Junkyard

I wonder if there's a human equivalent to a junkyard. Maybe an organ transplant facility. That's probably dramatic. I spent some time in my local junkyard today. I was looking for a rear wiper motor for my trusty '03 Subaru Legacy. I found it within 1 minute of walking through the gates. You almost never want it to be that easy. You know what I mean? It takes the fun out of the experience. So I walked on to the other Subaru's farther back in the lot just to explore and see what else was hiding.

The other rule about scrounging in a yard is that you almost never come home with just the thing you set out to get.I'm always looking for cool badges or interior goodies. One time I even found an old cellphone that still worked. Today I found an '04 Forester with a mint interior. I grabbed the leather shift boot. Only $3!

After I couldn't find another wiper motor I decided to turn back to the Legacy in the front. The hatch turned out to be locked so I had to compete with the fuel tank and myriad of toddler toys for space. A few acrobatic stunts later and the motor was out. That meant I had plenty of time to look around for oddballs.

I'm not sure what the deal is with this particular junkyard. There always seems to be a Fiat 124/2000 Spider laying around. Today there were two parked next to each other, rotting. They were both rough and picked to bits. I know Fiat sold them for over a decade but it just seems peculiar that I can always find one there. I wonder if a Fiat collector lives in the area and picks them for parts then ditches the CARcass.

Anyways that was my little trip today. Moral of the story, instead of paying $80.00 for a new wiper motor, I found one good as new for $13 and learned something. Good deal, no?

The More The Merrier(?)

It's greed. It has to be.

When I try to justify it I get so close and then I think to myself,"this is silly."

"But Alex, you need one for every occasion, just like a nice suit or timepiece. If you can think of the right occasion you NEED it."

I'm talking about cars. I get these impulsive waves to buy buy buy. Luckily I never follow through with my ideas. You know what I mean? I see a car and I imagine myself driving it to a particular song or in a particular part of town and feeling great and then I'm hooked. I think this wave of feverish dreams was spurred on by 2 factors. Firstly, the weather is finally starting to get warmer and I've been able to wrench outside comfortably. Secondly, my friend is trying to buy a Porsche and he has been sending me a lot of ads. No way could I afford a Porsche but maybe a beat up little Fiat 500? Possibly.

When I catch myself day dreaming or scanning car ads, which is exactly what I was doing before I started to write, I'll catch myself justifying why I need a new car. It's ridiculous. Right now the gap I'm trying to fill is the period of time where the weather is too poor to drive my '66 Coronet but nice enough where there's no salt on the roads. Think late fall and early spring. I'd like something somewhat modern, maybe from the 80's or 90's that's fuel injected and has a functioning heater. Makes sense right?

I also just want another toy to fiddle around with. I just want something that has major aftermarket support. Bolt on parts, lots of forum info, also an "enthusiast" type of car. I found a nice '95 BMW 318ti in my town but even that I think is priced too high. I've been cruising for projects on my personal favorite website; Bring A Trailer, Japanese Classics LLC, Autotrader, and Facebook Marketplace. I ask myself nervously, "Is Miata the answer?" 

My daily driven/winter beater 2003 Legacy Wagon is just about to cross the 200,000 mile mark which also adds to my anxiety about the situation. Last summer I drove it 15 hours straight to the Outer Banks and it was a champ. How long will it last? She's been my trusty steed for almost 6 years now and I really love it and don't want to part with it but if something catastrophic happens I can't justify keeping it. Then I have to sack up and decide to buy something new or just another well used treasure.

I guess all I can do is keep saving and searching. Happy hunting.

-Alex

Best Road Trip Snacks

Essential Road Trip Snacks

These are the best road trip snacks, backed by science (kind of). Road trips are already stressful so why add cheese dust and greasy fingers to the mix? With this list of essential snacks you'll be sure to keep the miles (and smiles) rolling for hours.

As someone, who for 22 years only exclusively traveled on the ground, I've had plenty of time to deliberate on what the perfect grouping of gas station snacks are. This list covers the essentials, proteins, carbs, sugar, caffeine, and cheese.

If you're like me road trips are usually reserved for summer time and destinations are typically somewhere warm. Why not start your morning with a cold caffeinated beverage? Monster, the company that hydrates local Kyles and Chads has a line of canned coffee. Caffe Monster (has a luxurious ring to it, no?) offers a rather extensive selection of flavors. You'll find most stores only sell 2; Mean Bean and Loca Moca. Either one is a good choice but I recommend getting one of each. For coffee lovers, they're a little bitter, for skeptics, they're plenty sweet and chocolaty. Yeah you could get other kinds of ice coffee but can you honestly say you'd look cooler with any other brand in your hand? No way (tahaha sick bro). These coffees will have you full, no need for breakfast.

A few hours pass, your stomach starts to rumble and you reach for the chips, the Cheetos, no. You reach for the Combos. This is where the science come into play. Tell me what other snack is more structurally stable than a Combo? Impossible. They are dense thanks to their pretzel and cracker exterior. I (as well as many Nobel Prize-winning scientists) maintain that there is no cleaner snack. They don't crumble or shed cheese dust and you won't be sticky. They fly under the radar but did you know that Charles Francis Richter, inventor of the Richter Scale, deemed Combos the only snack that can hold up to earthquakes. The standard cheese flavor is good but if you want to achieve greatness, go with the pizza flavor.

Absolutely no trip is worth taking if you don't have some some sort of beef jerky. Literally ANY beef jerky is fine. I'm talking in a bag, sticks, links, cubed, shredded. Any will do. It's really not that greasy (unless its in stick form, Slim Jim, I'm talking about you). The only drawback is price, something I hoped Bernie Sanders could remedy. A standard bag of beef jerky runs you $8.00+ almost anywhere I go. If you're balling on a budget, stick with Slim Jims.

Can you guess the last snack? Colorful, sweet, great commercials, shares a name with a rap artist? Back in 1941 I know the Mars Company was looking forward to being a prestigious list such as this. The last essential snack, M&M's. There is delicious candy and there is candy that won't melt in your hand. M&M's combine those two factors. They have flavors for everyone, I've even had jalapeno peanut M&M's and they blew my mind. These, like the Combos, are scientifically superior. M&M's have been to space, astronauts have been eating them above our heads for years. That brings a lot of clout to the table, more so than something like a jellybean or Skittles could ever have. I'm not including Skittles because they are dangerous, they can rip out a filling.

This list will save your drive. Please let me know what other snack items you think should've made it on the list and I'll tell you why you're wrong.

"Edition" cars

I am a big fan of gimmicks, especially in cars. Tesla's ludicrous mode? Love it. McLaren P1 IPAS boost button? Obviously. Mustang Boss 302 Laguna Seca exhaust cutouts? You're god damn right I like it. But, in my mind, the cars that have the most gimmicks are these "special edition" cars. They have some random brand name and a bunch of exclusive goodies inside and out. These vehicles exist for one reason, to draw people in. Example:
"Honey look! This Aston Martin Cygnet Colette Edition comes with a pillow and a cool CD."
"That's why we should buy it." *spends an obscene amount on what actually is a Toyota iQ*
Anyways, I know the manufacturers tricks. I still love them, here's my rationale: In the future, where nobody has a sense of humor and cars are all gray we will be thinking about odd vehicles of old. We will be wishing our cars came with a special bicycle or our interiors were clad with denim. Cars can be so serious sometimes, its nice to see a little bit of cheese in the design. Below are some of my favorite "edition" cars.

Saab 9 5 Gary Fisher Edition: This is literally a wagon you bought from the dealer with a bicycle strapped to the roof. According to a recent Jalopnik, Gary Fisher was the creator of the modern mountain bike. You could get this car with the 2.3 liter turbo 4 and a 5 speed. So really how could you go wrong? The wagon had a special wheels, bumpers, side skirts, bike rack, and of course the bike.

1978 Chevrolet Corvette Pace Car Edition: Picture yourself in late 70s America: Disco was winding down, cars were slow, everything was brown. Coming down the street was this pointy Corvette with an anemic 350. The car made up for its dismal performance in looks. It had this great two tone black and silver paint scheme with red pace car lettering up the side. The wackiest part about this car was the interior. It was all silver! I don't think I have seen an interior quite like it.

1982 Chrysler Imperial Frank Sinatra Edition: "Fly me to the moon, let me play among the cars" was probably along the lines of what Chrysler was thinking with this one. I believe you could only get this plush pimp-mobile in blue with a blue interior. This Imperial had a digital dashboard and fuel injection, which is pretty frightening because I'm going to bet they didn't work well. This boat came with a cassette player complete with Sinatra's music.

Fiat 695 Abarth Tributo Ferrari/Maserati: I love a quality Fiat. These two are no exception. These Abarth's have been given a louder exhaust system, more power, and a paddle shift transmission. The Ferrari edition was given Scuderia stripes and wheels similar to the 360 Challenge Stradale. Yes of course it was a very Italian rosso red. The Maserati edition was a much more tame design, a deep shade of purple and wheels that mirrored those of a GranTurismo.





Dodge Dart Hang 10 Edition: "Hey dude we totally need a coupe that can fit our surfboard", and the Hang 10 was born. It sported a red and blue side tripe with a surfer. These Darts were white with a white and red interior. The seats and door panels had these crazy striped inserts. The sales pitch was that the rear seats could fold flat so a surfboard could fit in the trunk, not a bad plan.





VW Golf Harlequin Edition: MKIII VW Golfs got crazy, they had all kinds of special editions including a Bon Jovi and Rolling Stones edition. The most striking are these insanely rare Harlequin editions. The paint scheme is based on a harlequin (jester). This is so unlike the sensible Germans it has to be on the list.


AMC Gremlin Levi Edition: How could I not acknowledge this very 1970's ride? Denim blue color with some white stripes, with an out of this world faux-denim interior. The seats even have buttons and tags like the real Levi jeans. I think the story goes that AMC couldn't make the interior out of actual denim because it catches on fire too easily. Super rare, super wacky, super awesome.

What is happening to me?

I feel like Frankenstein, zapped to life by a crazy doctor. I wake up from my slumber moaning, groaning, and lusting for two cars I never thought I would. I'm afraid to even type it out....way more embarrassing than my passion for Fiats.....I'm falling in love with the Porsche 911 and Chevy Corvette. Ugh. Just seeing that in text makes me want to face-palm myself, yet I can't help it.
I'll be ok. Let me try and explain. We shall start with our old German amigo. I know the Porsche 911 is "the sports car benchmark" but god, I just didn't care about them. I would rather have had an Aston Martin V8 Vantage. I was tired of seeing them winning every comparison (I dislike the R35 GT-R for the same reason). I wasn't sold on the looks I guess, I don't have an especially good reason to hate on the 911.
 This year I have seen more beautiful Porsches than I've ever seen previously, an awesome red 964 on BBS RS wheels and a jet black 993 on BBS RS wheels. They were pretty. I really appreciate an air cooled Porsche. I thinks its because my Coronet always seems to have overheating issues and that's obviously water cooled, so if you have a turbocharged air cooled car its an engineering marvel (to me). Anyways, along with the two air cooled Germans. I've seen a 991 GT3 in blue and a 991 GT3RS wearing gray. My oh my. I've come to really love the Porsche 930 Turbo slant nose.
 I really respect that Porsche sticks with the original formula, flat engine all the way in the rear end. The designers also do a great job of adding retro items to their cars, especially the vintage 5 spoke wheels and the targa roof option. I'm a sucker for retro touches. Can we just touch on their supercars? The Porsche Carrera GT has one of the best sounding engines EVER, the high-strung V10 just wails away. It comes with a stick and has one of the prettiest shift knobs I've ever laid my eyes on. The Porsche 918 is an impressive piece of tech too. All of today's modern trends and technology rolled into one brutally fast feat of engineering. And where the exhaust exits...enough said.
Lets turn our attention to the comb over, the Chevrolet Corvette. I feel as though a Corvette is the American way of saying you make a decent amount of money and gives the owner the impression that their above the peasants among which they drive. Even if its still a C4 or C5, for some reason I still feel like people will give that driver an undeserved amount of respect. For as long as I can remember the Corvette has always come up short in magazine reviews, always bested by the German I spoke of earlier. It bothered me that America has been making the car for so long and it was shit on (understandably). C1, C2, and C3 early/very late Corvettes I have always liked. I even have the cheesiest Corvette lamp in the world, it displays a 1963 split window. You turn the lamp on by twisting a key and it  makes an engine noise. I digress. I think the Vette has a crap interior that spans 4 generations, C3-C6. My biggest gripe, by far, is the owners. They flood into car shows like swarms of bees, stinging people with their "I'm better than you" glare. They think their Corvette is best Corvette as Mr. Regular would say. The owners often throw the most random stick-on bullshit on a relatively attractive car. I've met nice Corvette owners but jeez, they're hard to find. They hog all the good spots at car shows because they have nothing else better to do (same with Tri-Five Chevy guys for that matter).
The dawn of the C7 has changed my opinion. I like the car a lot, its appointed nicely and is a genuine world competitor. A black Z06 with the Z07 package is so gnarly looking, way more aggressive than any car needs to be. Its bad ass. I was at a car show earlier this season where I watched a C6 ZR1 do a dyno pull. That car was very influential in my Corvette opinion, still a crap interior but I think I could live with it when I have 560 whp. The Corvette is an important piece of automotive history for the USA, Chevy has made it relatively achievable for people to buy. We also can't ignore that fact that the C5 brought us the LS1, ahh yes the lovely LS motor that we hold near and dear. Swap them into anything and do heaters.
So I guess that's my life now, admiring these sports cars driven by men who have daily pissing contests with their neighbors.


*Don't get butthurt*

Speed Thrills

Work was obscenely slow today, I hadn't seen a customers for hours. The clock remained motionless. I was thinking about what I would need for my future 6 hour road trip in my '66 Coronet. I realized I would need to pack the trunk with money instead of extra fluids. This awesome website claims to have specs on all cars since 1945 (I have no clue how accurate it is)! I found my MPG was a livable yet thirsty 12-14 miles per gallon. The information was moderately useful.
I explored the page more and found something I shouldn't have...1/4 mile and 0-60 times. Oh boy. My whole life I have loved car statistics, I find it fascinating how quickly an automobile can move. My poor old lady car was about as quick as an old lady in her power scooter. 0-60 was a dismal 9.2 seconds and the 1/4 mile clocked in at 16.8 at 85 mph. Yikes she was not in any sort of hurry. I never thought it felt THAT slow.
The question must be asked: Does lack of speed really sully your interpretation of a vehicle? I think the answer fluctuates from car to car. I bought the Coronet having a loose idea of what its going to be. The car is an ever evolving project. It will be fast eventually, but right now it looks great and sounds even better. I have fun driving it and when I step on it, it pushes me back in my seat a little. I know the car has only a small block and highway gears in the differential.
On the other hand, if I go out and buy a 2016 Challenger Scat Pack with a 6.4 liter HEMI I better fucking be a little scared to flatten the gas pedal. Cars advertised to be fast should be fast. Cars advertised to be fun should be fun. That's when I think the heartbreak comes, when a car does not live up to the hype. Maybe its a don't meet your hero type of situation.
I'm still going to ramble on about American cars because classic muscle cars are a perfect example of what I mean. When you think of classic American muscle you think of old men saying how they used to street race and how these cars were the fastest thing ever. Guess what....they are far from it. Take a 1968 Charger with a 440 V8, one of the most popular muscle cars of the era. I bet that car today could get taken down by a Honda Accord with a V6. Somebody unaware that times have changed might have their heart broken. I think cars are all about how they make the driver feel. Fast cars are obviously thrilling but speed is definitely not all there is.

The Drive

Tonight, at approximately 9:17 p.m., I was in a state of peace. Nothing was on my mind except for the absolute perfection of what I was doing. I was driving. My hand wrapped around the thin blue steering wheel, sun setting, and Elvis on the radio. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end. The moment was perfect, in fact, I wish I could have filmed it to watch over and over again. Very rarely do I ever feel this way driving. We drive so much that we become numb to what's around us, we drive to get to a destination, we drive to accomplish a task, we drive to get home. I think we need to drive more just to simply drive. I cannot express how happy I was a half hour ago. 

I have this funny idea that cars have to be mated with certain times of the day and landscape. My 1966 Dodge Coronet is a big blue bomb. She is not fast and does not handle. Sunday I took the car to Rochester and back on the thruway at 65 mph. That speed was too much for the old girl, the wind noise was unbearable, 70 mph felt unsafe, and I felt like I was holding up traffic. On top of these factors the car started overheating so I had to pull off on the side of the thruway and let it cool. I found it to be a stressful ride. 

The car can be driven around town or on a slower thruway but tonight I truly found it's happy place. The crisp evening air keeps the motor cool. Rural areas provide the perfect speed limits coupled with empty open roads. That being said, another car might be better enjoyed running through a complex canyon road or doing huge thruway blasts state to state. The point is, I've been driving this car for over 4 years and I just found now where it's most content. The only way one can find the perfect cruise is by driving their cars, meaningless drives provide relaxation and a good man-to-metal bonding experience. Tonight I was on my own, I didn't have to meet anybody, I didn't have to keep up with other cars, I just picked up my keys and left. Try it sometime.