Quick Pic, got the hardtop

Picked up the hardtop and other toys today, I love it.  The hardtop makes it feel like a different car, less wind noise, better visability, more room.

...and a pic

Small, Small World

Holy crap, talk about small world.

So, looking at CL, see a guy selling a hardtop, figured I'd call. He tells me it's red, and I ask why he's selling it. Told me he doesn't have a car to go with it anymore. He says his first name, and i recognize that as the first name of the previous owner ( car was donated, then bought at auction, then sold to me), I ask his last, and whadda ya know it's the previous owner.

So he then tells me he went through the car, what's been done, what hasn't, why the steering wheel is 5* off center (new steering wheel), that it has aftermarket top hats (fat cat racing), a racing beat rear sway, and he has a racing beat front brace of some sort that he has for it still, it has a very smal (half inchish) drop from the top hats, etc etc.

Soo.. gonna pick up a hard top this weekend

Happy belated birthday Mazda

I know Mazda's 90th birthday passed about a month ago, but catching up on reading and visiting a great site called Japanese Nostalgic Car I came across the best write up on Mazda logo history I had seen.  Check it out!  Japanese Nostalgic Car – Blog » Blog Archive » 90 Years of the Mazda Logo

On his Birthday, RIP Paul Newman

Paul Newman

What an amazing guy, past the years that I feel most people should no longer be allowed to drive he took his final laps at Watkins Glen at age 82 in a Corvette race car, and at 70 he was the oldest driver to win at the 24 hours of Daytona.

A moment of silence for an amazing man.

Vintage (wheel) Pr0n!

Kobayashi Tire of Japan published a bundle of old photos.  Awesome throwback stuff, I strongly encourage you all to check it out!  Found via JapaneseNostalgicCar.com

Check out the albums here: Kobayashi tire company Neohisutorikkuka ∥ and 小林タイヤ商会∥オールドタイマー (the older stuff in the second link).

Ok, So what now?

Someone asked what will become of the FMM now that I have the FMM.  I assure you all, the fun doesn't stop now.  So here is a list of thoughts.
1. Going to the first HPDE event this weekend, an Auto-X put on by the Rio Grande SCCA
2. Eyeing those new Enkei 92's pretty hard.
3. There is a hardtop for sale locally, red no-less
4. I have a good friend that had a boosted NB miata that I need to chat with.
5. There are mountains of stuff yet to be sold for the project.

Parents Just don't understand

That was a hard ride home, I don't know how I survived
They took turns -
One would beat me while the other one was driving
I can't believe it, I just made a mistake
Well parents are the same no matter time nor place
So to you other kids all across the land
Take it from me
Parents just don't understand

 -Fresh Prince & DJ Jazzy Jeff

Early December I went to dinner with my dad, we chatted about a number of things per usual.  Then I told him my grand plan, in this conversation I explained the ubiquity of the miata is one reason parts are so cheap, that and they are among the most raced cars in the world.  I explained that I wanted something I could take to a track day, etc etc.

This was somehow contorted into; Matt is going to race a season of spec miata.  Once this errant thought got into his head I heard a stream of what a bad financial decision racing is, how much time and energy it would take, and how I needed to concentrate on other things.

Sigh.

Wheel Pr0n vol I

I know this isn't popular to say, but I'm really a function over form sort of guy.  I'm not into the super slammed stuff, the bosozuku camber, etc... but a sharp looking wheel really can setoff a car.  On the flip side, unless you're really going for the gold I don't get dropping $2000+ for a set of wheels because of brand name, or saving that extra 3 ounces.  To each their own though.

Enter the Enkei 92, Enkei is of course known well to anyone who has been into the import scene in the last 15 or more years, and in the last three or four they have really stepped up to the plate as far as aftermarket wheels with the light and strong RPF1.  Yes, I'm fully aware they have made OEMs for STi's, NSX's, and racing wheels for the likes of Mclaren.  They are a company with history.

...speaking of history, they are re-releasing the Enkei 92.  Perhaps it's the resurgence of interest in vintage Japanese cars from Skylines to AE86's, or just the bitchin classic design, but either way, I love this piece.
I'm sure they are available from a multitude of companies, but I'd get mine from JSCSpeed.com

Arrrrgghh

After checking out the car I purchased, I thought it may be an R package as I noted before.  R package have the front and rear underbody spoilers, rear decklid spoiler, manual steering, manual windows, Bilstein shocks, higher rate springs, beefier sway bars, and the coup de grace a torsen limited slip diff.

I used the awesome VIN decoder which told me a bit about the car, but not what package it came with.  For that, I had to go straight to the maker.  After a brief, and remarkably friendly call to Mazda USA, the gent on the other side told me I did indeed have an R package.  Huzzah!

Without Further Ado...

...I present to you the Found Money Miata.

So yeah, the picture sucks, I'll get better. And I really hate to admit it, but I went a hair over budget because I just couldn't pass this one up.  94 Red R package, picked her up for 3 large.  Really great condition.

Oh yeah, I need to come clean.
I was a little concerned about going to a Miata.  I'm 6'2", 186lbs, my girlfriend is 6', and I'm coming from an STi that makes 291 wheel horsepower and 311 ft/lbs of torque at the wheels.  And I live at a mile high.  I was as concerned about a little naturally aspirated 1.8liter motor keeping me happy as I was being able to fit in it.

I LOVE IT.

...speaking of fitting in the car, it came with two, nice, sheepskin seat covers.  Thick & cushy.  That thickness robbed me of about an inch of head room, and an inch of leg room.  They had to come out.

Viper in the Dryer?

When I first saw this picture I really did think it was a Viper, for almost a whole second... but holy carp this is the most business looking NC evAr!

Pics obviously from AsianGuyWithACamera

Miata Hunting pt 5

Good ol Craigsnotifier lights up like the Bat Signal, and it’s a white roadster, steelies, ac, a kinda beat top, bump on the decklid, broken finish panel, but otherwise pretty clean.  Talk to the guy a bit, take a gander under the hood, looks like something leaked at one point.  Seller seems like a straight shooter, so we take it for a spin.

I hear an exhaust leak, but car runs well otherwise.  But at this point I’m thinking that it has no LSD, needs 250-350 in parts to get it to good shape.  Then my ringer goes off, which is currently the Top Gear theme.  The Seller is a car guy, and we can smell our own.

We chat about his Cobra, Galaxy, folks we know in common, etc.  He’s a good guy.

Upon stopping to talk numbers, we realize we aren’t going to come to an agreement.  I believe it to be a $1700-$2000 car, and $2500 just isn’t going to work for me.  C’est la vie.

Miata Hunting parts 2 & 4

Pt 2

I have the awesomely addictive app for my Android phone called Craigsnotifier.  I have it set to notify me on Miatas, among other things.

I get a buzz. Miata, unknown milage, then the pictures.  Dreadful black stripes on red paint, horrid chrome aftermarket wheels, and mentions of a bump on the front fender.  Ok, he’s asking $1400, might be worth it.  I call up, and the seller quickly strikes me as a legit guy.  He’s a cop, got the car on trade, tells me the milage is unknown, tells me about the bump in the front, and said someone called him just before me and has first dibs.  Fair enough.  I tell him to give me second dibs, and he does, tells me to roll over at a specified time.

I get there a bit early, and the gold wheels, bright blue, and boy racer wing of the STi is noticeable, so after everyone looking at the car eyeballs me I go ahead and turn around to park.  Getting out I see a rifle case, and cash, the seller tells me the guy is taking it.  I give it a look-over, notice a busted tail light, finish panel, and the atrocity of the wheels.  The car is running, and sounds slightly off, not ‘on its last legs off’ but off.

..oh well, it’s sold.  This was Sunday.

Pt 4

Back to Craigsnotifier, I see a Roadster, no price, figured I’d call.  Call the guy up, ask him to tell me about the car ‘Red, black stripes, chrome wheels...’  I interject, and ask if he just bought it, then tell him I’m the guy that rolled up.  Alarm bells go off, either this thing has bigger problems, or he’s flipping it for profit.  He then tells me he didn’t realize it was so small, and he’s not comfortable in it.  Ok, buyers remorse.  The guy then tells me he was just looking for wheels, not a sports car, and not the rather austere, very small, and epically trackable car that is a Miata.

…I know at least some of the issues with the car, it’s cheap, but now I need to figure out if it’s worth it. This was Tuesday.

Guessing prices Barrett-Jackson, not just a drinking game anymore

...now you can win prizes! (and drink).

Check it out, autoblog has more info here: Guess Barett-Jackson bids, win prizes — Autoblog

Lego 1440rpm V8

I love legos, I'm not the mom's basement type that still plays with them a lot (no offense ya know), and I'm totally convinced they make kids smarter.  That said, this is really really awesome.

Found via Oscar Lenker, who shares really cool stuff on google reader.

Miata Hunting Part 3

Parusing the good ol’ CL, and I see pictures of a Red roadster, a 94, with 100k miles at what looks to be a salvage yard.  My interest is picqued, as is my skeptiscism. I give the seller a call, chat with him briefly, he says he closes at 5pm, I ask if he’s a business rather than a private seller, he explains it’s at his truck/heavy equipment shop. 

I head right over.

I check the car out a bit, he flips me the keys and tells me to check it out, I comply.  No power steering, cool, crank windows, hmm, were those underbody spoilers I noticed?  This might be an R, I’m not sure.

The car was repainted, but was honestly in killer shape.  The price is a bit over the FMMF, but I may have to make a concession and pull from savings for this one.  The Seller was a car guy to boot, I’d rather keep the money among car folk.

hmmmm.....

Miata hunting pt 1

After hitting about $1800 I knew it was time to start shopping.  First one was a BRG car.  Upon initial inspection it looked to be in good shape, leaking around the master cylinder..  Knowing possible rust issues I asked where the car was from, and he said he didn’t know.  Took the car for a spin, and the seller spoke about numerous Miatas he had and sold, which of course raised some flags.

The car felt good, sounded good, no blown shocks, steering felt tight.  After getting back for a post drive inspection I noticed a spot of rust on the door, and at this point I was unfamiliar with the roughing on the lower half of the door, so I mistakenly thought both sides may have had issues.  After pointing out the rust the seller talks about the car being from the Mid-Atlantic… wait… I thought you didn’t know where it was from.

Between the red flags, the price, and the rust I had to pass.  It wasn’t worth trying to haggle from the price, even if it would have wound up in budget.

A shift in focus.

This weekend was busy.  The Found Money Miata Fund has gone from $1001.08 on the 12th, to $1798.08 as of now, and the day isn't over.  I told myself shopping would go to full bore at $1500, though

I still plan on accumulating funds, my new focus is actually procuring the car.  Right now prices here seem out of whack.  $2800 for a quarter million mile miata with a salvaged title just isn't going to cut it, nor is a pristine Eggplant/Tan 80k mile example with a warranty for 5k... just too far out of the budget, even for a great car.

The good kind of busy

I'm anticipating a little bit of a lull in posting of the Martin Luther King Jr weekend for all the right reasons.  This morning started with the sale of a chair for $425, I have to sell 3 other things in the next ~24 hours, and probably start Miata shopping, since I know I'm now sufficiently funded to pick up something good. There is a car for sale locally, looks straight, but the whopping 282,000 miles is a little scary... and he's asking a pretty unreasonable sum, but we shall see.

Plus I get to hang out with the new niece, who just hit 2 weeks old, so that'll will be time well spent too.

Say, JSCSpeed, you guys ain't half bad

In my amazingly short time in the Miata community I've been absolutely floored by the support.  Within the month or so I've been posting on Club Roadster (who now has a banner below) I've had two members go out of their way to help me find cars, and give me tips and tricks on acquiring one, offer to haggle for me, and even help pick one up and get it home (Thanks weezerfan & nickwild7).


I've also received offers of support from the guys at JSCSpeed.  It's one thing to say you support the Miata community by selling parts for them, another thing to have 2 shop Miatas, sponsor a forum, and offer to help me on my project.  That's steps beyond just putting your money where your mouth is, but throwing in some practice what you preach too.  Color me impressed.

In chatting, another thing I liked is that they hold most of their inventory.  So many places now drop ship, which I get, it's less expensive, less risky, more flexible... but you just can't control the customer experience the same way.  I had a long conversation with a friend who owned a Mustang parts store that did drop shipping about this.  I have much more respect for having a B&M warehouse to backup the webstore.


...I can't decide which of their shop cars I like more, the track project is amazingly hardcore, but the murder miata is a nice blend of form and function. (Then again I have a hardon soft spot for Supras and STi's too (the other two project cars).  In a word, legit.

 The kind words by the JSCSpeed guys, and the folks at ClubRoadster just further stoked the fires, I'm really really psyched for the next phases of the FMM.... even the maintenance part where I need to get a ~14-21 year old car up to snuff.

Car vs Bike Drift at Sandia Motorsports track

Ok, first, this video is 'HOLY SHIT' awesome.  Second, Jim Guthrie, is too.  Jim was an Indy car driver, and now is part owner of the track on which this was shot, Sandia Motorsports Park.  The day he got the drift car, the ls1 powered rx-7 is the day the Keep Drifting Fun guys were here (Josh Herron & Will Roegge both of Speedhunters fame), and I was there.  There will filming another guy who is 'HOLY SHIT AWESOME' my good friend Dan, who was the flag guy, and also the guy I bought my STi from.

What to do when you find something cool on the web.

...and since I'm not a rat bastard: Found on Gizmodo who attributes it to Loldwell

A scam I don't understand

I'm up to 6 of these e-mails as responses to CL ads in the last 24 hours.  I don't understand how it works?  Are they trying to make a keyword gets hits on the Googles?  I don't get it.

PLEASE don't do what it says, it's clearly bullshit... but I figured I'd share, and hope someone could explain this.

My personal family was having a complicated time due to the slow economy until
It was informed the gov is giving down green notes to Us citizens.

I did have little idea they were proceeding through this so I studied this and found out it was true.

Simply just type out "gov wehp" into google so you can look at more
info on it so you too can help out your spouse and kids just like I did for mine.

Kind Regards, D H

Milestone: $1000 in the FMMF!

With the sale of a school book I've hit $1001.08, thus crossing the $1000 barrier.  I have more to go, and I think I can get there.  Not bad for about a month.

Spam lightning rods

I have recieved very little CL spam over the last month.. The last 18 hours have been brutal though. So fyi, if you want spam to start rolling in say the words 'herman miller' and 'movado' and spam magically appears.

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Rauh Welt Pr0n

I love Porsches. By far my favorite of the upper eschelon of performance cars, and Rauh Welt does them proud.  My fav is still 'Natty Dread'

Without further ado Rauh Welt Begriff meet pt 1

10 most & least expensive cars to insure

Not surprised by the least expensive list, save the Wrangler.  I figured the party boy/girl demographic I associate from watching too many 80's/90's movies would lead to more wrecks, rollovers, and stuck vehicles.  As for the most pricey, I'm not totally shocked by the German/ English mix, but figured some Italian may show up, or perhaps the GTR, since you know some little prick got one for his 16th birthday.

Top 10 Least Expensive to Insure:

10. Toyota Highlander ($1,154.02)

9. Ford Escape ($1,150.26)

8. Toyota Sienna ($1,142.94)

7. Honda Odyssey EX ($1,138.16)

6. Jeep Wrangler ($1,131.27)

5. Nissan Murano ($1,127.84)

4. Honda Odyssey LX ($1,114.62)

3. Toyota Sienna LE ($1,107.70)

2. Toyota Sienna ($1,100.66)

1. Chrysler Town & Country LX ($1,091.80)

Top 10 Most Expensive to Insure:

10. Mercedes-Benz G55 AMG ($3,086.49)

9. Aston Martin DB9 Volante ($3,088.96

8. Porsche 911 Carrera S ($3,092.31)

7. Mercedes-Benz CL600 ($3,114.28)

6. Aston Martin DB9 ($3,120.45)

5. Mercedes-Benz S65 AMG ($3,220.86)

4. Mercedes-Benz SL63 AMG ($3,263.46)

3. BMW 750Li ($3,280.70)

2. BMW 750i ($3,280.70)

1. Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG ($3,543.81)

from insure.com stolen from autoblog.com

Too funny not to share.

So this couldn't be less car, miata, or finance related... but it's too funny/stupid/weird/etc not to share.  I remember seeing this while flipping through that dreadful impulse item to a captive audience catalogue known as SkyMall.  Fortunately my friend Brian tweeted this pic up for the whole developed world to enjoy.  

Yes, they really have that on the side of the sneaker.  Wouldn't it be more appropriate on some swim trunks or something?... not like it could ever be appropriate, but you know.

Also Bound to Happen. Tales from CL pt 2

I listed the previous mentioned baseball cards on CL.  After no less than 20 e-mails, a fellow and I hash out a trade.  He doesn't have a car, which is ok, we are all of different means, so I'm happy to accomodate by meeting him at school.  I arrive 5 minutes before the prescribed time, and wait.  He tells me he's waiting on his ride to school.  I get that. 20 minutes later I get a message asking for me to meet him at his place.  Something about warning bells.  I agree to meet a block away at a public place.... even at 6'2" 190lbs I'd assume remain cautious.  Wait for 20 minutes... then I leave.

...ok, he says his kid hid is phone... but really?

CL etiquette.
1. Meet in a public place.
2. Be prompt.
3. This isn't a date.  Ask questions, exchange goods and funds, leave.
4. It wasn't a date, don't contact me unless it's a question about the product.

...and for the older folks, particularly the very sweet woman that bought the laptop, don't pay strangers by check.  They think they are going to get boned, and you should be worried about giving out your most precious of information.  Checks have bank account and routing number, all you need to clean someone out.

Bound to happen. Tales from CL Part 1.

Do I ever love scammers... surprisingly this was the first I had been propositioned by.

Hello
      Thanks for getting back to me,i,m okay with the price and the
condition of thge item and i will like to make an outright purchase of this
particular item but i will want you to be honest with me,because this is my
first time of buying on Craigslist.
      I anticipate that a certified cashier,s check will be sent to you via UPS
as My mode of payment with extra $50.00 to the amount your wiling to sell
the item concerning the pick up, i will be responsible for that,where my
mover will come for the pick up at your location upon your confirmation
of receiving the check and clears your bank.
      I ought to come for the viewing the item but due to my tight
schedule i couldn,t make it.i will implore you to provide the information
below so that the payment will be done as soon as possible:-

1......Full names
2......Full home address
3......City, State & zip code
4......Tel #s.

As soon as this is provided i will let you know when payment is mailed
out and i will update you on when you will receive the payment, and
give you instructions on what to do..I hope we handle this in good
faith...

Thanks while waiting to hear from you.

Naturally this deserves and inkind response.

Dearest Kate,
That sounds wonderful, please send me your bank account and routing number so I can expedite the return of the $50.   Please send payment as soon as possible.
1. Peter T. Barnum
2. 23 Bilkerton Ln
3. Ibadan, Nigeria 90210
4. 818-555-9403

Kindest regards,

Prince Peter T Barnum 

Oh well.

The economics of collectables.

Today I started cleaning out an old shed at my mom's house, found all sorts of fun things like the only highschool yearbook I remember buying (sophmore year), some broken He-Man toys, some poli sci books from college, and some of my baseball cards (the ones that weren't stolen along with the Camaro stuff).

So some stuff is going to Good Will, or maybe the hospital, battered women's shelter, or any of the variety of good causes, some will be sold, and some stuff I'll keep... even though I haven't missed it in the 7 years of storage.

...but I digress.

I took the 5 boxes of cards, a mix of Topps, Upperdeck, and Fleer baseball cards, a few odd basketball and football cards, some Marvel Superhero cards to the collectable shop, since I am itching to hit the $1k mark. Upon walking into the shop the thing that really struck me is how the vintage video game section dwarfed sports memorabilia, and the comic books.

I go on to chat with the fellow in charge of buying, clearly a sharp, if not particularly charismatic fellow, and he tells me that he isn't particularly interested.  Fortunately I had developed a candid reparte with him before hand, and told him I wasn't that shocked.  By the late 80's and early 90's so many people had convinced themselves buying baseball cards would put their kids through college that a huge glut emerged, and the cards from this era were overproduced, and over-saved.



On the flip-side, many parents, like my own, had given away, or just tossed the Atari 2600s, Nintendos, SNESs, and Sega Genesiss Geniseses Genesis' video games systems, we loved.  Now that the 25-35 year olds have a disposable income, thats the collectable they want.  That's what reminds them of their youth.  That's what wasn't oversaved.

So I'll just parrot what I once heard, by who-knows-who.  Collect what you want to, because you love it, not for the hopes of riches in the future.

So I'm looking at vanity plates right....

...trying to think of something brilliant and clever. Then I see this plate, and it looks mighty familiar.  Turn out my friend Ryan is now minor internet celeb.  Ryan & crew had some truly amazing DSMs back in the day, by amazing I mean fast, not reliable mind you....  but I digress.

Now I swear this is Miata related, not just because I'm trying to dream up some wonderful play on words, or cunning lingual literary feat.  No, that is because one of the more brilliant plates was on a Roadster.


Yes, the, now infamous 'Eat the kids first' plate was on a Miata.  The poor bastard now has 'OH NO 5OH' good, not great.  Since I would never steal the thunder of one of my favorite websites, Jalopnik has the rest of the story.

I Fought The DMV To Keep The World's Greatest License Plate

It's been a good week for the FMMF

Just sold the Xbox 360 steering wheel.  Fun toy, but man did I suck at using it.  That said the Found Money Miata Fund (FMMF) is up to $765.97.  Also, the girl at the bank was good enough to rename the account to just that after I told her the story.  She liked the idea, which is the overall response I'm getting.
I still need to list a few things, the Canon AE-1, possibly a radio, maybe some books... we'll see.

It's a bit tough to decide to part with some stuff, just trying to figure out if I use it enough.  I haven't used my snowboard in *cough* about 4 seasons, which means the rack I have may be on the chopping block along with the board.  Loaned the Wii to my mom, who probably won't be playing guitar hero.  Then I have some other stuff to go through as well.

Certainly seeing progress, I'll probably start shopping once I hit the $1k mark.... especially after hearing how one CR.netter pulled a 200k+ mile miata with a hardtop & bbs's for $500... the lucky bastard.

Skyline & NSX-R now legal in US

EDIT: So while the form is correct, it looks like there are still hoops to jump through.  49 U.S.C. § 30141(2) says you need an importer, and to pay the fees.



http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/import/elig092210.pdf

"VCP" eligibility numbers are assigned to vehicles that are decided to be eligible under 49 U.S.C. § 30141(a)(1)(B), based on a petition from a manufacturer or registered importer which establishes that the vehicle has safety features that comply with, or are capable of being altered to comply with, all applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards.

Do a search on the PDF in the top link to see the other add-ons

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The future is here, mark my words.

I said I was a phone geek, or maybe just a geek... and this isn't a tech blog.  But mark my words, this is the future.

Today AT&T (why them?) and Motorola announced the Atrix 4g.  Put simply it's using a phone as a computer, but done right.  They have a laptop dock, with a battery, screen & keyboard... the phone acts as the processor, storage, and modem.  Similarly it can mount via another doc to a standard monitor, mouse and keyboard.

Seriously, this is it.  So many of us have smart phones, that have supplanted our standard computers to a huge degree, while the movement to cloud computing is interesting, I think it will meet resistance from those who value the shred of privacy we have left.  This brings the best of the netbook/cloud model, ala ChromeOS, and a 'real' computer.

So AT&T, I know you have problems, I know you're greedy SOBs, but please don't screw this up.

Video:
http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/06/motorola-atrix-4g-hd-multimedia-dock-and-laptop-dock-hands-on/

Reason #73 I am digging Miatas. Loosely financial content.

Upon poking around at Club Roadster I came upon the 2nd Chance Roadster thread.

One my gripes with so many cars is the cost for replacement parts.  I had a friend who is a bit heavy handed break the door handle to my Lexus SC400, and it was about $100 to replace... for a used part.  For my STi something like an axel, which is none-too-easily obtained from a Pep Boys, or O'Riely, is about $500 from Subaru.  Odds of finding one in a junk yard hover around zilch.

Due to the ubiquity of the Miata/MX-5/Eunos/Roadster, as well as their involvement in racing, parts are plentiful, and frequently inexpensive, if not cheap.

...back to 2nd Chance Roadster.  These folks make a business (not sure if it's a side gig, or a main thing) of these inexpensive (if not cheap) used Mazda bits.  Few marquees could have someone offering rearview mirrors for $12 ($130 new for a WRX), or door handles for $18 ($100 used for a Lexus), or even an ECU for $65 ($150 for a Toyota 1JZ).  Color me impressed.

...This is pertinent to my interests thrift.

The piggy bank

Today I decided to empty the change jar, which has traditionally been a semi-annual affair.  Well, I had emptied it about a month ago, but rather than being lackadasical about putting change in it, I was good and religiously put every stray penny, nickel, and dime in.  $20.97 added to the fund.

..Also a word of advice, annual is a bad idea.  Change is heavy and I lost the bottom to a change jar after waiting a year.  Sure it was about $200 bucks, but it was $200 mixed with glass.  Sorting change shouldn't be a dangerous sport.

Another bit to the pot

Today I sold the remnants of my ill-fated attempt at p90x; a pullup bar, and some iso-metric bands.  A gym membership is much more my thing as I found out.  C'est la vie, and another $40 in.

How we became a 1 Mazda family (so far)

And now time for another tale of woe.

November 28th was the birthday of my girlfriend of three years.  November 26th was the day an old lady got the gas and brake confused on her car.  She jumped 2 parking blocks, and a handicapped sign to smash my girl's eclipse.  She hit it so hard in fact, that it moved from the parking spot it was parked in to a Jeep Comanche (owned by a fellow named Phillip Morris, I shit you not).  In one fell swoop it was totalled.

This led to shopping at a pretty awful time.  Two days until her birthday, and one day after Thanksgiving  While a good time economically, it was a horrible time in terms of scheduling.

We looked at many many cars, Scions, Saturns, Minis and Mitsubishis.  In the end we found a great car at a great price.  A 2005 Mazda 3.  So far I'm dead impressed with this car, the standard transmission is smooth and nicely notchy (yes, she drives stick, and yes, I know I'm lucky), peppy enough to move, and spacious enough to move (stuff).

In the relatively little time we've had this car, I'm dead impressed, and it soon won't be our only Mazda.

I said I was gonna talk about money right...

So I need to let the cat out of the bag for those of you that don’t know me. I’ve worked in various areas of finance for a while, both in banking and brokerage.  I’ve heard damned near ever scheme, fraud, trick, professional personal finance expert, investment expert, and charlatan.  I’ve read Robert Kiosaki’s rich-dad poor-dad, and I know neither even existed, and I’ve gotten yelling-mad at Suze Orman touting herself as a deity of personal finance.

I’m not saying all of what they spout is rubbish.  The basics; multiple streams of income, living within your means, and being mindful of expenditures and expenses are great.  Then again even a broken clock is right twice a day.

But a word of warning, if the multiple streams of income are from hocking various personal finance books, and if you are a registered broker who speaks to millions and you were utterly clueless and continued to give bad advice during the financial meltdown of 2008, you hold no water and should not be trusted.

A bit of an outburst on what’s mainly a car/project blog… but I said I’d mention finance a bit, and I came across one too many ads for the two of them today.  I’ll wax poetic about finance more another day, but I figured what better introduction to the subject than a rant.

PS. Ben Stein sucks too, and should be ashamed for schilling for the scam credit monitoring services.

PPS. Jim Cramer sucks too, but at least he’s smar

Miata Pr0n Vol IX, the Lightweight Miata

The Red Beast

That is a bit of an understatement.  The owner says this car is 1900lbs, and 230hp.... that's 230hp at the wheels.  So let's do a little math, and assume 15% drive trane loss, which is conservative.  So that puts it at about 270hp crank.

Ok, 270hp doesn't sound like much, but let's put that in perspective.


Ferrari 360 Modena 272 hp/tonne
2010 Porsche 911 GT3 RS 323 hp/tonne
2011 SLS AMG 348 hp/tonne
That Miata is 314 hp/tonne


So, without waxing poetic about Colin Chapman, and the importance of weight... you have to admit, that's pretty badass.

Not Quite Miata Pr0n: Angry Pork Racing

This car has been hovering around the intardwebs mostly due to it's paint.  The Angry Pork Racing pink miata is owned by George the fierce of Nasioc Fame... as a long time (holy shit, 10 years in April) member, I've seen his posts, and had the opportunity to meet the guy during a memorial for another Nasiocer while I was over on the East coast.

So, without further ado:

More at AngryPork.com

Gimmicky Finance Articles: And how I hate them

Came across this a few days ago.
http://www.barefootinvestor.com/free-cars-buying-plan/
Click it if you want, but I'll tell you right now it's crap.

I have been meaning to start writing more financial posts, about 6 are started at this point, but it takes a bit more than just saying 'OMG this car is amazing' or 'I'm selling this xyz item'.  So the article above was a great impetus.

The idea was to buy a less expensive auto, in the article they mention a Holden Commidore, and sock away money, and purchase some miraculous investment that nets almost 10% per year, and replacing the car they sell with one that never goes up in value.  I'm pretty sure finance doesn't work like the toilet swirls and the Northern and Southern hemisphere have the same financial rules.

Another really horrible assumption here is the rate these folks would get, 11.25%.  Things here could be different in Australia, but finance is generally pretty international with LIBOR and the US Fed rate moving most of the world.  At any rate here in the US I see rates for a used 2009 vehicle at or below 5% for good credit.  I really doubt rates would be that much higher for loans, and that much higher for interest in a savings account.

Now we have the same problem that I had with the DARE program as a kid, they explained how bad pot was by saying once it's lit it turns in to thousands of chemicals (and chemicals are supposed to be scary).  Being a wiseass I realized that was oxidation, and you light the contents of your lunchable and there will be gobs of chemicals too.  (for the record, no, I don't smoke pot, but have nothing against it)

You peddle me a bunch of bullshit as an appetizer, I'm gonna walk away from the meal.
It is good to save, and it can be good to pay cash for a vehicle rather than take a loan.  But that isn't always the case.  What I really want to drive home is think about what you are doing, don't take these bite-sized bits of advice as defacto truth.