Practical Cars

"Jay, the practical enthusiast" (jay-m)
09/24/2020 at 07:25 • Filed to: None

Before I continue with my Mongolia adventures I want to talk about the Toyota Prius. But before I talk about the Prius I have to explain the Japanese used car market. But to understand the Japanese used car market you have to know a little about the Shaken inspection. And all this ties into practicality, so maybe I should start there.

My first car isn’t worth talking about, but my second car that I owned from 1992 to 1999 was a 1966 Fastback Mustang. I put fresh paint on her and completely redid the interior. I also installed a nice little sound system. She (eventually) had a 4 barrel 289, Edelbrock intake, MSD ignition, “GT-40” heads, tri y headers, and Dynomax exhaust, all mated to a Borg Warner T-5 out of a late 80s 5.0. She was a decent little performer for her time but at a cost. She was a daily driver averaging about 12 miles per gallon.

NOT my Mustang. I have lots of pictures of my car but in the days before digital cameras they are actual printed pictures. My Mustang was almost identical to this one including the Magnum 500s. The only differences were the seats (headrests in a ‘66?) and mine had the white GT stripes on the side and the Hi Po 289 badges on the fenders.

The Mustang had no air conditioning. In Florida. No power steering, no power brakes (drums all around), no power windows or door locks. No cup holders or storage compartments (although the folding rear seats gave it a lot of extra space). She was a fun car, but not very practical. Everyone wanted to ride in her once, but when it came time to chose a car to go out on the weekends it was always whoever had a 4 door car. No adult wants to hop in and out of the back seat of a 2 door car, no matter how awesome it is. No one wants to ride in a car without a/c, especially in Florida.

I sold the Mustang when I moved to Japan and ended up buying a $400, 10 year old (1991) Nissan Bluebird (Altima) SSS (unfortunately the NA version). She had 40,000 kilometers on her and other than some paint fade on the trunk looked almost brand new. The Bluebird had air conditioning, 4 doors, abs, power steering, power windows, remote power locks, cup holders, basically all the standard features on any modern car. I knew I could never go back to an old car again, at least not for daily driving.

Also NOT my Bluebird. Mine was actually a dark blue.

Practicality became more important to me than performance or looking “cool.” I started surfing when I moved to Tokyo and that is when I was introduced to the minivan (it’s too bad we don’t get the Stepwagon in the U.S.). Minivans are the ultimate practical car. Lots of seating, tons of storage, sliding doors. In the hierarchy of practical vehicles minivans are king. But they have 2 drawbacks: size and fuel economy.

My buddy’s surfmobile, the Honda Stepwagon.

Everything you need for a day at the beach.

DISCUSSION (15)

My bird IS the word > Jay, the practical enthusiast
09/24/2020 at 07:31

I think, especially with how good current economy cars are, the winning strat is to buy one of those as a dd and put the money you save towards something exciting.

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > My bird IS the word
09/24/2020 at 08:05

I like my daily to be fun tho...thats the one thing I can count on to make me happy everyday irrespective of whatever else is happening.

My bird IS the word > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
09/24/2020 at 08:11

Personally, i am sick of worrying about parking, vandalism, random accidents ect. And just like a car I can beat the piss out of guilt free.

hillrat > My bird IS the word
09/24/2020 at 08:29

Agreed. In a perfect world I’d have a boring, practical, inexpensive DD and fun car for weekends and such.

Milky > hillrat
09/24/2020 at 09:31

Perfect and boring shouldn't be in the same sentence.

hillrat > Milky
09/24/2020 at 09:41

Allow me to retort. When I use “boring” in this way I’m really talking about drama free ownership where you’re not getting random $3k repair bills. I t also means being a bit incognito on the road in a way that makes cops ignore you.

Driving a black 4 door sedan is the ultimate camouflage .

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Jay, the practical enthusiast
09/24/2020 at 10:16

So would you say this makes you some sort of ‘practical enthusiast?’ You should put that in your username so you wouldn’t have to explain this. Hehe.

That Honda Stepwagon looks amazing. It’s surprisingly narrow but there still appears to be loads of room in there. With the sliding door only on the passenger side in a RHD vehicle it almost looks like a purely two door minivan until you realize the sides are the reverse of what you expect.

Milky > hillrat
09/24/2020 at 10:17

I mean my Miata hasn’t given me a single random repair bill and I live in a place with no cops * shrug emoji*. But I think you just described the sports sedan ( SS, GS-F for example) .

Just saying practical doesnt have to be boring.

hillrat > Milky
09/24/2020 at 11:15

Fair point, practical doesn’t necessarily mean boring. And one day, when I don’t have a wife & children scattering water bottles and fruit detritus all over my car, I’ll get myself a nice sports sedan.

For me and my life right now, a boring ass, 35 MPG, hybrid is perfect.

KnowsAboutCars > My bird IS the word
09/24/2020 at 13:19

Exciting but ratty car is an option, no? Still fun but the first parking space door ding isn’t the end of the world.

At least I would end up driving a non-DD car just too little to justify owning it.

My bird IS the word > KnowsAboutCars
09/24/2020 at 13:27

Ehh problem with that is you are always worried about your DD breaking down and leaving you stranded. Also, I get worried about pushing the car cause if you crash it that’s it.

Obviously this is limited by a bunch of factors (budget, space, ect) but it is what my experience has taught me and how I am going to orient my future decisions. For instance, if I had tons of money I would get a fun “ordinary” DD like an awd wrx or something and treat it like garbage, and have a nice exotic car in reserve, rather than get something like an amg mercedes. I just dont feel like one car can do everything paricularly well.

KnowsAboutCars > My bird IS the word
09/24/2020 at 13:49

I guess I’m fortunate in that I have a company car I can occasionally use for personal needs.

In my ideal situation I’d have separate summer and winter DDs. Actually I kinda am in that situation now, I just want to change my current winter DD. Also, possibly contradicting myself here, but I ideally would like owning several summer cars because even though I have a fun car I still find myself craving for other different fun cars.

My bird IS the word > KnowsAboutCars
09/24/2020 at 13:54

I’ d settle for a fun car that works right now. Ideally I would like to get a caterham seven in a few years, it checks off the most boxes but definitely isn’t DD material.

Exage03040 @ opposite-lock.com > hillrat
09/24/2020 at 14:15

I mention this occasionally but I’d have a $30k car and a $30k bike rather that any sole sports/super car under $200k.

Jay, the practical enthusiast > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
09/24/2020 at 23:06

That's a great idea about the name. I just might do that.