- 2,336
- Los Angeles, CA
- WRBWRXMAX
- Max Archer
Hey GTP, it's been a really long time since I've been around, but thought I'd drop by. It's been close to a decade (!!!) since I signed up here, and I'm thinking of a new car, and remembered this place. It's been a long automotive journey for me, so I'll briefly talk some about it.
Let's go back to the week before I got my license. It was 2003 and I was 17. I'd fixed up my dad's old Miata, and it was going to be my first car. I wish I had a picture of it. I lived right next to a secluded canyon road, and decided it'd be cool to take it for a late-night spin, since 17 year olds are always right, after all. Well, understeer snapped into oversteer, and the car went right into a wall, and that was the end of that.
Understandably, it was a while until I got another car of my own. When I did, it was a trashed Mercedes Benz 190E, with windows stuck up and no A/C. The engine wasn't so great, either, and after a few months of constantly vomiting its oil out of the overflow, it let go, while waiting in line to park at the first D1 Grand Prix event here in the US, and we got rid of it.
By that time, I was obsessed with drifting and "touge", and like any self-respecting Initial D wannabe, I went out and got myself a 240SX.
That's it relatively early in its tenure. It eventually ended up with a carbon fiber hood and a big ol' GT wing, a Nismo 2-way diff, Sparco everything, 300ZX brakes, TEIN coilovers, and a bevy of adjustible suspension components. It saw lots of canyons, some track, and then, one day due to a freak freeway accident it ended up like this:
I'd just lost my job, and was car-less until I found another. But when I did get a new job, I bought the car that finally made me the car guy I always wanted to be:
I had a lot of fun in that WRX, and put down some pretty good times. It was never modded as much as the 240, with only a short shifter, coilovers, and a catback, but what an awesome car it was... when it ran. That car was constantly breaking one part after another, burning through tires, suspension parts, wheel bearings, et al. It finally was just totally worn out around the time I met my current GF, about three years ago, and when the dealer gave me an insultingly low trade-in offer, I just kept it, sitting on a non-operational permit at my parents' house. Just a couple weeks ago, I fixed it up and sold it, after having owned it for seven years, and I really miss owning it.
During that time, I had a few other cars. There were a bunch of Miatas, RX7s, S13s, even a Ford Escort rally project, which were co-owned with friends, and then a few cars of my own.
One was an absolutely beautiful AW11 MR2 with a high-comp redtop motor... which blew after 13 days of ownership, including one time trial!
2006_121050109-1 by maximstensel, on Flickr
I'm the one in the foreground. That car is now finally off my parents' property and in the process of being fixed up by a friend, who I just let take it.
I also bought an E30 325IS Coupe, which is an awesome car, and is undergoing a long, slow, restoration process. It drives and runs fine at this point (after way too much work!), but needs suspension and some interior and exterior work pretty badly. It's been cleaned up some since this photo (and has a new set of plates, so don't mind the visible number.):
E30 by MaxArcher, on Flickr
Finally, there's my current car. When I moved to another part of the state to be with my GF, it was finally time to get a real, grown-up car, with lots of room and reliability, so I bought a Honda.
It's an '09 Si sedan, and it's... OK. Nice enough, but not as fun to drive as I'd hoped, and not as cheap to run as I thought it'd be. I thought I'd be keeping it for a few more years, though, since it's a pretty decent car.
And then I drove my friend's Mazda 2 on a twisty road. And I fell in love. It really drove like it was right out of GT5, and it was pretty nice inside. And then, today, I saw that a brand new, fully-loaded, Mazda 2's MSRP is the same as my car's trade-in value. And did the math, and figured out that I'd save $1000 a year on gas. So, if the dealer will cooperate, later this week, I'll be Honda-less, and the proud owner of a Mazda.
I wonder what will happen next.
Let's go back to the week before I got my license. It was 2003 and I was 17. I'd fixed up my dad's old Miata, and it was going to be my first car. I wish I had a picture of it. I lived right next to a secluded canyon road, and decided it'd be cool to take it for a late-night spin, since 17 year olds are always right, after all. Well, understeer snapped into oversteer, and the car went right into a wall, and that was the end of that.
Understandably, it was a while until I got another car of my own. When I did, it was a trashed Mercedes Benz 190E, with windows stuck up and no A/C. The engine wasn't so great, either, and after a few months of constantly vomiting its oil out of the overflow, it let go, while waiting in line to park at the first D1 Grand Prix event here in the US, and we got rid of it.
By that time, I was obsessed with drifting and "touge", and like any self-respecting Initial D wannabe, I went out and got myself a 240SX.
That's it relatively early in its tenure. It eventually ended up with a carbon fiber hood and a big ol' GT wing, a Nismo 2-way diff, Sparco everything, 300ZX brakes, TEIN coilovers, and a bevy of adjustible suspension components. It saw lots of canyons, some track, and then, one day due to a freak freeway accident it ended up like this:
I'd just lost my job, and was car-less until I found another. But when I did get a new job, I bought the car that finally made me the car guy I always wanted to be:
I had a lot of fun in that WRX, and put down some pretty good times. It was never modded as much as the 240, with only a short shifter, coilovers, and a catback, but what an awesome car it was... when it ran. That car was constantly breaking one part after another, burning through tires, suspension parts, wheel bearings, et al. It finally was just totally worn out around the time I met my current GF, about three years ago, and when the dealer gave me an insultingly low trade-in offer, I just kept it, sitting on a non-operational permit at my parents' house. Just a couple weeks ago, I fixed it up and sold it, after having owned it for seven years, and I really miss owning it.
During that time, I had a few other cars. There were a bunch of Miatas, RX7s, S13s, even a Ford Escort rally project, which were co-owned with friends, and then a few cars of my own.
One was an absolutely beautiful AW11 MR2 with a high-comp redtop motor... which blew after 13 days of ownership, including one time trial!
2006_121050109-1 by maximstensel, on Flickr
I'm the one in the foreground. That car is now finally off my parents' property and in the process of being fixed up by a friend, who I just let take it.
I also bought an E30 325IS Coupe, which is an awesome car, and is undergoing a long, slow, restoration process. It drives and runs fine at this point (after way too much work!), but needs suspension and some interior and exterior work pretty badly. It's been cleaned up some since this photo (and has a new set of plates, so don't mind the visible number.):
E30 by MaxArcher, on Flickr
Finally, there's my current car. When I moved to another part of the state to be with my GF, it was finally time to get a real, grown-up car, with lots of room and reliability, so I bought a Honda.
It's an '09 Si sedan, and it's... OK. Nice enough, but not as fun to drive as I'd hoped, and not as cheap to run as I thought it'd be. I thought I'd be keeping it for a few more years, though, since it's a pretty decent car.
And then I drove my friend's Mazda 2 on a twisty road. And I fell in love. It really drove like it was right out of GT5, and it was pretty nice inside. And then, today, I saw that a brand new, fully-loaded, Mazda 2's MSRP is the same as my car's trade-in value. And did the math, and figured out that I'd save $1000 a year on gas. So, if the dealer will cooperate, later this week, I'll be Honda-less, and the proud owner of a Mazda.
I wonder what will happen next.
Last edited:
I'm a sucker for a good white Nissan with nice fitting black rims.
