The Car Lust Birthday Challenge
by Cookie the Dog's Owner
on August 27, 2009
As of today, Car Lust is two years old. As we roll into our "terrible twos" in top gear, with the tach needle firmly in the powerband, I'd like to ask our readers how we're doing so far. Hit the comments box and tell us:
- What's your favorite "Car Lust" post so far--that is, one that celebrates the glories of a particular automobile?
- What's your favorite "Car Disgust" so far?
- What's your favorite article that isn't a Lust or Disgust? (I'm referring here to editorials and roundtables.)
- Often our reader comments are at least as entertaining as the articles, so are there any reader comments that you consider particularly memorable?
We look forward to your responses.
--Cookie the Dog's Owner
Mochi Mochi on August 27, 2009 at 12:29 PM
Happy birthday Car Lust! Without a doubt my favorite post would be the original VW Squareback post. It inspired me to begin commenting and following car lust - and of course it completely warmed my heart and blew my moto-mind. One could say it changed my life in a significant way.
Regarding round tables and discussions the original and impromptu "SUV Throw Down" was over the top and ridiculous having been spawned by a post on an oldsmobuick or something - it devolved into a nutfest of SUV love and hate - like a bunch of kids left at home on summer vacation who get in an argument and trash the house while the parents are away. really stupid but really funny - in retrospect - and of course it got us all a good talking to and a code of conduct which has been working really well. Oh and it also brought together a number of our writers and regulars.
Chris Hafner on August 27, 2009 at 12:56 PM
It's hard to believe Car Lust is now two years old. I'm proud that this blog is what it is today, with a bunch of incredibly talented contributors who I respect and count as friends, and content markedly different than anything you'd find anywhere else.
Favorite posts--now *that's* a difficult challenge. For the sake of remaining unbiased, I'll exclude anything I've written.
Favorite Car Lust: There are so many great posts to choose from here, but I think Mochi Mochi's post about his 1991 Honda Civic really summarizes what I think this place is all about. He genuinely, unabashedly loves that car, and that piece had me tearing up a little.
Favorite Car Disgust: Here I think I'll have to go with Cookie the Dog's Owner's original piece on the Stutz Bearcat. It was pretty balanced yet so incisively clever--and it inadvertently helped bring us Virgil Exner Jr. as a contributor!
Favorite Round-tables/Editorials: Here I'd probably go with the Father's Day Round Table that Anthony Cagle helped put together. Though the SUV smack-down and the David Drucker/Rob the SVX Guy Harley fracas were highly entertaining.
Comments: My favorite comment is and probably always will be Mochi Mochi's first comment on the VW Squareback post he mentions above. It was a good comment, but above all I'll treasure that one because it was the first comment from our modern group of readers, and the first that told me that I wasn't alone in thinking this stuff is interesting.
Everything that has happened since then - the readership, the contributors, the links, the community we have built here - has been amazing. Thanks to all of you.
Chris Hafner on August 27, 2009 at 12:57 PM
Mochi, honestly I thought the SUV smackdown was funny at the time as well. But then again, fierce internet arguments very rarely fail to tickle my funny bone.
Big Chris on August 27, 2009 at 01:42 PM
My favorite is still the Honda CBX post, not because I wrote it, but because I love the CBX!!! http://www.carlustblog.com/2008/10/1978-honda-cbx.html
I also really enjoyed the piece we did on the VW Vans - http://www.carlustblog.com/2008/08/volkswagen-vana.html
My top Car Disgust would be the Tempo due to my great hatred of that lemony plague of automotive incompetence.
Big Chris
John B on August 27, 2009 at 02:04 PM
My favorite is Cookie the Dog's Owner's August 2008 post about the old Bearcats! TV show.
http://www.carlustblog.com/2008/08/car-lust--stutz.html#more
It's how I found Car Lust Blog.
Oh...and it happens to be about my car. :)
That Car Guy on August 27, 2009 at 02:45 PM
My favorite post here is the Ferrari 365 GTC4 post (http://www.carlustblog.com/2009/01/ferrari-365-gtc4-22.html), which I have to confess that I wrote. What makes the post so special is that it brought the granddaughter (And other family members) of the subject of the post, Mr. George Arents, and me together. We have traded photos and memories of her cherished "Grumpy" in ways that go far beyond any coincidences.
Leilani and I have kept in close touch since she saw the post and contacted me through Car Lust. We have crossed paths many times during the years since I met her grandfather; we even have the same license plates, but we have never met. She and I are convinced he is up there smiling about these events, possibly helping to orchestrate them. The power of the internet has truly been demonstrated to me through this blog.
I hope to write a sequel to the post when the story plays out a little longer. She is compiling stories about her grandfather while there are a few people left to supply them. I promise a couple of laughs and a tear or two.
Cookie the Dog's Owner on August 27, 2009 at 03:17 PM
I suppose I should put the bell on my own cat.
My favorite Car Lust is probably Mochi's tribute to his Civic Si--but that's a hard call, given how many excellent articles we've had. There's a strong case to be made for Chris' '83 Malibu wagon tribute.
My favorite Disgust is David Colborne's harrowing account of his quest to replace the intake manifold gasket on his '03 Malibu.
I'll second the nomination of Anthony Cagle's Father's Day roundtable.
My absolute favorite reader comments? There was a sequence of three in response to my Edsel article. First, commenter "Jed" praised the Edsel and its contemporaries for their personality and distinctiveness when compared to today's lookalike "Camcordibus"--a sentiment I mostly agree with. He finished with a bit of forgivable rhetorical excess: "The worst car of 1958 is kind of like Michelangelo's worst work of art. You would still want it because it is a product of the Renaissance."
The next comment is by someone purporting to be the late Senator Lloyd Bentsen: "I knew Michelangelo. I proudly served with Michelangelo. And trust me, the 1958 Edsel is no Michelangelo."
The next comment after that is by someone purporting to be the late entertainer Henny Youngman: "'...a product of the Renaissance.' So is my mother-in-law. But you wouldn't want her! (ba-dump...) Thanks, I'll be here all week."
I truly appreciate the quick wits on display there!
One thing I should add is that I truly appreciate the friendships, and it's no exaggeration to call them that, that I've developed through commenting and writing for Car Lust.
David Colborne on August 27, 2009 at 04:10 PM
Hmm... good questions.
I think my favorite Car Lust article of all time was the RAMPAGE! Honestly, the INCP series was absolutely brilliant. There were some great tongue-in-cheek Car Disgusts in there, too.
As far as editorials and round-tables went, I'd have to second Cagle's Father's Day special, though the SUV thread definitely scratched a different itch quite nicely. Both of them were special for different reasons - it just depends on my mood.
Bill T. on August 28, 2009 at 07:41 PM
Hapy Birthday CarLust
Whatever the model or year, the reminiscing is golden. There is no one specific model that stands out in my mind, but that is the glory of CarLust - s smorgasbord of opinions. Models have been featured that I haven't thought of in a long time. The input has covered the years from when Detroit owned the automtive kingdom until the present, and best of all, there isn't an excessive amount of venom in the responses.