Notable eco-cars (old & new) spotted in the wild: post your pics!

[War_Wagon]

Originally Posted by freebeard

War_Wagon -- did that 2nd Westy sell?

Yup they both ended up selling finally, anything at the dealer auction 2 weeks before Christmas is going to end up going cheap. The green one sold for more than the tan one, and the tan one was 10x nicer than the green one. I should have bought the tan one and sat on it until spring it was that cheap, but I didn't have a spare $6k sitting around sadly.

[Arragonis]

Originally Posted by War_Wagon

...With a stick???



I think of all the vehicles I have posted in this thread, this is probably the rarest I have ever actually seen. Except for maybe the Mercedes 240D with a manual transmission. Maybe a 5 speed Jeep Grand Cherokee is common where you are, but I have never seen one!

We got that model with a 114hp VM Diesel in it as standard with a 5sp. Later models seem to be auto only and due to the Merc / Chrysler tie up used 3.0 Merc sixies but with auto only.

Test drove a Cherokee model from the same era with the same gearbox / engine combination but the bouncy ride and rear seat head/leg room ruled it out.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Spotted this JDM '97-'07 Toyota TownAce Noah in my neighborhood.

Due to Paraguayan plates, one can guess it has either the 2C or the 3C Toyota Diesel engine.

[War_Wagon]

Uh.

Uber-Gearhead Creates the Ultimate Freak Adventure Machine | The Footprint | OutsideOnline.com

I didn't see it, but it's not far from here, plus someone actually took the time to send me the link and I didn't know where else to post it!

[mechman600]

Um...seriously? That's wild. If only I had $40K to chuck around. I'd buy a smashed Tesla and put the innards into something crazy too.

[freebeard]

Well, I didn't know where to post this so I'll just drop the link here:

http://www.igorstshirts.com/blog/con...chael_t_01.jpg

[War_Wagon]

Originally Posted by mechman600

Um...seriously? That's wild. If only I had $40K to chuck around. I'd buy a smashed Tesla and put the innards into something crazy too.

I don't know where that $40k figure in the article came from, it makes no sense to me. A wrecked Tesla would be way less than that if it was still repairable, and one that was hit so hard that it was only good for parts would be pretty much worthless. Like less than $2500 worthless, after all no insurance company in the world is going to put one of those things back together and there is zero demand for used parts as anyone that can afford a Tesla can afford to fix it with new stuff. Cripes, for $60k I can get a Fisker with 800 KMs on it!

[some_other_dave]

Originally Posted by War_Wagon

I didn't see it, but it's not far from here...

Hey, I know that car! And I know that guy! The last I saw the double-bus, it was in the SF Bay Area, and was still powered by gasoline. I didn't realize he'd done electrical things to it since.

He had the world record for an EV quarter-mile for a while, in a very neat car called "California Poppy". ("CA POP E" was the vanity plate. The car was orange.)

-soD

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

It's not so usual to see an earlier Fiat Uno anymore. Well, many might have had the front clip changed for the updated one with a lower profile...



But I saw this one in my neighborhood recently. The Mille had the engine destroked to 994cc (roughly 1000cc, for what Mille stands for), and in spite of being technically inferior to the Italian version (Brazilian ones kept the same suspension layout from the Fiat 127 and the Yugo), it was also exported to Italy where it was rebadged Innocenti Mille.

The Mille engine had also been briefly used in the Fiorino, but was not a popular option at all. The open-deck one is used to deliver bottled LPG and water, while the white box-van is used by a hot dog seller in my neeighborhood.

[California98Civic]

This poor guy with his broken-down mini... it was very clean inside and out and had a recently rebuilt engine--as clean as cutlery in the drawer--with only 400 miles on the rebuild. But he said it hadn't been running well since he got it back from the mechanic. Now it would not start at all. He thought the engine was flooded, maybe. I ran through a diagnostic list, identifying the parts. All seemed normal. I noticed a "fuel regulator" just after the fuel pump or filter or whatever, in line to the carb. It was adjustable and was set to "1" (of five). I set it to two and had him test to see if it would start. After a few seconds it fired up. I felt like the frickin' hero of the day. Dude smiled ear-to-ear. I snapped the above pic and watched him sail down the road.

Considering that 3 years ago, when I joined EM, I would not have been able to help this guy much at all, I'm pleased... felt good to find the solution (always does, as long as it's not really expensive). Thanks.

I suggested he take it back to the shop too, to make sure the "2" setting is the best setting. I guess maybe the mechanic just overlooked setting it properly after finishing the rebuild.