I'm occasionally asked, "What is it about cars, why do you care about them so much?" Usually the person asking is a friend or acquaintance with a history of minivans or beige Camrys, so I know my answer, no matter how concise and insightful, will no doubt fall on somewhat deaf ears.
Recognizing that simple enthusiasm for cool, fast cars is perhaps a bit of a lightweight explanation, my standard reply is something like, "cars are a fascinating expression of individual choice and personality," or "we devote such a large amount of our hard-earned money to cars (for most people, car expenditure is third behind the mortgage and feeding/clothing/schooling the kids) they deserve real thought and passion."
It's a good answer, a passable answer.
Today I found a great answer.
"Our cars are our partners, our sidekicks, our modern take on a cowboy’s trusty steed; they’re our sanctuaries, love nests and music halls. They are the setting for adventures, dramas and conversations that stay with us for lifetimes. We imbue our cars with personalities, with sentient quirks, and our bonds with them mimic all too many human affairs of the heart, passing through a chain of predictable stages—lust, abiding love, companionable reliance and, finally, heartache."
Earl Swift penned this thought as part of a recent Wall Street Journal review of Neil Young's new car-centric biography, "Special Deluxe." Turns out Old Neil is quite the enthusiast himself, with a fondness for '40s and '50 American iron. One of his first cars was a 1953 Pontiac hearse owned during the early Buffalo Springfield days in LA.
I don't have much else to add. Mr. Swift said it all. What drives your passion for cars?
Oh, it turns out that a bunch of Neil Young songs are about cars, including this one...
I enjoy the Blyth Brothers car blog for a couple of reasons. We share an interest in 1980s European cars, and I served with their father in the US Army in Germany during that very same decade. The boys, Graham and Taylor, mix a solid knowledge of engineering and auto repair with the enthusiasm of, well, enthusiasts. They also have a soft spot for some of my favorites, including the GTI and Alfa 164.
Also fun, they have shared one of my car adventures from back in the day. Most of it was even true!
Driving through the Poconos last summer we were passed by a well-preserved BMW M6, probably about an '87. I got to thinking about how much I wanted one of those beautiful machines at the time and started rolling across some internal list of my favorite cars from that decade.
The 1980's saw the rebirth of automobile performance. From hot hatches to the reigniting of the Pony Car Wars, to the advent of the modern supercar, performance cars were finally worth lusting after again. Let's start at the begining...
From the days of the Model T enthusiasts have been making cars go faster, and high performance cars from the Stutz Bearcat through Bugattis and the Mercedes SSK always existed, But this route to power and fun was the world of either the garage mechanic or the wealthy. For average folk cars were simply transportation. Performance was not a particular critieria. And then beginning in the late 1950's, automotive performance for the masses began growing in leaps and bounds.
I don't actually know what car started it, whether it was the popularity of small British and German sports cars, the first Corvettes and T-Birds, or simply the growing power in family coupes and sedans like the '55 Chevy Bel Air. But suddenly performance as a desirable element of consumer-focused automobiles was a thing. By the mid 1960's the GTO, Mustang, and Camaro had burst performance wide open. Families were going to the movies pulled by fire-breathing V-8s.
But all good things come to an end. By the early 1970s air pollution concerns, oil prices, and perhaps sanity took hold. The era of the muscle car (and muscle station wagon too!) came to an abrupt end. To be honest, the 1970s were agonizing for auto enthusiasts. Remember the Mustang II? Even the mighty Corvette fell victim, with the 25th anniversary edition featuring an anemic 185 HP and no available manual transmission. Heavy sigh.
My vote for the low point.
Sure there were a few points of light. The 1970s saw some nice Alfa Romeos, the birth of the Lamborghini Contach, the 2002 and 3.0 BMW's. And certainly Porsche never really fell victim to the malaise. But overall it was a grim time. Little did we know, us high school kids of the '70's, that help was right around the corner.
It probably began with the VW GTI, the first Fox-bodied Mustang, GM F-body coupes, and the C4 Corvette. I noticed the change in college, the stirrings of faster cars. By the mid-1980s the Pony Car Wars were back in full swing and great cars like the 3-Series BMW, Audi Quattro coupe and sedan, Toyota Supra (and even MR2), made performance and design relevant again.
For me, the pinnacle of the 1980's automotive rennaissance was the M6. The car was powerful and beautiful. From the shark front grill to the that wonderful inline 6 through the driver-focused cockpit to the tip of its rear dual exhaust, The M6 was everything that a car should be.
The list of great 1980's cars is long and wonderful...
Porsche 944 Turbo And S2
Audi Quattro (particulary the 200 turbo 'cause I had one)
VW GTI (Gen 1 and the late 80's 16 valve Gen 2 models)
Ford Mustang GT
Chevy Camaro and Firebird
C4 Corvette (Gen 2)
Mazda Miata
BMW 325is and M3
BMW M5
Porsche 3.2 Carrera and Turbo
Some of my favorites from the decade never made it to the US...
Lancia Thema 8.32
Lancia Delta Integrale
Peugeot 205 GTI
Ford Sierra Cosworth
Nissan Skyline R32
Come to think of it, the 80's may be the greatest decade of all time!
So, what's your vote for the best car of the 80's?
The car enthusiast hobby has changed a lot
since I caught the bug as a teenager. You probably followed the same path as I
did, getting hooked on messing with cars in high school and gradually working
your way through a succession of faster/nicer/cooler cars (with a few bad
decisions along the way – I see you, Acura Integra). (I take exception to that;
mine was an excellent car. -Ed.)
I started out doing many repairs and upgrades myself,
from installing stereos to ripping out rusty exhaust components and welding in
a straight pipe... and man, did that ‘74 Capri sound cool. In my 20s and 30s I
changed my own oil and even attempted deeper repairs on occasion. I have a
fairly good set of tools, jack stands, and a floor jack. I did go to mechanics
for big stuff, like timing belt changes, but more from a time and confidence
standpoint, than an actual skill thing.
It used to be so much simpler. What happened?
But, when I moved into modern Porsche membership with my
996, maintenance got a lot tougher. For one thing, OBDII now rules fault
diagnosis. Sure, I’ve changed the brake rotors and pads, but I’m no Ray Munsch
or David Brown (Porsche guys I know with real wrenching skills). Modern cars
are just too darned complex for the average enthusiast to tackle much other
than oil changes and brakes.
This reality has led me to create the “Home Car Repair
Continuum” chart. It graphically shows a simple fact: the more expensive and
complex the car, the less willing and able the average enthusiast is to repair
it himself (or herself!). To be completely honest there is an additional factor
at work
here... let’s call it the sloth of affluence. Generally,
we can afford to have done things we could actually do ourselves. But we
rationalize we don’t have the time and pay one of the fine shops in the area to
maintain our rides (waves at Hurricane Region sponsors). This is not wrong, but
it is a bit lazy. I don’t have time to change the oil, but I did watch about 20
hours of basketball during March Madness...
So what to do? I have come to this decision: I am going
to try to do everything that I can myself. Oil changes? I can do that! Brakes?
I can do those! Motor mounts? Sitting in the garage waiting for warm weather.
One question that has come up lately, mostly from newer members, is where to
take a car for routine maintenance, track inspections, and the like? There have
been lots of helpful replies, some recommending local independent shops and
some recommending using the dealership.
Since you have chosen the foolish route of owning European
sports cars, which are inherently expensive to maintain and prone to needing
repairs, identifying a shop and mechanic you trust is important. Just how do
you go about finding the mechanic right for you? Well, the first step is
exactly what members are doing on Facebook: asking questions. You can also find
good options on the pages of this very newsletter. Our advertisers have
supported the region and its’ members for years, sponsoring events on the
weekend and fixing members’ cars during the week.
While I advocate doing maintenance yourself whenever
possible, you can also benefit from having routine tasks done at a local shop.
You may find it useful to ‘test drive’ a mechanic before a major problem arises.
You really don’t want to get that big repair estimate only to wonder if the
shop knows what it is doing. Better to have established a relationship prior to
that moment.
So what to look for? I have a few things I want from any
shop. The first thing is basic customer service stuff; do they return phone
calls, answer questions directly, and do what they say they are going to do?
Porsches can be complex machines, and estimates are just that, so you have to
go into any repair with your eyes open. But you should never get surprised when
the bill shows up.
Don’t be afraid to ask about the experience and training
of the mechanics at the shop, and to get a short tour. A good shop should
welcome the opportunity to show off both their facilities and employees.
Finally, and this is the acid test question: if things don’t
turn out exactly as they should does the shop do the right thing? Again, these
are complex machines and not every problem is simple to diagnose and repair. To
be completely honest I have heard supposed horror stories about many shops in
the area. When you repair thousands of cars over the years a few things are bound
to go wrong. I had just such an experience, and the shop immediately made it
right. I continue to use them to this day.
As for the question of independent shop vs. Porsche dealer… well,
there are pros and cons to either option and again, we are lucky to have
outstanding examples of each who support the region. So my answer is the same:
build a relationship with a shop over time. Owning a Porsche is going to cost you money, perhaps a good
bit of it on occasion. Better to spend that money at a shop you trust, where
you have done business successfully in the past.
This space has been a bit quiet lately. Too quiet. There are a couple of reasons for this, the most obvious being that blogging is hard work! The time to develop good topics and craft a post that doesn't suck takes time and effort—time and effort I've been using elsewhere.
In the real world I work in digital education, developing resources and helping teachers learn and practice integrating technology in their classrooms. Over the past few years education has rushed headlong into the wild world of social media. As a result I've been tweeting, blogging, and generally writing full time in that space. Great fun to be honest, but all this digital content creation put a real crimp in my car-related thinking and blogging.
Well, I'm determined to turn that around. Starting now. Or soon. In the meantime, I've been writing a column as the tech chair of my local PCA region and realized there was no reason not to share those here as well.
(Waits patiently for laughter to die down. This takes around five full minutes)
It's certainly true, virtually anyone who knows me realizes that perhaps only Lancelot Link is less qualified to dispense automotive technical advice.
Perhaps Oddball said it best...
But I've actually learned quite a bit over the years, usually the hard way. And so why not help others learn from my mistakes!
By the way, if you are interested in digital education check out SAS Curriculum Pathways and our attendant social media outlets on Facebook, Twitter (@SASEducator), and our Pathfinders blog.
As I have related, I loved my 1984 GTI, roll up windows, 100 horsepower, blue velour interior, and all. There was just something intrinsically right about the first generation of GTIs. Somewhat surprisingly Volkswagen has stayed fairly true to that idea through to the latest generation.
This week marks the 40th anniversary of the GTI. Who knows what the 80th anniversary GTI will look like, or be powered by. What I do know is that it will be fast, fun to drive, and I will want one.
Speedmonkey in the UK has a great retrospective. If you are like me, this will bring back a lot of memories... all of them good.
OK, maybe except how I left mine shattered on a Danish highway. Riding away in the ambulance, I apologized. And I still feel bad about it.
Have you ever bought a car, only to realize it was the wrong car? It may not be something you realize right away. In my case it crept up on me slowly over a period of months. But after six months and a cross country drive, I knew I had somehow bought the wrong car.
I had returned from being stationed overseas and my beloved Mustang GT had recrossed the Atlantic Ocean. I was temporarily stationed in Virginia before heading to my next assignment in the Pacific Northwest.
Sammy Hagar was right
Unfortunately the Mustang and I had just spent a couple of years on the autobahn... My driver's license was in danger from the day I returned. The Mustang cruised naturally at about 90-100. In Germany that was flow of traffic; in Virginia that could be a felony. I actually got a speeding ticket the day I picked up the Mustang from the port in Maryland.
After the second or third discussion with the local gendarmerie it was clear something had to change. Somehow that something became a new Acura Integra LS. And just how that happened I'm still not sure.
Essentially a fancy, more luxurious Honda Civic, the Integra from the newly launched Acura brand was a darned good car. It had great reviews from all the enthusiast magazines and I think my mistake was deciding to get one based on reviews, rather than on the actual car.
The first few weeks were fine, with Virginia in the grip of a severe winter. The little front driver was actually sort of zippy and surefooted. But in early spring I took a road trip to Pittsburgh to see friends. It was in the mountains of West Virginia that I first sensed I had chosen poorly. Those beautiful mountain roads just were not the same with 118 horsepower and front wheel drive.
Strangely enough, in every quantifiable way the Integra was a superior car to my dearly departed GTI. I came to realize that it was the unquantifiable that the Integra lacked. Simply put, the car had no soul, and I had no emotional connection to it. It was just a good little car, and that is just not enough—not in my book at least.
By the time the Acura and I had crossed the country together I actively hated it. As soon as it was financially feasible (but far from financially intelligent) I traded in the Integra and bought one of my favorite all-time cars - and it wasn't a car.
Being a "car guy" means constantly thinking about the next acquisition; What do you need? What do you want? What have you simply stumbled across? Watching the crazy Duke-Texas A&M bowl game on New Year's eve got me to thinking, what were some of the cars I had almost, but not bought over the years? Call them incomplete passes...
1960s VW Beetle
During the search that led me to the Mercury Capri, I seriously considered buying a Beetle that was for sale, if I recall, in a grocery store parking lot near my college apartment. I have no memory of the color or anything like that, only of the newer cassette deck installed in the dashboard. That may have been the reason I wanted the car, maybe the only reason. Anyway, luckily Dad was a VW aficionado and quickly talked me out of buying what was apparently a tired, rusty, clapped out Bug with a nice stereo. Thanks again Dad.
1983 Audi Quattro Coupe GT
You know how you can buy something even though a little voice is telling you, "this a bad decision?" Graduating from college I wanted a VW GTI, but could not find one in the Sacramento area. A used Audi coupe seemed like a decent substitute and I was actually test-driving one at Neillo VW-Porsche-Audi when I mentioned to the salesman what I really wanted. To be honest, the Audi seemed slow and heavy with only 110 horsepower. Well, the salesman mentioned that they had an '84 GTI in the back. The dealer's wife had driven it for a few months and just returned it. An hour later it was mine. A close call for sure.
1991 Nissan 300ZX
In 1989 the all-new Z was a thing of beauty. And with 222 horsepower from a 3.0 Liter V6, it was fast too. Motor Trend's "Import Car of the Year," and Automobile Magazine's "Design of the Year," I wanted one badly. All that stopped me was the price... But then the salesman mentioned the idea of a lease. I had never even heard of leasing a car, and didn't actually care about the details. But then a hangup, an apparent problem with my credit. The lease offer was withdrawn and I left the dealership, tail between my legs. Later I discovered that one of the credit reporting companies had merged my history with my father's. Apparently Nissan Credit did not believe I had gotten a BankAmericard in 1962 - a year before I was born. It was however all a blessing in disguise, as a few months later I was transferred back to Europe. Most leases will not allow you to take the car out of the country and I would have had to buy out the remainder at a fairly big loss. So thanks for your incompetence TransUnion, I guess.
There have been other incomplete passes since the Z, mostly cars I'm glad I didn't buy. A 1992 VW Corrado for example, nice car but the interior just seemed cheap. And a first generation Honda CRV, I was all for it but Lynne didn't like the car. She thought it was too buzzy and thin-doored. She was right of course. Recently I missed out on a locally advertised 1968 Porsche 912. Underpriced for the current market and in original Irish Green with low miles, I could have made some decent money flipping the car. But just as I went to see it the seller received a significantly-over-his-asking-price offer and I was out. So close...
