Saturday Selection

Automobile Magazine “has” a motto of “No Boring Cars!” However, if one actually reads their website the majority of articles are about SUVs and pickup trucks. I know that the majority of new vehicles sold in the US—more than 70%—are those types, but then change your motto. As I write this their lead story is about the 2020 Mazda CX-30.

For the nth time I will opine that the move to SUVs and pickup trucks is in no small way due to the fact that 70% of American adults are overweight and one-third are obese. I will also note that vehicle manufacturers are very happy with that trend as SUVs, in particular, have higher profit margins than cars. My wonderful wife and I have a small SUV (a Kia Sportage), but we will jettison that vehicle before we move to the desert. Hopefully, that move is in the not too distant future.

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I have the right to vote. I also have the right not to vote. My not voting is NOT a vote for the person you oppose, it is a non-vote. Only a person blinded by political ideology would equate not voting to voting for the person running against their favored candidate. (Not to be confused with Trung Canidate, a 1st-round pick in the NFL draft in 2000.)

“There are more things in heaven and earth…than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

– Shakespeare

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How many of you own or have owned a convertible? My wonderful wife much prefers them and four of the last five cars she’s owned, including her current car, have been convertibles.

I have owned one, a 2009 BMW Z4. Where we currently live is not too conducive to use of a convertible, in my opinion. I must admit that on those few occasions when I drove the Z4 with the top down, it was an enjoyable experience.

As many of you know, American automobile manufacturers did not produce convertibles from the mid-1970s through the mid-1980s, in part because of government regulations. Anyway…some convertibles are very appealing to me and while this is not an edition of Frugal Friday I wanted to share this particular car:

From AutoTrader a picture of a 2017 Fiat 124 Spider. Of course, this car is built on the same assembly line as the current generation Mazda Miata. Still, I quite like the design; I just wish the cars had a little more juice. This example, with about 23,000 miles—the car’s been driven, is listed for $14,500. With the current “transaction price” for a new vehicle in the US approaching $40,000, for a single person or empty-nester family a car like this seems like a good deal to me. By the way, limiting results to cars built since 2015 and restricting the search radius to 100 miles from my zip code, the AutoTrader search returned over 1,000 results. I guess convertibles are back…maybe not.

#Shakespeare

#Fiat124Spider

#somanycarsjustonelife

#disaffectedmusings

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