I'm told it's mine if I fix it up, which means a $!(@ load of electrical work and new interior. With all my other projects, like my moe-ped (left), I doubt I'll be driving this baby any time soon.
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This is my father's Honda Civic, it's a NGV or natural gas vehicle. I have a Honda Hybrid is just like it but silver. In California, any alternative fuel vehicle can drive in the car pool lane regardless of weather or not it has 2 passengers (which is one of the reasons why he bought it). Fuel for the NGV costs about $1.50 per gallon equivalent, with the at home pumping station you can fill it up in your garage overnight.
That green chopper on the left also belongs to my father, he won (or un-intentionally acquired) it in an auction held by the "Make a Wish Foundation". The last thing I told him before he left was, "Don't drink till after the auction". As you can see he didn't take my advice to heart... Sigh On the bright side he only paid $14,000 for it, the parts cost more than that. Similar bikes sell for upwards of $20,000 so I can't complain that much, it's was a pretty good investment. Of course he didn't know it at the time...¬_¬ Note: Raising your number card to call over the wine-waiter is never a wise idea.
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And now my pride and joy. On the right is an early 1928 Model A Ford, a huge leap forward Model T. It has a recycled wood-crate firewall, floorboard, and a forward mounted gas tank. No more backing up hills like in a Model T. It was the technological wonder of it's day and, boosting 0-45mph in just under 30 seconds! Top speed is rumored to be 65-70mph, downhill that is. On level ground 45mph is enough to make you clench your cheeks, at 50mph you're nuts , and at 55mph you're living life on the edge. The fastest I've gone in it is 57mph, you could almost hear the engine crying. I'd have gone faster but I was afraid it might fall apart (and I value my life). There's at least 2 inches of play in the steering (an inch in either direction), and the brakes are mechanical so how fast you stop is proportional to how strong your legs are. It has an emergency brake (says right on it) but I'm convinced that was just a name given to it for promotional purposes, in reality it's a parking brake. In much the same case as the Porsche, I don't technically own the car but it's mine after I fix it up. I've refurbished or replaced most of the mechanical parts but I've still got to get parts chromed and the car painted. The car next to it kinda ate up the paint money, and a lot of my time as well. Speaking of which...
The car on the left is my 1972 Monte Carlo, it's got 400hp on a good day, 350-300hp on a bad one(i.e. busted a few rockers mid-race). I paid 5,000 dollars for it as is and I got the trailer for another $200. That's with the drivers cage, racing seat, window net, 5 point seat belts, and a full tank of 110 octane gas. Aside for a busted power steering pump, a few dents here and there, and baked on stickers it was in pretty good shape. Speaking of stickers, I'm still upset that the Hooters sticker had to be removed. Anyway, two of my friends are driving it this year, figured I ought to get some experience as a mechanic and as a spotter before I race it. They'll be paying for gas and such so it'll give my pocket book some time to recover... That is the theory anyway, a few weeks back they hit me up for that new exhaust which, apparently was installed for less than half price due to connections... Half price or not, it looks like I won't be getting any RAID till mid-June.
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Model A's got the simplest engine I've ever seen, with the simplest carb to boot. Carb is literally 2 pieces of cast steal bolted together with a leather gasket in between the two. All the gaskets on this car are leather by the way.
A picture of the Monte Carlo in an actual race. If you ever drop by Southern California drop me a line, I'll get you free tickets to a Saturday night race at "Toyota Speedway at Irwindale".
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