Gathered here are the Oppositelock posts that people put a good deal of effort into writing from Thursday through Sunday. It includes the effect of Paul Walker and The Fast and Furious on automotive culture, the Chrysler Newport, one-off cars and more.
In light of the recent passing of Paul Walker, I decided to dig up an old post and repost it for your reading pleasure. Over the years I’ve come to appreciate and respect the Fast & Furious saga. The films don't offer a deep metaphysical look into humanity nor will they win any prestigious awards, aside from those given by a tequila-infused Jalop scribe. The films are 100% entertainment, but for us car guys they are more than that.
I was at a restaurant in Colorado Springs back in June of 2011. I was walking to the restroom and saw Paul Walker. I stopped and said hello. I didn't get the celebrity brush-off, he asked me to sit down. We talked mostly about cars. He recounted his run up Pikes Peak in a Porsche 911.
NHTSA, at the request of our beloved Congress, wants to find out if the various forms of obscure data that you didn’t know existed are of value when buying a new vehicle. In 1972 Congress passed the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings (MVICS) Act which was later codified in Title 49 U.S.C 32302. The law requires that dealers take information provided to them by the Department of Transportation and pass it along to car buyers.
Welcome to Found On The Ebays, where I find something I like for sale, and you look at it! In honor of my search to find my grandfathers long lost car, today I am featuring a very nice example of a 1962 Chrysler Newport. The Newport was the entry level Chrysler, designed to fill the hole in the market from the now defunct DeSoto brand, and it came in tudor, sedan, or wagon varieties.
In the automotive landscape there are many different kinds of cars; the muscle cars, the sports cars, the boring cars, the super cars, and the offroaders. One of the most controversial is one-offs. The cars that make you stop dead in your your tracks and stare. Unlike concept cars these bespoke legends of the automotive world make it out into the wild. Little Timmy could see one drive down the road and make a Bentley look invisible. If you are lucky, you can see one of these pieces of art booming through the streets.
When you read the word Genesis, what comes to mind? Some would say the Holy Bible. Other car-minded folk like us Jalops and Opponauts can think of the Hyundai Genesis models. But what message did Hyundai wanted to send out? Was it the beginning of something exciting or groundbreaking in the car industry? I'm still waiting for that spark to ignite.
By the first time I saw The Fast and The Furious, I had already raced a few times. It wasn't because I was particularly old, but because I hadn't watched the film. I'll weigh in on the trend here and explain when I first saw the Fast and the Furious, and what it meant to me as an enthusiast.
Heretical86 and Breadwagon also weighed in with the effect Paul Walker and the Fast and Furious had on them.
My wife is highly amused by my love of wagons. I’m always pointing out the cool ones, whether it’s an old woodie, a 3 series wagon, or the latest Polestar Volvo. Is it irrational that I am attracted to sweet, sweet utility and the sexy profile of a long roof? Maybe. A couple of my friends theorize that I am demonstrating through my car choices a willingness to father children. I don’t think that planning ahead is necessarily a bad thing, but really, guys, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I have some car projects to focus on before that happens.
The Best of the Rest
TwinTurboBMW attended cars and coffee in Portland, Audi For Life posted photos from as well. Vermillion-fire participated in the Modball Sydney-Brisbane Rally. BiTurbo228 continued the teardown of his Spitfire's engine, removed the crank and pistons and fabricated a pushrod for his Jaguar''s clutch mechanism. Matthias Rios bought brake lines for his Porsche 924. Louros spotted an M235i and shared a photo of his e21. Slow in, slow out ran into a couple of Corvettes while out for a drive in his Porsche. 05sonic3valve lifted his Jeep. EuroJosh spotted an F-type. NYSS got to drive a VMW Active E 1 series. BJohnson11 had to grind and re-tap his oil pan for the drain plug. Grindintosecond had a nice talk with GP3 racer Jack Guthrey.
As always, If I've missed something and you would like me to include it, let me know.
Fun Discussions
There were several posts that asked questions and sparked some good discussion between Thursday and Sunday. Take a peek and chime in on some of them listed below:
Just the #tips
Honourable Mentions
These posts have already been shared with Jalopnik directly but deserve to be mentioned again because they were first posted in Oppositelock:
Want to participate on Oppositelock? Check out the general handbook for posting on OppositeLock as well the Oppo tools to help you get started.
Best of Oppositelock: Nov. 28 - Dec. 1, 2013