Spirited Drives & Unreliable Cars

16/07/2025

This little car

I purchased him in 2017 as a "This will get me by for now" Mini thinking I'd enjoy it for a while until I could score another estate after selling my green '67 (which I have since bought back).

Engine compartment looked horrible. Had a crappy carb. Miles of superfluous, messy wiring and a score of other things to tidy up.

Since then he has come a long ways thanks to James Thompson at A-Series NW and become my ever-trusty, faithful little Mini that I could never do without.

I have, conservatively, put at least 100k miles on him. Multiple long drives all over the Pacific Northwest. He's gone to Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Texas, Nevada, New Mexico and Arizona. Some of those multiple times.

He's starting to show the miles. Gaskets starting to drip a bit. Probably needs wheel bearings addressed. So I pulled him offline for long drives for now.

But then...

Two weeks ago we had to change plans last minute, toss our stuff in him and drive from Arizona to Washington State & Oregon. I pleaded silently "Just one more haul, little buddy". And 4k miles later, he came through once again.

And now he's DEFINITELY going to take a well-deserved rest for a bit.

Good boy! Lol

12/07/2025

Back in the PacNW with fun cars and great people 🙂

07/07/2025

... and then there were two ...

Soon there will be FIVE!

Heading out to meet up with a few more and then it's up and over the Cascades ❤️

18/06/2025

So I'm in the process of unpacking my rather sizeable toy car collection and I did the VWs first. I think out of all of them, these might be my favorite because they're somewhat rare. They're rare because they were never actually sold as toys. They were made for VW dealerships to use as little props on salesmens' desks etc. But it was common for a salesman to sometimes give one to the child of a couple who were there buying a new VW and such. These have been in my family for decades and came courtesy of a stepdad's friend who, at one time, worked at Pete Lovely Volkswagen in Fife, WA. as a mechanic back when these were the new models.

18/06/2025

16/06/2025

When you really like the mug and you're not willing to let it go

10/06/2025

Just got done making an AZ - ID run. Passed through Nevada, Oregon & Washington. Diesel box truck that is new enough to require DEF. Gross.

ANY-HOOOOO....

If there's anybody planning a run from AZ to NV or vice versa.... yep, SR 93, I-40 & the I-11 (essentially the entire drive from Wickenburg, AZ to Las Vegas, NV) are still GARBAGE!! It would no-kidding, dead serious, be an improvement if they just ripped up the asphalt and left it as gravel

10/06/2025

Hey! Great idea for a reboot!

07/06/2025

Cuts down on all the confusion