Found in the Yard: Faded Memories

The Datsun 280ZX is awesome. But don't take my word for it, listen to Steve Wozniak's convincing testimony here. I've spoken at great lengths about my personal experience with my '83 280ZX that was my first car. Those articles can be found here and here but today we're going to be talking about the 280ZX in comparison to it's contemporaries like the recently featured Supra. Doesn't that sound awesome?

Found in the Wild: The Supra Takes Flight

We're on a real '80's roll these days and there's no plan of stopping it

Today, the word "Supra" conjures images of Brian O'Connor racing Toretto and YouTube videos of 1,000 horsepower monsters. But it wasn't always that way. The Supra started out as a rather ungainly looking six-cylinder version of the humble Celica. But by 1984, when this car was made, the Supra was quickly becoming the hot Japanese coupe to have and the upcoming turbo versions would cement that idea.

Found in the Yard: '80's Icon

Vanilla Ice had one. And if you were in high-school during the 80's you wish you had one. Only slightly less desirable than Farrah Fawcett in a red one-piece bathing suit is a 1987 Ford Mustang Cobra 5.0 like the one we've found today. One of the few truly capable affordable sporty cars of the day, the "Fox body" 5.0 Mustang was a hero car most could afford. But how did ours end up here?

Junkyard Laws: #1

If there is a junked police car, there will always be at least one empty coffee cup inside it. You might have to look for a bit, but it's there. trust me.

Found in the Wild: My Irrational Crush

Everyone has that one shallow celebrity crush. Despite their movies or songs being terrible, you love to obsess over them because they're just so physically perfect. Many car dorks enthusiasts have similar feelings for certain cars. For many, these cars are pre-war racers, one off specials or Italian exotica. Mine is the Toyota Tercel. I can't help myself.

Found in the Wild: The Gentleman's V12 Fezza

It's not often that a car is overshadowed by both its predecessor and its successor but that's just what happened to our featured Fezza. The Ferrari 365 GT 2+2 was hardly a bad car, in fact it was and is an exceptional grand touring car but that's just how good Ferrari was in the 60's and 70's. But why is this car worth hundreds of thousands less than those that come before or after it?

Found in the Wild: Straight Outta Coventry

There was a time when a Porsche 356 was just an old and slow German car. There was a time when a 440+6 Plymouth 'Cuda was just a ratty old car that drank too much gas and a 1969 Jaguar E-Type like the one we've found today was just a rusty British sports car that wouldn't run. The era was the '70's and due to these cars relatively low value and sporty nature, they saw time on the streets racing light to light.

Found in the Wild: DeLorean in Disguise?

The genus is Peugeot, the species is 505 and the status is endangered, near extinction. A street parked Peugeot on Alberta streets is a rare breed for sure. There was a time when French cars were fairly plentiful on North American roads but by the time our featured Peugeot 505 STX was made in 1986, that era was drawing to a close.

Found in the Wild: Pontiac Strato Chief a Bed of Roses

Undoubtedly, Pontiac's best decade was the '60's. In the years after fins and before muscle cars, Pontiacs were some of the most sought after vehicles in North America. They had a inimitably graceful swagger about them. They were imposing without being brash and Bauhaus without lacking substance. More crooning after the jump!

Corvette vs Tree

No comment.

High River Car Show 2013

Many of you outside Alberta might not know it, but the Alberta town of High River has had a bit of a rough summer. The floods hit High River hard and thousands were forced out of their homes by the rising waters. But the people there are resilient and many volunteers pulled together to get the town cleaned up. It's not perfect yet and it won't be for a while but if the 600+ cars in attendance can say anything, it's that the town is back with a vengeance.

The 100th Post: TLM's Pseudo Centennial

What a ride it's been! Sixteen months, 100 articles and nearly 10,000 pageviews have passed since the first article in May, 2012. In that time I've met many new friends and been to numerous fun events all while chasing the passion of cars. I've also learned a lot about cars I never even knew existed through writing these articles. I hope you've enjoyed some of the posts and gleaned some worthless trivia cool information as well! I'm excited to move forward with The Life Mechanical but first, let's have a look back.

Found in the Wild: NOT a Mercedes SSK

I try to at least see the merit of all enthusiast cars. For example, drifting isn't really my thing but I can certainly respect and admire the ingenuity of well done drift builds. But I'm finding it very challenging to stay positive about this one. I hesitate to even call it an enthusiast car but here in the wild we have a 1992 Classic Roadsters Marlene 500K "replica."