A Horse With No Name

Kia still needs finishing school, big time. the Forte Koup is decent, but could use better chassis tuning. It is in a bad spot, not quite a sports car but not quite comfortable enough for the masses as a daily.... As for the Soul, our family has an original Scion xB....when my teenage kids and there friends can ride in an xB and laugh at the soul....you know you've got no soul if you buy a Soul....

FWIW, my neighbor is a car guy, he drives a 7 series BMW and liked NICE cars. He just traded his Porsche in on a Sonata, and likes the Hyundai better. Porsche was a Cayenne (the ugly SUV POS they sell) I hate to sound like SMK, but chevrolet is going to have a fight on it's hands. And yes, Nissan is craping its pants over how good the Koreans are getting. Also, you didn't hear this from me but...I live in central Ohio, and I am a car guy. Honda has it's R and D center in central Ohio. Honda is very, very, exceedingly, excessively, absolutely, utterly, amazingly and astonishingly upset about how good the Koreans are getting. They are still laughing at GM, but they don't laugh nearly as much as they did in 1995 or 2005. But the Koreans give them Fits...for their Fits....

Seriously, drive the Camaro, keep the cutty...and buy something like a 2011 Camaro or a C6 corvette when your career gets going well.

Oh, and a couple of other cool cars...on my way to the service call tonight, I followed a really nice clean Fiero, red....on the way home, followed a Bently coupe... Oh, and another car. 73 Firebird formula, 400, NICE shape, that dark maroon that looked like a burnt red, was at the car show today. Saw a neat 68 Firebird ragtop that had been turned into a drag car....a different Firebird ragtop from the other drag car I was telling you guys about... Accident that I saw on I-71 seems to have claimed an SRT-4 Neon and a Miata, sadly enough...

SAMENDAI, one of the guys in the TDI club parked his Jetta next to a luxury car parked like that Lambo....guy came out and slashed the Jettas tires...my friend Eric took the guy to court, and forced him to pay for a new set of tires.... Oh, and fantastic ragtop, SA.... Details on the Vette- 66, all original, turned 50,000 miles being driven to the show. Original paint, original interior, original chassis markings, et al. Was 11 points out of NCRS top flight as an all original, unmolested car....that nice. 327, 300 Horse, 4 speed, couple, couple of blemishes in the chrome on one bumper and one minor scratch on the drivers front fender... Mossport green, which was a 66 only color IIRC. Dark green interior...made for a very nice looking car, I thought.

With your latest set of test drives, the jeep and the Kia...I am wondering how low humanity can sink when it comes to what we drive. Seriously. Though I enjoy reading your write ups....but this would be one car I would NEVER want to own. Sonota on the other hand, and even he Forte Koup, or the Genesis coupe....much more polished, and "better" cars.

As far as early Mustangs go...avoid Chinese knockoff sheet metal, period. Unless you can find a really nice California or Arizona car, avoid it like the plague. One of my SCCA buddies dumped about two years of hard work and a ton of cash bringing back a 65 coupe....it's a nice car...but not worth that kind of time and effort. In addition to torque boxes, trunk floors, and floor boards, these cars rust ahead of the front windshield and it's a major expense-pita to fix... Plus, the whole Mustang crowd that liked these cars is getting older and starting to enjoy late model stuff. At every Mustang show I go to, I see more late model stuff and less early model stuff. $500 is pretty much fair market value for a coupe in need of work...one ran in the 24 hours of lemons and did pretty good....you can find them for that. I've been offered fairly solid six cylinder ragtops for under $500 and passed...they just have no re sale....seriously. Oh, and Whiteknight..one of my sons friends just scored a 97 Camaro, 6 cyl, manual, nice under 100k, very minor body work above one headlight, one owner....for $1100. There are deals to be had on late model Camaro's, and now is a good time to fool with them. As you have already seen, lots O'parts are available in junkyards for them. Chris

Continued from above.... 15. 1966 Dodge Coronet convertible, baby blue with a blue interior, un messed with, nice, clean and sweet, 383, autotrajic, nice. 16. 68 Dodge Coronet ragtop, R/T version, blue on blue but dark metallic, nice... 17. Cleanest blue 84ish SS Monte Carlo I've seen in a long time. 18. Real vintage style all steel black on maroon 32 Ford Roadster, red wire wheels (old style kelsey hays), had an old style SBC...and a proper 4 speed. 19. Several other street rods that really felt like a refugee from the 1950's, and not a modern rat rod or re-creation.... 20. A corvette I'll tell you guys about later...just got a service call to run.

Thoughts on car spotting.... First of all, Camino has us all covered with his discovery of the Elkhart Green 72 Rag-em-top he's trying to buy.... As much as it pains me to say this, I think Ocean Blue is right about the Cruze falling on its face....wrong price for a small car with the economy on its butt.... And I think balthazar is lying to us on the production of Old Pontiacs....I've seen so many lately, I think they must still be in production in Kentucky or Mexico or something. Went to a car show today, my friend was showing her Miata and I dropped by to see her....and it was a huge show, with everything from a VW thing to a new Hyundai Genesis coupe....but what really impressed me.... 1. Yet another 3x black 65 goat, older resto, Crager SS wheels, autotrajic, neat driver. 2. 69 GTO, maroon, 4 speed, clean older resto, yet another car without the hide a way head light options, really clean. 3. 66 Catalina wagon, white, lowered, running on 18's, rat roddish vibe, towing a 60's era camping trailer, way too cool... 4. 67 GTO, was originally maroon, last saw this car in about 99 or 2000, an older guy owned it, was going to put a tri power on it even though 66 was the last year for tri power...fast forward ten years....car is now house of color gold, very tasteful and well done custom, what looked to be house of kolor kandy gold, tan leather interior, very first rate workmanship. Guy had a matching 67 Baracuda ragtop sitting nest to it...but I was so blown away by the goat I didn't get a good look at the Cuda. 5. 67 GTO, white, red interior, black vinyl top, red fender liners, one of the nicest and cleanest GTO resto's I've ever seen, very fresh, very right, very well done. 6. 4 (yes 4) 64 GTO's, including a really nice dark blue post car that I haven't seen running around here before. 7. Another 65 goat, maroon, 4 speed, just classy, a driver, slightly faded paint, fabulous chrome, cool looking in and seeing the GTO logo on the door panels and the walnut dash.... 8. 89 Turbo TA pace car, didn't know we had another in Columbus, well kept driver, cool to see this one...tan interior slightly faded and a few stone chips in the paint... 9. 73 Grand Prix SJ, 3x white, very well done resto of a car you just don't see...400...all stock...all there and all nicely done. Sweet. About a billion other Pontiacs, and so many cutty's I lost count, ranging from a 65 442 to a nicely preserved white 84 that was dead stock and nicely detailed. 10 Cortez silver 69 Camaro, Z28, non RS, run hard and put away wet, cool to see a muscle car driven like it was meant to be driven. 11. Really well done, fresh resto, turquoise and white 55 Bel Air two door hard top....nice to see a car dead stock. 12. Really clean balck 55 chevy sedan delivery, same owner 30 years, black, 350/350, 70's style interior with tuck and roll and buttons, pine on floor of back area...nice driver...30 year old paint still looked fantastic. 13. Fabulous 48 chevy street rod, and 8 or nine chevy convertibles from 1950-1954, ranging from dead stock to 50's custom. 14. 56 Ford cown vic, ell done custom, cool because the owner had pics and info on the car back to 56, car was originally a mild custom in California. Was awesome to see and touch all of the old photos and newspaper clippings the guy had on the car....photos of the car at 1950's car shows....knocked my socks off. CONTINUED

Love the interior, but Chevrolet is asking GTI money. Personally, I question the resale on this thing. Low, low mile late model Malibus are selling used around here for 14-15K, I'd bet this thing will be worth twelve grand wholesale within a year. Not a good way to start with a new car....but I digress, the interior is fantastico...

Camino...I am just so effin jealous.... Wow.... Keep us posted, dude...good things DO come to those who wait...ten years. Maybe in another ten years you'll get a ute?

I love it!...Right now I am trying to find 2 door diesel MK V golf.....but going to be trying harder enst year. Or maybe a MK 5 or 6 GTI.... Nice car, vipes...

I agree with you just so much.... And the new Camaro is cool, visually the car is a ten...but my wife complains about visibility in the car, which is a legit complaint...so it's doubtful one will grace my drive way...

VW will shoot themselves in the foot by decontenting the Jetta and trying to do too much. thier dealer network is already the worst of any MFR that sells in the US.\ Other than the EBO, there is absolutely nothing to reccomend mitsu as a brand...

Agree with you here, Patriot is an utter TURD...

Actually I would like the VR6 in an R32 and a proper V6 fiero, please....

Love the VW GTI interior... And actually, the interior on the new Mustang is a huge improvement as well. Chris

Pretty sure I saw the same units at the Norfolk Southern Yard off of 104 on the south end of Columubus a few days ago....

Glad to hear your enjoying the wagon...and the deckscool thing sounds legit...

Didn't Flybrian say that Lincoln was like...

I keep thinking a GTI is in my future...esp with the HPFP issues the TDI's are having.... The GTI is one of the coolest cars built today, methinks...

That guy drives like I do....

I want the Mustang fastback parked next to THAT, GMCTG74!

News flash for ya... Save your money, drive the Camaro into the ground, and buy an LS1 powered Z28 in really good shape....in the future....you will be a happy boy...

now THAT GTO was unmolested completely, original hub caps, 78 series bias ply tires that were not repops...driven by a very old African American gentleman....just out for a Wendy's burger on a Saturday afternoon.... 66-Full size 2 + 2 ragtop, originally blue on blue with a white top, now white on blue with a white top...at a local car show....guy had PHS documentation showing it was a "real" 2 + 2 ragtop...I've learned not to use the term rare with balthazar, but that has to be an uncommon car to say the least... 67-GTO ragtop and three or four really nice hardtops...another hardtop made into a funky but cool custom...and a donked 67 goat. Also a couple of really nice 66 hardtops, including a really nice 3 x blue tri power car. Also a very high optioned 66 maroon on black car I almost forgot about....and a post car, which also wasn't terribly common, although i believe several thousand of those were built in 66... 68-full size Bonneville in a bad neighborhood, still being used as a driver...very rusty wagon in an alley...a GTO without the hideaway headlights or Endura bumper...blue...a very nice Verdero green GTO hardtop...and a Firebird doing the two lane boogie at the strip... 69-unrestored, preserved somwhat but showing age GTO, blue, at a local car show...I kind of like them that way. Full size Gold Bonneville two door...decent but not nice... 70-GTO Judge ragtop, real GTO but the judge part was cloned, red with a white interior... 71-red (now faded orange) Lemans Sport Ragtop sitting outside of a body shop down off of Leonard Avenue...nice 66-67 aqua blue Chevy II sitting there with it... 71 Full size donkmobile with what had to be 28" wheels going down 5th avenue by United Refrigeration Sales Wednesday afternoon... 72-full size two door down south on US 23....again, kind pf a funky don't look at me gold with a gold vinyl top...driven by a very large, older woman.... 74-Trans Am in a junkyard, now crushed...was mostly a rusty shell with nothing left... 78ish-blue on blue trans am, sitting behind a trailer on an old dirt road, looked like it had been parked a long time... Blue G8 that showed up at the Porsche club/Mercedes Benz club auto cross... Maroon 2005ish GTO that has been showing up at a few local SCCA events... In pics only, but a neat 74 GTO that had been made into a neat little bracket/drag car, think that would be a cool alternative to a Nova as a drag car... Neat discussion at Jegs with a guy who was restoring a 67 GTO... (continued) Nice 58 Chevy, Balthazar.... Sorry to be in so much of a Pontiac state of mind...but I just am right now...those were my sightings over the last month or two....