My mother’s very first motorized transport, back in Cheshire in the mid-fifties, was a brand new Triumph Terrier. She has many tales of wrapping herself in newspaper in an effort to stay warm, and of pulling into petrol stations only to find her hands were so cold she couldn’t operate the pump or make change! She only had the machine for about a year before selling it and buying a Mini Countryman wagon as her first four-wheeled transport.

P.S. I’d like to find an example of either machine to restore one day, so…

Twice in the last week the Land Rover has been pressed into heavy hauling duty. Last week it was a Costco Wholesale run (and when we go to Costco twice a year, we really go). Almost 600 pounds of stuff, swallowed up very neatly. Tonight I retrieved an old Delta Unisaw (circa 1948, pictured), which is 300 pounds of cast iron and stamped steel, and again the mission was successful. All in all, it’s a useful car, and has been a good buy thus far (knock on wood). Just turned 113,000 miles, too.

As in, I miss this car. It’s one of the few cars I honestly wish I still had…though once my current E-Type is back on the road I’m sure all will be better.

“The Dreamer” writes a certain type of classified ad, and they’re always amusing. This person believes beyond all sense that their car is worth a fortune. That, combined with some ‘tude about not wasting his time, makes it even more worthy (an aside: you’re placing an ad for an old car, of course someone’s going to waste your time before you sell it). When there’s no price, we’re approaching grand-master ad-writing territory–and if it’s in all caps? There is nothing left for them to learn, they have mastered the art form. For example:

1977 FIAT SPIDER CONVERTABLE. I HAVE A AWESOME RESTORATION PROJECT 77,000 ORIGINAL MILES. 2.0 L DOHC 5 SPEED BODY,INTERIOR,TOP,EVEN ORIGINAL RUNNING GEAR IN SURPRISING CONDITION. IT RUNS, DRIVES, AND STOPS VERY GOOD. WILL NEED NORMAL RESTORATION RITUALS TO BE SHOW- ROOM CONDITION . OR PUT A TIMING BELT ON IT AND CRUISE TOPLESS FOR THE SUMMER. IF YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THIS CAR IS WORTH DONT BOTHER CALLING, IF YOU DO HAVE SOME MONEY TO INVEST AND ARE SERIOUS. CALL M—- @ xxx-xxx-xxxx AND LEAVE A MASSAGE.

I’m not a trained masseuse, so I don’t dare call (even if I had any desire to own a Fiat, Italy’s entry into the “Which Car Can Rust Fastest” competition). But that’s a $1,000 car, at the most, and I bet he wants way more than that.

Took the ’63 MGB out today for a spin. Not much more to say other than a good early MGB is a great car to drive, and a great way to get into ye olde British cars if you haven’t already.

Rat Rod
I’m sure at some point in the history of the hot rod, it was a radical concept to eschew the fine craftsmanship that went into the best rods and purposefully make something kinda raw and unkempt. The “rat rod” was born. (Being a rat-rodder probably made you a bad-ass, and allowed you to sport the du jour “bad guy” facial hair arrangement.)

But today? Try a search on eBay for “rat rod” and you’ll come up with almost as many results as listings for actual hot rods–that’s not exactly being an outsider.
(more…)

By “slightly” I mean vastly:

This is the only “completely restored” part of my E-Type, the carburetors. I really enjoy this kind of work…sad to think it’s now been three or more years since I completed them! One day I’ll be working on that car again…almost ten years after I purchased it. Pretty pathetic. You can see the rebuild of these carbs in progress over at XKE Data.

The Triumph 955i has artificially low miles–due to a speedo glitch. (It’s probably not more than about 150 miles in arrears, but it is annoying.) More and more often, the speedometer ceases to register a speed (or add miles to the odometer; they’re both digital). This always coincides with the ignition key being used–it either works when you start the bike, and keeps working, or it doesn’t work and stays dead. I recently rode to my friend Matt’s in north Seattle, and the sequence of speedo operation? House to ferry, alive; ferry to Matt’s, dead; Matt’s to ferry, alive, ferry to home, alive. Other rides it’s the opposite.

When the speedo is “dead” it will sometimes display a speed of one mile per hour for a few seconds. I’ve wiggled wires but haven’t gone beyond that so far in trying to solve the problem, showing my usual initiative.

Speaking of Anglias, there’s one in the middle of this rather funny video. Bowling for Soup is a favorite band of mine, and this is “The Bitch Song.” They’re from Texas and goddess knows where they found a right-hand-drive Anglia down there.