By: Jason Harter
Friday October 23rd, 2009
The Econoline Fist Pump
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A new sub-group of American car enthusiasts has emerged. The loyal fans of the Ford Econoline Conversion Van. For years Jeep Wrangler owners, boaters, and Harley Davidson riders have all waived to eachother to show solidarity even if it is to strangers. Now we can add Ford Econoline owners to that list.
There is a slight variation on the typical wave. This is more of a window down fist pump. So If you see an Econoline with the drivers fist pumping out the side, chances are he is not angry with you, he probably just sees another Econoline coming down the road.
By: Jason Harter
September 30th, 2009
38 mpg Since 1991
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Saturn may be done. The deal Roger Penske had with GM to buy the Saturn Dealerships has fallen apart after Penske could not find anyone to make his cars. Mr. Detroit was hoping to have a South Korean company make half of the Saturn's, while GM's Mexico plant supplied the other half, and ship them here to his Dealerships.
It is a shame. Saturn was a great brand, with great service. They built cars that run forever, and were ahead of their time (at least for an American manufacturer), But the GM higher ups did not have faith.
The 2002 model year was the last year for the Fuel efficient SC2. It has a third door with back seats that fold down, still gets 38 mpg. Hwy/32 mpg. city, and in seven years all I have had to replace is the fuel pump and the spark plugs once.
Fuel efficiency was always something that seperated Saturn from the others. Once they went to the bigger engine's in 2003, although they had nice cars like the Ion, Astra, and Sky, they lost some of their edge.
I hope someone buys Saturn because great cars are coming out of Spring Hill, TN. Keep the service the same, get back to fuel efficiency, keep the new styling, and have faith that it is a great brand. Then you would have a winning combination.
By: Jason Harter
Friday September 4th, 2009
The 400,000 Mile Challenge
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I was looking for 1 vehicle that would be many things in 1. It had to have 4-wheel drive for the Winter, it had to have a reputation for a long lasting engine (the famous in-line 6), it had to be black or white, it had to be able to tow a championship racing boat, I would have to able to live out of it for a weekend, be at least 1999 or newer, get 27 miles per gallon on the highway, it had to be under $3,000, and 2 minutes down the road would be nice. Admittedly I am looking for a needle in a haystack.
But low and behold my patience has paid off, I have found a Jeep that meets all of those requirements. It is a 1999 and has 202,549 miles on it, but it felt solid. I have test driven SUV's with 130,000 that didn't inspire this much confidence. No more white knuckle driving thru blizzards in this baby. They must have all been highway miles, it was definately well taken care of.
It just felt right. It felt like this vehicle was at it's halfway point. So I pulled the trigger. Maybe this will be the greatest documentation of all-around American greatness ever captured in one automotive brand, maybe it will die unexpectedly only to look as folly in retrospect, maybe it will be something in between. But I am willing to try and find out how long it will go.