FINALLY!!!

Car Hunt 2006-2007 is over!

An indigo Impala found me. Yes, an Impala! Not a fuel-efficient Toyota or AWD Subaru. We were making our weekly cruise through the car lots one evening, and I saw the shape of the car and a little of the color. Standard comment ensued: "Hey, there's a nice-looking Impala... is that '68 Mustang still here?" i.e. I saw it, mentioned it, and (typically) would forget about it shortly thereafter.
Later that night, after he'd gotten on the computer, Hubby said, "You know that Impala?"
"Which one?"
"The dark blue one."
"Which one?"
"The one with the spoiler."
"Which-"
"At the place with the Mustang!!!"
"Oh. Yeah, what about it?"
Then he rattled off a bunch of available options and wondered if that particular one had heated seats (it doesn't) or XM radio (it does) and basically just rambled on a bit. We both like to look up specs and reviews and so forth. I know this had to be the fourth or fifth time one of us had checked out Impala specs, though. I listened, mostly, then proceeded to forget about it again.

Well, I was in town the next day and something compelled me to go back to that lot, even though it wasn't near where I had to be. That car popped into my mind and I thought I'd go take a look in the daylight. The owner of the lot gave me the keys, I drove it around the block, then called Hubby. "Hey honey, whatcha doin'?"
"Nothing... ummm, why?"
"I just bought a car. Can you come sign for it?"
"..."
"Honey? You still there?"
"Which car?"
"The Impala."
"Which one?"
"The dark blue one."
"Which-"
"I'll pick you up."

Ironically, I said I didn't want another Buick, but loved the way they rode... this one reminds me of everything I liked about the Buicks (and a few things I didn't!) It gets up to "too fast" on the odometer before I know it, and the dang thing is a behemoth compared to the little Corolla S we test-drove. I ended up with a big car in spite of my best intentions. And... that's okay. It gets halfway decent mileage and cost considerably less than we planned to spend, has all the bells and whistles I wanted and then some, and a bonus power sunroof. W00t!

When I remember to bring the camera upstairs, I'll post a picture. But you all know what a new(er) Impala looks like, right? Just watch the cars go by... one in ten will be an Impala. :-D

And they're ugly, too

Found a funny item on PCJM about the difficulty of pronouncing Prius (as in Toyota) with a link to another article on the same subject. The second one appears to be from 2000, when the Prius was introduced.

Name aside, this car has never interested me in any way, shape, or form. Especially shape. *ew*

It's T-Day

The time has come, the husband said, to talk of many things,
Of sales and slips and purchase tax, of tags and warranties...
And why not buy a car today-
A Toyota, please!

(with apologies to Lewis Carroll)

Update:

That Corolla S mentioned in a previous post was our goal. We drove out of town, in the rain and dark, to go meet up with the salesguy. I'm not getting into his tactics because anyone who's ever dealt with a car salesman knows what that's like. I am a bit peeved that I told him if the offer I made over the phone wasn't going to be accepted, I didn't want to waste the trip... and we wasted the trip. We used gas we didn't need to use and spent money on dinner that we didn't need to spend. And we took my dad along... his job was to sit and glare at the salesman and make pointed remarks, which he did quite well. :-) On the flip side, we wasted an hour and a half of the salesman's time and he isn't getting a commission tonight. That's small consolation though... I came home cold, wet, tired, and with no car.

Oh well. Learning experience noted. This car wasn't meant to be ours... maybe the next one will be!

Midseason Report

Hi everyone! All two of you, that is!
It's supposedly the middle of winter, the season of no car shows and not much traveling or photos or sightings. But winter hasn't hit yet, so I thought I'd post something in the interim.

I'm not complaining, of course. As much as I love snow, I don't want to drive in it. Mountains without guiderails + curves + snow = clench factor 7.5. Add in idiots who haven't learned not to hit their brakes while going downhill, especially in front of people like me who drive big heavy trucks and do not brake for ANYthing, plus the one genius who believes that all road snow with no tire tracks is his own personal passing lane simply because he owns a 4x4 SUV, and the CF increases to 9.

I've done the Buick Ballet on ice before... slid around in the snow... slid backwards downhill in a truck once, lacking enough traction to climb until we put an old fridge in the back... and I've gone back after the snow melted to retrieve parts of that same truck after one of the aforementioned idiots braked in front of my husband and he ran the beast up the side of a mountain instead of over the other car. Not kidding... when spring finally rolled around in April, we were driving through the Narrows... I hollered at Hubby to stop. He did, and I ran back to pick up my missing mudflap, two spare belts and a radiator hose that were in the bed, and one Chevy hubcap. They'd been there along the road since December.

The Buick and Frankentruck are both gone now. One became a parts donor to two other trucks and the other sits down the road at the service station with a for sale sign on it. I traded it for a new set of tires for Hubby's truck. I now drive our baby, beautiful Bruce the Bronco, who just turned 11 and still turns heads. He's getting a little broken in, finally... got a gouge down the right quarter panel from a metal pipe sticking out of the ground and a few stone chips along the bottom of the body. I do love looking at that truck, though.

You may recall my Great Car Hunt of 2006... with Hubby's job change, this has been extended to 2007. We found "my" Toyota this past weekend... Hub has liked the new-style Corolla S (for me, not for him) since he first saw one, and there is a zippy indigo blue one at the Yota dealer with a sunroof, CD player, and a stick-shift. Of course, the price is a couple grand over our budget. And of course we went home past the Subie dealer whereupon I remembered I also wanted a Baja. Let's not even get started on the Impala SS at the third lot we passed... obviously, the indecisiveness of '06 came along for the ride too. *Sigh*

Remember the obnoxiously-minty-green Cougar I was waffling about? My step-sister moved here and absconded with it. Good for her... a car got ME to stay here, maybe it will work for her! Then again, she isn't the fanatic that I am. A car (or in my case, a man who likes cars) is a nice incentive all the same. I hope she sticks around.

SIGHtings: Few and far between. A GM dealer out in Lewisburg had a '65 Buick LeSabre out front, with a note on the dash saying "clean for show." Nice... it looked like an original survivor. And there was this one for sale down the road from the Buick:
See? The weather isn't even threatening enough to tuck the beauties in the garage for the winter. And this one is a beauty!

Till next time!

Buick Blues

Today, I drove my Buick for the last time. I'm selling it because there are too many little things I don't have time to fix and need to save money on car insurance.

That car was the catalyst that changed my entire life. Dad bought it, and I rode a bus to PA to pick it up. I intended to turn around and go back home, but I was offered a temporary job here; since I'd just lost my previous job, I took it to earn some traveling money. On my first day at work I met the man who would become my husband. I stayed at that job and am now in a management position.

I remember the first time I laid eyes on the Buick. I thought it was beautiful, with its spoke hubcaps and chrome trim. The power windows and seats were something I'd never had before; nor was functioning air conditioning and cruise control. The logo panel on the dash glowed at night, and a light came on inside the ashtray when you opened it. I thought that was pretty spiffy. The trunk was immaculate, spare never used, jack still shiny. (I remedied that spotlessness by lugging home countless plants, often forgetting they were in the trunk until I opened it to put more in and the smell of wet, moldy plant material hit me in the face.)

I soon learned what a pain it was to work on a GM 3.8l carbureted engine. One needed three elbow joints to change the rear spark plugs, and it had a constant valve cover leak that I fixed twice and paid someone else to fix at least once. Even replaced the valve cover itself. It still leaks. There is a cable for the transmission that has to be adjusted just-so when you pull or replace the tranny or engine; mine wasn't, and I burned out one transmission en route to getting it fixed and we had to yank the spare out of the parts car and have someone else tweak it. That was not long after Dad, hubby, and brother replaced the engine. It needed to be swapped because the day I got the car back from the shop after having the timing chain replaced, it dropped a lifter or a valve and spread chunks of metal cheer throughout the block. I bought two parts cars for a hundred bucks apiece and drove one while the other became a donor. The one remaining parts car will be going with the Buick when it leaves. Did I mention the oil pump? It should be noted that we have rebuilt and resurfaced it no less than five times, as there are no actual replacement pumps available. And I'm sure I could have fixed the power window switch but it only sticks in the winter, when I don't need it rolled down anyway. Except when the fumes from oil leaking from that valve cover burn off and come in the vents. Or exhaust fumes... replaced the muffler twice and tailpipe three times.

It's been an interesting seven years with that car. Buick Ballet was something I never experienced until I found out why snow tires on a light-in-the-tail rear-wheel-drive car are necessary up here. I spun around a few times, came to rest about three inches from a drop-off into a field, made sure I didn't need to go back home to change my pants, then went on to work. Once I led a parade of cars home from work, before the snow had been plowed off the road. I was pushing a foot of snow and the others were following my tire ruts. Took me an hour and 45 minutes to drive 14 miles. The last three miles were up a mountain road. I invested some money in a good set of studded snow tires and then, of course, it didn't snow for the rest of winter.

There was the time my cousin and I drove the Buick down South for a week's visit. It loved 85 MPH on the highway and would ride there all day, except when it overheated and we had to sit at a podunk mini-mart until I found someone who sold antifreeze and radiator hoses nearby.

I cleaned it up and out today. Vacuum, Armor-All, Ozium to get rid of that lingering dead-plant smell. Washed the car and the floor mats. Emptied it of everything it had accumulated in seven years' time. Took my collection of scorpion figures off the rear dash, removed my Rusty Wallace license plate and peeled my Moon Lady sticker off the window (it's been through three cars with me and is now on a fourth). Tossed the cowboy-hat-wearing smiley-face antenna bobber that helped me find the car in the Wal-Mart parking lot but kept the blue fuzzy dice I won playing Skee-Ball. Buick looked good. So good I thought about keeping it, until I got in and turned it over and immediately smelled smoke. And the window wouldn't go down.

All things considered, it was a piece of crap good car. Radio always worked and that's a bonus. It was a smooth-riding car, too. The suspension was such that it rode like a waterbed on wheels. Those seats are the most comfortable I've ever sat in and I wonder why manufacturers don't still use deep plush velour for interiors. I sat in a newer Buick recently and even with the deluxe leather interior it just wasn't quite right. My back and buns didn't sink down into the seat the way I'm used to. The dash panel didn't light up with that alien green border around the logo. And all the windows worked. Just can't get used to that. Ironically enough, the newer one (a 2004) smoked when I started it, so there was at least one little similarity. Unfortunately it's the one I could do without. I've snorked enough exhaust and burned-oil fumes for one lifetime. Maybe too much, since I was at the time considering buying another Buick. Now that I've been out of the car for a while, my sanity is coming back and my brain seems to be functioning a bit better. Ah, the wonders of oxygen.

I just called my dad to tell him we'd be up to haul off the parts car this weekend. He said when we came up, he'd give me the keys to his old car and I could keep it here and drive it for a while and Hubby could fix a few little things that need fixing on it.

It's a Buick.

5 Years

*Moment of silence for the victims of 9/11/01 and their families*

Token Post

A purplish 40th Anniversary Edition Pontiac Gran Prix, with maroon and grey leather interior, caught my eye today.

HELP MEEEEEEEE

Bronc-woe

As if having a Frankenfender wasn't bad enough, some major suspension parts under the rear of the Bronco decided they were underappreciated and vacated the premises.

Now we're down to one vehicle of three (My Puick is down until it gets new tires and inspection, and I haven't decided yet if it's worth it.) Can't drive Bruce until he's fixed (to the tune of $175, if we buy the parts and fix it ourselves. By "ourselves" I mean my husband, since I'll be at work.) I think to myself... how many cars are at Dad's this week? Hmm.

So I call Dad. No preamble, no explanation.
Me: "Hey, Dad. Which vehicle are you letting me borrow for a week?"
Dad: "I'm taking the Subie down for tires and picking up the Buick."
Me: "Okay, can I drive the Buick?"
Dad: "You'll have to give me a ride home. Be there in 15 minutes."
*pause*
Dad: "Why do you need a vehicle?"

This is why Dad is cool. :-)

I now have the land yacht for a few days. It's big, it's heavy, it's got boatloads of power, it eats roads and fuel, and oh yeah, it's big. Here's to retro! They sure don't make 'em like that any more.

Color Wheels

As I mentioned in the Viper post, I've been partial to blue cars with white stripes for a long time. Ever since I saw a photo of a skunk-striped '68 Camaro, I've drooled... add that color scheme to a mid-60's Mustang fastback, Chevelle, Dodge Ram; whatever the vehicle, it will catch my eye.

When hubby and I were truck-hunting a few years ago, the one thing we agreed on was that the truck would be medium to dark blue. Unless, of course, a really sharp dark green one came along at the right price. But the Bronco swayed us. While it's technically blue (according to the paint specs), it isn't a shade we'd have normally considered, and I still say it's lavender. The silver second color makes it look sharp so I'm not complaining.

So... now we're car-hunting, and of course "blue" was my first and foremost request. After six months of eyeballing cars I realized that I've also been attracted to that metallic orange color so prevalent now. I really noticed it for the first time some 10 years ago on a Mitsubishi Eclipse and since then it's been in my peripheral vision. (I believe I referred to it as "burnt pumpkin" back then.) For a while I had my mind made up- Toyota in indigo- but with so many cars out there to choose from, wishy-washiness was inevitable. The blue that Mazda is using on their cars is quite nice, but the same model in orange drags my eyes to it like a tractor beam. Then, of course, there's that funky mint/pea/sage green on the Malibu and Subaru, among others, and that's turning my head as well. (The only downside to that one: manufacturers seem to put tan/beige interiors in all green cars. I want gray or charcoal; I hate beige.)

Not only do I have to make up my mind on which CAR to get, but now which COLOR. Will it be the initial indigo Toyota? If so, which model; the Corolla LE, Corolla S, or Matrix? What if a good deal on a Camry comes along? How about that orange Mazda6? Or the blue one? Or a green Impala or Legacy? And just to throw a wrench in the gears, I really like the black-and-silver Bajas. I have never been fond of black, red, or white cars but that one looks good to me. So does yellow. Maybe a yellow Mazda3 or Baja... My husband hates yellow cars/trucks but that's another color that (on certain vehicles) strikes my fancy. He told me "get what you want, you're the one driving it." Ack! I hope, come February, that a vehicle speaks to me like our Bronco did. When that happens, all bets are off... I could end up bringing home a red Buick wagon. *sigh*

Oh wait, I DO want a red Buick wagon... this one:
Have seen it twice parked next to the Carlisle grounds. LOVE it!!!

Next-Gen Challenger

There she be, the Challenger scheduled to arrive for 2008. I like the shape, I like the color, I like the retro styling. This is what Chrysler should have done with the new Charger. Instead, they made the Charger into a "performance sedan" with 4 doors and a DVD player for the kiddies in the backseat (!!!). This Challenger looks truer to its roots as a musclecar. It does remind me a bit of the first-gen Camaros, even more than the new prototype Camaro does. This is not a bad thing. The Charger and proto-Camaro are studies in excess, while this Challenger just looks like a nice mean street machine. I bet the modders can't wait to get ahold of one! Heck, I can't wait to see one on the lot myself. I'm curious as to how many tweaks they'll add before the actual production.

Gratuitous Dukes Post

A line of General Lees. Paging Bo Duke!

Decisions, Decisions!

Hmm, should I get the orange one?

Or the blue one?

I can't decide! Aw, I'll just take both!

(I've always wanted a blue and white Viper hardtop. Well, a blue and white anything, actually...)

Lunch on the fly!

A fella I work with, Tom, has a 40th Anniversary Edition Mach I Mustang. He brought it to work today and floored me when he asked if I wanted to drive it at lunch. My reply: "Are you serious?!" Well, he was. I was a bit nervous, so I didn't go balls-out, but on the way back he was driving and punched it and WOW what a thrill! Car just screams... or roars, maybe, is the correct word. It was cool. Thanks Tom!A Man and His Mustang

Home Again, Home Again

The Chrysler show was great! There was an incredible turnout with a ton of fantastic cars.

• I beat my husband on the tire-change challenge at the Mopar booth!
  
• Got to sit in a Barracuda convertible!
• Test-drove three new cars: Chrysler Crossfire coupe, Dodge Caliber, and Charger R/T. Crossfire was disappointing, Caliber looked neat but felt cheap (hey, base price is just over 13 grand after all), and the Charger was fun but so far removed from the original that it was like driving a luxury family sedan, not a hot-rod.
  
• Saw Bill Goldberg again. He was cool as usual. His car was sweet too. Thanks BG!
• Special thanks to the folks at More Than Tires. We bought new rubber at the show and they installed our tires at lunchtime on a Sunday, down the road at their shop.
  
• The new Challenger concept reality was on display. If only they'd given the same old-school look to the new Charger! The Challenger is, simply put, done right. Very impressive.
• I'm still undecided on the concept Imperial. It's... different.
• My brother wouldn't let me take any pictures of him. He said to take a pic of the cutaway turbo-diesel engine instead and stated that it was what his brain looked like. I think we ate more in two days than he usually does, but we "warned" him that food was high on our to-do list so he went along with it. Nobody comes home hungry on our trips!
  
• As usual, we met some great folks and saw some spectacular vehicles. Never seen so many Hemis in one place! We had a dream of hearing them all fire up at once... wouldn't that just be the most incredible thing ever?!?

Some photos coming soon!

Gearing up for Chryslers!

Almost ready for Carlisle again! I really should feel guilty about taking Saturday off. My boss is on vacation, and I usually take over for him when he's gone. If we're not there the site supervisor fills in. None of us three will be there this weekend, and my own fill-in is off as well. But even though I'm concerned about who's going to run what, I really don't feel guilty. I worked on our wedding anniversary last weekend, and I'll be supervising for the next two weeks while my boss is off fishing in Florida, so they can just deal. It's car-show time!

I think we're going to fly by the seats of our pants for this one. Our original plan was to spend Friday and Saturday night camping near the show since the local hotel rates have been jacked up to ridiculousness. Then my hubby found out he'd be working late Friday so we aren't going tomorrow night. The campground has a 2-night minimum... still cheaper than one night in even the scuzziest roach motel but it's 30 bucks we could use elsewhere. There's supposed to be a first-come-basis primitive camping area near the show grounds so we're going to take the risk and hope it's both open and not full on Saturday night. If it is, we'll either sleep in the truck (not the first time) or drive home and go back Sunday. I'd rather not do the latter but we're just a couple hours away so if it comes to that, well, it's what we would have spent to stay going in the gas tank instead.

I really don't care how it all pans out. We'll be there Saturday! Whee!

We're All Wet

Due to the floods, car posts have been on hiatus. Please visit my other blog to see a few of my photos, or go to www.wnep.com and click Flood Slideshow for a better idea of the situation here in Pennsylvania.

Oh, and get ready for a "flood" of salvage vehicles to hit the auctions.

GMs @ Carlisle

Well, our Sunday visit was mostly a washout, but some of the other showgoers said Saturday was pretty good. By the time we rolled in Sunday morning most of the people had packed up and left, or were in the process of doing so. The display cars were still there, of course, so after making an hourlong pass through the car corral and the show field (what was left of them) we headed inside.

Here's a few snaps. The rest are being uploaded to ImageShack.

This is the new Camaro mock-up. I like the attitude; it looks mean an' nasty. But the windows are way too short for any kind of decent road vision and the back end is fat.
Hehehehehehe!
If my husband and I combined some of our respective dream-car options, we'd get this green wagon with a 502 and a stick-shift. I seriously fell in love with it.
Fins, chrome, and two-tone paint... *sigh*
Hey, this looks familiar! Dad had a Nova SS and it was a nifty car. Still have a soft spot for them.

Father's Day Ford Show

We took Dear Ol' Dad to Montoursville for a small Ford show. There was a good turnout, actually, but after Carlisle it was small to me! And it was hot as blazes, with no shade. So we only stayed for an hour or two. Long enough to see all the cars and wait for Dad to talk to people, as Dad does. He and the hubby made it on the city news that night too, looking under the hood of a car while the camera guy filmed them.

Anyway, since I'm now backed up with over 100 photos in queue, here's just my favorite one from last Sunday's show:
Shiny happy people... *groan*

Already?!

I haven't even finished loading all the photos from the Ford show, and GM weekend is here!

We both had to work today, so we're going early in the morning to spend the day in Carlisle. My hubby wants to be there in time for breakfast at his favorite restaurant. I asked him if he was going to be able to wake me up and get me in the truck by 6 AM... he replied that I should just sleep in the truck tonight and save him the hassle! (I am NOT a morning person.)

My idea, voiced the past several times we've gone there, is that we should just move closer to Harrisburg and Carlisle. We'd be near the car shows, good restaurants, and more selection for our shopping needs. He hates cities and thinks it would be a pain living there. I remind him that there are a lot of country-type areas outside the city. He brings up traffic, I counter with better jobs. He gets the last word in... "Not enough mountains." Can't argue with that.

Now I hear that Carlisle Productions, the group who puts on the car shows, is considering moving to a new location a bit farther south. I'll be sad to see the shows leave the old fairgrounds, but I'm optimistic that a move will help traffic issues among other things. And per the rumor, it won't be that much farther away, so we'll still be able to attend our usual 5-6 shows a year. I foresee more overnighters though... hope there are some nice camping places nearby!

Anyway, if you're around the GM show tomorrow, come on up and say hi!

She What?

We interrupt our regularly scheduled coverage of Carlisle to bring you the following breaking news...

My stepmom has been wanting another car. The plan was to get something practical for the area and hand down her Subaru to my younger brother, who just started driving.

Practical for the area:

• AWD or at the very least front-wheel-drive (gets through snow better)
  
• Traction control
  
• Place for coffee mug(s)
• Safety and capability driving in snow and mud or, in other seasons, 4 miles down a dirt-and-gravel road twice a day
• Not low to the ground
  

She was looking at BMWs. I thought this was a bit unusual, until I looked over the kind she had in mind. It fit the bill, looked great, had four doors and the above options. She'd already had a Subaru and the BMW seemed like a good choice in spite of the price tag.

She also liked the Subaru Legacy and a couple of other makes but those ideas were short-lived.

Yesterday she and Dad went out "car-browsing" just for kicks. They weren't planning on actually buying anything for another couple of months. Last night she drove home in a... ready for this?.... 1996 Camaro convertible. She saw it, she liked it, end of story. Looks like this one:


So much for practicality! But she said the same thing I always say... you don't find a car, it finds you. And that one, for some unexplainable reason, found her. We went out for a quick drive and it's really a fun car; it will be even more fun the first time she tries to drive down the mountain with a foot of snow on the ground. ;-P They got a good deal on it. Only has 62k miles and is clean as can be, and it's green with a tan top and interior. She's already learned the hard way that "E" on the fuel gauge means "EMPTY," not "you have another 15 miles to get gas."

If I lived where they did it's probably one of the last cars I'd consider buying, but sometimes you gotta have a little bit of fun. She's going to love it. If not, I'll wait until the middle of winter when she's missing that AWD and offer to buy it from her... *evil grin*