Today's Ride

7/03 - a NEW car! I just bought a 2003 Acura 3.2 TL. The Chrysler had to be towed 3 times this year already and was costing me an average of almost $200/month in repairs WITH a 100k warranty!  When the transmission went bad at 70k, warranty or no, I'd had enough of the hassles. Acura TLs had the best ratings for quality and low cost of ownership in the class (followed closely by some of the Lexuses, however, my first choice Lexus, the Lexus IS, for some reason, was poorly rated).  Though it's got less hp at 225, at this point, I'm in for the reliability. I'll just enjoy speed on the waverunner (a 1999 Polaris Genesis FICHT which is, sadly, another first-year-model money pit) and wait for my next bike for the speed. So I now drive an Acura!

Rides of Yesterday

'99-'03 - 1999 Chrysler 300M. As far as 'modern' cars go (that are within what I consider a reasonable budget for a car), I love this car.  Only two complaints - the Goodyear tires SUCK (they cause the steering wheel to shimmy and the car eats them $$$ - get the Michelins, folks - MUCH better and worth the extra cost!) and you can NOT see any of the four corners of this car.

But I love the auto-stick, the 3.5-liter, 253 hp engine that will MOVE when I want it to (even when I'm already going too fast <g>), the luxury/comfort features (heated front seats are standard), the trunk room and the constant compliments about how roomy it is (yes, even from the back seat!).

'95-'99 - 1987 Nissan Stanza GXE. Bought at 27k and ran for another good 120k - a good reliable car.

'94-'95 - 1972 Pontiac LeMans. This was my first (and only to date) full rebuild project. It took about a year ('93/'94) and $6k. What an education! Check out the pictures!

College - 1965 Rambler Classic. Bought from a little old lady for a song. It was immaculate! Wish I hadn't been a college student with no money so I could have kept it up... It had an inline 232 6-cyl and the engine compartment was so big you could stand inside it to work on the engine! (Ok, maybe not in reality, but pretty close!) The 'modern' air cleaners that were available were a slightly different size - it let air in such that, when you stomped on it, the car would growl.