J.W. Burleson photo / Boquillas del Carmen, Coah.

Wednesday, May 15, 2024

Love is Maintenance.

 
Basha Burwell caught this native California Ford Ranger wheelbarrow on Deer Isle, Maine. We psoted a 3rd-gen Ranger a while back. And, straight outta Jalisco, a 1978 Ford F-100 Ranger











Tuesday, May 14, 2024

The New Math on Old Cars and Trucks

"...Jeremy Morris is used to friends making fun of the Toyota Tacoma he has driven for 24 years. He still insists it was one of the best money decisions of his life.

"The 45-year-old financial adviser in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, estimates he saved more than $100,000 by never replacing the pickup. His ballpark figure factors in what he would have spent on a new car every five years, minus the roughly $20,000 he paid for repairs and upkeep over 300,000 miles...."

See Joe Pinsker's  piece in the WSJ about the economics of holding onto an old car or truck instead of re-buying every 5 years. 

You know the AL position on that issue.




Sunday, May 12, 2024

Volvo running on plastic.

 

"Dutch designer Gijs Schalkx has retrofitted an old car to run on an unusual fuel source: waste plastic that is turned back into oil. SchalkX'S DIY project, titled The Plastic Car (Is Made of Metal), consists of an old red Volvo with a roof-mounted "de-refinery" that heats plastic to obtain oil for the fuel tank...Schalkx used only his own household recycling to power the car, which he drove for around half a year while making a video of the work,  needing around one kilogram of plastic for every seven kilometres..."
-Read all about it  in Dezeen.  Thanks to Michael Moore for the heads-up. Here at AL we do have a Volvo thing...

Saturday, May 11, 2024

Friday, May 10, 2024

Cadillac Allante, Denver.

 

 
From Markus Anstadt, in Denver: About 21000 total produced during the run from 1987-1993. Body by Pininfarini. They had removeable hardtops and V8 engines. The last year had the famous Northstar V8. These were meant to be like the Mercedes SL models. Prices were $50000 +!



Thursday, May 9, 2024

c. 1970 Renault 6TL, Italia

 

Basha Burwell saw the car in Pietrasanta. A slightly later edition was up on BaT a while back. Renault of all sort were very popular in Montréal in the days when driving a French car was a political statement.

Wednesday, May 8, 2024

Honda Element + Airstream, Banff.

 


From Alex Emond in Banff: "I just bought this 2005 toaster on wheels from my dentist. Only 129000 kilometers and it's a 5 speed manual transmission with AWD. My Ridgeline truck is up to 440 thousand km and has enough issues to make me concerned and unwilling to sink money into it. I'll be selling it, as is, cheap .
The Element has room enough to stretch out and sleep in once the rear seats are folded up to each side . I'll probably take one seat right out . Nice big "moonroof " . 
So on my next trip out to the prairies I'll be looking through a different windshield,  in a vehicle where everything works. + Better gas mileage since it is a 4 cylinder engine . 

p.s. And right across the street, briefly this morning , was this very-early Airstream trailer. (see below) Maybe late 50's. 




Tuesday, May 7, 2024

Colorado Springs Series No 1

 

Colorado Springs. A sense of space–also emptiness–in these photos. Maybe it was me.