Wouldn’t it be cool if Max learned to drive in my daily driver? Manual steering, manual gearbox, manual windows, hell it even has optional (as in factory option) non-retractable seatbelts!
Category: Cars
No more hi-octane ethanol-free gas in Mahasarakham
This photo was taken back in March.
This was the last gas station in Maha Sarakham to sell 95 octane gasoline with no ethanol added. It greatly surprised me to find them selling it because all of the other stations had gradually phased it out by the end of the previous year – PTT and Petronas were the first to go, then Esso, then finally, what I thought was the last holdout, Caltex. But I stopped at this station (I even forget what company it was!) on the way back from the road to Borabu, a neighboring town, and got a full tank of the good stuff – unadulterated 95 oc (and it may very well have been the last tank my car will get, ever – it’s VQ30 is running fine on 95 gasohol, tho).
The problem is, this station is too far away and off the beaten path. When I went to the labor office (located on the road to Borabu) to renew my work permit a few days ago, I looked at the pumps when passing by and saw that they had finally switched to the ethanol crap like everywhere else.
Sad.
Note: The VQ30 in my A33 Cefiro is running on 95 gasohol. The RB20 in the S60 Crown is running on regular (non-eth) 91. They are both running fine, but I’d still prefer to run them on non-eth 95 because it runs smoother, gets better mileage, and isn’t robbing food from people’s mouths.
Pimp Ghost Riding (Sky on Fire)
The other day we went to nanny’s village to see the flooded rice fields. The Chi River has overflowed into the fields, and huge invading catfish are happy to feast on drowned field mice and other flood detritus. Unwilling to take Mr. Max out on a flimsy boat, we watched the villagers go spearfishing for dinner.
It sure is a good thing we took the trusty old Crown out on the muddy roads instead of our pretty car.
Motorex Skylines
The sordid history of Skyline importation into the US as told by 0-60 Mag: Access Denied
New Toy – 19xx Yamaha Chappy
This is an original ad for my new (old) toy, a Yamaha Chappy most probably made in the seventies, imported from Japan into Thailand. Actually, it has all the signs of having been stolen at some point, and it wouldn’t surprise me if that’s how it got to Thailand. I bought it off my boss who apparently bought it right after it was brought over. She let me have it for just about $100 US (3500 Baht). w00t!
Engine size: 50 cc
Top speed: 35 kph on installed speedometer, reading at over 40 on the much newer scooter riding along side during test run
This thing really puts a smile on everybody’s face – it’s fun to ride and fun to watch people’s faces light up when they see you.
Pictures of mine to follow.
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Note: I had to do some horse trading to eventually get a little scooter I liked. This all started soon after I came to Thailand, about eighteen months ago.
First I bought a JRD (Chinese brand) 125cc “Snow” which had a remote starter, talking alarm system, and Vespa-style rear footbrake for 20,000 Baht (about $600). Then I bought a Suzuki Crystal in very rough shape for about $30 and sold the JRD for 25,000 Baht (about $750).
Then I bought a metallic gold automatic 50cc job from the eighties airbrushed with a Finding Nemo theme (hence dubbed “Nemo”) on the cowling. This was also about 1000 Baht, or $30. This is the only bike I may have lost money on as we can’t find it – it was left at my brother-in-laws house as a spare ride, but just went missing quite recently.
Then I got word that somebody wanted to buy the Suzuki for $60-$90, although this hasn’t been confirmed yet.
The person I sold the JRD to went back home quite recently, and was at a loss about what to do with it, so I bought it back… And sold it the next day for no profit, since the only reason I bought it a second time was because I felt bad for the person trying to get rid of it.
Actually, this deal fell through and I had to look for another buyer because the first buyer couldn’t come up with the cash and started asking for a discount. I laughed and said I could sell it the next day for more than the price I had offered him, and that’s exactly what I did.
Two weeks after that, the Chappy came into the picture and I strongly believe this is because I’d created some powerful horse trading karma getting to that point. I must admit, it’s a lot of fun playing horse trader when you’re on a roll… Now, if I can only find some way to turn this Chappy into, say, a CBR…
The Fattie R35s Have Landed
New Skylines at the Port of Long Beach. Someone totally needs to cut a hole in the fence and Swede another episode to the 2 FRIGGIN’ FAST, 2 FARGIN’ FURIOUS universe.
Ford Escort Mk1 1300 De Luxe
I took a few photos of Nam’s uncle’s Escort this morning. It’s from around 1971 or so; check out my favorite features including the “dogbone” front grill, the recycled 1500cc Nissan engine, and transplanted (Toyota + Mitsu???) steering/dash/gauge assembly with permanently lit “TURBO” indicator. (Oh also – this is not the Escort we had in the US from the 80’s, it’s the European model.)
The absolute coolest thing about this car is that even though I can’t find online records of these early Escorts being assembled in Thailand, the VIN plate clearly states it was so:
good juju, bad juju, it’s all just plain old juju
Yes, sometime I will probably stop trying to write blues lyrics in the titles… but today is not the day to do so, because yesterday, I ran over a chameleon sunning himself on the highway. When chameleons are chilling, sometimes they do this curious push up routine where they puff out their chests and bob up and down (apparently, this is the best time to catch them – in order to eat them, of course – at least my Thai friends tell me so). I was on my way to work in the Crown, cruising along in fifth gear and enjoying engine noise, the wind in my hair, and the way the asphalt turns into streams of buttery gold in the intense summer morning sun.
The stretch of highway I was on is a long straightway with no intersecting roads , so I was only looking about twenty feet ahead of my car. By the time I saw the chameleon doing push ups, it was too late to swerve. I felt a small disturbance in the force as the tiniest crunching sound was heard from under the front left tire. Then all was still.
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Last week a coworker said he had seen the exact same model of car as mine on the edge of town, so I hopped in the Kujira to go check it out… there it was, in dark blue, indeed looking pretty damn similar to the very car I was driving. As I’ve been looking for spare parts (most noticeably a missing piece of chrome trim from the front), this was a truly exciting find. Who would have thought another specimen, in seemingly good condition, could be found in the very city I brought mine to? I got stuck thinking about what to do next, though.
If I expressed interest in the car, I was afraid the owner would ask too much for it. Would the better play be to keep an eye on it and wait for the situation to change (the car might appear with a for sale sign some day, or break down)? In the end, I took a gamble on being straightforward and went to talk to the owner with Nam yesterday afternoon. The car wasn’t in the parking space of what turned out to be an insurance company, but the lady inside told us it was her grandfather’s and not a customer’s , as we had begun to fear. She told us they couldn’t sell the car, as it was all they had, but we left our number in case they ever wanted to sell it, and told the lady that as we wanted it for parts, it didn’t even have to be in running condition.
So that’s that. Someday, I may have a chance at parts, and until then, it’s nice to know there’s a friend running around town. I didn’t get a chance to see the car up close or verify if it’s the same model or not, but maybe I’ll make onther visit sometime to do that and speak to the old man. At the very least, I’d like to know how he came by it.
More Crown History
I got a mail out of the blue today from the previous previous owner of the Kujira Crown I bought last year:
I owned the Crown before you bought it off Chris.
Thought you might like to hear how I came (although it was in my wifes name ) to be the proud owner of that lovely old girl.
In 2003 I was an in house English teacher at a semi-conductor factory in Pathum Thani.
While waiting for the remainder of the class to arrive the boys were talking about cars. As we do!?P, one of the best guys in the class, asked me what sort of car I would like to buy. I answered a Toyota Crown.
“Oh I have one that my father bought new in 1973, I am having it re-painted at the moment ” he said. “I’ts got a Nissan RB 20 engine in it.”
I asked him why did you put a Nissan engine in a Crown and he said it was 10,000 baht cheaper than a Toyota engine.
At that point I said that if he ever decided to sell the Crown to contact me.
Finished my contract at the factory and went on to other things.
Some 6 months later I got a call from him saying he wanted to sell it and he would bring it over at the weekend.
It was cool to be able to hear more background on this amazing car..?.She’s still running great, although I had to take off the new rims because they were – cough – just too big (surprise).