On average, I don’t have the greatest luck with rental cars. Part of this could be I don’t travel as much as my TTS colleague, and so I don’t accumulate enough examples to dilute the sample set, swinging it my way. No, as of Thanksgiving, my hit rate on crapwagons is running at least even with the gems. Continue reading
I’ve been driving my somewhat-newly-acquired 1995 BMW M3 for six or so months now. In that time, I’ve found attributes to love and issues to loathe, touching on just about every emotion in between. Safe to say, there is a difference between a 1995 Mercedes-Benz designed by old Germans with slide rulers and a BMW engineered by high school dropouts using a Windows 3.1 machine.
But this isn’t that article. Continue reading
Regular readers of TTS will understand – while we prognosticate at great length on vehicles we are stupid enough to purchase – rarely do we actually purchase any or all of the vehicles featured on these pages. Although, come to think of it, I have been asked where I’ve been hiding my Audi 90 20V and Lincoln Town Car. Regardless, my cohort is more apt to swap fleet members than I am. I’m more of a long-term relationship kind of guy when it comes to the mechanical children who inhabit my garage.
But this time I actually pulled the trigger. And while I’m still waiting to see through which door the 1995 E320 exits, the new kid (as yet unnamed) has landed, and is resting comfortably next to Rudi, our 1985 BMW 323i Baur TC2. Continue reading
Previous posts here on TTS had me talking about replacing my 1995 Mercedes-Benz E320, loudly rusting away before our very eyes. Off the table are the blue-sky kinds of cars we daydream about, replaced with actual daily conveyances to be flogged throughout the harsh four season we have here in the North Woods.
Candidates were casually considered, reviewed, and summarily dismissed. Mental masturbation at its finest. I had originally planned on running the Mercedes until at least the late autumn in order to stockpile additional funds for something truly interesting. But several issues have reared their ugly heads in rapid-fire succession – issues there is no way in Hell I’m remedying – and dear Shultz needs to go. Now. Continue reading
Our affliction for old Audis is colored by rose-tinted glasses, and brought into high-definition clarity with 20-20 hindsight. A 5000S, Ur-S4, or Coupe Quattro? Sure, back in the day they were junk fixable only at the dealer. But today we have the power of the Internet. Compound that with the fact the horrible cars have mostly fallen off the road – or landed in Craigslist backwaters like Olathe, Kansas – and only the nicest examples show up for sale on enthusiast sites like Audifans.com. Continue reading
At TTS, we miss Pontiac. From the early days of motoring through the GTO and Firebird Trans Am – and with their attempts to transcend General Motor’s worst days of badge-engineering – Pontiac tried to build some level of excitement into their brand. The history is well-documented, but the exclamation point you should remember about Pontiac’s time as a manufacturer was the G8 sedan, a rip-snorting V8 hooligan in a decent Men’s Wearhouse suit. Continue reading
