The Mondays 005

A few things we found interesting…

Too Much of a Good Thing?

A guy with a low-mile, 350awhp STi reflects on how modifying your daily driver can actually take the fun out of it. Having daily driven highly modified vehicles in the past, we can empathize. It’s one thing to have an amazing machined tuned to the limits—but the more you have to watch those limits, the more stressful life can be.

The comments on this reddit post are more or less solid. We particularly like the ones where other owners point out the need to dial things back to be reliable. One even mentions having a Subie capable of much more, but intentionally de-tuned (to 400awhp) to be reliable. It’s nice to see some relative maturity in the car community at-large.

Not unrelated, we’ve had a number of conversations with gearheads who tell us they’re moving to more stock-like pursuits, as they’re more interested in getting out and enjoying their machines than constantly working on them. How about you?

Small Cars. Big Opportunity.

Another redditor pointed out the dearth of small, relatively inexpensive, fun-to-drive cars on the market these days. We’re basically down to just a handful—Miata, FT-86, ye olde 370Z. With the larger consumer market shifting to crossovers and SUVs, what are we to do for fun motoring?

Seems to us there’s an opportunity to start scooping up small cars, fixing them up, throwing a few bolt-ons at them, and flipping them for reasonable prices. While a classic car restoration might set you back $50-$60,000 or more and a couple years to clean up and sell, you could probably make a tidy profit selling a spiffy hatchback for $5-$6,000.

There are probably worse ways to make a little money on the side than using your skills to bring economical motoring pleasure to a market largely losing interest in driving due to the high costs of anything remotely fun to drive.

Smoke If Ya Got ‘Em

The only difference between you and this guy—aside from maybe combat experience and balls of steel—is badly you want it and how hard you’re willing to work for it. PS: I’m speaking to myself as much as anyone, here.

I’d never even heard of Levison Wood until reading this article the other night. At first glance, it seems like this dude might just be another outdoor survival show host. But where those other guys might shoot a long weekend in the backwood—this dude thru-hiked the funking Nile River—and that’s just the start of it.

A life of adventure? Travel? Meeting people in other countries? Discovering they’re mostly good?

Yes, please.

“For me with these journeys, I’m not too bothered about breaking records and things like that, it’s just a good way of forcing yourself to interact with people. If you’re whipping by in a car at a hundred miles an hour you don’t meet the normal people on the ground.

Whereas if you leave yourself open to chance then you do. So for me whether it’s walking or hitchhiking that’s great because you get to meet normal people. And also you’re forcing yourself to think on your feet, you haven’t always got a get-out clause.”