[V8] More of Roger's Ten Best....
diemarthadie at aol.com
diemarthadie at aol.com
Mon Nov 23 11:47:27 PST 2009
The only truck I'd nominate was my 1982 S-10 longbed pickup. 2.8 V6
got decent mileage, truck was compact in size and easy to drive and
park, regular cab and long 8ft bed meant it was extremely useful at
moving all the new friends that I acquired as soon as they found out I
had a pickup truck. Despite being abandoned behind my friends store
for 5 years of rotting, I was able to get it on the road for a few
bucks and drove the hell out of it for many years, even moved 90% of my
house from PA to MD myself. Trees, mulch, whatever, it hauled it. It
looked ugly, probably because I covered the holes with foil tape and
rattlecan black, which was a bonus. As a family vehicle it left
something to be desired ;) My kids loved to play in the bed while it
was parked, and they loved it more after reading "The Little Black
Truck" but it really wasn't sensible for commuting. It did get decent
mileage, and was easy to fix, hauled everything I threw at it, was easy
to drive and park...
Ok, so it won't make the list. Nor should it if this is a list of 10
Best Cars :)
John
-----Original Message-----
From: Roger Woodbury <rmwoodbury at roadrunner.com>
To: diemarthadie at aol.com; V8 at audifans.com
Sent: Mon, Nov 23, 2009 12:40 pm
Subject: RE: [V8] More of Roger's Ten Best....
Oh, and I forgot to diatribe about trucks.
It is strange that we have not developed a new and more intelligent
form of
light commercially based utility vehicle. But the truth is that we are
still making the same sort of truck that Henry first made out of his
Model
T: long nose with room for two in the cab and a cargo bed out back.
The US
auto industry makes trucks the same way today.
I wonder why it is that in this time of increased congestion and rising
fuel
costs, we still cling to the old fashioned front engine rear drive
configuration that is very short on utility and long on consumption. To
make matters worse, many trucks now have extended cabs that will hold as
many as six occupants while the beds have shrunk to as little as six
feet in
length.
Having a near daily need to a truck-like utility vehicle, I wonder why
the
makers can't come up with a cab-over or at least short nosed truck,
with a
modern high performance and high efficiency engine? As a practical
matter a
bed of at least eight feet in length is not really very usable where
real
utility is concerned. If the nose was shorter on utility vehicles like
pickup trucks, beds could be as long as say, ten feet, or as short as
eight
feet with the expanded cab still provided where more inside cargo or
passenger capacity was needed. A pickup truck that is sixteen feet long
while still maintaining an eightfoot bed seems to make far more sense
to me
than the great big trucks that we produce now as "utility" vehicles.
And a truck that could have 3/4 ton capacity with a four cylinder
turbodiesel engine ought to be extremely popular. If the transmission
had
seven speeds, it would be more than fast enough to keep pace with
traffic
even carrying a large payload.
So far all that truck manufacturers seem to be able to do is build 1918
vintage trucks that are "updated" with bigger engines and more
cupholders
than they could even imagine back then.
Roger
-----Original Message-----
From: diemarthadie at aol.com [mailto:diemarthadie at aol.com]
Sent: Monday, November 23, 2009 9:57 AM
To: rmwoodbury at roadrunner.com; V8 at audifans.com
Subject: Re: [V8] More of Roger's Ten Best....
Just to be clear, Roger, I was joking about the X1/9 and the Chevy
wagon, and the Jeepster, and the Scout. Dead serious about the
Chevette though ;)
Why the 240D over the 300D? Personal experience or ?
The 300D has become a bit of a collector/biofuel prize. I've been very
surprised at the asking prices for decent models of late - and for
crappy ones too. I briefly shopped them when looking for a new family
truckster, before finding a very serviceable and cheap Voyager.
BTW, as much as it pains me, I would probably have to put a minivan on
the list. Whether it was the Dodge Caravan for really starting it all
or the Honda Odyssey (or current Town & Country) for perfecting much of
it. My work vehicle was a first generation Caravan for many years. We
put 200k on it, loading and unloading it with complete radio studios
and transmission systems, trekking from the wilds of SC to NYC. It
lost most of the rooftop paint and rusted around the rear window, but
everything else just kept working.
John
-----Original Message-----
From: Roger Woodbury <rmwoodbury at roadrunner.com>
To: V8 at audifans.com
Sent: Sun, Nov 22, 2009 9:17 am
Subject: [V8] More of Roger's Ten Best....
I am having trouble with this list, and have found that I am considering
revisions as I go along. All of this is taking time, and making me do a
lot
of reading of old articles and books that I have on my shelf. It is
interesting because some of the cars that at first appeared to me to be
obvious choices have paled and passed into shadow, while some cars that
I
never considered, NOR would have considered, have sparked some renewed
interest.
Appreciated also are the comments that I have received. I certainly had
forgotten all about the Fiat X1/9. And why not: Fiat was fading away
here
when that car was introduced, but I did think a bit about one as I was
commuting to Massachusetts for reserve military duty, and figured that I
could buy one out of my reserve pay. Then I came to my senses realizing
that a Fiat was going to be, well, a Fiat, and here in Maine that
wasn't a
good thing. Besides, if one wanted to point to a mid engined sports
car,
then why not a Porsche 904GTS that you could have ordered from the
Porsche
dealer, or perhaps later on a 914-6 (which I loved the sound of best),
or a
914 -2 litre which was a better car? Nope. All of these simply don't
pass
over the bars that I have put up to mark the ten best.
So also I think of the big Chevrolet Caprices and other cars like
Seamus's
Cordoba as not particularly significant and certainly not "the best" in
any
way. Why a big Chevvy when Dodges, Fords, Plymouths etc, etc, etc,
were all
much the same: solid rear axles and big relatively slow turning eight
cylinder engines carrying a great big box? Why a Cordoba over a Monte
Carlo
or Grand Prix? They were all big boxy coupes with the same old
suspension
and driveline that had been made here for decades. The only significant
personal coupe built in the US since WWII was the Oldsmobile Toronado,
and
while's I would love to have one now as a summer car, they really
weren't
the "best" at much of anything....of course: that's just MY opinion.
Right now, I am actually running out of room on the list. I want to
add a
couple more as I think they were the "best" for some reason or other.
So, I
am struggling, and no more so than with the general classification of
"sports car". So, this morning, I will start with that. And you will
be
surprised, I'll bet.
*1957 Chevrolet Corvette - Now, I am not a Corvette fan. Never have
been.
A friend of mine in high school had one and I was insanely jealous
until I
was given a ride. I couldn't believe that anyone was serious about such
vehicles after that one ride: holy cowl shake? Can you say
"buckboard"?
But the truth is that the Chevrolet Corvette is a significant event in
US
automobile history, and the best of the cars I believe was probably the
first revision of the C1 car that came out in 1957. Oh, I know that
there
are much better Corvettes in terms of handling, driving, creature
comforts,
power etc, etc, etc. But this particular year was significant because
it
marked a true change away from what was originally a nice car to drive
to
the country club and GM's attempt at producing a real, world class
sports
car. This car...the 1977...had optional fuel injection, and to make a
the
point a bit clearer, the Corvette had fuel injection BEFORE Mercedes
brought
out the 300SL with it's injection. Now I suppose one could carp that
the
Rochester system in the 'Vette was more akin to a pot burning kerosene
stove
than the first Bosch system in the Mercedes, but it did produce a
significant increase in power and performance for the Corvette.
*1983 Mercedes-Benz 240D - Oh, I can hear the howls and screams from
here.
But this is truly one of the great cars every produced by anyone. By
1983
Mercedes has perfected its wax like undercoating so the cars were far
more
resistant to corrosion here in the US than before and the cars would
stand
up to regular use in US driving conditions. This was the last year for
this
car, and when it gave way to the new generation 190/190D in 1984, it
gave
away an awful lot. Never again would there be a virtually hand built
and
carefully hand checked and rechecked economy car produced in the world.
The
1984 190/190D was a find small car and very much a Mercedes, but
nothing was
the same: the old 240 D was rugged and overbuilt and its quality and
engineering excellent can be illustrated by the design of the door latch
which was discontinued with the end of the model run. The latch was so
well
made that the car could be picked up and hung by the door handle (if the
handle itself would hold togther): the cars were crash proof beyond
belief.
Also the 240D engine was a "generations" power plant: with basic
service it
would run forever, and many the world over are still running on and on
today. I'd love to have one of these cars now, as a fun, summer car.
Slow
as a snail going up hill in a howling downhill wind, but reliable.
Inexpensive to buy and maintain if you measure such things in terms of
decades.
So, those are two more of the ten best. I will have two more perhaps
later,
but it is a nice morning here, and I need to go outside and fix the
barn
doors so that they close properly. Winter is coming and I fear it is
coming
too soon!
Roger
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