Neon theme day?

"Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678) 10/19/2020 at 18:14 • Filed to: None

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Because I owned one of these badboys for a short period of time in 2017. Reason for purchase? My Miata was getting some extended body work done and I didnt feel like burning like $1k on a rental car for a couple months. So I put said money in a trash can instead and burned it until this turd popped out. I say that lovingly though as this car was pretty sweet despite its gremlins. It was finally kinda sorted out and then my dad borrowed it and broke the timing belt before I could get to fixing that. So yeah bye bye crap can Neon. At least the only rust was the brake lines, it was actually decently clean otherwise.

I wish I had bought this thing a few years sooner. For $900 it was not a bad vehicle at all. I would have definitely used it as a winter beater so that the Miata would end up less rusty. Granted I never quite solved the mystery misfire either but it would have been a learning experience!

UserNotFound > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 10/19/2020 at 18:20

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This is not helping my newfound obsession in the least.

ranwhenparked > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 10/19/2020 at 18:20

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Ok then

onlytwowheels > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 10/19/2020 at 18:43

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Bought this 2003 Neon in 2004 with 1750 miles on it. It was a prize give away car, the winner given a choice between the car or $15k cash. I paid $7500 for it .

One month later it looked like this.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > onlytwowheels 10/19/2020 at 19:12

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I desperately want to debunk this story but I can’t find any issues with it.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 10/19/2020 at 19:12

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Those Neon coupes are better looking than they have any right to be.

onlytwowheels > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 10/19/2020 at 19:35

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There were 3 of these Neon prize giveaway cars, all 5 speed manual. A company that sold time share condominiums used the contact information provided by raffle entrants for their marketing conta ct list. They drove the cars to m alls, convention centers and the like. At the end of the contest, the winner chose the cash prize. After trying to sell the cars through a dealer, this one hit CL. A red one went to a secretary at the company and a black one given to the company owner’s son.

I bought this one and did the “Fast and Furious” look to try and drum up ad ditional business for our shop. Lesson from this is, most kids who were/ are fans of the movie don’t have the funds to do this.

In 2nd photo you can also see the right front fender of my Dak ota R/T. Photos were taken in park ing lot at the Sierra College Auto Fair.

http://www.sierraautofair.com/

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > onlytwowheels 10/19/2020 at 19:40

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Ah, we’ve got a Dodge man up in here. I wasn’t convinced that that wasn’t an internet photo at first but it’s a great story. What ended up happening to it after it was done promoting your shop? You take it for a daily? That would have been a very cool ride as long as no one looked under the hood. I assume this was a very base 5 speed with crank windows and such (hard to read that window sticker photo) for maximum cheapness.

Jim Spanfeller > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 10/19/2020 at 20:01

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It’s because of the round headlights. I always have and always will maintain that round headlights are best headlights. You can experiment all you want with angry lights and square lights and abstract random lights, but they’ll never look better than a circle. 

onlytwowheels > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 10/19/2020 at 20:02

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Yes, i t was very basic, crank windows included. I added some blue carbon to the interi or, to try and spruce things up a bit, which I did not like once it was done . I daily drove it for about a year. Ha d to replace the front air dam after one of the aluminum sk ids attached under each corner dug into the pavement causing it to come off and get stuck under the car.

I put the car up for sale, hence being at the Sierra Auto Fair. It did not sell there. I parked it out front of the shop with a for sale sign on it. O ne day a grey haired older woman walks in and says she is interested in buying the car. My initial thoughts were someone was playing a trick on me, and I start looking around for possible hidden cameras. Anyway, she was legit. We went for a test drive, during which she went to my bank and transferred money into my account. After that, she drove over to AAA to register and insure it. She drove me back to the shop and left with the car. Later in the day she had someone bring her back to get her Outback and I had to get a coworker to give me a ride home. It was my understanding she was buying this for her 30 or 40 something year old son, who seemed to be a bit of a dead beat, from her descrip tion of him. I saw the car a year or so later parked at a Carl’s Jr, it was beat to hell.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Jim Spanfeller 10/19/2020 at 20:08

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Well that's a pretty abstract interpretation of a circle because that's an oval!

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > onlytwowheels 10/19/2020 at 20:11

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I can just imagine someone winning the car, taking a look inside and seeing the shifter and windy windows , thinking, “who do they think I am, a poor?”

Sucks that it got beat up but it was always going to attract that sort of clientele. Hope you made a decent profit off it.

onlytwowheels > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 10/19/2020 at 20:29

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Not sure if there was any profit. I did so many upgrades. I sold some of the original parts like wheels and tires, struts and a few others. The remaining parts were loaded into the older woman’s Outback. I think I came out even, all things considere d.

Some of the upgrades:

Tokico Struts

Progress lowering springs

Borbet wheels with Continental Extreme Contact tires

Kaminari l ip kit

Kaminari Carbon rear wing

Carbon fiber hood

Short shifter

Fully polished stainless cat back exhaust

Ice Man c old air intake

underdrive pulley

DC Sport front and rear strut bars

Eibach front and rear sway bars

Mopar 3D tail lights

Paint

Jim Spanfeller > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 10/19/2020 at 20:45

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An oval is merely a circle that went off its diet.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > onlytwowheels 10/19/2020 at 21:07

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It's so 2005 it hurts but it's dangerously close to being cool again in a nostalgic sort of way. In 10 years just you wait. I actually like what you've done to it but also 2000s tuner culture really isn't my favorite. Yet.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Jim Spanfeller 10/19/2020 at 21:08

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Hey, I resemble that remark!

- says the freakishly thin dude

Jim Spanfeller > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 10/19/2020 at 21:59

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Ovoid beings come in all shapes  and sizes.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Jim Spanfeller 10/19/2020 at 22:03

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Hey, do I like like an ovoid being to you? Oh wait, my profile picture is me impersonating a curiously eager sphere floating free in a junkyard so I can understand the confusion. I’m really kind of a square myself (not actually but. . . )

Jim Spanfeller > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 10/19/2020 at 22:46

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I am a rhombicuboctahedron:

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Jim Spanfeller 10/19/2020 at 23:00

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Oh so you ARENT a fellow free floating sphere. Well then. . . 

Jim Spanfeller > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 10/20/2020 at 00:28

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I mean I kinda look like a less round sphere...

onlytwowheels > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 10/20/2020 at 05:22

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The s ole purpose was to generate additional business. The Neon wasn’t my first choice by far, but it was a bargain, and would do the job.  My first choice was a Mitsubishi Lancer, and do an Evo look.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Jim Spanfeller 10/20/2020 at 08:23

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You look like one of those children's games where you have to out the correct shaped peg through the corresponding hole. Hahahaha 

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > onlytwowheels 10/20/2020 at 08:30

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That would have worked too. What a fascinating story. 

SPAMBot - Horse Doctor > onlytwowheels 10/20/2020 at 11:06

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Man, a guy I went to college with had a neon that looked super similar. Must have been the same year because his license plate was 5FAK***, I believe.  Same color and a similar hood. He had some other mods but can’t really recall. Cool guy, but I never und the obsession with neons. We had plenty of other automotive common ground, though.

onlytwowheels > SPAMBot - Horse Doctor 10/20/2020 at 11:29

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Often times people thought I was driving my kid’s car, since I was in my 40's when I put this together. I had no love for this car, although I didn’t hate it either. It was a marketing tool, and served it’s purpose for that j ob. It also garnered too much attention from law enforcement, which got me stopped for not having a front license plate. Meanwhile, my Saab Viggen never had a front license plate during my ownership, and was completely over looked.