In my youth I drove a 1979 Fiat X1/9. On a cross-country road trip in Mar/Apr 1983 my brother and I hit a blizzard in Wyoming, Colorado, and all the way across Nebraska on I-80. It was a brutal storm with heavy whiteout conditions, strong winds, and ice. But that little mid-engined RWD car handled it like a champ. Many 4X4s and AWD cars were wiped out along the way, especially along I-25 between Denver and Colorado Springs, but the little Fiat kept chugging along. The snow didn’t pile up too high, no deeper than 6" at most, otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to continue.
Having the engine over the drive wheels is a good thing. Especially having a mid-engined car was great, in good weather and in bad.
I did see one of those on the road the other day and I was struck by how … unspecial … it looked. Not bad, just not anything that stood out from the Lexus and Infiniti SUVs driving around. To justify the price, it really needs to make more of an impact.
I’m with my daughter right now and she’s buying a car, a 2010 Mazda 3 S with the 6-MT. She’s pulling the trigger on it as I type.
On the test drive 30 minutes ago: a 1962 Chevy Impala SS convertible, cherry, light yellow and driven by an elderly gentleman who was clearly enjoying the drive. A sweet ride.
A Pontiac Aztek, cruising around in the parking lot at work. It was from after the model change that fixed the worst of the styling problems. Honestly, the car looked pretty good to my eyes. Not bad for a 14 year old car.
CA plates TSLA483 - a Tesla Roadster with a unique paint job. A search on ‘Tesla 483’ yielded this restoration project, and it turns out this is the exact car I saw on CA Hwy 85 south in Cupertino yesterday.
At the gas station today I had to wait my turn at the Diesel pump, because this guy was filling his tank - it was a Chevy Cruze with a Diesel engine! I never knew that was made. The car looked in great shape, had over 100,000 miles on it (it looked pretty new), and the guy said he gets 53 MPG with it and it gets over 600 miles per tankful.
I saw an interesting car today, and I have no idea what it was. I’m usually pretty good at recognizing cars, too. It was eastbound while I was westbound, so I didn’t have much time to study it. I noticed it as it was coming toward me; the headlights were very close together. It was about the size of a Smart Fortwo. As I passed it, it seemed almost to have the silhouette of a minivan (sloped hood, windshield, no rear deck) but much smaller.
I saw a Nissan badged tiny vehicle with the type of headlights you describe. I thought it might be a new Leaf but I’m not sure. I hadn’t ever seen it before. Maybe a new Juke?
A 4th Generation (1969-75) International Travelall 1110 - circling in a crowded parking lot looking for a spot which was going to be nearly impossible to fit in. Nice looking but not a restored model. I’m a bit surprised it was on the road with all the salt around and a storm coming in but it looks like it gets driven all winter.
It was a beautiful day for a 250-mile drive down the California coast to Big Sur – bright, sunny, no fog or mist, crystal clear. Gorgeous! Many were out for a drive like us. These caught my eye.
A 911 whale tail convertible, top down
An old red Vette convertible, top down
A 1985 Mitsubishi Van - boxy as hell, looking like this
A blue MGB, top down
A Porsche 911 GT3 RS (image)
A 1968 Buick Riviera, as a lowrider
A 1995 Rolls Royce Corniche convertible, top down
Another Ferrari 488 GTB
A Lamborghini Gallardo convertible, bright yellow, top down
I also saw a Tesla S, in metallic purple(!). That was odd.
And lastly I saw a Hyundai Veloster, and its special plate made it noteworthy: V3LO5TR
There were many interesting cars today.
There always seems to be great cars on that stretch of road. Every time we drive anywhere along the coast road south of San Francisco, we see some nice ones. Probably doesn’t hurt that it’s a beautiful road, in close proximity to one of the wealthiest areas in the United States.