SAmadei

It has a 200R4, right? Assuming it doesn't have 4.11s in the rear, it should be fine on the highway. My '86 Electra Estate Wagon had a seriously clapped out 307 and medium gears 3.08 or 3.23, I forget... it had no problem sitting at 85 up and down the mountains as I took if from NJ to Southern AL to Jacksonville, FL and back to NJ in a 30 hour period to pick up a car full of sheetmetal. Granted, you have to adjust your driving a bit to avoid hitting the brakes, but it worked fine. Yours should be better with 700 lbs (1200lbs loaded) less. I suspect you still have something wrong or the car has been seriously altered... aside from the 350 that was in it.

GM actually had a lot more brands before 1920 or so. Durant bought every car brand he could... it wasn't until he got booted and new corporate leaders trimmed the ranks with a machete that it got to the half a dozen '20s brands. Yeah, the creation of these brands were bad timing... the late '20s before the crash, people thought it was going to be boomtimes forever. (Kinda like the past decade). The Depression killed a lot of companies, including at least 3 of GM's brands.

The ignition failure hes talking about was the ignition switch. The danger in this failure was that cars unattended would burst into flame while not running, destroying garages and homes as people slept. This was an issue because the ignition switch was always hot and a short would heat up the plastic to the point of ignition. The media seemed to focus on the ignition switch being hot all the time... which is pretty much required by design... and instead Ford improved the design with more robust plastics or parts less likely to short. I'm not saying this was the only ignition-based recall, but it was by far the biggest. As 2005Equinox mentioned, yeah, Ford did have a lot of problems with cars burning... which is one of the reasons I'm not a Ford advocate... even though my favorite brand also has had its share of fire problems (Fiero, anyone). The fire problem and the Explorer tire problem are caused by Ford's policies on suppliers, which require something like a 10% reduction in part cost every year due to expected production cost reduction (Something like the automotive version of Moore's law). Well, some suppliers can't meet the target, and to make the numbers work, have to reduce the quality of certain parts... sometimes with disasterous results. Anyway, I try to solve the fire problem by always having a fire extinguisher in the car. But remember... NEVER open the hood fully if you have an engine fire, the flare up only helps the fire consume your car, and also, potentially, your face.

Great. I suppose I'll just put my car in my living room when I'm on the subway. Public transportation is fine, I've dealt with it for five years... but unfortunately, the NYC subway follows the traffic patterns New Yorkers used in 1910... so getting some places takes WAY too long. Sure, I can be a civilian and buy a Fit or take nothing but public transportation... but I'm not. I can adapt my car, and I'm willing to try it.

Yeah, too bad the Smart is not the greatest engineering exercise. For 12K, I think I can build something better... cue awful Paint edit:

Actually, the Mini (142 inches) is high on the list, and some of the earlier ones are getting cheap enough to leave on the street... but they are relatively long compared to the old Minis (120 inches). Of course, old Minis with registerable titles are either rustbombs or way too pricey. Xb... too long. 155 (1st gen) 167 (second gen) inches. Four doors makes it a real PITA to get out of. Focus is 168 inches at its shortest. 171 inches. I've already considered it... especally one with a 401. ;-) I would be more likely to get a Gremlin... 161 inches. I already have a AMC Eagle Kammback, which is an AWD Gremlin. I've often wondered how much length could be chewed off a Gremlin or Pacer without the bumpers. Yeah, I'm talking about NYC. Parking in LA, Chicago or Phoenix is a breeze. And I've actually parked the Caprice wagon (217 inches) in NYC countless times. The problem is that NYC doesn't put lines to deliniate the spots, so multiple cars can be parked in a "spot"... the coming and going people tend to leave irregular sized spots and the frigging inconsiderate @$$#0!3$ that park in the middle of two spots are really frustrating. Plus the hydrant rules, cutouts and other BS makes for alot of spaces that are unusable for normal cars. Add to that the alternate side BS for street sweeping that never comes by and its musical chairs. Or you can park in a garage at $$$ an hour... which has its own issues, I'd rather avoid. They say that 40-60% of the traffic in certain parts of town (West Village, Union Square, etc.) are people looking endlessly for parking. I'll probably just end up getting a Smart.

Ah! Thats the one. I knew I had seen one somewhat. Those are too long. I'm shooting for something in the 120~130 inch range. City car is all about parking. In fact, if I was building something, I'd try to equip it with a sideways driving parking setup. The Focus is interesting, due to the Roush bolt in V8 conversion kit... but that is real pricey. 6'4", but all torso. However, I'm not looking at size... as long as its not a tiny 4-door, I can get by with small 2-doors. Wish I could find a cheap fiberglass '32 Tudor body. I would really like to rat rod my city car.

Since I figure it will only be a matter of time before I have to cope with big city parking and BS, I have continued to search for a city car. I really want something that is short, wide, cheap, RWD coup and can keep up with the taxis. I considered the Smart, but it was too slow, too expensive (for what you got) and until lately, unobtainium. I've also considered Festivas and Metros, but they are too beat up for the desired price range. I thought about CJ5s or CJ7s, but most of them are also very pricey for whats out there. I also thought about doing a Frankenwagon... a GM wagon, shortened to two doors and a snub nose and the drivetrain relocated to the rear, a la Fiero. Too much cutting and rewelding. This brings me to my next thought... the old hot rods are fairly short... and I did the true Tudor (two door wagonish creations) cars. I thought a '32 Ford Tudor with a 3.8 SC FWD setup in the rear would be cool... the nose could then be shrunk down... Of course, this is crazy talk, and I realise this would be work, but I think it would be kinda interesting. Any thoughts? Has anyone ever seen a rear engined '20-'30s hot rod?

Wouldn't "My Tank Is Full" be a better byline for the RAM section than "I Am Ram"?

OMFG, I can't believe it has a rear fog light! Smells like new fad! As much as I'd like to knock, it, it looks competitive with the other little crap boxes. Due to the standard content, I imagine it won't be cheap. I'd like to see GM make a stripped version for a basement price. While, I'd never want something this small, I'd like to see a 2 door version... but I suppose thats why I still would buy the Smart for a citycar first.

IMHO, add it now. They've spent the money and started a public blitz, so they aren't going to reverse course now.

Burger King. Turkey Whopper. ;-) Seriously, no cooking here. Our local restaurant has a nice T-day deal that we've made a sort-of tradition.

Its isn't subtle... its just glaringly stupid. I don't think the original idea is so bad, but its the execution. To coin a phrase... Check bowtie template orientation twice, weld once.

Certainly one of a kind... stupidity like that is quite rare.

They weren't. Lincoln had the flush mounts first... '84, IIRC. Overall, this design is too modern... Unfortunately, modern styling is a Pandora's box that can't be closed when retro-designing cars. As someone who used to draw cars (and was pretty good at it), I can say that it is very difficult to add all the little trim bits and chrome to avoid designing an anachronism.

Yes, but flooring, you can get overflow from some contracters or put up flyers in supermarkets. As someone else noted, you work for commissions in RE and likely have to pay to be a part of a thriving office. It takes time to build up a base, and as lowest man in the RE office, you get the scraps... unless you hang around the office grabbing the first person that walks in the door. And many potential clients are 'tire kickers'. RE, to me, is something you have to be completely out of work to do, as you are going to donate most of your time and need to be available from 7a-9p, if you are lucky enough to show some houses. It also takes a ton of persuasion. I'm not saying its impossible, there are lots of agents out there, I just think these schools/classes make it look too easy.

I remember that one probably the most, as it turned up over and over in more models, then in other components, but mostly since I know of a Bronco that succumbed to that fate... I was delivering bulk newspapers at the time, and the Bronco owner was a carrier, so he left it parked on the street and unlocked, and I just put the papers right in the truck... one morning, the truck is there and its a burned out husk. I was shocked and more importantly, had no idea were to put the newspapers at 3am. ;-)

I've heard from friends that getting the license is fine, but you have to work hard to make good money, so its not necessarily good part-time work.

I thought for sure the punchline would have to do with Randy Quaid and his wife.

Just a fancy Vega. I like both. Monzas and their H-body brethren make pretty crazy drag cars. At the Pontiac Show and Go, there were a few Monza hatches on the track with the vintage, stock Pontiacs. A 4-door six cyl stocker would have a 18 second dial in going against a 9 sec Monza. The lights would go green and the Pontiac would be more than halfway down the track when the Monza started out... it would zip down the track and steal the victory from the stocker... Crazy.

As long as the Pontiacs don't look like warmed over Opels, it could have some serious positives.

Everything rusts eventually... my frigging '99 Bonne had a damn hole in it I had to fix after a few years... luckily it was an isolated problem. The early Vegas and Pintos rusted AT THE DEALERSHIP. The '74 Nova had rust around the taillights in its first year. Back then, the expectation was only that a new car would not have rust-through for at least 3 years... these cars didn't have galvanizing, undercoating and many internal surfaces didn't even have PAINT. In retrospect, its a wonder any of those cars survived. For every rusty four year old Vega and Pinto, I can recall a similar Aspen, Cutlass Supreme, Impala. I still feel that GM fixed alot of these problems by hiding them under chrome trim and later, plastic cladding. Look at the late '80s Astros... awful... but they look great until the rust finally creeps up 3~4 inches and the trim falls off.

IMHO, a good move. Luckily, the 'Cheers and Gears' name does not limit you to GM only news.

Again, I feel that was a early problem, later brought under control as they were built somewhat better. IIRC, the rust was less of a problem in either wagon than the other models... but this was not a problem limited to Vegas and Pintos. Our '74 Nova hatchback had early rust problems... and later, the hatchback caused a lot of rust problems. I sometimes think that the earlier cars (pre-'70) didn't have the fenders and seams sealed as well, so they didn't hold the water and muck, causing rust as much. the '74 Nova and '74 Vega both used to get a lake in the back... no wonder these cars rusted.

Well, you ARE crazy. Of course, so am I. I like the 2-door wagons... even the unloved Pinto and Vegas. Especially the rarer ones towards the end of the production run. There is more style in the Pinto wagon than all of modern Toyota can muster. Its the whole rear end fireball thing. Just like the Vega was vilified by the awful 2300 engine. These things got fixed... eventually. Otherwise, they weren't so bad. I know of many that survived for decades and 200K+ miles on nothing but duct tape. Most people here love looking down their nose at the Pinto, Vega, Gremlin, Pacer... but then again, thats only because they are spoiled by the modern crap. There was a time where this was BETTER than walking or taking the bus. Mostly. These are the same types that brag about their Prius, because they have no idea that a 20 year old Metro they would never consider good enough for a third world family beats them in mileage.