Car Lust

That Car Guy's Cars

What better way to describe our own car lust than to share the cars we have? Though I don't exactly have the stable of exotic Italian stallions or Teutonic treasures we all dream about, here are my rides, at least for now:

2003 Ford F-150 XLT Super Crew: Just once in your life, do it. Bend the rules, break the piggy bank, let a dream happen. In my case, I wanted a new truck. Back in 2002, I had a 1994 Ranger, but it didn't have a back seat. In fact, I hadn't had a vehicle with a back seat for 16 years! So, when we started cashing in on some real estate investments, part of the deal was that I got to order a new truck or, as we call them, a Tennessee Cadillac.

It took me over a year to pick this one out. I wound up with more than I expected. The salesman, a family friend, found an unlisted trim package, the "Color and Chrome" as it was called, that was available in only a few states. In fact, when the ordered truck arrived, the package was missing. The computer did not allow that trim package to be sent to Tennessee.

So I waited another six weeks for the correct truck to be built. It arrived exactly a week before Christmas 2002, in the 100th year of Ford Motor Company production. That day was very cold, making the heated seat option even more welcome. The sunroof stayed shut, and I learned how the remote start key fobs worked. The only addition I've made to the interior is a real fake wood kit, which the relatively stark monochromatic interior desperately needed. The truck has 14,000 miles at this date.

I read somewhere that this truck was "A car on the outside, and a truck on the inside." I can't agree more. And the 2004 and up F-150s are "A truck on the outside and a car on the inside." Again, I agree completely.

2003 Madza Tribute LX-V6: Mom deserved a reward. She had lived a meager life, and deserved a comfortable and practical vehicle to carry groceries, potting soil, and her friends, occasionally on long trips. Right after I got the Super Crew, it was her turn. The Tempo had seen better days, time for a treat.

We looked at an Accord, but the seats were too low for her to comfortably get into and out. The trunk floor was too low for her to place things. It didn't take long for us to realize that she didn't need another car. A small SUV/crossover caught our eyes. They had one CR-V on the lot, but the folks at the dealer here in Franklin became a bit rude, even suggesting that I "Go look at their used car lot." The folks at Maserati/Bugatti/Lamborghini/Bentley St. Louis have been much nicer, and they even have a boutique.

I showed her a PT Cruiser, and she ran away. But she liked the practicality side of a crossover. So we drove over to the local Mazda dealer, and one test drive of the V-6 Tribute was all it took. Zoom Zoom!

She even let me pick the color, which is odd for a lady. The hue is called "Merlot", and that is her favorite bubbly. We've been very happy with the vehicle for over six years now.

But her health is slowing, and she hasn't driven for a couple of years. At 84, the doctor said no more. She's almost 86 now, and I'm sure she could drive it quite well into town. But there's that one chance that something might happen. When my time comes to give up the keys, I want a vehicle we all can go for a ride in, and I'll sit in the back. I've taken over the Tribute as a daily driver, and shuttle her around as needed.

2001 Mazda Miata SE: Well, this was my first post here at Car Lust, so there's not a lot of news. But since that was published, I've had the hood ding popped out, a new windshield installed, and driven it to St. Louis twice.

As another reviewer wrote, Mazda missed their chance with this 6-speed by not installing a proper top gear. Running at 70 miles per hour in top gear turns the engine at around 3500 rpm, which is a bit "buzzy" to be kind. A five-hour trip is more than enough in this roadster.

But the car shows no signs of trouble, even going on nine years old with under 45,000 miles on the odometer. A couple of small light bulbs went out, but so what? They work now. I hope to have this car for a very long time.

1990 Kawasaki EX500: This bike was named "Best Handling Bike of the Year" in 1990. The series later became named the Kawasaki "Ninja," with very few physical changes. New instruments, a rear disc brake, and some body panel changes and graphics were about it. The mechanical similarities makes parts availability a breeze.

I got it a little over a year ago, but haven't had near the saddle time I expected. But it's been fun to fiddle with. Swapping the amber side reflectors for flashing turn signal units was easy enough; they came off of a utility trailer and still have built-in reflectors.

The original color scheme was blue, white, and pink, so I ordered three rolls of reflective tape... red, white, and blue, and got the X-Acto knife out. Carefully trimming the new tape to size, I covered the factory tape stripes as close as I could, to maintain a near-factory look. Now the bike is easy to see at night, and hopefully a lot safer. This is virtually the same bike the bad guy rode in True Lies.

Well, that's about it for now, anyway.  Oh, I'm still looking for a 1969 Lehmann-Peterson Executive Limousine. If anybody knows where I can find one, please let me know.

--That Car Guy (Chuck)

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier--Nissan Frontier

by That Car Guy

"Space... The Final Frontier..."

Those words opened the original "Star Trek" and "Star Trek: The Next Generation" TV shows, and also closed my favorite Star Trek movie, "Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan." Whether spoken by James T. Kirk, Jean-Luc Picard, or Mr. Spock, they have an almost ethereal quality of their own.

Released on June 9, 1989, "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" was supposed to be the last film with the original cast, but fans' reaction to the production left quite a bit to be desired. It even left a black hole in many hearts, if I may be so bold.

I remember a late-night TV joke and others who said that their next movie should be called "Star Trek VI: The Apology". But STV:TFF is really a quite logical story, once the plot line is better understood. The movie was directed and co-written by that man with a life, William Shatner.  <---- Please click! LOL

"Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" may be the least-liked film of the series, possibly because the audience did not mind-meld the connection between our friends on the USS Enterprise and what was happening down here on earth in the late 1980s, when the script was written. At the time, televangelists were falling from Grace faster than a lazy, fat, drunk hooker playing a stolen slot machine. A few even went to jail.

To parallel their plight, STV:TFF presented a fictional futuristic prophet whose message was also a bit far from the truth - Captain Kirk summed it up when he asked the "Almighty", "What does God need with a starship?" Or, for that matter, what does He need with a pickup truck?

"I know this ship like the back of my hand."

Certainly not a starship, the 2009 Nissan Frontier has no transporter, photon torpedoes, or invisible energy shields. But it does have two available engines: a 4-cylinder with 152 horsepower, or a V-6 with 261. Sorry, neither will get you up to warp speed, you'll just have to settle for one-quarter impulse power.

All Frontiers sold in America are made at the Nissan plant in Smyrna, Tennessee, where I used to work. To my chagrin, production started on the truck after I left, so I never saw one coming down the line. The first generation Frontiers were known to be very carlike, but the present truck is much more brutish. It has also grown into a mid-sized pickup, sharing the Nissan F-Alpha truck platform and many body components with the Nissan Pathfinder, also built in Smyrna.

"I don't want my pain taken away, I need my pain!"

The first modern 4-door pickup I ever sat in was a Frontier in 2000, before the Super Crew and Sport Trac were introduced. But I was disappointed then, and now, that the rear doors on the Frontier are really just ¾-doors, not quite the width of the front doors. To me, they look a bit truncated... abbreviated... even narrow. A Horta could never pass through these portals. I was hoping that this would have changed on the second generation, but it did not. Nissan has a few styling quirks, like the oddly-mounted outside rear door handles on the Pathfinder, that make their way from body style to body style. I guess this is one of them.

In STV:TFF, Mr. Spock surprised us with a half-brother, Sybok, brilliantly played by Laurence Luckinbill, who just happens to be married to Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball's daughter, Lucy Arnaz. Desi & Lucy owned Desilu, where the original "Star Trek" TV series was filmed.

I just read that the "God Planet" name, "Sha Ka Ree", was an abbreviated pronunciation of "Sean Connery", the first pick for Sybok's pointed ears. But he had been contracted to film "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade", and was not available to play the Vulcan.

In reality, the Nissan Frontier has a half-brother, the Suzuki Equator. Both are built on the same assembly line in Smyrna, share the same backbone, heart, and DNA, yet differ somewhat by facial and body features. The Suzuki version, like the Frontier, comes as either an extended cab or crew cab model. These days, regular cab pickups seem to be dying faster than an Enterprise away team member wearing a red shirt.

"Maybe God is not out there, maybe He is in here... the human heart."

STV:TFF may not be us Trekkers' favorite Star Trek movie, but I'll never forget the campfire scene where Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, sipping on some 23rd Century black-labeled Tennessee whiskey, sings "Row, row, row your boat." Captain Kirk also joins in, reminding us again why he is a ♫Rocket Man♫ and not a singer. The group also asks why, after all the time they spend together in outer space, do they stick together while on vacation, and why don't they have families. Later, Kirk replies that they are a family.

Pavel Chekhov and Hikaru Sulu were also off in the woods together, perhaps spending some quality "family time" of their own, and got lost. I still wonder how they could communicate with Uhura via radio, but could not be tracked. Was there not/will there not be some form of GPS in the 23rd century? Mr. Scott should take a look at those communicators!

Some day, Nissan will replace the Frontier with another truck. When the last one rolls off the line, I hope the folks in Smyrna will set their phasers on "Fun" and have a party, banner, and pass out T-shirts to celebrate its success and retirement. Maybe the theme of the day will be to honor "The Final (Nissan) Frontier."

--That Car Guy (Chuck)

The Sybok image is from StarTrek.com. All other photos in this post are from Wikipedia. Some information is from "Star Trek Movie Memories" by William Shatner.

At separate times, I met Walter Koenig ("Chekhov") and James Doohan ("Scotty") right after this film was released. May both our favorite Star Fleet Engineer and Doctor rest in peace.