By Robert Emslie
It’s with a great sense of sadness that I come across these small reminders at the junk yard of the promise and excitement a car might have held when new.
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Jeff Glucker
So I think I want a short-wheelbase Transit Connect Wagon. It’s not perfect, but it comes the closest to ticking all of my versatility boxes. Am I a damned fool? (Note: actual purchased van would be in better color).
http://imganuncios.mitula.net/new_2014_ford_transit_connect_wagon_4dr_wgn_swb_xlt_wrear_liftgate_100571695301713634.jpg
Ford’s utility vehicles are the bomb, I say go for it. That’s the wee one, right? The Transit comes in a variety of shapes, some of which look suspiciously like facelifted econolines.
Wait, are you The Professor from Atomic Toasters or leroooy from Hooniverse? Not that that changes my vote.
Aw I haven’t been on Atomic Toasters in a long time 🙁
Definitely the latter!
Bring back the Atomic Toast !!!
Ermagerd, Doc! I thought the Bugs got you in the attack!
Good to hear you’re still kickin. Got that gold-pressed Latinum
ya owe me?
Lower it an inch all around and a set of BBS reps would set this thing off.
http://blog.caranddriver.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Ford-Transit-Connect-by-Blood-Grease-102-626×382.jpg
Looks like it’s wearing a retainer.
More power to you. I’ve tried repeatedly to convince my wife that this would be better than a Grand Caravan. No luck yet.
I’m not so sure myself, to be honest. A basic Caravan AVP comes with way more horsepower than any car I’ve ever owned. Problem is, who knows how long it’ll last? At this point I’m just trying to feebly guess which van has the most rugged transmission, the other features are just gravy.
These vans are just brilliant, my wife drives a first gen one from time to time for work and it’s just so versatile for something so compact and car like. My only gripe being that the passenger seat doesn’t slide or having sufficient bracing for your foot so you end up gripping the Jesus handle a lot. They rock a diesel here for commercial fuel rebate reasons, but that’s ok, it suits the character it. This young guy in Ireland has even built a camper out of one by cleverly using the fact the seats drop to make more bed space:
http://www.backroads.ie/forums/showthread.php?19759-Baby-camper-conversion
Total build cost? (euros)
Van – 1750
Clutch Kit – 200
Plyline kit – 190
Insulating foam 20
carpet – 15
ply – donated
wood – donated
screws etc – 20
camping cooker – 12.50 (Halfords)
Bed Foam – donated
Serious respect, and fantastic to see younger petrolheads just getting out there and having fun, makes me wish I was young enough to not need a chiropractor if I sleep in anything other than my own bed. Move over burgeois gentrified faux hippy “sooo retro darling” pinterest bait middle class VW camper, this is the real people wagon.
Really nice. There’s a lot of thinking here that I recognise, but I tend to remember that I own a couple of tents. Yet a van like this would be my option for reducing back pain…favourite photo:
http://rs647.pbsrc.com/albums/uu194/rhysmate/20160605_120448_zpso9jlnjgh.jpg?w=480&h=480&fit=clip
About that last sentence of yours: About once a year I get a request, usually by my sister’s friends, how to acquire a VW Transporter in order to create something by themselves. I preach the gospel of the Hiace, but there are a lot of deaf ears around.
You should preach the Gospel of Delica. Or Bongo Super Friendee.
The latter would probably at least ensure that they never ask you again…
The Euro market Ford Grand C-Max with dual sliding doors would be a better choice based on my week’s rental of one. Except that they won’t / don’t sell them in the US.
I *do* like the origami lines of the Transit though.
How many seats do you need and are you open to buying used? We just got a 2014 Mazda5 ex rental for relatively cheap and love the Tardis like interior. The short TC reminds me of a latter day Mitsubishi Expo, the long wheelbase model is like a slightly larger and boxier Mazda5.
I also like the Mazda’s no cost navigation option, my smartphone sits neatly on the ledge above the glove compartment door alongside the K-9 figure (“in the car with the little tin dog”)
A used or CPO Mazda5 is definitely on our radar, again for it’s low footprint. I think it might even have the same 2.5L Duratec engine as the Ford Transit Connect. It also weighs the least, which is always a plus.
Do the rearmost seats in a Mazda5 come out? We really only need it to be a 4-5-passenger vehicle, the cargo area ends up being for dogs or kid junk, bikes, etc.
None of the seats in the 5 come out, but the third row folds flat to make a good load floor and the second row can also be folded to make a flat load floor big enough for 2 mountain bikes with the front wheels removed.
According to Wikipedia the 2.5 Duratec is a license built Mazda L which makes sense since the Mazda5 and Transit Connect are both built on the global Focus platform.
I think the 5 is a better car than the TC because it more aerodynamic and has higher gearing.
We bought a 2015 LWB Transit Connect a few weeks ago. Great car for hauling the dogs around, and fantastic visibility all around (unlike pretty much every other modern-day vehicle). Still small enough to park easily.
With the SWB you get the choice of 2.5 liter or EcoBoost engines, the LWB only has the 2.5l.
So for #nationalselfieday I’d thought I’d share this photo:
What’s that on the tow dolly? Oh, just another GM2900 platform SAAB.
It’s another 1997 900. But this time it’s a three door 900SE 2.0T with a 5spd manual. 😀
138k miles, no rust, leaks oil from everywhere, and has basically metal-on-metal brakes. Only $900 though! That makes $900 900 #2, and my fourth SAAB. At once. Four GM2900 SAABs at once. Dear god, save me.
Not to overstate the obvious but apart from gasket and seal failure it wouldn’t surprise me if the oil leaks were partially due to using fully synthetic oil. My ’99 9-3 SE absolutely hates full synth. If I use regular or even hybrid the oil leaks completely stop.
It’s got a bad valve cover gasket, the distributor hole plug needs to be resealed, it needs the head bolts torqued down, the front main seal is leaking, and the oil cooler o-rings are leaking on both ends of the oil cooler hoses lmao. Normal high mileage SAAB stuff.
I already have a new front main seal in stock, and a good valve cover gasket. I should have some o-rings for the oil cooler, too. I do need to get the correct DIC though; some ignoramus put a T7 DIC in the car. :/
Yep. T5 red top for an SE.
Would an owner that neglects maintenance that much use full synthetic?
Aw, you got me beat! I had three B-motor SAABs at once and only paid for one. A 1980 900GLE (in the USA, basically a 99 GLE) a ’79 99 something and another 99 something. It was a long time ago.
We’ve seen beat to hell cars, cars that look like a Pep Boys puked on it and we have to wonder was there a day when the new owner took delivery of that car and had joy in their heart.
I’m not sure what I’m looking at there. Volvo owner’s manuals came in a little blue box? (insert Dr. Who joke here)
VHS owners manual?
It looks like some kind of digital picture frame kind of thing. I did a Google search for images, but didn’t find anything.
Whatever it is, I hope it ended up converted on YouTube. A quick search yields nothing though.
VHS looks very close, but it looks to me like the proportions are off (too wide?).
Betacam SP?
Etch-a-sketch?
So local health officials are running a campaign against the dangers of salt under the tagline: Things that we know today are dangerous, but didn’t know were dangerous back then. It compares salt to driving with kids in the boot and riding a bike without helmet. And a smoking doctor. I feel like there’s one good comparison in here.
https://s31.postimg.org/ry2lhbm4r/Screenshot_2016_06_20_12_55_53.jpg
https://s31.postimg.org/gj64cp9sb/Screenshot_2016_06_21_12_38_51.jpg
https://s31.postimg.org/joqq2wsej/Screenshot_2016_06_21_12_45_08.jpg
https://s31.postimg.org/l6c6egx57/Screenshot_2016_06_20_12_56_16.jpg
You can take my salt from my cold dead dehydrated hands.
I was so hoping for a liberty based reply, delivered with just the right amount of testosterone.
Ya want Natron (potassium chloride) for that, me bucko…
Salt:a world history by Mark Kurlansky
Freakin’ nanny state garbage.
That doctor’s office is clearly a front for the Palestine Liberation Organization!
It’s with a great sense of
sadnessdismay that I come across these small reminders, at thejunk yardsidebar of this page, of the promise and excitement acarbanner advertisement slot might have held when new.http://hooniverse.info/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Sidebar-_-Reviews.gif
http://hooniverse.info/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Sidebar-_-Forums.gif
Kidding aside, I heart Hooniverse because the sidebar is not full of animated videos advertising irrelevant drek and clickbait. Still, that awesome wizard-in-a-Trans-Am image is going to waste over there. Can I make that my avatar?
I might have to get one of those…
i want to know what the blue thing is! A Microsoft Surface from the 80’s? 🙂