.

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Around the Corner – First Weekends in the Bay Area

Here comes the sun (doo doo doo doo),
Here comes the sun, and I say
It’s time to drive

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Planes, Trains, and Used Automobiles

When most folks talk about travel it tends to revolve around the destination. People willingly sit aboard tubes of jet propelled aluminum for hours on end, just to look at some buildings that are different from the ones at home. People spend thousands of dollars to wake up with their body clocks still set to night when the sun in front of them is rising, to eat foods they saw once on Pinterest, and to check-in on social media in order to craft an online persona that’s more cosmopolitan than their suburban hometown would suggest.

To each their own. My aspirations are a little different.

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Around the Corner – NorCal’s Old School Import Meet

During my summers growing up there was a classic car meet every Thursday in the parking lot of a local diner. For the most part it was old school American cars. There’d be the usual variety of Mustangs, Camaros, and Darts. Plus a couple Bel Airs or Thunderbirds.

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Spotted – Dodge Viper ACR

Like many other Americans I’ve spent the lead up to November 8th pouring over my Sample Ballot and Voter’s Guide, along with the various special interest junk that’s been clogging my mailbox. For the most part, I’ve also been shaking my head at the mess that is this year’s election.

 

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Spotted – Toyota Corona

I’ve always had a leaning toward older cars. As a kid I drooled over the FD RX-7, Corvette ZR-1, and E36 M3 that were then new. But I’d have equal, if not more enthusiasm for the odd Audi 4000Q, Nissan Maxima (4 Door Sports Car!), or even the humble Toyota Corona.

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