Date:         Fri, 10 Feb 95 06:02:37 -0700
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         phillips@pi3.tucson.saic.com (Dave Phillips)
Subject:      [f] Excerpt from Car Talk about our rides ;-)

Many of you already saw this, but perhaps the Brits and Aussies
and those who never grace the pages of a newspaper didn't.

[For those who don't know them, Tom and Ray Magliozzi host a
weekly NPR show called Car Talk and this newspaper column, both
of which are high on humor content and fairly short on quality
automotive advice.  Car Talk is good entertainment when I'm
under the bus on a Saturday morning.]

Taken from the Arizona Daily Star, November 21, 1994:

[...]

Dear Tom and Ray:

When you want to use a throwaway example of a really *bad* car,
you always say *my brother's '63 Dodge Dart*.  In your serious
opinion, (if you have such), is that really the worst car ever?
How about those little Chevys with the motor in the rear?
[Dave:  You can see it coming now, can't you?]
Those AMC Pacers that were as wide as they were long?  Those 
little Fords that exploded if hit in the rear by a grocery
shopping cart?  I'd be interested in your considered opinion.
-- Dee

Tom:  Great question, Dee.  I think we'll need to split our
awards into categories, because there are many different 
dimensions of *bad*.  You've got aesthetics, performance, comfort,
and reliability, just to name a few.

Ray:  Let's start with aesthetics.
[Words about fine AMC cars deleted for non-VW content ;-) ]

Tom:  My vote for the worst-performing car of all time would
have to go to the VW Diesel Rabbit.  Talk about a dog!  There
were generally two presidential elections held in the time it
took this car to go from zero to 60.

Ray:  VW also takes home a trophy in the discomfort category.  In
particular, the nod goes to the old, air-cooled Volkswagen Micro-
bus.  Not only have I ridden camels that made my butt less sore, 
but you could never get enough heat in the winter.  And because 
the passenger compartment was so big, your body heat would never
make a difference.  In the Microbus, you'd need a family of 
panting St. Bernards to keep the temperature above freezing.

Tom:  And finally, we get to our most competitive category, 
reliability.  
[Words about quality Fiat cars retained because I have the 
personal misfortune of also owning one of these ;-) ]
Our winner has to be Fiat.  You've heard of the high school
equivalency diploma, right?  Well, owning a Fiat gave you a
mechanical equivalency degree.  When you went to apply for a 
mechanic's job, they asked, *Where have you worked before?* and
if you said, *I owned a Fiat*, they said, *Great, When can you
start?*

Ray:  And as for the '63 Dodge Dart, to set the record straight,
it was not a terrible car for its time.  It's my brother's car 
in particular that is an unmitigated piece of junk.

[Hope you enjoyed it.]

...Dave Phillips  '69 bus     |  Internet:  phillips@aries.tucson.saic.com