Sport, Off-Road, Touring

Columbus Day Edition of SORT
As of Monday, October 11, 2021 at 9:00 PM pacific time:

Sport Off-Road Touring
2012 Porsche Cayman R 1982 Toyota Land Cruiser 1941 Ford Pickup
Fight me on this if you want, but this is the best car Porsche makes. Fit for traversing the African savanna or Savannah, Georgia. Needs a tonnaeu cover though, not a lot of space in the cab for luggage.

Here is what last week’s cars sold for, or bid to, if the reserve was not met.
Sports: 1967 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible L71 4-Speed Sold for $285,000 on 10/10/21
Off-Road: 1977 Jeep J-10 Pickup Honcho Package Sold for $25,000 on 10/9/21
Touring: 2005 Mercedes-Benz CL600 Sold for $35,000 on 10/6/21

10011100010000000 Miles

For our 101101th1 Anniversary we decided to throw caution to the wind and take a little 3-day mini trip to the Oregon Coast. We had a free night at a Holiday Inn so the first leg (80 miles) of the journey was just over the mountains to Medford where we spent Sunday Night. The second leg (215 miles) was to our next overnight stay in Gold Beach. The last leg (226 miles) was coming straight home. To make the drive a bit more interesting we opted to hunt out some Oregon Post Offices along the way.

Sunday instead of going straight to Medford we went an alternate route so we could start in Ashland and work our way north the short distance to Medford with stops in Talent, Phoenix, Jacksonville & Central Point.

Monday we headed north and west to get to the coast. The shortest way to our destination would have been to go south to Crescent City in California, but we were saving that for our return trip. I added all the Post Office addresses for the rest of our loop to the car GPS and because we abhor Interstate travel we selected “avoid highways” in the settings.

This worked out well for the first few Post Offices because they were close to OR99 which parallels I-5, but once we got to Merlin the GPS could not find a route to Wolf Creek, turns out from here the next 40 miles OR99 combines with I-5 because of the mountains. Donna looked at the map and realized there was a loop of 35 miles, instead of the direct 15 miles, that would get us to Wolf Creek with out using the Interstate.

Not being in a hurry, we headed west along a two lane road that ran along the Rogue River. It was very scenic and we passed several little county parks for the first 20 miles. Everything was fine until we crossed a bridge over the river to head east to our our next Post Office. The road got a little narrower, almost 1-1/2 lanes instead of two and clung to the side of a mountain on the left and a steep drop on the right with no guardrail. Our forward progress slowed considerably, hoping that some large truck wouldn’t be coming our way around the next corner.

A mile or so in, rounding a corner, we came upon another Miata coming our way. I don’t know who was more surprised, us or them, but we squeezed on by with a wave and kept on going.

A couple of miles later our 1-1/2 lanes dropped to a solid one lane. Now it was getting scary, but even when the road did widen back to a lane and a half there was still no way to turn around and go back. For the next 10 miles the width of the road varied back and forth and fortunately the only other car we came upon coming at us it was on one of those wider spots. What would taken maybe 20 minutes on I-5 turn into over an hour of white knuckle driving. After arriving in Wolf Creek we took off the “avoid highways” setting and we vowed to not do that again. We’d stay on back roads when they stayed close to civilization.

As we were getting closer to the coast and having already photographed 15 Post Offices, by mutual agreement, we opted to not do the last few on the way to the hotel and not any along the coast at all. This would be saved for a weeks vacation either next spring or fall where we’d get all the Post Offices along the entire Oregon coast.

Because I had the odometer to trip so I could see tenths of a mile as Donna called out mileage to my next turn, I didn’t notice that the CTBNL had gone past the 80,0002 mile mark.

About fifteen miles from the actual coast the cooler misty weather made us put the top back up and when we did get on US101 the fog/mist/clouds made actually seeing the beach impossible.

Tuesday morning in spite of the off and on light rain, we did walk down to the beach and take a fairly short out and back walk because, after all, we drove all this way to see the ocean.

On the trip home we did stop and get the remaining four Post Offices on US199 from the border back up to Grants pass. Bringing our total for the weekend of two dozen or about 6% of the total of around 375 Post Offices in the state of Oregon. All in all , even with the white knuckle side trip and cool misty weather, we had a pretty good time.

Sport, Off-Road, Touring

Back in Black Edition of SORT
As of Monday, October 4, 2021 at 9:00 PM pacific time:

Sport Off-Road Touring
1967 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible L71 4-Speed 1977 Jeep J-10 Pickup Honcho Package 2005 Mercedes-Benz CL600
Just phoning this one in as I’m on the road and don’t have a lot
of time to do this after driving around Oregon most of the day.

Here is what last week’s cars sold for, or bid to, if the reserve was not met.
Sports: 1973 Porsche 914 Sold for $12,000 on 10/4/21
Off-Road: 1967 VW Type 2 Sold for $61,000 on 10/3/21
Touring: 1965 Porsche 911 Sold for $168,000 on 10/4/21

Putting the F in FRS

After last year’s miserable showing of 24-36 and last place in the division during the COVID shortened season, the outlook for 2021 was just hoping for a mid-pack finish in the division. But something wonderous happened, the Red Sox were playing great baseball. At the All-Star break they had the third best record (55-36) in all of baseball and were leading the division by a game and a half over Tampa Bay. The Yankees and Blue Jays were 8 games back. They had 5 players make the All-Star team.

Something changed in the second half of the season, the All-Stars stopped playing like they were and the stellar pitching cooled way off. Since the break the FRS has reverted to playing like it was anticipated they would – mediocre. They are playing exactly .500 ball with 36 wins and 36 loses. Unfortunately every one else in the division started playing great. A month after the All-Star break Tampa was in first by 3 games. By the end of August the Rays were ahead of the Red Sox 9 games and the Yankees had past them too.

We are heading into the last three games of the 2021 baseball season. And the Sox are hanging on for dear life to the second Wild Card spot. The last three games are against the Washington Nationals who are the fifth worse team in baseball having won only 65 games and losing 94. But winning all three of these games is not assured as they just finished a 3 game set against the Baltimore Orioles who are 52-107 and the Sox lost 2 of those. The way they are playing they don’t deserve to be in the playoffs.

The F in FRS stands in for an expletive, but in this case, because I expect them to choke, I think it really stands for something our previous President reserved for the New York Times (among others) – Failing.

There’ll Be No Living With Them Now

In last Thursday’s newspaper there was an article announcing that the local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints are designating Sunday, September 26, as a day of fasting in regards to the current multi-year drought which is having a devastating impact on the Klamath Basin and nearby communities.

It promptly rained on and off all day Monday the 27th, some of the night and a little more on following morning.

Sport, Off-Road, Touring

Almost All Vintage Porsche Edition of SORT
As of Monday, September 27, 2021 at 9:00 PM pacific time:

Sport Off-Road Touring
1973 Porsche 914 1967 “Porsche” Type 2 1965 Porsche 911
If every Miata on Earth were to suddenly go away I would have one of these. It’s not an off-road vehicle and its not a Porsche, but it says it on the sides. in 1965 this was a sports car, now it is just a Sunday touring automobile.

Here is what last week’s cars sold for, or bid to, if the reserve was not met.
Sports: 2006 BMW Z4 M Sold for $31,250 on 9/26/21
Off-Road: 2014 Jeep Wrangler Sold for $52,250 on 9/22/21
Touring: 2003 BMW 540i Sold for $50,500 on 9/22/21

25 Years Ago – Fall 1996

Oh Baby Say Miatago

– by Barbara Beach, Miata Club of America Promotions

Some may think the classic tune “Louie Louie” sang by the Kingsmen says “We Gotta Go”, but die hard enthusiasts believe differently. There’s just something about owning a Miata that makes us personalize almost everything. Some of us start small with just one Miata and a few accessories, while others become real collectors like a member who sports a stable of 28 Miatas. (Yes, they are real ones not models.) It used to be that Palomino horses with silver manes and tails would lead parades, but not any more. Today Miatas are called upon to lead the band. My how times have changed!

As the leaves of autumn turn colors, all the colors of the Miata turn up in football stadiums across the country, most with lovely homecoming kings and queens draped across their boots. When our local high school called and asked the club to provide the parade cars for the fifth consecutive year, I asked them why they hadn’t picked the new BMW Z-3 or one of the other new faces on the road. Their response was unexpected. They said “the Z-3 was just a fad, and the Miata was forever”.

This same spirit was experienced at the 96′ Classic Car Races in Monterey this year. While our person count exceeded last year’s event in total attendance, our car count was down. This mystery was baffling and would require some additional investigation. I first reasoned that unless a lot of people added a 2+2 or a rumble seat to their Miata, something was off. The problem was resolved when one of the enthusiasts explained that 1996 was the year of the BMW, and this year’s marque. This meant that any one that owned a “Beemer” would be lucky enough to take touring laps around the track. Any sports car enthusiast knows the excitement of driving Laguna Seca. For many Miata enthusiasts that also owned “the other car”, it meant some pretty exciting laps. However, the excitement ended there, expect them for lunch in the Miata tent — where the real fun was. Although they could have dined with their “other car club”, they much preferred to hang out with the fun people.

This family spirit replays itself over and over as Miata owners gather for National conventions. More like a reunion than a rally, people compare there latest accessories in the same manner that new parents show off their baby pictures. In fact, the Miata has become the baby for many owners. Many of us joyfully claim to be spending their children’s inheritance in the form of top down driving fun. Travel down any winding sports car road and catch a glimpse of the back of a Miata, (very few have license plates on the front) and you’ll see plates conveying such familiar messages as “No Kids”, “Kid Free”, “Fun 4 2”, “Fun Toy”. Other messages such as “MGB Not”, “Hada MGB”, “Jag Lite” proclaim their loyalty. Other plates such as “WTE Bird”, “Am I Blu”, and “Cra Z Red” fly the Miata Colors. We even know of one Miata owned by an aftermarket company known as “Lab Rat”. A recent M edition owner proclaimed pride in his car with a plate reading “Empower”.

Miata fans have a few of their favorite touring tunes, also. Favorite rally songs include, “She Drives Me Crazy, “A Long and Winding Road”, “Six Days On The Road”. As a group and indi­vidually we seem to create wonderful themes for our car’s. The truly amazing thing about our babies are that each is like a blank canvas, each is like a new child. It’s up to each of us to determine how that baby will grow and what it will look like. Some may grow-up to be muscle cars such as Rocky’s Mega-Monster, while others will develop into petite and feminine flowers, such as Bonnie’s Trixie. While each car appears to look the same to the untrained non-owner, those that have one, know our cars are as different as each of us. And as we love our children, we love our cars. Until next time, this is Miata Barb saying so long Miatago.

Copyright 1996, Miata Magazine. Reprinted without permission.