Introducing #740Lars, my sleeper V8 wagon.

Over a year in the making: say hello to #740Lars, a 1990 Volvo 740 Turbo wagon.

This may be the single nuttiest car I'll ever own, and probably one of the biggest mistakes I've made (so far). Why nutty? Well, this 7-seat, Swedish-made grocery-getter has a 302 V8 motor from an '89 Ford Mustang, in a 5-speed manual transmission.

"Obey & Survive"

Star of the Show: Ford Crown Victoria P71 Police Interceptor.

This is probably the first time I've seen a car cosplaying from a video game.

When I graduated from university in 2011, GTA V was just announced. As a fan of sandbox video games with lots of driving element, I was actually most pumped to be able to drive around in a police car instead of shooting up the place like normal GTA players want. Yes I am weird, I know.

Turns out someone took that idea and turned it into reality.

RADwood PNW 2023

I’ll say it now: RADwood is my favourite automotive experience ever. I have attended a lot of car meets, cruise-ins, and full-size auto shows, and nothing tops this.

ANFSCD: Reliving the 50s with Trolley Buses

And now for something completely different: Me getting a ride on a 1947 Canadian Car-Brill T-44 and a 1954 T48A trolley buses.

Anyone who knows me would probably know that in addition to being a car nerd, I am a bit of a transit nerd as well -- something about these massive honest-to-God utilitarian machineries that really tickles my fancy. Born in Hong Kong, I have only been more exposed to British double decker buses. So learning that @translink and @transitmuseumbc were offering free rides in Downtown Vancouver earlier this week with these North American classics, I just couldn't pass up the opportunity.

Fine British Engineering, This is Not.

Star of the Show: @r.w.fletcherr's 1977 British Leyland Mk IV #MiniCooper.

Talking to Rowan, it was very clear to me that he knew a great deal about this car -- his dad owns one too.

The car is far from a showroom piece, with cracks and blemishes around the car showing clues to its history. This particular Mini apparently blew its engine 3 times, usually due to something catastrophic. This would usually be the sort of thing that would deter someone from classic car ownership, but apparently not Rowan -- this is actually his daily driver, and he even plans on taking this on long road trips.

"My wings are better."

 

"yep, that'll do."

Cool thing that happened this past month: when fellow Hong Kong transplant David DM'd me to ask if I'd like to go for a cruise. His Instagram content is literally full of old retro cars that only hardcore car nerds would care about. So of course I was down.

Two weeks later, I took my E24 to meet up with him and his 1994 Volvo 940 sedan (@verne_the_volvo), in Volvo Tropical Green (or as I like to call it, "90s green"), with only 181k km on the clock on the legendary red block. The brick-like exterior also matches up with the no-nonsense interior, but packed with just enough features and massive switches that you won't mistaken it for a mid-90s Honda Accord. Not exactly the fastest car by any standard, but this is the sort of entry-luxo car any middle-aged Asian uncle would look at and go, "yep, that'll do."