YouTube

My Beloved Wife

Being a huge Natalie Merchant fan I was probably aware of her song “Beloved Wife” from her solo debut album, Tigerlily, but I didn’t really connect with it until a couple years ago when the confluence of Donna’s ALS, our fast approaching 50th wedding anniversary and Radio Paradise added it to their rotation brought it to the forefront.

If I was going to have an actual service for Donna this would have been the only song that I would have had played at it. Of course, Donna died a few days short of our 48th wedding anniversary, but this tune would still be a perfect fit because we knew each other a couple of years before we tied the knot.

On a side note, there was another song that was an attention getter for me in Radio Paradise’s mellow mix rotation for the last year or so called Harmony Hall by the group Vampire Weekend. Probably wouldn’t have played it at any service, but there is a line in there that gets repeated about a half a dozen times and it was a little too on point for me, “I don’t wanna live like this, but I don’t wanna die.”

Another Internet Hole Sucks Me In

A couple of months ago I posted about a YouTube Ferrari engine swap that sucked me in.

Mike Burroughs’ original intent for the Ferrari/Honda build, when he started in December 2020, was to finish for SEMA 2021. Because of COVID, SEMA in 2021 was canceled and it was a good thing too because he never would have been finished on time. Now he is shooting for SEMA 2022 which in November and just a few weeks away.

Well, its happened again. About two weeks ago there was a guest in the video who was sand blasting the engine compartment ahead of getting it painted. At the end of the episode Mike tells us that the fellow who did the sand blasting was doing an engine swap too and we should go check out his YouTube channel.

So I did. Talk about parallel universes. This particular build started around the same time, with the same finish goal of SEMA 2021. The same “wouldn’t have finished it” applied to him as well. Also his first name is Mike too (last name is O’Neal.) This is not a Honda engine into a Ferrari, but a Subaru EZ30 into a 1969 Porsche 911.

So far he has created 97 videos and I have watched almost half at 47 of them. I have not peeked ahead, but because I have subscribed I see whenever he post a new video and from the thumbnails it looks like the car is at about the same stage as the Ferrari one. I have my fingers crossed that they’ll both make it to SEMA this year, but I won’t be surprised if they are not.

So, to possibly suck in a few more folks to his channel and this build, below is the intro video and it’s only about 8 minutes long. Give it a spin. Also, here is the entire playlist link.

I’ve Fallen Down A Hole In The Internet

I normally check in everyday on Jalopnik to get a dose of automotive content and Tuesday last week I got sucked into a huge time “waster.” One of the posts referenced a fellow in California that is engine swapping a Honda K24 motor into a 1979 Ferrari 308GTBi. Not just any old Honda 4-cylinder engine either, the plan is to add a big ol’ turbo and get 1,000 horse power.

The first thing he did to anger the Ferrari enthusiasts was of course removing the Ferrari V-8. He is weighing almost everything he has removed from the car and the 800lb V-8 is about five hundred pounds heavier than the I-4 Honda motor.

The second thing he did was to order a Liberty Walk body kit for it. He plans on using this for a Time Attack car, so the kit allows him to run a lot wider tire. Plus he will be streeting it as well so, I’m with him, I think the kit will look cool and it will differentiate the car from the rest of the Southern California Ferraris he might encounter.

There are 107 videos in the YouTube Playlist. And because I’m kind of a numbers geek I added the times for all one hundred and seven videos and so far there is 25 hours & 51 minutes of which I have watched 20 hours and 39 minutes worth. The shortest episode is the very first one at 5 minutes and 54 seconds and the longest is #3 at one second over twenty-seven minutes. The average episode length is a palatable fifteen and a half minutes. I just finished number eighty-five which means in the last nine days I have watched 20 hours and 39 minutes. That is about 2-1/2 hours or around 9 episodes a day.

I have a little over 5 hours left to watch and I’ll be done, but Mike Burroughs, founder of StanceWorks is not. He started working on this project in December of 2020 with the original goal of finishing it up in time for SEMA in November of 2021, but SEMA was cancelled and pandemic supply chain issues have held him up. This is apparently the third thing he did to generate some anger, not necessarily Ferrari owners, but more like the people following the build, he is taking too long for finish. Whatever. I have subscribed to the channel, so after I finish the 107 current episodes I’ll still watch the rest of them as he finishes them.

It Must Be the Accent

Lately I have really been sucked down the rabbit hole of car videos on YouTube. I find that I have gravitated towards shows that originate in the UK. Honestly, it nothing to do with Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee, it is just that everything sounds so much more refined in the Queen’s English. I’ve already discussed that James Engelsman increased the enjoyment of Throttle House vids, but now I’ve stumbled on a few more YouTube channels that I find positively mesmerizing.

Firstly there is Harry’s Garage, whose presenter is named, go figure, Harry Metcalfe. Mr. Metcalfe founded EVO magazine back in 1998 and after 15 years retired to become a gentleman farmer with a decidedly awesome car collection. Although he is technically not an auto journalist anymore, because of his car guy stature he also gets all the new cool cars to review. He also films his adventures restoring or repairing some of the older exotics in his collection and random Silverstone Auction previews. With him being an old guy like me I especially like his road trips in some of his cool cars because he breaks out actual paper maps to explain the routes he is going to take:

Next up is the Autotrader UK channel where Rory Reid, ex of Top Gear, puts cars through their paces, like his latest on the new Lotus Emira:

While I’ll probably never own an electric vehicle I still like to keep up with what is happening in that market, but if you are into electric vehicles the Electric Vehicle Man is worth checking out. Here is their latest on the Genesis GV60 the sister car to the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and the Kia EV6:

11.3 miles to Home Depot and back.
Times Miata Driven since 01/01/22: 32

 

Car-y Truck or Truck-y Car?

We have been tossing around the idea that we need a different vehicle to take advantage of the outdoor activities that abound in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. The lowered Miata is a no-go on anything but a nice smooth road and the Mini has a bit more ground clearance, literally like maybe an inch or so more than the Miata’s three.

We don’t want to do serious off-roading like rock crawling or anything, but we do want the ability to turn down a forest service road and drive a few miles to a trailhead without poking a hole in some vital bit of our car.

Our first thought was Wrangler. We had a real nice experience with a Rubicon we borrowed from Crazy Dave’s Car Rental. So much so, that we currently have a ginormous 5-gallon water jug in the living room we have been tossing change into labeled “Jeep Jar.”

But the Jeep is probably more hardcore than we need. A mid level SUV is not the most desirable vehicle on my list, but would be a good compromise. Donna has always wanted a small pickup for its utility, but today’s small pickups are anything but small.

An intriguing option is a couple of new vehicles that are just appearing on the market that are a mashup of a small SUV and a pickup truck, AKA Trucklets1. They are the Ford Maverick and the Hyundai Santa Cruz. Below is a video from my new favorite car guys comparing them both:

The Everyday Driver guys did separate reviews of the two crucks2, so here are their takes on the Santa Cruz and then the Maverick.

17.8 mile drive take a walk at the Running Y Ranch.
Times Miata Driven since 01/01/22: 13

 

And I’m James™

While I’m still a big fan of Everyday Driver and enjoy their YouTube video car reviews along with occasionally listening to their podcast, my latest car review obsession is Throttle House. I hate to give credit to a computer algorithm, but I have to thank the the YouTube version for the discovery of this channel.

It all started with one guy, a Canadian named Thomas Holland, who bought an E46 BMW in 2016 and started posting videos about it. This progressed from “How To” videos to comparing the BMW to friends cars, to reviewing new cars for a Canadian car magazine to reviewing cars as a YouTube business. As the videos move forward they become better and better, but still just a guy talking about cars. They really became something else when a recently emigrated English fellow named James Engelsman joined him in 2018.

Now, the two of them (along with 3 other full time employees) produce a professional grade video of 15 to 20 minutes in length each week. There is typically a brief 2 to 3 minute scripted humorous intro “skit” inspired by the car or locale. This is then followed by both of them driving the car along with discussion of the design of the interior and exterior. There are also track tests and comparisons of old and new versions of the same auto.

Plus they have an “Extra” channel that includes unscripted quick car reviews and other random stuff. All of their content is made with their unique humorous interplay of good friends really enjoying what they do (or they are better actors than car reviewers.)

Today’s post title comes from their “patented” lead in to the driving portion of the videos and they sell a t-shirt in their store with this phrase on it. I considered buying one, but hesitate because people who see me in it will think that is what my name is, unless of course they are one of their nearly 2 million subscribers. I really like the hoodie, so much so, that I’ve actually considered dropping $55 on one. Maybe for my birthday.

If you would like to see an overview of how it started and then over time transformed to its current iteration, I’ve got a playlist of 6 YouTube videos for you or just go straight to the Throttle House channel and enjoy.

7.5 mile round trip to to take a walk in the park this past Monday.
Times Miata Driven since 01/01/22: 12