Latest Posts

Dragging

Drive Time

I love videos like this one, where Jason Cammisa compares a bunch of speedsters in a drag race.  The best part?  All are nominally available for under $35,000 — which sticks in my throat, of course, but these are the times we live in.  The cars tested:

  • Ford Mustang Ecoboost
  • Subaru WRX
  • VW GTI
  • Hyundai Elantra N
  • Mini Cooper S
  • Mazda3 Turbo, and
  • Toyota GR86.

All but the Mustang and the Mini have available stick shifts.  (No stick option on that Mustang?  WTF?)

Longtime, or even recent Readers will know of my abiding love for the old-fashioned manual transmission*, so the new double-clutch quick-change autos leave me unmoved… because I’m not interested in drag racing.

Come to think of it, I’m not interested in any racing;  but I tend to prefer rather more powerful engines over anemic ones, which is why I was interested in the video.

So:  if the above were the only cars I could pick from, which would get my dollars?

Probably the VW GTI, because I have a long and cordial relationship with VW cars in general, and the GTI is still acceptably quick (even though it got skunked in this drag race) and it has room to hold all my stuff (gun bags and cases, grab ‘n go bags, etc.)  I know that the latter was not part of the criteria for the video, but it’s one of my major criteria, so there.

I don’t hate any of the others, mind you:  I think they’re all pretty good cars, by and large, and wouldn’t feel hard done by with any of them.  A few are just too small for me (Mini, Subaru and Toyota GR86) and the Mustang is just too heavy (despite being the fastest of the above, by far).  But taken as a whole, it’s not a bad group of cars.

That Hyndai Elantra surprised me.  I had no idea the N model was a pocket rocket, but then again, I’ve never been interested in Hyundai ever since renting an Elantra for a weekend road trip and having my back and ass ache for days afterwards.  That was a long time ago, though, so maybe they’ve improved.

I kinda wish that Jason had included the Honda Civic Type R, but it fails the $35k criterion miserably so I understand.

*for the same reason I prefer revolvers to semi-auto handguns**, bolt-action to semi-auto rifles, and manual-wind watches to Duracell models:  I like to operate and control my machinery.
**yes, I know I generally carry a 1911 semi-auto, but if somebody said I had to carry a large-caliber revolver instead, I’d be perfectly happy with that.

Liquidation

The Gun Thing

I believe it was Reader GT3Ted who said:  “I need another .22 rifle like I need another wife,” and I can certainly see his point.

However:  I have seen a .22 rifle that I absolutely must have — I think pretty much all y’all are familiar with the feeling — BUT I cannot afford it.  And there is literally no room left in  the Ark  Ye Olde Gunne Sayffe.

So out they go.  I’m offering these two as a package deal:

Marlin 880SQ (.22 LR)

…and its companion:

Marlin 882SV (.22 Win Mag)

And together:

Scopes, bipods and sundry spare mags are included.  All will be shipped in a hard case.

Now the sales pitch, for those not familiar with their story.  As equipped and shown, these are both one-hole rifles — I’ve found that CCI Mini-Mag / Maxi-Mag 40gr solids work best — and while I’ve moaned about their triggers before, Combat Controller put it thus:  “FFS Kim, they are one-hole rifles.  How much smaller do you want to make the hole?” (or something like that).

I’d rather not split them up, because then shipping costs get ugly.

Price for the package:  $500 plus shipping.

Reply via email, please, and we can make arrangements.

And once that is taken care of, I’ll tell you about the rifle that will replace them.

Dragged Back, Again

Drive Time

Listen,  you bastards  Gentle Readers:  there’s little point in my taking a sabbatical when you keep sending me stuff which gets my juices running and such.  Here’s one example:

Reader GT3Ted sends me this via email:

Just to make you drool and brighten your day,  I thought you might be interested in the following link.

This is the catalogue for the upcoming auction to be held in conjunction with the Villa D’Este Concourso on Lake Como in Italy. Which car would you bid on given a Million $ Budget? (That budget limits you to only about 75% of the cars (230) in the catalogue.)

Broad Arrow Auctions_The Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este Auction 2026 – Catalog

Can I resist going there?  No.  Can I resist paging through the blessed catalogue and drooling over the examples of automotive gorgeousity featured therein?  Also no.  Would I go there if I could, if only to bask in the warm sunshine of Lake Como?  Yes.  Is Reader GT3Ted an utter bastard?  Goes without saying.

So here are the cars I’d look at (links only, because pics take too long):

65 Maserati Mistral Coupe — possibly my favorite Mazza model, ever.  See also the Spider version.  Oh, and did I mention the 3500?

56 Lancia Aurelia B24 S and another one — definitely my favorite Lancia, ever, although there is stiff competition from the Integrale HF.

93 BMW 850CSi — V12 Beemer engine, oh my.

73 Dino GTS — okay, on reflection scratch this one.  (I just cannot see myself, with any-sized budget, dropping half a mil on an entry-level Dino, even a pretty white one like this.)

Actually, once I’d stripped out all the Ferraris and Lambos (because #Gaudy&Horrible #AlsoWayTooSpendy), as well as all the RHD cars (Aston Martin and Skyline) there weren’t really many that caught my fancy, other than the above.

Feel free to explore and select your choices.