My Daily Driver: DF's 1994 Cadillac Sedan Deville

1. How did you come to the decision of buying this car?

It was a little bit out of frustration actually. I had recently had to junk my 2002 Kia Rio because the ball joint failed, it was a rusty heap that was no longer viable. I had started looking at various cars but with COVID-19, the car market has been a little bit weird to say the least where a lot of the cars I had looked at were kind of junk and a lot of the good ones were selling at a pretty rapid pace. 

Out of frustration with the two Nissans that I was going to look at selling underneath me, I had decided to start looking at rear wheel drive American cars, like the Ford Crown Victoria, Mercury Grand Marquis and Buick Roadmaster. It just so happened that this car was the third vehicle I had looked at on that particular day with my dad, who is a retired mechanic and was able to help me look at cars. My dad gave it his seal of approval. 

I took it out for a drive and I gave the owner his asking price and the rest is history. I also have a bit of affinity for these older General Motors cars because my grandma had a 1994 Buick Roadmaster that I have some fond memories with, and I also grew up in a General Motors household where I have family members that had Buicks and Chevys. But this is the first Cadillac in my immediate family.

2. What has your ownership experience been like?

Pretty good for the most part. This vehicle has the 4.9 L V8 engine which is the latter of the GM high technology V8s from the 80s/90s. It’s a front wheel drive platform and given that I live in the Chicago area, it’s been pretty good with winter weather. I’ve had to replace the tires and the distributor coil and the ignition system but other than that I’ve been pretty happy with my ownership experience. Driving this car on the highway is really a treat.

3. What is your fondest memory with this car?

It was actually ironically enough the day that I decided to quit a job. Because I had gone for a nice fun drive to clear my head and that is one of the great things that I love about this car is that I can have the crummiest day ever and just get in my beautiful old Cadillac and forget all about it. Because I’m just driving a nice comfortable car that can help me relax.

4. Why do you love cars?

I’ve been obsessed with cars my entire life.

My dad is a retired heavy equipment and truck mechanic and so was his dad before him. So I grew up around all manner of cars and would always love going to the Chicago auto show every year and just getting to sit in and enjoy all the cars and I would get all the literature. I actually learned to drive later in life because I thought that a visual impairment would keep me from driving but I was able to overcome that. If it has to do with cars I absolutely love it, I’ve been learning a lot more about working on my own car, doing automotive videography as a hobby, going to car shows every chance I get.

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If you would like to participate, just answer the above four questions and submit one to three photos of your daily driver to milhousevanh at geemail. Thanks and have fun! 

My Daily Driver: @Brouxir's Cadillac Cimarron

1. How did you come to the decision of buying this car?

I was raised in the back seat of a 1987 Chevy Cavalier. My parents loved to travel and we did so very often in that car. I remember many long trips in that back seat. This was before belts mattered and were required (the 1980's were a wild time!) so I just had the whole back seat to myself to be a kid in.

I've been collecting old GM cars since the dawn of the new millennium. I remember when cars like this were ubiquitous and all over the road. Every form of these cars I recall seeing at one point or another. Then one day *POOF* they vanished in a sea of modern bubble cars that all  look the same.

They said this about these though, in their time, that they all "looked alike"

I've been on a personal search for a nice Cavalier or Cimarron for over 20 years now, and this one basically fell in my lap from a collector friend. He purchased it, had it hauled to his home and found it was not in the shape he was told it was in, so some back and forth, I decided to buy the car regardless of condition.

This was a goal car and I didn't care what it looked like.

2. What has your ownership experience been like?

Excellent! Despite the advanced age of this car now in 2021, it's been extremely dependable for me since I purchased it at the end of 2020. It features a 2.8L 60 Degree V6 engine and a TH125c Three Speed transmission.

More or less, it's a Chevy! As such, it's very reliable, and fun to drive. It handles very well; It's very nimble. The V6 engine in such a small body is a wonder in itself to drive, it feels like it has way more power then you would think a car of this age would have.

3. What is your fondest memory with this car?

The day I went to look at it. After a couple weeks of back and forth conversation and a few cruddy night shot pictures, I went to look at the car at my buddies car dealer, where he works. It was sunday so the dealer was closed but he said the car was around back waiting for me to come look, to see if I wanted it.

I fell in love with it the moment I saw it, looked it over, and I was hooked from the very second I sat in the drivers seat.

4. Why do you love cars?

While normally just a means to an end, point A to point B for most; To me, cars represent the ultimate in freedom. I can get in my little antique metal machine and take it anywhere I want to go, anytime I want. Just me, my tiny Cadillac and the open road ahead of me.

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If you would like to participate, just answer the above four questions and submit one to three photos of your daily driver to milhousevanh at geemail. Thanks and have fun! 

Map of 50 states with equal populations

 

Pontiac 2000 spot

Check out what I saw today!

HOLY MOSES! pic.twitter.com/EAVeHwWGbD

— Tamerlane's Thoughts (@TamerlaneBlog) March 4, 2021

A day in the life of a pachinko worker

This guy's series about regular people in Japan is pretty cool.

Diamonds Are Forever movie review

Connery is back in the seventh Bond film, Diamonds Are Forever.

Dave's review: Let the tongue-in-cheek era of Bond begin. This is not one of my favorite films. There is very little real suspense and some scenes are downright ridiculous, like Bond fighting a couple of scantily clad women named Bambi and Thumper. Jill St. John's Tiffany Case is dumb as a twit and annoying. And I won't even get started with Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd. Charles Gray, playing Blofeld, was better in his miniscule role in You Only Live Twice. Honestly on that point, the entire film completely fails. You take the emotional ending of OHMSS and the pre-credits sequence where Bond hunts down Blofeld simply glosses over what killing Blofeld would really mean to 007. There are a few really snazzy one liners such as "I didn't know there was a pool down there" and my favorite, "It's a much smoother ride in the front, Mr. Franks" but overall Connery's much anticipated return to the franchise is a complete dud.

TT's review: This was just a bad movie. Kidd and Wint, as a creepy couple, did not do the LGBT community any favors. And Connery. He looked so old! Even though he was only 40 when the movie was shot, he looked 50+. 

I will tell you what I enjoyed. That English Channel hovercraft. Old school Vegas. Circus Circus! In the 80s, my mom would give me a roll of quarters to play video games and she would be off gambling.

I don't know if anyone made this weird connection. I got to thinking about it because Jill St. John (Tiffany Case) is married to Robert Wagner (Austin Powers's Number Two). Plenty O'Toole was played by Lana Wood, whose sister was Natalie Wood. Natalie was once married to Wagner and she died under mysterious circumstances when she was on a boat with Wagner.

Dave's response: I must say, the connections among those people are fascinating. That would make for a much more interesting movie than Diamonds are Forever! 

TT's response: I agree with everything. This was a huge letdown and a lost opportunity after OHMSS.

Dave's grade: D+

TT's grade: C-

Rate Diamonds Are Forever:

— Tamerlane's Thoughts (@TamerlaneBlog) February 17, 2021

Chinese Restaurants documentary

Thanks to CJ for the tip. A Canadian-Chinese guy did a 15-part documentary of Chinese restaurants around the world. The first one, in South Africa, was so-so. But this second episode, set in Turkey, is a must see.

Photo accidentally taken at disposable camera factory

 

Kidney stone under electron microscope

 

My Daily Driver: @HeyItsDerekJ's BMW 330i ZHP

1. How did you come to the decision of buying this car?

Quite simply, a case of quarantine boredom. I started looking around Craigslist for manual transmission equipped E39 or E46 BMWs that needed a little work, but nothing too far gone. I ran across an ad for a cheap 2005 330i six speed, with the ZHP package and wearing Imola Red paint. Cheap and manual E46 ZHP don't go together normally, so I knew it would have some character. 170k miles, sure. Oil leaks, check. Smashed rear door, yep. But it appeared decent otherwise so I figured it was worth a look. I met the seller who was a cool guy with 4 other BMW projects and a new house, so something had to go. He originally bought the ZHP from a kid who inherited it from his dad, with the intention of pulling the engine and transmission, until his friend talked him out of killing it. A quick drive and I knew it was the right project for me.

2. What has your ownership experience been like?

It immediately failed emissions for the gas cap (of course). I got it home from the DMV and the power steering pump failed, which I expected since it had been run low on fluid for too long in the past. After replacing the cooling system, power steering pump, brakes, control arm bushings, filters and fluids, interior bits, and fixing most of the oil leaks, I got to enjoy it. It had been years since I drove an older BMW and I immediately remembered why people liked the E46 so much. Amazingly I found an Imola red door on eBay to replace the damaged one and it was ready for daily duty on non snow days. It still needs a new windshield, a new steering wheel wrap, and a VANOS solenoid, but it's mostly sorted now.

3. What is your fondest memory with this car?

At first it was a project, and projects need repairs, so my early fond memories were learning how to work on it and annoying my neighbors as it sat on jackstands awaiting parts. Now that it's running it gets plenty of fun mountain drives. I really haven't had it long enough to have one favorite memory of it yet, but my daughter loves it and always wants to go for drives in it. That's enough for me for now.

4. Why do you love cars?

I honestly have no idea, but I can remember as a little kid being obsessed with airplanes and cars, which earned me zero credibility with most of my friends, but I never cared. Cars have been much more attainable than planes so I've gravitated their way. A lot of the fun has been learning more and more; first track days (bro), getting into more and more advanced repairs, and of course looking for the next project.

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If you would like to participate, just answer the above four questions and submit one to three photos of your daily driver to milhousevanh at geemail. Thanks and have fun!