scannon

Cute tree rats with fuzzy tails.

A better list might be the ones I haven't owned and wanted to, all Ferraris, etc. Two more for the list. 1959 Mercedes Benz 190 sedan named Stella 1968 Mercedes Benz 250 SE, the PO had installed very powerful aircraft landing lights in the upper headlight positions and moved the high/low beams to the bottom position giving three levels of light. No one EVER failed to dim their brights after a brief flash with those. Many pulled off the road until I went by.

With $50k to work with you really open up the field. It becomes more slanted towards fun cars you can live with full time rather than having a winter beater type car to supplement your fun cars. Here are three very different cars, any of which I could live with: Any AWD Porsche 911. The '98 Turbo S would be my first choice, I love the sound of the air cooled engines. AWD and 435 hp make it fun and it is one of the easiest cars to go fast in that I have driven on the track, yet is a pussycat to drive in town. The '05 Subaru Legacy GT wagon with 5 speed. Add a Cobb reflash, a short shifter and two sets of wheels and tires, one with dedicated snow tires and one with ultra high performance summer tires. Unfortunately they don't make this one anymore. 1st or 2nd gen Miata. Add turbo, suspension and two sets of tires and enjoy. I can think of many more just as good. I own one of them (Miata) and used to have the other (Subaru) although I don't drive the Miata in the snow, other than one memorable trip on borrowed studded snow tires from Denver to Grand Junction and back, heavy snow on both passes, both ways. I passed every single AWD and several tried to chase me down. I kept pushing and pushing it and I couldn't make it spin the tires or skid without massive application of boost. I came up the West approach to the Eisenhower tunnel at 85 mph in the unplowed inner lane. Traffic was doing about 45 mph in the other two lanes. I was very impressed with the handling in the snow.

The list continues, keep in mind that these are just the more interesting of those I have owned. 1983 Honda Accord coupe (a real lemon, 26 items on the first trip back to the dealer) 1985 CRX Si 1986 CRX Si 1982? Civic Si (bread van type) 1986 Honda Accord coupe 1987 Prelude 1989 Accord coupe 1998 Civic coupe 1997 Civic coupe 1991 Acura Legend coupe 1991 Nissan Sentra SE-R 1993 Nissan 4WD pickup 1998 Nissan 2WD pickup 199X Nissan 2WD pickup 199X Nissan 4WD pickup 1998 Nissan Pathfinder 1996 Isuzu Pathfinder 1985 BMW 325e 1956 Buick 2 dr post with three on the tree - used to whup on the 55', 56 & 57 Chevys. 196X Wolseley 4 dr saloon 1967 Jeep CJ5 V6 197x Audi Fox 1981 Audi 5000 (3 of these, can't remember all the years, 1 was a diesel) 1978 Mazda RX-7 (#6 to come into the state) 1985 Mustang GT convert 5 speed 1953 Ford 2 dr wagon 1972 Ford 4 dr wagon 1963 1/2 Ford Galaxy slant back with 427 and 4 speed 1958 Thunderbird 1960 Thunderbird 1969 Ford 2 dr full size something or other 1969 Lincoln Continental Mark III 1939 Chevrolet 2 dr humpback sedan 1966 Chevelle SS396 1941 Pontiac woody wagon 1998 Subaru Outback wagon 2002 Subaru WRX wagon 2005 Subaru Legacy GT wagon (turbo and 5 speed) a great daily driver. I used to tow the Seven on an 18' open trailer with it. Wish I still had it. Motorcycles: 1955 Triumph 500 196X Triumph Bonneville TT 197X Suzuki 250 dirt bike 1971? Kawasaki 350 or 500 dirt bike 197X Honda 550 Four 196X Honda 90 Trail 1987 Suzuki Intruder 1400 1988 Kawasaki Concours 1993 Kawasaki Concours I really liked the old Cadillacs. I used to do snow and ice autocrosses in the '67 Eldorado. They laughed at me the first time but I took FTD every time I ran it. Not much front drive competition in those days. When I went off to grad school at Texas A&M I used it to tow the '61 Chevrolet panel truck to Texas. There are lots of good stories to go with the cars, some about the cars, some about the trouble I got into with them. I don't think I have the time to write them all out nor do you want to spend the time to read them. I keep trying to close this out but more cars keep rising to the surface of my memory.

I had a hand written list of the first 250 or so cars. I lost track of it many years ago and have just kept the running total going. Many of those were very forgettable cars (especially as my memory ages) basic four door sedans and such. Here's a few of the more interesting cars: Current vehicles: 2004 Caterham SV Roadsport 1992 Miata (highly modified) 2005 Silverado extended cab pickup (tow vehicle) 2011 Suzuki SX4 Crossover Previously owned: 1963 Porsche 356B (2 of them) 1965 Porsche 911 1966 Porsche 911 1967 Porsche 912 1968 Porsche 912 1969 Porsche 911E Targa 1980 Porsche 911SC (gray marketed that one in) 1985 Porsche 944 1967 BMW 1600 (I put a 2002 engine in it) 1968 BMW 2002 1973 BMW 2002 1976 BMW 2002 19XX BMW Bavaria 1982? BMW 635CSi (another gray market car) 1987 BMW 325ci convert (picked up new at factory) A number of other 2002s that I cannot remember the years. A total of 14 BMWs. 1955 Austin Healey 100-4L 1957 Austin Healey 100-6 1961 Austin Healey 3000 (I put a Corvette drive train in this one 1957? Bugeye Sprite 1953 MG TD 1961 Sunbeam Alpine 1965 Sunbeam Alpine 1967 Sunbeam Alpine 1959? Jaguar XK140 fixed head coupe 24 Miatas (4 were bought to part out) 1957 Corvette 1958 Corvette 1963 Corvette split window coupe 1951 Studebaker Convert (V8 & 3 on the tree) 1959 Rambler American 1961 Rambler American convert 1947 Cadillac convert 1951 Cadillac Fleetwood 60 1955 Cadillac Eldorado convert 1967 Eldorado 1950 Oldsmobile 2 dr hardtop 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado 1967 Oldsmobile Toronado 1969 Oldsmobile Toronado 1965 F-85 coupe (had the ali V8 and 4 speed) 1987 Cutlass Supreme coupe (turbo version) 1959 Plymouth Sport Fury 1951 Plymouth wagon 1963 Plymouth 2 dr 1966 Plymouth 2 dr 383 engine and 4 speed 1960 Dodge 2 dr 1983 VW GTi 1977 Scrirocco 6 other Sciroccos 1st and 2nd gen. 198X Golf 1969? Westphalia camper 1985? Rabbit Cabriolet (1st year they put the GTi engine in it) 1961 Corvair Rampside pickup (2 of these) 1960 Corvair sedan 196X Corvair Greenbriar 1964 Corvair Corsa convert 1967 Corvair Corsa coupe 1940 Ford coupe hotrods (2 of these, one had a Chrysler 392 hemi the other a 394? Oldsmobile engine) 1929 Ford Model A pickup 1950 Ford woody wagon 1957 Ford sedan 1953 Mercury lead sled 1948 Mercury convert 194X Army Halftrack (1/2 ownership) 1973 Volvo 1800ES Sport Wagon 195X Volvo P544 1973 El Camino SS 1971 El Camino 1961 Chevrolet Panel truck I just found a stash of old photographs of my cars. I don't have time to add them now but will later on.

To do that I'd need to know whether or not it was to be winter driven in severe conditions, how many people it had to be capable of carrying and what level of gas mileage was required. Also what level of funding was available for purchase. Would it be the only car or would something like a Seven be available for stress relief along with the DD.

Miatas make great daily drivers. Put a good turbo kit on it and some suspension upgrades and you have a great track car that can still be a very good daily driver. Studded snows will get you around in all but the worst winter storms. I usually have a winter beater of some sort. I sold my last one, a '97 Civic EX coupe and bought a new Suzuki SX4 Crossover. It has turned out to be a very fun car to drive, gets decent fuel mileage and has on demand 4WD for when the going gets tough. This is the first new car I've owned that hasn't been back to the dealer for little and/or big problems. I'm very impressed with the quality of the car and the way it drives. In the warm months the Seven and the Miata are my daily drivers unless I need to haul more than one passenger or something bigger that they can't handle. I agree about 911s being good daily drivers. I've had a number of them but the funnest of the bunch was the '65 911. It felt so light and was so tossable it made the later 911SCs seem like heavy slugs. Sure, the SCs were faster but they just didn't have that joyful feel of the '65. I'm 66 and have owned 341 cars and 16 motorcycles.

I wonder what they were chatting about. It didn't seem like she was giving him course notes, he did most of the talking.

I've ridden with a couple of instructors on the track that did the same thing. Get the car up on the edge and use little jabs of the throttle to keep it there. That's a level of car control way beyond my abilities. The second video in the first post shows a graph of both Senna and Herbert doing the same thing. Senna did it much better than Herbert.

I stood in awe on the beach on the North Shore of Oahu and watched people surfing the 30' waves. I used to surf off the California beaches in the '60s but I had no desire whatsoever to try those monsters. My hat's off to those who do.

When I see this kind of car abuse it makes me cringe and feel sorry for the machinery and contempt for the driver. The driver got what he/she deserved, the car did not.

Gert, You can change Derek W. to Hotels Reserved. Eight cars with reservations! Its going to be a great trip. Thanks for setting this up.

Sheridan is off our of our intended route. I found this resort about 35 miles beyond Ranchester. The Elk View Inn http://www.elkviewinn.com/info/hotel.php 307-461-4168. The website show rates as $100 for single and $110 for double. I called and asked about the rates. It appears Winter is their high season and Summer is low season. Both room rates are only $70 in July. Is this too much distance to add to the 254 miles already scheduled which includes a stop at Little Bighorn Battlefield?

Gert used the original number but that was awhile ago. It seems to have gone off the air recently. I just tired the 307-655-2511 and got the Ranchester. The lady who answered did not recognize the original number on our schedule. Unfortunately the Ranchester is full up on the 19th. She recommended the Trails End in Sheridan, about 15 miles East of Hulett. 307-672-2477 I have a call into this one but reading the reviews on the Yahoo travel site it sounds like a dump. Further research required.

I've been having the same problem with the Ranchester. I tried the 307-655-2212 and got something called RPM. Gert sent me the number for the company that represents the group of independents (877) 747-8713. I haven't tried that one yet as I want to talk directly with the motel before I make a reservation.

It must be going viral. I just got it in an email and was about to post it here myself. Amazing machines.

The Brooklands project is inching ahead smartly. I've been working on this off and on (more off than on) for about 2 1/2 years. Since Caterham doesn't make a kit for the SV I had to buy the narrower version for the S3 and section in the extra four inches. I found a set of motorcycle mirrors I like but they come with a 10mm thread and the captive nut on the windscreen bracket is an 8mm thread. So I drilled and tapped all four holes and the motorcycle mirrors are mounted on the rearmost holes. Next problem is finding a suitable center mirror as mentioned in my earlier post on this thread. Awhile back I bought a small mirror from someone on this forum. It seems a little too small and low for my purposes but I think I will try it out and see if it along with the motorcycle mirrors will provide all the rear vision I need. All that is left is to polish out the joints in the mounting strap and bolt on the center mirror. It is stuck on with double stick tape in the pictures. http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_images/1/2545/3369/6361684002_large.jpg http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_images/1/2545/3369/6361684004_medium.jpg

That's what Nathan Down did when he did the corner weighting and alignment on my SV.

This link provides an interesting look at Iwo Jima during WWII. It focuses primarily on B-29s and P-51s but it reports on human loss as well. Some pictures repeat a few times, take it to the end. http://picasaweb.google.com/7thfighter/IwoJima?authkey=Gv1sRgCIW06db_6oth&feat=email#slideshow/5435676534203604290

Some of them, anyway: http://www.formula1.com/gallery/launches/

A tough looking group of bikers were riding when they saw a girl about to jump off a bridge so they stop. The leader, a big burly man, gets off his bike and says, "What are you doing?" "I'm going to commit a suicide," she says. While he did not want to appear insensitive, he didn't want to miss an opportunity he asked "Well, before you jump, why don't you give me a Kiss?" So, she does and it was a long, deep lingering kiss. After she's finished, the biker says, "Wow! That was the best Kiss I have ever had. That's a real talent you are wasting. You could be famous. Why are you committing suicide?" "My parents don't like me dressing up like a girl......"

I'm still searching for a scuttle mounted center rear view mirror. I like the style of the Pegasus mirrors but they are a little too wide for the space between the Brooklands screens and I need chrome or aluminum, not black nylon or carbon fiber. I think a max width of 7.5" and about a 5" stem would work best. I've looked at the A-H and MGA mirrors but they look like they will not be stable when exposed to the direct wind instead of being mounted behind the windshield. Anyone have any suggestions not already mentioned in this thread?

2011 Ferrari 458 Italia, 500 miles, two weeks of ownership. Some of you may recall my posts about driving a friend's Ford GT, 360 Modena and other exotic cars. I got an email from him a couple of days ago on another subject and at the end he casually mentioned he has a 458 Italia on the way, due in late summer/early fall. I'm looking forward to driving that one in due time. :party: He was going to sell his 360 Modena or trade it in on the Italia but his wife is pushing him to keep both of them.

The Radical may be from Colorado but if that track is here in Colorado its the best kept secret in the state.

When I was in college my next door neighbor had a Goshawk. He trained me to feed and fly her so I could care for her when he was traveling. She was an amazing bird to work with. Even with a very short flight she could turn me about 45 degrees when she landed on my fist. He had a license to hunt with her and we had pheasant any time of the year we wanted. She never missed. She was trained to bring down the prey but not eat it. She only ate beef heart. Here's a full link to the video: http://devour.com/video/flying-with-the-birds/