Regular Car Reviews: 1960 Ford Falcon (stock)

"Robert MacNamera's love letter to bean counting."

The Vagaond Falcon in stock form, a fitting tribute since the build is now done.

Operation Vagabond Falcon: Part 23

The Vagabond Falcon is running!  The new pushrods work without marring, the brakes and suspension appear to be working, and the wheel give it that classic look.

Morley Safer dies at 84

From Jalopnik.com: Morley Safer Recorded The Greatest Lamborghini Documentary Ever Shot

Morley Safer, 60 Minutes longest serving correspondent, passed away today at 84.  I remember listening to Car Talk in the late 90's, when he called in to bug Tom and Ray about their jokes about French cars, which consisted of things such as French cars being fine if they stay in France, and to their credit were probably right, but Morely wasn't having it.  Morley had a beloved Peugeot, but was looking to replace it, and since he couldn't get another Peugeot, asked Tom and Ray to give him their next best recommendation.  They suggested the Volvo 850, but he wasn't very impressed.      

Operation Vagabond Falcon: Part 17

"Suddenly it felt like a car, and I wanted to drive it."



It's getting close, the Megashifter goes in, along with the driveshaft, battery, and more engine parts.

Regular Car Reviews: 1991 Subaru Loyale

"Au Contraire Mon Capitan, he's back!"

Regular Car Reviews is back with a review, and back in form.  The Loyale was the back bone of Subaru North America in the 90's, before the WRX rally craze, before Crocodile Dundee endorsed Outbacks, and even before the Legacy.  I'll be reeling in the years too.

1987 Nissan Maxima

From Jalopnik: For $1,850, This 1987 Nissan Maxima Could Take You To The Max…er, ima

Source: http://jalopnik.com/

This Maxima is definitely nice price, no crack pipe here, as anything in nice shape that's all there and runs well for under $2K is a deal.  The amount of stuff out there for the same or even more, in poor shape, with parts broken or missing, and run poor are abundant and the real crack pipes.    

I used to have a 1992 Maxima SE 5 speed as a daily driver, which was the first 4DSC or "4 Door Sports Car," and while it wasn't a true sports car, it was pretty close for the era.  The VE30DE engine was the same bottom end as the VG but with 4 valve per cylinder heads, variable intake cam, and variable valve timing, putting 190 hp through a limited slip differential to give a fighting chance at traction and torque steer management.  It was in similar condition to the 1987, but higher trim, better options, a stick, less miles, and it sold for similar money back in late 2011.   

 

Electric and Hybrids Pollute!

From Jalopnik: Electric And Hybrid Cars Might Produce As Many Toxins As Diesels

Source: http://jalopnik.com/

Something I've been a proponent of for some time, that hybrid and electric cars aren't necessarily better for the environment, they're just different. Unfortunately these days that's not a popular opinion, so nice to see some actual numbers on it, and thanks to Jalopnik for covering it. This study doesn't even account for where your electricity comes from, or the increased energy and material use for producing hybrids.

We're so quick as a society to jump on the perception of things, while missing the important details. Until we have energy storage with reasonable charge time, reasonable energy density, and comparable weight, further battery advances will only be part of an engineering exercise, not a solution.