June 23, 2010 by Chris Keen
Rarely but rarely, I get the urge to torture myself by actually driving one of the old jalopies in the RustyButTrusty fleet. This time, it was the spider’s turn to do the dirty work (and it was actually quite dirty) and be the ride for my father and me on the 2010 Motherlode 400. Now, you’d think something called the Motherlode 400 would be 400 miles long… but it’s not. It was actually about 300 miles a day, Saturday and Sunday, plus another 300 to get to the start/finish in Jackson/Sonora, CA, respectively.
These weekend drives are actually surprisingly strenuous, on driver, passenger, and car. By the time we reached the top of the 9624-ft. Sonora pass (highly recommend it, it’s like if they put great driving roads in Yosemite – not that I’m suggesting that, but the roads are narrow and the views are tremendous) on the 108, the car was panting and we were doing mostly second gear to keep the power on tap.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: alfa romeo, Driving, italian, spider
Posted in Driving | 2 Comments »
June 14, 2010 by Chris Keen
Since I’ve been writing fewer posts, I seem to have cut back to featuring my favorites. Looks like they’re mostly Italian cars that are affordable enough, yet modern enough in spec to be used as daily drivers. And I’ve mentioned it before, but they almost all seem to use the same formula – rear wheel drive, twincam fours, 5-speed manual transmissions. Mostly I also try to feature cars that are running, but recently I’ve spotted a couple that I still think are worth mentioning in quickie format.
The first one is a Fiat Spider. All Fiat Spiders get cool points in my book, even though they’re still fairly common in northern California, but I’m a bigger fan of the early models (AS and BS) with their delicate chrome bumpers, hubcaps, and (sometimes) flat hoods. They have a much more delicate look about them that is probably closest to how Tjaarda intended them to be. And since they were often kept as second cars, you can still find them in pretty decent shape for short money. That brings us to our first example, a 1972 spider in Campbell, CA (near San Jose) for $1606.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: 115, 124, alfa romeo, berlina, BS1, Feature, Fiat, italian, spider, under $2000
Posted in Feature | Leave a Comment »
June 12, 2010 by Chris Keen
Of all the Japanese car brands, you’d think this one would have appeared here before. Subarus have an oddball history, with unusual styling, flat-4 engines, and all-wheel drive. And while many Japanese makes started out quirky, and gradually went mainstream, Subaru has stayed somewhat true to its roots, making its quirks into its key differentiators (sorry for the business-dork speak). Although, to be honest, Subaru has gone more mainstream in the dimensions of its cars, and has added frames to its windows. But on some level, that’s where all cars are moving as automotive technology matures even further – less than optimal solutions fall by the wayside.
Anyway, enough rambling! Let’s get back to the oddball cars. Subarus back in the 1970s were really pretty weird; maybe not so weird in the context of the other cars on the road when they were new, but with attrition and some hindsight, they are rather unusual cars. Beyond that, they had some pretty strange bodystyles, and while not terribly powerful, built a reputation for being tough and good in bad weather. Which brings us a car that’s become iconic for Subaru, with a famous seating arrangement. Our main feature for today is a Subaru Brat, which is listed for $2900 in the Canton area, north of Atlanta, GA.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Feature, japanese, subaru, brat, 360, van
Posted in Feature | 3 Comments »
