I had a '92 Cabriolet, the convertible version. I had a deal with my mechanic. He would help me install any aftermarket upgrade on two conditions:
1 - He approved of the part - he did not want me to put crap in the car.
2 - I brought the beer.
That was a fun car to drive. I had to give it up. It would not fit a car seat.
I have a friend who still has one, err, ummm, a couple. He’s part of a Scirocco group & they do cruises & road trips.
Well, it’s better than a Passat wagon of that era. You know how hard it was to find a Quantum mechanic?
smh.
My father bought a Quantum in 84. He named it “Mine” because unlike every other new car he’d bought it was going to remain his. He handed down the Karmann-Ghia to my brother and me.
Someone at my office has a Buick Regal Tour X. Those were also marketed as an SUV even though it was clearly a wagon.
That photo wasn’t taken today, but I did see it today.
The Scirocco discussion reminded me of a cousin who tests ago had a boyfriend, Joe. Joe had a Scirocco and I loved that car.
But Joe also had a very cool plate on his Scirocco —
JOROCCO
That’s one of the most perfect plates I’ve ever known.
Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat, not sure which year.
I know I’ve posted this story before, so very briefly.
A friend in the 80s had a Yugo. I drove it a few times. His girlfriend (and wife to this day) had an Omni or Horizon, and the Yugo was not noticeably worse.
Another friend had (I think) a 1980 Rabbit with a gas engine. It also existed as a car. That’s about as much as I can say. Same for the friend with the Tercel hatchback. All were perfectly adequate high school transportation hand me down cars. Except the Yugo, which was new.
So, in perspective, a brand new 86/87 Yugo was just as good as a 7-8 year old econobox. Whether the Yugo would last 7-8 years and 80,000 miles, I can’t say.
Biggest fault with all of them was lack of A/C in Texas.
Actually my friend did work to the engine in HIS car. He took it out for a test drive and, well, the nut that would hold on an air cleaner vibrated off (no air cleaner on) and went through the engine and F’d a bunch of stuff up. Very sad day.
So, again we rebuilt it. Then the car got T-Boned by an AMC Matador. My friend was ok. Car was trashed, but engine was fine. We put that Engine in my Scirocco (same year and everything).
Also put a built 327 in a ‘72 FJ-40. Way more engine than it needed, or frankly could use.
I’m glad those days are behind me, but I do have my eye on a ‘57 Bel-Air. But I just can’t justify it. It’s just not gonna work for us.
I have heard people claim that while Yugos may break down frequently, they are simple to repair with basic tools. So if you know what you’re doing and are willing to make the necessary repairs you can essentially keep a Yugo running forever. It’s just that Americans have higher expectations for a car than that; we expect a car to be completely trouble free for 100,000 miles with just basic maintenance. That and many Americans essentially treated them as “disposable” cars.
He got gored by a Matador???
Cadillac Lyriq, very nice looking EV.
It may look nice but its the most annoying @#$&=% car ever made! My neighbor has one & i can hear him driving past, with my windows closed. First off, EVs are not silent; there is tire noise, & If you’re going to add an artificial noice do you have to make it both so loud & so annoying??? Screw you, Cadillac! It’s worse than nails on a blackboard
See, the trick is to stick a rag in the intake. Then, instead of accidentally dropping a nut into the engine, you get to see how long it runs after it inhales the rag.
I mentioned to my brother one day that the loudest thing about my EV (The Kia Niro I had at the time) was the tires. He, who works at 3M, said they have a whole team specifically working on reducing tire noise for just that reason.
That Kia did the fake engine noise, but it sounded more like a spaceship. The problem with that car, WRT noise, was the horrifically loud reverse beep. Like, wake up the neighbors loud. Like loud enough that people would put the car in reverse, quickly get it up to speed, then coast backwards in neutral to shut it up (which caused it’s own problems).
Interestingly, the UK version of the car, in addition to using a different, less obnoxious beep, also had a button on the dash to turn it off. The US version didn’t have the button, but the wiring was still up there, so many of us installed the button ourselves.
I will say, though, that even with the fake engine noise, people really don’t hear you coming. When driving through a subdivision, it’s very common to find myself stuck behind someone walking or riding a bike far enough into the road that I can’t get around them and clueless that I’m there.
the Caddy is much louder, & an annoying noise louder than any other EV that I’ve encountered. Maybe it’s because i like cars, or more probably because I’m a runner & a cyclist but I am very in tune to car noise coming up behind me.
FWIW, when I say ‘engine noise’, I’m referring to the sound the car makes when it’s in motion (below some specific speed), but it’s not a sound that you’d hear and associate with a car. Also, when I’d turn off the reverse beep sound it would also turn that off as well. If I got stuck behind a pedestrian or bicyclist, I’d turn it back on, but it was still 50/50 if they’d notice it and move over.
Yup, that’s what I’m talking about, but I’m not under the hood of the Caddy, I’m inside, with the windows closed. It’s much, much louder than the Tesla he used to have. I’d only know if that was going by if I saw it, or maybe if the windows were open
I saw a Cybertruck today that answered the question: could anything on wheels be uglier than a Cybertruck? Yes, a painted Cybertruck.
I didn’t see this today. I was ‘driving’ home after posting in another thread a Google map of the place we ate yesterday, and there was a picture of the chrome Mercedes that is seen frequently here.