Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

While the goggomobil might be awesome. It was put together by a bunch of fucking neonazis

yes, and? Srsly, it's only the Germans themselves who are still bothered about the whole WW2 thing. it's been 50 years. Get over it.


I'm still wondering why did Americans gave up estates, they are as big as a SUV,more stable at high speeds, I'm pretty sure you can do some very light offroading with them, they are cheaper than a SUV so why? Why the hell did they made the change?

Don't look at me, my first car was an estate and I loved it. Now I like the SUV, but then again, I'm one of the 3% of the population that actually uses it like it should be.

you win for understanding the point of SUVs

Because estates developed a reputation for being "mom cars." They are, however, making a massive comeback in the last 3 years. Now they're called "crossovers" (or sometimes just a 5 door hatch) but they're still wagons. I'm actually in the market for a small wagon to replace the Passat before it implodes.

how is that a "mom" car??? :blink:
it may be because i'm a Euro and the world is a completely different thing here, but WUT?

I disagree, a Crossover is not an estate. An estate sits lower to the ground, like a sedan, while a crossover has a taller floor and roof line with a more upright seating position. It's still made like a car (unibody) and usually has the suspension from a car, but the body has larger wheel arches to fit oversized wheels; which, in turn, make the entire vehicle taller.

It's a small distinction, but I don't consider a crossover an estate. I honestly think that we are moving farther away from SUVs anyway. The explosion of the Crossover market shows that not everyone wants an offroad machine. Crossovers are getting shorter and more car-like with ever passing model year. Soon they will morph back into the estate and we will have come full circle, leaving only real SUVs with the "SUV" title.

^this.
Crossover = Estate that looks "tough" and has mild offroad abilities
Estate = regular car with big / high boot.


Wait what!, you are saying that the UAW did something good. Allow that to sink in. SPECTRE said something GOOD about the UAW.

I have been mind raped.

Ok I do agree however I'd add that many vehicles I would call wagons are marketed as "crossovers" (a new and thus still socially vague word) to avoid the negative stigma associated with saying you drive a station wagon. Then even if the car isn't officially marketed that way, it's often referred to as such by the owner, who is still in denial that the 80s are back. :p

what is negative about driving a wagon? I cannot comprehend it. it's the same sized car as a "saloon", it just has more bootspace, thats all.
 
what is negative about driving a wagon? I cannot comprehend it. it's the same sized car as a "saloon", it just has more bootspace, thats all.

For most Americans, the station wagon brings back memories of being stuffed into the back of a car for three (or more) days and driven halfway (or further) across a continent to a place they didn't want to go to in the first place in order to meet relatives they didn't like or didn't even know they had.
 
^and what does the car have to do with this? You can go on long boring family visits with a sedan too
 
Yeah, but people didn't. They took the wagon so they could take loads of clothes (for themselves) and gifts (for the people they were going to visit) as well as anything else they wanted to take with them.
 
so people bought the wagon specifically for visiting relatives who live halfway across the country?

I've said it before and I'll say it again : to me, a wagon is a perfect substitute for a pickup truck. It's actually more versatile, because unless your name is Cletus, you don't put passengers in the back of the cab, while you CAN transport people and goods in the back of a wagon.
 
You cannot fit a large road motorcycle in the back of a wagon. You can't fit a Jaguar engine (upright) in most wagons, either. Nor can you load in stuff from a dock-high or a forklift (in most cases) or any loads best loaded from above.

Therefore to me, most wagons are completely useless.
 
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You cannot fit a large road motorcycle in the back of a wagon. You can't fit a Jaguar engine (upright) in most wagons, either. Nor can you load in stuff from a dock-high or a forklift (in most cases) or any loads best loaded from above.

Therefore to me, most wagons are completely useless.
And in the spirit of hating the term "SUV" - you drive a truck.
 
Not enough people have dirty cars, at one of those Iraqi car washes they were cleaning a Mark 1 Punto... why bother?

*Insert Jason Plato quote.


I also saw a standard Vauxhall Nova in town, which I haven't seen in years. They're rarer than a pink McLaren F1.
 
And in the spirit of hating the term "SUV" - you drive a truck.

I did get your PM, by the way - I've got a couple of feelers out to people that I want to hear back from before I reply.

Yeah, I do drive a truck. It happens to have a wagon-style body on it, but it's still a truck. It gets used offroad a lot when i go to my client's concrete plant. I also take it offroading for recreation (at least one FG member has actually seen me offroad), ford deep water with it, and generally use it as it was intended to be used. Right now, there's a motor from a CB700SC in the back, along with 6 cases of oil, two toolboxes and miscellaneous wiring tools plus a motorcycle on a carrier hanging off the back of it. (I need to haul all that stuff over to my 'shop' in the morning.)

Most importantly - there is NO wagon of the same size or price class that can do all the things I use it for.
 
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Most importantly - there is NO wagon of the same size or price class that can do all the things I use it for.

That may be possible, but then again most people don't need to move motorcycles, Jag engines, or go offroad at all.

So to all those people : what the hell is wrong with a wagon?
 
I did get your PM, by the way - I've got a couple of feelers out to people that I want to hear back from before I reply.
I figured, I'm not exactly asking for common information - or really even the kind of information that sane people would want. I'm in no rush.
 
So to all those people : what the hell is wrong with a wagon?

Ask one of those idiots driving a Kia Sportage or similar. I bet they won't be able to give you a real answer. Had one on my bumper last tuesday. I was going 140 and he just kept tailgating me, also on the right lane with ample room to overtake. Until we both went on the same cloverleaf junction. I took the 270 degree, tight corner between 90 and 100 kph. He didn't quite manage that speed :p
 
I figured, I'm not exactly asking for common information - or really even the kind of information that sane people would want. I'm in no rush.

Actually, it's mostly for updates on availability. You see, at one point I was considering doing something similar to my recently-departed-and-much-missed X300 since I was more or less running out of things to upgrade....
 
Actually, it's mostly for updates on availability. You see, at one point I was considering doing something similar to my recently-departed-and-much-missed X300 since I was more or less running out of things to upgrade....
For some reason, that hasn't made this seem any more sane.
 
For some reason, that hasn't made this seem any more sane.

Never said it did. :D And I'm sure there's a number of people on this very forum that would agree with any statement questioning my sanity. :D

On the other hand, there's someone on this board that's not far from you that has an XJS V12 converted to use the TKO manual transmission; it really wakes those cars up. See: http://www.thedrivenman.com/Jaguar/Transmission.htm
 
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Oh stop. That's just pornography.

... Pornography that's going to lead to a life of financial ruin. Much more fun than most people's lives of financial ruin, though.
 
Well, you certainly can't take it with you. :D

I'm sure that FordCrusherGT would at least consider letting you test drive his XJS. :D
 
Once I have a sensible 4 door executive car in the driveway, I'll take a look at the V12-powered GT pornography. Not before.
 
You missed the part below it where they offer the kit for the XJ12 sedan.
 
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