The ’03 Accord has been re-styled and in doing so they are taking a big risk. When you are a sales leader you can’t let your product grow old stale or frumpy but neither should you wily nily ditch a design look that is currently a sure thing. Ford did what Honda is doing when they re-styled the Taurus in ’96, with the round ovals melted butter design look, and they made trouble for themselves. The new Accord borrows piecemeal from the G35 and Passat style. The question is… ‘does it look as good or better than the original flavor’ The jury is still out.

Mike’s airport car defines the term beater. It’s a Corolla that he bought off a guy in ’93 for 250 dollars. It’s a rusty bucket and it won’t idle so after every stop sign you have to put it in clutch and bump the starter. Sometimes he makes a hollywood stop and pops the clutch to restart. There’s a hole in the muffler and a hole in the sun cracked dash where the radio was stolen. The right rear drum brake assembly is missing its springs and assorted hardware so we rely on the other 3 wheels to stop. This wheel makes an awful metal to metal rattle as if threatening to lock-up at any moment although the noises do go away during right turns. The state inspection system would love to get their hands on this piece of work.

A common sighting in the garage. The wording does not have the desired promotional effect rather it broadcasts the message that their car is in the shop again. The neighbors are keeping score and won’t be buying this brand model.

The salesman doesn’t have an answer so he makes something up. We just wanted to know what the yellow dangling connector thing was doing loose under the passenger seat. The test drive went pretty well until salesman brought up the subject of wrecked cars. This causes the buyer to start looking around and scratching his noggin about fenders that look straight enough but what story could they tell? Bad topic.

What’s my role in this? I live across the street from buyer and I’m just making sure that he doesn’t come home with a wreck or a particularly insulting color choice…

Daimler-Chrysler has reached a business decision to invigorate the Chrysler side by promoting the inference of German engineering. We will see if they choose hollow hype and advertising or whether the Germans actually share their expertise. Either way, The image cachet of the Mercedes brand will suffer for it. There is, of course, a line between the two divisions that must not be crossed and even the big wigs recognize this when they admit that ‘you’ll never hear the name Mercedes mentioned in a Chrysler ad’. It’s a delicate bit of PR, because high end makes don’t blend well with the cheaper cars. Daimler-Chrysler has barely hatched their plan and already they are back peddling it. Packard, LaSalle, Cadillac, and others have tried. Honda with the Acura division and Toyota with Lexus are hugely successful however. But Honda and Toyota are not trying to sell their low end models at the expense of their upscale brethren. Daimler-Chrysler will have to show exceptional talent to pull this off.

Don’t know if Porsche is on the right track with the Dr. Evil advertising theme introducing its new Cayenne SUV. The ads are medieval, devilish, and all about Halloween or vampires. While the Posrsche sport cars enjoy inspired copy, to what or to whom are they trying to appeal?

This is not photo morph trickery! Porschephiles recoil in horror! Actually, not a bad way to combine two favorite pastimes…

While on a tool run to the SEARS store, I found the family wagon spraying coolant and steam rising from between the hood fender cracks — not good. I guess I should have figured this out. B.O.U.R.girl had been complaining that there was no heat. So I had checked the radiator and found it half full or half empty as you like. I topped and by the time I was back home it was time to change the hoses. The hose that was the culprit was a real SOB. The outlet from the block was 3/4 and on the other end at the heater core 5/8s, with a section of curved metal tube in between. I gotta hand it to FORD — they sure know how to make it so that the shade tree mechanic/owner can’t possibly do this one from his garage. I mean, what happened to the 3 foot piece of black hose from Manny Moe and Jack that clamped on. Well, I out figured em’ not letting them get the best of me! No sirree. I hacksawed the old part in two and removed a useable metal length. Next I hooked up that piece of plain ‘ol hose to one end and matched a piece of by-pass hose from the water pump that was factory formed to reduce down from large to small and mate clamp to the tube. Bingo.

Before you think all is well in paradise, let me say that the car had issues. It wasn’t at all obvious at the time but there were clues. What evidence? A paper parts tag on the right front bumper bracket. Spark plugs that would begin to foul after just a few thousand miles. A subtle wheel balance problem that couldn’t be cured. Long after the car was gone I put 2 + 2 together and, like a who-dunnit movie, it became crystal clear. It was a difficult repair as the body/frame was a unitized design. (one seamless welded piece) There were no bolts. The work was flawless the paint perfect. But just the same, the rest of the hidden story would reveal that the other ignored problems, which I had believed to be independent were actually the result of a single event: the car had been hit! A crushing blow to the right front quarter panel would mangle the metal (and puncture the radiator) but the previous owner, in his state of shock and stress, likely attempted to limp home. The engine was over-heated, but not ruined, and I later learned from the 3rd owner that the pistons had suffered ‘stuck rings’. This explains the spark plugs. The high speed vibration? Now, after many wasted visits to the tire shop in search of the ultimate spin balance, it occurred to me that it was a driveline problem. The drive shaft had been knocked ever so slightly out of line and that this was the true culprit. The stray parts tag? Innocent and innocuous looking but this was the red flag and it should have been the deal breaker.

Rode the back seat of a Continental sedan. Entry is awkward. Take care that you don’t hook your cheekbone on the door window frame as hips go in upper body leans outward. The experience was familiar. Built on the same platform as the full size Ford it shares maybe 90 percent commonality. Badge engineering. The seats are stuffed and there is a liberal application of plastic wood veneer. And, of course, the Lincoln emblems are prominent but it is a weak attempt at disguise. Warning! It’s still a FORD!

yet another, but since I’m using a West Virginia dialup access I promise to keep the narration short. Our chauffer, with the pen hanging down between the headband of his baseball cap and his temple immediately begins his life story as we leave curbside. Included are ramblings about ex-girlfriends and a ’59 Lincoln sitting in his front yard. He says the car is all original (i’d love to understand his definition of that automotive description) except the ‘mirrors are mis’n and the radio aerial is broke’. I’m more interested in the ’91 FORD sedan taxicap in which we are riding by luck (bad) of the draw. It is a claped-out, rusty million mile beater. The RR door gasket next to me is blown out and there is a draft howling wind keeping the air fresh inside. This is a good thing as I note that the window sw is a mere hole in the armrest and the exhaust is rumbling like the muffler is swiss chesse. I’m am being saved from the noxious poisons. I just pray that the brakes (being applied with his left foot) are in better shape as we descend into south city.