Fringy Friday

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Fringy: adjective form of fringe, a noun which can mean on the edge or periphery (Perry Ferry for my (i)ncomparable niece).

No doubt exists that I am much closer to the fringe of society than to its center. That condition has been exacerbated by aging. I have never been a part of the social mainstream, but as those under 40 still occupy more than half of the space in this country, their interests and habits seem very foreign to me, indeed. Still, it is what it is and I’d rather be here than there.

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My dentist found “debris” in one of the extraction sites and that was the cause of my issues. He cleaned it out and gave me syringes filled with a dental cleaning solution for me to continue to keep the sites free of debris. Of course, I am not a dentist and at least half of the solution does not end up where it’s supposed to go. My mouth does feel better today than at any time since I had the procedure. I wish my neck would get with the program.

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I have always thought these cars were radiantly elegant:

 

 

This is a 1942 Lincoln Continental Cabriolet; cabriolet is a fancy word for convertible. Of course, given the model year very few of these were built, just 136, to be exact. This car, offered at no reserve, hammered for $85,000 or $93,500 all in.

This iteration of Continental was built through model year 1948 (not counting the war years of 1943-45). The ’48 Continental was the last American production car to be offered with a V-12 engine. We will never again see a V-12 engine in an American production automobile. If you want a car so equipped, you will have to buy a foreign automobile. Maybe something like this:

 

See the source image

 

This is a Ferrari 812 Superfast, powered by a 6.5 liter/396 cubic-inch V-12 that generates 789 HP/530 LB-FT of torque. The engine is naturally aspirated, but still produces about 2 HP per cubic inch of displacement. The base MSRP for a 2021 812 Superfast is about $340,000.

Can’t spend that kind of money? On AutoTrader I found six cars in the US, convertible or coupe, equipped with a V-12 and with fewer than 100,000 miles that were listed for less than $10,000. Four were Jaguar XJS V-12s and the other two were Mercedes-Benz CL600s. The two Benzes were built in 2001 and 2002. I wouldn’t ever buy a Mercedes, but I can only speak for myself.

Have any of you ever owned a car with a V-12 engine? If so, we would like to read about it.

Have a great weekend…

 

#FringyFriday

#1942LincolnContinental

#Ferrari812Superfast

#somanycarsjustonelife

#disaffectedmusings

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Published by rulesoflogic

Empiricism over ideology!

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6 thoughts on “Fringy Friday”

  1. I have yet to own a V 12 powered auto, and most likely won’t. Around 15 years ago I said to myself, “self, you should get a V12 powered car.” A few weeks later I stopped and looked at a mid 90’s 850 BMW. The mileage seemed reasonable, the asking price wasn’t too far into the stratosphere. Hmmmmm. Then I went by a friend of a friends shop (independent, specialized in BMWs) and told them the mileage. They told me about the services it would be recommended to have soon and then told me the prices.

    I wish I had been wearing Depends, or at least brown pants.

    The cost would have been nearly 1/3 what the price of the car was. I decided I didn’t need a V 12 powered car after all.

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    1. Thanks for sharing, DDM. As you probably know I owned a BMW for 29 months. Maybe the child of Jewish Holocaust survivors shouldn’t own a German car, but it was the least reliable car I have ever owned. I was only the second owner and the car “only” had 42,000 miles put on it in seven years by the original owner. To me, BMW stands for Bring More Wampum or Big Money Waster.

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  2. I’ve never had a V12, though as I said they intrigue me. Anecdotal knowledge I’ve acquired have told me this…
    The V12s in the 1970s Jaguars are very problematic. Lots of issues that are expensive to fix. They’re tempting, as the cars themselves are often affordable, but a few people have told me it’ll spend far more time in your mechanics garage than yours.
    I don’t think the Lincoln V12s were particularly unreliable, except that they were underpowered and so problems arose from the abuse they’d take hauling that heavy carcass down the road. Which is a shame, because they are beautiful cars and I’m a fan of keeping them original.
    The rest, like the Mercedes and BMW I’ve not heard bad things but as DDM wrote, they can be prohibitively expensive to maintain – akin to the stories you hear about exotics where spark plug changes require full engine removal.

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    1. Thanks, Mark. In the end, everything has real costs, but which are often ignored and come back to bite you in the arse.

      I wouldn’t buy a Jaguar V-12 from the 1970s. If I could afford it, I might buy a Ferrari V-12, but do it with my eyes wide open.

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      1. I understand the E-Type era 12s are good. And any discussion about 1970s XJS/XJ cars always included “you’d be much happier with the 6, those are great.” I’ll have to see if I can find some reading on what happened with that 1970s 12.

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