Author Archives: Mike Ross

About Mike Ross

I love anything you can drive. But I love it even more if it has a small block Chevy or Ford motor, a turbo, four wheel drive, is a hatchback, or was made in the 80s. My ideal car would be a combination of all of these things, and I'm working on building a time machine so I can go back to the 80's and convince Chevy and Ford to collaborate on a twin-engine, single turbo 4x4 XR4Ti/Fox Mustang/Third Gen F-body and hide one in a mineshaft for me to recover in brand new condition. Look for a blog post about it just as soon as it happens. Or maybe it already did, and I've already posted about it in the future and the internet just needs to catch up with it. Okay, my head hurts, never mind.

Playboy Shitty

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Come on, Playboy City? Are you fucking kidding me? I was embarrassed even taking pictures of this thing. I was afraid that someone would see me with my camera out and think I was taking pictures of it because I thought it was cool. I couldn’t get a good picture but he had a bunch of playboy bullshit inside the car too. I probably could have spent a little more time and got a decent shot, but like I mentioned earlier, I really just didn’t want to been seen near the car, or associated with it in any way. I’m also pretty sure it’s a v6. You never see GTs with the rocker stripes or that hood, and look at the way the exhaust points down under the cutouts in the bumper. A GT would have had the tips coming out straight. Usually when you see v6s with dual exhaust they kind of point them down so they clear the v6 bumper, which makes me think he got his exhaust before he got his body kit. I’m not sure why that’s important, it’s just observation I guess.

I also thought it was kind of funny that the car was parked in a parking lot shared by an LA Fitness, a sports therapy place, a waxing place, and a tanning place in the middle of the day on a weekday. This truly is, the car for its time and place. He fits right in there.

1997 Camry Flip Out Navigation

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I saw this while I was reading through the April 1997 issue of Motor Trend at the library and though it was pretty interesting, so I had to had to snap a picture (of a picture). The article wasn’t about the navigation system or anything, just a review of some of the changes to the Camry for the 1998 model year. The weird part is that I’m having trouble finding any references anywhere to a navigation system ever being installed in an XV20 Camry. From what I’ve been reading, the 2000 Avalon was the first Toyota vehicle to feature a navigation system, so I’m guessing that this was a one-off example Toyota sent to the magazine for the review to wow them. I think it’s pretty cool, but I’m a sucker for weird things like this. I like how it’s a factory installation but it still interferes with the flow from the center AC vents when it’s out.

Maybe the unit itself gets really hot and it all just worked out perfectly?

2003 Toyota Tundra Terminator 3 Edition

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I didn’t think this was real at first- Wikipedia doesn’t even mention it in their entry for the Tundra, but after some digging around I did find a couple facts about this truck.

Most sources I’ve found say that 850 “T3” Tundras were produced, with 250 going to Canada and the other 600 being sold here. Supposedly, they were only officially offered in black although I did find a guy on a forum swearing he has a factory green one. The truck is pretty much a normal Tundra except it’s got special wheels, all the chrome and aluminum (except for the special wheels) is black, it comes with factory dual exhaust (which actually sounded pretty good), its got some special leather seats and that’s pretty much it. It’s nothing really nothing all that special, other than it’s limited production. I don’t see why Toyota didn’t do it right an at least offer that supercharger they are so proud of as an option or something. It wouldn’t be a bad looking truck if it just didn’t any of those decals on it. Ok, let me rephrase that: compared to the new Tundra, It wouldn’t be a bad looking truck without the decals. There, I’m glad I cleared that up.

Hell And Back

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If cars could talk, I think most of them would probably just be complaining all the time. Loudly. They would whine about not having their oil changed often enough, about speed bumps, or maybe about kids spilling drinks inside them. Some of them would most likely piss and moan about not getting to “stretch their legs” on the open road often enough. Others would be begging to be painted a different color, or even to simply be run through a car wash every once in a while. A few of the grievances would be understandable, but for the most part, nobody would have anything real to complain about.

In a crowded parking lot world populated by obnoxious loudmouth econoboxes desperately vying for your attention, this guy would be way in the back by himself, staring at the ground, reluctant to even speak. There would be an awkward silence for what would have felt like an eternity, after which he would pick his weary head up, look you dead in the eye, and you two would share a brief moment of understanding. Just before you start to turn and walk the other way, a hoarse, gravelly voice- barley audible over the din of the parking lot- would utter “I’ve seen some shit”.

VTAK Just Swapped In Yo

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I saw this at the Ecology junkyard down on Broadway and it made me smile. I wonder how long this car drove around with that on there. It’s kind of funny, since it’s not a Honda. It’s  actually a Mk2 Golf, but of course, you probably already guessed that. Who else but a VW super-hipster would take a sharpie to his valve cover just for the sake of a little internet meme-derived irony?

Green tea is good.