Robert Hall

This afternoon on Mud Farm Life. One of these is not like the others..

^ Don't care for the wicker basket grille on some recent Camaros..

Not an Impala SS, looks like it was a Caprice wagon that had the back roof removed.

Saw a sharp rumbly Chevelle today similar to what David saw above, with a big cowl hood and big wheels and tires..was a bright red '69. One odd sighting was a burnt out '70s VW Beetle cabriolet on the side of a freeway off ramp. On my street this evening saw a sharp taupe mid '80s Olds Cutlass Supreme 2dr w/ the T-tops (off). Drove past a farm out in the country that had an eclectic mix of dead yard cars sitting w/ grass growing up high around them near a barn--an older gray Mercedes ML AMG SUV, a silver Honda S2000, a gray BMW Z3 roadster, a mid 00s tan Lincoln Town Car, and a pale blue late 50s Chevy pickup w/ stake bed...

I like the new Z, never cared for the 370. I liked the 350. My favorite Z is still the 90s 300ZX. Alas, the rest of Nissan's current US lineup is mostly lame appliances w/ CVTs...

I'll forever be a Golden State fan and tourist...love the beaches in the San Diego/San Diego County and Orange County areas, the wine country, Highway 1, the California Dream mythology. The car culture, the computer geek culture is unmatched. I've enjoyed my visits to LA and SF, have had several job offers in the Bay Area in the past. Loved going to Rennsport Reunion at Laguna Seca, the Festival of Speed at Coronado Island, Indy Car races at Fontana, Long Beach and Infinion Raceway..should have moved to the Bay Area 25 years ago when I first had the opportunity... But it's become so expensive that the cost of living is hard to justify, even w/ the higher salaries.. ($150k/yr in Cleveland goes a lot farther than $250k in SF/SJ). Some of my favorite California/LA-themed songs.. Randy Newman 'I Love LA' And the whole 'To Live and Die in LA' soundtrack by Wang Chung, from the excellent William Freidkin film of the same title. And Dr Dre's and Tupac's excellent 'California Love'.

I guess the 'middle ground' is where the Tiguan fits in. At this rate, the Accord, Altima and Camry will be the last midsize family sedans available.

I suspect the Arteon will be gone soon also..I read they only sold 47 or so in the first quarter of 2022 in the US.

What is always fun also is the random pain-- climbing a flight of 4 steps and suddenly shooting pain in my right knee... or sneezing and getting sharp pain in my hip. Or getting out of my Jeep after driving two hours and having to hang on to the door to stand up. And I have a history of very little exercise and spending way too many hours in a cubicle. I'm trying to walk a lot more, get some exercise and keep my mind sharp so I don't end up like Captain Pike or an eggplant. I fear cognitive decline more than physical over all though. I don't want to end up a schizophrenic with dementia--several examples in my family.

Being past 50 has a lot to do with it... arthritis, knee and hip pain, back pain. Getting old is not for the weak. Sliding in and out of an SUV is a lot easier than getting down low to get in and out of a low sedan or sports car... I had forgotten about the Avista, that was a beautiful concept. Taillights are very Acura, though. Random styling thought--saw a Saturn Sky the other day, they had a nice rear end..the taillights and something about the shape remind me of a miniature '71-72 Toronado behind..

Saw a clean silver early Fiero on the road yesterday. Friday evening on I-77 saw two morons in late model Challengers racing each other on the freeway, darting in and out of traffic...one was really loud and in a camo paint scheme. The were driving side-by-side for a few miles, going maybe 10 over the flow of traffic, revving at each other. At one point, in the 3rd lane a dark blue current style Shelby GT500 rolls up beside them, then takes off like a blur.... the Challengers don't give chase, but continue to change lanes and goof around...until they come upon a silver OHP Charger in the median---which pulls out and lights up behind both of them, pulls over both of them...

Well, Dodge's EV slogan is something like 'rip up the streets' isn't it? I'm sure they will have audacious names...like Hellcat EVicerator, Charger Mutilator, or Ram Murder Beast, Ram DefEcator..

They could have done GV8E, G8E, G7E, etc...would be pronounced much the same as 80, 70, etc.

On the freeway tonight saw a clean dark red G6 convertible, top down. Don’t see those very often. Saw a red VW New Beetle convertible with the left rear taillight out and the right front headlight out. And as proof Ohio doesn’t do inspections saw a ratty early ‘00s Silverado that had the bed barely attached to the frame, so much rust,no tailgate and the left rear fender leaning in and strapped to the right one…only one taillight. The cab appeared partially detached from the frame also.

I’ve had 7 cars and SUVs over almost 36 years of driving. I tend to keep vehicles a long time…my brother went through lots of cheap rust buckets in the 70s and 80s.

The XT6 is a rebodied Arcadia, I think..same short 112.5 in wheelbase.

The BMW was my brother's...he was a fan of the movie 'The Transporter', I guess..it's an odd car for him, maybe the only imported car he ever owned (over 55 years of driving he probably had 50-60 cars total)...he had 2 BMW bikes also. Black on black 740iL. The Rangers are 1997 and 2009. The '89 Bronco II does have the same front as the Rangers of that era. The blue '68 Cougar and white '97 Explorer Sport were my Mom's cars, she drove that Cougar a lot in the 70s-80s. It has a 302, 3spd manual, no power steering or power brakes..less than 100k miles IIRC. My brother's dark green '69 Fairlane 4dr sedan is an odd one--390 4bbl, automatic, A/C, base trim w/ rubber mats. One of 8 built in that spec according to the Marti report I got. His maroon & white '68 Cougar is an XR-7 w/ the 390 4bbl and auto.

Yeah, I figured that was why the XT6 has such a short wheelbase and the others look better. Wasn't sure if the Lyriq was RWD + AWD or not.

My sister hates riding in my Jeep, swears her Trax is more comfortable and easier for ingress/egress.

Very different proportions. The Lyriq has a low roofline and long hood, the XT6 is more blocky and tall. Kind of like comparing the Velar with the Discovery maybe.

Actually, it’s 2 inches shorter than the XT6, but has a longer wheelbase (approx 9 inches) and short overhangs. The XT6 has a very short wheelbase for its size.

Yes, a 2000 740iL with an ‘89 Bronco II in front in it. The Bronco II is also in the pic in the open barn door. I have the keys for both, they have flat tires and dead batteries…

It's longer in wheelbase than the XT6, of similar OL, and about 5 inches lower... Porsche Cayenne is of similar size...but this has a 7 inch longer wheelbase, 3 inches longer overall, and an inch lower..don't know how they compare in interior volume, though. Wheelbase is about the same as the WL Grand Cherokee L.

Rain and mud, rain and mud, rain and mud. Now getting some warm sunny weather. 3-4 days a week I'm down at my mud farm working to clean up, clean out, and get my stuff out of the muck in preparation to unload it all. My sister and I have been able to find a fair number of old family photos and mementos. Now that it's warmer and dryer, I've been trying to get my late brother's vehicles up and running, so far no luck on getting most to start. Bought a few batteries, been trying to charge up others. Did get the '09 Ranger running and outside. I've found the keys to over half of them, got a locksmith to make keys for more last week. He couldn't key two of the motorcycles, one had a busted ignition and the other is '15 Triumph that requires the dealer to rekey. What a mess... My brother was obsessed with putting stickers and flags on his vehicles. All in all, it's been frustrating and sad to deal with all of this..but I knew it was inevitable (part of why I moved back to Ohio 5 years ago was the inevitability of dealing with the farm).

Speaking of seat comfort, now that I'm driving my Jeep 200 miles a day 4-5 times a week, I'm truly hating the seats..rock hard cushions and.the upper center bolster in the back is right where I have a pinched nerve between my shoulder blades. I've rented a 'Malibu or similar' from Hertz for an upcoming weekend trip to Syracuse because I can't imagine 10 hrs in the Jeep seats.. 5 years ago it didn’t bother me as much, but now I’m in pain on longer drives. For those that have driven a lot of late model vehicles, what do you think under $40k has the most comfortable seats for road trips? I like the Chrysler 300 a lot, but worry the seats would be the same since FCA/Stellantis...