ARGH!!!!!


Random rant here this AM. . .about people who buy cars intended to go fast and then putt around in them like they're driving a golf cart.

Driving to work. . speed limit is 40 mph but most drive this particular road at a still safe 10 over, slowing a bit when approaching Johnny Law's favorite "hunting blinds". Get behind a newer model Mustang. . .DOING 30 MPH. . THE WHOLE WAY! I might have been a little more understanding had it been an older person or a woman (what?) but it was a young dude. . .couldn't have been more than 25 years old. WTF?!?! You're in a car with considerable more hp than my Justa and you're not even going the speed limit?! SHEESH!

All I'm saying is if you aren't going use your V6 or V8 to kick up a little dust then just buy a damn Kia already!

 

Scenario 1:
Daddy said that if he got another ticket, the car is gonna be gone, so young dude, being the annoying young dude that he is, overcompensates.
Scenario 2:
Young dude sees a "girl" driving a car behind him that he knows will smoke his crappy 6 cylinder (cause it's happened before, but he doesnt know you have a Justa (now that I think about it, your Justa might smoke him, for sure in the curves)), so rather than expose himself to the potential self-imposed embarassment, young dude goes into "cruise mode".

 

Again today you have provided me with a hearty chuckle and I say "thank you!"

Scenario #1 is the most likely. I've determined that most people, even those who wouldn't normally be aggressive, seem to have a need to 'challenge' me & Scarlet on the road. They either drive excruciatingly slow in hopes that I will try to pass them and they, in turn, will speed up OR they ride my *** like it was a bull at the rodeo. Never had this problem in the ol' Malibu. . .wonder if it's just MINI envy that makes other drivers act that way?

 

I hope it's okay to add a little Thursday morning experience to your rant. I'm still relatively new to this area (second summer in Nashville) and don't remember it being quite this hot/nasty last year. So that said, this morning I walk out of the house and it's freakin' 63 degrees! Christmas in July!!! So, I climb in my MINI - windows down & roof open...heading downtown to the office. Awesome!

As I cut thru Brentwood I get behind this two-toned Chrysler (vintage 1980-something) in front of me that is like a bad insect repellant commercial and Brentwood's finest behind me. WTF! So it's the first morning that the heat isn't like an elephant sitting on your chest when you walk out the door and I can't even enjoy it. Why do we have vehicle inspections...there's no way that thing could pass.

BTW Dawnmac...I'm LOVING the tinted windows. As a matter of fact I'm having tint-envy. Who did that for you? Are you happy with it? And if you don't mind me asking which film did you opt for?

 

Rant away, my friend!

I am totally feeling ya on the windows down this AM. . .it was GORGEOUS outside. A cool and comfortable 69 (or so said the temp reading on Scarlet's tach). Windows and sunroof WIDE OPEN, soaking up the finally breathable air. I would have been just as ticked as you if I had gotten behind someone turtling along with no chance to pass but I was lucky today.

I am very happy with my tint! I do not know the guy's name but he's a Mexican fella who does it pretty cheap (I paid $80 but I didn't get the strip on the front window or the sunroof). On weekends he goes to various flea markets and does it on site in, like, an hour. OR he will come to your house during the week and do it. He did hubby's Lexus in the parking lot at work. I think mine is 20 or 25%. . .not quite legal but not that super dark limo either - a nice "in the middle". I don't have his contact info with me but I can PM it to you later tonight if you would like to give him a call.

 

Oops. . .missed that last question there. . .

We saw A-Team (surprisingly entertaining!) and Prince of Persia (a little corny but fun to watch). Weather was perfect! We even saw a shooting star/meteor thing. . .pretty cool!

 

Awesome! Thanks for the info...I'll be watching for the July outing. Hopefully I can make that one. I talked to the guys that do the tint for MINI of Nash but they wanted almost $400...which I thought was over the top. Thanks again.

 

$400?!?!?! Where can I get some of what they are smoking over there? SHEESH!!! That's out-frickin-rageous! You could get two full sized cars done for that price at most places.

Doing my test run for the July drive on Monday so I will be posting more then. . .be on the lookout.

 

I thought that the plan was to do the drive on Monday. No? No problem if not, just getting my wires crossed, as usual.

 

I'm going to chart our course, so to speak, on Monday. The drive is set for July 24th which is a Saturday. I figured most people would be recovering from the 4th on Monday or working.

Possible to move the drive to July 17th, though. I'll post on the thread to see what date would be best for those interested.

 

Dawn...thanks for all your efforts. I think we're going to be good to go the afternoon of either weekend. If you guys are doing a later/dinner run we may not make it but definitely hope to. Being that I'm 1/2 cajun-french I'm stoked about the idea of some good down-home cajun cuisine! Happy 4th weekend everyone!

 

Took some pics of my "other" ride before the hood goes back on. It's a 1964 Dodge Polara with a 318. Bought it for $125 at an auction and drove it home. Interior has been completely redone and motor just had a massive rebuild. This car is fun to drive in a whole different way than my MINI. It's like piloting a boat though. And God forbid you ever have to stop quick. Great "be seen in" car!

 

One more photo so you can see the sweet two-tone paint. . .the paint on the bottom is just a little darker than the interior color.

 

Nice find. 125 bucks! You gotta tell me where that happened. The Dodge is not my cup-o-tea but you're gonna have Kimberly as a fan. She loves old cars like that. The longer and boxier, the better. I will say though, that is a great nose on that one.

 

We've had it for 10+ yrs now. It had been wrecked pretty bad on the passenger's side, both doors seriously damaged, and the owner just never picked it up from the towing company so they auctioned it off. The grill and headlights is what drew me to the car in the first place and I thought that picture came out pretty good. . .really captured that "grrrrrrr" attitude.

 

Really like those '60s cars! They're basically what I grew up with and cut my mechanic's teeth on. Looking at the pictures you can actually see an engine in there without a whole bunch of junk in the way. My dad used to say that modern cars (1970s & 80s) looked like the engine was in intensive care with all the tubes and wiring running in and out of the engine.

 

Dawn, I didn't realize you were into old muscle. Here's an attempt to show you my '69 Pontiac...sold it last summer. It's just not as easy to own/drive them here as it was in CA. Love the unique style of vehicles back in the day.

 

Very nice!!!

Yea, I've always been a fan of the old muscle. They have a car show in M'boro during the spring and I love to walk around and check out the different rides. I like to see the unusual ones best. You can only see so many old Mustangs & Chevells before you get bored.

My husband sacrificed his '72 Dart for the sake of our addition about a year ago. A guy drove all the way from Canada to buy it. Took it for the longest test drive ever but drove away smiling so I guess he liked it.

This is the only picture that survived my hard drive meltdown last summer.

 

PS. . .Of course that is not me in the picture. It's my daughter when she was about 12 years old. She's turning 18 a week from Monday. HOLY MOLEY, those 6 years went by F-A-S-T!

 

Awesome...we had a 1972 Monte Carlo as well. I'm with you. Love the old Mustangs, Camaros, Chevelles but enough is enough already. It's like most people fall all over the 55, 56, or 57 Chevy but I always liked the '58 best. Guess that's why I like MINI's...unique/unusual. Here's a pic of both the old cars at a Good Guys show in Pleasanton, CA.

This was my Thunderbird too. A couple flew in from Oregon to buy my Thunderbird. I had to keep it for about 6 weeks while they had an climate-controlled garage built on their property for it. I had it for 5 years and it had less than 2,000 miles on it.

 

Here we go...I hope...

 

Okay DooBahDoo, now that you have my curiosity up for the pics, ya gotta get them posted. Intending on trying to figure out what year T'Bird.


Happy Independence Day to Everyone! Thank all those that have sacrificed for us on this day.

 

It was the retro '02 concept - Inspiration Yellow/Midnight Black. Always wanted a '55 but never found one I thought was worth the money. They're hot commodity in CA. I'll try again...

 

The cars are very cool. Love the license plate.

 

Thanks...was easy to own the classics in the bay area because of the dry season/rainy season and temperate climate. Don't have a pic of the other plate "WTFO"...it got lots of attention too. DMV didn't have a clue.