Articles

  • Weekend Edition: On the Ford P100 "Euromaster"

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    Some of the things I dislike on my Ford Sierra are the trucklike handling, slow steering, long-throw gearshift and unrefined engine, along with the utilitarian controls. These are ill-fitted on a passenger car such as the humble Sierra of yours truly, but on a truck they fit the picture, as expected. What, then, a more…

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  • Red Riding Hood: Taking a 1982 Volkswagen Golf Cabriolet for a spin

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    Today, I did the sensible thing and handed over my 1986 Volkswagen Polo to the local school’s auto shop. They, in turn, will mount the cylinder head, time the belt, adjust the carb and generally pay attention to turning the white VW into something other than a paperweight. Make no mistake, I haven’t given up…

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  • Weekend Edition: On the Chrysler Neon

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    It’s not only the Lumina and Cavalier I’ve had on my mind recently. Unlike the Cavalier, the Chrysler Neon was sold here officially, and as a result the low end of the Finnish used car market is plentiful, if not flooded with cheap Neons. They are worth nothing here, which means you can pick up…

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  • Weekend Edition: On 1997 Chevrolets

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    For the past weeks, I’ve been scratching an itch that doesn’t go away until I get to experience something. For the life of me, I can’t wrap my head around why I would really like to drive a Chevrolet Cavalier or a Lumina for the coming winter, to get behind those somewhat horribly shaped steering…

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  • Visionary: 1994 Eagle Vision Aerie Concept in an alternative timeline

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    Chrysler showcased this enhanced version of the then-fresh Eagle Vision at the 1994 Chicago Auto Show, amidst what seems like bubble wrap. The Eagle Vision Aerie Concept benefited from a pokier development of the 3.5-litre V6 under the hood: the regular, consumer-issue unit had 214 horsepower, but the one in the Aerie was said to…

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  • Weekend Edition: On the Polo Harlekin

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    That recent stroll around the junkyard near Hamburg, Germany, left a lasting impression. The Volkswagen Polo Harlekin appealed to me perhaps stronger than before: seeing a partially disassembled one teetering above a regular blue one drove the point home that it would make actual, yet ludicrous sense to buy Harlekins now, as there still are…

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  • Weekend Edition: The Lure of the 800 Euro Car

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    I’ve decided I won’t be buying another beater this fall. It’s an easy decision to make, since I still have four cars under my ownership: the Miata, the 205, the Sierra and the Polo. The Volkswagen is going to be reassembled by someone else, as it’s painfully apparent I won’t be fixing the engine together…

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  • Supergreen in Helsinki: 1988 Peugeot 205 Green

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    The weekend was crammed full of Peugeot 205 content, so I’m riding the coattails of that goodness even today. As a Helsinki sighting, here’s a very bright little Pug for your Tuesday enjoyment. The 205 “Green” was a special edition available for a number of years during the 205’s tenure, and it was a differently…

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  • True Companion: Driving a Peugeot 205 XS to the Nürburgring, Part III

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    After our Romanian leg of the trip was done, we headed to Serbia by crossing the Donau River near Gura Vaii. We drove the riverbank road to Golubac, and spent the night in a guest house close by. The border crossing was somewhat intense, as the guards eyed at our vehicles, and we drove past…

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  • True Companion: Driving a Peugeot 205 XS to the Nürburgring, Part II

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    In the previous post, I outlined how we drove from Finland to the southern border of Poland, then to Slovakia and Hungary in a matter of days, and continued south on our long way around to the Nürburgring. So, Romania. We crossed the Hungarian-Romanian border at Oradea, and up until then we had pretty much…

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