Articles

A co-worker of mine has a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. We were discussing its appearance one day when he said, “The only thing I hate about it is the Jeep badge on the grille.” Why? I asked. “Because it’s the only thing chrome. It just looks out of place.” Now, I notice it immediately whenever I…

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I’m on the road this week, and as I was crossing a Sioux reservation in North Dakota, I was thinking about the many Native American names that have become commonly known parts of our lexicon. Nowadays, corporate use of proper tribal names or even general references to indigenous peoples is rather a touchy subject, and…

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In the Malaise Era, manufacturers were eager to embrace whatever weight-saving, efficiency-enhancing technology and techniques their engineers could think up. One of those clever moves was lighter-weight aluminum bumpers, which were heralded as the next big thing. Usually, aluminum was only used for the front bumper, but the 1980 Chrysler New Yorker had alloy on…

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Roof-mounted lights have been virtually required for off-road racing for many, many years. They have also been a popular modification for 4-wheel-drive vehicles that will never wear a race number, either for off-road exploring, or simply to help achieve that macho, rugged appearance. Vehicle manufacturers have taken notice of this, and have included roof lights…

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For many years car radios were manufactured by subsidiaries of the manufactures themselves. The usual Ford or Delco radio, however, has been perceived by much of the buying public as low-end, with sound quality and features not quite as good as aftermarket audio components. To combat this, many manufacturers have begun installing components that wear the…

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Car manufacturers have produced a lot special/limited edition models with tie-ins to famous people. Oleg Cassini. Eddie Bauer. Frank Sinatra. What do they nearly all have in common? They’re male. It’s actually rather difficult to think of a special edition car badged with the moniker of a famous woman. I know of two, and only…

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Last Thursday, Hooniverse published a pair of posts that featured the Subaru Brat and the Lambo LM002. I was struck by something these two vehicles had in common: enclosed cabins plus uncovered jump seats. Both force certain passengers to ride out in the wind, rain and sun with no option of a convertible top, while…

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Modern cars overwhelmingly have two windshield wipers, but that typical arrangement is certainly not the only one. Sometimes more or less than two wipers is a fancy feature (à la Mercedes) or simply a necessity (such as on the FJ Cruiser’s squatty windshield). Your task today is to catalog for all eternity (or at least…

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Not too long ago in the history of the automobile, wheels were almost universally black steel, or perhaps painted to match the body color of the car, if you bought something really fancy. But white wheels? That would look weird. And indeed, when tried, they did look sort of weird. That didn’t stop white aftermarket…

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In nearly all automotive markets worldwide, turn signals are required to be amber. Not so in North America, where Federal (& Canadian) vehicle standards allow them to be either amber or red on the rear of the vehicle. (This remains true despite the government’s own findings that amber turn signals are safer, significantly reducing accidents…

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