Car-spotting thread

Captain Brainstorm said:
Did the K car belong to John Voight?
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YARN | You know what? This car was owned by Jon Voight. | Seinfeld (1993) - S06E07 The Soup | Video gifs by quotes | d6a3e6a8 | 紗
 
mfennell said:
Part of the appeal is that it came that way. Manuals were offered until '95. Like @don , I think it's pretty cool.
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Definitely cool, especially considering the limited number of new cars offered with manual trans. I had no idea those Caravans had a 5sp option from the factory.

During the last few years we've definitely seen this sudden and kind of bizarre appeal of well cared-for cars from the late 80's/90's/early 2000's. Not even high-end stuff, this Caravan is a perfect example. I think it partly has to do with the parts/vehicle shortage during the pandemic, which caused many people to hold on to their older cars. It also has to do with the anticipated changeover to hybrid/electric, and nostalgia for some ICE vehicles. People that were teenagers during those years (myself included) now getting into middle age and maybe having some disposable income to spend on a car that they might have wanted years ago.

Plus, aesthetically speaking, the 90's was an awesome decade for cars. For sure not everything, but many of the sportier cars from that era I'd argue have timeless good looks.
 
sundaydoug said:
I remember seeing a video years ago of a turbo Caravan with the faux wooden siding running something like a 12-second quarter mile. Beat an 8-cyl Mustang in the other lane if I recall correctly. You could hear kids cheering in the background, who presumably arrived at the track in said Caravan.
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ya they did actually make a turbo 2.5 version of this van with a stick......like 150hp....Which of course we laugh at now, but cars were ~25% lighter 30 years ago....I had a friend who had one of these motors in a lancer, we got good at replacing the head gaskets. But ya, would def. see some fast ones at the drag strip.
Captain Brainstorm said:
Right, I get it, its a subjective thing. For me though, subjectively, putting a manual in a 35yr old minivan falls into the category of putting whipped cream on shit.
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I dont get it either but whatever......but I guess now that manuals have pretty much been completely removed from everyday life, there is a nostalgia for them. Friend of mine has a teenager looking for their first car and wants it to be a manual and cant find anything....was asking me about my 11 year old focus and if i want to sell it.....im like my god, how desperate has it gotten out there? lol

having spent many hours working/driving both a stick caravan and two different VW busses....I wouldnt take one for free, no thank you. Well ok, I dont mean to lump the caravan into the same awful category as a VW bus...they deserve their own special place in automotive hell.
 
Captain Brainstorm said:
Right, I get it, its a subjective thing. For me though, subjectively, putting a manual in a 35yr old minivan falls into the category of putting whipped cream on shit.
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As Fennell points out, you know the factory put the manual in that minivan right? If someone did a swap I would agree.


mfennell said:
Part of the appeal is that it came that way. Manuals were offered until '95. Like @don , I think it's pretty cool.

I have a friend whose family collection includes a mint K car convertible. Because why the hell not?
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The K-car is a very interesting part of Chrysler's history. They all shared the same platform and why someone on BaT said the shifter on the minivan is awkward (low and back) as it shared linkage from one of the sedans (which I think adds to the flavor of a manual minivan). For the initial and carry costs and the small storage size of a K car convertible - I agree - why not. What other convertable will give you such low cost/low care enjoyment?
 
Carson said:
So you know I'm completely nuts. Here's more proof.

I realized after the sale that Porsche Warrington never gave me the original window sticker for the Macan. I called, they looked for a week. No luck. Lost.

So I asked them to get me a new one. Oh well, we have to contact the factory in Leipzig and they have to generate a new one, ship it to NA HQ, then to us, etc, etc. I said SO CALL. You got your five star reviews from me, so earn it.

After three calls, a few emails, and two months... I'm a little annoyed they didn't laminate it for me.

View attachment 223941
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Not to mention no apology on #40 paper suitable for framing...
 
I had an ‘85 Lebaron ragtop that was a great little cheap shitbox. Bought it really cheap, put a new steering rack etc and tires on it. Aligned it perfectly and then it got rear ended waiting to make a left turn, guy never hit the brakes. That car still drove straight as an arrow until I scrapped it. Got rear ended in my friend’s K-car wagon also, same road same block same delivery job. Ouch!
 
sundaydoug said:
Definitely cool, especially considering the limited number of new cars offered with manual trans. I had no idea those Caravans had a 5sp option from the factory.

During the last few years we've definitely seen this sudden and kind of bizarre appeal of well cared-for cars from the late 80's/90's/early 2000's. Not even high-end stuff, this Caravan is a perfect example. I think it partly has to do with the parts/vehicle shortage during the pandemic, which caused many people to hold on to their older cars. It also has to do with the anticipated changeover to hybrid/electric, and nostalgia for some ICE vehicles. People that were teenagers during those years (myself included) now getting into middle age and maybe having some disposable income to spend on a car that they might have wanted years ago.

Plus, aesthetically speaking, the 90's was an awesome decade for cars. For sure not everything, but many of the sportier cars from that era I'd argue have timeless good looks.
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I'm sorry, but minivans are just not cool (just my opinion, which counts for shit, so don't go blowing a gasket all of you peoples with the minivans), especially the box on wheels types from the 80's. The fact that an unappealing car comes with a manual doesn't make it any more appealing to me. I wouldn't loose my shit with excitement if the new Prius suddenly came with a manual. I think that a lot of this nostalgia is driven by rise of EV's and the coming death of ICE, like you said. But arguably, the new automatics, especially the dual-clutch variety are just faster, which is why supercars have been coming only with them for the last 20yrs. I don't think you can convince me that driving a new Lambo or Ferrari isn't fun with dual clutch. If you really want a truly "immersive" and tactile driving experience, get a motorcycle.

don said:
As Fennell points out, you know the factory put the manual in that minivan right? If someone did a swap I would agree.



The K-car is a very interesting part of Chrysler's history. They all shared the same platform and why someone on BaT said the shifter on the minivan is awkward (low and back) as it shared linkage from one of the sedans (which I think adds to the flavor of a manual minivan). For the initial and carry costs and the small storage size of a K car convertible - I agree - why not. What other convertable will give you such low cost/low care enjoyment?
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The K-car is the car that saved Chrysler I think. I drove one as part of my job in high school, and my friend had a LeBaron. I ended up with an Omni as my car in college. All three were the biggest pieces of shit on the planet, only the Yugo was worse (which also trades on BAT to suckers with disposable income). I know that they came out with a turbo Omni, but I suspect it only resulted in a faster piece of shit. I think management dropped a pile of spare parts from different cars on the engineers and said "build a car out of this pile of garbage", and out popped the Omni. I know that Chrysler makes decent cars and trucks now, but those cars I drove back then have left a sour taste in my mouth that's been hard to wash out.
 
Captain Brainstorm said:
But arguably, the new automatics, especially the dual-clutch variety are just faster
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No doubt. And sure, supercars have been losing the manual trans mostly for performance reasons. And possibly the fact that people with that type of disposable income don't want to use a stick and clutch.

But I think the average cars are losing the manual trans because people are just lazy as shit.
 
snashters said:
I'm told this is a BMW 325i

GR1JXdIkpsMgxHT2Q9vZxiz2zDCtAvp96EWXfEiUgGg-2048x1536.jpg
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6 days out of warranty?

timeline
day 1 oow: something breaks
day 2 oow: clueless owner takes car to dealer
day 3 oow: clueless owner gets repair estimate approx equal to value of car and goes full karen on the dealership
day 4 oow: clueless owner picks car up and brings it home crying
day 5 oow: clueless owner sets car on fire to claim insurance money
 
GSTim said:
Interesting video on this:

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Interesting for sure. Although I question wether or not the MPG rating on the types of cars in question has any effect on their sales. Could just be the manufacturers trying to play nice with the EPA.

That guy is annoying but he redeemed himself a bit at the end with "If you buy a sports car with an automatic you deserve to suffer. At least a little bit".
 
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