One One Two Two

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First, congratulations to my wonderful wife! As of today she is officially retired. I LOVE YOU, V Squared!

 

Second, some “accounting.”

 

2021 COMPARED TO 2020

TOTAL BLOG VIEWS                      +12%

VIEWS FOR JANUARY-MARCH   +131%

VIEWS FOR APRIL-DECEMBER        -7%

 

In April of 2020–due to the damn virus or other reasons or all of the above–blog views took a quantum leap up. Views for April, 2020 through June, 2020 were 96% higher than for January, 2020 through March, 2020. The level of views (and visitors) has never returned to its previous level, at least not yet.

Still, views for the last three quarters of 2021 were lower than for the same period in 2020. That fact is discouraging. I keep reading that interest in many blogs just wanes over time as a matter of course.

If WordPress abandons access to the Classic Editor at the end of this year, then this “discussion” is moot because I will not use the Block(head) Editor. I would like to think readership has another leap up awaiting, but maybe I’m delusional.

 

Third, although I never watched The Golden Girls or Hot In Cleveland, the death of Betty White (17 days before what would have been her 100th birthday) is sad for me. As I have written before, I think she and my marvelous mom bore a physical resemblance and they were both born in 1922.

“And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”

– John Donne

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To begin the New Year, a beautiful picture:

 

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While acknowledging that “life has become less and less predictable” (it was really never that predictable, in my opinion), Hemmings offers some predictions for the automotive market for 2022.

Hemmings editor-in-chief Terry McGean predicts that interest in vehicles from the 1980s and 1990s will “really gain momentum this year.” He advises readers that if they find a car or truck from that time period that appeals to them, then now might be the time to buy it.

As everyone reading this blog should know, I love the Cadillac Allante, which was available from 1987 to 1993. I mean, I put the car in my Ultimate Garage 3.0 as one of my favorite 14 cars ever. Most people know about my affinity for the looks of the Buick Reatta.

Anyway…this 2018 article from Hotcars gives a list of 20 underrated sports cars from the 1980s. While it would be thought-provoking, I guess, to compare current values to those listed in the article (which put a $10,000 limit on the cars), that is beyond my time and interest. I read articles like this to learn about cars like this:

 

https://cdn.carbuzz.com/gallery-images/1600/524000/900/524966.jpg

 

This is a Toyota Supra A70. In 1987 Toyota introduced a turbocharged engine as an option for this car; with forced induction the engine generated 230 HP/247 LB-FT of torque, which were good figures for 1987. For the same model year, the Chevrolet Corvette engine was rated 240 HP although it did have 345 LB-FT.

Either the market for this car has really skyrocketed in the last 3-4 years or Hotcars.com doesn’t know car values. In the article from 2018 it stated a decent A70 could be purchased for $4,000. Looking online for Supra turbos from 1987-89, I couldn’t find a running example listed at less than $16,000 and some were listed at more than $40,000. I guess I was more curious than I thought, after all.

Do you have any cars from the 1980s and 1990s that grab you? One idea for a blog series that has rattled around in (what’s left of) my brain is to feature cars from specific decades, like Fifties Friday or Sixties Sunday.

Happy New Year!

 

#OneOneTwoTwo

#BettyWhite

#ToyotaSupraA70

#somanycarsjustonelife

#disaffectedmusings

If you like this blog please tell your friends and share the blog URL (https://disaffectedmusings.com). Thanks.

 

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Published by rulesoflogic

Empiricism over ideology!

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18 thoughts on “One One Two Two”

  2. Am I remembering this correctly? I remember in about 1982, my friend’s Dad had a Celica Supra, which looked like my Dad’s (and later my) Celica. It was the same hatchback model. You later rode in that Celica in 1989. My friend would borrow his Dad’s car, and I borrowed my Dad’s. We were both about 17 at the time.
    My Dad and John Madden were both born in 1936 and I always thought he resembled the coach as well back in the 70s and 80s. Same hair and upbeat attitude.

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  3. Happy New Year to you and yours. To echo your previous post about good riddance to 2021, bye. Like yourself, it wasn’t a banner year for me. Between my health issues earlier in the year, and my dad passing away Christmas Eve, I’m glad 2021 is in the rearview mirror. Hopefully 2022 will better for everyone.

    On to today’s post: There are some “newer” cars I like, mainly in the 80’s (not so new anymore), mainly the Shelby Dodges. I have had a total of 4 over the years, and still have 2. Certain models of other cars from that era are interesting to me, but not enough to invest in one. Yet

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  4. It is sad that the 100th birthday party scheduled to be broadcast on her birthday will now end up being a retrospective.
    No doubt there were many New Years’ toasts in her honor. She was always a master of timing.

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    1. Thanks, JS. Betty White outlived her Golden Girls co-stars by quite a margin. Estelle Getty died in 2008, Rue McClanahan in 2010 and Bea Arthur–with whom Betty White did not get along at all–in 2009.

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  5. Have a 2021 Audi Q7 now and love it, but loved my 1968 GTO (payments $86.08 a month) just as much. And I love your blog _ pls keep it going. Hope your wonderful wife enjoys retirement and continues to recover. Best in ‘22. Herb.

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  6. Bought brand new while playing in Class A Wisconsin Rapids. 350 hp if I recall accurately. Price was $3,900 or so. Got speeding ticket at 95-mph — cost me $100. First new car — kept it for 10 years before it rusted.

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  7. Though I love cars of many eras, I got my license in the mid 1980s, so that was my wheelhouse. Now I know many of the cars left something to be desired as manufacturers struggled with new tech and working back towards creating cars with real performance, but the list is long as to cars I liked from the era.
    I’ve very partial to the Fox body Mustang as I drove one for 14 years. Easy power, simple cars. The G-body cars (Monte Carlo/Grand Prix/Cutlass/Regal) were also great cars, fairly easy to hot Rod. I liked the 3rd generation Camaro and Firebird though, as well as the C4 Vette, though I was never comfortable in them. Too low and laid back.

    Porsche 911s seemed sorta attainable, I liked them a lot. I was also taken with many of the super cars, 959, Testarossa, 288 GTO, 308/328.

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    1. Many thanks for sharing, Mark. My wonderful wife and I saw a Fox body Mustang today and I pointed it out to her. In all honesty, though, it gets lost among the Ferraris, Mercedes-Benzes, Bentleys and the like around here. Did you know that Ford produced 2.6 million Fox body Mustangs? It was a very successful car that is not given credit for its success.

      I have a real affinity for American cars of the immediate post-fin era, say 1961 to 1965. I am 99.99% sure I have mentioned that in a post. (I’m too lazy to look it up.) I “earned” my drivers license in the mid-1970s, which was the nadir (not Ralph Nader although I’m sure he was pleased by developments of that period) of American performance. My first car was a 1967 GTO, as everyone reading knows, and I was a fan of American muscle cars from that era.

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      1. Thank you sir. Admittedly, the Fox Mustang is often overlooked. Its styling is boxy, and I’d have to look at the numbers but I believe the majority of that 2.6 million were 4-bangers or V6s (or worse, the old inline 6).
        The Fox platform really helped save Ford in the late 70s/early 80s. It underpinned not only the Mustang/Capri but also the Fairmont/Zephyr, small LTD/Marquis and the 80-82 Thunderbird/Cougar.
        Then people figured out you could buy a cheap used 4 cylinder Mustang, get a beefed up crossmember, any Windsor engine (or 429/460 if you cut some metal out), do all the usual hot rodding tricks and you had a fun fast little car for not much money.

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      3. I have 2 I’ve yet to review (in addition to the 3 I have).
        ‘The Complete Book of Mustang Every Model since 1964 1/2’ by Mike Mueller is great. My edition goes up to the 2010 model hitting the market, I know there is an updated edition at least to 2015. This book is almost part of a series from Motorbooks, of which I have 4 (Dodge and Plymouth muscle 1960-74 which I have reviewed, and I have Mustang, Corvette and Chevy SS editions). Tons of good pictures, some development content. But it basically profiles every year, starting with the prototype Mustang I and II (3 and 2 pages each respectively). While the V8s usually get a lot of space, the I4, I6 and V6 cars are not ignored. Special models like Boss 302, Pace Car, even the 2001 and 2008 Bullitt models get their own profiles as do they Shelbys.
        The other book I have is ‘The Official Ford Mustang 5.0 Technical Reference and Performance Handbook 1979 through 1993’ by Al Kirschembaum. It’s pretty hardcore Fox body nerd stuff. 440+ pages, the first 150 or so is year to year overview, includes a chapter on Special Service (police) mustangs. The rest is component systems chapters– body, engine, brakes etc, even down to Ford part numbers, cam specs, etc. There’s even an appendix of Ford recall and technical service bulletins. Great book for what it is but you’d have to be really into it.

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