Words on Cars on my Mind
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.
Continue reading “Around the Corner – NorCal’s Old School Import Meet April ’17”
Being constantly connected to the internet, whether through my phone, my desktop, my laptop, or my Gameboy SP (takes a while to connect…) is as dangerous to my wallet as leaving your unlocked phone around friends is dangerous to your Tinder profile.
On tonight’s episode of Tribulations and Trials of the Impulse Buyer…
Flying alone underneath the tree canopy, I flick on the main beam. Though the lights are merely halogens, I marvel at how effective the H4s are in the night. The light seems to fill every nook in front of me, yet there’s a softness that preserves the colors. The darker green of the canopy, the lighter tones of lichen along the trunks, the mustard colored divider tightening up to the right…
With a slight feint, I huck the car in. The archaic rear stick-axle wants to slide, so I let it. The FB RX-7 does not want to be driven tidy, it wants to move. Happily, it seems faster this way. Switchback after switchback, come in with speed, flick the unassisted Nardi Classico, and delight in the tiny angles it clears the apex with.
Continue reading “A History of Vehicles – ’85 Mazda RX-7 GSL-SE”
Mazda could have done more with the ND MX-5 RF.
It just feels so…half-assed.
I get it. There’s budgets, getting type approval, and avoiding corruption of the MX-5 né Miata’s core mission of lightweight, uncomplicated fun. But they could have done more.
Back to basics.
At least, that was the idea. After being so put off by the idea of having to strip my last Miata down just to rebuild it into what I wanted, I decided it was time to try something a little different. This would be my fourth NA Miata, but my first example powered by the 1.6L B6ZE.
Somehow we’re at Car 11 and I’ve yet to offer any advice. Of course, that we’re only at Car 11 with no end in sight means I should be asking for it rather than doling it out. But the following advice would have prevented a couple of gaffes for me and may safeguard your sanity, pocketbook, or marriage in the future: Never Buy a Modified Car.
I couldn’t tell you where my head was. For a short while I spent street sweeping days running back and forth moving this car and the MR2 around. This wasn’t the first time I’d owned two cars at once, but it was the first time I thought it’d be a good idea to own two two-seaters.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Despite looking for something lighter, my “scalpel” as previously mentioned, it wasn’t supposed to be this car. It had a torn top, blown suspension, an ugly steering wheel wrap, and the rear bumper was from a white car with a red smiley face rattle canned onto the passenger side. I was supposed to get my residual, festering teenage idiocy out of my system with this car. I was gonna slam it on cheap suspension, get stupid wide wheels, an annoyingly loud exhaust, and do everything you could possibly do that was annoying to bystanders but secretly kind of fun.
