Mitsubishi Starion

Not sure if this is a Mitsubishi Starion or one of the badge engineered Chrysler Corp.'s Conquests since this car has been debadged (what is with that).  One of the frustrating things about being in the 'burbs vs. my city dwelling compadres is the difficulty in getting good shots in the head in, landscaped parking lots in suburbia.  Not much parallel parking here.  Apologies for the poor front end shots, but I can't remember the last time I saw a Starion, let alone one in a lovely gold color.

 

Gianni's cars part 8: 2004 Toyota Sienna LE

At the end of 2003 we sold the Passat and bought a minivan.   This is our first automatic. We prefer to shift for ourselves, but there was no choice. It may not have much in the way of driving dynamics, but it sure has utility. More than any SUV or personal use pickup - the ones with 4 doors and a short box. I can get 4x8 sheets of plywood and 2x4's  in the van and close the hatch. I've also gotten motorcycles in on their side. It hauls. Here's a bad Craigslist like picture. I had to take this for the post since I didn't have any - who takes pictures of minivans...

Mazda Miata NA Series

Hard to believe the Miata is 25.

E24 BMW (6 series)

Not sure which 6 as it has been de-badged. Why do BMW owners so this?  Are they that status conscious?

Gianni's cars part 7: Mazda Protege5

I sold the 164 in the spring of 2002.  At over 10 years old, it got to be a pain to deal with as a daily driver.  The only place that worked on it was Ferrari of Seattle.  The worst part was that it would often take a week to get parts for it, if they were in the Alfa parts warehouse in FLA.  If they had to come from Italy, longer.  It got old trying to figure out who to bum a ride from while the car waited for parts.  Anyway I sold the car to what I thought was a good home, the buyer showed up to see the car in a  Milano.  I carfaxed the VIN later and found 6 months after I sold it, it was totaled.

Anyway, I replaced it with the Anti-Alfa, a Japanese Mazda.  The Protege5 got good reviews in the buff books, but it was hard going from an Alfa to a Mazda.  I thought the car wasn't particularly fast, the engine was pretty gruff when you rev'd it (so you didn't) and the suspension was firm, but had the jouncy feel that "sporty" Asian cars have.  The magazines raved about the "communicative" steering, I thought it was dead and artificially heavy to give it that feel of heft that people these days seem to confuse for good handling.  Here are the only pictures I have of it (I took when I was selling it).

Porsche 968 Cabriolet

BMW 2002

A roundie...