A part of me will always love the e28 5-Series. While the e39 may get the credit for putting the M5 on the map in the minds of many enthusiasts. The original is still, and always will be, the best. I still regret not following through with a test drive of an well-used 535I of this vintage. I think it would have made fantastic daily. Even as it wrecked me financially. Ah well, there’s always hope for a project car! Anyway, here, the peerless Chris Harris, flogs one of his all time favorites. It’s hard not to see why.
TPW is off to the other coast for a long weekend in the Bay Area. I’ll be celebrating the nuptials of two very good friends, but that doesn’t mean Elle and I won’t make time for some road trip action! Here’s a quick preview of our route. Expect a road trip report as well as any interesting car sightings we may encounter. Until then, this is TWP signing off!
Well, the day had finally come, after many months of filling in as our full time car, Ruby was set to make her journey to the island to fulfill her destiny. Of course, anything related to Ruby has a tendency to get complicated and in this instance the terrestrial movements of the little rock we all call home and its only satellite dictated that high tide would arrive at 7am.
Now, 7am in itself isn’t that early, but when the car and driver in questions are located in Boston, and the island and ferry in Portland, Maine, the result is a very early morning. So it was that I awoke at a very unreasonable hour to begin Ruby’s last continental drive. Thankfully, we live in New England, a land of milk and honey, and plenty of 24 hour Dunkin’ Donuts.
Ruby runs on regular unleaded, I run on coffee.
Not surprisingly, you run into a number of strange characters at Dunkie’s at 4am. For instance the gentleman pictured sitting in the window was quite into his discman and conducting an invisible orchestra. Once I had coffee and pastries, I was ready to make my early morning, long distance strike on coastal Maine.
TPW does not in any way endorse taking photos with your iPhone while driving on deserted stretches of highway in the early morning hours.
Not surprisingly, I made very good time on my early morning journey and it didn’t even require any excessive “interpretation” of speed restrictions in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the great states of New Hampshire and Maine! I arrived at the bustling ferry terminal with plenty of time to spare before Ruby’s 7 am deadline.
Ruby slowly acclimates to her new reality.
After some waiting, the ferry arrived and I quickly said my goodbyes. However, being that this is Maine, a state not overly concerned with liability issues, the task of driving the old girl down the beach and up onto the waiting ramp of the ferry falls to me. Am I up to the task?
I can’t help but think of this as some sort of amphibious assault. Only, instead of GIs storming the beach we have retirees, and a flatbed truck full of junk.
Apparently, yes, yes I am up to the task. This whole affair has me feeling very manly actually!
Ruby is off to her next great adventure and semi-retirement. The next time she travels on this barge, she’ll most likely be towed on and on her way to the scrap yard to become razor blades, office furniture and beer cans. Until then she has a long life ahead of her on the island … or so we hope.
When I tell you Ruby’s going to a better place, it’s actually true.
And thus concludes a chapter of our life in Boston. For the time being, Elle and I are back to being car-less. Ruby wasn’t always the most comfortable, stylish, or even reliable form or transportation, but she was our ticket to mobility and for that we are grateful to both Ruby and Elle’s parents for granting us her stewardship! The next car Elle and I get will undoubtedly be more stylish, comfortable, and reliable but it just won’t be Ruby. Thankfully, we’ll never have to go far to spend time with the old girl.
My friend Shimon took these fantastic photos while exploring his native Toronto and during a visit to Paris a few years ago. I’ve gone ahead and made him TPW’s official Parked: Foreign Correspondent, because when you have a blog no one reads you can do that! I have also issued a challenge of sorts to Shimon, while I lived in Toronto I never got the sense that it was much of a town for interesting old iron. Sure, lots of flashy, garish and tacky new stuff, but seldom would I happen across an old Merc w128 parked on the street, or a bit of vintage Detroit muscle. Well, here’s hoping that during the summer months Shimon keeps his camera close at hand and proves me wrong with a series of continued submissions!
Porsche 356 Speedster in Toronto
Buick Eight in Toronto’s Kensington Market, can any intrepid Buick fans tell me the year?
Buick Eight
Porsche 356 Speedster in Paris
I’m trying to convince Elle’s brother that he should buy an e30 as a project car/daily. As if he’ll need any more convincing after watching this amazing promotion film for the whole 3-Series range. I always keep my car parked right next to the pool like they do in this clip. For safety!
I wasn’t sure if I was going to find autocross exciting or not. Well, after my first event, I can safely say, even as a spectator, it’s a blast! The New England Region chapter of the SCCA put on a great event, and I’m eager to go back for more. Once I’m re-wheeled, I think I will try my hand at a turn on the course. For about $25 I can’t imagine a better way to have fun on a Sunday.
The interesting collection of cars and the low key, friendly atmosphere really made for a great first introduction to the sport. When I say the cars were interesting I mean it. I expected a field swamped with Miatas and e30s, but I’m happy to report a diverse selection of interesting iron. It’s really a run what you brung affair. From the rather lowly Nissan Altima and Ford Focus to a fully blown and built LT1 powered C4 Corvette putting out around 600hp and a Nissan GTR. My personal favorite had to be the mean looking 3rd generation Chevy Nova. Something about its bright paint, big motor, and gray stamped steel wheels really caught my eye. The few owners and drivers I talked were friendly and eager to talk about their cars and the hobby.
In concept, autocross might not seem to have much appeal to the spectator, but in practice I certainly enjoyed my first outing. I think there’s a subtlety and nuance that one probably learns both by observing and participating. I know I like the observation part, now I’m eager to try my hand at participation! So without further ado, on to the gallery. If you’re thirst for my terrible photography isn’t slaked by these, please check out the fullset at Flickr.
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- Mazda 2
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- Looks like it could be a 427, didn’t have a chance to ask the driver
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- The paddock
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- The most serious cars here were a handful of race prep’d VWs, including this Scirocco
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- Fat rubber
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- The 12 Ford Focus made me smile. The aftermarket wheels, ick not so much.
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- Chevy Nova. This was one of my favorite cars.
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- This is my friend Jon’s RX-8, I can’t fully tell if he managed to get both driver’s side wheels off the ground in this turn. Either way, its awesome.
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- Lotta love for the guy with the Volvo 240.
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- Who says hybrids can’t be fun? Well, I do, but this guy sure looked like he was having a blast.
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- Mustang GT getting a little tail happy
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- The kids can play too!
Unless you’ve been under a rock, you’ve probably heard all about the Subaru BRZ and whatever its Scion twin is called – FT-86? FR-S? AE-86? Ugh, I can never remember, so we’ll just stick to the BRZ, which despite its stupid alphabet soup name, is easier to remember. Anyway, sorry for the long digression.
What’s in a name? Well, recognition for one thing…
Where was I? Oh, right, as you’ve no doubt heard it shouted from the buff books, the interweb blogs and the dark recesses of the fan boy forums, there’s a new sheriff in town and it is awesome. The BRZ is the enthusiasts car de jour this year so take a hike BMW 1-Series M-Coupe (also want to talk about awkward names?)
The BRZ has invited comparisons to many different cars. Motor Trend has a slick video with the impossibly lanky Angus Mackenzie waxing lyrically (or not) about it and comparing it to the V6 powered, track-pack equipped Mustang.
Then there’s this Japanese clip showing the Mazda MX-5 battling the fraternal twins at Motegi. It’s sort of a Japanese RWD Battle Royale, or for the uninitiated, the Hunger Games: Gran Prix. (the ed. of TPW would like to apologize for that reference in poor taste)
The boys over at EVO have even got into the craze, with their decidedly left field comparison of the BRZ vs the Renault Megane 265 Trophy. Their conclusion is quite surprising, actually.
Of course its only a matter of time before we see the BRZ vs the Nissan 370Z, the BRZ vs the Hyundai Genesis, the BRZ vs the Apache gunship. Really, I should start a Tumblr meme blog for the BRZ vs things.
I suppose this trend is a result of the dearth of light weight, RWD sports cars available right now. Que the typical lamentation of the poor, abused enthusiasts – “the manufactures don’t get us, they build bland cars, blah, blah, blah.” Anyway, I’m curious about the BRZ, I don’t think one would ever be right for me (the V6 Mustang kind of speaks to me in a weird way), so like any good enthusiasts I’ll keep lapping up the coverage until the auto media moves on to the next Big Thing and we begin the song and dance again.
Tomorrow I’m headed up to Devins-Moore airfield where the New England Region chapter of the SCCA is holding its Spring Conage autocross event. I’ll only be going as a spectator this time as I don’t think autocrossing a 16 year old, clapped out, non-turbo volvo station wagon would go over so well. But I’m excited nevertheless. This could be the start of something big for me, a new love — racing! Check back tomorrow for a follow up and more pictures!
Naturally, all this thinking of autocrossing has me trolling the likes of ebay and Craigslist looking for a cheap old e30 runner that I could turn into a project car. Hopefully, someday I’ll have the extra scratch and space for such a thing, and hopefully it will be before all the e30s are hooned to death or turned to dust. After all, isn’t it in some enthusiast rulebook that gearhead should own an e30 at least once in their life? If not, it ought to be.
I’m sure all autocrossing is done sideways, full of opposite lock and tiresmoke. Right?
Or actually don’t, because I must have it! Oh, BaT why must you torment and tempt me so!
Swoon!
After watching this three part series by Matt Farah and the crew at The Smoking Tire, I’m thinking Ruby might be ready for autocross after my shadetree maintenance revived her last weekend. The Jetta has 160,000 odd miles, Ruby currently sits at 175,000. The Jetta has the sublime VR6 engine, Ruby has the non-turbo modular 2.3 engine. I’m mean beyond that they’re like the same car!
Also, one day the TPW might have some semblance of an editorial staff, and even be able to offer some short film clips. For now, I’ll have to let the Smoking Tire suffice. Hey, just as I can dream about autocrossing Ruby, I can dream about big things for TPW.
