Ladybug’s New Shoes

The first time we looked at the Mini from behind, not long after we brought it home, we both commented on how skinny the tires looked. Being used to seeing the 205mm wide Miata tires, the stock 175mm wide tires on the Mini looked like bicycle tires.

After a little over 32,500 miles, the 7-year old tires were right at the wear bars, so I decided to go tire shopping. I started in the usual place, tirerack.com, and quickly found out that a replacement in the stock tire size left you with only a few choices. We sort of wanted something a bit wider to rid the car of that Conestoga wagon look, but because of the narrow stock rims, 5.5″, the widest recommended tire was only one step up at 185mm.

At least at the 185/60 R15 size there was a much wider range of tires to choose from. There were ten tires in the Grand Touring All-Season category, ranging in price from $65 to $125 a tire. After sorting through the group, weighing price and review results, I settled on a set of General ALTIMAX RT43 tires.

While I love the TireRack experience and have bought a ton of stuff from them, and will again, I always like to check at my favorite independent local tire store. I don’t mind spending a few bucks more to support the locals. Turns out Aiken Discount Tire could get a set of the exact same tires, for a little more than $10 a piece more than TireRack, so I bought the tires from them.

Perfect Timing?

This year’s Moss Motoring Challenge is chock full of obtuse “challenges” and some of them have us really scratching our heads on how to capture them. The current popcorn husk stuck between our gums and teeth is Perfect Timing. We can both think of several things that would be perfect timing, but none of them lend themselves to a photograph.

Just as you get to the other side of some railroad tracks, the crossing arms come down and an eight mile long freight train passes. Approaching a stoplight on a 4 lane road, to avoid the half dozen cars in the right lane you switch to the empty left lane, halfway to the front the light turns green and you zip through.

While passing through downtown Aiken the other week we drove by the Bank of America. It had a sign out front that had a time and temperature display. An idea was formed, we could park in front of the bank and snap a photo when the time on the sign matched the time displayed on our radio. While this seemed like an interesting and capturable image it just didn’t excite us. Last night, after coming up with nothing else, we set out to take the picture.

When we arrived at the stoplight kitty-cornered from the sign we noticed that the two clocks didn’t match up. Damn. So we drove around some more hoping to find another bank with a similar sign. We could swear there used to be several, but there were none to be found.1 Unable to think of what else to do, I parked in front of the bank, adjusted the clock in the car back 38 minutes so it matched and took the photo.

While we could probably use the picture without describing how we got it, but it would kind of be cheating and we just can’t bring ourselves to do it. After we got back home Donna searched the internet for “perfect timing” and after weeding through a bunch of results she found an auto-repair place in Savannah, GA called Perfect Timing Automotive Services and I see a road trip in the near future…

Then Came the Last Days Of May

just because this is actually the last day of May

They’re ok the last days of May, I’ll be breathing dry air
I’m leaving soon, the others are already there
You wouldn’t be interested in coming along, instead of staying here
They say the west is nice this time of year’
that’s what they say
– Blue Öyster Cult

Slow Miata to Texas Day 14

AIKEN, SOUTH CAROLINA
Famous for its tree-lined streets and their names, Aiken abounds in flowers most of the year.
Bill,
Day 14 of 14 of the “Slow Miata to Texas” tour. Decatur, AL to Aiken, SC. 412 miles. A really long day in the saddle and mostly on the dreaded Interstate. OZ is a wonderful place, but there is no place like home. There is no place like home.
Brian & Donna, Aiken, SC		 Bill Kirby
The Augusta Chronicle
P.O. Box 1928
Augusta, GA 30903

Slow Miata to Texas Day 13

Greetings from ALABAMA
1. The birth place of Helen Keller, Tuscumbia. 2. Big Spring Park, Huntsville. 3. Wheeler Dam, North Alabama.
4. Vulcan, Birmingham. 5. Dock Scene, Mobile. 6. Bunker Tower, Anniston. 7. Denny Chimes, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. 8. Azalea bushes in full bloom. 9. Noccalula Falls, Gadsden.
10. State Capitol, Montgomery.
Bill,
Day 13 of 14 of the “Slow Miata to Texas” tour. Memphis, TN to Decatur, AL. 215 miles. Today’s highlight was dinner 300′ up in the Renaissence Tower overlooking Wilson Dam in Florence, AL. Good thing the view was spectacular, because the food was so-so. Got to see the lock system go through a cycle for a barge heading down stream.
Brian & Donna, Aiken, SC		 Bill Kirby
The Augusta Chronicle
P.O. Box 1928
Augusta, GA 30903

Dream Car

Painstakingly restored by the fine folks at Lamborghini, this Miura is probably worth well over a million bucks. That price is helped along by it being one of only 6 finished in this blue Azzurro Mexico color and having been owned by renown Italian singer Little Tony.

From the CarBuzz article:
In addition to supplying the car’s production specifications from its archives, Polo Storico also offered its expertise on the right working methods to “ensure that not only the final appearance was perfect but also that all the phases of the restoration work respected the way things were done in that era in Sant-Agata Bolognese.”

The most important thing I want to know is, before I plunk down that kind of coin, does that 8-track player still work? 🙂