Central Valley Classic Cars - Life With Cars

Monterey Car Week Engines

2010-08-17T19:07:00Z

At this years, events, I found myself snapping pictures of engines this year. Had I put any thought into it a head of time, I would have gone out of my way to get important engines from each of the great marques. But I didn’t. So here’s a somewhat random collection of the expensive metal that was on the Moneterey Peninsula for the 2010 events.

Lotus Trouble Log:

2010-07-16T04:27:00Z

I finally feel like a true Lotus owner. It happened when I started working on my car more than I drove it.

I’ve noticed in myself and from time to time in friends that there’s a common tendency to think other people don’t have problems. For instance when you’re fighting with your significant other it often seems like the couples around you are perfect and must never fight. Or since this website is about cars that because I only head news about some guy’s project when there’s a significant moment of success, that everything ‘some guy’ does must just work. If you stop to think about it, this idea is ludicrous. But all the same, this false idea can be very discouraging when faced with the reality of your own project. You (or I) are always very aware of all of the problems you (or I) are having while you’re (sigh. . . or I’m) often not aware of of problems other people are having. (You get an “A” in reading if you understood that sentence in less than 3 re-reads)

One of the most encouraging experiences during the ordeal that has been sorting out of my engine swap has been reading CAN AM by Pete Lyons. The book chronicles every Can-Am race from 1966 to 1974 and what struck me was reading about how often and how many teams suffered major car failures during each race weekend. In a weird imaginary sort of bonding way, it made me feel better about the struggles I was facing, and I’d like to pass on the favor.

So below is a log of the bigger problems/jobs I’ve had to do since ‘completing’ my engine swap.

1st Day (of the car coming back to Santa Cruz): Engine began hunting wildly. Found a website which explained the cold air circuit was the problem and to cap it off with a spare tire valve cap.

2nd Day: Accessory Belt came off: I thought it was caused by the notch in the frame I made being too near the pulley. So with a small hacksaw, spent the next week cutting the notch bigger and welding in more re-enforcement all WHILE the engine was in the way. To this day that may be the proudest accomplishment I have. . . . of anything anywhere.

2nd Week: Tensioner idler pulley mount broke as I was tightening down the tensioner with the new belt on it. I had two choices. Pull the engine to get it off or cut a hole in the firewall. I cut a hole. I then made a window/portal thing through the firewall which I am mildly proud of.

3rd Week: I decided the shifter just wasn’t working well enough. Sometimes I’d grab 3rd gear accidently when I thought I was going into 1st. I spent the next week with my arm in the access hole making modifications and adjustments. Also noticed that the fuel pump was trying to work its way out of the car.

4th Week: Thinking the car was doing good and ready for more active duty I started it up to go visit Niles. The accessory belt came off. I just quickly put it back on, not knowing why it came off.

4th Week: (Same trip to Nile’s place) The car cut out on me. I realized I had no electricity so I opened the front hood where the battery is and found the battery was shorting and that I had a small electrical fire. The car then had its first tow home. Problem turned out to be a few stray strands of wire at the starter which had came out of their shielding and found their way to the engine block.

5th Week: Finally fixed windshield wipers with a new switch (they stopped working shortly before I did the engine swap).

6th Week: Some of my shifter modifications came undone, made more adjustments. Windshield wipers quit working again. I didn’t bother investigating.

The next couple of weeks saw lots of test miles and some extended (35 mile) freeway runs.

8th Week: I installed the new adjustable lower links on the rear suspension correcting the alignment problem caused by the engine swap.

9th Week: Planned a trip back to Merced in the car. I decided to go through an extensive checklist of things on the car to make sure everything was holding together properly. Everything looked good except the accessory belt which was trying to come off again. Finally figured out the cause (the tensioner pulley had a slight angle to it so I corrected it with a washer.

10th Week: A bad weld on one of my cable shifter attaching points broke. The exhaust tip tried to work its way off.

11th Week: Fixed windshield wipers again. They stopped working again a few days later.

12th Week (okay I really don’t know which week each of these things has happened but this is approximate): Figured out what’s wrong with the windshield wipers (I think) but haven’t applied a solution. Added the front chin spoiler to cure the car’s lift at freeway speeds.

Currently the car has 37 test miles on it with out a major problem and with the accessory belt staying in place.

I’m getting there.

A man walked by one day while I was fixing the exhaust tip and asked about what I was doing. I explained and with out prompting he encouraged me, reminding me that when I started I had EVERYTHING to fix. Now its down to one little thing at a time. That’s a comforting thought.

Why?!?

2009-10-06T01:23:00Z

The first question that you should be asking is what in heaven or earth (or somewhere more sinister) could have possessed me to buy a Europa?

I could tell you that I absolutely love the car, but that doesn’t really answer the question but merely begs: Why do I love this funny looking little trouble maker of a car?

Having owned a lot of interesting metal (and fiberglass) over the years I’ve noticed my way of looking at cars has changed. No my eyes haven’t gone. Ha ha. What has happened is that my criteria for liking a car has been freed up.

It used to be that I skipped to the end of car reviews to read the stats. To find out, mathematically which car was faster. That was what mattered right? I mean I need to know that my car is superior (and speed is primary way to judge that) to whatever car is next to me at a stoplight. But there is a tiring problem with that (besides the possibility of driver error which can easily make the fastest car slow). Its expensive. I can’t afford a car that is faster then 5 seconds from 0 to 60. So I bought what I could afford and then made it faster. But that still costs too much money. And cost can really suck the fun out of things. For instance I would thoroughly enjoy cruising around Italy in a rented Ferrari. But that would mean I wouldn’t be able to afford anything but rice and beans to eat for a couple years. And that takes some of the fun out of tooling around Europe in an Italian thoroughbred. So I don’t do that.

But two things have happened that have left my primary criteria rendered moot. The first is where I live now. When I was in the valley the road are smooth, straight and intersections are so big they seem designed for drag racing rather than for traffic control (not that I encourage such illegal behavior). But over here in Santa Cruz, we don’t have many multiple lane intersections. Roads are never straight and are only smooth for a week after they’ve been resurfaced. Worse is our freeway on-ramps. One of my favorite pass times in my old Mach 1 was slowly getting onto an on-ramp and then seeing how quickly I could get to free-way speed. But that was in Merced where on-ramps are straight and uphill (making power all the more important). Over here our on-ramps are all giant centrifuges that fling you onto the the freeway where you find the average speed of traffic is 45mph. Much unlike HWY 99 where the people seem to mistake the name of the road for the speed limit. What we do have here though is tight twisty back and mountain roads, and that lends itself to a car that maintains speed through corners rather then a car that builds speeds on straights.

All of this is then compounded by the experiences I’ve had in different cars. Since my days of hopping up old Mustangs (I still contend they are one of the best all around fun cars to work on and play with) I’ve driven a LOT of different cars from all over the world with all kinds of different drive-train arrangements. And what I’ve learned (what Ferrari has been preaching for years) is that its not about the numbers. Its about how a car feels.

There is a saying that, ‘driving a slow car fast is more fun then driving a fast car slow.’ Its so true. I’ve come to love old cars for their sensory input. For the noise and shakes that the cars make. So that when you’re doing 40 mph it feels like you’re riding a rocket ship ready to explode. That is more fun on a daily basis then sitting in an uber-Mercedes and when traveling 90 mph falling asleep from boredom. In that sense its also safer.

But none of that really mattered until I got over something. How I felt my car represented me. It used to be that if there was something wrong with my car, I had to fix it immediately. I wouldn’t ever have to say to someone, sorry, the car’s not working right now. This is important because my cars were always my projects and I felt these projects, because they were what I spent my time doing, represented me. I never wanted to say “I have such and such great car.” And then when asked if I could show it have to say “Well no, its on blocks right now, and primered and the engine is in pieces in my living room.” That was, in my mind something I would never let myself become, even though I knew such a condition was always looming.

But that was when I was single. Now I’m married and since my primary goal in impressing anyone was to meet women, I don’t feel so tied down to what a normal (non-car person, usually women) thinks of me. I’ve had some really great cars over the years and my wife’s opinion has ranged from not caring to not liking them. So I have no one to impress but myself.

It feels so much better. If a car has a problem now, I save it for a free weekend and actually enjoy doing the work. Its something constructive to do. The freedom also means I don’t worry as much about what the car says about me when I pull up to places. People (usually women) tell me how ugly such and such a car is (usually really famous race car that they know nothing about, just as I know nothing about Ballet) and I just shake my head and think, ‘they don’t understand.’ Which is great because opinions like those keeps value on certain fun, fast, but ugly cars low. And low value to others translates to affordability to me.

You may think then that because of my apathy towards image that I’m able to compromise and thus buy a less expensive ‘fun’ car. That is not the case at all. I’ve come to love ugly cars. I find that they are more fun then beautiful cars because you don’t worry about them. You don’t spend your weekends waxing them just to curse the rain and bird poop that came out of nowhere hours after you finished. Or have your day ruined by a new door ding courtesy of some careless person at Cost-Co (I will find you one day and take my revenge!). Ugly cars can be tossed, raced, enjoyed and not worried over. And to me, ugly is better then boring.

So why the Europa? Its got all the novel things I like; British, wood dash, mid-engined, non-powered steering. And it is what I love. It is FUN to drive. Sensory input galore, 30mph feels like 50, steering that makes a Ferrari feel like a lumbering giant (in comparison it is, this car makes a Miata look big). And despite its ugliness, it looks great in Le Mans style stripes (I’ve always wanted to paint these stripes on a car but never had one that would like right with them). Driving is a joy again. I make up excuses to go anywhere in the car, just because its so much fun to slam its gear shift around and zig-zag down straight roads just because the cars agility feels so un-earthly.

I also deeply connect with the spirit of the engineering in the car. Okay that sounds really bizarre but here’s what I mean: I’ve often dreamt up how I think a car should be designed. True I feel my ideas are better looking then the Europa but the engineering is in total agreement. Mid-engined, and light. I don’t need or even want all the things put into cars today that make them weigh 2 tons. 2 TONS!!! Why do I need to move 4000lbs around when 90 percent of the time I’m the only thing that needs moving? To put it in perspective, why would I pay for gas to move 4000 lbs just to move 170lbs? Even if I have a buddy with me, that’s still less then 400 lbs for both of us together. The Europa weighs in at 1400lbs. That means it takes a lot less power to go fast. Which means less fuel too. Which means less emissions.

Its then kind of a bonus, living in Santa Cruz where everyone claims to be greener then they are. I get to say, my vintage sports car AVERAGES 35mpg without overdrive (which I hope to add one day). Apparently I’m saving the environment one Lotus at a time.

And all of that is besides the wonderfully snug feel of the interior, the vintage gauges, the feeling that the car could convert into an airplane if I could just find the lever that makes it do that. And I can’t forget to mention that it is the easiest car to work on that I’ve ever owned by a wide margin. Or that its the kind of car I don’t feel guilty about customizing with my personal mechanical modifications and the aforementioned stripes.

So when you see me driving around in the tiny little British racer, looking like my legs have been amputated, you’ll know. I’m actually having the time of my life.

Buying A Lotus

2009-09-25T03:59:00Z

The problem with telling this story is that nothing interesting happened. Sure, I ended up with one of Chapman’s little Bread Vans, but 500 miles in a vintage Lotus during the blazing heat of summer should have been ripe with struggles. And it just wasn’t.

It all started with my last Lotus. I only owned the car a mere three weeks, but in those few weeks it left a lasting impression. I was hooked and bent on getting another one as soon as I could afford it. Unfortunately the term afford becomes awfully vague when saving up for a span of multiple years. Things inevitably happen. Changes that affect priorities. The first was my office moving from walking distance from my house to somewhere further. The distance wasn’t the problem though. The problem was that I did occasionally drive to work. Which was fine, we had parking at the old building. But in our new place parking was only in a multilevel garage with prepaid parking permits. And my only car has no roof or windows. So a paid for (and expensive) parking permit could be easily stolen.

That’s okay, I’ll move the time table up and get myself another Lotus. If I needed a car with a roof it might as well be a Lotus, right? I was going to save up more money then I spent on my last Esprit Turbo and get a nicer Esprit Turbo, one of the Peter Steven’s styled cars. But I’d be happy with a cheaper older Esprit Turbo if I had to get one sooner than planned. The older, and worse shape its in, the less I would worry about it. Great.

And then more changes. I went to Africa. I liked it. Wait, no I didn’t. It made the Valley in summer feel like Antarctica. But still I want to go back. And do more traveling in general. So what if I found an even cheaper car that was fun like the Esprit? More money saved for other things. Toyota used to make that MR2 thing. Lotus even helped them design the first version. But the second generation offered a turbo. And turbo’s are fun. I could get one of those for half the price of an old Esprit in bad shape.

Then Car Week hit. I couldn’t have a Toyota. That would be too wise or responsible or something. All things I aspire to avoid. I wanted another Lotus. But I want a mid-engined car and I need something with a roof. Now Lotus hasn’t made that many different models so that really narrowed it down. I had seen old Europa’s for sale before but never in person and thus never gotten to drive one. I didn’t know if it would cut it. Especially with my wife’s comments that it looks like an ‘alien baby hearse.’ All that changed at the Monterey Historic Races. I saw for the first time in person; a Lotus Europa. It was tiny. I loved it.

I went right home and found two for sale in the LA area. Not exactly convenient but doable (and the price was just what I was looking for). I should mention there was also one in San Francisco, and another in Monterey, but neither was running and the most important thing I needed to know about the car was that it was fun to drive. So after a few failed attempts to fly down there with a buddy, I made plans with my wife to visit her family in Bakersfield. The trip would provide a stepping stone to LA where I made arrangements to see one of the Europas.

The weekend came and with it, record heat. Santa Cruz was over a hundred degrees. SANTA CRUZ! The boardwalk was reporting 93 degrees a few yards from the waters edge. And this was the weekend I would be traveling inland and possibly driving home in a 40 year old car with no A/C, which I’m sure would break down, leaving me to sweat it out on the blazing hot asphalt ribbon running 500 miles between my start and stop points.

Seeing the car in person didn’t excite me to the point of forgetting the 108 degree heat out that day, or the fact that the car wasn’t in LA, but Costa Mesa, and extra 45 minutes south. It was even more awkward looking then I remembered. Its particularly odd shade of blue inspired my wife to call it the ‘Smurf Alien Baby Hearse.’ I knew full well why everybody save my two closest friends were either adamant that I not buy the car or avoided replying to my emails of pictures of the car completely. Its not as awkward looking in person as it is in photos. But it is awkward.

It was in worse cosmetic condition then I thought but mechanically impressive. I was expecting the opposite, and that threw me a little, but I progressed with the testing and took the car out for a drive. It was fantastic. It felt very little like the Esprit. It was a combination of the same nimbleness but with an old car simplicity. It felt classic. From the cockpit with its simple wood dash full of all the necessary gauges and lack of sound deadening, it reminded me of the Trans Am racing Boss 302’s that I dreamed of turning my old Mach 1 into.

Needless to say I bought it. And drove the thing 200 miles to Bakersfield. And then another 200 miles to Merced. All in 100+ degree weather. And neither I nor the car was fazed by the heat. I filmed much of the trip, hoping for some Lotus-itis to make for a memorable documentary about the crazy guy trying to drive a Lotus 500 miles without a breakdown and all the breakdowns he then endured. But the car let me down (by not letting me down).

I presented the car to my Dad, I would be leaving it with him for a week until I could come back and paint some racing stripes on it (I needed to do something to help the car’s looks). He warmed up to it. Perhaps just because I already owned it and there was no reason to berate my purchase. Or perhaps the drive in it changed his mind (he left some tire marks in the driveway).

A long week of sitting at work thinking about what all I’d do to the car when I paint the stripes later, I came back to Merced and fulfilled a long time dream of mine. To have a car with Le Mans style racing stripes. And for the first time in a long time, I had my own car again. A car which I tuned to my preferences and driving style. Which is modified in ways I think are better. Which is blue with white stripes (that I decided on, designed and painted). It feels right to. Not too showing, not expensive, plenty interesting, and not full of gadgets I don’t want, will break down, and add weight. Its like a race car. Its just right for me, and I now remember how good it feels to take a car out for a drive, just to take the car out for a drive. Criticize its looks all you want, I love it.

It made the last 100 miles to Santa Cruz without a hitch and its winning over the people who told me not to buy it one by one. Not that I care terribly much. I spent the money and I’m glad I did.

Racing is Doomed: 'Go Like Hell' Review

2009-09-22T19:24:00Z

I don’t want to sound prophetic; to be one of those people who says they know the future and give an exhaustive list of evidence to why they are right. It seems that most of the time, these predictions turn out false. I mean technically, Chrysler still exists despite all who foretold its demise at the beginning of the year.

That’s not what I’m claiming. Doomed is merely the conclusion I’ve come to after reading the history of the Ford GT40 in A.J. Baime’s book, Go Like Hell.

The problem as I see it is progress. The same progress that allows you to read this collection of words on your television like screen thingie. Hold on, let me take you through my thought process.

The world of racing in the mid sixties is not like the racing of today. ‘Go Like Hell’ is a gripping story of brave and talented men risking their lives every time they set out in a race car. And when I say ‘risk their lives’ it is no mere exaggeration for dramatic purposes. It felt like someone died in every chapter of the book. Whether a rookie driver or a world famous star racer, people’s lives ended commonly on the track. And thankfully, for the lives its saved, progress has put all but a stop to death in world class racing. It still happens yes, racing is still dangerous but to put it into context, in the early 60’s there were actual debates about weather or not to put seat belts in race cars. Things have changed.

I’m not claiming then that the progress I’m referring to is bad. It is after all progress. But still, some of the romance is missing. Yes I know that sounds horrible but its true. Men in general like the idea of laughing in the face of death. Of heroes. Of men who succeed against truly dangerous opposition. The greater the sacrifice, the greater the glory. Or something like that. I don’t believe that the safety, the saved lives is a bad thing. Of course it is good, but the loss of adventure is an unfortunate side effect. That said, lets switch gears a bit and I’ll continue with something that sounds less offensive.

As progress in technology has increased two things have happened: Race cars have gotten further and further from cars people can actually buy and drive, and the cost of racing has sky-rocketed.

The first thing has bothered me for a long time. NASCAR used to use a term that meant something. I’m referring to of course the words ‘Stock Car’. That meant that the cars were stock. Or at least were only modified with parts that any old enthusiast could go down to his local dealer and buy. That built a fan base with a marque and allowed fans to identify with the cars they cheered for. I can just picture a marketing person in the 60’s saying, “Why don’t we make it easier on all the manufacturers and make them all race the same car, just with different painted bodies on them. Fans will still cheer for their brands. It doesn’t matter that the cars have nothing to do with the models they are named after.” Had someone actually said that back then, I’d like to think they’d have been drawn an quartered.

But I will concede that NASCAR is very popular today. With its fake cars. That’s fine. Good for it. Can we have then a new racing league for actual stock as in stock from the dealer, cars? Yes they can be fitted with roll cages and harnesses but outside of that. . . .

Trans-Am racing started out on the right track back then too. But it too lost its way. And disappeared.

And to get back to the book, look at Le Mans racing. I still enjoy the GT1 and GT2 classes for having varying degrees of relation to cars I could (if I had money) go and buy. But the ‘prototype’ cars raced in the 60’s would be considered GT1 cars today. There are people who used their GT40’s on the streets. That would never happen with a Peugot whatever its called.

About the only thing I can think of that hasn’t changed is Formula 1 (and other open wheel leagues) but that’s only because they were never ‘normal’ cars to begin with.

And this leads into the second problem. The cost. This to me is the greatest problem. Because it destroys something that though universal is very strongly tied to the American Dream.

When it costs hundreds of millions of dollars to race successfully in a major series, we lose the opportunity for the underdog success stories. For the chicken farmer that has a good idea and a strong commitment and takes on the worlds best. For an aluminum salesman to revolutionize two of the top racing leagues in the world and brings the established racing royalty to its knees. Its that dream of no matter what your status in life, if you have a good idea and work hard you can accomplish anything. Its the tie to the common man and the drama that ensues, the hope, the struggles and finally the win that makes racing great.

Or maybe that’s just how I see it. Luckily there’s books like ‘Go Like Hell’ out there to thrill me with stories of the Golden Age of racing. I highly recommend picking it up.

As the Tumble Weeds Blow By

2009-05-20T23:46:00Z

It seems a bit like a ghost town around here lately, but we are still here and we are still busy chronicling the California Central Valley classic car experience.

Well, really we’ve been busy with a lot of other stuff like day jobs and non-car family stuff. But Ben is still saving for another Lotus and the Jaguar XK8 is still in the garage waiting to be worked on (and there are some updates on that are in the publishing queue). And we’re finally going to get around to implementing Emma’s original layout & design for the site.

We missed the Springtime Reunion Car Show out at the Castle Air Museum this year, but I hope to have a report and pictures via a friend.

We hope things will pick up as the car recreation of the summer kicks into high gear.

Lotus Esprit Turbo: Classic or Cheesy?

2008-12-07T22:08:00Z

Its an interesting time as more and more cars age on into the classic status. We’re becoming faced with what to do with certain cars whose styles haven’t held up to the test of time quite as well as others.

True beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I’m sure there are people out there who think a DeLorean is a quite the looker. I am not one of them. I love hot rods, I love pre-war cars of all kinds, I love cars from the 40’s 50’s and 60’s. Even some 70’s cars I have described as stylish or otherwise good looking. But deep in the 70’s and into the 80’s something went terribly wrong (at least for my tastes). Maybe all that LSD and free love had the bulk of its negative effects on car design (well music didn’t make it through unscathed either). But none the less, these cars are passing the 25 year mark in their age and that is the beginning of the process of classic-fication.

A while back you may remember that I was looking for a new “fun” car that would be a blast to drive, mid-engined preferably and not so good looking (anywhere from just not an absolutely perfect paint job to ugly) that I wouldn’t worry about keeping it in pristine shape, and could just have fun with. Take a glance at the photo gallery and I think you’ll see that I found exactly what I was looking for.

While I’m sure a Boxster is a better all around car, the 1985 Lotus Esprit Turbo you see here is cheaper, at least as fast, but more importantly, much more of a blast to drive.

Well let me qualify that statement. I don’t get to do a lot of highspeed, long distance freeway cruising anymore. I drive twice a week around small curvy roads which may or may not be traffic laden. What I decided I wanted then was a car that felt like you were blasting down the road even when you were doing 45mph. And let me tell you, I found one that feels like its going to explode when you’re doing 30. Boxsters are far too well engineered to act like that.

Sure the car will probably break down about every thousand miles (if I’m lucky) but what’s a toy car if you don’t get to work on it?

The answer to that question is fun, but lets forget about that for a moment.

For about the price of the cheapest new car you can buy on the market today, I picked up this silver Lotus and I have loved every moment of driving it. I was worried that the dated looking style would bother me (I think Peter Stevens did a much better job in his work on the later Esprits), that I wouldn’t want to be thought of as the gold medallion man (a phrase used inside Lotus itself) that drives the old Lotus. And the Esprit doesn’t have a rich racing history, and though Lotus does, I hardly see how their formula one success translates to this backbone-frame car.

But I don’t care. Two seconds behind the wheel and none of that matters. I’m too busy trying to massage my face from the pain of smiling too much.

The engine, its turbo whine and waste gate belching all happen right behind your head which at any speed is a satisfying bit of sensory input. And then there’s the steering and handling. With no power steering in sight, the feel for the road is more than you get in most cars and wiggling the wheel telegraphs to your hands that the car isn’t like a go-kart, it is a go-kart and is at least as responsive.

Then there’s the actual handling. While its amazingly composed on a mountain road, what I wanted was something that would be fun anywhere and this is. You can take 90 degree turns (which there are plenty of in any city) at several times the proper speed and the car doesn’t seem to care. It just does it. No lean, no understeer, no commotion of any kind. And the feel it gives is uncanny. Its like the moment before the tale breaks loose in any other car, but in this, no fishtailing, just this feeling of nothing keeping you from changing direction at any rate you’re brave enough to try.

So I have my new perfect toy. Well I did. Thing is the economy collapsed and we had some financial scares so I decided I better sell the car and wait for sunnier days to buy a mid engined British sports car. And unfortunately, the car is already sold.

I only had it a few weeks. But in that time its made a huge impression on my wife and I. She even likes its looks (no comment) but we both agree it is tremendous fun and we will get another one. . . someday.

In the mean time I should probably do some more growing up and saving money. But if you want to get a better idea of life with a Lotus check out this video we made before it went to its new owner:

Lotus Saturday Video

Oh and for the record: I’ve owned a Lotus that never broke down (while I owned it).

Porsche Blues

2008-09-16T19:45:00Z

This is a disappointing day.

I WAS going to write a cleverly bantering article about how much I dislike Porsches, using every turn, rub, and joke I’ve picked up in my years of being a fan of all things British. And I know some good ones. But to keep it fun I would also be admitting Porsche’s achievements (and the fact that they don’t use Lucas electronics) in their sports cars and was planing on topping the whole thing off with the announcement that despite all that I had just written, my new car was going to be a Boxster.

See that’s what I had planned. That was before I visited a bay area dealer ready, to trade in my XK8 and drive home in something smaller, lighter, sportier, and with the engine in that ever exotic location: the middle. What happened there changed everything. I knew I would only be getting a few thousand for my beautiful Jag despite how meticulously (and expensively) I had maintained it. And I knew the Boxster I’d be buying would be in a noticeably used condition. I wanted it that way. I wanted a car I didn’t worry about all the time.

Then I test drove it.

Nothing struck me about it, other than the poor visibility due to the dealer’s stickers on the windshield (but the car can’t be faulted for that). It drove well. But that was it. It just drove well. Yes it was nimble and had a tight turning radius but I do quite well with my longer Jag already. It was fairly fast too but that was the first real problem. I was getting on it in third gear and thought, ‘this car just isn’t fast.’ Then I looked down at the speedometer and realized I had passed the speed limit a while ago and didn’t realize it. That was not what I was looking for. I want a car that is fun. This means that it feels fast even when its not going fast. The Boxster was already going faster than it felt and I was not being entertained. My Jag has more punch than this car had. The numbers are close on the 0-60 times but the Jag, even with its weight penalty, kicks you back in the seat more when you get on it.

As this “fun” factor dissolved, two more problems became apparent.

Its important that you understand that last sentence. What I’m looking for is a car that is so fun I don’t notice its obvious short-comings. And a Boxster has definite short-comings. First thing I noticed was the interior. I’m sure compared to a lot of cars, a Boxster is fine, with its leather seats and what not. But compared to the sculpted wood and plush leather of the Jag, the Boxster was a simple bucket with seats and some scraps of leather glues in, all dyed the exact same shade of black so it looks even less interesting than it is. Now I know sports cars are supposed to have purposeful interiors, but as a sports car, it wasn’t tickling my fancy enough for me to say, ‘Forget this beautiful Jag I own, I want this German tub.’

Then there was that word I hate. Practicality. And for the first time in my life I was swayed by it. If I drove the Boxster as my car I would never be able tp carry a guitar and my wife at the same time. This is an even bigger problem when you realize that the last time I played a gig I had three guitars with me all set to different tunings. There’d be none of that if I had the Boxster. I’d give all that up for a serious dose of fun. Except the Boxster just wasn’t quite fun enough.

I could still rationalize getting one, and I wouldn’t criticize anyone buying one. But my problem is I have this Jag, that after test driving the Porsche, I’d be hard pressed to give up in an even trade. But this wasn’t an even trade. I’d be trading in the Jag and then paying 10 grand for the Porsche.

Deals off.

My Jag is no longer for sale, and I’m left without a dream to pursue at the moment. Its a little depressing for me; I was really excited about getting a new car. The money in my bank account though is helping sooth that pain (and I won’t have to deal with that whole pronunciation’s dillema; Porsch vs Porsch-Ah.

Maybe in a few years I can get a Boxster S. I hear they’re loads more fun. Or maybe I can get a Lotus Elise or some replica of an old race car. Two things have occurred to me that would make one of those purchases play out. One is that in a few more years, I may be able to buy a very used Boxster or even Boxster S for under ten thousand (quite possibly WAY under). Then I could buy one just to play with and forget any notion of it being a useful car.

Two. The Jag could die on me.

I’m hoping for the first one.

Ben

PS: Porsche still sucks, thhhhhhbt.

Filming 35 - 105

2008-09-09T01:12:00Z

The first number is for the car featured. Only a replica mind you, but that of a the beautiful 1935 Auburn Boattail Speedster. The second number in the title is for the temperature.

Ah the central valley.

To give a brief background to this event let me explain that in my former life, the one before I became a highly sought after and well paid internet auto-journalist, I worked as a filmmaker. Its true. I’ve made countless pieces of cinematic history which you will have never heard of and probably, most likely and with some certainty, never see.

But thankfully those years of toiling for my art have allowed me to get to work with some amazingly talented people, much like the motley crew pictured in these photos. They go by the name Westhavenbrook, and in this film they are pulling out all the stops. That means that when the script called for a super-hero and more importantly a super-hero’s car, they tracked down this Classic Cars of London replica of the mighty Auburn.

I even piloted the beast (or boat. . . it looks like a boat, sounds like a boat, is made of fiberglass, and steers like its floating in water) in several shots, trading my writer’s hat for that of a stunt driver. And if I may be so bold I was excellent at it. Not once did I hit a mail box. Remember that if anyone happens to be recounting to you how I almost did.

The shoot went swimmingly (no that is not a reference to the amount of sweat that accumulated in my clothes). These men are pros at what they do and what they do is film quickly. This saves money and when you don’t have any, that’s paramount. Even when the director (and star), Mr. John Soares, decided to try water skiing in gravel from the back of a pick-up truck for a couple of shots and was consequently left without his clothes intact, filming progressed at a lightning pace and thankfully got us out of there before anyone, the cars included, suffered heat stroke.

Check out these glimpses of what was accomplished on youtube: Clip 1 Clip 2

It’s amazing stuff, and there’s more to come. I’ll post more updates on the film’s progress whenever they happen, assuming there’s more beautiful boattail footage.

For myself though, the highlight of the day, historic creation of cinematic art aside, was the drive out to the location. For all of the valley’s overly plentiful heat in the afternoon, it is quite pleasant at nine in the morning. The temperature is just right for open top motoring in a classic car like this; one that makes the average classic look common. The wind in your hair, and your eyes and your ears, and well just about everywhere as the windshield is only good for directing the oncoming air straight at you, makes driving, even at 45mph, a visceral experience like driving a much faster car at a much faster speed. Even the sound of the exhaust feels so near, that I repeatedly looked for a another car behind and to the right of me only to realize the sound was my own. Its an experience I can’t imagine I’d find anywhere else.

All in all,I have to say that that was one of the best days I had all summer. I mean, like I metioned before, I didn’t hit a mailbox.

Car Week Overload

2008-08-22T06:19:00Z

Its been a crazy week.

Monterey’s Car Week by itself is crazy, and this year I got to attend the Concours d’Elegance for the first time. But I also participated in a little cinematic magic in good old Merced with a 1935 Auburn Speedster (well sort of). Both of these events deserve their own articles and I will be getting them out just as soon as I can. But there’s more insanity. This last week I gave up my Jag.

My pretty blue XK8 coupe belongs to someone else.

I’ve said before that I was crazy, and I’ve said before that the Jag’s days were numbered, but even I didn’t see this coming. Its no secret that I’ve been eying other options to be my official car (aside from my unnamed fun car). I have a list of things I’d like to own in a car in my lifetime. Things like, British (check), mid-engined, a real two seater (none of this useless 2+2 garbage), V-12, etc. Now if I could find a British mid engined V-12 car that I could afford then that would be that. Or it would be until I made up an entirely new list of what I want in a car. The grass is always greener somewhere else.

Like anyone else, I’ve taken some interest in better fuel economy. True, I walk to work most days but I could be commuting in the future and sudden spikes in gas prices reek havoc with my budget and eventually my love for a car. Maybe this wouldn’t be the case if someone would hurry up and give me a Noble M400, a car that isn’t pretty, doesn’t have low end torque, isn’t comfortable, gets bad gas mileage, and yet I don’t care because I loved driving one so much. But I’ll probably never find that out.

Back to the Jag. Its time has been coming for two reasons. One, as I was just saying, I’m crazy and want to try out a different car for a few years. But what has actually cracked the solid love I have for that car is what its doing to me. For three years now, I’ve waxed the car every two weeks, trying to preserver its paint to be as shiny as the day it was delivered to a much wealthier man than I, ten years ago. But despite the care and being kept under a cover, the salty air over here is ripping the clear coat off the roof at an ever accelerating rate. It started with some very minute cracks that I could hide with wax. Now though there’s chips everywhere and a volleyball section that is bare.

Honestly though, I think the car might look good as a bruiser. You know, not all shiny and pristine, but oxidized and mean looking like a racer just off of its third year of running twenty four hours at Le Mans. Maybe you don’t know, but I think it might look good. But there’s another problem. I take care not to park it anywhere where I think it could be harmed. Often this means out by itself at Costco or in a garage downtown. And yet, despite my efforts, every couple months the car picks up a new ding while its parked.

Jag’s are just so achingly beautiful and I’m being forced to watch the best attribute of my car get destroyed. It breaks the heart.

So I’ve decided I want something ugly (if only I could afford a Noble!).

I’ve had ugly cars before. Cars that I hated. Cars that I loved, or at least loved to hate. Its liberating. A car means freedom to so many people and when I’m not so worried about one I love so dearly, I feel free to. “Shall we take it to LA this weekend?” “Sure, I’m not trying to preserve it or keep the miles off, lets go down to Mexico while we’re at it and make it a real trip!”

Okay, I’ll probably never say that in my life but you get the idea.

I recently checked the trade in value on the XK8 and found that with its paint problems I wouldn’t be getting more than $6000 for it in a trade in. I figured then that I’d let everyone know that if anyone wants to give me $6000 for my Jag it would be theirs. But this would have to wait until the end of the year. I have bills to pay and what not and I want to savor the hunt for my next car. So why is the Jag already gone? Its not exactly.

My wife and I have been all over the map trying to decide what kind of car to get her. She gave up her CRX at the beginning of the year and has been riding her bike everywhere ever since. That’s getting a little old. So we’ve been searching and researching. But what’s been bothering me is for the amount of money we’d probably spend, we could end up with a car with mounting problems. More over, as I have been walking to work, my wife has been using the Jag to go to her work and school for the past few weeks. So the obvious solution finally found its way into my thick skull.

I gave her the car (she doesn’t care if a car is ugly, beautiful or if its beauty is fading), and now I only have the nameless car. Any suggestions on what I should replace the Jag with? I’ve already made up my mind but it’d be nice to hear what you all think.

DIY in the 21st Century

2008-08-09T03:07:00Z

You don’t have to be a mechanic to know that cars have changed quite a bit in the past forty years. Gone are the carburetors you tune yourself with nothing more than a screw driver and mechanical distributor points that have to be checked as often as you change your oil.

In their place are computer controlled components that can only be accessed by special pieces of equipment.

The good news is that cars today are both much more efficient and reliable (which is funny because I’ve never considered computers to be reliable in and of themselves). Cars are also smarter than they used to be. When something goes wrong the car often knows and can tell you specifically what the problem is.

Well it could if you were able to read a check engine light, something only a mechanic can do. At least that’s what most people think. The truth is you can buy what is called an OBDII reader for around 50 bucks. What this gets you is a palm sized device that’ll plug into most cars made after 1997 (and some from before) and will give you a code number for why that pesky check engine light is on. Or if you want even more info, for $150 you can buy a connection to hook up a laptop or other computer to your car and not just read trouble codes but get detailed information on all what’s coming through the sensors in you vehicle.

The last time I had a check engine light tested (and it will forever be the last time) I had to pay $160 just for the mechanic to read the trouble code. So one home reading from a troubled car will pay for the reader and then some.

In fact the mechanic I visited showed me the recorded OBDII code and then handed me a copy of the Alldata print out on the code. Alldata is an online service mechanics use to get service information on any car. This means that a shop doesn’t have to have experts in every different make of car they service. Instead they just buy a subscription to the Alldata site where they can get detailed info on whatever car they have in the shop at the moment. What makes this significant is I already had an account with Alldata. In addition to the thousand dollar a year access mechanics pay for, Alldata also provides something called AlldataDIY where an individual can subscribe just to one make and model of a car at a time (whatever car you have) for around $15 a year.

If you are familiar with Hayes or Chilton manuals you’re probably used to problems like the supplied pictures being of a different model/option set of the car you’re working on and finding the information as a guiding point but not the best step by step instructions for something you’ve never done before. They also suffer from being based on completely dismantling a car which is rarely the case when just fixing something yourself.

Alldata is nothing like that. I’ve never seen such well laid out diagrams and pictures. And the step by step instructions don’t assume that you know anything. So getting back to that mechanic I found I paid $160 for information I could have gotten myself if I had just had an OBDII reader back then. And really, with the car telling you what’s wrong and Alldata explaining how to fix it, there’s just no guess work.

Hold on, here’s a little history:

In order for cars’ emissions to meet state standards, the cars must be running properly. The need for this gave birth to the check engine light to let the owner know if something is wrong. For example, there are sensors in the car to check oxygen levels in the car both before and after the catalytic converter to make sure the exhaust fumes are sufficiently cleaned. But having these senors also allows the vehicle to monitor its combustion process for efficiency by checking the amount of air coming into the car with the amount of oxygen left over after combustion in the exhaust. And having multiple sensors, the car can also determine if there’s a fault with one of them. So an OBDII code can tell you if you car is running rich or lean for some reason or if there’s just a faulty sensor. Further because of the myriad of sensors it can also narrow down a problem to a specific area, sometimes down to a specific cylinder or other component.

With Alldata and an OBDII read you can find these problems out for yourself regardless of if you plan to work on the car yourself. It can empower you to know a mechanic won’t be pulling something on you and to know whether you really need to see a mechanic right away or not. Sometimes those lights indicate nothing more than a gas cap that isn’t secure. No one needs to pay a mechanic $200 to fix that.

And if you’re like me you’ll also enjoy hooking a laptop up to your car and seeing all kinds of information about fuel consumption, engine rpm, temperature, air flow and ignition timing plot on a graph while you drive for no reason other than being a little geeky and thinking its cool.

Breaks

2008-07-30T23:00:00Z

A quick glance to the featured photograph reveals one of my new brake pads peeking out. Why then is this the only picture in an article about changing brake pads? Because, in a word (or three), I’m new to this and it didn’t occur to me to take pictures while I was preforming the work.

I’m going to try to make up for this though, and I’ve been studying. It seems many of my favorite automotive articles feature witty complaints. I don’t know if that’s because if the writer is complaining, he/she must know enough to find fault in something, or because many of us, myself included, enjoy complaining more than we should.

If you’re familiar with the BBC’s show Top Gear (if you’re not, I highly suggest you get acquainted) then you may have noticed that any review of a bad car starts off with all of the high points of the car before the presenters bash it into the ground for not tickling their fancy. But if the car does meet their liking they will start their review with all of its faults before they praise it for being the most important car of the year (a phrase they use weekly).

So here goes, and bear with me I’m new to this. Jag’s are too quiet. I’m not talking about engine noise, which they don’t have enough of either (and considering the fuel crunch couldn’t we all get better mileage with less muffled cars? Something to think about). No I’m talking about the world separating, sound proofing they feature. Sure you can better appreciate the nuance of classical music on the car’s premium stereo (unfortunately I listen to old delta blues recordings so all I get is excellent reproduction of old record hiss) but you may miss an obvious mechanical fault until its to late.

For example, you could be coming home from out of town (as I was) with the windows down for a change when along side a center divide, you suddenly hear the tell tale sound of brake pad indicators (they indicate that you need new brake pads). Being a man of sound mind, free of neuroticism (I’m not) I wasn’t too worried about it and simply made a mental note to check the pads when I got home.

That was the last time I drove the car for a week. What I found were pads that had no pad left on them at all. They had probably been squeaking for the past couple weeks and I just never heard them from inside the heavily crafted British interior.

Now I could lay out for you how I selected my new pads (actually I just ordered the cheapest, well reviewed pads I found at my most frequented internet parts store), and how I went about changing the pads myself. But I won’t and for a very good reason. There is plenty of information already on the web about how to change brakes. It’s not complicated. Even more so, I was looking at some illustrated instructions just the other day for a 93 GMC truck and you wouldn’t believe just how identical its disc brakes were to mine. Unless your car is sporting Brembo’s there’s just nothing super exotic about brake technology.

But let me give you the one embarrassing detail. As much as I try not to be pessimistic, it seems that whenever I do work on a car something unexpected HAS TO go wrong at some point. So after I had changed 3 of the breaks and was moving to the final wheel, everything running smoothly and my labor time down to fifteen minutes per wheel, I came to the caliper piston that wouldn’t budge. Now I’ll spare you the details of how I grunted and eventually prayed the thing into position except to say that in the process I opened up the brake line bleed valve and inadvertently introduced some air into the line.

If you know anything about brakes you know this is bad. If you don’t know, picture coming up to a stop and your foot takes the brake pedal to the floor, further than you’ve ever felt it go down before, but the car doesn’t stop so much as gingerly slows down. If there’s anything in front of you, that’ll be the end of it.

Luckily, being pessimistic, I was prepared for this eventuality and the front of my car is still intact.

But here’s my tip: If you’re going to work on something yourself, always consider the value of your time. I looked up the procedure for bleeding the brake lines and found that it would require two people and looked like it would take as much as two hours to get right. Then I looked up Sears. Turns out they’re open on Sundays and will flush your brake system for $35 flat.

So I had lunch at the mall and my brakes work wonderfully now. But let’s not forget about complaining. I don’t enjoy having my practical car (that’s right, my other car which shall remain nameless, is the impractical one) being taken off the road so I can fix something before it does real damage. I usually have fun things planned on a weekend to do, like sleeping.

And this brings me to my ultimate conclusion (and complaint): In the end the Jag is just too nice and I like it way to much. My XK8’s days are numbered. No really.

Buying Fun Cars: A Confession

2008-07-25T00:58:00Z

Why do we do it?

I can tell of countless times I’ve explained to one person or another that for all my elaborate car history, I have never bought a car to be “seen” in. However loud, curvaceous or exotic the car, I never give a thought to how people see me until the day I pull up to a group of friends who don’t know me well and suddenly have to explain that, no I’m not rich, I just spend too much time and money on cars. If anything I am slightly embarrassed about it among normal (read “non-car”) people.

My wife doesn’t believe me.

But think about it. When was the last time you saw a kid playing with hot wheels pretending to pose as someone important? Of course you don’t; you see them rushing the cars about, making engine and tire squealing sounds before they make an impossible jump a thousand scale feet into the air. When you get right down to it cars are, on a pure level, just plain cool. So are Tonka trucks and construction vehicles, but buying and storing a real 30 foot excavator just isn’t as doable for the average American. So I focus on cars.

There is a lot to like in enthusiast cars. I don’t mean family run-abouts or other sensible purchases. Nor do I mean exclusively high end sports cars who’s annual servicing cost could buy you a family run-about or other sensible purchases. I mean anything that’s fun, cool, classic, and quite possibly fast (though it doesn’t need to be).

Lineage is a big one for me. I enjoy history. So even though I know a Jaguar XK8 is by no means a race car, I love them for being in a lineage that includes great race cars like the C-Type and D-Type Jags of the early 50’s. And while I’m a fan of European cars it’s also true of any enthusiast car. My wife is a fan of Honda CRX’s and they too have a following all their own. I may not understand or appreciate it as much as others (my wife once told me she would rather have a CRX than a Lotus Elise which has sparked a debate that has remained in a cease fire for 3 years now) but it is certainly there.

Looks is another factor. I may not care if others see me in a nice car, but I love seeing beautiful cars, and if one is parked in my driveway, I’ll pull up a chair and stair at like it was a Rembrandt for hours on end.

But o f course the piece de resistance, for me anyway, is how an enthusiast car feels to drive. Honestly, it doesn’t have to be fast. I keep telling myself that anyway. I once drove a Ferrari 599 and a Noble M400 in the same day. Yes the Ferrari was faster, and smoother, and had better throttle response, and was so well sorted out a student driver could be trusted with it. But the Noble was a handful. It was roccus and hard, loud and quick, and immediately much more fun than the Ferrari (though if anyone out there wants to give me a Ferrari , I’d be okay with that). Really that is just my taste, and yours may differ, but no matter what you prefer an interesting car is most likely not going to drive like a minivan. Good or bad, the feeling will be something special. Something that makes driving more than getting from point A to point B.

And the feel doesn’t have to be honest. There are plenty of fast cars out there that feel slow, just as there are plenty of slower cars that feel like you’re driving a million miles an hour all the time (have you ever seen a race car from the turn of the century do 45mph with their wooden wheels bending just shy of the snapping point?). Generally speaking its more fun to feel like you’re wrestling a mechanical beast at its limits than to have a magazine review tell you that you would in fact drive a tenth of a second faster than another car if you ever happen to actually be in a drag race.

And that brings us to the often forgotten joy of an enthusiast car: how to get one. I am not a man of means. So it’s a hunt. I seek them out like some kind of treasure, buried on E-bay or Craig’s list. Look in the right places and its not hard to find an enthusiast’s car for less than the price of a new Honda. So I rationalize it that way and with a paltry budget, buy a car once only available to the wealthy. And for a brief moment in time I am rewarded with true treasure; a specialty vehicle in all its glory.

Yes, briefly.

Inevitably something breaks. I tell myself that since I saved so much on the purchase that its okay to sink some money into repair bills. And here is where the last important element comes in. Keeping a car you love running is often a pain. But it’s that pain that, in some weird way, endears you to it and creates a brotherhood between you and other “car” people. You have war stories to trade now and a car that has developed its own personality, and personality in a car is a tremendous thing. It takes a hunk of metal and plastic and turns it into something special.

Of course this also leads to another little joy; ditching said car and doing the whole thing over again. But I’m pretty sure I’m nuts and that is why I refer to non-car people as normal.