[V8] Depressing

[Roger M. Woodbury]

This morning's V8 summary was depressing.  First of all it's been quite 
a long time since one was even generated, and secondly, it mostly 
discussed the passing on of several V8s...either to the boneyard or to 
someone...almost ANYONE who might spend a little to get a lot.  Depressing.

As everyone who has read anything from me over the past year or so 
knows, I, too have been pondering the end of my V8.  Last summer it was 
featured on Bring-a-trailer and I got absolutely zero response. Oh, 
there were sixty or so comments, some supportive and some not so much as 
is usual. But zero interest in buying the car.  That coupled with my 
effort the year before to list the car on eBay has for me, established 
the market for these cars at zero.  They are worth nothing in the market 
place as automobiled and their time as collectors' cars simply has not 
and might never arrive.

It's too bad. The V8 is an extraordinary automobile.  It is in my 
opinion, far and away better in most ways than any of its 
contemporaries, if for no other reason it drives all four wheels and 
back in the day, few did, and no highline sedans offered what this car has.

Since I tried to sell my car at the beginning of the summer, I have had 
to make some decisions about what to do with it.  It is truly an "extra" 
car for us, as our mileage has dipped to around 7500 miles per year or 
so, and most of the time when we go anywhere, we, my wife and I, go 
alone.  And when we do we normally time it so that we are going to Sams 
Club, the other grocery store or perhas Home Depot and the station wagon 
is the vehicle that is needed.  In point of fact, the V8 is just sitting 
in the garage, currently not even registered.

Yesterday was an excellent example.  I had to go to Home Depot in the 
late afternoon. The nearest Home Depot is twenty-five miles from here 
over promarily lovely, rural two lane roads. I didn't need the capacity 
of the wagon, but it was in the driveway and was perfectly usable for 
the trip.  It needs little but will get new front struts in December 
before inspection.  I was pondering if I would have driven the V8 on the 
run had it been available, and came to the conclusion that I was 
ambivalent about it.  Our normal daily use is to the grocery store and 
that is just about ten miles each way.  A long trip is 150 miles each 
way to Portland and either car does it, although for that trip the V8 
would be lovely.  We do that twice or perhaps three times per  year now, 
so keeping a car for that is foolish.

My V8 has a bit less than 90,000 miles from new and is nearly perfect 
cosmetically.  Well, almost.  I have been using the garage as a 
carpentry shop this summer and sitting outside hasn't helped the car and 
I will need to have the headliner redone at some point. In late August 
it began to sag a bit in the rear.  I'm going to pull the battery this 
fall, I think and run a trickle charger on it through the winter...or I 
might just run the trickle charger on the battery in the car and start 
it periodically.  There is a faint possibility that I might be traveling 
every few days alone, and I won't leave my wife here without a car if I 
am gone more than one day a week or thereabouts.  So, the V8 might well 
have a new mission and be put back on the road sometime between now and 
summer.  The negotiations are still running.

I have even thought about trying to alternate vehicles....the V8 one 
year and the 100 Avant the next.  I suppose that might happen starting 
next fall, but not this year.  Technically we could get alone without 
the capacity and utility of the station wagon.

I have also considered the possibility of trading both Audis on some one 
other car.  But there is nothing I want and nothing I would spend enough 
money to buy to make a trade other than a raping of the me by the 
dealer.  So, I think we'll just keep the V8 and the station wagon and 
roll on the miles.  No matter what the service and maintenance costs are 
over time, so long as parts are available, it is considerably less 
expensive to keep them going than to try to buy and run anything else.

And nothing new, or newer does enough MORE than either of these cars 
does to justify spending a bunch of money all at once.

Just my two cents for this day.

Roger

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