August 27 Weekly Open Thread--Happy 5th Birthday!
As of tomorrow, Car Lust is five years old. In most places, this is old enough to have graduated from Montessori preschool and be starting half-day kindergarten, so you could say we're maturing, becoming ever more sophisticated...kind of...in a sense. Well, at least there's no disputing we've gotten older!
With that in mind, let's take a quick look back at that first day's postings from August 28, 2007, all of them written by our founder Chris Hafner, in their original order of appearance:
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"...The RS6 is one of those rare machines that have no weaknesses--save
price, anyway. Its immensely powerful twin-turbo 40-valve V-8 gives it
the massive torque and high-end horsepower to bend the mind, blur
reality, and give the impression that, rather than accelerating
forwards, you've just driven off a cliff. But the Audi, thanks to the
miracle of tenacious all-wheel-drive traction, is less likely than the
JATO wagon to leave the driver spread all over the face of a canyon
wall. And even if our thrill-seeker was accelerating uncontrollably
towards a fiery demise, the Audi's aggressive yet subtle styling would
ensure he'd look good doing it...."
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"...The muscle car dysfunction is in my genes--when I was an infant, my father suffered from a severe mental illness, the primary symptom of which was his sad compulsion to install high-horsepower V-8s into Chevy Vegas while my mother and I watched from the trailer house. Perhaps as a result, few things get my blood pumping as much as the raw, visceral danger implicit in a classic muscle car; the rump-rump-rump of a high-performance V-8, the cheesy hood stripes, the promise of acceleration violent enough to detach a retina--it all forms a heady emotional mix that, say, a Mazda Miata can't begin to touch...."
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"I'll be posting regularly in this space about my Car Lust, paying tribute to the various cars that I find, for whatever reason, intriguing and desirable in some way. They won't all be exotics, and at times the commonplace stars in our everyday lives may make an appearance.
"Car Lust will be a celebration of all things automotive--a glorious hymn to the beauty of internal combustion; a tribute to the poetry of a small roadster on a curvy mountain road; a visceral taste of hard acceleration. Or not. But at the very least I promise you'll get a reluctant glimpse into that dark place in my psyche that just can't get enough of Peugeots."
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As usual, this is the place for trips down memory lane, or excursions into any other automotive topic that strikes your fancy.
--Cookie the Dog's Owner
Bill T. on August 27, 2012 at 09:33 AM
Long Live CarLust. A great website, lots of reader involvement, overall fun to read. A glorious hymn to internal combustion. Well phrased. An offhand wonder - how much have the enforced regulations - fuel injection, electronic engine controls, and the like contributed to the overall performance and efficiency of the basic engine?
toronado455 on August 27, 2012 at 09:49 AM
@ Bill T. I know of at least one person who removed all the electronics (EFI, etc) from his truck and replaced with carburetors and got the exact same performance in the 1/4 mile. I'll bet his fuel economy went down though. But I don't know.
That Car Guy (Chuck) on August 27, 2012 at 10:23 AM
@ Bill T. At least with fuel injection you don't have vapor locks, you don't have to reset the jets at high altitudes, and there's no choke to deal with on a cold morning.
Surely, fuel economy is better.
And don't call me Shirley. :)
Anthony Cagle on August 27, 2012 at 10:26 AM
One anecdata point: I replaced the original 302 in my Mustang II with a remanufactured 5L EFI and about doubled the bhp from 139 tops to around 265 and the mileage went from 11-2 to 16-18 (it's lousy because it's only got a 3-speed automatic).
Really, the modern engine is a brilliant piece of engineering. I was driving around in a newer (probably 2011) Ram 1500 pickup and it was getting around 15-16 mpg, which you might think is pretty bad, but compared to my ca. 1990 engine in a 2700 pound subcompact, it's really quite phenomenal. I mean, criminy, even the 6-cylinder Mustang is putting out 300 bhp these days.
I tend to think this has less to do with regulations and more to do with simple competitive economics combined with superior CAD/CAM technologies. IMO.
Anthony Cagle on August 27, 2012 at 10:26 AM
That should be mileage from 11-12, btw.
Cookie the Dog's Owner on August 27, 2012 at 11:45 AM
The engine in my '48 Frazer Manhattan produces 112 HP. The engine in the 2009 Hyundai Accent my son drives produces 112 HP. The Frazer has a two-barrel carb, six cylinders, and 3.7L displacement. The Hyundai has EFI, four cylinders, 1.6L displacement--and burns a helluva lot cleaner. Stand downwind from the Manhattan if you doubt me on that last point.
Al S. on August 27, 2012 at 12:11 PM
Those three cars could not sum this site up better. A powerful German wagon, a big block muscle car, and a dingy people's car. All sharing the same blog space.
tigerstrypes on August 27, 2012 at 02:19 PM
¡¡Feliz Cumpleaños, CarLust!!
"Those three cars could not sum this site up better. A powerful German wagon, a big block muscle car, and a dingy people's car. All sharing the same blog space."
All that's missing is an obscure Japanese car, or just a variation of it.
Forgive me, but I have to announce this:
Tomorrow, Top Gear USA will be dealing in cult classics: 1992 Subaru SVX, Merkur XR4ti (I think) and Cadillac Allanté.
I fear for the worst for those cars. All I can say is: "Ladies and gentlemen, start your cringing."
Al S. on August 27, 2012 at 02:59 PM
Cool. 2 Great cars, one awful show!
joe in houston on August 27, 2012 at 06:45 PM
@ Anthony C. I had a bone stock 1984 Chevy 30 (1 ton, dually) Custom that came off the lot getting 11/12 mpg while loaded. Mind you it was underpowered, it had a 350, instead of the 454, with a 4 speed granny.