Car Throttle

What can you get these days for $30 grand and change?  Well, if you're a sensible sort of fellow, the kind that wears slacks and a white polo daily, you could get a really darn nice Honda Accord.  To be specific, $29,755 (plus destination fee and accessories, etc) will get you a 2012 Accord EX-L with Navigation.  It's got a 2.4L engine that makes some horsepower, leather seats, an electronic map to tell you where to go, and it will without a doubt run flawlessly with 0 issues for 10-15 years.  10-15 years of perfectly predictable, sedate, drama and fun-free motoring. Seriously!  These cars last forever.  An acquaintance of mine works as a service adviser at a Honda dealer, and they recently got a 2006 Accord

Times are tough.  Credit used to flow like water, getting a job after securing a bachelor's degree in English was a sure thing, and the world was a lot easier place to live in.  Not so any more: those who once figured "Hell, I have a job and a pulse, I can get a new car" are now realizing that no, they can't.  They don't have a credit score of 700 and a 10,000 down payment sitting around.  What's a car enthusiast to do? If you're handy with wrenches and know a fuel injector from an EGR valve, you don't have to plunk down 40 grand for a car that will both plaster a smile on your face 95% of the time and not leave you

If you're shopping for a car under $4000, there's one of two ways it'll go. You can either get something undesirable or boring in good condition with a lot of miles - or you can get something that was the bee's knees a few decades ago, with a few issues, for about the same price.  This was the decision a friend of mine was facing when shopping for a vehicle.  His brother was sick and tired of him borrowing his car, he had the money saved up, he just didn't know what to get.  This is where I stepped in. "James, what's the coolest thing you can get for under $4 grand?  Or preferably under three grand, leaving a little room for repairs?" I paused, looked at him.  "That's

If you're a car guy, chances are one of your past times is Craigslist. The free online classified ad website that has been running since 1996 is the perfect place to find everything from a sitter, to a new dog, to furniture, to your soul mate, to... a car!  Heck, my last car came from craigslist - friendly, knowledgeable seller, cool car, good price.  And while most stuff on craigslist is a bit normal ("2003 Camry, Grey, 86k, call Jeff...") occasionally you'll find something cool.  Here's what turned up with a quick perusal of my local CL. Don't tell me you're not tempted.  What is this heap?  Why, it's an Alfa Romeo Milano!  And what the hell is that?  Well, it was Alfa's competitor

Buying a new vehicle is an important decision and you want to make sure you're getting the right one. Here are some simple tips that anyone can use, even when purchasing used cars without having to have a whole lot of mechanical knowledge. 1. Check the tires for excessive or uneven wear which would be sign of costly and dangerous front end problems. 2. Check under the oil cap to see if there is a milky colored oil sludge, which could be an indication of water in the crank case. A very alight crack in the head could produce this, which would leave the vehicle driveable. However the condition can worsen and is definitely a costly repair, even if it is a partially blown head gasket. 3.

Yes, you read that right: A 1969 McLaren M6 GT For Sale. A REAL 1969 McLaren M6 GT. Not a copy. Not a kit car. But a real, honest to Jehovah, McLaren M6 GT as designed by Bruce McLaren himself, and build and driven (on occasion) by Bruce and Denny (yeah, that would be Denny Hulme). As I recall, McLaren only built about 5 or 6 of these things, and they very, very rarely come up for sale. As a matter of fact, I can't tell you the last time I saw one change hands, and when I saw this one pop up on the Hemmings sight, I couldn't believe it at first. But yes, this is the real thing. The seller, Fantasy Junction in the

The 3000GT VR-4 is a sign of both what's right and what's terminally wrong with the automotive industry. Which is remarkable, because they haven't made one since, oh - 2000.  US imports ceased in 1999, meaning the freshest of 3000GT's are more than a decade old at this point, so the relevance of the VR-4 is questionable.  But it was quite telling. The 3000GT (marketed in Japan and other countries as the GTO, which you know wouldn't have gone over well here) was Mitsubishi's flagship halo car, a rolling testbed to show just what the company could do.  It replaced the ancient (but awesome) Starion Coupe when it debuted in 1990, and when the specifications were announced it sounded like a world-killer. Based on a shortened Diamante

Most car enthusiasts dream of one day owning an exotic, turbocharged mid-engined 2-seat sports car. Few of them ever reach this goal; have you seen how expensive Lotus Esprit V8's are these days?  Or Jaguar XJ220's?  Heck, even a used Noble M12 is far beyond the means of the average automotive enthusiast.  I've always said there was a direct correlation between how expensive a car is, and how far back in the chassis the engine is mounted.  A Honda Civic is cheap; the engine is in the front.  A Lotus Elise is quite pricey; the engine's in the middle.  A Porsche 911's ungodly expensive; the engine's in the back.  It all makes sense. But if you've been fiending for some mid-engined lift-throttle oversteer antics and don't have

Are you really itching to gain entry into the Porsche Club of America, but don't have $100k laying around for a 911? More importantly, do you not succumb to the notion that the only real Porsches have engines with no coolant mounted in the wrong place?  Then you might be interested in the "bastard children" of the Porsche range, namely the 944 and the 968.  I'm excluding the 944's predecessor the 924 from this guide for a few reasons: they're not pretty, they're not much fun, and the only really good ones are so rare you'll never see them, ever. A little history, first.  The 944 was the replacement for the unloved 924, which started out life as a joint project between Volkswagen/Audi and Porsche, and was

1991-1999 BMW 8-Series Coupe "And when they say great white sharks... they mean the kind in big, black cars." This buyer's guide is for an altogether different type of coupe than the last one.  While the appeal of the NSX was the raw connection if offered between the driver and the road, the appeal of an 8-series BMW is the way it effortlessly munches highway miles, the powerful and unique engines under the hood, and it's mildly thuggish demeanor.  If you're looking for a big, stately coupe that will get noticed but you don't have to mortgage the house for, the 8-series might be worth a look. Background The 8-series coupe (E31) debuted in 1991 as the replacement for the highly-acclaimed 6-series (E24) coupes from the 70's and 80's.