Year: 2023

Year Number Three of Sport, Off-Road, Touring by the Numbers

Wrapping up another year of my selecting the perfect 3-car garage from Bring A Trailer each week. One is a dedicated sportscar, one off-road vehicle and a car that is suitable for road-tripping, but not too sporty or off-roady. If you are interested, here is last year’s wrap up and the year previous that too.

This year I picked only 151 cars instead of 156 which is fifty-two weeks multiplied by three. Let’s break down the short fall. The first Monday in September of last year I went off-script and picked car dealership signs. Then just like last year I missed picking cars one week and just like last year it was because we were in the beginning week of a road trip vacation. But, Brian, 151 is not divisible by 3 evenly. How come? Glad you asked, there were an abundance of very nice Miatas in the first week of last November so I opted to pick just Miatas, one from each of the 4 generations.

If I actually won all auctions of the cars I chose during the past year I would have spent a total of $8,343,123, making it an average of $55,252 per vehicle. This is down a little over $1.3 million total and seven thousand dollars respectively from the previous year. My tastes have taken a turn for the cheaper this last two years as the total is down around $2.8 million and the average per vehicle is down around $16 thousand.

The most expensive car I picked, as usual came from the Sport category, was a 2022 Ferrari F8 for $430,000. The most expensive auto in the Off-Road category was a 1976 Mercedes-Benz Unimog 416 Doka for $220,000. The highest priced auto in the Touring category was a 2017 Porsche 911 Turbo S Coupe at $178,000. There were 20 vehicles that went for over six figures.

The least expensive car I picked was from Off-Road category, a 1972 Daihatsu Atrai Turbo-EX 4WD 5-Speed that went for a paltry $7,100. The least expensive Touring vehicle was a 1920s Bugatti-Style Modele Sport No. 1/27 Pedal Car that sold for $4,300. The least expensive Sports car was actually a 2002 Mazda Miata that went for just $8,000.

The oldest car I chose was a 1935 Plymouth Deluxe Woody Wagon LT1-Powered that was from the Touring category and the reserve was not met at $40,250. There were no more cars selected from the 30’s and none from the 40’s. There were only eight from the 50’s and twenty-two from the 60’s. There were nineteen vehicles selected from the 70’s, 15 came from the 80’s, 29 were from the 90’s and the 2000’s was the most popular decade again with a total of 30. There were 16 picked from 2010-2019 and the 2020’s accounted for the last seven. There were three dealership signs and 3 pedal cars that had no year of manufacture noted. Taking all the vehicles into account, the average model year car was 1989.

The cars came from 55 separate manufacturers, a full dozen more than last year. The most popular make was Porsche with 19. The runner-up was BMW with thirteen. Mazda was third with a dozen. There were 33 manufacturers with only one car chosen.

The most chosen model name this year was Miata with 10, Wrangler was the runners-up again with 7 and 3rd place was the 911 with six picks. There were 85 one and done model names.

To wrap this up, the most popular car of this year, if it existed, would be a 2008 Porsche Miata that cost $15,000.

Sport, Off-Road, Touring

Third Anniversary Edition of SORT
As of Monday, August 14, 2023 at 5:00 PM pacific time:

Sport Off-Road Touring
1968 Lotus Elan S4 1965 Toyota Land Cruiser 2016 Ferrari FF
This Monday’s edition is called the 3rd Anniversary one because my very first Sport, Off-Road, Touring was dated Monday, August 10, 2020 and this is the 156th time I’ve picked cars from Bring A Trailer that have been chosen for each of the three different purposes.

Here is what last week’s ago cars sold for, or bid to (if the reserve was not met):
Sports: 1991 Honda Beat Sold for $8,000 on 8/10/23
Off-Road: 1996 Land Rover Discovery Bid to $36,000 on 8/11/23
Touring: 1997 Volkswagen Sharan Bid to $5,900 on 8/11/23

Hulu Hoops

With football season just around the corner it was time to start thinking about how we were going to get the local channels after cutting half the cord back in February.

To get those football games we had the option of going with either YouTube TV or Hulu. In the end we chose Hulu because for about the same price as YouTube they were offering a bundle that included Disney+ and ESPN+ to go along with that Live TV.

ESPN+ I’m not too sure about, but Disney+ is going to be a treasure chest full of promising stuff. All the Star Wars stuff, the old movies and the new original TV content and the whole Marvel Universe of movies and TV as well.

Hulu has a couple of original series that I’ve heard good things about, but have never seen. Like Only Murders in the Building and The Handmaid’s Tale.

Another big draw to Hulu was it was the home of FX which has a couple of shows I’ve seen and would like to watch again Justified and Better Things. FX also has a few newer shows that sound promising, like Mr Inbetween, Reservation Dogs and The Old Man.

Sport, Off-Road, Touring

Wrong-Hand Drive Edition of SORT
As of Monday, August 7, 2023 at 4:00 PM pacific time:

Sport Off-Road Touring
1991 Honda
Beat		 1996 Land Rover
Discovery		 1997 Volkswagen
Sharan
A Japanese Kei car that, although a lot smaller outside than a Miata, the 6′ me would still fit inside. A vehicle made in England and modified for a Camel Trophy event held in Mongolia. A joint venture between Volkswagen and Ford, built in Portugal for the UK market.

Here is what last week’s ago cars sold for, or bid to (if the reserve was not met):
Sports: 1990 Mazda MX-5 Miata Sold for $18,000 on 8/6/23
Off-Road: 2005 Porsche Cayenne Bid to $26,000 on 8/4/23
Touring: 1963 Dodge Motor Home Sold for $38,000 on 8/3/23

25 Years Ago – Issue IV 1998

Member Spotlight

Barbara Feinman talks to NASA’s orbiting Miataphile Mary Ellen Weber.

Mulling over how I’d describe Miata-driving astronaut Mary Ellen Weber, only one adjective comes to mind: down-to-earth. And you’ll have to forgive the pun, because that truly is the impression I was left with after our very pleasant conversation.

An honest-to-goodness Shuttle veteran with a 1995 mission good for 142 orbits to her credit, Mary Ellen now works for NASA and lives in Houston, Texas. In her spare time she skydives, scuba dives, and enjoys her MX5, which she’s owned since 1990. Revealingly, even after experiencing some considerably more powerful modes of transportation, Mary Ellen is still as enchanted with her red 1990 as any of us. “I love driving my Miata,” she says proudly, adding “It’s never in the shop.”

I have to admit it: At first I was a little nervous to be talking with a genuine, been-in-space astronaut. I’ve interviewed everyone from movie stars to senators in my line of work, but never anyone who’s orbited the Earth.

Almost immediately, Mary Ellen put me at ease. She was even gracious enough to act like my dumb questions weren’t all that dumb. “Is there any similarity between driving a Miata and traveling in a rocket?” I asked.

She explained that the experience of space travel is, well, different, but that “…we also fly T38 jets as a part of our training, and that does give you the same sensations. You sort of ‘fit’ into the Miata, (and) you’re surrounded the same way in a cockpit.”

Interestingly enough, neither NASA nor the Miata were goals that she’d planned on. Back in graduate school at UC Berkeley (where she earned a PhD in physical chemistry), Mary Ellen used to drive a Plymouth Horizon. But when the Miata started appearing on the road, there was no shopping around—she knew it was the car for her. Mary Ellen chose a red one, and after three or four years had it painted emerald green. (She jokes now that she’s gotten a little bitter—her custom-chosen paint is now offered from the factory, making her longtime ride a little less unusual.)

Unlike a lot of NASA’s spacefarers, Mary Ellen didn’t always dream of becoming an astronaut. But, she believes, that’s mostly because it had simply never occurred to her as an option.

“When I was a little girl I never even considered it,” she confessed. “I didn’t even think it was a possibility. It wasn’t until college—when I got into aviation and skydiving—that I decided to give it a shot.”

Mary Ellen’s official NASA bio doesn’t get into her Miata dabblings, but it does points out that she’s logged over 2500 skydives since 1983; was a silver medalist at the US National Skydiving Championships in the 20-way Freefall Formation event in 1991 and ’95; and that in 1996 she was part of the current world-record free-fall formation (297-way).

Skydiving, the space shuttle, flying T38 training jets…. So, I asked, how does she fare with speeding tickets? Mary Ellen responded by saying that she really doesn’t go over the speed limit. “I have on occasion pushed the envelope in the Miata. (But) I drive the way I fly, and that’s very precise, by the book. I just don’t feel the need to take chances.” But doesn’t a car (even a Miata) pale in comparison to traveling through space? “Being up in space is certainly a spectacular experience,” she agreed, “but I enjoy many things: riding on a rollercoaster, skydiving, scuba diving. Just because you’ve had one great experience doesn’t mean you can’t appreciate others.”

I thought that would be a nice note to end our conversation on, but then I remembered the pressing question my editor instructed me to ask: “Is space food really as yucky as they say?”

Mary Ellen laughed, ever the good sport. “We get to pick our whole menu—(from) shrimp cocktails to fajitas…to fresh vegetables. There’s just about anything you can imagine. I’ve eaten better food on the ground, but I’ve also eaten worse.”

Copyright 1998, Miata Magazine. Reprinted without permission.

 

Sport, Off-Road, Touring

August Eve Edition of SORT
As of Monday, July 31, 2023 at 4:00 PM pacific time:

Sport Off-Road Touring
1990 Mazda MX-5 Miata 2005 Porsche Cayenne 1963 Dodge Motor Home
Unlike my first Miata this has power windows, headrest speakers and cruise control. Even though this is a luxury Porsche SUV these are an amazingly competent off-roader. If I had a different set of parents I might have summer vacationed in one of these as a kid.

Here is what last week’s ago cars sold for, or bid to (if the reserve was not met):
Sports: 2002 Toyota MR2 Spyder Sold for $12,750 on 7/27/23
Off-Road: 1991 Land Rover Defender 90 Sold for $95,000 on 7/27/23
Touring: 1972 Citroen D21 Station Wagon Sold for $47,000 on 7/27/23

40 Posts to the End?

I joined Instagram in early 2018 as a way to kind of recreate a photo of the day blog I had back in the very early 2000’s. I wasn’t really thinking of it as a social media thing. So much so that that first post didn’t have a caption of any kind and nary a hashtag. Slowly I started to add captions, descriptions and hash tags, but I still really wasn’t using it as a “social Media” platform. I started following some accounts and started gaining followers, but I was not doing a lot of commenting. I was only liking photos that I actually liked, not just automatically liking something because because the follower was liking everything I posted.

Slowly over time Instagram has added more and more ads and has tried to become more of a video site instead of a photo one. Now every third post in my feed is a photo from some influencer I don’t follow or video of some sort or an ad for something. Bleh. I’m thinking that I’m going just quit the ‘Gram.

From that first Instagram post in February 2018 until yesterday, or 1,990 days, I have posted 1,960 pictures (pretty close to one a day.) The number 2,000 seems like a nice round number for my last IG post. I could do it ten days from today, but then the post count will be 1,9xx, so I’ll wait until I get an even 2,000 posts and then quit.

I’ll still leave my account there though in case someone I’m actually friends with wants to DM me. Also, because Donna uses it to look at a couple of accounts that she’s interested in too. Maybe I’ll create a second account with no posts at all just so I can click on explore and waste some idle time.