Nemesis Destiny: The Blog of Ron Bes

A drop-kick in the ass from GOD

Somehow that title is more eye-catching than my original concept, "Redefining Acceleration."

So, to get to the point... Today I took a neat car for a test drive. It was a 1988 Mustang GT 5-point-0h. Kind of a beater by most standards I guess, but it's like Han Solo said when Luke exclaimed upon first viewing the Millennium Falcon that it was a piece of junk, "she may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid." Exactly.

5 litres of old school american V8 muscle channeled through the rear wheels by a (terribly crude) 5 speed manual gearbox. The acceleration under nearly full throttle was staggering. I honestly didn't have the guts to floor it all the way. Let me just say that the experience was frightening; all that power in such a crude package. The car has character though, punctuated by the roar of the engine under acceleration and the promise of it's throaty 'burble' while idling. First gear is pretty much only useful for doing smoky burnouts. The potency of it is truly intoxicating to the gearhead in me. That car is like a lump of distilled testosterone. All was not boners and burnouts however...

The guy's asking way too much for it at $6500. And it stinks like stale cigarette smoke really bad, plus there's a bit of under-the-paint rust, has a vacuum leak in the engine (it was loping at idle pretty fierce), has a cracked tail light, and smells like it burns oil. Plus I hate the shifter - feels like rowing an oar through a bucket of oatmeal. Sure goes like a bat out of hell though, and it sounds so cool. Anyway, the guy got really mad at us when we got back because he neglected to mention (he swears he did) that there was no insurance on it and we took it on the highway. He was SO pissed. Can't show my face around there again.

Oh well, there are better deals to be had on Autotrader.ca if I should be so inclined. I think I will, sooner or later - that kind of raw power is truly intoxicating. I know how hardcore drug addicts feel now. I think I need another hit of horsepower soon...