Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

I live in WV - 1300 miles away. Right now, I'm visiting my parents in Bulgaria, so I am literally an ocean apart.
When I go back in August I am actually moving for good to Colorado (school), so it would have been really convenient...had he decided to sell it 2 months from now.
 
Is it just me or the paint on that passenger door is juuuust a tad different than in the rest of the car?
 
Is it just me or the paint on that passenger door is juuuust a tad different than in the rest of the car?

not just you... maybe a trick of the photo?
 
not just you... maybe a trick of the photo?

The paint is non-metallic and the rear passenger door is at the same angle, so my guess is that the door is a slightly different shade. Car looks really straight so the motive might not be a crash as much as something related to the door/door's paint.
 
Just towed my friends '97 A4 back to home (Vorsprung ohne Technik jokes were flying around a bit :p) only 100km after he had bought it ...with me as a supervisor. I thought the clutch had gone, because it felt it was at the end of its life. But no, after we lifted the car and made 15 seconds long inspection, we noticed somebody had changed all the major front suspension components recently and then when he installed the drive shaft back he probably forgot the locking pin (is it pin in English?) and now the shaft had dropped out from the hub. Well, at least it was much cheaper than expected :D

On the other note: who the hell thought torsion beam rear suspension would be good enough in "premium" class car in 1996? Especially with that ultra complicated front suspension. quattro version may have gotten multilink or some other civilized suspension, but it's just ridicilous what they've done with the FWD version.
 
Arghhhhhh!

I found the perfect car for me. The price is right and it's located in Boulder, CO. The bad news...I'm not moving to Boulder until early August. I have already emailed the guy to express my interest and told him if for some reason he hasn't sold it by then, I will gladly take it off his hands.

Of course, the car in question is this:
i-1.JPG


If only he could wait 2 months till I get there...

DO IT!
 
not just you... maybe a trick of the photo?

No worries. I looked at the other pictures of the car to try and spot the difference, but everything seems to be in order.

(Even if it wasn't, my current 850's driver side fender is slightly different shade of blue from the rest of the car and I have been driving it for the past 3 years, so I don't really care about this stuff...)
 
In some lighting, my Sapporo looks like a Harlequin special edition. The passenger side fender, the passenger side front door's upper section, the driver's side fender's bottom and driver's side rear door bottom section have all been resprayed and are just a bit darker silver than the rest of the panels.
Annoys the shit out of me, but there's no valid reason to do anything about them.
 
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What is this? Doesn't look like an Aston, XK or a Maserati Coupe. The Maserati seems the closest one to me but it doesn't have that antenna or the (what appears to be) opera window.

q4Cr2.jpg
 
I've discovered something rather peculiar today.

Was shopping some more for cars on the internet, doing research and narrowing my options. I decided to look at Audis.

2003-2005 Audi A4 ranging from the 4 pot turbo to the V6 is the model in question. For some reason, these cars have higher prices than my beloved Volvo S60 from the same years. The Audi is smaller, less powerful, has worse interior, yet has the higher price. That's something I never would have guessed.

Also, the highlights from today's search:

- 2002 MX5 dark blue for $7,000 - I'm not really considering it, but I just wanted to meet the FinalGear requirement for a valid post :p
- 2003 Lexus IS300, blue, manual $13,000 - not bad at all, I really like it
- 2004 Acura TSX manual $11,000 - I know it's basically an Accord, but I do like the way the Acura looks.
- 2003 Mazdaspeed Protege, bright yellow $8,500 - awesome car, but I can't really see myself driving it...
- 2004 Volvo S60 2.5T $9,500 - the obligatory Volvo. It's the low pressure turbo, geartronic automatic but still...I like this car
- 2002 Mini Cooper S $12,000 - this is probably the most interesting car today. Red with the British flag on the roof. Quicksilver exhaust and Hartge supercharger...awesome!
 
If anyone's interested, Ford Australia have released details about the new Focus in Australia. Four trim levels: Ambiente, Trend, Sport and Titanium. Engines are a 92kW 1.6 petrol on the base Ambiente, and the choice of 125kW 2.0 petrol and 120kW diesel on the other three trims. The website at the moment says that all the sedans and the Titanium are DSG only. Probably because the sedan is for old people.

http://www.ford.com.au/servlet/Satellite?c=DFYPage&cid=1248911080695&pagename=wrapper&site=FOA
 
What is this? Doesn't look like an Aston, XK or a Maserati Coupe. The Maserati seems the closest one to me but it doesn't have that antenna or the (what appears to be) opera window.

q4Cr2.jpg

http://img402.imageshack.**/img402/4863/maseraticoupe3680071l76.jpg

That is a Maserati. That C-pillar thing is just a slat, and antennae can be mounted anywhere.
 
No they're not. The perspectives of the two pictures are different, but they're the same lights.
 
I concur, it's a GranSport.
 
I ran across an El Camino for sale today. I was at the gas station and so was the Camino, told the guy I liked it and he asked if I wanted to buy it. Was more than a bit shocked to see one so nice for so cheap. I may get it. It would fill my truck needs for 90% of what I need a truck for, and still get car like mileage when used normally. Plus, it would allow me to fix up the Roadmaster the way I would like, and give me a place to put the drive line currently in the Roadmaster(<gets LS6 transplant). Of course, it would get warmed up a bit(180HP is simply not enough).
 
I'd highly recommend it. I love mine. Don't expect the fuel mileage to be THAT good though. It's still a V8.

As for the price, I really hope the price of these cars stays down, because I still want my LS6 454 4spd 1970 El Camino, and at this point it's actually feasible, but if the price starts to go up to Chevelle territory, I'm screwed.

I'm assuming it's a 5th gen? Check for rust behind the rear wheels on the frame, and also underneath where the bed meets the cab, and the lower corners of the smugglers box on the underside of the car.

They drive a bit boat-like in stock form, but you can get some swaybars off a Cutlass S or equivalent G-body and it really tightens them up.
 
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Ooh! Spectre! I saw a Series 2 XJ6 yesterday that wasn't on fire! In fact, it was running under its own power!

I think it had a Chevy engine, though.

Oh, and I like that ute. Is that an XC Falcon?
 
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