The police got me last weekend.
I was coming home from work, and upon turning off the Interstate ramp, I saw the county mounty parked in the empty parking lot. It took both hands, but I managed to keep my foot from pressing too much on the accelerator.
But he quickly pulled out behind me and came up close on my tail. Hah, I thought, he wants to presure me into speeding, but I'm not going to do it!
Then the lights came on. What do I do? Should I pull over or make a run for it. My home was less than two miles away, I could make it there before he got reinforcements. Then I could hole up and make a Randy Weaver-type stand.
My better judgement quickly took over and I pulled over. The officer wanted to tell me I had a burned out headlight. He probably also wanted to smell my breath and look inside my car for suspicious cellephane-wrapped packages of white powder, but I was okay there.
We're in the 21st century. Why am I getting pulled over for a burned out headlight? I still have the other headlight, my daytime running lights, parking lights, fog lamps; heck, I've got more lights on the front of my vehicle than a UFO!
The officer said he was just giving me a verbal warning, not to worry.
But it's the weekend, what happens if I don't get it fixed right away, I asked?
He said he wasn't concerned. He was sure I'd get it fixed once I got tired of being pulled over by police.
My burnt out headlight is repaired.

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SIOUX FALLS, SD -- With only weeks until Halloween, The Great Pumpkin is missing and is presumed to have been run out of town. Frosty the Snowman is under police custody and is being called a "person of interest."
Many business are gearing up for the Halloween holiday, but business is slumping since children have discovered The Great Pumpkin has been run out of town. While rumors have The Great Pumpkin seen playing with seagulls in southern California or surfing in Florida, his actual location has not been verified. Pieces of a broken pumpkin found in a dark alley have been sent out for forensic analysis, but police say they have no evidence connecting this with The Great Pumpkin and they believe he is simply "out of town."
Police point to the evidence of unusually early snowfall on Oct. 9 in the Sioux Falls area, accumulating about an inch, and then again Oct. 12 with three more inches piling up. While they will not say Frosty The Snowman produced the snow, they said his presence during the phenomenon along with his known preference for such conditions make him an obvious "person of interest" in The Great Pumpkin's disappearance.
However, attorneys for Frosty are quick to point out that Santa Claus requires snowfall to travel in his sleigh, and his whereabouts during the alleged crime has not been accounted for.
The investigation continues.

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Maybe I missed something, but I haven't seen anything on Motortopia about Mr. Norm's Super Challenger. Famous for building high-horsepower muscle cars out of hot new cars in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Mr. Norm is back at it again, using the new 2009 Challenger. It has some of the retro looks of the old muscle cars, such as striping and such, but a lot more horsepower. I was wondering if anyone has looked into these deeper than myself, and if so, what are your thoughts?

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I started a new group, but have been kind of surprised at the lack of interest in it. I thought now would be a good time to start a group on orphan cars, since so many automotive divisions are falling by the wayside.
Of course, my main interest in starting Orphan Owners Group was because I recently purchased a Studebaker. But orphan car makers is no longer confined to Studebakers, Hudsons and Desotos. The orphanage is getting crowded with the likes of Oldsmobile, Plymouth and even Pontiac!
I thought we could have some good forums in this group on where some of these makes came from and what brought about their desmise, or maybe on some of the cars they made that just seem like they should have saved the day.
If you're interested in automotive makes that are falling by the wayside, come check out our group. Maybe you'll enjoy it.
We're at http://www.mo....com/group/OO or,
http://www.mo...rphans_owners
Or maybe there just isn't a lot of interest in these makes that have died off and that's why they died off. Hmmm.

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Well, I went and did it. I bought another car. The neighbors are probably looking up the number of the padded ambulance as you read this. Or the city ordinance on the number of vehicles allowed at a residence.
I always kind of wanted a Studebaker. And while I really wanted a Hawk, when I went to look at a '61 Hawk, the guy had this, too. The Hawk was in really bad shape, in that all he could say about it was the body was solid (never mind the smashed quarter-pannel) and it ran good (if you kept pouring oil in it every hour). And for just a couple more grand, I got into a restored 1950 Studebaker Champion. It seemed a no-brainer to me, especially since my wife and a friend living with us both fell in love with it based on pictures online.
The garage kind of had a hole in it anyway, since I left the '51 Chevy with my son in New York. What do I do if he returns the Chevy? Ah, well, I figure by then my wife will be so in love with the Studebaker, she'll give up her spot in the garage. Yeah, maybe I'm dreaming, but I don't think my son's going to let me have the Chevy back anyway.
So, I bought the Champion and drove it home about 450 miles during which it ran great. The sun visor that the previous owner had put on blew off, but the car seemed to handle better without it anyway. I don't think I'm going to put that back on.
It's no hotrod, with a flathead six for power. But it runs very smooth and quiet. It got about 19 miles per gallon, and is kind of like driving a luxury car, even though it was built more to compete with Chevrolet than with Buick.
But what I like about it most is the radical styling. In 1950 there was nothing like it on the road, nor has there been since (except maybe the 1951 Studebaker). It was definately over the top, which is probably why they went for a major restyle only 2 years later. But I think it looks great. It's very much like a piece of art.

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It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
Such was the trip at the end of May as Brian Lee and his son drove Brian’s 1951 Chevy sedan delivery to Rochester, NY, where it currently resides.
First, some background – Ben had done most of the work of hotrodding the Chevy, installing the driveline from a 1974 Nova SS, including a 350 V-8, while he was in high school. So, Brian told him that if he graduated college without the need to sell the Chevy to help pay for tuition, he could buy the Chevy for the original price Brian paid to acquire the car out of a junk yard. Ben graduated from college three years ago, but hadn’t settled down until now. So he said now he wants to buy the Chevy.
Ben flew to Sioux Falls from Rochester, NY, and on May 26 He and Brian set out for Rochester, taking turns driving the Chevy and Brian’s Toyota (which used almost one-third of the gasoline the Chevy consumed). Grace rode along, but had no desire to any of the driving.
It was fun driving the old Chevy down the highway and hearing the various comments at stops.
“Is that a Nomad?” In 15 years of ownership, that’s the first time it’s ever been mistaken for that!
The car performed flawlessly, always starting and running smooth. And while it was fun to drive, it was equally fun to watch from the other car. Man, that car looked good going down the highway.
Brian and Ben kept in contact with each other by using a set of walkie-talkies. Remember them? They still make them.
“GT to Heaven Bound, you gotcher ears on good buddy?”
“Ten-four, I gotcher back door, Little Blue.”
“Traffic’s getting thick, if we get separated, I’ll meetcha at the choke-and-puke at the next travel plaza.”
Ben turned to his mother and said, “The what?”
“The choke-and-puke! That’s what they called a restaurant on the movie Smokie and the Bandit.”
“Oh.”
But then there was the rain. It rained and rained, and we’re not talking spring showers. There were torrential downpours, that had even the best of drivers pulling over because they couldn’t see. The old Chevy, it still has vacuum-operated windshield wipers. So, during normal heavy rainfall, you could see while driving downhill, but not so well going up hills, when the acceleration used up the vacuum. And when the buckets came down, you couldn’t see from either car without slowing down dramatically.
“You still there, Heaven Bound?”
“I think so. I’m following a boat. It has trailer lights, but I can’t see the trailer. I think it’s just someone smart enough to use a boat to get down the highway.”
The skies were crying great floods, as Heaven Bound ran farther and farther away from South Dakota.
And then there was the weather-stripping -- or lack there-of. The Chevy always leaked when it rained hard. And as hard as it was raining on this trip, it leaked a lot. We had to hang our shoes, socks and even pants to dry when we spent the night in Indiana.
It’s just a hobby car, after all. When the weather was bad, it usually didn’t go out, so the vacuum windshield wipers and poor weather stripping had never been an issue before. And during the two-day drive to Rochester, NY, the car probably saw more rain than it had in the entire 17 years Brian has owned it.
But as they reached the New York state line, the rain subsided, for the most part. And upon arriving at Ben’s home, everything was rosy. The old car had made it.
Five days later, Brian left New York to return home – without the 1951 Chevy. All was not so rosy for him.
And again, the sky was crying.
So, who is the owner of Heaven Bound now? If you ask Ben, he is. His wife pointed out they have the car now, and possession is nine-tenths of the law. However, I still have the title to it, and if you ask any bank, possession of the TITLE is nine-tenths of the law when it comes to owning cars. He can enjoy it for a while, and we'll see how serioius he is about this old car hobby. Maybe he'll buy it, and a family heirloom will be passed on. Or maybe he'll tire of it and find he doesn't have the time for it, upon which we'll have another long road trip (hopefully with better weather then).

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A friend of mine is selling this 1996 Saturn SC2. It's a nice looking car, runs really well, and the price is attractive. I was considering buying it myself. But my "wants" list doesn't even have a Saturn of any model on it. Still, I could probably have the few repairs it needs done at the local garage (eliminatng any sweat equity) and still have less in it than the Kelly blue book value. Then I could drive it for a couple years and maybe sell it then to get my investment back. But could a Saturn really be an "investment?" And do I really need another car that would probably serve as a daily driver? How many daily drivers can a person have before they can no longer be daily drivers because none are drive daily (My wife and I currently have 3)? I was considering adding another car to the stable, but I was looking for something much older. I'm not sure I need another "collector car" either. Maybe I'll get lucky and someone will buy this Saturn before I make up my mind. Then I won't have to make up my mind -- at least until I find another car for sale that I really like.

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Based on the number of cars at the Easter Car Show, the garage was empty this weekend for a lot of cool car owners in the Sioux Falls area. Although the car show was indoors, the weather was great, bringing out a number of additional cars unplanned for the event.
But of course, a garage being empty isn't as near a big deal as a tomb being empty. The car show was a lot of fun, but nowhere near as exciting as some dude rising from his grave. That's why we really celebrate Easter. It's all about Jesus' resurrection. The car show was just a little extra icing on the cake.

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I have published my first book! I'm rather excited about it, and of course, it's about cars. Don't be too impressed, though, because I went through a self-publishing company in which I had to pay all the initial costs up front to make it happen. Still, my first review (on Amazon.com) was a very good one. If you like the photos I've posted in albums in my garage, you'll like this book, "For The Love of Cars." Many of those photos are featured in this book in addition to others that have never been posted online. Also, it details my observations of how the old car hobby has grown in the 30 years I've been involved in it. If you're interested, the book retails for $28.99 and can be purchased online at Amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com or authorhouse.com or you can contact me to arrange to purchase a copy. Who knows, maybe this will launch me into a career as a world-famous, best-seller author. Or maybe not.

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I thought maybe we could have a little fun with this picture. What's going through this little boy's mind?
"Is there a hemi in there?"
"This must dispense something."
"The sign said 'Do not touch,' but I don't see anything in there that I shouldn't touch."
"Hey Dad, I think I found where the Easter Bunny hides the other 364 days of the year!"
"Is this where Motortopia resides?"
Anybody of you other Motortopians go any ideas what this kid might be thinking?

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My '61 Thunderbird looks great with wide white walls. But alas, wide white walls apparently are not in the cards for my T-Bird, although I did put in a good effort.
I had purchased some fake wide-white walls for it a few years ago, but it turned out they were held on by wheel covers and my car has mag wheels, so that didn't work. Then I came across a guy who had a set of the original Portawalls from the 1950s or 1960s in excellent condition, and I bought them from him. But when I took them to the tire shop, we discovered the tire will not hold air with those Portawalls on them, so I had to purchase inner-tubes. I did that, but had to go to another store to get them. Then it was back to the tire shop, and the tire shop knocked down all the tires to install the tubes and then the Portawalls, but the guy warned me that he didn't know how well they'd hold up on modern tires because the modern tires are shaped a little different and don't have the smooth sidewalls with no raised letters or print like the tires of old. Sure enough, by the time I got it home, one of the Portawalls had worked part way off and broke. So, back to the tire shop, and I had him take them all off, because the car looked incomplete with only three wide white walls. When I got back home again, I discovered one of the tires going flat in the garage. So, I pulled that wheel off and went back to the tire shop again. It turned out the wheel had a slight defect in it that punctured the innertube but otherwise never would've manifested itself with tubeless tires. He took the innertube out and the tire was fine.
It was a most frustrating experience.
I'm aware that there are companies that sell wide white wall tires, but I've also head some stories of quality issues with these companies. I've been told the tires are made more for show than for doing a lot of driving. And having to order the tires by mail and having no dealer to go back to locally for repairs when something does go wrong makes me very hesitant to take this route. And that's without even mentioning the high cost of said tires.
But that's OK. The wide white walls may have looked great, but when you have a good-looking car to begin with, doing without them becomes a minor detail. That is, once I got over all the frustrations I dealt with.

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A lot of people treasure their first car. And some are lucky enough to still own it.
But not me. Don't get me wrong, the 1973 Datsun 610 hardtop coupe was a pretty cool car. It wasn't real fast, nor was the gas mileage all that great for a four cylinder vehicle (the '66 Nova I bought later did just as well with 6 cylinders). But it was a pretty good looking car -- at least until I T-boned a huge 1971 Thunderbird with it. Totaled them both out.
Now it's several years later, and I have no interest in seeking out another like it. I often read stories about people who do extensive searches to find a car like their first car, but I'm not even looking.
However, I did just recently come across a 1966 Nova for sale at a decent price, and in nice shape. I really liked that old Nova I once owned (the wife wrecked that one), and wouldn't mind getting another. And it's not often you see one at a reasonably low price. But that's because this Nova is a four-door. Mine was a hardtop. I like hardtops. So, I don't know if I really want to buy this one.
Maybe I should hold out until I come across a reasonably priced 1956 Ford Victoria. I loved my uncle's '56 Vicky, it was so cool. But it might have to be a four-door to be in my price range, too. I like hardtops.
Well, I'm not looking for a '73 Datsun 610 hardtop, though.
If only I could just learn to be satisfied with what I've got!

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Okay, you Motortopian Mopar fans, I need your help. I posted a photo album that has a couple Barracudas in it and I'm not sure what year they are. I took a guess at one, but I've been told it's wrong. Both are modified, adding to the challenge. They're in my May Cruise Activities album.
Can anyone help me out here?

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I hadn't had anyone challenge any of my cars in quite a while, and then suddenly I got several challenges in a short time. I was careless, and accepted the first two, not realizing it was the Pound looking for more victims.
I don't really mind losing a challenge, especially when it's just my daily driver. And the first challenge was a pretty cool pickup truck. I thought it would be interesting to see how people compared a quarter-mile racer against a long distance tourer. But we'll never know.
That's because I don't lobby my challenges. I go under the original spirit of the challenge to see how the general Motortopia populace views things. Unfortunately, there are a few groups out there that see challenges as an opportunity to gang up on those who do not belong to their groups. It's most unfortunate, because it gives the victor a very hollow victory. And they don't even try to hide it. You can see it in the challenge comments.
I don't have to mention who the groups are, there have been plenty of complaints about them before.
So, what do I want? Not a thing. I opened my garage door, and the pound swarmed in. It was more-or-less an invitation when I accepted the challenges.
But I have to admit, my interest in challenges of any kind has pretty much dwindled to nothing.

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I just finished a trip to Spokane, WA and back in the Celica. I've always liked this car as I commute in it back and forth to work, but now I've found it's true purpose. It carries those letters "GT" on it for good reason.
When I got the car, I thought it would be a sporty, economical car. It is that, but it is more of a grand-touring automobile. I got 38 miles per gallon on much of the trip, and that's using 10-percent ethanol fuel. How can a car with such good acceleration get such good gas mileage?
But there's more. When I hit the Rocky Mountains, the fun really began. I've had some economical cars before, but they always lost speed going over the mountain passes. Not this one. I set the cruise-control on 80 MPH (for you law-enforcement people, I'm sure my speedometer reads higher than reality) and she never skipped a beat all the way up and over the mountain.
As other cars slowed for the curves and then struggled to regain their speed, I just zipped by, gripping the road effortlessly around any curve I-90 threw at us.
It was a blast!
Of course I did have to slow down when it snowed going over Bozeman Pass, and again for some snow squalls for a while, but for the most part it was nice cruising.
And then there are the seats. They don't look fancy. They're stock, Toyota issue. But I never got the back and neck aches I've gotten in so many other cars on long trips.
Usually we take the Mazda on long trips just because we can fit more stuff in it. But never again. I'll leave my clean underware behind if I have to, but the Celica is now THE car for travelling.
By the way, we saw some other cars on the trip that looked a lot cooler than My Celica. Check them out in the photo album in my garage. But I'm sure they all burned far more gas than me in each mile.

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My son and his wife saw this car at a car show in Spokane recently and said it was made by combining a Rambler with a Ferrari. He said it was a Ridler Award winner and is called the Ferrambo, or something like that. The picture is not the best, as it was taken with a cell phone. Anybody know any more about this? It is rather interesting looking.

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Hey, how many more months until April gets here?
Yes, I've seen the calendar, but we keep getting snow. We got about 5 inches the last day of March and since yesterday we've accumulated about 3 inches of very wet snow. It's mostly slush on the roads, which actually is more slippery than snow when you drive on it. About 30 miles north of us, they got at least twice as much snow. And they're saying we're going to get more of the white stuff today and tonight!
Now, I like snow, it's very pretty. But as the Proverb says, "for everything there is a season," and spring is not the season for snow! It is supposed to be spring now, isn't it? I've seen robins in the yard. But of course, no flowers are budding because IT KEEPS SNOWING!!!
We need some warm weather around here. Al Gore better recalculate his statistics, because I think we might be coming into the next ice age, never mind "global warming"!
You think the price of gas is going up because of the war in the Middle East? Or maybe it's from greedy oil companies? Forget it -- it's supply and demand, and everybody in the upper Midwest is using up the supply TRYING TO STAY WARM!!!
We better get some warm weather before fall. There just seems like something wrong if the trees can't turn color because they NEVER GOT A CHANCE TO BUD ANY LEAVES!
And yes, that's the same picture I used with my last blog post (it's actually an older photo). And I'll keep on using it until spring finally gets here! I have no interest in going out and taking pictures in the snow at this time of year.

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Oh, no! It's snowing like the dickens, and we're supposed to get up to 8 inches today. How many more months until April gets here!?!

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I got the old Chevy out today, and it runs great, no worse the wear for sittin' all winter, although it did need the tranny fluid topped off. And that was $2 per gallon gas (I had bought it last fall) I was running on! Yee-ha!
I had replaced the alternator over the winter, as the car has a slight drain on the battery (needs recharging every 6-8 weeks), and the old alternator did test to be weak on the output charge. But the gauge still shows slightly negative when the motor is running, so I think something is till draining the battery, and I can't figure out what. The car's pretty simple electrically, so there isn't much to troubleshoot. I'm wondering if there's a short somewhere that I haven't found.
It's supposed to snow again tonight, so it may have to sit again until mother nature can bring some more rain to wash off the salt they'll probably thorw on the roads again.

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It's been a couple weeks since I posted a photo album featuring old cars and old trains. I never got any votes or comments on anything in it, which is interesting because I read a column in a Hemmings magazine once where a guy said a lot of automotive enthusiasts are also railroad buffs. It got me to wondering if that were true, so I posted that as a question in a forum in The American Auto Group. I got a a couple comments there, but not much. I'm thinking maybe that Hemmings columnist was wrong. But I thought I'd put this post out there and see if it generates any response before I write this one off. It's not that it's a big deal, but more of an "inquiring minds want to know" kind of thing. As for me? Yeah, I like trains, mostly old ones and especially steam locomotives. But I like cars more, especially old ones, and steam powered cars.

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I was going through my old photo albums, looking for a particular picture of my father-in-law, and came across additional photos of my old cars that I didn't have on Motortopia, so I thought I'd add them. Some show the '51 Chevy shortly after I got it and others show the '51 Chevy and the '61 T-Bird by the railroad tracks as the U.P. was running some special trains through the area.
I also added a couple pictures of some of the old beaters I drove in the past, placing them in my "Filling The Driveway" photo album.
Anyone who has any interest in my old cars might want to check the photo albums to see the additional photos. As for those who have no interest in my cars at all, I'm flattered that you read this far through this blog.
Thanks.

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It may be the beginning of a new year, but it's also the middle of winter. I want to get out the old cars and cruise! I want to go see some nice old cars cruising down the road. But I don't want the salt eating through the fenders, and neither do any of the other local hotrodders.
But wait. I've got all those diecast cars I've collected on the shelves. And I've got a pile of Christmas cards that are really too nice to be just tossed in the trash can.
Now, many years ago, I might've taken those diecast cars down on the floor and driven them from one imaginary place to another. But for some reason, that just doesn't do it for me any more.
So, I took a few of those Christmas cards that had no or very little print on them and tried to create old car scenes that I could photograph, using my diecast toys. They didn't turn out too bad. Check them out.
But it's still not the same. How many more days until spring?

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Apparently You Tube doesn't have as long a memory as Motortopia. I've noticed a couple favorite videos I placed in my "cool box" are no longer available. And one of them is among those listed in Motortopia's "what's hot" videos -- the one about driving behind a 747. The other one is the hillbilly rollercoaster. Both of these, when I go to view them, come up with a message from You Tube that they are no longer available. That's too bad, they were amusing.

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I got a private message from someone asking me to vote for their photo in the In The Wild contest. I won't say who, because I think they did enough lobbying for themselves so they don't need my help. But what do I do, they're one of my Motortopia friends? However, I have my own photo in the contest.
So, I figured if people are going to lobby their friends for votes so that the In The Wild contest becomes more of a popularity contest, I'll just take it one step further. I'll post a blog that will spend a little time on the main page and ask everyone, friends and strangers, to vote for the 1961 T-Bird in the contest!
Actually, there are several interesting photos there, so regardless of whether you vote for mine, someone else's or none, it's still worth taking a look. Check it out.
But if you do have trouble picking one out of all those great photos, remember the 1961 T-Bird!

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I finally broke down and got the gas gauge fixed. For years, I kept track of my mileage and used that to determine how much gas was left in the tank. And it almost always worked! Almost. Recently I ran out on a dark night in the middle of nowhere, apparently because the previous time I bought gas the pump must've shut off early and I didn't get the tank full like I thought. So, I got an identical gas gauge from a junk yard for the dash, pulled the gas tank and replaced the sending unit. I also had the tank cleaned while it was out, as it badly needed it. I have to give thanks to my friends at J&M Transmission who helped in this project to bring life back to the gas gauge. It's kind of funny, though, after all the work and expense, nobody will notice this significant upgrade but me.

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I commented previously about how surprised I was that someone voted only one star for my previously owned Nash Metropolitan. I have since discovered they apparently went through all of the cars I have listed and did the same for each. That would mean they apparently weren't voting how they felt about the cars, but either wanted to just do something mean-spirited against me annonymously or wanted to lower my over-all garage rating to make their own look better. That's most unfortunate. I can't understand how they could enjoy a website like Motortopia if they're going to do things like that.

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I know the styling of Metropolitans, and Nash cars in general of that era, are somewhat controversial. But most people who don't particularly like the looks still say the Metropolitans are so ugly, they're cute. But to only rate it one star is rather insulting. It can't be that bad. Even if the guy I sold it to left it sitting in his back yard for 20 years I don't think it would be THAT bad. There are a lot of cars out there that I find very unappealing, but I can't think of any deserving of such a low rating. So I have to ask, what did I do to somebody to make them want to rate this car so low? Or more to the point, what did this car do to somebody to deserve such a rating? Heck, a car this little and with so little horsepower, what could it possibly do to anyone? Even the porcupine that passed it by going down the road and then stopped to see if it would catch up didn't feel threatened.

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I periodically get invitations to join various groups at Motortopia. That's nice, everyone likes getting an invitation. But what happens to the old groups, the ones that were started 6, 12 or 18 months ago? I've noticed interest seems to wane when the group is no longer "new." Hardly anyone posts anything anymore on the groups to which I currently belong. Is that because we're always seeking something "new" but never being satisfied because that newness wears off?
Perhaps it is because there is something inside of us that is constantly seeking, but never finding that something of which we just can't figure out what it is.
I would be satisfied with the groups I'm in if the members would just stay active in them. I try to start new forum topics, or revive old ones to generate interest, but nobody awakes.
I would like to suggest that the "something" that everyone is seeking without knowing its nature is actually God. I think God put that desire to find him in everyone, but we're so overwhelmed with our "stuff" that we don't recognize it is God that we actually need. He can be found through his son, Jesus Christ, who died for us on the cross. Most everyone knows the old verse, the one that somebody always holds up at football games, John 3:16. Yes, God loves us, but did you know how important it is to understand the sacrifices described in that verse? We're told in Romans 3:23-24 "...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ."
If you've read this up to this point, something in this must interest you. Come visit our group Christ's Cool Cruisers and check out what some of our members have said on this topic. And maybe it is a group that you could join, and possibly spark a revival.

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OK, I did it. I finally broke down and put a formerly owned car in my garage. I had a few pictures of it, and a few Motortopians encouraged me to do this, so I did. My hesitance was simply because the car isn't mine anymore. I don't put "formerly owned" cars in my real garage, so I was reticent to put them in my Motortopia garage.
Funny thing is, I've gotten no comments, votes or anything on it. It was a rather popular car when I had it, and some people questioned my selling it to buy the Thunderbird. I really like the Thunderbird, but I have to admit, the Oldsmobile was quicker and rode nicer. So, I guess since I'm still fond of it, there it is, in my Motortopia garage.

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Well, I finally did it. I broke down and added my daily drivers to my garage. I didn't think they were all that special, but I noticed a lot of Motortopians have placed their daily drivers in their garages. Some seem rather plain, but their owners are still proud of them. Maybe I should take more pride in mine. So, there they are.
And almost immediately after posting them, the challengers pounced. I'm not talking about Dodges, either. I haven't been involved in any challenges for months, mainly because the ones I did just didn't seem to get many votes total, so it seemed pointless. But it seems once I posted some "new" cars, all of a sudden those who are really into the challenges saw "fresh meat." It left me scratching my head when some guy wants to challenge the wife's stock, 4-cylinder grocery-getter with his hot-rodded V-8, but that's probably my own fault for saying it was fast in the description (I did beat a Ford Probe equipped with a V-6 once, but don't tell my wife).
I felt like I had to vindicate my wife as though she had been victimized or something by those faster V-8s so I simply challenged those guys with my hotrod.
And in the end, we all win some and lose some.
Now I'm wondering if I should post those cars I no longer own as some do. Hmmm.

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