160 Comments

You understate the cost of a Singer 911 these days (not that that does anything other than bolster your argument).

The “base” Singer is the naturally aspirated coupe; they have recently announced that they’ve stopped taking orders for this one. Production will have totaled ~450 units once they’re finished. Hard to find one with the 4.0L engine for much less than $1MM now.

The Singer DLS is heavily limited and will cost more than double what the “base” car does; the DLS has the 4 valve air cooled engine with Williams F1 fairy dust on it.

The new volume car is a 964-based 930 turbo evocation, available in coupe or convertible.

Porsche used to give Singer the cold shoulder and simultaneously fellate Magnus Walker; now Porsche Motorsports North America is building engines for Singer and Magnus will take whatever scraps he can get from Porsche, Merc, or Ms. Elliott’s plate.

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There are only two things keeping me from being insanely jealous of you:

1. I have more money sunk in my 1989 Continental Singer-ture Series.

2. After driving a 6-speed Fusion I now openly pine for its Milan counterpart.

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This makes the effort and money I'd like to sink into an HC Mazda 929 seem a little less insane, if only I could still find one. My sister bought a crossover to make room for her growing family, and as such her old 1st gen Fusion has been given back to my parents as a backup runabout car. They're not remotely interested in cars, but for two weeks now they've been talking about the great visibility, spry engine and chassis, and the smooth ride. Spend enough years driving 3/4 ton trucks and awd SUVs and a simple sedan becomes revelatory..

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If you want to go whole-hog on the Milan and feel better about it...last month I searched AutoTrader for sedans with manual transmissions under $30k. Among the results was a new 2022 Nissan Versa at a local dealership, advertised for sticker plus a $2000 markup. I was dumbfounded. Searched again this month...the Versa has been sold. Someone paid $18k or more for a base Versa. To get anything close to "value" out of our cars, we're all going to have to "go Cuban" and keep our old machinery alive to 250k miles and beyond.

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Not only to get value, but to get enjoyment. One look at any of the “car enthusiast websites” tells you that communism, not car enthusiasm, is the current passion.

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Since all the manufacturers are going electric and China's having trouble keeping battery plants powered there may not be new vehicles coming out to be bought anyhow! We'll all end up living like Cubans for real, only instead of a ration of rice to get us through the week we get cricket powder. And then there's always the barter system and the black market to keep our old Milans and CX-5s running.

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Why should I eat cricket powder when there are plenty of people we can use to make Soylent Green?

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Since I'm not part of the nomenklatura I didn't want to presume we'd be allowed anything more than insect protein in our insignificant lives.

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No way. That will take fossil fuel to process. Think more along the lines of 'The Road'.

Upside, there's a lot of calories in all the corn-fed, Walmart scooter driving lardasses, with enough extra to use in lamps like so much whale oil.

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Hmmm. Which is tastier; bugs, or bug people?

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Bugs Bunny, obviouswy.

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"To get anything close to "value" out of our cars, we're all going to have to "go Cuban" and keep our old machinery alive to 250k miles and beyond."

I was speaking to a vehicle repair association recently and this was one of my key points. Should electric vehicle mandates actually come to fruition in the near future, the repair industry for existing vehicles will see a new Golden Age. BEVs cost double to make vs ICE and the cost breakthroughs aren't coming. We figure there might be somewhere in the neighborhood of 20% savings to be had with scale but with all the supply chain issues, that isn't materializing at all.

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I bought a 2017 Yaris iA (the Mazda 2 in drag) 6MT for 10k just before COVID because I got tired of driving a 6.5' bed crew cab F-150 every day, used it for similar purposes to Jack, then sold it to Carvana for $17k with another 40k miles on it. It's wild. Don't tell the IRS.

That Yaris iA was a wonderful little thing - no amount of electronic trickery compensates for weight and that little thing weighed under 2400 lbs. The 1.5L loved to rev and had enough torque to cruise at 80-85mph in 6th while getting 40-42mpg regardless of how I drove.

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I should have bought one of the little green Mazda2 stick shifts when they were new. Another regret. You think you'll always have time and then the automakers shit on you.

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So true. Back in ... 2018? ... I was debating giving up my E92 M3 for a Mazda6 6MT, since the M3 was racking up repair bills. But I thought I'd have time ... Then they cancelled the 6MT model. What I paid for M3 upkeep over the next three years, I could have bought that new Mazda6 6MT outright.

Getting old is bad enough. To have things you enjoy being "taken away" at the same time ... that *really* sucks.

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i had a 2015 Mazda6 base with a stick. you really missed out. great car, just REALLY needed an LSD.

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I'm always debating what to do with my E92 M3. In almost two years the only non regular maintenance part it has needed is a washer pump. That said, just between throttle body actuators and rod bearings, I think that's around $7k in repairs hanging over my head. It's not a good fit for roads where I live either.

Despite all this, I can't bring myself to get rid of it. I doubt my example will be a collector's item, but I also don't expect it to depreciate. Contrary to what most of the Internet thinks, I don't need to drive it at "10/10ths" to enjoy it. It sounds great at most any combination of RPM and throttle opening.

I recently picked up an 05 Tundra to haul trash and yard waste. It's been eye opening how far your money goes at the mechanic when you leave the Germans. That might push me over the edge.

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Yeah, I didn't really have a choice. My mechanic was 80 miles away, and my M3 was my only car. When I couldn't drive it up for repairs, I had to arrange for a tow, and always for a rental car. It became so much hassle. Plus, it got to a point where I was almost afraid to start it, wondering what else will fail on it next.

I just cannot believe how much the car industry has gone "backwards" in the ten-plus years I owned the M3. I cannot think of a *single* new car on sale today that I would take over my M3 (if I could make time and spend money to maintain it).

Oh well...

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“That makes the answer obvious: swap in a 2.5-liter Duratec and six-speed transmission from the post-facelift Fusion and Milan, then build the 2.5 up to Fab9 Stage 3 levels. That means 225 wheel horsepower at 7300rpm, titanium valve springs too. Should result in a very high 13-second quarter mile at maybe 103mph, plus a little more willingness to reach triple digits on the freeway, where prudent of course.

Doing this would turn this Milan into a sixteen thousand dollar Milan. Toss in the Lincoln bits and it’s probably a nineteen thousand dollar Milan.” PLEASE DO ALL OF THIS ASAP

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I have no idea if the economics work to make it a viable business model, but I have to think there's a market out there for tastefully refurbished and mildly upgraded manual sedans from the past 15 to 20 years. Clean older cars that have been maintained and/or upgraded always catch my eye, especially if they have three pedals.

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I'd love to find a 1st gen Camry Solara SLE V6 with a 5spd, but with a cloth interior with the fake wood grain bits. Factory TRD supercharger, some really nice cushy riding shocks, somewhat wider wheels but keep a lot of sidewall. Throw a hitch on it and use it to haul my little motorcycle trailer instead of my old Suburban.

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I know where you can find one that is totally roached out. Ya know, if you really want to set some money on fire…

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I had a 2014 Accord Sport 6MT with a K24 that was simply excellent in all respects except the stock, difficult to upgrade stereo. I should have driven that into the ground but sold it for a black-on-black Charger R/T R&T with Flowmasters.

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The shitty four-speaker Sport stereo was a big reason I ended up with a V6 Coupe.

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Did the Accord go to electric power steering by that 2013+ gen? Aside from that they do seem like a really nice all-rounder, tho I can hardly blame you for upgrading to a V8 Charger. I've had a 2015+ Charger/Challenger v8 on my radar for a long time, they're not gonna get any cheaper now with the announced discontinuation of the Hemis.

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The 9th Gen is electric power steering, but I thought it had excellent weighting and reasonable feedback. The Charger was fun, and with Yoko Ice Guards, did fine with an open diff in winter. Trading the Accord wasn't planned - I was headed to an out-of-town airport to pick up a family member for a funeral, was notified the flight was delayed, so stopped by a Carmax to kill some time. They had the hard-to-find R/T R&T with all the options I wanted (radar cruise, lane keeping, and everything else) and gave me stupid money for the Accord, so I signed the papers and was out of there before the plane landed. Chargers hold value well, and I incurred minimal depreciation trading it for an F-150, which after my race car left and kid's karting career never launched, traded it for $2k less than I paid with 40k miles and needing brakes and tires on a 2022 Civic Si. First time I've only had one car in a while - prior to the Yaris iA, I had a Gen 1 Insight that was a profit factory when driving for work and kept a lot of race fees off-book from my wife :).

Now I'm looking at well-maintained LS430s to compliment the Civic. I need an adult.

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You sir, are a rare consumer of automobiles. One that’s experienced a variety of unique vehicles, built for different purposes and audiences, in the most cost effective of ways. So refreshing that it’s absent the tribal marque bullshit. It makes too much sense, like picking up the best tools for a job. There must be something wrong with you!

Of course, we’re here on the same Substack.

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I'm not locked in here with you -- you're locked in here with ME!

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One would think there would be. The unfortunate reality is that with so many people living hand to mouth right now who MIGHT be super interested in that, they just don't make a great business case. Hell, even I'm defaulting to the "never wash the truck" model because it's just been so chaotic these past 6 months.

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This article completely mirrors the car journey itself. I started reading it over some chips at lunch, thought the title was witty but judged the topic humdrum, and inevitably by the end I was grossly enraptured. Honestly the pics also make the interior look like a nice place to be. A fascinating journey in one read. Much appreciated!

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Thank you for giving the article a chance. I know I'm not very good at the high concept lede and killer headline; my readers tend to be patient people.

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I disagree re: lede.

It’s a hard thing to do, and many high concept efforts collapse under their own pretension (e.g., a certain twee Canadian hailing from Vancouver parts). Clarkson is very, very good at it.

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I didn’t communicate that well: I find nearly everything you write worthwhile of my time otherwise I wouldn’t be here. The title drew me in, making me wonder if it was a music or car reference, while the picture of a seemingly drab domestic sedan doused my initial enthusiasm. The article proceeded into a slow burn to superstardom. I was masterfully head faked by the whole process. I liken it to reading Ian MacEwan at his best. Bravo!

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PS: the only thing that would have made it better would have been an accompanying pic of Mercury Jill.

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I've found some great videos but none of them were quite as ah revealing as I'd hoped.

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I’ve said it before, and I’m sure I’ll say it again, but this is my favorite thing you’ve written.

I’m thinking about picking up something to represent Peak Motorcycle- my Red Barchetta, if you will. As my brother in law says, “There are no pockets on a funeral shroud.”

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Your brother in law has never been more right.

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No banks in heaven either.

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Peak Motorcycle is an interesting thing to ponder.... and would obviously vary wildly depending on who you ask and their priorities. For me it'd absolutely have to be something pre-rider aids, and probably pre-fuel injection. So my bike would definitely be far from peak of performance. I'd land somewhere between an XS650 (a bike that captures the "essence" of motorcycle well, stone ax simple and reliable, a Sportster or Dyna would fit here too IMO) and an FJ1200 (very serious performance, still a very analog, air cooled bike that can also eat up miles in comfort, for tens of thousands of miles). Honda CBX? That's definitely some kind of peak right there, one of the nicest sounding engines for sure.

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Well, I have a ‘63 Triumph and an ‘08 Dyna, but I was thinking something like a Ducati 750SS or an ‘83 GPz 1100. It’ll take some pondering for sure.

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There's a clean red 83 GPZ1100 for sale in Indy for $4100 right now actually. My understanding tho is that they spoiled the GPZ a bit in '83 by tuning it for more top end, at the expense of strong low/midrange that makes this era of Big Bore jap-4 so pleasing. IIRC the '82 is the sweet spot as it got the simplified/better version of early fuel injection system but before that retuning for top end.

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Interesting. There was a guy who used to park his ‘83 next to my Triumph Daytona 500 in the school parking lot in ‘83.

Supposedly the local dealer sold three of them and two of the guys who bought them were killed on them.

I’m a little spooked by the FI.

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Per my understanding the 82+ “digital” fuel injection is fairly recognizable and the same basic stuff as automotive systems of the mid 80s and is generally considered reliable. However, I personally would definitely stick with carbs. As fiddly as they can be, at least I’m not hunting for oddball/rare ECUs and sensors etc.

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Would you mind letting me know where you saw the GPz for sale? No problem if you’d rather not.

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This effort reminds me of an article that your former colleague wrote about something he called OEM Plus. I’m not sure the phrase ever stuck but I liked the concept and it was a nice title for something we’ve practiced for years - a kissing cousin of Day 2, if you will.

I have a friend that works at one of the OEM proving grounds here in AZ. He does (or did) have a SUV from that manufacturer, let’s call it an Xterra - that had either an Inifiniti counterpart or a higher trim version of the model he drove. Thanks to his connections, he’d stockpile castoff parts from the more desirable models and then graft them onto his rig. It was truly one-of-a-kind. We carpooled to SEMA a few times and I know he enjoyed showing me all the cool little bits he had added to the truck.

I always liked your Gen Fusion/Milans.

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I can totally appreciate the thought behind this. Hell I'd rather have your $10k Milan than a $10k..... what does $10k buy you these days again?

I'm about to start the search for a junkyard 2nd gen Escalade wood grain steering wheel to replace the totally roached 300k mile unit on my 06 Suburban. Just to make my UGK and Z-Ro listening more authentic.

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I ended up down this path as a I needed a 4 door E segment car last summer. Friend of mine had a one owner 2011 535i x drive with a seized engine that I poured nearly 18k into, which made it a 'new' 535i with 140k miles, new touchpoints, a banging stereo, unique powder coating on the trim and wheels, a rebuilt engine that makes 100 HP more than stock.

Cruises at 85MPH like its sitting still. NO regrets.

On the flip side, going down this path is not necessarily economically unwise from my perspective, especially to save a car on the road and be properly ecologically sound. Especially if you want something more analog and think new products are jelly bean garbage.

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There's something in me that admires the sleeper car spirit. The guy who poured time and effort into creating a monster that slips by unnoticed 99% of the time and when awakened absolutely rips and tears. Ostentatious is easy, subtle power is difficult to do right. I know which society prefers.

The "Nobody cares, dude" variation on the meme cracked me up.

"[...] if you want to have any viewpoint in America that is right of, say, Sonia Sotomayor, you’d better work on making yourself and your children as invisible to The Powers That Be as possible."

I am a chameleon at work. There's 5 or so people who know my leanings. I suspect one manager figured it out when I applied for an exception *spit* from the therapeutic science magic juice.

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The sleeper attitude applies broadly.

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This really puts your piece about Monterey Car Week into perspective, since it speaks to true car enthusiasm more than anything on show there (except maybe the Little Car Show in Pacific Grove?). And it’s more ecologically friendly too.

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Thanks. Now I'm thinking about building an European equivalent of this fucker and we, of course, don't have any Milans. We'll we have one Milan in Italy and a lot of Milans in Czech Republic, because it's a common Czech name, but I digress.

You probably made me realize that my wife needs a Volvo wagon, because I'm responsible person and all...

... and that said Volvo has to be the V50 T5, because it is, basically, a wagon version of the Focus ST (or Focus RS), AND that I need to swap all the stuff that makes the RS so great onto the poor Volvo and give so-created beast to my unsuspecting wife to daily drive.

And it's all your fault. You made me.

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I take credit, or blame, or both!

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Do it! I have a 2005 V50 T5 as my daily driver here in the states. I can't say anything bad about it. Comfortable, reasonably quick, reliable. It's just a good, pleasant car.

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I will probably need some kind of wagon quite soon, so I might very well end up with this. I remember driving the second-generation Focus RS about 13 years ago and that thing was a beat, one of the fastest hot hatches of the time. And most of it could be bolt-on to the V50...

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Aug 24, 2022
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Mondeo Cosworth wouldn't work. The car you're thinking of was Sierra, its predecessor, which was sold in US as Merkur XR4Ti with a turbo engine (different than Cosworth's twin-cam, but similar in output). Mondeo was the thing sold in the US as Contour. There, you could go for the Mondeo ST200 (probably similar to Contour SVT) and make it a bit better. Or, in case of the newer one, you can just buy Mondeo ST220, which had a great suspension and 3.0 V6 220hp engine, overall not bad for a 2003 or so car.

Thinking about it, a slightly upgraded ST220 would be quite similar to Jack's Milan (could be had as wagon also, which helps here, as everyone drives a wagon), but for much less money.

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My friend had a Contour SVT that was swapped with a 3.0L. Bought it from a Ford dealership mechanic. It was a great car to drive and much faster than it had any right to be. With an LSD, it would've been a riot.

The only downside, like most cars from this era, is how poorly the interiors hold up. Brittle plastic, warping dashboards, etc.

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The solution for Europe would be this. This generation of Mondeo was unrelated to Fusion (and much better driving) AND it has almost everything the Singerized Milan got as a part of the makeover as standard.

https://auto.bazos.cz/inzerat/156877690/ford-mondeo-st220-facelift-manual-plna-vybava.php

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You should out who kicked the car. I’d like to kick them in the head. I can’t stand trash who takes out their small dick energy on vehicle sheet metal.

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If I knew who did it I'd sort it out with them.

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The little puke probably never worked a day of their life in a blanking op, stamping plant, body shop or paint shop.

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Makes me want to ask why have you and Tom not taken all the NOS go fast bits made for a Crown Victoria Police Interseptor and installed them on a same generation Lincoln Town Car? I know no manual transmission, however the two cars are built on the same platform. :-) :-)

Oh and speaking of Monterey Car Week, it appears that inflation and the pending recession is not effecting a small subset of the population, as according to the numerous write ups on one specifice insurance website have documented record making sales. Also, is there not a conflict of interest in owning an auction house and reporting on the auctions? just a thought.....

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Someone who lives near me has a perfect black AMC Pacer with Police Interceptor badging.

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